hi my name is Luke um there's not a good way to transition from that and I think you know in in many ways I think we're going to just continue to um pray for the deers as uh the week goes on and as the day goes on um but this morning wanted to um wanted to open God's word with you and see what he has for us um we've been in the Book of Romans we've been slowly kind of going through bit by bit chunk by chunk and today we come to a passage at the end of Romans Chapter 2 but we probably won't get there for just a little bit um we're going to be in the Old Testament a little bit and we're going to kind of be talking about some of the um the we're going to be connecting the Bible the Bible tells one coherent story a lot of times we see it in small chunks whether that's through Bible study or whatever we have but it also tells one significant connected story and today we're going to get a glimpse of that story so what we've talked about so far in the Book of Romans is Paul kind of starts out with this proclamation of his summary of what he's talking about in Romans 1: 16-17 he says this he says for I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes first to the Jew and then to the Gentile for in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith From First to Last just as it is written the righteous shall live by faith Paul right there says he's not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God and it brings salvation to everyone who would believe First to the Jew and then to the Gentile and we've got these two categories of people he says those who are Jewish and those who are not Gentiles and Paul through throughout the book at least so far in particular has gone back and forth he's talked about Gentiles who don't know God and he's talked about Jews who should know God but seem to act like they don't and Paul has leveled the playing field he said the Gentiles they have no excuse because they suppress the truth of God through what is plainly known about him in creation and in the whole world and then the Jews who have the word of God the Commandments of God seem to ignore what he has said and so Paul is leveling the playing

field and so what we've got to kind of ask oursel as Paul is kind of leveling this playing field is who then are God's people if if the playing field is equal who do we know belongs to God who is God's people that's kind of the question that we kind of have to ask ourselves and you know we always kind of there's ways we can kind of tell who people are right if you were to come and hang out with uh me and my family you would know um that my family me my four younger brothers and my dad are all related why because we all share the same hairline um my youngest brother is catching up um he wants to deny it but it is coming um we are all bald um and we all wear beards most of the time um we all I very like if you could just imagine like a little bit of hair around here kind of like a monk and lots of gray that would be my dad so I am a spitting image of my dad in some ways and so um thank you Dad for the hairline um but we right we all know like who we are because of different markers right you know what sports team you guys are rooting for because of what what gear you got on today right we all know um we have those markers you can tell if someone is from the Midwest or if they're from the south or if they're from New England based on their accent right we've all got these like like markers or indicators of who we are of where we belong and and indicators of who we are and so what are the markers of God's people how did God set aside um people for himself in the book we're going to be in the Book of Genesis Genesis 12 to be

specific but the Book of Genesis the word Genesis means beginnings and the book has the beginning of so many things but we have that story some of the stories of Genesis are some of the most well-known right we have the story of Adam and Eve in the garden we have the story of Cain and Abel we have the story of Noah and the flood the Tower of Babel all of these things God has all of humanity and Humanity so far in the story has done one single thing and that is rebel against God at every single point God has set mankind apart and he says follow me I'm your God I created you and they choose not to they choose to elevate themselves we choose to uh serve other gods and God is kind of I mean he's done a lot at this point he's flooded the entire world he's scattered the languages and God decides to call apart not just all of humanity but he decides to call apart one family says I'm going to take one family I'm going to call you apart to be my people and that's where we drop into in Genesis 12 we'll read the first four verses here the Lord said to Abram go from your country your people and your father's house hold to the land I will show you I will make you a great nation and I will bless you I will make your name great and you will be a blessing I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you so Abraham went as the Lord has told him and lot went with him Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Haron so God calls out Abram he's like I'm asking you to leave all of your family I'm asking you to leave your people your hometown your 75 I know it's a little late for a midlife crisis but it's happening now I would like you to come out with me and I'm going to take you to a land that I'm going to show you I'm going to give that land to you and I'm going to call you into being a nation a people people set apart now there's a lot that happens in the story of Abraham but we're going to skip ahead a few chapters to chapter 17 and this is where God comes again and he sets apart he adds a new layer to the Covenant that he's made and a covenant is a fancy word in the Bible for promise it's a way of establishing a relationship between a promise the Covenant that we we are most familiar with in our modern ages because we don't make covenants on a day-to-day basis anymore right the Covenant we're most familiar with is marriage that's the marriage covenant it's a relationship formed over a promise over a relationship that is bound together and so God makes a promise to Abraham in chapter 17 we're going to read this section here and walk through it a little bit

