What is Safe Preaching? (Part 2 0f 2)

Q: What does the Bible say about circumcision of the heart?

The Bible teaches that true circumcision is a matter of the heart, signifying a transformed life by God's Spirit rather than physical rituals. In Philippians 3:3, Paul states 'for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.' This signifies that the real work of God in believers is to circumcise their hearts, cutting away the fleshly desires that lead to sin. This spiritual circumcision aligns with God's promise in Deuteronomy 30:6, where He declares that He will circumcise the hearts of His people, enabling them to love Him. Thus, true worship is rooted not in external acts but in an inward transformation wrought by God’s Spirit.

Q: How do we know preaching is safe?

Safe preaching is certain and sure because it is rooted in the unchanging truth of God's Word and the work of Christ. Paul emphasizes that safe preaching leads to rejoicing in Christ and avoiding confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3). Safe preaching is certain because it reflects the immutable character of God and the assurance found in the completed work of Christ. As Paul writes, the confidence lies not in the works of men or traditions, but in the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. Safe preaching leads believers into deeper dependence on Christ, who is our righteousness, not on their own performance, thereby ensuring a solid foundation for their faith and joy.

Q: Why is the circumcision of the heart important for Christians?

It represents the genuine work of God in a believer's life, enabling true worship and transformation. The circumcision of the heart is essential because it signifies the conversion and regeneration of a believer. It's the work that God performs, cutting away the selfish and sinful aspects of our nature so that we might truly worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). As Paul indicates in Romans 2:29, it is not merely an external practice but an inward condition where one is made a true Jew, emphasizing a spiritual identity over physical lineage. This underscores that faith and relationship with God are matters of the heart, reflecting His sovereignty in salvation and our reliance on His grace.

Q: What does it mean to have no confidence in the flesh?

It means trusting solely in Christ's work for salvation rather than in our own actions or merits. Having no confidence in the flesh emphasizes a total reliance on Christ alone for salvation and righteousness. In Philippians 3:3, Paul warns against placing any trust in our own abilities or religious observances. This principle is echoed in Galatians 2:16, where it states that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. This revelation aligns with the understanding that our flesh is weak and fallible, and thus, looking to Christ frees us from the bondage of self-reliance, allowing us to rest in His finished work.

What a glorious declaration and thought that Christ liveth in me. This hour we're going to be in Philippians chapter 3. If you would like to follow along. Philippians chapter 3. Last week, we looked at what is safe preaching because Paul says in verse one, finally, my brethren rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you to me indeed is not grievous, but for you, it is safe. And so last week, we looked at verse two, we had three bewares, beware of dogs. of evil workers, and beware of the concision."

And as we were looking at those we realized that the definition of those words pointed to power, popularity, and pleasure. Scripture says that there are three that are the original essence of the original sin which is the lust of the flesh, the The lust of the eye and the pride of life. That's power, popularity, and pleasure.

What was the original sin? Well, it was in heaven. Whenever Satan said, I will ascend above the throne of God, I will be as the most high. What did he want? He wanted power. He wanted popularity. He wanted pleasure. He wanted to be seen and heard. He wanted the praise of everyone. He envied God. And what did Eve do? Eve did the same thing, didn't she? Scripture says, When she saw the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to desire to make one wise, she took and did eat. What are the three things mentioned there? our popularity and pleasure.

Interestingly enough, the Philippians are trying to get men and women to be convicted because they're not doing something in particular. And the particulars belong to the men at this particular time, it's circumcision. And what they're doing is they're saying, okay, yeah, sure, Jesus Christ is all in salvation, but you have to be circumcised. yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Jesus, yeah, He's important, but circumcision's just as important. That's the second way they say it. And the last way they say it, which is unbelievable, they say, yeah, circumcision's much more important than Christ. And they're not really saying that in word, but indeed in action, they are definitely saying that.

So we looked at that last week. And this hour, we're going to be looking at what is safe preaching part two, because in verse three, he gives us the contradiction or the solution to what those three bewares are all about. And it is, um, we are the circumcision of God, not going to be not the circumcision made with hands as we're going to see this morning, but the circumcision of the heart. And we see that goes all the way back into, um, Leviticus.

