All right, Genesis chapter 17.
Now as that was being read to us by Brody, you probably recognize, hey, haven't we covered
this before?
This is the third time that God is reinforcing or revealing his covenant with Abraham, third
time.
We had it in Genesis chapter 12, Genesis chapter 15, and now in Genesis chapter 17.
So it might feel a little bit repetitive, but we can take some other truths from
this chapter as well and build upon our understanding of God and his doctrines and salvation as
well.
But look at verse number 24, Genesis 17 verse 24, and Abraham was 90 years old and nine
when he was circumcised in the flesh.
The title for the sermon tonight is Circumcised in the Flesh.
And again, we're going back to Genesis just to make up for the week that I wasn't
here.
I was at the conference.
As you guys know, I like to try to get through one chapter per week.
And let's start off with verse number one then.
Let's start off with verse number one.
Now Circumcision of the Flesh, you know, I'm not going to get into any kind of graphic
detail here, okay?
If the kids want to know, you guys can go ask your parents and they can explain
to you what it means to be circumcised of the flesh.
But it's quite, it's something that is done even today by some people.
In fact, there are some, I remember as a teenager, one of my friends was circumcised.
And he wasn't circumcised for any spiritual reasons.
It was just because of infection, because, you know, there were some health benefits
to it.
You know, his doctor had recommended that he be circumcised.
And so it still happens today as a medical procedure.
And just some people do it because they feel there's medical benefits to it.
And I personally believe there are.
I believe there are medical, I'm not talking about spiritual benefits to it.
We'll look at this shortly.
But just medical benefit, like everything that God commands his people to do, it's
in the Old Testament, you know, before the New Testament, you know, things that might
seem a little bit unusual to us.
I do believe not only does it represent something spiritual, but I don't believe
God will ask them to do something like circumcision unless there was some physical
benefit to it as well.
That's just my take on it.
But look at verse number one, Genesis chapter 17, verse one.
And when Abram was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto
him, I am the almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect.
Now just go back to the previous chapter, Genesis chapter 16, verse 16, Genesis 16,
verse 16.
Remember how old Abraham was in the previous chapter?
It said, sorry, I got that wrong, Genesis 16 verse, where was it, I've got the wrong
reference there.
Oh, I forgot the right reference.
It is 16, sorry, yeah, it is 16.
It's 16 and 16.
And Abram was four school and six years old when Hagar bet Ishmael to Abram, okay.
So he was 86 years old there in Revelation chapter 16, Genesis chapter 16, and we start
off with Genesis chapter 17, now he's 99 years old.
So how many years have gone past?
13 years, 13 years from the time Ishmael was born in the previous chapter, another
full decade and a few more years, 13 years has gone by and the Lord has come to Abraham,
he still has not had that promised child.
He still hasn't seen the development of this promise that God has given him and the
Lord comes back to him 13 years later, again, just keep in mind the years are going
by, the decades are going by, and again we see Abraham in a state of disbelief, okay,
because the years have gone by and nothing's developed.
And just keep that in mind, he's now 99 years old and you know, God is still saying
to him, you're going to have a child, you're going to have a promised child that
I've told you about, but what I want you to notice here, it says here in verse number
one, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him, I am the almighty God, okay.
So this is the first time that God reveals his name as almighty God, this is the first
time in the Bible you're going to see that, the almighty God.
Now almighty God is basically, if I can go back to Hebrew, it's El Shaddai, El Shaddai
is the Hebrew to the name almighty God, prior to this he was known just as God, which is
Elohim, okay, when you look at your Bible, remember Hagar in the previous chapter gave
him a name, thou God seest me, remember that, that was a name, a personal name she
gave to God, and this is the first time God reveals himself as El Shaddai or the almighty
God, you're saying why are you going back to the Hebrew, why are you going back
to the Hebrew?
Well it's because God makes a point of this, okay.
Keep your finger there and go to Exodus chapter six please, Exodus chapter six, Exodus chapter
six, we're fast forwarding to Moses, after the Exodus when he had delivered the people
from, or while he's delivering the people out of Egypt, look at Exodus chapter six
verse two, it says here, and God spake unto Moses and said unto him, I am the
Lord, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God almighty,
but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them, okay.