so when Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared to him and the Lord said I am God Almighty walk before me faithfully and be blameless then I will make my Covenant between me and you he's going to establish relationship between him and Abram and I will greatly increase your numbers Abram he fell face down and got said to him as for me this is my Covenant with you you will be the father of many nations no longer will you be called Abram you will be called Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations I will make you very fruitful I will make the nations of you and the Kings you will come from you I will establish my Covenant as a Everlasting Covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come here's a key place right here it says to be your God and the god of your descendants right he's establishing a relationship I'm going to be your God and I'm going to be the god of your Descendants the whole land of Canaan where you now reside as a foreigner I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendance after you and I will be their God then God said to Abra abam as for you you must keep my Covenant and your descendants after you for the generations to come this is my Covenant with you and your descendants after you the Covenant you are to keep every male among you shall be circumcised you are to undergo circumcision and it will be the sign of the Covenant between me and you for the generations to come every male among you who is 8 days old must be circumcised including those born in in your household or bought with money from a foreigner those who are not your Offspring whether born in your household or bought with your money they must be circumcised my Covenant is in your flesh to be an Everlasting Covenant so God says I'm going to become your God and I'm going to become your descendants God and the sign of how we know that right the symbol just like in a wedding right the symbol of the wedding is the ring right the symbol of that is circumcision that God gives the people of Abraham and that becomes the sign for the entire

household and so we all have right just like I said we've all got these ideas of like Signs representative of relationship ship and so God from the very beginning establishes a relationship and then gives a sign a mark a way of understanding that the whole household was set apart for God and so but then that's not the end of the story if we know with the story goes on and you know the story of Joseph and his brothers and of Jacob and all of that that continues on but the people of Israel find themselves in cap acity in Egypt God sends a deliverer he brings Moses and he delivers his people out of slavery and brings them back into the land of Canaan which is to be theirs which is what God promised here in that passage and God establishes a deeper a New Covenant with them so let's turn forward in our Bible to the next book Genesis Exodus

19 God has rescued his people people from the Egyptians he's brought them out he's they've crossed the Red Sea they've made it and they've come to mount siani and God has stopped and he's now now we're going to establish the relationship again we're going to establish the relationship and the Covenant the symbols of that relationship again and so we're going to be here Exodus 19 we're going to look at verses 5 and 6 here says now if you obey me fully and keep my Covenant then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession although the whole earth is mine you will be for me a kingdom of priests a holy nation these are the words you are to speak to the Israelites and so God sets apart he's like you are going to be my nation my people I'm going to set you apart and then he gives them the Ten Commandments and he gives them all of these rules and ways of living things that govern from what they eat to how they dress to how they trim their beards to how their daily life should live how their weekly life should be how their monthly life should be lived and how their yearly rhythms ought to be governed each set apart and so we have here at the end of all of this we have from birth every household was set apart by circumcision and lifestyle the whole Jewish Community was set apart and you could tell that they were Gods Not Just because of circus ISM but be also because of how they lived their entire lives they said the way we live the way we operate everything we do from the moment we are born until the moment we die we are set apart for God we are God's people and God's int ition with all of that right was to set apart a people so that he could bless them and be with them so that they might be seen by the rest of the world that the rest of the world might look at the Jews and say their God is real their God is with them and we want to know that God and throughout the Old Testament and into the time where Jesus is around there are many converts it's a it's the thing that's in the Bible it's not often talked about but there are people who are Gentiles people who are not born Jewish who see the god of Israel and say I want him to also be my God and they come they are circumcised and they begin to live among the Jews and they follow the Lord but that isn't the way that the most of the story ends up going unfortunately because it would be great if the people followed the Lord and unfortunately uh they don't if we change move forward to the Book of

