The True Circumcision

Introduction

And my goal, my goal is simply this. And if I if it could be accomplished, this is a success. If I could help everybody, every person of accountable age here today to discover in your life a successful God-honoring transformation, then that would be success for today. So the discovery of that transformation, the blessing of that transformation, the treasure of that transformation, the hope of that transformation is my gift to you, I hope. And I need to give you a gift because some of you have given me so much stuff around the Christmas time. I think I’ve had every possible sugar concoction given to me over the last several weeks. And I don’t know that it’s kind really. I think you’re trying to kill me. I really think this is your way of trying to get rid of me, to make me OD on sugar.

Okay, so I’m going to give you a better gift. Because I’d love to buy everybody a Christmas gift, but that’s impossible. This is my gift to you today. Do not be conformed to the world. That is ever before us as our challenge. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That’s what we were talking about in Bible class this morning. It’s all about the way we think. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. God is wanting to change us from the inside out to make us his person, to make us a person ready for his presence. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is. Not that it needs to be proven. It’s proven because it comes from God.

But what you’re going to show in your life that it is indeed the will of God. And that it’s good. And that it’s acceptable. And that it’s perfect. And so what I’m giving you today is good and acceptable and perfect if you find it in your life. If we find successful transformation. But there is an overlooked key, I believe, that I’ve been thinking about for a couple of weeks now. Overlooked key in this transformation. It’s a brand new year, but is it the same old you? Want to be different? Want to be better for the Lord? Want to come back tonight at 5 o’clock and learn some more about what you can do for the Lord in the next 12 months, Lord willing. The important key to God pleasing transformation, believe it or not, is circumcision.

1. Circumcise Your Heart

I don’t talk about circumcision much. The Bible talks about circumcision a lot. In fact, it’s all over the Old Testament. It made you an Israelite. Every male was circumcised. It’s what made them different than the Philistines. The uncircumcised Philistines, we read about over and over again. Circumcision was given to Abraham and his descendants, and it indicated you were a son of the promise. You were the covenant people of God. Circumcision was important. So is your circumcision. And now it’s not about being a male. It’s about male and female. And there are hints at this. And we studied this when we studied the book of Deuteronomy together, we talked about it then, but now it’s really jumping out at me. That God is saying, you know what circumcision means to you as an Israelite?

How proud you are of your circumcision because you are a son of Abraham, because you’re of the nation of Israel, and I am your God, and you are my people. He says, circumcision needs to go further than a cutting away of your flesh. Look at this. Deuteronomy 10, verse 16. Remember, 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, things haven’t been going so well. A lot of death, a lot of dying, bad generation. So he tells this young generation circumcise then your heart and stiffen your neck no more. Now, he’s obviously not talking physical. I’ve had a stiff neck. You know, it’s no fun to wake up and your neck is stiff, miserable. He’s not talking about them physically stiffening their necks. He’s talking about them resisting him in their hearts.

Don’t stiffen your neck anymore. Circumcise your heart. Why should you do this? Hey, when I talk about circumcision this morning, why should you do this? For the Lord your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of Lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God. Period. Done. Verse 21. He is your praise. And he is your God who has done these great and awesome things for you, which your eyes have seen. Circumcise your heart. He’s going to say it again in a wonderful context about God’s word is near to you. I’ve spoken to you. You don’t have to go on a ride into the skies to find the word of God. I have brought my word to you. And in that context, he says, verse 6, look at this.

Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants. Whoa. This isn’t just a physical circumcision. This is a spiritual circumcision. This is a circumcision of the heart. I will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants. And notice the result. To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul in order that you may live.

2. Taught and Then Born

The problem with physical circumcision, and Hebrews 8 talks about this at length. When you circumcise an eight-day old male, what guarantee did you have that he would choose to serve the Lord and circumcise his heart? No guarantee. You became a covenant person in the nation of Israel because you were born and then circumcised. You were born and then you were taught. Now, where it went from there, and a lot of times in Israel’s history didn’t go very well. You were born and then taught. The Hebrew writer says, not so in the new covenant. That’s not the way it works. New covenant for all mankind, not just the nation of Israel, but Jew and Gentile, it’s going to work opposite of that. You’re not going to be born and then taught.

You are going to be taught and then born. You’re not going to have to teach your fellow citizen in the kingdom. He’s not saying we’re not going to have to instruct or teach one another like in Psalms and Hymns of Spiritual Songs. He’s saying, nobody comes into the kingdom without first being taught. You’re taught, you circumcise your heart, and as you do that, you’re born. You’re taught and then born. And they all shall know me. From the least to the greatest of them. And I got to throw in a little Malachi here. Malachi is this is a little foretaste of what’s coming. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 16, because he’s writing to a people who are all about physical circumcision. But really, what was our study about in Malachi chapter 1 this morning?

What was it about? You guys need to circumcise your hearts, right? Your worship isn’t what it ought to be. Circumcise your heart. And then he says this, and we get this concept. Those who feared the Lord, Malachi 3.16. Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name. He’s going to distinguish between, he goes on to say, the righteous and the wicked. But if you fear the Lord, if you esteem his name, circumcise your heart, then you get written in my book. So I want to tell you, that’s why the demons don’t want me to preach this sermon this morning, because I’m going to talk to you about getting your name in that book.