So God makes a point, God is the one that, you know, stresses the point about knowing
his name here, and he says when I appeared unto Abraham I appeared unto him as God
almighty, that's what we just read, when God appears unto Abraham in Genesis 17,
he appears and he calls himself I am the almighty God, alright, but then it says
but by the name Jehovah was I not known to them.
So Abraham did not know the name Jehovah, okay, but that name Jehovah was revealed
to Moses and to the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt and as they were coming
to make their own nation of themselves.
So it's quite interesting how the Lord reveals his name as the time progresses.
And why that's important is because salvation, you know, is basically whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and of course calling upon the name of the
Lord is an act of faith, okay, it's an outward act of the faith, of the belief
that you have in your heart, you call upon the name of the Lord, you know, today
when we call upon the name of the Lord for salvation, we call upon the name of Jesus
Christ, okay.
Now Abraham would have called upon the name of the Lord just Elohim, God, okay, because
he was already saved prior to God revealing the name God almighty to him, and Moses,
well I guess the name was revealed to him as Jehovah, but he would have called upon
the name of the Lord as almighty God, El Shaddai, you know, and so we just see
this progression, how the Lord reveals his name, but even though the name has been
revealed and changed over, not changed, but revealed over time, salvation has always
been by the same method, by calling upon the name of the Lord, alright.
Now let's keep reading there, verse number four, actually if you look at Exodus chapter
six, look at Exodus chapter six, and look at verse number two, it says, and God spake
unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord.
Notice in your King James Bible, you've got Lord all in capital letters, okay, Lord
capital L, capital O, R, D, and when you go back to the Hebrew for that, it
is the name Jehovah, okay.
And what God does, he kind of explains this to us, this is why in verse number three,
it says, but by my name Jehovah, notice it's all capitalized again, by my name Jehovah
was I not known to them, and this is just for us as English readers, that we can associate
the capital L, O, R, D, and the capital Jehovah as the same name, okay.
Now your question might be, hold on, if the Lord is revealing Jehovah, which is the
Lord, capital L, O, R, D, to Moses here, why is it that we read about the Lord,
capital L, O, R, D, already in the Bible, prior to Abraham, if you might recall that.
Well the answer to that is very simple, it's because the book of Genesis was written
by Moses, alright.
So as Moses is writing the book of Genesis, of course he already knows the name Jehovah,
and that's why he calls God by the name of Jehovah from Genesis chapter two, okay.
That just gives you a bit of an explanation there, but look at verse number four, Exodus
chapter six verse, Exodus chapter six verse four, and I have also established my covenant
with them, to give them the land of Canaan, this is to the Israelites that came out of
Egypt, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
And drop down to verse number seven, and I will take you to me for a people, and
I will be to you a God, and you shall know that I am the Lord, there's the capital
L, O, R, D, you know that I shall know that I am Jehovah, if you want to read it
that way, your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,
and I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for an inheritance, I am the Lord.
He keeps reinforcing, I am the Lord, I am Jehovah, he keeps saying this to Moses,
this is now the name that they will know the Lord God as, this is the main name
that you're going to read about in the Bible, but again, as English speakers, we're
just going to see it as capital L, O, R, D, okay.
Now, the other name that's given to God in the Bible as you go through the book of Genesis
is the word Lord again, but not in capitals, just capital L, and lowercase O, R, D, and
again the translators did this for us because while it's something similar, it's
not the name Jehovah, you know, lowercase Lord is Adonai, okay, Adonai, so maybe
these are some names you've heard before, Adonai, El Shaddai, Jehovah, these are all names
that belong to God, but of course, you know, there's nothing wrong with the English,
it's just that the fact that the Lord points this out, and this actually helps
us also understand the book of Job a little bit better, okay.
Now, I'm just going to read to you from Job chapter 13 verse 3, you don't need
to turn there, just listen as I read to you from here, these are the words of Job,
he says, surely I would speak to the Almighty and I desire to reason with God.
So Job calls God the Almighty, in fact, if you look at the book of Job, God is more
often named the Almighty or God Almighty in the book of Job, alright, and again, that
Almighty God is El Shaddai, okay, so this kind of gives you, this is why a lot of
people believe the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible, why do you think
that is?