Leviticus we're going to go to Leviticus chapter 26 Leviticus is kind of a it's well one it's a book of the Bible not very many people read uh cuz it can be a little bit laborsome to read through but it is a book of the Bible that takes the law that God gave his people and it and it it's like the it's like a really indepth overview of it it's all the different circumstances and things that a family and a culture and a town could go through God talks about it here and he enumerates it here and we're going to go to 26 of Leviticus chapter 26 I'm going to go to verse 40 and this is what God says he says but if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me which made me hostile towards them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin I will remember my Covenant with Jacob my Covenant with Isaac my Covenant with Abraham which we read earli about and I will remember the land so God here in this passage is saying if they do not keep my Covenant they do not continue to behave to act as if they are my people I will send them out of the land I will not keep them there and then God says but if they do turn back to me if they follow me if they confess their uncircumcised Hearts now I don't know if you were paying attention but so far God has not talked about Hearts being circumcised right he's talking here he's saying not he's talking about uncircumcised Hearts that's not where circumcision normally happens right okay um and so what you're right thank you Cameron for affirming

some we got it now all right Point made um

so what does God mean when he says an uncircumcised heart he's talking about he's like circumcision was only ever a symbol it was only ever a sign of what of a relationship of an inward disposition of a way in which we were connected to God and if we don't keep that it doesn't matter if you're circumcised right and so the story of God's people throughout the whole rest of the Old Testament is a story of continually turning to the Lord entering into prosperity and then forgetting about the Lord and wandering astray and worshiping idols and breaking relationship and breaking Covenant until consequences come and then Lord brings out the faithful and brings them back to him and then they forget again and this cycle repeats over and over and over as they establish from sort of independent Coalition of tribes to a international Kingdom that rules and conquers until they eventually the Lord says I'm going to take you out of the land because you have not acted as my people people You' have not kept my Covenant if we turn forward in the book of the Bible to Jeremiah it's after Isaiah if you can find the big book of Isaiah you can find Jeremiah it's after the book of

Psalms Jeremiah chapter 9 is what we're looking for guys didn't realize how much you were going to be turning throughout the Bible today did

you Jeremiah chapter 9 verse

23 so Jeremiah is one of the last prophets of Israel he's considered the weeping prophet because Jeremiah's prophecies oversee the last days of the Kingdom of Israel before they fall to foreign captives and they're taken into Exile and so Jeremiah he sees a lot a lot of sad and awful things and this is part of his message verse 23 says this this is what the Lord says let not the wise boast in their wisdom or the strong boast in their strength or the rich boast in their riches but let one who boasts boast about this thing that they have understanding to know me that I am the Lord who exercises kindness Justice righteousness on Earth for in these things I Delight declares the Lord the days are coming declares the Lord when I will punish all who were circumcised Only In the

Flesh Egypt Judah Edom Amon Moab and all who live in the wilderness in dist places for all these nations are really uncircumcised and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in the heart and so here God says I'm going to bring judgment on all the people who were not my people but also on my people because they have not acted as my people they've not kept my Covenant they have behaved in such a way as to nullify the symbol of our covenant they are uncircumcised of their heart and so I will treat them all the same God wants relationship more than he wants a sign God was always throughout the entire Old Testament concerned about the heart of his people about a relationship between his people more than he was over a sign or symbol or perfectly keeping the law he's like no you would do that if you wanted to honor me if we're in relationship you would want to honor me and so you would keep these signs you would keep these symbols because there are the ways that I have asked you to honor me

right so let's turn forward to the Book of Romans the book we're actually preaching out of today we're going to read I think just four verses or five vers yeah four verses Romans chapter 2 verse 24

Romans chapter 2 verse

25 verse 25 of chapter 2 The Book of Romans says this circumcision has value If You observe the law but if you break the law you have become as though had not been circumcised so then if those who were not circumcised keep the Law's requirements will not will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised the one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who even though they have the written code and circumcision are a law breaker a person who is not a Jew is one outwardly nor is Si circumcision merely outward and physical no a person is a Jew is one

inwardly and circumcision is circumcision of the Heart by the spirit not by the written code such a person's praise is not from other people but from

