Turn back to Genesis chapter
17. The title of the message is The
Covenant of Circumcision. God called Abraham. We've been
going through this now for several weeks. We have seen the call
of Abraham God called him out of idolatry, out of error of
the Chaldees, brought him into this land, blessed him, and made a covenant with him.
God entered into a covenant with Abraham. He entered into a covenant with
Abraham, not just for Abraham, but for the benefit of many."
He said, many will be blessed through you, your seed. Many
will be blessed. In reality, this covenant, which
God calls an everlasting covenant, was made with God's Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, for the benefit of many. The benefit of His children,
of His elect. His spiritual seed. In Christ,
the many whom He represented, He bared the sin of many. The
many are accepted in this covenant and blessed with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies through Christ and this covenant. God never deals with His people.
He never deals with us outside of that covenant. Never outside
of that covenant. Everything that God gives to
us through Christ was ordered in all things insure in this
covenant. Right here. And this covenant
is a covenant of grace. It's not grace and works, it's
grace, pure grace. The Galatians had a little trouble
with this. Actually, most of the book of Galatians is straightening
them out over this matter of circumcision. They had got sidetracked. People came in and Paul said,
Who hath bewitched you? This covenant is a covenant of
grace made between the Father and the Son on our behalf. It
is a covenant of righteousness. No man will be saved without
righteousness, without the righteousness that Christ established in this
covenant. It is an everlasting covenant.
You notice as Frank read that, God called it an everlasting.
I'm so glad of that. It's everlasting. You and I can't
mess it up. We cannot mess it up. It's an
everlasting covenant. It has no beginning. It has no
ending. This covenant was made outside
of the realm of time when it was made with the Son of God.
It's an everlasting covenant. It's an immutable covenant. It
can't change. It will not change. You can stake
your life on it. It will not change. It's an immutable
covenant. And it is a covenant of circumcision. And that's what I want to look
at for just a little while tonight. Stephen said over in Acts chapter
7 verse 8, he said, and he, that is God, gave him, that is Abraham,
the covenant of circumcision. He said God gave this covenant
of circumcision to Abraham, this cutting off of the foreskin of
the male organ. That's what he's talking about.
That's what circumcision is. It's painful. It's bloody. It almost really seems barbaric.
But when you look and see what happened to Christ, it was painful,
it was bloody, and it was definitely barbaric on our part. And we'll
see how that Christ at the end of this, this is so beautiful.
We'll see how that Christ, it says, was cut off. He was circumcised
for us. He was cut off for us. Our sins were put away by the
death of Christ. I'm getting ahead of myself,
but that's where we're going. That's where I hope to end up.
What is the message of circumcision? What is this message that God
gave to Abraham? We know that the Bible only has
and only gives us one message. There's only one message. We
may go to a certain type. We may go to Genesis, Exodus
or any of the books in the Bible. And we may pick up a type or
a picture. We may go to the four Gospels
or the Epistles and bring this message. But there's only one
message. And of course, tonight it's circumcision. We're going
to bring the message from this act of circumcision. Christ and
Him crucified is the message throughout this whole Bible.
It is a message of grace. It is a message of redemption.
It is a bloody message. The message we preach concerning
Christ and Him crucified is a bloody message. But the Scripture says
without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.
So what does circumcision have to do with the gospel of Christ
and Him crucified? Everything. Everything. And I hope I can point some of
this out tonight. To misunderstand this, which
the Jews did, they misunderstood this. They thought the act of
circumcision, they thought that physical seal or sign put them
in the covenant. The covenant of grace. That's
what they thought. We're really circumcised. Here's what it's
showing. It's showing it's an outward
sign of an inward work. Abraham believed God. Abraham was justified. And then
Abraham was circumcised in that order. We'll see this as we go
along. I've got several scriptures marked. for us to look at, because I'm
not going to try to... I started to write these out
today, and I thought, I'll be here all day just writing these
scriptures. So I've got several of them marked, and I'll turn
to them and read them to you as we go along. So to misunderstand
this is to misunderstand the gospel. And the Galatians did
that. And they started preaching circumcision
as a part of salvation, and Paul told them in Galatians 5.11,
if you do this, you're taking the offense out of the gospel.
You're saying that this outward act that you do will make you
approved of God. And it doesn't. How important
is it? Well, look over in verse 14.
In verse 14, And the uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of his
foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be what? Cut
off. He will be cut off from his people. He's broken my covenant. He's
broken it. That's how important it is. Let
me read to you out of Exodus chapter 4. Let me show you how
important this is. In Exodus chapter 4, in verse
24, you'll remember this story. God told Moses He wanted him
to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my son go. And if you
don't, I'm going to kill your firstborn. So Moses heads to
Egypt. And he stops at this end. It
says, "...and it came to pass by the way in the end..." Moses
stopped at a motel, basically. That's what he did. Overnight
on his journey. "...and it came to pass by the
way in the end that the Lord met him and sought to kill him." The Lord sought to kill Moses.
Why? For not circumcising his son.
You see, his wife, Zipporah, Let me read the rest of it. Then
Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son.