Well, if Job is calling God, God Almighty, El Shaddai, and that's the name that
was revealed to Abraham, then that would mean that Job lived around the time of Abraham,
okay, and this is before Moses, okay, several hundreds of years before Moses, alright,
so Moses, of course, we know, wrote, you know, the first five books of the Old Testament,
that means Job was around before Moses, okay, because he knew him by the name God
Almighty, and that's why a lot of people believe, as do I, that the book of Job is
the oldest book in the Bible, hope that kind of makes sense to you, if that's
gone over your head a little bit, you can ask me after the service, let's go
back to Genesis chapter 17, please, Genesis chapter 17, verse number two,
Genesis chapter 17, verse number two, he says, and I will make my covenant
between me and thee, this is God speaking to Abraham again, 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 thee, and thou shall be a father
of many nations, again just reinforcing the fact that we keep seeing
that Abraham would be a father of many many nations, it's quite
interesting because a lot of our Baptist brethren focus on the fact that well,
you know, that Abraham became the father of one nation, they often focus
on the one nation, and that one nation being the nation of Israel, but
the Bible tells us from time and time again, no, a father of many nations, okay,
and this makes perfect sense because we know that Abraham, we've looked at this
before, is the father of faith, and of course, you know, everybody, every nation
has people that are of faith, every nation has people that believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ that are saved, and that makes perfect sense that he'd be
the father of many nations because he's got spiritual children in every nation
in the world, alright, now if you look at verse number five, please, it says
neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name
shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee, alright, so
even Abraham's name, God changes his name from Abram to Abraham, and he says
the reason I'm changing your name is because you're gonna be a father of many
nations, okay, and so most, I've heard this, but this is basically pretty
well understood that the word, the name Abram means a father or high
father, and the name Abraham means a father of multitudes or a father of
many nations, okay, so God has given Abram this new name to Abraham
reflecting how you're not just a father, but you're gonna be a father of
multitudes, you're gonna be a father of many nations, verse number six, and I
will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, I mean how many
times you have to read this, nations, alright, and we have Christians today
that are just focused on one nation, man, you're really limiting your
understanding of God's promises to Abraham, okay, it's not just Israel, are
there believers that are Israelites? Absolutely, are there believers that are
Palestinian? Absolutely, are there believers that are Australian, Chilean, Portuguese, what
else do we have here, New Zealanders, you know, of course, of course there are
believers of every nation, okay, we can't limit God to just the one nation, he's
not just working in one nation, even in the Old Testament days, he had saints,
he had believers from other nations as well, though yes, in the Old Testament
days, he was focused on working within the nation of Israel, and so what I
just want to show you, show very quickly here, and then it says,
sorry, and I will make the exceedingly fruitful, I will make the nations, I will
make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee, now what I want you
to do guys, is just quickly go to, actually no, you can, yeah, actually go
there, go to Jeremiah chapter 4 please, Jeremiah chapter 4, Jeremiah chapter 4,
Jeremiah chapter 4, and I'm just going to quickly explain to you that yes, there
are Old Testament kings of Israel in the Bible aren't there, we know about
those Old Testament kings, but did you know it wasn't God's plan or desire for
the nation of Israel to have kings, it was God's plan for the nation of Israel
to be a theocracy, that the Lord God will be king over that Old Testament
nation, okay, but it was the people that rose up, it was the people that
wanted to be like the other nations, and they petitioned Samuel to give them
a king, okay, and so yes, it is true to a sense that there were physical
Old Testament kings that came out of the loins of Abraham, but I'm just
going to quickly read to you again this one passage that we're very
familiar with, and I've lost it there, let me just find it very quickly,
Revelation chapter 1, so just bear with me.
Yeah, Revelation chapter 1 verse 6, which says,
and have made us kings and priests unto God and his father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen.
What did I say there?
And have made us kings, speaking to the believers,
speaking to the seven churches which the book of Revelation was written to,
did you know you have been made kings through Jesus Christ?
