May God be pleased to make you
a sinner and make you a sinner saved by
grace. Romans chapter 2, Romans chapter
2. I want by the Spirit of God to
talk to you about a subject rarely dealt with from the pulpit, though
very commonly spoken of throughout Holy Scripture. The title of
my message is circumcision. Circumcision. The word circumcision
is used repeatedly throughout the Word of God. I'm not going
to say much about physical circumcision. My subject is true circumcision. Spiritual circumcision. The circumcision
made without hands without which you cannot enter into heaven,
the circumcision of your heart. Romans 2 verse 27. 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? How can the
uncircumcision fulfill the law, when the Jews, the circumcised,
never fulfilled the law. It's a matter of what God does
for us and in us by his free grace. Verse 28, for he is not
a Jew. What a strong statement. He is
not a Jew, which is one outwardly. We think about the Jewish race
and we often speak of the Jews and the Jewish people, the Jewish
nation. But God says in his word, he is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly, one who descended from Abraham's physical loins,
one who has the physical genetic background of a Jew. He is not
a Jew. which is one outwardly. Neither
is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. Does Paul
mean for us to understand that a Jew is not really a Jew and
circumcision is not really circumcision? Yes and no. Yes, he is not truly
a Jew, which is one outward, and he is not truly circumcised
who is circumcised in the flesh. Verse 29. But he is a Jew which
is one inwardly. He may or may not be a Jew outwardly. He may or may not be a Jew outwardly. He is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart. You may or may not be circumcised
physically, but the circumcision, true circumcision, is of the
heart, in the spirit, and not of the letter, whose praise,
whose acceptance, whose worthiness is not of men, but of God. Paul's doctrine here is plain
and clear. True religion is not outward,
but inward. It is not carnal, but spiritual. Yes, it involves outward things. Yes, we worship God in this physical
assembly. We worship God through the ordinances
he's given us. Baptism, the Lord's Supper, singing
his praise, reading the scripture, preaching prayer, but true religion
It's not outward. You can be a member of a fine
church. You can be baptized. You can
eat the Lord's supper, drink the wine, eat the bread. You
can sing God's praise, say prayers, and you can hear the preaching
of the word, the finest preaching there is, and never know God. True religion is inward. It is
spiritual, not outward, not carnal. God is spirit, our Lord said. And they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. Now the most prominent,
most distinguishing feature of the Jews in their religion in
the Old Testament was the circumcision of every male child on the eighth
day after the child was born. This ceremony of circumcision
and the keeping of the Passover and the Sabbath days, at least
they pertain to, these are the only three things that the Jews
today continually retain and keep in the practice of their
religion, in the worship of God, as it was required in the Old
Testament scriptures. They don't actually have a Passover
sacrifice because they don't have an altar, don't have a mercy
seat. But they pretend to keep the Passover and pretend to keep
the Sabbath day and they do physically circumcise every male child to
this day. But all the other ordinances
of Old Testament worship have long since ceased. The Lord God
fixed it. He fixed it in 70 AD so that
there could be no return to Jewish worship. So there's no possibility
men could again worship at a Jewish altar with a Jewish priesthood
in a Jewish temple over in Jerusalem. That's just not possible. God
destroyed the whole physical fabric. It's all gone and gone
forever. He fixed it that way because
Christ came to fulfill everything written in the law as our substitute
and mediator. Everything in the law, all the
commandments, all the ordinances, all the services, all the ceremonies,
all the rituals, the tabernacle, the priesthood, the temple, everything
in the law pointed to the coming of Christ. and the accomplishment
of God's saving grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And
now that Christ has come and fulfilled the law, he being the
end of the law, we are no longer under the law. What I've just
said about all those Old Testament ordinances is distinctly set
before us in Scripture to be true with regard to circumcision. Circumcision was something done
in the flesh, sealing men and women in God's covenant, sealing
to them all the blessings of the covenant, assuring them,
you are Abraham C. You are God's chosen. You are the people blessed of
God. You are the people for whom God
has established his covenant. You are the people to whom God
will be gracious. The Old Testament ritual of circumcision. was a typical picture of the
regenerating, sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit in God's
elect. It is a picture of the new birth.