The Lord says, I'll circumcise your heart. He's like, I don't care about the cutting away the flesh, which was given as a token to Abraham as a picture of the covenant of grace. He said, okay, be circumcised on the eighth day. Why? Because we rest on the Sabbath. So there's no more work to be done. It's the cutting away the flesh. Do we see that? He says, it's a picture, it's a token, a memorial for you, that my covenant is with you. That's all that circumcision ever represented.

Now, there's always been two and only two covenants. And the first covenant far exceeds the covenant that was given in time. It's called the covenant of grace. It's an eternal covenant. It was made by the triune Godhead for the salvation of God's people. It's how that God elected a people and how he redeemed his people and how he calls them out of darkness into his light. This is his covenant, everlasting covenant, never had a beginning, never had an end. Then in time, he gave the covenant of works. He said, if you do, you shall live. And what did we find out by the law that was given by Moses?

We can't do. The soul that does is going to die. Why? We're not holy. God demands perfection. There's no way we can do what God requires in order to satisfy him. He's gonna have to do everything. Paul is addressing this information to them by saying, You need to beware of these individuals that are saying, do this on top of salvation, because all they're doing is discrediting the work of Jesus Christ. Now somebody might say, well, I haven't really been to a church that preaches circumcision. Well, you've probably been to a church if you've been in any false religion that says you need to do this, or you need to do that, and it's the same concept.

It's something that this flesh does. This hour, I hope the Lord is, he enables us to realize everything pertaining to God's salvation is a spiritual salvation. It's not physical. This flesh didn't change a bit. I'm just as bad, I'm worse today. Definitely just as bad today as I was when I heard the gospel, but you keep getting worse and worse and worse. Does that comfort me? No. No, that's not my comfort. My comfort is found in Christ. Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death, Paul said.

And so as he's addressing this with the Philippians, we see that he is, if you want to put it the correct way, he's cutting away the flesh by saying it's a spiritual matter. Your flesh can have no part in it whatsoever. So what you're doing is actually saying, okay, We have to make the blood of Christ effectual. And so many in false religion do the same thing, not even realizing that's what they're doing. It's power, popularity, and pleasure. And not in any necessary order, either. It can be blended in different ways.

But those are the three basic principles Motivations, if you will, of the flesh is original sin in the garden and first John chapter two verse 16 says for all that is in the world. I want to make sure we hear that clearly for all that's in the world. This is what the sum of the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life is not of the father, but it's of the world. It's of the world. It's not of God. It's not of God, it's evil. It's for men to seek their own, their own glory, their own agenda, their own standing with God, their own standing with men, and it's not of the Lord.

Now, Paul gives us the three distinct truths as to what safe preaching is, and I must remind us that the word safe does mean safe, yes, but it also means it will not fail, It is certain and it is sure. So Paul is saying, for me to tell you the same thing is certain, it's safe, it's sure, it's going to happen. This is the truth. That's what Paul's saying to them. There are very few things in life that are certain. Can you name some things in life that are certain? Men always, I remember hearing death and taxes. Anybody else heard that?

Yeah, okay. That's true. I mean, that is definitely going to be disappointing to men once they're done after this judgment and taxes, the government's going to take what, well, the government takes, whatever the Lord has purposed for them to take, I should say. So we bow to it. But did you know that Only God's elect, because we have been taught of God, know that there's more to life than just death and taxes.

His word is certain. God's word, it's immutable. He cannot lie. We know that His salvation, His salvation is certain for whom He died for. We know that His redemption is certain. We know that His justification of His people is certain. We know that everything pertaining to God and everything that He has done is certain because of who He is. His oath is certain. His message is certain. His salvation is certain.

All these things give us comfort, knowing that death is coming, knowing that we're paying taxes, but we have a resting place. We have a rock, a cliff to the rock where we were put before the foundation of the world by God himself in Christ Jesus, and we're able to rest. rest in him, not moving a muscle, not trying to accomplish anything, but looking to Christ alone. Last thing I would tell us is God's gospel is certain. We know that to be true, don't we?

