But the resurrection is what sets you apart. It's not all the same. All roads do not lead to God any more than all roads lead to Rome. The Moscow Road doesn't lead to Rome. God taking upon Himself the form of a man and dying And taking the cup of God's wrath for sinners is the requirement for atonement. And Jesus Christ is the only one that can make claim to that. Now your little side flavor or what tag you put after that is your business. But Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life and no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. And it's because of the resurrection. Many good men, as men go, have died for good causes. Our soldiers do it every day. But only one rose from the dead. Only one was spotless. Only one was God's Son. You trust Him, eternal life for you. Romans 2. as a people, very traditional, and tradition is okay sometimes as long as it doesn't usurp the authority of the Scriptures. We have some good family traditions that my children love. Of course, when you come to what we call holidays, you get, oh boy, do I have a message that's going to fit? The whole book of Romans will fit. Resurrection Sunday. Amen? Let's pray. Lord, thank You for this day. What a glorious day. A bunch of folks getting saved and a bunch of folks getting baptized and clear in their conscience. Lord, I read about those revivals and the two things that went in the revivals. The clock went and the fear of man went. People didn't care what people thought, but they care what You thought. And I pray that today we would care what You think. Lord, even in my preaching, 25 years and I'm still very, very nervous today, Lord, and very concerned what people might think. Yet, Lord, just like Brother Dan said, after the first series of downs, the first hit in the game, you just forget all about it. Help me to do that today as I expound Your Word for Your people. Thank You for working in my life. Thank You, Lord, for giving this day, even though I know it's probably not the exact day and I know the world's made it all about the fertility God and Easter bunnies and Reese's peanut butter eggs, much as I love those, but today I'm thankful that Jesus Christ is not in the tomb. Bless Your Word. In His name we pray, Amen. This is a difficult subject I'm going to preach today because it's just kind of awkward to preach it, but it's a subject that's very biblical. six times in the Bible. But it's nothing to be scared of. I'll preach as generic as the Bible is on this subject. Verse 25, as we preach on spiritual circumcision. Spiritual circumcision. You say, how do you explain that to a child? You've got a little brother and you change diapers. You say, this is the way It was naturally in some people that choose. And when God said this, and you can figure it out for their time when that's... For circumcision, barely profited. You've got to remember, let me say this, Paul to the Romans is refuting this idea that a religious identity or a series of good works is going to earn acceptance with God. And one of their big flagships, one of their big religious identities, one of their big works was circumcision. We're going to talk about what that is in a minute as the Bible explains it. Eternal life, access to God, acceptance with God, pleasing God. These Jews that were first saved at Rome there, they said, we're circumcised. And so Paul is is refuting this. Let's look at it. Let me finish reading our text here. For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law. But if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. If you're circumcised, like Pastor Polk gave the testimony the other night. You get a speeding ticket. You go in there and say, I've always wore my seatbelt. Do you think that man a fool? The judge thought he was a fool. I drove a million miles, I'll have you know your honor, and didn't, and have never got a speeding ticket. Notice he didn't say never sped, he said I never got a speeding ticket. And you know what? The judge more or less said, well we're not talking about those million miles, we're talking about the million and first mile. We're circumcised, but Paul just spent a whole chapter saying, yeah, but you lie, you commit adultery, you cheat, you steal, and you do all the other things that everybody else does. 26, therefore, if the uncircumcision, those Gentile people we've been talking about who follow their conscience, keep the righteousness of the law, that thing written in their hearts, shall not His uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? Now that was a slam. Those people out there are as good as you if they follow their conscience. And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, that's the way a man naturally is, if it fulfill the law, follow that conscience, judge thee who by the letter and the circumcision does transgress the law. You're breaking the law even though you've got this one thing down. Which you didn't have much of a choice because it was the eighth day you were born and you're taking credit for that. I was baptized as an infant, I'll have you know. No choice of yours. Verse 28, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. You know what that is. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly. and circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit, and not in the letter, the letter of the law, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Alright, Romans 10. Let's see what's going on here. Romans 10, verse 3. Verse 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. They go to church on Sunday. They might say prayers before Easter dinner and all that, but not according to knowledge. It's not according to the word of truth. He said, my people perish for lack of knowledge. God has given us a record, and Jesus said, and this record is true. You don't have to guess at it. You don't have to look and say, gee, I don't know... I'm sorry about that term. I don't know which way to turn. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. How are they doing it? Look at Galatians 6. Galatians 6. What specifically were they doing in this idea We don't need God's righteousness. We have our own. We're right enough for God. We're right enough to be accepted. We're right enough for eternal life. Galatians 6, verse 12. And many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh. When you see that term in the flesh, right off the bat, you've got to strike against you. They constrain you to be circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. I don't know which ones are saved and which ones are not, but there are some saved folks there that said, I was brought up in this religion. I'm not leaving my church. I'm not leaving my synagogue. I'm not leaving my traditions. And you know what? You need to be circumcised. So we can say, we've had 27 circumcisions this week. Watch 13. I've got to finish with 12. And the reason that they have these circumcisions, the reasons they stick with their church that they know doesn't teach the truth, the reason they just cannot break away from this tradition, why? Lest they suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. My grandfather paid for that pew. My Aunt Betty paid for the stained glass window. And we were born this way, and baptized this way, and bred this way. And even though I'm saved, and I believe there's good, safe people that love God, but they just for the fear of men, and they don't want to be persecuted. Nope. We've got this little religion that goes on. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, They lie, they cheat, they steal, they have envy, they have deceit, they have debate, they have malignity, they have backbiting, they have all these things, but desire to have you circumcised. Why? That they may glory in your flesh. And I like what Paul says, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 15. So you see what's happening? You've got this circumcision debate going on. Acts 15, verse 24. If anybody ever calls you a legalist, you take them to Acts 15, verse 24. This is the definition of legalism. It's not dressing like a woman. It's not a woman dressing like a woman. It's not wanting to be upright Standards of separation and holiness and consecration and sanctification. Right next to your Bible. Legalist. You're a legalist. Okay, what's a legalist? Verse 24, For as much as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your soul, saying, ye must be circumcised and keep the law. to whom we gave no such commandment." See, you've got to have Christ, but you've got to have Christ plus. That's what a legal law... So here's what Paul's saying in Romans. He's saying, okay, you're circumcised. But you've broken 500 of the other 599 laws, and that makes you a lawbreaker. It's not what specifically you did, it's the fact that you broke the law for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet a fender at one point, he's guilty of all. Of what? Breaking the law. So I was speeding. I broke the law, and the guy next to me pushed a state trooper, and the lady next to me, she got three DWIs, and this person down here, I can't compare, we're all lawbreakers, you understand? Let's look at the circumcision of the flesh and see what that is. Genesis 12. God made a covenant with Abraham. We're going to look at that covenant. You don't want to confuse that covenant with the covenant you're under. You'll have to do such Bible gymnastics to spiritualize everything, you won't have a Bible when you're finished. Genesis 12, verse 1. While you're turning there, I'll read in verse 1. The Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house into a land that I will show thee. And here is the covenant. I'll make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee. And I'll make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing. And I'll bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee. And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Go to verse 15. It continues. In fact, let's go down to chapter 13, verse 15. Samor the Covenant. I'm sorry, verse 14. And the Lord said unto Abraham, after Lot was separated from him, young people, the Lord spoke to Abram after Lot was separated from him. Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward, southward, eastward, and westward, for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, to thy seed forever." Let's continue. This is the covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15. Verse 18. The same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, under thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt. Alright, archeology and geography class, what is the river of Egypt? Nile. That's what I like to hear. Shout it right out. The river of Egypt. The land of I have given the river of Egypt under the great river, the river Euphrates. The Canaanites and the Canaanites and all the Mites I'm going to give that to you. It continues. Genesis 17. Verse 1, when Abraham was 90 years old and nine. He's 99. I want you to appreciate that in this message we're talking about today. He's 99 when he gets a token of this covenant. Abram was 99 years old. The Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto him, this is important, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. I will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abraham fell on his face and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with me, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. He goes on to elaborate on this covenant. Neither shall thy name be any more called Abram, but thou shalt be called Abraham. For a father of many nations have I made thee, and I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee." David came out of him, and Solomon came out of him, and Jesus came out of him physically. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after, and their generations. for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee, to thy seed forever, and I will give unto thee and thy seed, and the land wherein thou art a stranger, the land of the Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." So He made a covenant and now He says, and I'm going to give you a little token. I'm going to give you a sign. I'm going to give you remembrance. Verse 9, God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore. Thou and I seed after thee in their generations. This is My covenant which ye shall keep between Me and you. And I seed after thee. Every man child among you shall be circumcised. Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you. Every man-child in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger which is not of thy seed." Verse 14, "...and the uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, shall be cut off from his people, he hath broken my covenant." Paul said, okay. You're circumcised. You've got that sign. You've got that token. You've got that remembrance. But you've broken other laws and that makes you a lawbreaker. So really, as far as the law is concerned, it's just like you're uncircumcised. And the uncircumcised man who doesn't have this seal, doesn't have this token, doesn't have this remembrance because he's following his conscience, Romans 2, and doing by nature the things contained in the law. He knows it's wrong to lie and he's not. He knows it's wrong to commit adultery and he's following his conscience. It's like he's circumcised when it comes to the heart. That's circumcision of the flesh. Now, Colossians 2, circumcision of the heart. heart and spirit. Colossians 2. He would go so far as to say circumcision availeth nothing. Colossians 2. Round 10. I love verse 10. For ye are complete in Him. Wait a minute. You sinned yesterday, Manny. I mean, if I had to bank everything I don't have on you, I bet you sinned yesterday. Ye are complete. In Him. You messed up this week. You had a bad thought. You envied someone. You got bitter. You gossiped about somebody. You looked at a woman with lust in your heart. You didn't submit to her. Whatever it is. Ye are complete where? In Him. In Him. Now watch this. In whom ye also, also ye are circumcised. Watch it. With the circumcision made without Him. in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. No longer is it a physical cutting away now the body of the sins of the flesh that drag you down and send you to hell. When Christ comes in and does an operation, He's going to literally cut your soul and spirit away from the body of sins in your members. That's the message Paul is trying to get to the Romans. The guys that are in court for a speeding ticket and they're saying, we wear our seatbelts. Well, now you've got a speeding ticket and you wear your seatbelts. Like the policeman told me, he said, I'm running late. He says, you're really late now. Deuteronomy chapter 10. This was not a new message for these Jews. Deuteronomy chapter 10. Not a new message. Verse 16, "...circumcised therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked." He says it again in chapter 30 and verse 6. Jeremiah chapter 4. It's not a new message for them. It's not, ok, we're changing this now. That outward circumcision In fact, some Christian groups go so far as to say that's why we baptize infants. Because the way the infant was circumcised in the Old Testament, we baptize in the New Testament. We're going to agree with that. It's an individual trusting. It's an individual faith in Christ. But really, in a lot of ways, this physical circumcision was a picture of that Jew's heart, the foreskin, the hardness, the callousness, of that Jew's heart being cut away that was just a picture just like this baptism is a picture of salvation in Jesus Christ. Okay? So he says in Jeremiah 4, verse 3, "...For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up the fallow ground and sow not among thorns, circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart. I don't like this part. Ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth to thee like fire and burn, that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings. I want to give you a few parallels between physical and spiritual circumcision this morning. Number one, Somebody else has to do the operation. In every case I looked up, I didn't see any place where someone circumcised themselves. And if you look at this razor blade, you can understand why. It's too hard. Someone told me I wanted to kill myself. They said, but I just couldn't do it. I'll tell you, somebody kills themselves, that means the pain of living becomes less than the pain of dying. That's bad, bad pain. And God doesn't want that for you. I'll tell you what, in that Old Testament, that said Abraham circumcised Isaac the eighth day. And God said that He would circumcise. And in every case in the Bible, they would go to someone else and they would circumcise them. And you can understand why. Because it hurts. Acts chapter 15. Look at Acts 15, verse 10. Now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples? They were trying to bring works upon these Gentiles which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. Listen, they couldn't carry that law. It was too heavy. And now God comes along and says, I want to do an operation on you that you can't do yourself. You know what? It's too hard to give in to God. It's too hard to break up your own fellow ground. A work salvation is too hard. God must come in. Christ and Christ alone must come in and circumcise you, Colossians says, without hands. And you know what's happened here in these last few weeks and months? God has been doing some operations. Not man. That's my prayer. God, I want something that man can't take the credit for and I want it so bad that even I don't want to take the credit for it. And the pride running through my blood lets you know that's real bad. I want that. And I thank God for operating on people. And religion can't do it, but God can do it. You don't need a new leaf. You know how many New Year's resolutions I've made? A thousand pounds worth. You can't even remember what your New Year's resolution was, let alone keep it. You need a new life. And a new life can only come by the operation