It was a picture of God's grace, of God's saving grace in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Turn back to Deuteronomy chapter
30. Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse
6. Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse
6. Here is a promise and a prophecy
of God given by Moses concerning God's great grace set forth under
the emblem of circumcision. Deuteronomy 30 and verse 6. Here,
Moses, the prophet of God, describes the work of grace which the Lord
God performs upon the hearts of chosen redeemed sinners in
the day of his grace. This prophecy, all of the Jewish
writers acknowledge to be in reference to the Messiah. It
is speaking about circumcision performed in the kingdom of Christ
upon all who are born of God into that kingdom. Now you'll
notice as we look at this text, Deuteronomy 30 and verse 6, no
mention at all is made of physical circumcision. Not a word. Because
physical circumcision, being a part of legal worship, no longer
is to be observed by those who worship God. I'm not suggesting,
I am not suggesting that it's wrong for you to have your male
children circumcised while they're in the hospital. That's all right
if you want to do that. That's fine. But don't do it with the
anticipation of it having something to do with their spiritual relationship
with God. That's what he's talking about.
The days of carnal legal worship are forever ended. Our worship
of God is altogether a matter of the heart. All right, let's
look at the text, Deuteronomy 36. The Lord thy God will circumcise
thine heart and the heart of thy seed. All the host of God's
elect, all the seed of Israel, must be circumcised and shall
be circumcised in their hearts. This is that spiritual circumcision
of which the physical circumcision in the flesh was typical. As
physical circumcision was a cutting away of the flesh. Spiritual
circumcision is cutting the heart. Not with a knife, but by the
word of God. Not by the hands of men, but
by the spirit of God. Salvation involves a cutting. The word of God is quick, powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow. If
ever God saves you, he's going to cut you in your heart. It's a cutting of the heart.
Let's read on. to love the Lord thy God with
all thine heart and with all thy soul. This is God's promise. God promises to all his chosen,
to all his Israel, all of them, all Israel shall be saved. He
said, I'm going to cut your heart. And when I do, this will be the
result. To love the Lord thy God with
all thine heart and with all thy soul. That's the result of
being born again. That's the result of having your
heart circumcised. This is the result of the work
of God, the Holy Spirit in a person. If any man loved not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be damned. The scripture says 1 Corinthians
16, 22. This love, love for Christ, love
for God is the fruit of the spirit. But the carnal mind, the carnal
heart is enmity against God. No man by nature loves God. No one by nature loves God. Love for God is not in you. It's
not a possibility with you. Man by nature loves religion
and loves religious activity and loves what he thinks God
may be or what he thinks God ought to be. But no man by nature
loves God. We teach our children they are
to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and being. But you
do your children a horrible disservice if you teach your children that
they do love God. There's a huge difference. There's
a huge difference. You teach them and raise them
with the idea that they love God. You have done them a great
disservice. Teach them that they must love
God. God will send them to hell if
they don't love God with all their heart. But they can't until
God does something in their hearts. Hear me, you who are without
Christ. You must love God. You must love the Lord Jesus
Christ, but you'll never love him until God puts love for himself
in you by his grace. John Gill rightly tells us that
a person has been circumcised in his heart when he sees his
sin and his savior. The one is odious and the other
precious. A person is circumcised in his
heart when the blessings of grace are applied to the heart and
the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, causing us to love
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this circumcision
of the heart is. That's what it produces. Read
on. That thou mayest live. Heart circumcision is the producing
of life. Heart circumcision is the producing
of life. It is God's covenant in you. He said to Abraham, this is the
covenant that I established between me and you. Go circumcise your
boy. You must be circumcised or you'll
never have the blessings of this covenant. Circumcision of the
heart is the producing of life in you. All right, now turn to
Colossians chapter two. That's the prophecy and the promise. Now let's look at its fulfillment.