Now Paul here, when he says it's safe for you, he's saying it's certain because who the author and finisher of it is, what I'm about to tell you. So let's read this together. I wanna read the first three verses. Philippians 3, 1-3, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, to write the same things to you. To me, indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

For we are his workmanship, I'm sorry, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now the last Message this morning, the second hour, we're going to be looking at the six words have no confidence in the flesh. But for this hour, we're going to be looking at what is safe preaching part two. Preaching, we are the circumcision of God. First and foremost, he says we are the circumcision of God. And I think I've touched on that a little bit already.

But what does that mean? What does that mean, that we are the circumcision of God? Everything about false religion, everything about the devil's lie is that you are responsible to do something. Everything about our flesh desires to do something because our flesh has been cursed with working. So everything about our flesh is contrary to what thus saith the Lord. The Lord says we are to enter into his rest. Well, what is his rest? It's the Lord Jesus Christ, and only the Lord's elect, only the Lord's people are able to enter into that rest because they are the circumcision of God.

This goes all the way back to Abraham. Turn with me to Acts chapter seven, and we're gonna be turning a few places this morning to look at the various allegories and history, I guess, if you wanna put it that way. Acts chapter 7. Look at verse one. Then said the high priest, are these things so? And he said, men, brethren, and fathers, hearken, the God of glory appeared unto our father, Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Turan.

And he said unto them, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and come unto the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwell in Turan. And from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. Yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession and to his seed after him when as yet he had no child.

And God spake on this wise that his seed should sojourn into a strange land and that they should bring them into bondage and entreat them evil 400 years. So he's getting from the Lord, he's given the prophecy right there of the children of Israel in bondage of Egypt right then. And this goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 16. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage Genesis 17, I'm sorry. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, saith God, and after that shall they come forth and serve me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs.

We'll stop there. Understand something very important. When he said he gave him the covenant of circumcision, that doesn't mean that circumcision in and of itself was the covenant. It was a token of the covenant. And that's what he says in Genesis chapter 17. He says, I'm going to give this to you between you and me as a covenant of my promise unto you of the everlasting covenant. That's why he did that.

He gives us tokens that we will look at this morning, one of them baptism. Confessing Christ and believers baptism. The other one is the Lord's table. Those are pictures and types of what our Lord has done for his people, and it is our ability to confess, and that's what he gave to Abraham. He gave him the ability to confess the cutting away of the flesh.

That's what it was all about. It wasn't for righteousness. Abraham was circumcised, so was his sons. He actually told him, he said, if you even buy somebody with your money, you're gonna have to circumcise them, or you broke my covenant. Why is that? Well, because the Lord will not have any flesh to glory in his presence. That's what it was all about.

Now, interestingly enough, the scripture says Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. It was reckoned unto him for righteousness. In other words, Abraham believed God because God had made him righteous. That's what that means. Abraham believed God and said, truth, Lord, whatever you say, even to the offering of his own son, Isaac. Do you think about how miraculous it was, even though it would have been very scary at the time for Abraham to offer his son up on Mount Mirai, he still obeyed God and got to see a shadow and a glimpse of the substitution of the Lord Jesus Christ with the ram caught in the thicket. That's what all that was about. Abraham saw the Lord Jesus Christ in that and believed by the Lord.

This covenant, this cutting away the flesh on the day after the Sabbath, it was to show forth things to come. It was to physically declare by action what verse three says in our, the last six words of verse three in our text, which is have no confidence in the flesh. That's what it was all about. That's what it was all about.

It's amazing to me, and we'll look into this a little bit more next hour, but how so soon removed from grace our minds are. And we would immediately, by nature, if the Lord would leave us to ourselves, latch onto something. Oh, your hair has to be this long, ladies or men, you have to have, you have to be wearing a tie or you, whatever it may be, men will make a work out of anything. It doesn't matter what it is. I'm just using simple examples because that's what men do by nature. They say, you have to do this. You have to conform to this. You have to do that.

What does the Lord say? It is finished. Rest. Rest on the Sabbath. It's not the circumcision of your flesh that the Lord is looking to, it's the circumcision of heart. And guess who's the one that does that? Not you and I, not by our choice, not by our preference, not by our works. God does that. God does that. God hath saved us and called us, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time ever began.