And of course when you're talking about Abraham and the kings that would
come from him, it's not only referring to the Old Testament
kings of course, which the Lord did not desire to be the case,
but his desire, his spiritual desire is that we would all be kings and priests,
and we would come spiritually speaking from the loins of Abraham
because of his faith, okay, spiritually speaking,
and that's what I believe is being covered there.
What did I get you guys to turn to, Jeremiah chapter 4?
All right, just stay there for a minute, I'll go there.
But Revelation chapter 7 verse 9 also says,
after this I beheld and lo, a great multitude,
which no man could number, we've covered this before,
of all nations, okay?
The believers that are in heaven will come from all nations,
and all those believers are also kings and priests.
We see how the book of Revelation closes
what the book of Genesis started.
You know, please get this in your mind
because you're not gonna get a lot of good teaching
from these promises from this covenant
that God gave to Abraham.
Most teachers today, most preachers,
most Baptist pastors just want you to focus
on Old Testament Israel, honestly,
rather than all the nations
which would become children of Abraham.
You guys are in Jeremiah chapter 4,
and I actually got you to turn there
a little bit too quickly.
If you guys can go back to Genesis chapter 17, please,
Genesis chapter 17.
Keep your finger in Jeremiah chapter 4
because we will come back to that.
Genesis chapter 17, look at verse number 7.
And I will establish my covenant,
again, just reinforcing the fact that it's happening again.
I will establish my covenant between me and thee
and thy seed after thee in their generations
for an everlasting covenant.
Now again, what was the seed?
Who is the seed of Abraham?
We know that it's Jesus Christ.
We've covered that before.
I want you to notice
that it's called an everlasting covenant.
Think about that, everlasting, everlasting.
And again, my Baptist brethren wants to tell you,
hey, this is about Old Testament Israel.
Guess what?
The Old Testament's done away with.
It's finished.
How can that be everlasting?
Okay?
No, the everlasting is something very significant here.
Let's keep going.
Everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee
and to thy seed after thee,
and I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee
the land wherein thou art a stranger,
or the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession,
and I will be their God.
Notice this, everlasting possession of what?
The land of Canaan.
And this is quite interesting, okay?
Let's keep going.
Verse number nine,
and God said unto Abraham,
thou shall keep my covenant,
therefore thou and thy seed after thee
in their generations.
All right?
Now the land of Canaan here
is being called an everlasting possession.
And this is why, again,
you're gonna have your dispensationalists that say,
well, you know, Israel, or the Zionists,
you know, the land of Canaan,
the land of Palestine belongs to Israel.
Didn't God say that it's an everlasting possession?
But didn't he say a father of many nations?
Think about that.
A father of many nations.
Why do we want one nation or one people in that land
if it's an everlasting covenant to many nations?
How do we make sense of this?
You know, does God want everyone to pack their bags
that are saved right now
and make it to the land of Israel,
make it to the land of Palestine
and claim a piece of land?
Is that what's being taught here, do you think?
We actually have an answer to this
in Hebrews chapter 11.
And sorry about going to Jeremiah.
I told you to go there a little bit too early.
But go to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13.
Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13.
Let's understand,
how can this possibly be everlasting?
Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13.
And again, Hebrews chapter 11 is the chapter of faith.
A lot of great men, Old Testament saints here,
I mentioned verse number 13.
It says, these all died in faith,
not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off.
Again, just a reminder,
Abraham did not see the promise of inheriting the land.
This is talking about Abraham, right?
And then it says here,
and were persuaded of them and embraced them
and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things declare plainly
that they seek a country.
Hey, God had promised them
an everlasting possession of the land.
And he did, they did seek this country, okay?
Let's keep going, verse number 15.
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country
from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned,
but now they desire a better country.
That is, and heavenly.
Well, that makes a lot more sense.
How can a physical land be everlasting?
Doesn't God promise a new heavens and a new earth?
But hold on, what was that representing?
Now, this chapter covers a few things
in Genesis chapter 17.
Not only do we talk about the land,
but we talk about a physical circumcision,
all of which are representative
of things that are everlasting, okay?
Now, let's keep going there.
Verse number 16.
But now they desire a better country.
