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Subject 24 : Sermons for Those Who Have Become Our COWORKERS
[24-38] Circumcision as God’s Covenant (Genesis 17:1-15)
(Genesis 17:1-15)
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.’ Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.”
Be Spiritually Circumcised
In Genesis 17, God is teaching us all about circumcision. The definition of the word, ‘circumcision’ in the dictionary means ‘removal of the prepuce of a male.’ To be specific, it is the surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis. God said that not only the Israelites but everyone in this world should be circumcised. He added that those who are circumcised will belong to God, but those who are not will be cut off from His people.
When Abraham, the father of faith turned 99, God appeared to him and said, “I am Almighty God.” Just as He said, God is really almighty and all-powerful. The reason I am telling you this is that God made Abraham righteous when he obeyed and believed in His Word wholly. Let’s take a look at Genesis 15. When God appeared to Abraham, he said, “The heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus,” and God replied, “This one shall not be your heir, but the one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:5-6).
What does this all mean? Abraham believed in the Word of God, and God acknowledged this as righteousness and made him a righteous man. God made Abraham a righteous man and His very own child through His Word. After God made Abraham righteous, He ordered that every male child among his household be circumcised without fail. He did this because the Lord God mentioned the importance of circumcision and the implications of it.
Why Is Spiritual Circumcision So Important?
Let’s look into God’s Word in detail to find out why He considered circumcision so very important. God said to Abraham, “Walk before Me and be blameless.” God wanted him to be whole in everything.
God also tells us to be blameless. He demands that we become whole in our faith. If we don’t have faith, we can never become whole, even though the Lord tells us to. However, whoever believes in God properly is whole. Even though we are insufficient human beings, we are whole because of our faith in God. When we reflect ourselves on this command of God to be blameless, we realize that we are blameless in God and we can walk blamelessly before Him. Our minds, of course, are unstable and insufficient in every way, but we can be blameless when we believe in God. You and I can become blameless and walk blamelessly by this faith in God. We are not such beings who cannot but stay unstable and insufficient forever.
God is teaching us about circumcision through Abraham, and I believe that this instruction is for you and me who are listening to His Word here today. God told Abraham to be blameless. This means He wants us to be blameless also. Then let’s find out why God said so.
In Genesis 17:2 God said, “I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” God said He would make a covenant with Abraham and make him multiply. This covenant means God’s Word of promise. After making a covenant “Between Me and you,” God would multiply Abraham as well through his descendants through His promise. This promise holds true to all people who have the same faith that Abraham had.
What then was this covenant? This covenant was the circumcision. In other words, God’s promise was based on circumcision. When God made this promise, He said, “If you are circumcised, you will become My people, and I will be your God. If your descendants are circumcised, they will be My people as well, and then I will give the land of Canaan to you.”
If this is so brothers and sisters, should we not also be circumcised? Is it okay not to be circumcised? What does this command from God precisely mean? Should you be circumcised? Yes, absolutely! It is absolutely crucial for us to be circumcised. Therefore, we all should be circumcised. Circumcision is not a matter of choice but it is mandatory. God told everyone including Abraham that He would make a covenant with him and multiply them exceedingly. He said we should be circumcised for the promise to be fulfilled.
Brothers and sisters, can you imagine how God can multiply us? God is the source of all blessings. He clearly promised this with His very own Word. God is confirming this promise through today’s Scripture. He is doing this through the covenant of circumcision. God appeared to Abraham, who received the remission of sins by believing in God’s Word. And He said to Abraham, “I am God of you and your descendants. I will give you this land of Canaan. I will raise kings among your descendants.” What did He say we should do to have this promise come true for us? That is right. He told us that we should be circumcised to show Him that we in fact obey and believe in Him.
If We Were to Be Spiritually Circumcised, We Would Become Righteous and Prosperous
As I mentioned earlier, circumcision means the removal of foreskin. Abraham became righteous by obeying and believing in the Word of God, “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.” God reappeared to Abraham and said, “I will make a covenant between you and Me and I will multiply you exceedingly. Be circumcised. This is the covenant between you and Me.” What does this mean? God is reaffirming this commandment here that Abraham becomes blameless through the Word of promise, namely, by circumcision. The Word of promise was the promise through circumcision.
