Good evening, everyone. We're
going to continue our journey. It's been a wonderful journey
so far through the book of Colossians. Tonight's message is called,
The Circumcision of Christ. The Circumcision of Christ. I'd
like to read the verse that we're going to look at, the two verses
in context. So we'll read starting in verse
6 and we'll finish in verse 12. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up
in Him, established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Beware, lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men,
after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye
are complete in him, which is the head of all principality
and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, and put off the body of the sins of the flesh
by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead. So tonight, again,
we'll continue our journey through this book. And we've been looking,
as we went through this book, we've been looking at the supremacy
of Christ. Paul's been bringing this to
the forefront for us, right before our eyes. And we've also looked
at the all-sufficiency of Christ too, how He is the sufficient
Savior. He is the all-sufficient One. There's nothing that needs
to be added to Him. Nothing taken away. He is the
One who we are complete in. And we looked at that last week.
We're absolutely complete in Him. And we'll look at that a
little bit more again. But we're complete in Him. So
think of this too. Paul, in contrast to the false
teachers, has been bringing before the Colossian believers And before
us too, as we read this book almost 2,000 years later. He's
bringing before us the contrast to what a believer has in Christ
and what the believer has in Him alone. And what the false teachers are
saying, we must do to be saved. So it's been very evident as
we went through this book, the contrast, and how he's combating
that, and how Paul is continuously, as I say, continuously bringing
before us the all-sufficiency of Christ. That everything's
in Him. Everything we need is in Him.
It's all in Him. We don't need to go look around
anywhere else or look at anything else. It's all in Him. We don't
need to look to ourselves either. Because all we see is sin. I heard one preacher today, as
I listened to him, he said, when we look in, all we see is sin.
Oh my. So we look out. We look out to
Christ. Out to Him. The believer in Christ looks
to Christ in Him alone, not only for redemption and justification,
which is only in Him, We also look for full acceptance before
God in Christ. Beloved, a full acceptance before
the holy and righteous God of the universe. There is no other,
there's no acceptance outside of Christ before God. So the
question that Job asked, how can a man be justified before
God, or how can a man be just before God, is answered in Christ
in him alone. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. Now think of this, the Galatians
did not do it, thus because Paul writes to them, They were being carried away
by false teachers too, proclaiming another Gospel. The Colossians
are being troubled by false teachers. And these false teachers, their
goal is to try to get your eyes off Christ. and to get your eyes
on yourself. It's something you must do. And
we still battle that today, don't we? And see, since the Galatians
were susceptible to it and the Colossians are susceptible to
it, it shows that all believers are in danger. So that's why
Paul sounds out earlier in the chapter, beware. Beware, beware. Oh, we must keep our eyes upon
Christ. We must keep our eyes upon Him.
So the false teachers say, oh no, look to something you have
to do, plus Christ. And Paul says, no. You are complete
in Christ. You're complete in Him. This speaks of the perfection
of Christ. The absolute perfection of Christ. There's no need for additions
to that which is perfect. And these false teachers are
simply seducers of men's souls. Carrying away men is a spoil. But the believer, in contrast
to what the false teachers teach, the believer, in contrast, casts
his helpless soul upon Christ and Him alone. We are complete in Him. Complete
in Him. Praise God. Complete in Christ. I cast everything upon Christ. Everything. Sink or swim. Spurgeon said,
sink or swim. I'll cling to him. So this leads to the scripture
that we looked at last week. Let's just do a quick overview.
And ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality
and power. Verse 10 says, this verse magnifies, again, the all-sufficiency
of Christ. You are complete in him. Brother
John, you're complete in Christ. There's nowhere else. It's wonderful.
Complete in Him. It magnifies the all-sufficiency
of Christ as the believer is complete in Christ. And then
it goes on, not only is He the head of the church, which we
looked at before, but this scripture here declares that He's the head
of all principality and power. He's supreme. He's absolutely
supreme. He's king. He's king. He's a
sovereign king. So we can conclude from what
Paul has penned here in this letter that Christ has all supremacy
both in salvation and in providence. In salvation and providence.
