is not that I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I have entitled this morning's
message, People with a Bible. People with a written revelation
from God. Now last week, we considered
people without a Bible, the Gentiles, and their guilt before God, even
though they did not have a Bible. This morning, we're going to
consider those with a Bible. Now, Paul says in verse 17 of
Romans chapter two, and if you could get your Bible and follow
along, I think it would be helpful. Paul says in Romans chapter two,
verse 17, behold, thou art called a Jew. Now notice he said you're
called a Jew. These people that he's speaking
to who were given this written revelation from God, they had
a copy of the Bible called the Jews. They didn't really have
an understanding of what a true Jew was because if you're a believer,
you're a true Jew. You're a Jew with a circumcised
heart. And that's what circumcision,
we're going to consider that in a moment. But he says, notice, he says,
you're called a Jew. For argument's sake, let's say
you are a Jew, one of God's chosen people, that nation that he made
himself known to. You know, there are some our
Lord warns of who say they are Jews and are of the synagogue
of Satan. But let's say this man is a Jew,
someone who has a written revelation from God. Behold, thou art called
a Jew, and you rest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
and you know His will, and you approve the things that are more
excellent, being instructed out of the law. Now, this is the
person who's given a copy of the Bible. He rests in the law. He boasts of a special relationship
with God. He knows God's will of command. He's been given a copy of the
Ten Commandments. He knows nothing of God's will
the way Paul did when Ananias came to him and said, The God
of our fathers has chosen thee that thou should know his will
and see that just one and hear the voice of his mouth. And they
knew nothing of that will. God's will and redemption, but
they knew God's will of command. He said, you know His will and
you approve the things that are excellent, more excellent being
instructed out of the law. You're not like those people
who have no Bible. You know something about God
being instructed out of the law. Verse 19, you have some confidence.
Thou art confident that thou thyself are the guide of the
blind. Very high opinion of themselves with this law. Thou art confident
thou thyself are a guide of the blind. a light of them which
are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, and a teacher
of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth
in the law. You've been given a Bible, and
you have a form of knowledge. Now, I could be speaking, this
could be a reference to everybody listening right now. You've got
a Bible. You've at least got access to
a Bible, and you have a form. Kind of like Paul said, they
have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.
You have a form of the knowledge and the truth that is in the
law. You know, there is a kind of knowledge that only puffs
up one with pride, and that's really the kind he's talking
about. You have a form of the truth, but not the truth himself.
You see, the truth is a person. It's not just giving assent to
some doctrine. Your knowledge has to do with the intellect,
but not with the affections. It has to do with information.
but not experience. It has to do with personal gain,
but knows nothing of the glory of God. He says to these people
with the Bible, you've got a form of the truth and the knowledge
that is found in the law. Now he says in verse 21 of Romans
chapter 2, thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou
not thyself? You're ready to instruct others.
You're ready to win others. You want to be a soul winner.
But do you not instruct yourself? Thou that preachest to man should
not steal. And that's a good thing. Man
shouldn't steal. Dost thou steal? You may not have shoplift lifted,
but you've robbed God of the glory that goes only to him and
taken it to yourself. You've stolen credit. where there
was none due. You've done that. He says in
verse 22, thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery. And
everybody knows adultery is wrong. Thou that sayest a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? I think of those
men that brought that adulterer up who was caught in the act
to our Lord and brought him before him. And they said, what are
we going to do with him? Moses said such should be stoned.
What do you say? They thought they had the Lord
entrapped. And they thought, well, if he says stone her, we'll
say, where's your mercy for sinners? And if he says let her go, we
can say, where's your respect for God's law? Because the law
says stone her. And you know what the Lord said to them? He
said, he that's without sin among you, let him throw the first
stone. And I don't have any doubt that
he's talking about that sin. They brought this woman taken,
but they were adulterers. You see, all you gotta do is,
according to the scriptures, is lust after a woman in your
heart, and you have committed adultery. Now, thou that sayest
a man should not commit adultery, does thou commit adultery? Thou
that abhorrest idols, you're against idols, you're an iconoclast,
do you commit sacrilege? Do you commit idolatry? Thou that makest the, verse 23,
Thou that makest thy boast of the law. You've been given this
written revelation through breaking the law. Dishonorst thou God?
You're dishonoring God. You've got this written revelation,
but you don't keep anything it says. All you do is break the
law. You haven't kept one commandment
one single time. Did you know that about yourself?
You have not kept one commandment. Not in your heart. You've not
kept one commandment one time. He says, for the name of God
is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it's written.
They make fun of you. You talk about being God's people.
