In verse 11, Paul said, in whom
also you are circumcised. This is speaking every believer.
Colossians 2.11. This is something that every
believer has experienced. In whom also you are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. Now, Lord willing, next
week, we're going to go on in verses 11 through 14, considering
what he says with regard to the circumcision of Christ. But I
want us to consider this circumcision made without hands. In Genesis chapter 17, circumcision
is introduced as the token of the covenant that God made with
Israel. all of the Israelites were to
be circumcised, males. The foreskin cut off and on the
surface, which one of us has not seen thought that seemed
really strange. That's a very unusual thing for
the Lord to require that something that seems natural to a man,
that it be cut off and cast from him. When Moses did not circumcise
his son, God was going to kill him for it. You can read about
that in Exodus chapter four. It says the Lord sought to kill
him. And then his wife circumcised his son and threw the foreskin
at Moses and said, you're a bloody man. When David wanted to express
his utter contempt for Goliath, when he was preparing to fight
him, he said, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy
the armies of the living God? Circumcision. What is this all
about? What is this circumcision made
without hands? Now, as I've already said, it
was instituted in Genesis 17 as the token of the covenant
God made with the nation of Israel. Circumcision was an outward sign
of something that God does on the inside. There's no saving
and there never has been saving efficacy in circumcision. There were many who were circumcised
in the flesh, who never had their heart circumcised, who had never
had this circumcision performed upon them without hands. Moses
said in Deuteronomy 10, 16, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, that
which causes the word to not penetrate. Circumcise the foreskin
of your heart and be no more stiff necked. You know, in our day, the reason
there's infant baptism by so many places was because they
say it takes the place of circumcision. Now you'll never get that from
the scripture, but yet that is the argument for infant baptism. Circumcision is something physical
that represents something spiritual. Something done on the outside.
that represents something done on the inside, and if we look
at it as a work to perform in order to please God as part of
God's law, we're in trouble. Paul said, if ye be circumcised,
if you think that your standing before God has anything to do
with anything you've done, if you be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. So it's not a work to do in order
to gain God's acceptance. Now, would you turn with me to
Romans chapter two? This speaks of that circumcision
made without hands. Verse 25. For circumcision verily
profiteth 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, he's talking about
a hypothetical situation to teach us what circumcision is, shall
not his own circumcision 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. For
he is not a Jew. Which is one outwardly. Neither is 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 is not
of men, but of God. Now that's a powerful passage
of scripture, isn't it? I'm a Jew. I'm a Jew. Every believer is
a true Jew. That one who is a Jew outwardly,
who is born a physical Jew, that's not a Jew. Neither is circumcision
the physical act. It's he who has been circumcised
in his heart by God, done in the spirit and not in the letter. The letter is physical circumcision. Here's what you need to do. You
need to cut away the foreskin, get rid of it. You've been circumcised.
That's the letter of the law. If you don't do that, you're
under the curse. Just like the letter of the law is, don't commit
this sin. If you commit this sin, you're under the curse.
You're in trouble. The spirit of circumcision is not that physical
circumcision. It's that circumcision made without
hands performed by God upon the heart. The spirit of the law
is not if you break this, you'll be cursed and punished. The spirit
of the law is you have broken God's law. Flee to the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the spirit of the law.
You know, the spirit is what it means. The letter is what
it says. The spirit is what it means. Now the spirit is a circumcised
heart. Would you turn with me to Deuteronomy
chapter 30 for just a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse six. This is Moses speaking to Israel
and he says, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart. Something is removed and something
is replaced. And the heart of thy seed, and
here's what's going to happen when God circumcises the heart.
You're going to love the Lord God with all thine heart. and
with all thy soul that thou mayest live." Now, one of the saddest
facts about us, and this is so sad, we're born
into this world with no love for God. Everybody in here, you
were born into this world, I was born into this world with no
love for the living God. Because of our fallen Adam, because
of our sinful natures, we're born into this world with no
love for God. As a matter of fact, it's not
there's not only is there positively no love, there is actual enmity
and hatred. The scripture says the carnal
mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. It lacks
the ability to. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. And do you know that most people
do not know that they hate God? If you come across the average
person on the street, the people you work with, you hate God?
