Let us turn once more to God's
Word in Philippians chapter 3 and I want with the Lord's help this
morning to draw your attention to the words that we find in
verse 3 Philippians chapter 3 verse 3 For we are the circumcision
which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh. The subject matter then
that stands before us in this verse is that of the true circumcision. For we are the circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh. In the context here, the
Apostle Paul is dealing with those that we might call the
Judaizers, the legalists who wanted to bring Gentile believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ under the Old Testament law, requiring
that they submit to circumcision. And Paul answers these Judaizers
from his own experience. He himself was once, as it were,
one of them. He was very much a legalist,
as he goes on to say here, in verses 4, 5, and 6, so I might
also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more circumcise
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee.
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
which is with the law, blameless. or as a Pharisee he considered
himself a man then who perfectly obeyed every commandment of God. And he's answering these Judaizers
and he answers them right the way through to verse 16 as he
unfolds something of his own experience of the grace of God.
But then at the end of the chapter He turns himself to address others,
those that we might call the sensualists, with their licentious
living, as if they were free from every law and all law. He says at verse 17, Brethren,
be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as
ye have us for an ensemble for many walk. whom I have told you
often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies
of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God
is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things." Very different to those legalists. These just give vent
to all their desires and seek only to satisfy their flesh. And so in the chapter he is really
concerned with two very different types. On the one hand the Judaizers,
the legalists, and then on the other the essentialists, the
practical antinomians. But it's interesting that in
that preface to his hymn book what Mr. Philpott called the
golden preface, Joseph Hart makes a very telling observation with
regards to these two different types that we read of in this
chapter. He says that legalism, though appearing in a holier
shape, is really more odious than sensual security. And when we think of the content
of the chapter, Paul has much more to say against the legalists
in the first 16 verses than he does against the centralists
in what we have in the remainder of the chapter from verse 17.
It is that legalism that, though it might seem on the outside
to be holier, yet it is more odious more odious than that
sensualism that he upbraids at the end of the chapter. And so
as we come to consider the words that I announced for our text
where Paul speaks against the legalists. He says, we are the
circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. What was it that
these legalists were doing? They were saying that salvation
was something more than simply faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Something else was also required. They must submit to the right
of circumcision. And you know how it is in particular
when he addresses himself to the churches of Galatia that
he deals in some detail with this whole matter of the legalists. And there in Galatians 6 and
verse 12 he says, As many as desire to make a fair show in
the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. They're making a show. They want to appear to be something,
and they therefore impose their ideas on these other believers. But what does Paul say with regards
to the behavior of these people, and what they're doing in their
demand for circumcision? Well again, here in the previous
verse to our text, he uses strong language. He says, Beware of
dogs! beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. Oh, he calls these legalists
the concision and the particular word that he uses here really
has regard to what we might call those illegal cuttings and markings
in the flesh those things that were forbidden under the Old
Testament law in Leviticus chapter 21 for example and there at verse
5 with regards to the priest God says they're not to make
any cuttings in their flesh and the word that he used for cuttings. Back in Leviticus 21, in the
Septuagint, the Greek version of that Old Testament passage,
is exactly the same word as we have here in verse 2, rendered
concision. What these legalists require
is something that is really contrary to the Lord of God. And Paul
quite deliberately uses this word that would be so offensive
to them. He calls them the concision. He calls them evil workers. He
calls them dogs. This is how strong his language
is against those who require Gentile Christian believers to
submit to circumcision and to bring them, as it were, under
all the demands of God's Old Testament law. Let us come then
to consider in particular what he says here in the third verse. The true circumcision, for we
are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. You will observe
that the text quite naturally breaks down into these three
parts. And I want us to look at each
of the parts. First of all, where he says that
the true circumcision are those which worship God in the Spirit. Those which worship God in the
Spirit. Now, I read Genesis 17 or part
of Genesis 17 because there of course we have the institution
of circumcision as God speaks to Abraham and changes his name
to Abraham entering into covenant with him and giving him that
right of circumcision and in the opening verse of that 17th
chapter we read how God said to Abraham walk before me and
be thou perfect be thou perfect. And then at verse 9 following
we see how God speaks to him of the right of circumcision.