God so what do we have here let's just break this down because it's kind of back back and forth and Paul's it's kind of hard to follow perhaps what Paul's saying verse 25 let's just see what that one verse says circumcision has value If You observe the law but if you break the law you have become as though you've not been circumcised the symbol has value if you keep the relationship right if you let's stick with the Covenant of marriage since it is the most well-known in understood Covenant that we have today right we have the symbol of marriage a ring which is Meaningful as long as I continue to behave as though I am married if I begin to behave like I was single that would be very inappropriate my wife would be very angry with me but that would be it would be nullifying the importance and meaning of this symbol right it would be dis guarding it this it has importance and meaning because it is a reminder to me of the relationship I have and how I ought to be living my

life

we the sign is only valuable if the relationship is honored the symbol of circumcision of following the Lord of doing those things is is only of value if there is relationship if we are seeking to honor God in it if it's just if I just went to a store bought a ring and put it on my finger without ever having made a covenant with my wife I would not be married I'd be a guy wearing a ring right similarly Paul is saying if you do not actually follow the Lord but you have some of the things that make it look like you do you don't actually know the

Lord so verse 26 through

29 say this again so then if those who were not circumcised keep the laws requirements will they not be regarded as though they are circumcised Paul's saying look there are people out there there who would follow the lord who are not circumcised Gentiles who weren't circumcised on the eighth day they eat pork they don't keep the law but they follow the lord does that not count he's saying is that not the more important thing will they not be regarded as though they are God's people will God not look at their heart and see that's the indicator of my people of who they are 27 the one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who even though you have the written code and circumcision are law breaker Paul's talking to the Jews who know the Lord and he's saying you guys have circumcision you have the sign you have all the trappings you're part of the original family that God set apart but because you're not honoring the Lord you're being Dishonored by the fact that these Gentiles are honoring the Lord a person is not a Jew is a person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly nor is C circumcision merely outward and physical no a person is a Jew is one inwardly and circumcision is circumcision of the Heart by the spirit not by the written code such a person's praise is not from other people relationship with God is a matter of the heart and not outward appearance you are God's people not because of how you look not because of what someone can see about you and determine it is not because you come to church it's not because you take communion it's not because you've been baptized those things are outward signs and symbols of belonging to the body of Christ but if you don't have a relationship with Jesus they are merely empty things relationship with God let's put it this way circumcision equals set apart for God it's what the meaning the symbol of It kind of symbolized for the people people when God gave her to Abraham he's like I'm setting you apart you are going to be my people all of your household all of your children are going to be marked by this and it's going to be the symbol that says that you are mine a circumcised heart is a life set apart for God a circumcised heart a heart that is connected in relationship to God is a willingness to not set aside a physical appearance but but to set aside my life to set aside How I Live my relationships my daytoday how I spend my time how I make my decisions not based upon my own self my own desires my own things but based upon Christ and who he has called me to

be I want to read again Paul but I want to read another place where he picks up this same idea in the book of

Colossians Philippians Colossians Colossians chapter 2 verse

6 Paul here he talks about circumcision a lot throughout the New Testament because it is one of those things it was such a key and Central Way of how the Jewish people understood themselves that Paul had to talk about it over and over again to beat this point to the ground to say it is not about the outward symbol it is about the inward disposition and connection of the heart to God and Paul here in verse 6 says this he says so so then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord continue to live your lives in him rooted and built up in him strengthened in faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness see to it that no one takes you captive through Hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the element spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ he's talking about rather than someone coming up to you and saying look you've got to do X Y and Z you got to like say these magic words you got to be circumcised he's like don't be deceived it's Christ Alone he goes on to say for in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form and in Christ you have been brought to fullness he is the head over every power and authority in him you were circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hands your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ having been buried do we what do we do when we baptize we put you under the water you were buried with Christ in him in with him in baptism in which you were also when we pull you back up raised with him through your faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead when you were dead in your sins and in your un uncircumcision of your flesh God Made You Alive with Christ he forgave all of our sins having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness which stood against us and condemned us he has taken it away nailing it to the Cross having disarmed the powers and authorities he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross amen and amen we are called to live like we follow Jesus if in baptism our old self the self that was governed by our own desires governed by our Sinful Nature by the way we were born into this world was put to death when we went into the waters and we came back up and we left that behind then we ought to live like that's what happened we ought to live live like we actually follow Christ we are to live like you left behind the old self-controlled by sin that's the call is that we ought to just align Our Lives to live a circumcised Life by living like we follow Jesus living like he actually has transformed our heart our mind our soul and our body I think one of the best ways I can kind of put this is back what we read earlier in Jeremiah chapter 9 verse