Of course not. I love God. Well, they do love a God that
they feel comfortable with, a God that they have invented, not
the God of the Bible. You know, people don't find out
they hate God until they hear the gospel. It really is that
simple. People do not know they hate
God until they hear the gospel and the true character of God
that's revealed in the gospel. You know, tell people about God's
electing love and Christ's effectual redemption for the elect and
see how much they love that God. But my dear friends, that's a
God of the Bible. And that's the God that every Christian loves. That's
the God that every Christian delights in. But the natural
man has no love for this God unless his heart is circumcised. It takes the circumcision made
without hands, a new heart that loves God as he is. Now that's
what I, you know, I want to be more than anybody else, more
than anything else. I want to be somebody that loves.
God, somebody that loves the Lord Jesus Christ, that when
he looks into my heart, he sees a heart that actually loves and
adores and worships Jesus Christ. Turn back to Romans chapter two. Look what it said about this
circumcised heart in verse 29. 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 is
not of men, but of God. Now that is a remarkable statement,
isn't it? This man who has, this woman
who has this circumcised heart is somebody that God Himself
praises. That is an awesome thing to think
about. And I got to think, well, how can God pray? Well, that's
his work. He praises what he does. You see, the circumcision
of the heart is that which he does. It's that which he performs,
that circumcision made without hands. And God praises what he
does. And that individual whose heart
is circumcised is someone who actually has the praise of God. Now, that is just an awesome
thing to think about, isn't it? If you have a circumcised heart,
God praises you. That's a hard thing to get hold
of, isn't it? God, the living God, praises you. Now, man's praise. I like that
hymn we sing, riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise. Men's praise can be so meaningless. It can be meaningful. I mean,
when someone thanks you for a job well done and praises you for
a job well done, you're grateful for that. You're thankful for
that. And it's a good thing. It's a very good thing in that
sense. You ought to praise people in that sense. But as far as
empty flattery, empty praise, some people find their personal
affirmation by being around people who praise them all the time.
And it makes them feel better about themselves. That's called empty
praise. It doesn't do you any good. But to have God's praise.
Hold your finger there Romans 2 and look at 1 Corinthians 4. Next book over. Paul says in verse 3, for with
me it's a very small thing that I should be judged of you or
of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self,
for I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified
But he that judgeth me is the Lord, therefore judge nothing
before the time. Into the Lord come, who both
will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will
make manifest the counsels, the motives, the in-workings of the
hearts, whether it's a truly circumcised heart. And then shall
every man have praise of God. Now this circumcised heart is
something that God Himself praises being His work. Turn with me
to Acts chapter 7. This is Philip on the right before he was stoned. We
read in verse 51, Philip says, and uncircumcised in heart and
ears. Now they were physically circumcised.
These were the Jews, but he says, you're rebels. You're uncircumcised
in heart and ears. Now there's either a resisting
what is said or a joyful reception of what is said. A circumcision is seen in the
heart and in the ears. It's seen in how we hear the
gospel. You know, I was thinking about
this, how we hear the gospel says everything about our heart.
How we hear the gospel. Sometimes I think everybody ought
to have to preach once. Just to look at people's faces,
look at people's responses, look at people's, you know, the way
they are. I appreciated what you said in
your prayer, Brian, so much. Lord, give us the grace to have
our hearts prepared to not be a distraction to the preacher.