Now from that chapter the Jews therefore equate circumcision
with what they call perfection. It was as Abraham was told to
walk before God in that perfect way that he was to submit to
circumcision. And so it is something important. And the question we have to ask
this morning is what is the New Testament counterpart of that
circumcision that we have there in the Old Testament? There are
those amongst the paedo-baptists who link circumcision with the
baptizing of infants and amongst the various scriptures that they
appeal to are words such as those we have in Colossians chapter
2 verse 11 where again the Apostle writes, in whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, and he
continues, buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are
risen with him through faith of the operation of God. And
we see by the juxtaposition of those verses that there is a
link, there's a connection. He speaks of circumcision in
verse 11, then immediately in verse 12 he goes on to speak
of baptism. And so there are those who make
the connection between circumcision, as it was practiced in the Old
Testament, and baptism, as is required in the New Testament. But is the baptizing of infants
really the fulfillment of the rite of circumcision that we
have in the Old Testament? Well, surely from this particular
verse that we are considering this morning, that is not really
the case, because here we see that the fulfillment of Old Testament
circumcision, which was something done in the flesh, is really
something that is spiritual. It's something not done in the
flesh. It is something that is done in the spirit. We are the
circumcision, he says, which worship God in the Spirit. The equivalent that we have in
the New Testament, then, is spiritual. And that is further evident from
what we're told at the end of Romans chapter 2, where Paul
speaks of the real Jew we know in the Old Testament. that they
were not all Israel that are of Israel not all those who were
circumcised were the true Israel of God there was ever a spiritual
Israel in the midst of ethnic Israel and at the end of Romans
chapter 2 we read those words he is not a Jew which is one
outwardly neither is circumcision that which is outward in the
flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision
is that not of the flesh but of the spirit whose praise is
of God and not of men. Paul makes it plain then that spiritual circumcision is what
is the real fulfillment of that that we have as a right in the
Old Testament. And what is that spiritual circumcision? It is the circumcision of the
heart. And where there is that circumcision
of the heart, there is that regeneration. that gracious work of the Spirit
of God. We see it in the preaching of
Peter on the day of Pentecost, that those who were hearing the
message were cut to the quick. They were pricked in their hearts.
This is the evidence that the Spirit is at work within them.
They are brought under conviction of sin. Here is the evidence
of that great work of regeneration and so we read of the the putting
off of the body of the sins of the flesh as we have it there
in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 11 the putting off the body of
the sins of the flesh says the apostle and he can speak of himself
to those Galatians as one who is crucified with Christ. He
says, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. All there is that is equivalent
to a crucifying. There is that piercing of a man's
heart. There is that that is taking
place in his soul. It is that great work, that gracious
work of regeneration. I know, when we come to the Old
Testament, we do find God giving exhortation. to the people that
they are to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts. For example,
in Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 16 it says, circumcise
therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff-necked. It's an interesting exhortation
that is given to them. Does it mean that the man has
it in his own power that by his own strength and his own ability
he can circumcise the foreskin of his heart. It doesn't mean
that at all. It is intended to bring the man to realize that
it is the Lord God himself who must do this spiritual circumcising,
the circumcising of the heart. And God goes on to declare that
quite plainly in Deuteronomy chapter 30. And there in the
sixth verse, it's not something that a man can do of himself. It is the gracious work, the
sovereign work of God only. It says, The Lord thy God will
circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seeds to love the
Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou
mayest live. You see the implication of what
God is saying here. When He circumcises the foreskin
of the heart, what is the result? The result is life. That's thou
mayest live. We are to understand then the
spiritual fulfillment of circumcision in the flesh is circumcision
in the heart. It is that of the spirit and
not of the letter. And the evidence is that there
is now the communication of life. There is new life. There is spiritual
life. It is that great work of regeneration. That work whereby the sinner
is born again, it's the work of the Spirit of God. And we
have it. So clearly there in that 11th
verse of Colossians chapter 2, it is circumcision made without
hands. It's made without hands. It's
not anything that a man puts his own hand to. It is the sovereign
work of God. Oh, God does give these exhortations. They might be bidden, as it were,
to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts. But as I said,
that doesn't mean that they have the ability to do that. Just
as God says through the prophet Ezekiel, make you a new heart
and make you a new spirit. Doesn't mean that men have the
ability to make themselves a new heart or a new spirit. Noah's
God is the one who circumcises the foreskin of the heart, so
the promise of the new covenant, of course, is a new heart also
I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you a heart of flesh. It is all the sovereign work
of God. And it is clearly a spiritual
work of God. It is that that is taking place
inwardly, when God comes into the soul of a man. We are the
circumcision, it says, which worship God in the Spirit. And we know that the work of
regeneration is that mighty work of the Spirit of God. Even the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself declares the same. when he speaks in John
chapter 3 in that discourse with Nicodemus, how the Lord speaks
of the work of the Spirit in terms of the strange and mysterious
circuits of the wind. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, nor whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. All those who are born of the
Spirit, they know it's the sovereign work of God. And this, I say,
is the fulfillment of that right of circumcision which was in
the flesh in the Old Testament. But when we come to the real
significance of it in the New Testament, we see that it is
that that takes part in the heart of a man. and it is the work
of the Spirit of God there in man's heart. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, he says. Here is the other part. As there
is that worshipping of God the Spirit and worshipping in the
Spirit so there is also this rejoicing in the Lord Jesus. The true circumcision, it centers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact we can say that the sign
of circumcision is that that points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we read concerning Abram?