That is, and heavenly, heavenly,
whereof God is not ashamed to be their God.
Look at this.
For he hath prepared for them a city.
God has prepared for them, speaking of Abraham,
who was a pilgrim on the earth.
He never inherited the physical land.
God was speaking about an everlasting covenant,
an everlasting possession.
Hey, this makes sense if it's a heavenly city.
It makes sense if this is heavenly Jerusalem.
Why does this make sense?
I'll quickly read to you from Isaiah 65, verse 17.
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,
and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mine.
Hey, the former earth will not be remembered.
But hold on, wasn't the everlasting covenant
the everlasting possession on that earth?
Well, no, it's just a picture.
It was just a type of the everlasting possession
of the new heavens and the new earth.
And if you remember in Revelation chapter 21,
the new heavens will have,
well, basically, the new Jerusalem
will come down from heaven onto the new earth, okay?
The new Jerusalem, which is a city, the city of God,
that's what God was talking about
when it comes to the everlasting covenants.
It cannot be the Old Testament covenant.
The Old Testament covenant's been done away with.
We're now living in New Testament times.
If you think this is talking about the Old Testament,
the promise that was given to Moses
when Joshua went into the physical land,
and you think that's meant to be everlasting,
then you're treading underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ
because it's the blood of Jesus Christ which brought in,
which ushered in the New Testament, okay?
The everlasting covenant, guys,
and we'll see the circumcision also plays a role with,
an everlasting role.
We'll look at this shortly.
If you go back to Genesis chapter 17,
Genesis chapter 17, verse number 10,
Genesis 17, verse 10.
This is my covenant, this is God's covenant,
which ye shall keep between me and you
and thy seed after thee.
Every man child among you shall be circumcised, okay?
Every man child among you shall be circumcised,
and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin,
and it shall be a token of the covenant
betwixt me and you.
Now I want you to notice something.
It says it's a token.
The fact that God commands Abraham to circumcise himself
and all the men that are under his authority
that are all part of his house,
he calls this a token, okay?
Now my wedding ring is a token of the vow
of the covenant, if you want,
that I've made between myself and Christina, my wife, okay?
That's a token.
But you know if I lost that token, am I still married?
Absolutely, I'm still married, okay?
And so circumcision, physical circumcision was a token,
was a sign of the commitment of the covenant
that God is making with Abraham at this point in time,
and he asked his entire household to be circumcised.
All right, now I did get you guys to go to Jeremiah.
If you've turned away from that,
I'll just read it to you very quickly.
Jeremiah chapter four verse three.
It says, for thus saith the Lord
to the men of Judah and Jerusalem,
break up your fellow ground and sow not among thorns,
circumcise yourselves to the Lord, but look at this,
and take away the foreskins of your heart.
Ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
lest my fury come forth like fire
and burn that none can quench it
because of the evil of your doings.
Now I wanted to read that to you
because this comes from the Old Testament, okay?
And the Old Testament also speaks about a circumcision,
but it's not a physical circumcision.
It's not a circumcision of the flesh.
It's a circumcision of the heart.
So this is really important
because the circumcision of the heart is also found,
in fact, it's taught in the New Testament.
It's taught in the New Testament.
So I want you guys to go to Colossians chapter two, please.
Colossians chapter two, verse 11.
What is this a picture of?
The physical land, the physical land of Canaan,
what was that a picture of?
It was a picture of heavenly Jerusalem, okay?
What is the physical circumcision of the flesh
a picture of?
Well, as I covered, it's a picture
of the circumcision of the heart.
Now look at Colossians chapter two, verse 11.
Colossians chapter two, verse 11.
It says, and remember the Colossians,
you know, this is a church, okay?
This is a church in Colossi.
And it says in verse number 11,
in whom also ye, this is speaking to us as well,
if we're a New Testament church, right?
Sorry.
Sorry, I missed my point there, sorry.
Colossians chapter two, verse 11, right?
In whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, all right?
In putting off the body of the sins of the flesh
by the circumcision of Christ.
Buried with him in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with him
through the faith of the operation of God
who have raised him from the dead.
Now I want you to notice that the circumcision,
we have all been circumcised.