Do you see the fallacy of works-based religion when they try to tell
you that it's something you've got to do? Oh, my. My, oh, my. No, it's already done. It's already
done. I have a sovereign king. I have
a sovereign redeemer. And, beloved, I have a sovereign
savior. And if you're one of His, you
do too. And you're complete in Him. The believer is complete in Christ
and needs nothing and no one else but Him. That's why Paul
said, Christ is all. Christ is all. Tonight, though, we'll be looking
at two verses together, verses 11 and 12. They go together, so I didn't
want to separate them. And here Paul is combating the
false teachers who impose Jewish ceremonies and rites upon the
Colossian believers in order for them to be saved. Look at verses 11 and 12. "...and
whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, and put off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God who hath raised him from the dead." So let's look at verse
11, keeping in mind that this is a continuation from verse
10. In whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, and put off of the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Now,
in whom there is referring to Christ, as we can see the connection
all the way from verse 8. all the way from verse 8. Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after
the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ. See? And in the next verse, look
at the next verse. For in Him, being Christ. And
then look at verse 10. In Him, being Christ. You're
complete in Him, being Christ. Who's the head of all principality
and power. And then verse 11. Verse 11 and verse 12, Him. Choose
three times in verse 11 and 12. in whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, and put off the body of
the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried
with Him in baptism, wherein ye are risen with Him through
the faith of the operation of God who raised Him from the dead."
So this is speaking of Christ. There's no doubt. There's no
doubt that this is speaking of Christ. "...in whom also ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands." Now in the
Old Testament, in the Old Testament, Circumcision was, under the old
covenant of works, a sign that distinguished Israel from other
nations, and it was instituted by God. And so let us remember
also that among the Mosaic rites, circumcision held the primary
place as it was a token of the promise of God's blessing on
Israel, that they were His chosen nation. conditional upon their
obedience to the conditions of the covenant. This do and live. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 8. National Israel did not continue in the covenant
of works because they broke His covenant and God regarded them
not. Hebrews 8 says. Hebrews 8, verses 9 to 13. Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they
continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. But we're going to continue reading
to verse 13. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put My laws into their mind, and write them
into their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall
be to Me a people. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord, for all shall know Me from the
least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. In that, he saith, a new covenant
he hath made, The first old, now that which decayeth and waxes
old is ready to vanish away. So our Scripture declares, in
whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without
hands. God has established His new covenant,
the everlasting covenant of grace, and it's through the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. who met all, and let us remember
this, who met all the conditions of God's eternal covenant for
us. For us. That's why he's able
to say their sins and iniquities I remember no more. No more. And he'll put their laws into
their mind and write them in their hearts, and that's what
he's done for his people. The circumcision made without
hands is the sign of that covenant. It's a picture of spiritual regeneration,
beloved. It's a circumcision of the heart,
which is the putting off of the body and power of sin. Whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. and putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Turn,
if you would, to Romans 2. The circumcision made without
hands again is the sign of that covenant. It's a picture of spiritual
regeneration, circumcision of the heart, which is putting off
the body and power of sin. Look at Romans 2, verses 28 and
29. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. Now here we go. Remember our
text. In whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, and put not the body of
the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Right?
But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is
that of the heart. Regeneration, beloved, born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, and not in the letter, whose praise
is not of men, but of God. Now, some erroneously teach that
baptism is the sign of a new covenant, which is not true,
as God's chosen people are distinguished. How are we distinguished from
the people of the world, beloved? How are we different than the
people of the world? by the miracle of the new birth,
by the circumcision made without hands, born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. See, people who say that baptism's
a sign of the new covenant, that's how they authorize themselves
to baptize babies. Well, that's wrong. It's wrong. It's called believer's baptism. What doth hinder me to be baptized? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Little babies can't believe.
My goodness. I've never understood that whole
thing, to be honest with y'all. They say, oh, it puts them in
the covenant. The only way I'm in the covenant is God puts me
in there. God puts me in there. The only
way I'm circumcised by the heart is the Holy Spirit does the work.
He does the work. Regenerated by the Holy Spirit
of God. Let us remember this, that man
contributes nothing to his physical birth, right? We didn't contribute
anything to our physical birth. Nothing. Nothing. And remember this, man contributes
nothing to his spiritual birth. Man contributes nothing to his
spiritual work. Beloved, it's a work of God. It's a work of
God and him alone. Him alone. God alone can give
life. You must be born again. And the
believer is born again in the Holy Spirit of God. He's circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. Oh, how does he do this? And
before we get there though, think of this. God alone can give the
life. Only God, only through God are
we born again. And if God doesn't do this, then
a man remains dead in his trespasses and sins. He remains dead. Aren't you thankful He didn't
leave you where you were? I sure am. I sure am. And there ain't nothing in me
that's any better than my brothers, or anybody I went to school with,
or any of my family members. It's only the grace of God in
Christ. Only the grace of God in Christ.