Colossians chapter two, verse nine. Paul is in these first two chapters
of Colossians declaring the wondrous great glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. and the accomplishment of his
grace for us and in us through redemption. Look at verse 9.
For in him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Verse 10. And ye are complete
in him which is the head of all principality and power. Verse
11. In whom? In Christ. Also ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting
off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Verse 9 tells us that all fullness
is in Christ. It resides in him. It abides
in him. It's always in him. It stays
in him. All the fullness of the Godhead,
all the fullness of grace, all the fullness of glory, it's all
in Christ. Verse 10, the apostle says, we
are complete in him. If you possess him in whom all
firmness is, then you're complete. If you're in him who possesses
all things, you're complete. You lack nothing. In Christ,
we have complete atonement. In Christ, we have complete righteousness. In Christ, sinners have complete
worthiness before God himself. made meet to be partakers of
the inheritance in life. We are in Christ, accepted in
the beloved, so that in him we have all fullness of completion,
perfection in him. Now watch this 11th verse. In
whom also ye were circumcised. Circumcised in Christ. circumcised in Christ our head,
who is made of God unto us, sanctification. We were circumcised in Christ,
representatively, when he, on the eighth day, after he was
brought forth from the womb of his virgin mother, they brought
him into the temple to be circumcised according to the law of Moses. And thus he began his life. as our representative, fulfilling
the law, bringing in everlasting righteousness, working for us
a perfect righteousness which we could never perform. You remember
what God said to Abraham when he was about to give him this
covenant? He said, Abraham, I'm the Lord God, the Almighty God. Walk thou before me and be thou
perfect. Read Abraham's life and tell
me how perfect he was. Read what you know of it, and
we only know a little. And tell me how perfect Abraham
was. God gave Abraham a command. Abraham could never obey. But
he had to obey it. And Frank, he did obey it. Because
in Christ Jesus, He walked before God in perfection. So it is with
all who are God's elect, all who are redeemed by Christ's
blood, all who are called and born again by God's spirit. In
Christ, we fulfilled the law. We walked before God and walked
in perfection before him as men living on this earth, fulfilling
everything God required. And we have been circumcised
not only in Christ representatively, but we've been circumcised by
Christ in regeneration. When he sent his spirit into
our hearts in saving grace and power, we were circumcised in
the heart. Look at the text again. Colossians
2.11. With the circumcision made without hands. Circumcision not
made with a surgeon's knife. Not made with the hands of a
man, but made in the heart by God, the Holy Spirit. This is
that inward circumcision of the heart. Paul spoke of in Romans
chapter two in our text in verses 27 through 29. It is not something
that can be ascribed to the church or to a preacher or to the will
or the work of a man. This is God's work alone. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It
is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.
To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Let
me read that without doing any violence at all to the scripture
so that you can get it. to as many as right here now
today. Receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
To you, He gives power, the right, the authority, the ability to
become the sons of God. Even to them who believe on His
name. That's what it is to receive
Christ. To receive Him is to believe Him. Verse 13, John chapter
1, which were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor
the will of man, but of God. All right, back in Colossians
again, chapter 2, verse 11. In putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. The body of sins,
our corrupt nature with its corrupt deeds, is compared here to a
garment that must be put off. When a person has been circumcised
in his heart, the fifth garment of sin is put off. You remember
The picture we have in Zachariah chapter 3 of Joshua the high
priest standing before the Lord in his filthy garments. And the
Lord God commands, take his filthy garments from him and put on
clean garments on him. That's the picture. The body
of sin is here described, our filthy flesh, our nature, inward
nature, is a garment that must be put off. It is put off by
Christ. He wrapped himself in the filthy
garments of our sins. He made my sin his very own,
we just say. He bare our sins in his own body
on the tree and being himself made sin for us. He was made
a sacrifice for sin and put to death on our behalf by his death
on the cross The old man was crucified and the body of sin
destroyed. The Lord God slew us in the sacrifice
of his son. As we lived in him, all who believed
him died in him. All gods elect were put to death
in him at the law and by the law. This body of sin is put
off by Christ in redemption and is put off by every heaven-born
soul by faith. When the blood, righteousness,
and sacrifice of Christ are made effectual to us, effectually
applied to our hearts, causing sinners to look to Christ in
faith, their consciences are purged from guilt. Their iniquities
pass from them, and they're clothed with the garments of God's salvation.