Abram was the one to whom God gave circumcision. And when Paul
is writing there in Romans chapter 4 of Abraham, and writing particularly of Abraham's
faith, he says in verse 11, he, that is Abram, received the sign
of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which
he had yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed unto them also." What does this
circumcision point to? It is that that comes after faith. When Abram was uncircumcised, he was one who had faith, and
his faith centered in the only object of faith, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He received the sign of circumcision,
it says, a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had yet
being uncircumcised. Previously there, we're told,
oh, Abram believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. In verse 3, he believed God and
it. What is the it that was accounted
unto him for righteousness? Are we to understand that the
it refers to his faith? He doesn't refer to his faith,
it really refers to the object of his faith. And the object
of Abram's faith was the promise that God had given to him, as
we see later in that fourth chapter. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to perform and therefore it was imputed to him
for righteousness." The it imputed for righteousness was the promise. Now, the promise centered very
much in the son that Sarah was to bear, the son Isaac. And Isaac, of course, is a remarkable
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaac, Abraham's seed, is a type
of him who is the true seed of Abraham. As we read in Galatians,
thy seed, and thy seed which is Christ. Or Abraham, as he receives that right of
circumcision, it's all to do with that covenant. And that's
covenant that centers in the gracious promise of God, which
is fulfilled only in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the true
children of Abraham are not those who are circumcised in the flesh,
no, the true Children of Abraham are those who are trusting in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we not see that in the very
language that the Apostle employs there in Galatians chapter 3? Verse 6, Even as Abraham believed
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye
therefore that they which are of faith The same are the children
of Abraham. Those who are of faith, those
who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. These are Abraham's children. These are the true Israel of
God. And so, at the end of that epistle
to Galatians, chapter 5 and verse 16, he says, "...as many as walk
according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God." Oh, the Israel of God! That is Christian believers,
not those who are circumcised in the flesh. but those who have
known that circumcision in their hearts, those who have known
that gracious work of the Spirit in their souls, those who are
born again by the Spirit of God. These are the true children of
Abraham. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. or they see
all of their salvation only in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
nothing of themselves. It is nothing that is done in
their flesh. They look to Christ as that one
who is the great object of faith, just as Abraham did, who received
that right of circumcision. As we said, his faith had to
do with the promise that promise that centered in the son that
was to be born and that was in many ways a miraculous birth
that Abram and Sarah in their great age should be favored with
that child of promise and yet as I say that that seed, Isaac
himself, is but a type of the Lord Jesus. Look at the language
there in Galatians 3.16, To Abram and his seed were the promises
made. It saith not, Unto seeds as of many, but as of one, Unto
thy seed, which is Christ. All those things in the Old Testament
of their fulfillment in the New Testament and all leads up to
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and that great work that
he accomplished here upon the earth when he did all that was
necessary in order to the salvation of his people. Oh, he is that
one who was made under the law and under the law He has honored
and magnified all that the law required. He has fulfilled all
righteousness, obeyed every commandment of God, and not only has He fulfilled
all righteousness by the obedience of that sinless life, but He
has also satisfied the law in terms of all its dreadful penalties. Those sinners who were the transgressors,
why Christ has borne that punishment that was there just deserved
He has honored the law both in living and in dying and those
who are the true circumcision all they're rejoicing is in the
Lord Jesus Christ they don't need anything extra to that Christ
to them is all and Christ is in all we are the circumcision
says Paul, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and then thirdly, and have no confidence in the
flesh, and have no confidence in the flesh. Now there are two
aspects here with regards to what is implied in this statement
concerning the true circumcision. They have no confidence in the
flesh, they are those who are mortifying sinful self, putting to death the flesh. Now again, do we not see that
in that 11th verse in Colossians chapter 2? He says, "...in whom also," writing
to these Gentile believers, a colossi, who had not received circumcision,
"...in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh." Putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh, he says, by the circumcision
of Christ. And he goes on. To speak further
of this mortification, in chapter 3 verse 5, "...mortify, put to
death, therefore, your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness
which is idolatry." Verse 8, Now ye also put off
all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him. Here is the Christian's calling,
here are the marks of those who are the true circumcision. They
seek to put off the old man, the old nature. They seek to
put the old nature to death. They crucify the deeds of the
body. They put on the new man, which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
them. There is that restoration of
the divine image in them. How is it that they mortify sinful
self? Well, Paul tells us quite clearly
it is not something they are able to do of themselves. They
have no innate ability to do these things. Look at the language
in Romans 8.13, "...if ye through the Spirit," he says, "...if
ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live." It is, again, a spiritual work. We must understand, you
see, this circumcision that is spoken of here in our text as
a great spiritual work of God. There is complete and utter dependence
upon God in what it means to have no confidence in the flesh,
and to mortify all the deeds of the body. Oh, there is that dependence
upon God, and yet in that dependence upon God we know there is that
constant conflict with self. How the flesh lost it against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary,
Paul says, contrary one to the other. And ye cannot do the thing
that ye would. Now when Paul tells the Galatians
that truth, that epistle in which he has so much to say with regards
to this whole business of what is the point and purpose of circumcision. He's dealing there with the legalist.