Turn with me a few pages over to Romans chapter two. Paul's dealing with the Romans here with the same issue. And you'll notice a lot of the New Testament talks about circumcision because that was a really big thing with the Jews. really big to do. And what the Jews would do and even we see it in Galatians. We see it in different churches that were having the issue of circumcision just like Philippi. And so Paul is saying, they are not a Jew outwardly, they are a Jew inwardly. And in one place he says, they are not all of Abraham that are of Abraham. It's not about your physical flesh. It's not about your blood coursing through your veins.

It's about the promise that came to Abraham in the type and picture of the cutting away of the flesh that the Lord gave as a promise of the everlasting covenant. That's what it was about. Look at Romans 2 verse 25, for circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law. Now who here has kept the law?

Not one of us, have we? We can't, it's impossible. It's impossible. So circumcision would profit if we could keep the law, but we can't keep the law, so guess what it does? But if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Now do you see what that says right there? So circumcision can't make us righteous, and that's the issue here, circumcision, but put another name to it.

It doesn't matter what it is, pray this prayer, give this amount of money, shake somebody's hand, the pastor's hand, A, B, C, one, two, three, repeat after me, name it. It doesn't matter what it is. It profits nothing because we cannot keep the law of God. Not one jot or tittle, not even, not once ever. We can't. Oh, that's why we need a substitute. That's why we need the Lord to create a heart of flesh in us, not a heart of stone. He has to circumcise the heart. That's what he's looking at. He sees all the way down.

For circumcision verily profited if thou keep the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee who by the letter And circumcision does transgress the law.

What he's saying is stop looking at the outward and start realizing that it's not profiting you anything one way or the other. Look to Christ. Don't look to the law. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly.

And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter. whose praise, and this is the whole point right here, this is the whole sum and substance, whose praise is not of men, but of God. But of God, that's what it's all about right there.

Am I doing something that says, look at me? That was the issue with the Philippians, that was the dogs, that was the evil workers, that was the concision, they were all saying, look at me. Now our flesh is drawn to that, our flesh desires that, but the Lord says, I will not share my glory with another. I will not share my glory with another.

He's saying to look to anything outwardly is to be a debtor to the whole law, but the circumcision that he is looking for is by the hand of God, by his work. We know this to be true because everything God requires, he must provide. Meaning if the Lord's looking to you for something or the Lord's looking to me for something, he's going to have to provide it. And you can put a exclamation point at the end of that.

He's going to have to because we can't produce it. We cannot produce it. Here's the good news. Well, first of all, the circumcision is not with man's hands, or it would be defiled. Do we see that? Because everything we do and touch, we corrupt. Because we're utterly sinful. But here's the good news. Deuteronomy 30 verse six.

And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. So that's the requirement. To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, that's the requirement. And the Lord says, I'm gonna circumcise your heart, and you're gonna love me with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. Now can you honestly answer right now, if I was to ask you, or you were to ask me, could I answer, do I love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, with all my mind, all my soul?

I shudder at that thought, because I would like to say yes. But that which I would do, I do not. Now, which I would not do, that's what I find myself doing. I betray him, I wrote an article, I'm sinful, I betray him, I'm unfaithful. And I wrote down, how many times can you count those things that you've done? And it's like, well, I can't count that high, I can't keep up with all of it.

Here's the good news, neither does the Lord. Because he said, I have put away your sin, you shall not die. He said, even if we deny him, yet he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. That's the good news of the gospel. He gives us a new heart that loves him. We're new creatures on the inside, new men on the inside that loves God with all of our mind, heart, soul, and strength. That's amazing, isn't it? That's amazing. How does he do that? Well, he cuts away or he bases our flesh. and all the flesh of the elect by giving repentance and faith. We don't see ourselves like we used to see ourselves. We don't see God like we used to see God. We see him as holy and high and sovereign.

Yet men declare you must do something that pleases God in order to live. That's the lie, isn't it? That's the lie. The Lord says, I'm going to give you life and you're going to live. I love our God for that reason. I love him for all the reasons of his isness, but I love that he says, I'm going to save you and you're going to be saved. And we sit there and we're able to go, whew, because if I had to do something, I'm afraid I wouldn't do it right. God demands perfection. I can't even have a perfect thought. Not one time.