Listen to this. David just sang about it. I will
greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. This putting
off of the body of sins of the flesh is accomplished in us by
the power of God the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God invades
a sinner's heart in saving power, in the mighty operations of His
grace, giving us life and faith in Christ, He lays our sin under
the restraint of grace. He will not allow sin to have
dominion. He causes grace to reign through
righteousness. That's how new life begins in
us. God the Holy Spirit slays the
sinner and it reigns over sin and causes grace to reign in
us by righteousness. And believers themselves, by
the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit, put off the old
man with his deeds and put on the new. Celeste had no way of
knowing what I had planned to preach this morning. She wrote
to me regarding Frank's message last week and concluded the armor
was supposed to put on the whole armor of God. How do we do that?
How do we do that? I just said to Lindsay a minute
ago, I've had this on my mind for several days, couple of weeks. We are commanded in scripture,
commanded throughout scripture to do many things We cannot do,
but things we are responsible to do. And David, the things
that we must do. You must walk before God and
behold it. It's what he commands. You must be perfect. That's what
he commands. It's your responsibility. You must love God with all your
heart, soul, mind, and being. That's what he commands. You
must love me like you love yourself. That's what God commands. Without
it, you're going to hell. So we must. Put off the body
of sins and put on Christ turn to Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians
4 Verse 17 This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their minds Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that's in them because of the blindness of their heart. Don't
live like other folks live. Don't live like they live. Everybody
else lives for themselves, lives after the lust of their flesh,
lives to get what they want and do to you whatever they want
to do to you. Don't live like that. who being past failing,
verse 19, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work
all uncleanness with greediness. Now, Fred, that's not how some
folks live. That's how everybody lives. That's how everybody lives. Oh, he's a good man. Well, I
reckon so. He just gives himself over to lasciviousness to work
all uncleanness with greediness. Folks sound like such a good
fellow to me. That's how everybody lives by nature. Preacher, I
don't live like that. Sooner or later, you're going
to find out that's exactly how you've lived all your life. That's exactly how you've lived
all your life. But you, you were born of God. You have been taught
of God. You have received the grace of
God. You have not so learned Christ. Bobby Christ doesn't
teach us to live like that. He doesn't teach us to live in
lasciviousness and greediness and uncleanness. If so be that you have heard
Him, not heard of Him, heard Him, and have been taught by
Him. When God teaches, you get the
lesson, as the truth is in Jesus. Now watch this, that you put
off concerning the old man, concerning the former conversation, The
old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, put him
off, put him off and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. What? He commands us to put off the
old way of life, the old man, the old nature, put it off. And
he commands us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. But
Mark, you can't do that. You can't do that. Read on. and
that you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness
and in true holiness. What? Put on Christ? Put on this new man which is
created in us? How do you do that? You've got
to. You've got to. You've got to
put off the old man. You've got to be renewed in your
mind. You've got to put on the new man. God commands it. You
can't do it, but you've got to do it. Just like you got to put
on the whole armor of God. One way. To as many as received
him. To them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even them which believe on his name. Believing on Christ. Believing
on Christ. Believing on Christ. Believing
on Christ. We put off the old man. We're
renewed in our minds. And we put on the new man. And
we walk before God in perfection. Believing on Christ. Believing
Him. Believing Him. So that we continually
offer to God what God has given to us and bestowed upon us. Grace
promises righteousness. Grace proclaims righteousness. And grace produces righteousness. The circumcision made without
hands is not a circumcision that symbolizes righteousness. It
is a circumcision that produces righteousness. You see, when
a person is circumcised in his heart, he's made a new creature
in Christ. A new man is created in you.