And listen, she cast it at his feet and said, surely a bloody
husband art thou to me. She was upset over this. So she
wasn't brought up as a Hebrew. And she didn't want to do this.
And I believe we can understand why. That's not something you
just want to do. You don't want to cause that
kind of pain to your child. So, you know, when this boy was
born, she didn't want to do this, so Moses let it go. He just said,
OK, you know, he let it go. Well, God stopped him in the
end. I mean, this is God's servant. This is God's deliverer of Israel
out of Egypt. God's sending him down there.
But he stops him in the end and he sought to kill him. I have
no doubt that what he did made him sick. He probably became
very sick. And she understood. Moses probably
told her why he was sick. But she understood why her husband
was sick and that God was going to kill him. And she was upset
about this, but she did it anyway. So she took a sharp stone and
she circumcised that boy. And she said, a bloody husband
are you to me? Well, that's how important it
is. God doesn't give these things. When He gives something that
points to Christ, that represents His Son. He says in many places,
you see that you do it exactly like I gave you. It has a meaning. It represents
My Son. It preaches the Gospel. You do
it exactly. And Moses was going to just let
it go. No, you're not. God sought to kill Him. So that's
how important this matter is. So in verse 9 and 10 here, God
says, My covenant He calls it my covenant. This is not a covenant
that Abraham and God sat down and worked out and got the details
all ironed out. No, this is a covenant that God
made with His Son and He's revealing it to Abraham. He's making it
with Abraham, but it was made with His Son long before Abraham
ever came along. And God gave to Abraham the sign
of circumcision as a ceremonial seal that he was God's chosen. And he says here, it was a token.
It was a token. You know what a token is. It's
a sign, it's a seal, it's a token. What's that worth? What is a
token worth? Nothing by itself. Nothing. It's what it represents that's
worth something. It's what it represents. And we'll see this
as we go along, so remember that. It's what it represents. It's
the one it represents. It was a token. That's what it
was. It represents, listen, here's
what this represents. It represents the new birth.
It represents a new heart. It represents the cutting off
of the sin of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. I read
that to you in Colossians chapter 2. We'll go back there in a little
bit. That's what it represents. It was an outward sign that something
had taken place on the inside. That's what it was about. Look over in Romans chapter 4. In Romans 4 and 11. He says here, and he received
a sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith,
listen, which he had, which he already had. It was just a seal,
a sign that Abraham believed God, being uncircumcised. He believed God before he was
circumcised, and the circumcision was given as a sign or a seal
of the faith that something had already taken place in his heart. and that he might be the father
of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed unto them also." Now, when God makes a covenant,
when He makes a covenant with a man, when He entered into a
covenant with a man, with a person, two things are going to happen.
God is going to do something for that man. He reveals this
in the covenant. And He's going to do something
to that man. He's going to do something for him. And He's going
to do something to him. Let me show you this over in
Romans chapter 11. He does something for a man in
Romans chapter 11. In Romans chapter 11, let me
make sure I wrote the right one down. Yes, here it is. And so, in verse
26, And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There
shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto
them, when I shall, what? Take away their sins. That's
what He does for us. When Christ was crucified on
the cross, our sins were taken away. That's justification. We're justified in Him. He has
taken our sins away. Now here's what he does to a
man. Look over in Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 8. You see, I need more than just
something done for me. I have to have something done
to me also to make salvation complete. In Hebrews chapter
8, look in verse 7. Verse 7, For if that first covenant
had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 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. I need more than just that. I need to be taken
out of the land of Egypt, but I still need more than that.
Because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them
not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. Now, here's what he does to us. I will put my laws
into their mind. First, he said, I'll take away
your sins. I'll put your sins away. I'll put My laws in your
mind, in that new heart." He's going to give a new heart and
He's going to say, I'm going to put My Word in there. I will put My laws into their
mind and right then in their heart. 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,
No, the Lord for all shall know Me from the least to the greatest. So when God enters into a covenant
with a man, He does something for him and He does something
to him. If He puts away your sin, He
justifies you. He gives you a new heart. He
sanctifies you. That's what He does. God must take away my sins. He must be a just God and a Savior.
He's got to take them away. And He must give me a new heart.
He must give me a new nature. One that loves God. One that
loves righteousness. He must take away that stony
heart out of my flesh and give me a new heart. Let me show you something over
here in Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. Paul says in verse 28, now listen
to this. For he is not a Jew, a true Israelite,
which is one outwardly. He's talking about outward in
the flesh, the circumcision of the flesh. Neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh. That's not the true circumcision.
That was a sign, that was a seal, that was a type, that was a picture.
But he is a Jew which is one, listen now, inwardly. Oh, there's
that work. There's that inward work. He's
one Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is what? That
of the heart. That of the heart. Taking away
that stony heart and giving a new heart. In the Spirit, listen, let me
read this again. He is a Jew which is one inwardly,
and circumcision, true circumcision, spiritual circumcision, is that
of the heart. in the Spirit, not in the letter,
not keeping the command. See, that was over in Acts 15. If you go over there sometime
and read, we went through that, where they come along and they
said, you know, you've got to be circumcised, keep the law
of Moses along with believing. You know, you've got to do that
also. And that's when the apostles, Paul and him, went up to the
church in Jerusalem and they hashed that thing out. They hashed
that matter out. They said, no, you don't. Not
in the letter. Circumcision is not in the letter.