The Lord said, I'm gonna save you and you're gonna be saved. I'm gonna make you righteous and you're gonna be righteous. I'm gonna make you holy and you're going to be holy. I'm gonna sanctify you. I'm gonna set you apart for myself, for my glory, and you're gonna be sanctified. That's what Christ accomplished on the cross of Calvary for his people. Brethren, this is safe preaching. It's certain. It's truthful.

We look to the Lord by his spirit, not the flesh in any way as any part of our salvation. Secondly, God's people, go back to our text so we can see that together. Philippians chapter three, verse three. First, for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit. What does that mean? We don't look to the physical as any part of worship.

There's a lot of people that draw a lot of attention to themselves whenever they come to a church service, as it's called. And they make a lot of commotion. They move their bodies in different ways by waving their hands or saying things out loud. And it becomes a very boisterous and look at me situation.

That's what it is. And sadly, they don't know that they're doing it. They really don't. I was in that. I know. I was genuine in my unbelief. I'm not laughing because it's funny. I'm laughing because I don't know how else to say that. Everybody here that was in unbelief or false religion at one time can say, no, we were very genuine. And now we say, woe is me. I'm vile. Lord, I didn't know. I'd heard with the hearing of the ears, but now my eyes have seen the King. I understand now. I'm vile.

I'm gonna put my hands over my mouth. I'm not gonna draw attention to myself. I was raised in a, they call them primitive Baptists, hard shell Baptists. They, well, I guess all that doesn't matter, but it had everything to do with what you wore. It had everything to do with what you, you better not drink this. You better not eat that. You better do this. You better not be mowing on Sunday.

Anybody else testify to that? We are the circumcision of God, which worship Him in spirit. We worship Him in spirit. What does that mean? That means if you can see it with your eyeballs right now, and I can see with my eyeballs right now, it's not in the spirit, period. Don't forget that. That's so important because so many times the simplicity of that is lost because we look around and see things. Do I mean that when you hear a message and the Lord tugs at your heart and gives you that sweet peace, you might not shed a tear? Oh, absolutely, yeah, the Lord gives us that.

There's nothing wrong with that at all. I'm talking about the charismatic movement that's happening all over the world. People are hooping and hollering and carrying on and calling it worship. It's not, it's demonic. It's demonic. Maniac Adair is a perfect example of that. The prophets of Baal and Mount Carmel is a perfect example of that. What did the Lord answer Elijah with? Was he in the fire? Was he in the earthquake? What was he in? Still, small voice. When we come to service, we are to sit at the master's feet and wait on the Lord and listen. And the Lord will reveal himself as he sees fit.

But it won't be taking over your body and making you do all kinds of crazy stuff. I promise you that. That's not up to the Lord. You won't find it in scripture. We are the circumcision that worship him in spirit. God's people do not look at the physical as part of worship, but worship in the new heart by faith. Best example I can give you of that is the woman at the well. And I love the fact that the Lord starts, that chapter starts out by saying, or that account starts out by saying, he told his disciples, I must needs go through Samaria.

And they didn't say it, but you and I would think the same thing. Lord, you're crazy. Why would you go to Samaria? Why would they think that? Because the Samaritans and the Jews hated each other. They probably still do, I don't know. They had no dealings with each other whatsoever. The Samaritans were half-bred Jews, and the Jews said, no, we're the seed of Abraham. They were all puffed up about that, weren't they?

We're Abraham's seed. That's what the Pharisees told the Lord. We be Abraham's seed. What did the Lord tell him? If you'd be Abraham's seed, you would rejoice in God and in me because Abraham saw my day and he rejoiced. You're not of Abraham's seed. He said, you're of your father, the devil. That's what he told him.

He goes to Samaria. He finds a woman, the Lord does, at a well, Jacob's well. And she comes at noon. He knew she'd be there. He purposed for her to be there. Don't you love the fact that the lot falls in the lap of the whole disposings of the Lord? How did I end up at this place? Well, I thought I was choosing and doing and this and that, but all of a sudden I realized the Lord has directed my steps. He has lit my path. He has caused me to be right here right now. He gets all the praise and honor and glory for that.

He walks up to her and says, give me to drink. And she says, well, the well's deep and you have nothing to draw with. And he said, if you knew who had asked you, you would ask him and he'd give you living water that you should never thirst again. She said, give me this water. Give me this water. The most interesting part is the Lord looks at her after that, and he nails the sin that she's living in first. He says, go fetch your husband. She says, I have not a husband. He said, that's well spoken. You've had five and the one that you have now is not your own. She said, oh, she perks up.