Because that's why I say everybody ought to have to preach once,
because you'll listen. There'll be some people that are soaking
it up, rejoicing, believing, just on the edge of their seat,
rejoicing in what they're hearing, wanting to hear more. And somebody
else is listening with a critical ear. just tearing apart what's
being said, thinking about what's being said and criticizing it
and just tearing it to pieces and trying to find fault and
so on and it's just, that's not an uncircumcised, that's not
a circumcised ear. A circumcised ear and a circumcised
heart has this attitude, speak Lord, speak Let me hear your
word. Let me hear your gospel. Fill
my empty cup. I need to hear from you. Now
that is a circumcised ear that comes from a circumcised heart. May the Lord give us this circumcised
heart and this circumcised ear. And this I know only God can
circumcise the heart. This is that circumcision he's
speaking of made without hands. Don't you want this? This heart
that God praises, these ears that actually hear. They hear. Oh, I want to be a hearer of
the gospel. Now, in Philippians chapter 3
verse 3, Paul tells us exactly what circumcision is, what a
circumcised heart is, and what spiritual circumcision is. Would
you turn with me to Philippians chapter 3? Paul says in verse 3, for we
are the circumcision. Now, this is what circumcision
really is. It's not that which is outward
in the flesh. This is what circumcision truly is. When God has circumcised
a heart and there's hearing ears and there's a receptive heart
and it's done in the spirit and not in the letter. And it's something
that God himself actually praises. We are the circumcision, and
he gives three marks. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit, rejoice, glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh. Now let's consider those three
things. This is what true circumcision
is. First of all, we are the circumcision which worship God
and notice he said in the spirit. You see a natural man cannot
worship God because a natural man doesn't have a spirit. He
has a body and he has a soul. His spirit died and when Adam
died in the day he ate that fruit, his spiritual nature died. A
natural man has a body and a soul and he's incapable of the worship
of the living God. It takes God the Holy Spirit
to worship God. It takes a new nature, a new
heart, a heart that He has given. I can't worship God unless I
have this Spirit. God is Spirit, our Lord said,
and they that worship Him must. This is an absolute necessity.
They must worship Him in Spirit and in truth by the Holy Spirit
and according to the truth of the Gospel. That's absolutely
necessary. There's no worship of God in
error. Only in spirit, given a new nature that can worship
God and the truth. The flesh cannot worship God. Now the first time worship is
mentioned is in Genesis 22. Would you turn with me there?
Now here's worship. Verse 1, And it came to pass
after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto
him, Abraham? And he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest. and get thee into the
land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." Now here's worship. And Abraham rose up early in
the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men
with him and Isaac, his son, and claimed the wood for the
burnt offering and rose up and went into the place of which
God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place of far off. What went through
his mind and heart at that time? And Abraham said unto his young
men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship. And then we'll come back to you.
Now two things I say. Notice how Abraham said, I and
the lad will go yonder and we're coming back. Now God said kill
him. But we know from the account
in Hebrews that God had promised the Messiah is going to come
through this boy. the Lord Jesus Christ would come
through this seed. And Abraham fully believed that
even if he did kill him, God would raise him from the dead
because he believed God. Faith is believing what God has
said. Faith is worship. And there was
never any greater worship by any man than when Abraham picked
up that knife in order to slay his son. He believed God and
he worshiped. Worship is obedience. It's obedience
to what God says. And oh, how Abraham worshiped
when he lifted up that knife to slay his son. Verse six, and
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon
Isaac, his son, and took the fire in his hand and a knife.
And they went both of them together. That's such a glorious picture
or illustration. When was there another time when
the son was walking up a mountain carrying the wood for his own
execution? Oh, what a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is at that time. Verse seven. And Isaac spake
unto Abraham, his father, and said, my father. And he said,
here I am, my son. And he said, behold, the fire
and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. Now, beloved, That's worship. Knowing that all that God requires,
he himself provides. Worship is obedience. And you
know, I've said this so many times, you'll only worship a
sovereign. Behold, a leper came and worshiped
him. That's what the scripture says.