3. We Are the True Circumcision

You need your name in that book. Those who fear the Lord and esteem his name. An important key to God pleasing transformation is circumcision. And so when you come to the New Testament, what do you read? We read in Philippians 3, Paul warns about dogs, evil workers. You know what he calls them? Interesting. The false circumcision. Oh, they were physically circumcised. But they were opposing God’s way. They were the false circumcision. Then he says this marvelous thing in Philippians 3 and verse 3. He says, Church at Philippi, you Christians, you are the true circumcision. So whatever we say about being transformed and being renewed in the spirit of our minds, we’re talking about true circumcision. We are the true circumcision. That’s what I want you to be able to say.

Now I want you to go quickly to Romans chapter 2, and I was looking at this just a second ago. I don’t know where to start in this context. You’re going to have to wait till our Roman study to get the full Kaploe on this. But I gotta read most of this to you. Can you buckle down with me? I know you’re tired, but let’s read Romans 2 19 and following. He’s talking to the Jews in chapter 2. And what he’s saying is, just like the people in chapter 1, Gentiles are sinners, you guys are sinners too, and you need God’s plan of salvation. But look at this. He goes, You are competent, and again, I didn’t know where to start. I just chose 19. You are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness.

You’re a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth. You guys are spiritual intellects for sure. You know the law. You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? I guess I better pay attention to that, huh? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, through your breaking the law, do you dishonor God? You think God is just okay with us teaching the truth? No. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Just as it is written, are you still with me, verse 25?

For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the law. But if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If you’re not going to practice the law, and that’s what he was saying back in Deuteronomy, circumcise your hearts. Because if you don’t, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. It’s of no value to you at all. And you can glory all day long. I’m a descendant of Abraham. I’m of the nation of Israel. We’re God’s people. And God says, shut the doors. I don’t want it. Verse 28, we’ll skip down to that. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. And I just want to stop there. Everything I’ve been saying about Zion is right here in this verse. Okay? If you’re in Christ, you are spiritual Judaism.

Okay? For you are not a Jew, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. And Paul talks about that in Philippians 3. He says, hey man, if anyone wanted to claim pedigree, I could claim it, man. I’ve got all the pedigree of being an Israelite, but that’s not what this is about. Okay? He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that which is of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter. That is, and that’s so misunderstood. Not by the law given at Sinai, which is the letter, but by what has been revealed by the Holy Spirit. That’s what transforms us, the renewing of our minds, that which is of the heart by the Spirit, and his praise is not from men but from God.

4. The Devil Stands Firmly Opposed to Your Circumcision

Let me just throw this in, by the way. You Jews who are so glorying in circumcision, and all you care about is people praising you and putting you on a pedestal. But those who are of the true circumcision don’t need that. Their praise comes to them from God because they have circumcised their hearts. Okay. So this is just another way of preaching the message that I preach all the time. That we have to render our hearts to the Lord. And that’s the last thing the devil wants you to do today. The devil stands firmly opposed to your circumcision. He will do whatever he can. And he has limited things that he can do. Believe it or not. He’s powerful. The whole world lies in the sway of the wicked one, 1 John 5 and verse 19.

He has limited power. God has a lot more power than Satan does, but he’s good at what he does. And he sways many. He sways a lot of religious people. But I’ll tell you what the Lord doesn’t want. He wants you to tune me out. He wants you to think you don’t need to hear this. The last thing the devil wants is your circumcision. We talk about the New Testament talking about spiritual warfare. This is exactly what it’s all about. Okay, so what is what is true circumcision? I want to make sure you get this. Some of it said, Well, these concepts are over my head. Most of you should know what physical circumcision is. Okay? Not going to describe that. Certainly not going to have any pictures of it on the slides.

Okay. Spiritual circumcision. Let’s be clear. True circumcision. What you need more than you need lunch right now is you need to yield your heart, your mind to the Lord for cleansing, salvation, and submission to the Lord’s purposes. That’s what it is. We’re going to talk more about it in just a second. But that’s what it is. That’s what Paul’s telling Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Go over here real quick to 2 Timothy 2, 1 through 4. Not many more verses. 2 Timothy 2, 1 through 4, but I want you to get this. You therefore, my son Timothy, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Share what you know with others, verse 2. Verse 3, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of every day, everyday life. So please the one that enlisted him as soldier. We could launch from here talking about spiritual warfare to Ephesians chapter 6 and the whole armor of God, and my buddy Chris Emerson is preaching that for the next three weeks. That’s his New Year’s approach. And so I can do that right now. But you know those passages. We’ve talked about them a lot. Spiritual warfare. The devil is going to try to stop this with all of his being. Let me tell you how he does it. It’s worked with you in the past, it’s worked with me, and he’s going to try it again. Okay? Here’s what he promotes instead of your circumcision to the Lord.