A new man created in righteousness and true holiness. He is made
a partaker of the divine nature. This circumcision of the heart
is the imparting of righteousness to you, even the righteousness
of Jesus Christ himself, the righteous character of Christ,
for it is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now let me show
you two things, and I'll wrap this message up. I want you to see the typical
significance of circumcision. What was it that circumcision
represented? What did it typify? Let me give
it to you under five points. Number one, circumcision, as
it was described in Genesis chapter 17, was a seal. You remember
back in Genesis 15, God met Abraham. God revealed himself to Abraham
Abraham offered sacrifice to worship God and it drove away
the vultures that would have eaten up the sacrifice and God
in that chapter 15 made a covenant with Abraham in Chapter 17 we
read about the covenant itself and God said this is the covenant
that involved many many things He's I'm gonna I'm gonna cause
you to possess the land wherein you're a stranger Larry Brown,
are you a stranger here? Are you a stranger here? God's
people are strangers and pilgrims in this world. Are you a stranger
here? God says, I'm going to cause you to possess this land.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. I'm going to cause you to possess
this land. I'm going to give you all these
blessings. This is my covenant. This is
my covenant now. Circumcise every male child.
The circumcision was the seal of all the covenant and all its
blessings in the flesh of a man. So that God would have the male
child circumcised and thereby assure that male child, you belong
to me. And everything that I promised
in the covenant is yours. And all that I promised to Abraham,
I'll do for you. You belong to me. Circumcision
then is that which represents the sealing of the spirit, the
spirit by whom you're sealed until the day of redemption.
It doesn't represent baptism as those folks who slosh a little
water on baby's face and call it baptism say it does. Circumcision
has nothing to do with baptism. Now somewhere you ought to write
that down, underline it 20 times. And every time somebody says
baptism represents circumcision, remember circumcision in this
book, In this book has no connection whatsoever with baptism. Not
at all. Circumcision is talking about
the new birth. By the Spirit of God sealing to us all the
blessings of the covenant. How can I know I'm one of God's
elect? How can I know that I've been redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ? Circumcision of the heart. Confirms to the
child of God your mind and all the covenant is yours and I'll
do for you all this promised in the covenant All who have
the Spirit of God being circumcised are heirs of the covenant of
grace heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ If any man
have not the Spirit of God any man is not circumcised in the
heart He is none of his Circumcision in the scripture represented
a new beginning. Read the law, the eighth day. Noah came out of the ark on the
eighth day. Child circumcised on the eighth day. It represents
a new beginning. Circumcision was performed on
the eighth day after the birth of the child when a new cycle
of life had begun. The male child was circumcised,
entering into all the blessings and privileges of life in covenant
with God. Even so, the heaven-born soul,
being born of God, enters into a life, a new life,
a life he'd never imagined before, a life where everything is different,
a life of a covenant relationship with God. The Spirit of God comes
upon the redeemed, regenerate sinner, and he calls that sinner,
giving him life and faith in Christ, and that sinner, whose
heart's pricked by God's grace and conviction, lifts his heart
to heaven and says, My Father! And all the blessings of the
covenant are sealed to him. You see, the child of God, the
apostle describes this way, ye are not in the flesh, but in
the spirit. David Peterson, if you're born
of God, you're not in the flesh. Now, wait a minute. I see a lot
of flesh sitting there. That's a big man. How can you
say he's not in the flesh? That's not where we live anymore. Not in the flesh. We live in
a whole new realm of life. We live in the Spirit, by the
Spirit, in Christ Jesus the Lord. That's the first thing. Number
two. Circumcision was a mark, a seal, and it was also a distinction. A distinguishing mark in the
flesh. The only thing that distinguished
Israel from everybody else was their circumcision. It's the
only thing that set them apart. The only thing that made the
sons of Abraham different from the heathen among whom they lived
was circumcision. And the only thing that distinguishes
the believer from the unbeliever in the experience of life in
this world is the work of God's grace in him. Who maketh thee
to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory
as if thou'st not received it? It is altogether proper and right
for every child of God to confess Christ to men. You understand
that? It is altogether proper and right
for every child of God to own himself as God's before men. It is altogether proper and right
for every child of God to raise the banner of Jesus Christ high
before men. But you're not going to see,
you're not going to see God's children standing up and boasting
of being Christians. Don't tell me I'm not a Christian.