Is it so with you? Is it so with you? under the preaching of the glorious
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord deals with the hearts.
He deals with the heart. He deals with the heart as only
He can. See, no amount of manipulation from man. Now, men, think of
this. I heard this this week too. And
this is marvelous. If a man can talk you into a
decision, someone can talk you out of it. But if God saves you, beloved,
He'll keep you. He'll keep you. It's marvelous. It's marvelous. So under the
preaching of the glorious gospel again of our Lord Jesus Christ,
our great King, our great Savior deals with the heart as only
He can. He is the heavenly physician.
He's the great physician. He does the heart work on His
people. And how does he do it? By his
sovereign power, he circumcises the heart. We're born again of
the Holy Spirit of God. And an interesting note is when
circumcision was performed under the old covenant of works, that's
when a child was named. And those who were not circumcised
were forbidden to eat the Passover. They were forbidden to eat the
Passover, beloved. When the Holy Spirit circumcises
our hearts, we get a brand new name. We're sons of God. Adopted
into His family. And who do we feast on, beloved? Amen, brother. Christ, our Passover. Christ our Passover. We feast
on Him. Oh my. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. And only
God's children, only God's elect, the children of God have Christ
as their Passover. The unsaved do not have Christ
as their Passover. The ones who aren't circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. Christ is not their Passover.
But to we who God has circumcised our hearts, we're born again
of the Holy Spirit of God. Christ is our Passover. He's
everything. Brother Newell, I've talked with
you. You can probably remember a time when he wasn't your pastor.
When you had no care for him. I remember that too. But now,
he's everything to us, isn't he? Everything. My! Look at Hebrews 13, verses 8
to 10. Look at this. Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, and today, and forever. What does that mean? That means what it says. It's
wonderful, isn't it? Because He doesn't change. We're
kept. He's the same Lord, the same
God. What a wonderful Redeemer. And
think of this. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. So if we're in Him, we're given
to Him by the Father. And he said, I'll redeem him.
And he did. He came to the earth and redeemed
us. And the Holy Spirit says, I'll draw him in the covenant. God's the same yesterday, and
today, and forever. He's going to get his sheep,
beloved. My goodness. It's wonderful. Look at this,
though, in Hebrews chapter 13, again, verse 8. Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change.
He does not change. Be not carried away about with
divers and strange doctrines." That's what the false teachers
come in, eh? And they have divers and strange doctrines. Oh, you
must do this to be saved. You must do that. You must be
circumcised. You must only attend church on
Saturdays. You must belong to this church
because we're the true church. I've heard that. Landmark Baptists,
man. They think they're the one true
church just like the Catholics do. My goodness. And you know what they do? They
vault church way up here and they put Christ way down here. Church becomes the most important
thing to them. We preach Christ and Him crucified. He's the most
important thing. He is in Him alone. Oh, look
at this. Be not carried away with divers
and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the
heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not
profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an
altar, we have an altar, beloved, whereof they have no right to
eat." Christ is our Passover. Others have no right to eat.
Those who are circumcised with the circumcision made with hands,
He's our Passover. "...whereof they have no right
to eat, which serve the tabernacle." Christ, now think of this too.
It says here we have an altar, right? We have an altar. Now
think of this. Christ is both the altar and
the sacrifice and the priest. The altar spoken of here is Christ. Again, who is the altar, sacrifice,
and priest. And he was typified by the altar
of the burnt offering and the sacrifice that was offered upon
it. The altar was made of shidom wood and covered with brass,
denoting the incorruptibleness and the duration and strength
of Christ. See, all that represented Him. It had horns. The horns of it
at the four corners were for refuge. For refuge. Those who fled to it laid hold
on them. And they were safe. They were
safe. So Christ is a refuge to His
people. All who lay hold upon Him are
safe. Are safe. They come from the four corners
of the earth and believe on Him and lay hold upon Him. And they're
preserved and they're protected. God's people are preserved and
protected by His power and by His grace. Kept by the power
of God. Kept by the power of God. Let
us remember, beloved, Those who insist that we're still under
the Law of Moses also, and we have many people who insist upon
that, don't we? We run into them all the time.