I think of the average fundamentalist and so on, and people look at
them and they see the hypocrisy, obviously, maybe non-religious
people. The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,
as it's written, for circumcision, verse 25, for circumcision verily
profits if you keep the law. But if you're a breaker of the
law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision." Now what is
this thing of circumcision? It was instituted by God in Genesis
chapter 17. And the people that Paul was
writing to at this time were people who were circumcised according
to the law. They had gone through this Jewish
rite. It was a token of God's covenant
with Israel. It was a sign by which Israel
was distinguished from all other nations, and it's a picture of
spiritual regeneration, the circumcision of the heart, the circumcision
made without hands, when a new heart is given that was not there
before, and you see sin for the first time. You had definitions
of sin, but you see that you are sin for the first time. When God gives you a circumcised
heart, when he cuts away the callous and gives you a new heart
that believes, you see sin. And you also see your need of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you are made to cry out for
mercy. You know, you couldn't even eat
the Passover if you were not circumcised. Now, Paul says physical
circumcision is beneficial if you keep the law. But have you
done? Have you kept the law? The answer
is no. It's meaningless if you do not
obey the law. Now, Paul gives us a hypothetical
situation in the next verse. Verse 26, he says, therefore,
if the uncircumcision, the people who've never been circumcised
and have never been given a copy of the Bible, if the uncircumcised
keep the righteousness of the law, Shall not his uncircumcision
be counted for circumcision? If somebody kept the law perfectly
and they were uncircumcised, would God accept them? Of course
He would. And shall not the uncircumcision,
which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the
letter, by the word of the law and circumcision does transgress
the law? Verse, wouldn't that person be
better off who's kept the law than the person who has a copy
of the scripture and has been circumcised but doesn't keep
the law? In reality, the person with the written revelation from
God has greater guilt than the person without the written revelation
of God because he's sinning against more light. There are degrees
of guilt and it has to do with how much light you have. There
are those who will be beaten with few stripes and there were
those who will be beaten with many stripes. So actually that
person with a Bible, with the written revelation of God that
doesn't keep the law, that person has contracted greater guilt
to themselves than that person who has no Bible. Now Paul makes
this statement in verses 28 and 29. He says, for he is not a
Jew. which is one outwardly. You know,
people make a big issue of the nation of Israel, and that's
the Jews. No, that's just a nation over in the Middle East, and
it's not a true Jew. Paul tells us that. He is not
a Jew which is one outwardly. You may be able to trace your
pedigree all the way down to Abraham, but that doesn't make
you a Jew. He is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly. Neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh. Somebody that's just been physically
circumcised, that's not true circumcision. Paul says in verse
29, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men, but of God. Now, circumcision, physical
circumcision, is not the circumcision of the heart. You know, Moses
said in Deuteronomy 10, 16, circumcise the four skins of your heart
and be not stiff-necked, hard-hearted, and calloused. Now, a circumcised
heart is the heart that God gives in the new birth. It's regeneration. It's being born again. It's having
God the Holy Spirit come to you and do something for you and
do something in you. That's what a circumcised heart
is. It's the work of God. It's the circumcision made without
hands. It's not a physical thing. It's
a spiritual thing. The Lord said in John chapter
16, verse 8, when he has come, speaking of the Holy Spirit,
He will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father. Of judgment, because the Prince
of this world is judged. Now here's what happens when
you have a circumcised heart. First, you're convinced of sin. And I'll tell you when you're
convinced of sin, when you're made to see that even faith is
out of your reach. You don't even know what it means
to believe. You see that you're nothing but sin. Now when God
the Holy Spirit convicts you, you see that. Now if you don't
see it, It's because you don't have the Holy Spirit. If you
have the Holy Spirit, this much you'll know. You'll know that
in and of yourself, you are nothing but sin before God. And He'll
convince the world of righteousness. You become convinced that the
only righteousness there is, is the righteousness of Christ,
the one that He brings to the Father. That you don't have any
personal righteousness, and your only hope of righteousness is
having His righteousness as your own righteousness before God.
You see, there's an understanding of what took place on the cross.
On the cross, my sin became the sin of Christ. It became his
sin. He became guilty of it. I did it, but it became his.