Oh, I perceive that you're a prophet. Well, we worship in this mountain. Don't you love the, well, I don't know if love's the right word, but don't you know that that is so true whenever you're talking to somebody that has self-righteousness? As soon as they find out that you believe anything about the Bible or anything about scripture, you go to church, or especially if you're a pastor, I'm telling you, they immediately say, well, we go here and do this and that, and I was a missionary to so and where, you know, whatever, such and such. I'm like, interesting. You know, how do you respond to that? I'm not really sure.

Anyways, the point I was making was, she said, we worship in this mountain, but the Jews say that in Jerusalem is where we should worship. You know what the Lord tells her? The time is coming and now is that they which worship God must worship in spirit and in truth. They that worship God must worship in spirit and in truth.

Well, she didn't say, amen, you're right, Lord, that's true. She actually said, well, when Messiah comes, he'll set everything straight. He'll set you straight. I kind of feel like that's what she was saying. And I love what our Lord said. He said to her, he that speak to you, am he. He said, I am. And she left her water pot behind and said, come see a man that showed me all things that I ever did. Is this not the Christ? The issue that the Samaritan woman had was, number one, she was living in sin, of course, but that wasn't her real issue. Her real issue was she's religious.

So she had dotted every I and crossed every T in the worship of that mountain. They had five different idols that were in that mountain that they were calling Jehovah. That goes all the way back to Deuteronomy, whenever Moses blessed one mountain and cursed the other. And so they were worshiping in that mountain, saying, that's the blessed mountain. So there's one thing that they could see with their eyes, and they had the five idols that they didn't give up whenever they became half-bred Jews. And they're worshiping a cat, a dog, the sun, moon, and a donkey, saying, this is Jehovah. We're worshiping the same thing you are. Can you see it with your eyes is the question, because if you can see with your eyes, that's not worshiping in the spirit, is it?

That's why we don't carry trinkets and graven images, because it's not going to, It promotes self. It doesn't give the Lord any glory. We worship him in the heart. We worship him in the heart. That doesn't mean that we're bashful or that we're embarrassed to wear those things. It's that we want the Lord to have all the glory. We want the Lord to have all the glory, not self.

Not self. Why is that? Well, very clearly, Romans 8 says, they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh. You're in the spirit. If so, be that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. Now, if any man have not the spirit of God, he is none of his. To worship God means that we worship in spirit and in truth.

When that woman left that well, she was worshiping God in the spirit. She was no longer worshiping in that mountain after that, I promise you that. The Lord didn't make that trip all the way to Samaria just to blow her mind. He made that trip to Samaria to call her out of darkness into light.

That's a sister. And you and I, he does the exact same thing. We're there at our well, thinking we got everything under control, thinking we're doing everything right. We're gonna draw some more water today. You know, it's just another day. God, you know, I have done some bad things, but man, at least I worship, you know, at least I go to church. I go to church every Sunday. You know, I made sure I go to church every Sunday. That's what she was saying.

Lord said, you ain't, you've never worshiped me in the spirit, because you have not my spirit. You have not my, Lord has to give his spirit. It's his to give. It's not ours for the taking, it's His to give. Salvation's not ours for the taking, it's His to give.

And again, He said, I will and you shall. I will and you shall. The Lord gives us His Spirit and gives us His truth. Gives us repentance and faith. We see Him as holy and sovereign and just and good. We don't see Him like we used to see Him and we worship Him. We bow before Him in the heart. We don't make a showing physically.

And I'm sure there's many times that we shed tears, or we laugh, or we, the gospel will move the heart. Don't doubt that. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. What I'm referring to is whenever heathenistic type things that people do, and it happens all over, all over the place, especially with music. A lot of people get really excited with music.

What does the Scripture say? We worship God by what? Faith. Whose faith is it? It's God's faith. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He bestows it according to His will. And what is faith? The Scripture defines it as this, faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now what does that mean to you and I? Faith is the substance of things hoped for. What's the substance? Jesus Christ. That's the substance of things hoped for, right? because He is eternal life, because He is salvation. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.