People who insist that we're still under the law of Moses,
they have never been circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands. They don't know the gospel. They don't know Christ. They
don't have a clue. Now, we don't say that in a condescending
way because we were there too. But they don't have any knowledge
of who Christ is. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter 5. God has not been pleased to raise
them from the state of spiritual deadness and spiritual darkness,
those who say we're still under the law. They are, as Ephesians
2.1 says, dead in trespasses and sins. But look at Galatians
5. Look what it says about the liberty that the believer has.
And Paul contrasts the liberty to those who would yoke people
under the law. Look at this. Galatians 5. Now,
believer, stand fast. Stand fast. Stand firm. If someone comes and tells you
that you need to be under the law to be saved, stand firm in
the free grace of God in Christ. Say, no. No, I'm complete in
Christ. Stand firm, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. We're free, beloved. Now that doesn't give us a liberty
to go crazy, does it? We've often talked about that.
No, but I'm free. I'm free from the condemnation
of the law. And be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage. Don't be entangled with it. You
have to be circumcised to be saved. Or you have to do this
to be saved. No, I am saved by Jesus Christ
and Him alone. Plus nothing. He's my Redeemer. He's my Savior. Is He yours?
If He is, you're complete in Him. It's wonderful. It's marvelous. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you..."
Look what he says about being circumcised. that if ye be circumcised,
and he's talking here, now remember, he's battling the Judaizers here
that say you must be circumcised to be saved. And look what he
writes. He says, behold, I, Paul, say
unto you that if ye be circumcised, and he's talking if you be circumcised
to be saved, or to gain a deeper relationship with the Lord, or
to enter into some higher spiritual plane, You're adding to Christ,
right? Look what he says here, though,
in plain language for us to understand. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you what? Nothing. Nothing. Oh my. But Christ is everything
I need. In Him I have all spiritual blessings. In Him I'm redeemed. You see,
if you look, if you add a pinprick of works to grace, it's no longer
grace. Oh my. Look at this. For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised that he is indebted to do the
what? Hold on. Oh my gosh, I can't even fill
one thing. But Paul here says, and think
of this, beloved, think of these people that are, we know there's
churches around us, there's churches in all the states, there's churches
in Canada too, back home in Canada, that they just yoke people under
the law. They just yoke people. Paul, by inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, writes, Christ shall profit you nothing. You're a debtor to do the whole
law if you start putting yourself under works. Christ has become of no effect
unto you. Whatsoever of you are justified
by the law, you have fallen from grace. Look at this. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ
is all my righteousness. He did that which was impossible
for me to do. My, what a wonderful Savior we
have. What a wonderful Savior. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything or uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love."
Our faith is in Him. Our hope is in Him. Our rest
is in Him. Our trust is in Him. He's my
righteousness. He's my sanctification. He's
my redemption. Do you see how these verses absolutely
destroy The false teachers? In what they were promoting? My goodness, let's look again
at verse 11. We'll look at the latter part
of verse 11 now. In whom also ye were circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, so you're born again by
the Holy Spirit of God. in putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." So the latter part
says, "...in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh
by the circumcision of Christ." Now I'm going to go to a few
different verses here. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians 4
and John 3. Ephesians 4 and John 3. Now our text here says, in putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. John Gale says, by
the flesh here is meant the corrupt nature which is born of the flesh. It is the source and spring of
all sins. All the flesh, the flesh, the
flesh. Oh my. You know, we wonder why we struggle
so much. You know, I remember when I was
in religion. And man, people always blame Satan for everything.
Everything. Always. Oh, the devil made me
do it. Oh, man, I'm under attack. And
then after the Lord showed me grace, I was talking to Brother
Norm Wells sometime, he goes, man, the flesh, the flesh, the
flesh. Most of the time, it's just our flesh. It really is,
beloved. Now, we do have an enemy. We
do. But this is my worst enemy right here. This body of flesh. My goodness. One day though. One day. Oh my. Won't be struggling anymore.