of God when the Word of God, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and as a discerner, and He takes the body of sins and He cuts them away and my sins are all gone. He got religion. No, I got Jesus. He's going to church. No, I've been spiritually operated on. You can't explain it any other way. Number two, Genesis 34. God has to do the operation. Number two, you must totally submit and open yourself and become vulnerable. I won't go into the story. But this is some kind of story. This guy that wasn't God's people, he liked one of the girls that was God's people. And they kind of got together. I can't get the sense from it whether he forced her or not. I don't think he did. It just says he lay with her and he defiled her and he really, really, really loved her. And you don't really hear from her again. So I was kind of thinking it might be mutual. And they came and they said, oh, this made her brothers mad. Her brothers got mad about this uncircumcised heathen come here and lay with our sister. They're not the people of God. It ought to upset you when our kids go to the world. And these brothers, they made a scheme. They said, look, we'd love to have you, brother, but we're circumcised. And so you've all got to go circumcise everybody in your group and then we'll get married and we'll mingle and all that. And he loved that girl so much. And these guys, listen girls, these guys wanted those pure, holy, submissive Christian girls so much. They said, ok, look at verse 25, Genesis chapter 34. came to pass on the third day when they were sore. Vulnerability. Brother, we're talking about, and I'm trying to be as generic as I can, we're talking about sensitive, we're talking about what the Bible calls privy And they so desired this thing that they opened up and they said, we will become vulnerable. We will open up to what God wants. Circumcision makes the flesh sore, spiritually and physically. You know why many a young man won't submit to this? circumcision. It's too much to be crucified to this world. It's too much to be cut away. It's too much to be sanctified. I can't take the pain. It hurts. It's a death. It's a dying. Someone else has got to do the operation. You've got to totally submit and become vulnerable. That's what these young people have been doing. I don't care anymore. I don't care if it's going to hurt my reputation. I don't care if it's going to hurt how cool I am. I don't care the bridges I've burned behind me, mocking Christians and preachers and churches and all that. I want God. And he says, OK, let me come in there. Point number three, you soon forget about the pain. If you were an infant, how many remember? If you were an adult, does it still hurt? No. You submit to the operation of God, you will not regret it! And the things that so pains you to be cut away from this world, and cut away from the friends, and cut away from the sin, and cut away from the thought life, and cut away from the sorrow, and cut away from the death. All those things you look, they will pale in comparison to the new life of the operated being in Jesus Christ. We were driving home from the Missions Conference one day. I think I told this, and I said, What are you thinking? My daughter Mary had recently gotten saved, and like so many of these other ones thought she had it earlier, realized she wasn't sorry for her sin, and she said this. I just keep thinking to myself, is this what I was resisting? Is this what I was holding back on? What was wrong with me? What happened? She forgot about Oh, that first step is going to be so hard. What's everybody going to think? It's going to hurt. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do this. People are going to question me. I'm questioning me. But the pain of the operation soon goes away. A smiling young man came up to me after that restoration service Wednesday night. I'd never seen anything like it. I'll remember this picture as long as I live. And with a big smile on his face, no braces, he said, and he was waiting because people were about hugging him, he said, one brother almost knocked me over, he hugged me so hard. I saw he was waiting and I finally broke away from it and I said, yeah, and he said, thanks for kicking me out. What happened? He let God do an operation. Well, is it salvation? Or is it sanctification? Or is it becoming a disciple? I don't know, but I know it's an operation. You'll forget about it. You make that decision to go for God. You will not regret the operation. I had back surgery in 1995 and I held it off for 10 years, Jerry, because I never heard a good story. And I came to the point where I was preaching in a chair and 1800 mg of ibuprofen every day and ice and heat and crawling around the house like an animal. And I said, what's the difference if they cripple me? I'm already crippled. I'd never been under the knife and I was scared and never been cut with a razor blade. He looked at that picture and he said, oh, we can help you out. I said, you can? Oh yeah. What you've got is this and that. Do you have like a 6% reoccurrence in your case? In our office this is 3%. 1995 and a whole winter. I'll never forget, I was laying, the stuff was taking its effect and I was starting to go out. And the guy says, you're here to have your tonsils out, right? Real funny, buddy. Now I'd have been a multi-millionaire if they would have said that. I never had incision pain before. I had a lot of back pain. But oh, that incision pain. I don't have a big high pain tolerance. And what was even worse when he took that Band-Aid, which was just about as big as a crib mattress, and he went. But you know what he said to me, Dan? He said, after 12 weeks, I want you to go on with your life like nothing ever happened. Look at me! Unless it was gingerly. You'll not regret it. It'll put you in the minority. 