If you're part of the New Testament,
if you're saved, you've been circumcised
but not by physical hands,
but you've been circumcised in the heart.
And here it's talking about putting off the body,
the sins of the flesh.
So when a man was circumcised under the old covenant,
it represented the putting away of the flesh,
the putting away of the flesh.
And of course, our sinful nature is found in our flesh.
Okay?
And of course, salvation is not by the deeds
that we do in our body, in our flesh.
We cannot be saved by the works that we do in our flesh.
We need to put away the flesh.
We need to put away the works of the flesh
and be saved by placing our faith on Jesus Christ.
So physical circumcision is a picture of our salvation.
And the reason I read verse number 12 there
is because I want to show you how these are types.
Even the baptism there, verse number 12,
buried with him in baptism.
When you were baptized under water,
that was a type, that was a picture
of being buried with the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when you came out of the water,
it was a picture of the resurrection from the dead.
These are all types.
This is all symbolic, okay,
of the greater truths, of the spiritual truths.
Drop down to verse number 16.
And then it says,
let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink
or in respect of an holy day
or of the new moon or the Sabbath days,
which are a shadow of things to come,
but the body is of Christ, okay?
And again, remember, this covered circumcision
just in the previous verses as well.
These are all things,
these are all shadow of things to come.
So if you're thinking today,
hey, should we be circumcised?
Should we circumcise our sons?
Should the men be circumcised?
No, it's just a shadow of things to come.
It's just representation,
it's just representative of the spiritual truth
of the circumcision of the heart.
Now I'm going to quickly read to you
from Galatians 6, 15,
which says, for in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature, okay?
So if you're in Christ,
you know, having a physical circumcision
has no profit unto you.
There's no spiritual brownie points that you get
whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised.
If you're in Christ,
then what's important to that
is that you are the new creature,
you are the new man,
you've been born again of the spirit.
Please take your Bibles
and go to Romans chapter four now.
Romans chapter four, verse eight.
Romans chapter four.
Romans chapter four, verse eight.
Look at this.
Blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin.
Cometh this blessedness upon them,
upon the circumcision only.
So the Lord, you know,
we have a promise here
that the Lord will not impute sin upon us.
This is how we are saved
and the Lord can see us without sin.
But does this only come to the circumcision?
Does it only come to the Jews
who have been physically circumcised?
And it says, or upon the uncircumcision only.
Does this also come upon those that are uncircumcised?
The ones that are not Jews,
the ones that are not Israelites.
Look at this.
For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham
for righteousness.
How did Abraham find righteousness?
How did he receive the imputed righteousness
of Christ upon himself?
By faith, right?
It says that faith was reckoned to Abraham
for righteousness.
Verse number 10, how was it then reckoned?
When was it given to him?
When did he receive this imputed righteousness?
When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision?
Well, as we're looking at Genesis chapter 17,
the Lord is commanding him to be circumcised,
but we know that he was already
a saved man prior to this, okay?
So this came when he was uncircumcised, right?
The righteousness came upon him
through faith when he was uncircumcised.
And it says there right there,
it says verse number 10,
not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Verse number 11, and he received, look at this,
he received the sign, okay?
Remember the sign, the token,
or a shadow of things.
The sign of circumcision.
A seal, look at this,
of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet been uncircumcised, all right?
So the token, the sign of circumcision
was representing something that he had
prior to being circumcised.
That is his salvation, all right?
And then it says in verse number,
sorry, verse number 11,
that he might be the father of all them,
look at this, all them of all nations that believe
though they be not circumcised,
that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.
This is how Abraham became a father of many nations,
again, of all those who believe, okay?
Because he was saved prior to circumcision, all right?
Verse number 12, and the father of circumcision
to them who are not of the circumcision only,
but who also walk in the steps of that faith
of our father Abraham,
which he had been yet uncircumcised
for the promise that he should be
the heir of the world was not to Abraham
or to his seed through the law, not by the law.
Hey, this is important to understand
because we have some people out there
that will tell you that the Old Testament Jews
were saved by the law,
that they were saved by keeping the law.
No, it says here not by the law,
not through the law, right?
But through the righteousness of faith.
How was Old Testament Israel saved?