This old body be laid in the ground. My soul go to God. and I'll see my Redeemer face
to face. And it's so with you who believe
too. Oh my. The body of sins exert themselves
in the flesh in every member and power while unregenerate
People are committing a sin till the new man be put on. When the
new man's put on, now we have a war. Now we have a battle that
we never had before. I like to call it, we have a
civil war going on inside our body now. Oh my, oh wretched
man that I am. That was written by a saved man,
Paul. Some people say, well, he wrote
that before he was saved. No, he didn't. I like what Brother
Donny Bell and I were talking one time. He says, Brother Wayne,
Romans 7 is the Christian's biography. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
can deliver me from this body? My goodness. Oh, my. Brother Matt and I were talking
in our studies. We were just talking about how
before we were saved, we didn't have any struggles that way.
We just did whatever we wanted. Tim and I have talked about that
too before on YouTube, Brother John. It didn't even bother us. Now,
there's a battle going on. There's a battle going on now.
Oh my. Look at Ephesians 4, 24. In that
he put on the new man. which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness." Now this happens when you are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, beloved.
When you're born again. And the putting off of the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Now turn,
if you would, over to John 3. The dominion of sin is subdued. Now think of this too. Remember
sin at one time, and this is what we can think back on too,
at one time sin had dominion over us. Oh, it had great power
over us. It's subdued now. Now we still
struggle and we still battle, but it's subdued. It doesn't
have the power it once had. I think it was Brother Henry
said, we're under new management. Oh my. The dominion of sin is subdued,
not by any natural part in us. And let us remember this too.
It's not subdued by anything we do. It's not conjured up by
anything we, you know, people, you know, well, we need to reform.
Only the Holy Spirit can change us, beloved. Only He can change
us. Only Him and Him alone. The dominion
of sin is subdued not by any natural part in us or by any
purpose in us too. but by the circumcision of Christ
being born again by the Holy Spirit of God. That's when the
dominion of sin is subdued. And notice I didn't say gone.
It's subdued. Now the war begins. Now the battle
begins. John and I were talking one time
about how we should warn young Christians. You're in for it
now. Now it starts. Now it starts. Now you start battling thoughts.
Now you start battling sin. When you drank sin like water
at one time, it didn't even bother you. Now it bothers the boy. My goodness. And like I've always
said, it bothers us more in ourselves than in anyone else. It really
does. Self-righteous look at everyone
and say, well, look what that guy's doing, look what that guy's
doing. Oh, that guy down there is worse than me. And the believer,
like the publican, says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Oh, my. Look at John chapter 3 here.
John 3, verses 3-8, see this is not by any, and as we read
this, keep in mind, it's not by anything we do, it's not by
any purpose in us, right, that we're born again. We don't purpose
to be born again. We can't. We can't. It's a work. It's a work of the Holy Spirit.
Look at this. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except the man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. So except the man be circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, he'll never see heaven. He'll never see glory. He'll
never see Christ. And think of this, we don't even know Christ until
we're born again. We're given eyes to see and ears
to hear the Gospel. Nicodemus saith unto him, How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? That's an honest answer,
or an honest question, I mean, from a natural man. He has no
understanding of the things of God. He's puzzled by what Christ
is saying. He has no clue what the Lord's
saying. I used to think, wow, what kind of question is that?
But again, talking with Norm one time, he said, this is a
natural man's answer, or question, natural man's question that they
ask. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I say unto you, ye must be born again. Now look at this,
and keep in mind that it's not by anything in us, not by any
purpose in us, right? Look at this, look at verse 8.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof.
You can hear it. You can hear it. But can us not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth? So is everyone that
is born of the Spirit." Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ
died for the sins of His people. He bore the sins of His people
on the tree, on Calvary's tree. He became the sacrifice for His
people. The believer was crucified with
Christ, and the old man was crucified, and the body of sin destroyed.
The precious blood of Christ is shed to make atonement for
the sins of His people. By His blood, by His righteousness,
by His sacrifice, the sins of God's people are paid for. Paid
for, beloved. Covered. Covered. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over. and fully pardoned in Christ,
in Christ alone. And think of this, Christ is
the believer's acceptance before God. We cannot be accepted all
alone. But in Christ, we are accepted
in the blood. Now think of this, what a contrast
to what the false teachers were proclaiming, that it was something
that you had to do. that it was something you had
to do, something that was added to what Christ had done. The gospel preacher, we preach,
look to Christ. It's finished. He did it all. He did it all. Now God's people know and again
do not want to give the impression that we think we can live however
we want because we're under grace. We don't believe that. We're born again of the Holy
Spirit of God, but we have liberty too, but we can't live. We can't
live. People who say, well, have I
ever taught what you guys believe? People who go crazy. They do
whatever they want. God's people aren't like that.