I'm a Christian as good as you are. I believe God. Don't tell me I'm not a believer.
Oh, no, no, no. The believer recognizes Every
believer does. The only reason he's a believer
is because God made him such. The only reason you're born of
God is because God gave you life. The only reason you walk with
Christ is because Christ sent his spirit into you and gave
you life. The only reason you trust him
is because he's given you faith. And circumcision was painful. It was a seal. It was distinguishing,
and it was painful, very painful. In those days before anesthesia
was known, you can imagine how painful the procedure might be.
Just in case you can't imagine, when you go home, read the 34th
chapter of Genesis again. There, one of Jacob's daughters
was defiled by a Gentile. And he wanted her so bad, he
said, I want her for a wife. And so the man's father went
to Jacob, made an arrangement for it. But Jacob's son, Simeon
and Levi said, he's not going to get by with this. He's not
going to get by with this. And they hatched a plan. They
said, Daddy, tell him he can marry our sister if every man
in Shalem, the city of Shechem, is circumcised. Then he can marry
our sister. And the fellow persuaded every
man in town to be circumcised, to become as the sons of Jacob,
circumcised in the flesh. And when they were very sore,
two men went into town and killed every man there. Circumcision
was a painful mark. Now let me tell you something
about life in Christ. Let me tell you something about
circumcision of the heart. There's nothing easy about it. Joseph, I want you to know God.
I pray God will save you by his grace. I pray God will invade
your heart, give you life and faith in Christ. But there's
nothing easy about it. Nothing easy about it. Not in
the beginning and not in the process. Nothing. You see, to
be circumcised, you got to be cut. Cut with no anesthesia. Got to be cut in your heart. Most of you folks have sometime
or another been cut. Jacob had to be cut on pretty
good just recently. And even with the anesthesia,
been in a lot of pain. To be cut in your body is nothing. And you'll know it so if God
ever cuts you in your heart with Holy Spirit conviction, laying
open to yourself what you are. You'll never know it and you'll
never face it until God the Spirit convinces you of sin. To be circumcised
by the circumcision made without hands is to be pricked in the
heart, fairly convinced of sin. It is to have the iniquity and
corruption of your heart laid open in you. It is to have my
heart broken, groaning under a sense of sin and its shame,
loathing and abhorring myself. Circumcision is described as
circumcision of the heart Another passage where God describes his
covenant in Ezekiel 36. He describes it as taking away
the heart of stone and Putting in you a heart of flesh Man,
it seems strange to me It seems strange God's out in this new
covenant. I put my spirit in you I'm going
to take away the stony heart out of you and put in you a heart
of flesh you see some of you Still live with hearts of stone. Like an adamant stone. Nothing moves it. Nothing spiritual. Nothing moves it. Your sin doesn't
mean anything to you. Christ's sacrifice doesn't mean
anything to you. The grace of God doesn't mean anything to
you. The love of God doesn't mean anything to you. Righteousness
doesn't mean anything to you. You're a stone! as dead as stone. And God says in grace, I put
my spirit in you. Well, that's the circumcision
of the heart. And I take away the heart of stone and I'll give
you a heart of flesh, broken, tender, sensitive, easily hurt,
easily hurt. That's the way it is with a living
man. And the circumcision of the heart
continues in this continual experience of God's grace and a continual
experience of God exposing what I am. Fourth, circumcision was purified. It's cutting away the filth of
the flesh, cutting away the foreskin of the flesh. And the circumcision
of the heart is purifying to the children of God. Peter said concerning the Gentiles
who believed, they purified their hearts by faith. They purified
their hearts by faith. Much like that woman who believed,
the Lord Jesus said, thy faith hath made thee whole. Now, wait
a minute. He made her whole. He made her
whole. Yeah, but he said your faith
made you whole. Because you see, faith is not only that which
God gives, it is that which God causes His people to exercise
upon Him. And you cannot know and experience
anything of God's grace until you believe on the Son of God.