How were the Old Testament Jews saved?
Through faith, by calling upon the name of the Lord.
This is why the Lord reveals his name to them
so they can call upon him and they can grow closer to him
in fellowship, in a relationship,
but he was not by the law.
Salvation has never been by the law.
It cannot be by the law.
It's always been by faith to the circumcised
and to the uncircumcised, all right?
Back to Genesis chapter 17, please, verse 12.
Genesis chapter 17, verse 12.
I hope that kind of makes sense to you guys,
what's going on here, okay?
The physical circumcision,
though it might seem like an unusual practice,
represented something greater,
the spiritual circumcision of the harp.
Verse number 12.
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.
So this is, look, those that are born in your house,
any strangers that come into your house.
Verse number 13.
He that is born in thy house,
and he that is bought with thy money,
so any servants you might purchase,
must needs be circumcised,
and my covenant shall be in your flesh
for an everlasting covenant.
Those are those words again.
And the uncircumcised man child
whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised,
that soul shall be cut off from his people.
He have broken my covenant.
Now that phrase cut off in the Bible
often speaks of death, okay?
If someone was being cut off,
it often speaks about they were put to death.
But not always.
Sometimes cut off means that they're just rejected
by the people or rejected by the nation, okay?
You'll have to kind of read the context around it
to kind of determine whether it's talking about death
or just being rejected by the people.
Now, you know, I don't believe this is saying that,
you know, just don't uncircumcise
and then if you don't, then cut them off.
I think, well, good news,
and then if you don't, then cut them off.
I think what God is basically saying here,
make sure that everybody under your household
gets circumcised.
You know, otherwise not really part of your household.
They're being cut off from that.
You know, and it talks about the soul as well.
It's quite interesting, verse number 14.
That soul shall be cut off from his people.
And again, we're talking about something physical
which represents something spiritual, all right?
Now, what I believe is being taught here
and the lesson we can take again as fathers,
what did the name of Abraham mean?
High father or father.
Abraham, the father of many nations
or the father of multitudes.
You know, we have fathers in this church today, all right?
What's the lesson that we can take from this?
If God is asking Abraham to make sure all the men
or all the children, all the man child
get circumcised in your household,
you know, your children, your servants,
everybody that's under your authority,
then what do you think the lesson is for us as fathers?
To make sure that everybody in our household gets saved.
Make sure that everybody in our families,
anybody that's under our authority
is circumcised in the heart, okay?
Receives the spiritual circumcisions,
gets saved, becomes a child of God.
You know, God holds us fathers accountable
to make sure that our wives are saved,
to make sure that our children get saved.
Hey, if one day you have somebody under your authority,
maybe an adopted son or adopted daughter,
it's your job to make sure that person gets saved.
You wanna make sure that the soul is not cut off.
Of course, you know, the spiritual lesson there being,
hey, if you're not circumcised in the heart,
if you're not saved, then your soul will be cut off
and it'll be cast into hellfire.
Okay, so it's so important as fathers
that we make sure that our family know the gospel,
they believe the gospel,
they're circumcised in the heart,
they call upon them the Lord, and that they are saved.
Verse number 15, and God said unto Abraham,
as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai,
but Sarah shall her name be.
So Sarah gets a new name, Sarai gets a new name, right?
And Sarai basically means a lady or princess,
and Sarah means lady or princess of multitudes, okay?
The same kind of name that Abraham received
is very similar to the name that Sarah received.
Hey, you're gonna be a lady or a father,
you know, as Abraham, of multitudes, of many nations.
Verse number 16, and I will bless her
and give thee a son also of her.
Yea, I will bless her,
and she shall be a mother of nations,
kings of people shall be of her,
the same promise made to Abraham.
Verse number 17, and here in verse number 17
we see Abraham's disbelief.
Again, the years have gone by, right?
Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed.
And so this is kinda like laughter of disbelief,
if you wanna put it that way.
And said in his heart,
he doesn't say this out loud to God,
but he just says it within himself,
he says it in his heart.
Shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old?
And shall Sarah that is 90 years old bear?
Sarah's 90 years old now, right?
How is this 90 year old woman going to bear,
is Abraham's thinking.