He wants you to be fixated completely on you. That was the problem in Malachi’s day that we said at the end of class this morning. A selfish preoccupation, even an obsession. We live in a world right now that is absolutely obsessed with self. Sermons 3 and 4 of the new year, Lord willing, next week. Okay. He wants instead to allow some ungodly attitude to fester. Galatians 5 calls it the lust of the flesh. It can be something as simple as jealousy and hatred and division. It doesn’t have to be lust. It doesn’t have to be pornography or sexual immorality or drunkenness. He just wants you to hate somebody that you’re supposed to love. He wants you to hurt them. Any kind of ungodly, it doesn’t matter which one you choose.

He’s happy with all of them. Just choose one that works with your personality. Try to destroy somebody. He wants that ungodly attitude to fester. He wants you to love anything you want to love, and there’s a lot of things you can love. He wants you to love anything or anyone that will take you away from true circumcision to the Lord and circumcising your heart to him. Got a lot of options there. Inordinate affection. Or just be lazy. I’m thankful Mike isn’t lazy. He was going to try to tough it out and be here after being in the hospital. But the family wouldn’t let him. Poor Mike. No, they care about Mike. I’m just giving them a hard time. But just get them to be lazy. Slumber.

Get them to quit. Just give up. You can’t do it. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die. Then what? That’s what the devil’s all about. Maybe there’s some other things. I tried to think. I didn’t fill the screen completely, and I like to do that. But I know those five things are what he’s all about. Anything but true circumcision, this is what the devil promotes. Thus, the New Testament is constantly giving attention to the Christian’s warfare. Now I know we got some military guys, and that’s where I’m going with the rest of this morning. This is for Steve. As we talk about spiritual warfare, and have you ever noticed how we name everything? Everything’s an operation. We’ve got Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Desert Shield.

5. Our Operation in Spiritual Warfare

These are all operations within the last 30 years. We have Operation Desert Storm. We have Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Sandstorm. I guess that might have been in a movie. But we have all these operations. Military operations, this is the part I should probably let Steve preach this better. Or John. Military operations are rarely accomplished successfully in a few hours. Have you ever noticed this? Or in a few days. How are they accomplished? With a sustained commitment and focus until the objective is reached. True circumcision is the same way. A sustained commitment and focus until the objective is reached. And that’s why we’re here every week. Military operations require organization and dedication.

Or we think it is.

So I want to give you four things real quick in conclusion. That is our operation in spiritual warfare. Operation number one, sobriety. Clear mindedness. Yeah, I know drinking militates against that. I’ve talked about that before. But I’m talking about a clear mindedness about what’s my purpose here. How can I best live my life? What does a lasting legacy as a Christian look like? What should I be doing every week when the Lord’s people are meeting to focus on God’s things? Maybe I need to be committed to that. Yeah. Operation sobriety. Operation contentment. If we have food and covering therewith to be content. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 8. Listen to me. I have enough. I have enough. You have enough. And we just got more stuff for Christmas.

We have enough. And not only do we have enough physically, we have enough spiritually. Look at this group of people. Look at this church. Yeah, perfection. We’re not going to reach perfection this side of eternity. But I’ve been around, I’ve seen a lot of churches. This is a great one.

We have enough. Let’s be satisfied with enough. And quit wanting more. Operation Salty Speech. Good words. Don’t happen by accident. Kind. Let your speech be seasoned, as it were, with salt, always with grace. Conduct yourself the way you should toward outsiders. Colossians chapter 4, 2 through 5 talks about, let’s work on our speech. If you can control this little member, you can control the whole body as well. James says in chapter 3 and verse 2, this is a good thing to focus on in the new year. I’m going to watch what I say. I’m going to ponder in my heart before I speak. I’m going to consider are my words good? Are they upbuilding? Are they edifying? Do they promote God’s will? Or do they tear down and destroy?

Falsely accuse. Are my words good? I tell you what, we give a sustained effort in sobriety, contentment, salty speech. Well, that sounds like a lot of work, but remember, we circumcise our hearts to the Lord.

Operation diligence. We’ve got to stay at it.

Conclusion

We look for a new heavens and a new earth. What a promise. God has great things in store for us as his people. We’ve just got to be patient. But 2 Peter 3 14 says this therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless, and blameless. And regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation. All right. Here’s the invitation. True circumcision. You need to cut away a sinful past from your heart. That’s what conversion is. It’s not just about going through, okay, the routine is believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. But what is that? What does that say? Doing those things is a cutting away of a sinful past from your heart. It is a remorse for where I’ve been, and saying, Lord, I give you my heart.

I’m going to become a new creature, a new creation. True circumcision. It’s a brand new year, but is it the same old you? Will you today? What a great way to start the year. I’m going to be circumcised unto the Lord. I’m going to cut away from my heart everything the devil’s trying to do to distract me and to clutter my heart from being something that is great and awesome to the glory of our God. One passage and I’m done. Hebrews 13, 20 and 21. Now the God of peace who brought up from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord. Equip you in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen. Let’s sing. Let’s stand.