True circumcision is in the heart. He said it's in the heart. Whose
praise is not of men, but of God. Because He's the one who
does it. It's His work. It's His work.
Now let's go over to Colossians chapter 2. This is what Christ
has done for us. I want you to listen to this.
It says in verse 9, For in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. You don't need to strive to be
complete. You don't need to do anything to try and be complete.
You are complete. Right now, you are complete in
Christ. You don't need anything. You
don't need nothing. It's all been provided. You're
complete in Him. which is the head of all principalities
and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands." This is of God. This is the work of God.
"...and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh." How?
By the cutting off of Christ. Christ was made to be sin for
us, and then what happened? He was cut off in the flesh. That's what he said. Our sins
were laid on Him and God cut Him off. God cut Him off. It was painful. It was bloody. You know, Zipporah
said to Moses, You're a bloody husband. You know what? Christ is a bloody husband. He was cut off. Let me read that again. In whom
also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, this is of God, and putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh by the circumcision, by the cutting off of Christ. You
are buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with
Him through the faith of the operation of God. There is the
new heart. There is that inward work of
God who hath raised Him from the dead. And you being dead
in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quick
given life to, together with him having forgiven you all trespasses."
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us. See, in him you're complete. There's nothing against us. Which
was contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. You see that? Just that one verse right there today was just
such a blessing. My sins were laid on Him and
He was cut off. And they were put away. They were put away. This is what He's done for us.
He was cut off for us. Put the death in the flesh. It
says over here in Daniel. I've got this already marked.
I've marked a bunch of them today. Over here in Daniel, in Daniel
chapter 9, verse 25. Know therefore and understand
that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, The Messiah, the Prince, shall
be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks the street shall
be built again, and the wall even in troubleless times. And
after threescore and two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off." He shall be cut off, but listen,
but not for Himself. He shall be cut off. You have
been circumcised in Him. Our sins were laid on Him, and
He was cut off. And whom also, He says, you are
circumcised by the cutting off of Christ in the flesh." Now
let's go back over to Romans chapter 2. Let me go back over
this again. As I said, this is what He's
done in us. Verse 28, He's not a Jew which
is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but He's a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart. The heart. That new heart. What is the heart? What is the
heart? What's He talking about here
when He says the heart? He's talking about the whole man.
He's talking about the affections. He's talking about the will.
That's what He's talking about. When God saves a sinner, He gives
him a new heart. He gives him a circumcised heart.
That's what He gives him. A heart without sin. A heart
that loves God. A heart that worships God. A
heart that believes God. Over here in Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy. 30, in verse 6, listen here, listen.
And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart. This is over in
Deuteronomy. He's telling them what God's
going to do. 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. It affects the whole man. The
whole man. It's a heart without sin. This
heart is a heart without sin. When God gives a new heart, He
doesn't give one like the old heart. That would be senseless.
He doesn't change the old heart. He doesn't improve the old heart.
He gives a new heart. Takes away that stony heart,
cuts it out and gives a new heart. Heart of flesh, he said. Now how do I know, and I'll close,
how do I know that I have this new heart? How do I know that
I have this circumcised heart that the scripture speaks of
here? How do I know I have it? Turn over to Philippians chapter
3. Paul says this in Philippians
3, verse 3, for we are the circumcision. What Paul said over in Romans.
Now listen, here's the marks. Here is the mark of those who
have this circumcised heart. Those who have this new heart
given of God. Here it is. Which worship God
in the Spirit. We do not worship God with ceremonies.
We do not worship God with His outward rite of circumcision,
outward ceremony. It's in the Spirit. It's your
heart going out to Him. It's your heart in love with
Him. Listen, it is your affections going out to Him. You love Him. You love Him. I very first heard Henry on television.
That was one thing. One of the statements he made.
I don't even remember what message he was preaching. I just remember
this one statement. Do you love Christ? And I never thought of
that before. I made a decision. I got baptized.
I did what I was supposed to. I never thought of actually loving
Christ. Never thought of it. Didn't the
Lord say that to Peter? Peter, do you love Me? Do you
love me? Which worship God in the Spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus? Do you really rejoice in the
Lord Jesus Christ? Does He really have your affections? Does He really have your attention? Is He really someone that you
really think of? very dearly, very affectionately,
and very often. Rejoice in Christ Jesus, now
listen, and have no confidence in the flesh. Absolutely no confidence. It
doesn't matter. Paul gives his credentials here.
He says it's all lost. Have no confidence in the family
I was raised in, the church I was raised in, No confidence in the
flesh. Christ is my confidence. He's
my confidence. He's my hope. He's my joy. That
is the evidence of a circumcised heart. A new heart. That's the
evidence of true worship of God in the Spirit. No confidence
in the flesh. Jesus Christ is all our hope. and all our joy. Does this describe your heart? If it does, if this describes
your heart, then you have a heart that God's given you. You have
a heart that's of God.