The love of Christ constrains us. The love of Christ constrains
us. We're sinners. We have that civil
war constantly going on. We constantly have a battle.
But all the love of Christ. Oh, it melts a sinner's heart. If we're led by the Spirit of
God, we are not under the law of Moses. Turn again, if you
would, to Galatians 5. If we are led by the Spirit of
God, we're not under the law of Moses. We're not under the
old covenant of works. Look at Galatians 5.18. But if ye be led of the Spirit,
ye are not under the law. But if ye be led of the Spirit,
you are not... Who's led of the Spirit? Those
who are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.
Those who are born again in the Holy Spirit of God. And then look at verse 16. If
we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lusts of the
flesh. Look at verse 16. This I say then, walk in the
Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. My goodness. So we've seen in verse 11 that
the circumcision of Christ is an inward circumcision. A spiritual
circumcision, right? And we've also seen that it's
complete. Now, circumcision which the Jews practiced was a cutting
away of a small part of the flesh, but the spiritual circumcision
consists of putting off the whole man. The whole man. The whole body of our corrupt
nature. The entire fleshly principle. And the third thing we've seen
is that it's divine. It's by the circumcision of Christ.
Look at our text again. In whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands and put off the body of
the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. It's
divine. This is divine circumcision.
It's wrought without hands, beloved, by the inward power of the Holy
Spirit of God. Remember, the wind blows. It's incredible. You must be
born again. And we who believe are born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. Let's look at verse 12. Let's
look at verse 12. buried with Him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of
God who hath raised Him from the dead." When we were raised
from the state of spiritual deadness which we were in, we were dead.
And that Greek word means dead in Ephesians 2, verse 1. Graveyard dead. I remember one
grace preacher saying, I had to chuckle when I heard it. He
said, religion's the only place where dead doesn't mean dead.
And it's true. They just believe you're mostly
dead. You still have a spark of life in you. So you can make
your decision. That's a lie. That's a lie. Scripture declares you're dead.
Graveyard dead. No ability. Dead man can't walk.
Dead man can't talk. Dead man can't make no decisions.
They're dead. We were raised from a state of
spiritual deadness, and God gave us faith to believe that Jesus
Christ redeemed us from all of our sins, and it was a gift of
God. It was a gift of God. Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ
took the sins of His sheep, His elect, His people, those given
to Him by the Father in eternity, and He died He died for them
on Calvary's cross. And we were buried with Him. Buried with Him. And beloved,
our sins were buried with Him. And they are gone out of God's
sight forever. They are gone out of God's sight
forever. We believe that Jesus Christ
is the eternal Son of God, and that He is now seated on the
right hand of the Father, the right hand of power. He rules
on the throne of power as the exalted Christ, beloved, the
all-powerful God-man. And we believe that we are bought
into a living union with the true and living God. by the irresistible,
drawn power of the Holy Spirit of God. It is He who has enlightened
us. It's He who has regenerated us.
It's He who has taught us. And it's all by the preaching
of the Gospel. And we have heard by His power.
Turn, if you would, to John chapter 5. We have heard by His power the voice of the shepherd. And
this verse is made alive when Christ calls one of His lost
sheep. John 5, verse 25. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming. And there was an hour for every
believer, and there will be an hour for every one of God's lost
sheep who haven't been called yet. The hour is coming, and
now is, when the dead, the dead spiritually, the dead
spiritually shall hear the voice. Oh, Lazarus, come forth. When the dead, the dead spiritually
shall hear, shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And what?
And they that hear shall live. Shall live. It's not a maybe. Shall. Shall. My goodness. Let's go back to our text in
Colossians 2 verse 12. Our text mentions baptism and
we who believe willingly and lovingly submit ourselves
to the ordinance of baptism in obedience to the command of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we who believe publicly confess
in baptism. We are immersed, confessing that
our old man is what? Buried with Christ. Buried with
Christ. And we come up out of the waters
of baptism with a sincere desire to walk in the newness of life.
the walkingness of life. We are not only circumcised in
Christ in a spiritual sense, having the token evidence and
power of the covenant of grace, but beloved, all our sins, all
our sins are buried with Christ. My goodness. Of which our baptism in water
is a representation. And He arose. Perfect. He's our risen Savior. And what
does Scripture declare? We're justified in Him. Why?