Now we know that this leper worshipped. God's word said he did. Behold
there came a leper and worshipped him saying, Lord, he knew he
was the Lord. If you will, you can make me
clean. I can't make myself clean and
I would never say you need to make me clean. It's all in your
sorrow. I can't control you, but oh, if you will, you can
make me clean. Now, beloved, that is worship. He worshiped the Lord for who
he was. The Lord hadn't done anything for him yet. Now, if
the Lord never does anything for you, if he never does anything
for you, Is he worthy of worship? Amen. That is worship. And you worship in faith. I love
what Paul said in Acts 24 14 after the way which they call
heresy, the way of grace, the way of righteousness, the way
of peace. The way of Christ. He said, I am the way. I am the
truth. I am the life. No man comes to
the Father but by me. By that way, the way which they
call heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers, believing
all things that are written. That's worship. Believing all
things better written. We are the circumcision which
worship God for who he is in the spirit by the spirit of God
and back to our text in Philippians chapter 3 the next mark he gives
of being truly circumcised We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now the word rejoice is glory. It's what you boast in. It's
what you have confidence in. It's what you're actually proud
of. We are the circumcision which boast in, which glory in, which
rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now, you and I are going to boast
in something. We're going to feel good about
something. I always tell Lynn when I do this, I'm going to
do this to make me feel good about myself. You do something and you feel
good about yourself. It doesn't last very long. It doesn't last
very long. I mean, I got away losing that quick enough. But
I'm talking about true boasting and glorying and rejoicing. Now, there's not a man alive
who hasn't boasted in something. Now, I know something we're forbidden
to boast in. Paul said, where is boasting
in? It is, anybody know the next word? Excluded. Excluded. God has excluded. Ephesians 2.8.9 says, For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works, not of works, not of works, lest
any man should boast. Glory. Rejoice in that. Now, according to the Bible,
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Do you believe that about
your righteousnesses? If you do, you sure won't glory
in them. You sure won't boast in them. Now, if I see faith
in any other way than a gift that I obtained, not attained,
but obtained, was given to me, I'm boasting before God. Now
notice this rejoicing is in Christ. We are the circumcision. Here's
the person who's had that circumcision made without hands where God
has performed a miraculous operation on their heart and has done something
for them. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. They boast in, they glory
in, they have confidence in Christ Jesus. Galatians 6. You know, this is a verse of
Scripture that I look at. Remember who's speaking. We're
going to look at verse 14. This is the Apostle Paul. This
is not Todd. This is not Rich. This is not Robbie. This is the Apostle Paul speaking. This is the man God used more
than any other man to expound the gospel. I know John the Baptist. There's
nobody greater than John the Baptist. Well, I think Paul was
not greater, but he was right there with him. Paul, the apostle,
used to write scripture, used to found the churches. He called
himself the wise master builder without arrogance and without
pride, he knew that God had blessed him in a special way. But look
what he says in verse 14. He says, but God forbid that
I should glory, that I should have confidence in, that I should
rejoice in, that I should boast in anything save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom? I love the way he says
by whom. He doesn't say by what. or by
which, but by whom. You see, when you speak of the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're talking about a whole
lot more than a doctrine. You're talking about who He is.
I'm not going to glory in anything but what Christ accomplished
on the cross. I'm not going to glory in my
works. I'm not going to glory in the way God has used me. He
has used me. Paul would have been telling
the truth if he says God used me in a miraculous way. He was
used all over the world. I'm not going to glory in my
growth. I'm not going to glory in anything about me. All I'm
going to glory and boasting and resting is what the Lord Jesus
Christ accomplished in my behalf on Calvary Street. That's all
I glory in, nothing else. How about you? How about me? Can I say from my heart, and
God sees in my heart, He knows what's really there, God forbid
that I should glory in anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Look in Romans 5, verse 11. And not only so, but we also
joy, that's the same word, rejoice, glory in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our glory is only through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm boasting in God, but
it's only through Christ. It's only because Christ takes
that and presents it before the Father, and it's true boasting.
You see, if all it is is my boasting, I'm in trouble. But it's the
Lord Jesus Christ presenting it to the Father, By whom? By the Lord Jesus Christ. And
look what he says, and not only so, but also we rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. I love the way Paul talks. He
doesn't say we've now received the atonement. He says, by whom
we've now received the atonement. We don't even receive on our
own. It's him that enables us to receive. We joy in God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. These are all familiar scriptures.