And what he says comes out of his own experience. He knew what
it was for the flesh to lust against the spirit and the spirit
against the flesh. He makes it quite clear when
he writes in Romans chapter 7 that that was his own experience.
The good that I would, I do not. The evil that I would not, that
I do, he says. Well, he feels it. He feels this
body of sin and death, it's all nature. Who shall deliver me,
he cries out, from this body of sin, I thank God. through
Jesus Christ our Lord. You know the language that we
have there in that remarkable chapter. And down there at the
end we see who the true Paul was. I thank God, he says, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve
the Lord of God, but with the flesh the Lord of sin. Or the real self, is that one who would serve the
Lord of God. There's such an emphasis. With
the mind he says, not just I serve, but I myself, the real me. He
feels the conflict. He desires to be one who will
ever be mortifying the deeds of the body. He has no confidence
in the flesh. But I said with regards to this
particular aspect of spiritual circumcision, there's not only
the mortifying of sinful self, there must also be the denial
of righteous self. The denial of righteous self.
We have no righteousness of our own. All we have to be brought
to that. Not only to deny our sins, but
to deny our own imagined righteousnesses. And Paul Paul very much knew
that. Look at how he continues. Though
I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more. What a pedigree! Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the
Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. He had so much to boast of in
the flesh and he really thought as a pharisee that he was a man
who kept the very letter of the Lord of God and he did, outwardly.
But what does he say? But what things were going to
my Those I counted last for Christ, yea, doubtless, I count all things
but last for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the last of all things, and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ. and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith." Here we see what it is to deny righteous
self. Paul was brought to that. He had no confidence in the flesh,
nothing of himself. We sang just now in that hymn
of Joseph Hart concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. His word is
this, poor sinners hear, believe on me and banish fear, cease
from your own works, bad and good, and wash your garments
in my blood. Oh, we have to not only cease
from our sins, But we have to see what our imagined righteousnesses
are. We have nothing. It's nothing
of self. It's all of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that incident that is
told concerning the life of James Hervey. I think it's in J.C. Ryle's account of those leaders
in the Great Awakening in the 18th century. And James Hervey
was one of those much favoured. His ministry was the most fruitful
ministry together with the likes of George Whitefield and Augustus
Toplady, men raised up of God who had such a remarkable ministry
at that time of Great Awakening. And Hervey was ministering there
in Northamptonshire and he was sickly and his physician advised
that he should take the fresh air, he should go out into the
open country and he would follow the ploughman and he would breathe
in the air as the ploughman was engaged in his task. And there
was a particular ploughman, he knew this man, he was not an
attender of Harvey's own ministry, he attended the ministry, it
said, of Philip Doddridge in Northampton. And Harvey would
try to make conversation with the ploughman as they walked
together. And he asked the ploughman one
day, what is the hardest thing in the life of a Christian? The
ploughman was a wise man and he turned to Hervey and said,
well you're the clergyman, you tell me what is the most difficult
thing in the life of a Christian? And Hervey knew the answer. He said, well, the most difficult
thing of all is the mortifying of the deeds of the flesh, mortifying
our sinful selves, putting our sins to death, how hard that
is. And the ploughman said, ah, he
said, I beg to differ. I beg to differ, Mr. Hervey.
There's something more difficult. than denying our sins. It is
the denying of our righteousness. We're such self-righteous creatures,
you see. We don't want to give up our
righteousnesses. We want to make some contribution to our salvation. I think it's there really when
God first awakens the soul. We see it in Acts chapter 2. Those who are awakened Under
the preaching of Peter, what do they say to him? What must
we do? What must we do to inherit eternal
life? As if there's something to be
done. Oh, we're so wedded to the whole
notion of a covenant of works. We want to do something. As I
said at the beginning, this is more odious. This legalistic
spirit, more odious than the sensuality that he speaks of
at the end of the chapter. Oh God, deliver us from any confidence
in ourselves that all our trust might ever be in the Lord Jesus
Christ, that we might know this true circumcision, that we might
bear the marks. We are the circumcision, says
Paul. the true circumcision, the spiritual circumcision, the
real Israel of God. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. Oh, the Lord be pleased then
to bless His truth to us. Now, as we come to a conclusion
this morning, let us sing Our final hymn 204, the tune is Hursley
353. Self-righteous souls on works
rely and boast their moral dignity, but if I list the song of praise,
each note shall echo grace, free grace. The hymn 204.