23 verse 23 and 24 say this this is what the Lord says hear the word of the Lord let not the wise boast in their wisdom or the strong boast in their strength or the riches boast or the rich boast in their riches but let the one who boasts boast about this that they have understanding to know me and that I am the Lord who exercises kindness or loving faithfulness Justice and righteousness on Earth for in thee I Delight don't boast about something that we ourselves did don't boast about our kingdom boast about knowing the Lord ought we display in our life not our success not our riches not our not our story that we want people's pity from not our success that what we want people's admiration from we ought to display one thing in our life we ought to boast one name only and it's not ours it's Christ's and when we do that when we live a life marked by faithfulness kindness and Justice the Lord Delights in those things and so we ought to live a life that Delights in those as

well we ought to seek to know God above all else and when we do that we begin to live a life that is marked and is different not because we're trying to put on a facade but because we have a relationship with God I'm not up here trying to look a certain way so I can get the praise of some people so that I feel like I'm the In Crowd I'm here living my life the way I am because it honors God because I have a relationship with him I want to honor him in all that I do because he has saved me he has redeemed me and he has set Set Me Free and I want to live like I'm free so I have three

questions first does God have space in your daily calendar if you have a relationship with someone you invest with them God wants to invest with you don't let busyness I'm beginning to hate the word busyness because it is an excuse for us to just rush through our day through our week through our time not be intentional to miss each and every moment that the Lord wants to spend with us does the Lord have space in your daily calendar the second thing is are you fighting sin with Grace now that's a whole sermon series right there but what I mean by that is not are you fighting sin by beating yourself up not are you fighting sin by trying to just hide it and ignore that it's there I mean are you fighting sin by coming in fellowship with Community with other people confessing your sin in honesty can't tell you how important that is are we sitting down with those who also know Jesus and say you know what I have not honored the Lord this way and this way and then they receive that and they say the Lord sees you and he has forgiven you repent and sin no more that is Grace it's not coming and beating myself up it's not running and hiding in secret it's coming to the Lord in honesty because there is Grace and it is seeking the Lord and is saying I get to live free because I have been set free I am no longer defined my my list of sins I am defined by the Savior who has forgiven me forgave me of those sins are you fighting sin with Grace and are you living each and every day with love for everyone around you are you loving others are you serving others are you striving to live each and every day in the Lord's strength to be more like Christ Christians the you break that word down why do we what's Christian where that word come from Little Christ is what it means we are to be little christs people who are going around and saying don't look at me see the love of Christ that is coming through me that ought to be how we live and interact with every single person we see and when we do these things we're so much closer to living with a circumcised heart to living a heart and a life that is set apart not for my story but for God's story let's

pray Heavenly Father Lord we come to you this morning as a people who were so easily distracted Lord our hearts are prone to wander Lord bind our hearts to thee Lord might we stay at your feet Lord might you bring Clarity into our hearts right now through your Holy Spirit over how we ought to be living our lives in congruence with who you've called us to be might we be more committed not to putting on a show but putting on Christ might we be more committed to living like your daughters like your sons like your children might everywhere we go just Proclaim who you are and what you've done in our lives what you are still doing how we get to live without shame because we have the grace of Christ how we get to no longer live in bondage of sin because we get to live we get to move forward no longer defined by our sin Lord might we be the image of Christ to those in the world around us Lord might you build your kingdom here on Earth as it is in heaven through us Lord do a mighty work in our hearts we pray

amen put on then as God's chosen ones holy and beloved compassionate Hearts kindness humility meekness and patience bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against one another forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you and above all these put on love which binds every thing together in Perfect Harmony and Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admon admonishing each other with wisdom singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God yes and whatever you do in word or deed do everything in the name of Lord Jesus Jesus giving thanks to God our Father through him yes conduit you are loved go in peace today