And I think last, when we looked at chapter 16,
I mentioned that Sarah was 10 years younger.
This is the reference that we can learn that from,
that Abraham's on the verge of being 100 years old,
and Sarah, his wife, is 90 years old.
So he's laughing in disbelief within himself.
Verse number 18, this is what Abraham says unto the Lord.
And Abraham said unto God,
oh, that Ishmael might live before thee.
So he says, look, I've already got Ishmael.
My 13 year old son, of course, Abraham loves his son.
He's now being, he's there, you know,
raised in his house.
He says, look, let it be Ishmael.
You know, I don't think we're able to have kids, God.
You know, let it be Ishmael that this promise is given to.
And verse number 19, and God said,
Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed,
and thou shall call his name Isaac.
And I will establish my covenant with him
for an everlasting covenant.
Again, the everlasting covenant there,
and with his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee.
Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful,
and he will multiply, and will multiply him exceedingly.
12 princes shall he beget,
and I will make him a great nation.
So even Ishmael has been looked kindly upon the Lord God.
He has been promised, as we saw in the previous chapter,
that he would be a great man.
He will multiply exceedingly,
and he will have 12 princes that comes from his loins.
And those 10 princes,
you can read about in Genesis chapter 25.
We'll get to that when we get to that chapter.
All right, but I want you to notice,
it's quite interesting how, you know,
the way God sees children
versus how the world sees children.
You know, when the world thinks about you having kids,
doesn't it say, well, it's expensive to have kids.
It's expensive to have multiple kids.
In other words, it's gonna make you poor,
is how the world sees childbearing.
But when God speaks about making people rich,
when God speaks about making people great,
he says, hey, you're going to be fruitful,
you're going to multiply,
you're gonna have all these descendants.
That's what God thinks about children.
When you have lots of kids, from God's perspective,
that means you're very rich.
It means you're very great.
So contrary to how the world sees having children,
isn't it?
Look at verse number 21.
But my covenant will I establish with Isaac,
which Sarah shall bear unto thee
at this set time in the next year.
So God says, look, exactly at this point in time
next year, Sarah's gonna give birth to Isaac, okay?
Which means in three months time from this point in time,
she's going to fall pregnant,
and then nine months after that,
she's going to give birth the exact same time
this promise was said to Abraham.
Verse number 22.
And he left off talking with him,
and God went up from Abraham,
and Abraham took Ishmael his son,
and all that were born in his house,
and all that were bought with his money,
every male among the men of Abraham's house,
and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin
in the selfsame day as God had said unto him.
And Abraham was 90 years old and nine,
and he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
and Ishmael his son was 13 years old
when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised,
and Ishmael his son.
I love that about Abraham, the selfsame day.
The same day that God says, hey, get circumcised,
he goes, all right, guys, let's do it, all right?
He doesn't delay, and again, the picture of salvation,
the picture of preaching the gospel, all right?
We shouldn't delay the gospel.
Now, when it comes to our children,
yeah, you know, they can be too young
to understand the gospel, okay?
But when it comes to the influence
that we have around people,
the people that can understand the gospel,
when we get the opportunity
to get them circumcised in the heart,
when we get the opportunity to see someone get saved,
do it in the selfsame day that you get the opportunity,
okay, the selfsame day.
Don't delay salvation, especially for your household.
You know, make sure if they're at an age
that they can understand, give them the gospel
while they're young,
while they can easily place their faith on Christ,
before they become full of pride,
before they become, you know,
think that they can be righteous by their own works,
make sure on the selfsame day,
you give them the gospel.
And then it says there in verse number 27,
and all the men of his house,
born in the house and bought with money of the stranger,
were circumcised with him, okay?
So they were obedient to the commands
that Abraham issued out there.
So we'll leave it there, guys.
I just wanted to cover that chapter,
reinforcing what does it mean to be circumcised?
Well, now you know.
It's a picture of circumcision of the heart,
and that's the main important thing, right?
The circumcision of the flesh was just a picture,
was just a shadow of things to come.
And if you're saved,
you've been circumcised of the heart, you know,
and you're a child of Abraham through faith.
Let's pray.