He bore the punishment, he put it away, and he gives his very
righteousness to me, and I understand righteousness. The world is convinced
of righteousness and of judgment. You're convinced that all judgment
took place on the cross, and it's all taken care of. Now,
that's what happens when someone has a circumcised heart. Now, here is a thought that overwhelmed
me. A Bible, a written revelation from God, will do me no good
if it's not accompanied with the circumcision made without
hands. I need God to do something in
me. I need Him to do something for
me. I need Him to have mercy on me. I need him to take away
my sins. I need for God to do something
for me, but I also need for God to do something in me. Paul put
it this way in Galatians 115, when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal
his son in me. that I might preach Him among
the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood." You know, it's not enough for Christ to be revealed
to me because I'll forget, I'll lose Him. I need Him to be revealed
in me. I need to have a heart circumcised,
circumcision made without hands, the work of God in me. He is a Jew. He is a Jew which
is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit,
the new heart God gives, the new spirit God gives, not in
the letter. The letter is the law. That's
all it refers to. knowing how to spell something,
but knowing not the meaning. And that's the way most people,
people can read the Bible, but they have no idea what it means.
The letter, whose praise, listen to this, whose praise, this person
with a circumcised heart, whose praise is not of men, but of
God. God praises this man who has a circumcised heart. Men
won't praise him. Men won't understand him. They have no idea where
he's coming from. But God praises this man. Now what's something have to
be for God to praise it? It's got to be perfect. He'll
only praise that which he has done. He can't praise anything
you and I have done. He can only praise that which
he has done. And he praises that one that he has done a great
work of grace in and given them a circumcised heart. Now, here
is the question I want to leave us with. How can I know if I
have a circumcised heart? I want one. I want God to do
this for me. And I want to be honest. I want
to face the scriptures, what the scriptures has to say about
this. How can I know if I'm somebody with a circumcised heart? Now,
I'm going to read a passage of scripture from Philippians chapter
three, where Paul tells us of this circumcised heart. Now he
says in verse one of Philippians chapter three, finally, my brethren
rejoice in the Lord." Now what does that mean, rejoice in the
Lord? In the Lord. Well, what I think
about is being in the house with the blood over the door. If you
were in the house with the blood over the door, you know what
you were? You were safe. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. What did it mean to be in the
ark? If you were in the ark, you were safe from the wrath
of God. Now rejoice in the Lord. Here's our rejoicing. Finally,
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Now he says, to write the same
things to you, to me, indeed, is not grievous. It's not irksome.
I'm going to keep preaching the same gospel. And I hope somebody,
when they hear me preach, and they hear me preach again, and
hear me preach again, they say, he's only got one thing to say.
Well, he never preaches anything different. He's only got one
thing to say. Now, I'm glorying that, and I'm not talking about
saying things in a boring way and never varying. But I'm talking
about the doctrine, the truth, the message I preach is always
the same. You hear me now, you hear me
in 10 years, it'll be the exact same message by the grace of
God. And Paul says to write the same things to you, to me, to
keep speaking of the gospel of Christ and the gospel of grace.
It's not irksome, it's not grievous. But for you, it's safe. Now he
says in verse two, beware of dogs. Now he's not talking about
the kind that bark and canines. He's talking about false prophets
and he calls them dogs. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. They talk about good works, but
they're evil workers. Beware of the concision. And
this is a play on words. He's talking about the circumcision,
and he calls them the concision, the mutilators. They talk about
circumcised, but what they are are mutilators. Now he says in
verse 3, for we are the circumcision, unlike them. We are the circumcision. If you want to know what true
circumcision is and what it represents, here it is. We are the circumcision,
and he gives three marks, which worship God in the Spirit. Secondly, which rejoice in Christ
Jesus. And thirdly, we have no confidence
in the flesh. Now, here is what I need. Even if I've got a Bible, even
if I've got the truth, it won't do me any good at all unless
God does something for me, unless He gives me this circumcised
heart. Now, here's circumcision. We
are the circumcised. We are the circumcision, first
of all, which worship God. Now, what is this thing of worship? You know, people invite other
people, come worship with us. You know, I never say that. I
don't say, come worship with me, because you've got to have
the Holy Spirit to worship. There's no way the flesh can
worship. We worship God in the Spirit. Now, first of all, we
worship God. What does it mean to worship God? It means you
bow down before Him as He is, and you worship Him for who He
is. You're not worshiping a false
concept of God. You're worshiping Him for who
He is, and you will only worship an absolute sovereign God. One that you can't control. One
that you can't manipulate. One that you can't get to go
your way. You can't do something to change
Him. He is God. You'll only worship a God who
has absolute control. If you can control Him, if you
can manipulate Him, you can't worship Him. You'll only worship
an absolutely sovereign God. Now, here's an example. Here's
an example of worship. In Matthew chapter 8, we read of this leper,
it says, Behold, a leper came and worshipped him. Now, I know
this about this leper. He worshipped. Scripture says
he did. Behold, a leper came and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now, this leper knew that he
couldn't make himself clean. He knew he couldn't make the
Lord cleanse him. He knew it was all together in
his sovereign hands. He said, Lord, if you will, not
my will, it's up to you. If you will, I sure want you
to. If you will, you can. You have the ability to make
me clean. Have you ever come to the Lord
like that? Lord, if you will. Not, I've been a lecher. What
if that leper would have come and said, I've decided I'm going
to let you make me clean. I'm going to allow you to come into my heart
and clean everything up. Well, you don't do that. That's not
the way you come into the Lord's presence. Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. I think of that Syrophoenician
woman who came to the Lord It says, Jesus, our son of David,
have mercy on me. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. Oh, she had a great need. She
came to him with respect, knowing who he was, the son of David,
and with a great need. And the scripture says he answered
her not a word. He didn't respond to her. But
she kept crying, Lord, have mercy on me. And he said, I didn't
come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I didn't come
for everybody. And you know what she did? Scripture
says, then she said, Lord, help me. And she worshipped him. Lord,
help me. Then she worshipped. She saw
that there's nothing she could do to get the Lord to respond,
but yet she worshipped him for who he was. And he said, it's
not right to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs.