Because all our sins are buried. Gone. In the sea of forgetfulness. There are sins and iniquities
I'll remember no more. My goodness. When He arose, all
our sins were left behind. And it is through faith that
we see ourselves crucified. It's by faith and faith alone
that we see ourselves crucified with Christ. We see ourselves
buried with Christ. And we see ourselves risen with
Christ. We're already seated in the heavenlies with Him. And
where the head is, right, the body will soon follow, right?
Our head's in heaven. He's in glory. Oh, my beloved. And notice here in our text,
it's not just any faith. But look at what our text says
here. Now note here, it's not just any faith, but that which
is God's operation. Salvation is the Lord, beloved. My goodness. Faith is not a natural
product of the human heart. It's not. It's a divine gift, beloved.
And it's bestowed on God's elect by a divine operation of God.
Turn, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter
1. Do you know that this work of
faith God puts that in this work of faith that He rots in us. God puts forth the same almighty
power that He did in raising Christ from the dead. Look at Ephesians 1, verses 17-20. That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ The Father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation. Now, if God doesn't give us the
spirit of wisdom and revelation, we'll never know Him. We'll never
know His Son. He must give it. Notice that.
And men don't seek it. We know that, right? Because
Scripture says there's none that seek it after God. There's none that
understand it. So He gives it. God may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge
of Him. The eyes of your understanding be in what? Enlightened. Oh,
the believer's given eyes to see Christ. "...that ye may know
what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness..."
Look at this. "...of His power to us-ward."
Who's the us-ward there? Believers. who believe according to the
working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when
He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right
hand in the heavenly places." Look at this though. Look at
this again, verse 18. "'The eyes of your understanding
be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
to us-ward, who believe according to the working of His mighty
power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
and set Him at His own right hand in heaven and place. The
same power. Oh my beloved. And let us always
remember this too. The only acceptance a sinner
has before God is in Christ and Him alone. So from what we've looked at
tonight, we see We see that Paul combats the false teachers. Again,
once again, he's combating the false teachers, once again, with
the supremacy of Christ. He's saying that circumcision
they're talking about is a circumcision that's done outwardly and done
by man's hands. This is a mighty work of the
divine Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God. So he's contrasting again the
supremacy and all sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ as opposed
to the false teachers. Who mixed, again, they mixed
law with the gospel. They mixed law with the gospel.
And by doing that, what's happened? They've made Christ of no effect. He didn't profit them nothing. Nothing. He proves that the circumcision
of Moses is not merely unnecessary for salvation, but Paul has proven
that it's opposed to Christ because it destroys the spiritual circumcision
of Christ. So what can we conclude? Well,
we're tied last week's verse in. We can conclude that the
believer is absolutely complete in Christ. Absolutely complete
in Christ. We're complete in Christ's righteousness.
We're complete in Christ's redemption. The believer is complete in Christ. So let us think upon this as
we close. Let us observe how needful it
is for us to look to Christ, for us to keep our eyes on Christ,
for our eyes to look upon Him and Him alone as all our salvation,
as all our redemption, is everything for us, is all our acceptance
before God. And let us remember this, we're
closed with this. All the Old Testament types were but shadows. They were but shadows pointing
to Christ. In Him, in Christ, they had their
accomplishments. He is the substance. He's the substance. Gracious Heavenly Father, Oh,
we come before you. We who believe come before you
just in awe. We couldn't save ourselves. We
couldn't make ourselves born again. But you, by the mighty
power by a divine working have wrought in us the circumcision
made without hands. We're born again of the Holy
Spirit of God. Undeserving sinners made complete
in Christ. Oh, may it fill us with awe this
week. May we leave this place rejoicing. May we think in the coming days
of your greatness and of your power and the mercy that You've had
upon us. Oh, may You move in a lost sheep's
heart, we pray if it's Your will. May You draw them to You if it's
Your will. May You awake one from the dead
such as You've done for us if it's Your will. We pray that
You'd be glorified and magnified through this message tonight
and through the preaching that will continue from this oasis,
we pray, Lord, that ye be glorified. In Jesus' name, Amen.