30% of the people, men in the world, are physically circumcised. People talk, oh, the rapture, the great departing, millions disappear. When you consider, at the time of this writing, the world population was about 5 billion. Muslims, 935 million. Non-religious, 866 million. Hindus, 705 million. Buddhists, 303 million. Atheists, 233 million. Chinese religionists, 180 million. A new religious, 138 million. Tribal religious, 92 million. Sikhs, 18 million. Jews, 17 million. And Confucius, and all these millions. Since the Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him, this means that 3,523,000,000 people on the earth are of a religious persuasion that exempts them from the rapture. uh... mainline denominations of nine hundred ninety five million roman catholic protestant three hundred sixty three million orthodox hundred sixty six million anglican seventy two million other christians under fifty nine million the bible declares that salvation is by grace through faith and not works considering that many of the above denominations religions are built highly honest entirely on a system of works all which one must perform to earn salvation there is little hope that more than a very far small few uh... group of them are genuinely saved. After more than 20 years of dealing with church members on a daily basis, I am of the following opinion of every thousand church members of a Protestant and a fundamental church, 300 are Christian in word only and could not give a scriptural definition of salvation if their life depended on it. 300 others are trusting in water baptism, another 300 counting on some sort of good works to get them to heaven. 50 more are workers of iniquity seeking to ruin the church to which they belong or use it for social, political, or business objectives. 40 know the way of salvation, but they have not yet received Christ. We will be liberal enough to grant that some Protestants, some Orthodox, and even occasional other denominations or cult member are saved. Yet it is not unreasonable to suggest that less than 1 million people out of the 5.3 billion on the earth are trusting in the finished sacrifice work of Jesus Christ on the cross. You know what that makes you? A minority. There ought to be some kind of tax benefit for being in this thing. And if you believe in an inspired, preserved Bible, that really puts you in a minority. And if you walk around half-dressed, now you are an all... I mean, that didn't come out right. When you're walking around with clothes on, when everyone else is walking around half-dressed, now you're really in the minority. You know what that spiritual circumcision did to you? It cut you away and it set you apart and it made you special before Almighty God. You know it. If you're circumcised, you know it. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And I think that's what happens in what we're seeing around here. A lot of times, gee, I just don't know. Let me tell you, when I was operated on with that fact, I knew. Abraham Fellows was 99 years old. You love me, Abraham? That was something else. Sacrifice His Son. This is the sign of the tough... Can you imagine this fellow going to his wife, just talk to God again today. Oh, I suppose he wants you to kill our son again today. Nope! Something different, honey. You old crazy 99-year-old kook, what are you, losing your mind? He knew it. We're finishing up. Romans 4.11 with Ephesians 4.30. I've got some big old pork roast to go home to today. Romans 4.11 with Ephesians 4.30. Romans 4.11 first. And He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised." Many, many, many years passed from the time that Abraham believed God as an old man that he was going to have a son. What age was that when he got that promise? Ninety? Ninety? Now he's 99. A decade has passed. Alright? But he calls it a sign and a seal. Alright? Ephesians 4, verse 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. What's cut away is gone for good. You know what God operated on you? He cut away the body of the sins of the flesh. That, my friend, is the best picture of the security of the believer in the Bible. Have we ever had an uncircumcision? We have on Cola and we have on this and on that. But you won't have uncircumcision. You know why? Because it's dead. What was cut away is dead. You can't cut a finger off and leave the finger laying out in the yard for three days and come back and sew it on because it has no life. And I'm telling you, the same way the preacher had that corpse up here the other night and talked about us being dead in trespasses and sins, the good news is this morning that if you're saved, your life is hid with Christ in God. You're no longer dead to God, but you're dead to sin. 1 John chapter 5, and then we'll go home. I'm sorry, 1 John 3. Ooh, I love this verse. If you don't put this the way we're putting it forth today, I don't know what you're going to do with this verse outside of change it. I want you to picture a man. He's dead in trespasses and sin. His soul and spirit is just like an aluminum, like a metal alloy is just embraced together with the sins of his flesh. And he repents. And he says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And he's forgiven those sins. And that great physician from heaven comes in and he cuts away the body of the sins of the flesh. Now I'm going to read the verse. Whosoever, verse 9, 1 John 3, 9, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed, that's God's seed, remaineth in him. For he cannot sin. Why? Because he is born of God. What is gone is gone for good. Are you grateful that your sin is gone for good? Far as the east is from the west. I'm crucified under the world. This is the practical application now. Because I'm dead to sin, I shouldn't live any longer therein. The trouble is I've got to carry this corpse around. All my life I've got this battle I've got to fight. But He says, listen, if you'll just reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin, buried with Him in the baptism that you trusted in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be crucified to the world, dead to the world, and the world unto you. He said in Genesis chapter 17, And whosoever doesn't shall be cut off from among you. Let's stand.