And she said, that's the truth, Lord. But the dogs eat of the
crumbs that fall from their master's table. I'm a dog and I'd be grateful
for any crumbs of mercy you send my way." Now that is worship.
Then came she and worshiped him. You see, worship is a response
to revelation. If God reveals himself to you,
you will worship. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit. You know the flesh cannot worship
God. It doesn't have the ability to
worship God. It doesn't have the ability to
see God or to believe God. All it is is flesh. I need the
Holy Spirit. Actually, I touched on this a
moment ago. I don't say we invite you to come worship with us.
I want you to come to hear the gospel. And if you have the Holy
Spirit, you will worship. But it takes God the Holy Spirit,
it takes a new heart to worship. We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the Spirit. And secondly, he says, we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. Now that word rejoice is the
same word that Paul used in Galatians 6.14 when he said, God forbid
that I should glory. That's the word. God forbid that
I should have confidence in. God forbid that I should rest
in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember
who Paul was. Paul was the great apostle. He
was the man God used more than anybody else. He was brought
up into the third heavens and God taught him the gospel directly.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught him the gospel directly. He was
somebody. And yet what does he say? God
forbid that I should glory, that I should have confidence in anything
but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the only place I
rejoice is in Christ. There's where my confidence is.
My confidence is this, all God requires of me He looks to His
Son for. Here's my confidence that in
Him I have no sin, that He is all my salvation, and I have
confidence in nothing else. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. We put no confidence in anything
we've done, only in what He has done. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. And here's how you can tell if
you rejoice in Christ Jesus. This is what he says thirdly,
we have no confidence in the flesh. Absolutely no confidence
in anything that has anything to do with the flesh, anything
to do with us. Our confidence is in Christ Jesus. Now Paul tells us what he means
by that. He says in verse four of Philippians chapter three,
though I might also have confidence in the flesh, If any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more. I have more than him. Now he
goes on to tell us about his pedigree. He says, I was circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin.
I was a real Jew. And Hebrew of the Hebrews, as
touching the law, I was a Pharisee. Concerning zeal, I persecuted
the church. I believed what I believed so
strongly that I thought it my moral responsibility to persecute.
Anybody didn't believe what I believed. He said, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, I was blameless. Outwardly, he said, I kept the
Ten Commandments. That I find to be amazing, but
he said he could at least outwardly say, I've kept the Ten Commandments,
touching the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless,
verse 7. What things were gained to me,
I thought this was to my advantage to have this Jewish pedigree,
to have this personal righteousness. What things were gained to me,
those I counted loss. I count them now as garbage for
Christ. Christ, yea doubtless. I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done. I haven't lost anything that
I may win Christ and be found in Him." Remember how he said
to rejoice in Christ? Paul said, here's my one desire,
that I may win Christ and be found in Him, so when God comes
looking for me, He finds me in the Lord Jesus Christ, the place
of all blessing, the place of all security, the place of forgiveness,
the place of salvation, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that I
may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, which is according to my personal obedience
to the law, That which is through the faith of Christ, the faithfulness,
the obedience of Christ, the righteousness which is of God
by faith. Oh, if I'm in Christ, that means
I have the very righteousness of God. Now this person without
a Bible, or with a Bible, What does he need? You know, the reality
is that the Bible won't do him any good. It won't do me any
good or you any good unless God gives us this circumcised heart
where we worship Him in the Spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus and
we have no confidence in the flesh. May God give me and you
that heart. To request a copy of the sermon
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