It's the Lord Jesus Christ, the evidence. Well, what's the evidence? It is His resurrection, and it's His word. That's the evidence of things not seen. We didn't see that, but we believe it. We believe He was resurrected, don't we? We don't look to the physical. We don't look to circumcision.

I keep saying that because that's what's in our text. But you can just fill in whatever you want to fill in with that. It doesn't matter, because people are putting a bunch of different words we could use into that category. I don't do this, or I have done this, so I know that I'm good. You ever ask somebody, are you 100% sure if you died right now, you'd go to heaven? You ever ask somebody that? I have. And somebody told me yes. I'm like, wow, how are you How are you positive on that? Because I have done this. That's how it always is. That has to be the response. Now, if you would ask me, am I 100% sure that I'm going to heaven? Heaven's not my aim unless it's Christ. First and foremost, Christ is my desire. Am I 100%?

I'll be found in him. Only if he put me there. Only if he saved me by his grace. Only if he chose me in the covenant of grace, because I can't change that. But I do know that I have been taught not to look at myself or the works of my hands or the works of this flesh as any part or evidence of salvation.

The Lord teaches his people that, and we worship him in spirit because of that. I say often, if you desire to, come to Christ, but don't move a muscle. That's the best way to put that. You come to Christ with the faith that he's given, the heart that he's given, he'll in no wise cast us out.

Worship, and apparently I'm long-winded. Wednesday night I was long-winded, today I'm long-winded. I don't know what's going on with that. Worship is being made to rejoice in the whole truth, not just part of it. Meaning I have no part in salvation. The Lord's people says, praise God. Because if I had part of salvation, that part would be tainted, it would be ruined, it would be broken. I would fail. Lord says, no, I've done it all. It is finished. It is finished. And he sat down. After he had by himself purged our sin, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The work's finished. The work is finished. You know what worship looks like, truly? I prayed about this, because I was trying to think, how could I put this into a visual for everybody?

And I don't want anybody to show the showing of hands, but I'm sure everybody here at one time or another had some kind of an animal. A dog is the one I would refer to the most. If you haven't had a dog, that's fine. Just use your imagination. Whenever we come to worship, we are a bunch of dead dog sinners sitting at the master's table begging for a crumb. Now, what do I mean by that? I have Dalmatians, and my Dalmatians are very hyper, very spastic, they're very loving, they're faithful, all the things dogs can be. But when food comes out, they think, oh boy, we're going to get fed. I want what you have. Their bowl could be full. They could have anything in their bowl, but it doesn't matter. Nothing is as good as what's on the dad's plate. Whatever dad's eating, that's what I want. Worship, and they'll sit there. And they'll sit there and they'll stare. They'll give you these doggy sad eyes. They won't bark. They won't move. They won't paw at you. They'll just sit there. And they're just patiently waiting.

Can I please have a bite? At least that's what you think they're thinking. Can I please have a bite? Just a nibble. Just can you drop some of that? Can you serve that down here? I mean, that's what they're doing. That's what it's like to come to worship. We're sitting there staring at him saying, Lord, I want what's on your plate. I need your crumbs. I need your righteousness. The things of this world that's in the bowl that I've been fed, I don't want that. I want you. I don't want what this flesh has to offer. I need Christ. And we sit there and we beg. We're beggars. We're mercy beggars. Somebody said, I was a mercy beggar whenever I got saved. If you're a believer, you're a mercy beggar to the day you die. It doesn't change. Lord, please just drop some crumbs.

Not because of me, but because of what Christ has done. Not because I deserve it, but because of your grace and your mercy. Not because I chose you, but because you chose me in the covenant of grace, that you've done it all. I love the fact that the Lord said in Psalm 23, David said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

You know what that means? He feeds his people. He prepares the table before me in the presence of my enemies. What is that presence of your enemy? Oh, that's the devil. This is the enemy. He prepares a table before me in my own presence. His flesh hates it.

But oh, that dog on the inside, the sheep that the Lord has made righteous, says, Lord, just give me a crumb, please. That dog ain't looking to anything of itself, is it? It's not, I'm whacking my tail really good. I'm showing you some sad eyes, really good, I deserve that food. The dog ain't thinking that, that's us, we're not thinking anything but Lord have mercy. Please, please, I don't know if a dog can think that but you get what I'm saying.