I love familiar scriptures. I do. Verse 26. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. How many wise men after the flesh? How many mighty? How many noble
are here tonight? I'm thankful it doesn't say not
any. I remember there was one, I read where one lady said, I'm
very thankful for the word M. It was a very rich lady. I think
it was the Lady Huntington who was associated with so many of
the gospel preachers in the 1700s, but she's very rich. And she
said, I'm awful thankful for the word M because it doesn't
say not any. says not many but it's true not
many of those type of people are called and you know that
you can attest to that verse 27 but God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise And God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the
things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which
are not. Nothing to bring to naught things
that are for this reason that no flesh should glory in his
presence. How could you glory? How could
I glory in His presence? But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now that's the circumcised
heart. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
12. Paul says in verse 6, for though
I would desire to glory, and there is in every one of us a
desire to glory. It's just part of fallen human
nature. A desire to glory. A desire for
recognition. For though I would desire to
glory, I shall not be a fool. For I'll say the truth, but now
I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which
he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me, and lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations
that there was given to me." Who gave it to him? God did. There was given to me a thorn
in the flesh. Very painful. the messenger of
Satan, to buffet me, to strike me, lest I should be exalted
above measure. For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." Speculation as to what it was
is utterly useless. But it was a thorn, and it was
in his flesh. And it hurt very bad. You know
what it is to be pricked by a thorn. It's very painful, isn't it?
It's extremely painful. And Paul asked that it might
depart from him three times. And he said unto me, notice he
didn't say, no, I'm not going to let it depart. But he said,
my grace is sufficient for thee. You know that makes my heart
dance for joy. I am plumb satisfied to be saved by pure, free, sheer
grace. My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore,
will I rather glory in my infirmities." My weakness. Now he wasn't glorying
in the weakness itself, but he was glorying in what the weakness
produced. He said, I will glory in my infirmities
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. Now back to Philippians three
in closing. We are the circumcision. We are
the people who have had this circumcision performed on our
hearts. The circumcision made without
hands. We worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice in Christ
Jesus. And thirdly, Paul says in verse
3, we have no confidence in the flesh. No confidence in the flesh. In this life, this temporal life,
confidence can be a very good thing. And lack of confidence
can be very debilitating. When you have confidence that
you can do something, that you can achieve something, you go
at it. all the way, but when you have
lack of confidence, when you have this fear of failure, you
don't even want to try anything. And for you people who have young
children right now, the best way to develop confidence in
your children is give them something they can achieve. Give them something
they can do and be successful at and it'll lead on to more
things. I mean, because that's where
confidence comes from as far as confidence is a good thing.
I want to be confident that I can do a good job at what I'm doing.
I want that confidence and you want that confidence. That's
a good thing to have that kind of confidence. But in this thing
of the gospel, in this thing of having a circumcised heart,
there must be absolutely, positively, no confidence in the flesh. Now, by the flesh is meant our
fallen, sinful, human nature. It's what we're born with. We have no confidence in anything
that our flesh has any part They that are in the flesh, Paul said,
cannot please God. If it has to do with something
I did, my will, my resolve, my promise, my efforts to not sin
or to do what's right. And listen, I don't want to sin and I want
to do what's right. I really do. The Lord's my witness. I don't want to sin. And I want
to do what's right by the grace of God. But if I think that my
efforts, my flesh, anything that has anything to do with me, my
resolve, my will, my determination, my intention, if I think that
has anything to do with my salvation, I've missed it. I have absolutely
positively no confidence in it. I have no confidence in my flesh
and I have no confidence in your flesh. The flesh. Oh, the flesh. Let me tell you what I do have
confidence in. Let me tell you something that I flat out do
have confidence in. Here's what I have confidence
in. When Christ said, it is finished. My salvation was finished. That's what I have confidence
in. I don't have confidence in anything
else. Now, when that's your confidence, that means you're glorying in
the cross. You're rejoicing. You have confidence
in what the Lord, who he is, and what he achieved. That is
all we have confidence in. Do you have confidence in anything
else? Do you have confidence in anything that has anything
to do with you? My soul, I don't. Not a bit. All I have confidence in is in
what He did. And beloved, I need no other
argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died And that he died for me. And what's making me
so happy right now is I really do have confidence in him. I'm
not look, don't have confidence in me. I really don't. You know,
the scripture says he the trust in his own heart's a fool. Trust
your heart. Better not. Better not. But oh, may the Lord give us
grace. to trust him. That's the circumcision made
without hands. And that's spiritual circumcision. May we all experience this spiritual
circumcision. Let's pray together.