I've got a little thirst. And there's some water. And the
water is mine. But I'm still thirsty. You? I'm
still thirsty. But brother Donovan, that's full
of water sitting there. It's yours. Got your name on it. It was prepared
especially for you. Sit there just for me. Isn't
that something? Oh, that's wonderful. It doesn't do a thing for my
thirst. Not one frazzling thing. Until. That's so good. So refreshing. You know something? That's what
it is to receive Christ. That's what it is to believe
Him. I'm dirty. Oh, so dirty. Dirty inside. Dirty in my heart. Dirty in my
conscience. I believe God. And I'm pure. Pure before God. It purifies us, making us new
creatures. Purifies us, making us partakers
of the divine nature. Purifies us, forming Christ in
us. Circumcision is sealing, distinguishing,
painful, purifying. One more thing. Circumcision
was a permanent mark in the flesh. Once circumcised, you'll never
be uncircumcised, because the gifts and callings of God are
without repentance. That person circumcised in his
heart, sealed by God the Spirit, having the grace of God sealed
to his heart in regeneration, he has permanent grace that shall
never be taken from him. Brother Lindsay this morning
emphasized rightly our Lord's words, If you abide in me and
my words abide in you. Yes, we must continually cling
to Christ, rely on Christ, believe on Christ. The word simply means
stay right here. Stay right here. If you stay
with me, if you stay with me and my words stay with you, that's
what you will is yours. To abide in him is to be kept
in him. To have His Word abide in you
is to have His Word kept in you by the circumcising of God the
Holy Spirit. It is permanent. It's given to
those from whom it shall never be taken away. Well, what are
the results? Look at Philippians chapter 3.
Philippians chapter 3. That's the typical significance.
What are the results of this circumcision made without hands?
The circumcision of the heart. Paul says in verse 3, we are
the circumcision. We are the folks who've been
circumcised. We are Jews inwardly. We are the true Israel of God.
We are the heirs of Abraham's covenant, heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. Israelites indeed, the Israel
of God, the people of God, the sons of God, children of the
covenant. Who? Who are these people who
are the circumcision? Those who worship God in the
Spirit. Those who've been taught of God
to worship Him by the Spirit of God in their hearts and rejoice
in Christ Jesus. The circumcision? They're folks
whose only hope is Christ. My sin. God, let me not pretend my sin
is a gall. Oh, how bitter, how bitter. I
rejoice in Christ's righteousness. My sin, oh, how painful. I rejoice in Christ's atonement.
My sin, how it would alienate me from God. I rejoice in Christ,
my reconciliation. and have no confidence in the
flesh, no confidence in the flesh. Those who worship God, those
who have been born of his spirit, those who rejoice in Christ have
no confidence in anything they can do, no confidence in their
works, No confidence in their experience. No confidence in
their feelings. No confidence in their knowledge.
Confidence only in Christ. We trust Him. Forsaking all,
I take Him. That's called faith. Let me give
you one more text and I'll wrap this up. Turn to Jeremiah chapter
4. Jeremiah chapter 4. Verse 3. Thus saith the Lord
to the men of Judah and Jerusalem. Break up your fallow ground and
sow not among thorns. Remember the good seed? Some
sown among thorns. God says you break up the fallow
ground. Don't sow your seed among thorns. Plow the field first. Break it up. What's he talking
about? Circumcise yourselves to the
Lord. What? What? Now watch this. And take away
the thorskins of your hearts. Preacher, how on earth can I
circumcise myself? How can I take away the thorskin
of my heart? How can I do that? Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe it. And you circumcise
your heart because your heart had been circumcised by God. And now you're clean. Clean. Clean washing by the washing
of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Come to Christ
and he'll come to you. because he has come to you. Lay
hold of Christ and he'll lay hold of you because he has laid
hold of you. Believe on the Son of God and
go home clean before God. Amen.