They're not looking to self, they're looking to the master. That's you and I. If we're believers, that's us. We're not looking to our circumcision. We're not looking to our works. We're looking to Christ to order and provide. That's what Paul said in Galatians 6, 13, for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. That's what men do. They say, no, it can't be that simple. You just can't sit and beg for Christ.

And expect something to happen. It's like me begging is not the result or not the cause of something going to happen. It's because of something that's already happened. I'm begging because he's revealed himself. He's only he's got what I need. I got a bag. This is safe preaching brethren. It's certain and it's true.

We are mercy beggars not looking to the flesh in any way we worship God in spirit. Lastly, notice what it says here. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? Well, it gives us the definition. In the next few verses, and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, either we have confidence in the flesh, one way, shape, or form, or we are rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That's it. It's that simple.

God must reveal that we are sad, depraved, vile, wretched sinners by birth. It's our birthright. And the soul that sins shall surely die. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the good news.

We see God as holy, and just, and good, and sovereign, and righteous, and true, and all the good things. We see ourself as the opposite of that. We're the lie, we're the sinner, we're selfish, we're prideful, we are all the things that, don't leave me to myself, I'll be lost, pleasure, popularity, and power, like that. But you know what it means if we see that, that we need a substitute. We need a surety because we see that we can't fix our state. I'm a dog and I can't fix it. I love the fact that the Lord says you're my dog.

Come sit at my table. I would never think about putting my dog at my table. I would never pull my chair out and say, all right, come on up here. You can eat what I'm eating. Here's your plate. Here's my plate. Let's do it. Now, maybe some people do that and good for them. I don't know, but I ain't doing that with five Dalmatians and three daughters. Forget it. My table ain't that big. They eat on the floor.

But you know what the Lord does? He says, come up here. I'm going to give you the best, the very best that I have because you're mine. That's what he did when he gave us Christ. Think about that. That's what he does. God's elect are made to see that the life he lived is our only hope of good works, that the death he died is the only hope we have of life, that the resurrection that God has done unto him by raising him from the dead is our only hope of justification before God. That's evidence of justification.

We're made to see that it's his righteousness, it's his mercy and grace that makes us good in his eyes. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. What a glorious time of rejoicing it is when we see him high and lifted up and we see ourself as we are, see him as he is. Here in Philippians, they, like most, would say the right words, as many do, but in action and in deed, they would deny God by saying, you have to do this.

But brethren, we are the circumcision of God in the heart. which worship in spirit and rejoice only in the finished work of Christ as all of our righteousness, all of our wisdom, all of our sanctification, all of our redemption. We don't look to any other source, especially ourselves, for any righteousness, for any wisdom, for any sanctification, or any redemption. He is all to his people.

Rejoicing in Christ means that he is not looking to me as any part or evidence of my salvation. As a matter of fact, he's given me eyes to see that he is salvation. Salvation is of the Lord, not me. It's not even my salvation. And he freely gives it to his people. He gave it before time ever began. And then in time, he reveals it. Closing, I want to bring this summary to us. What is safe? What is certain? What is true preaching?

Number one. We are the circumcision of God, not the circumcision made with hand, but the circumcision of the heart that the Lord does. Number two. Means we preach that we worship God in the spirit. And in truth. That means it's by his spirit and by his truth, it's not by our spirit, not by what truth we think we know it's his spirit and it's his truth. What thus saith the Lord, it's revealed truth by his spirit. And lastly, we don't rejoice in this flesh, we rejoice in Jesus Christ alone as all of our hope of salvation, because that is where the Father rests, and that is where the Lord's people rest. Anything else? It's not safe preaching. Let's pray.

What is Safe Preaching? (Part 2 0f 2)

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about circumcision of the heart?

How do we know preaching is safe?

Why is the circumcision of the heart important for Christians?

What does it mean to have no confidence in the flesh?

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What is Safe Preaching? (Part 2 0f 2)

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about circumcision of the heart?

How do we know preaching is safe?

Why is the circumcision of the heart important for Christians?

What does it mean to have no confidence in the flesh?

Sermon Transcript

About Caleb Hickman

Comments

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