Abraham was then circumcised after he received this promise. Then what is God’s promise to us? His promise is this, “I will be your God if you do likewise by cutting off your sins. I am Almighty God. I will make you blameless.” The fact that Abraham was circumcised shows us that he became a blameless and righteous man by believing in this Word of God’s promise. As a matter of fact, Abraham became a noble man after he believed and was circumcised according to God’s promise. How does God fulfill His promise to us today? He says, “I will cut off your sins completely. I will be your God by taking all your sins away as I promised. I am perfect. I am Almighty God. So I can remove all your sins completely. I can make you holy, so that you will inherit the land of Canaan, which is Heaven.” This is the Word of God’s promise as a sign of circumcision.
God said circumcision is not a matter of choice, but it is a command that we must be circumcised. It is because the ultimate sign of God’s promise is in circumcision. Just as we cut off our most sensitive body part, God promised us to cut off our sins. God said to Abraham, “I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” This means God will cut off all our sins thoroughly and give the blessing of the remission of sins to all who obey and believe in His Word.
Through Circumcision of the Heart, Sins Will Be Cut off Completely
Brothers and sisters, why are we talking about ‘circumcision’? It is because it is the sign of God’s promise. God gave us the Word of promise. He said clearly that He would remove all our sins. Those who are not circumcised cannot be saved. It is the same for those who do not obey and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
God always makes promises with His Word. In the book of Genesis, God made this promise,
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).
God always keeps His promises. How was the above promise fulfilled? He sent Jesus Christ, the Seed of a woman, and made this Jesus take all our sins away, and be crucified by getting His heel bruised. In other words, His promise was that God Himself would be punished so that He could remove all the sins of His people, which Satan had infused with; and His promise was fulfilled completely. God confirmed His promise with His Word that He would give the Kingdom of God to those who believe in His Word, and the fact is that He had accomplished these promises.
Brothers and sisters, God promised us that He would make us sinless and take us to Heaven. And He told us to cut off the ‘foreskin’ as a sign of His promise. He then told us to be circumcised in our hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6, Romans 2:29, Acts 7:51). God made a promise with His Word that He would remove all our sins, and He kept this promise for us who believe in this promise. His promise was unilateral and His removal of our sins was also unilateral. God is the Creator God, who made the heavens and the earth with His Word. In the same way, He created us and made us His children with His Word.
God said, “I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Brothers and sisters, would you say ‘Amen’ to this Word? Yes, God promised this to us. He made such a clear promise with Abraham that He would actually make this covenant realized and multiply him exceedingly. Everyone in this world should confess, “I believe God will do this even to me. I believe in You.” I am sure God will multiply the descendants of the righteous people whose sins have been cut off by being circumcised. I am sure that He will multiply the righteous people, whose sins have been cut off, as many as the stars in the sky.
We Have Become Righteous by Believing in His Promise
God made the promise with Abraham that He will become his God and told him to be circumcised as a sign of the fulfillment of this promise. I believe God is telling us the very same thing. Your souls also should be circumcised by trusting in this promise. We have become God’s children by believing in His promise. Because of His Word of promise we have become God’s righteous children. God made such a clear promise. And according to His promise of salvation, we have received the remission of sins and become His children.
Some people consider the circumcision as optional, but the Bible clearly says, “Circumcision is that of the heart” (Romans 2:29). In the book of Genesis, God warned Abraham if he or his descendants did not get circumcised, they would be cut off from Him. He emphasized the importance of circumcision in such a clear and concise way. What do you think this means? It means this is not optional. Whoever wants to be God’s people and go to Heaven must without fail receive the remission of sins in his or her heart. Only those whose sins have been cleanly cut off through circumcision can enter Heaven. It is a lie that you can still be blessed and go to Heaven just because you believe in Jesus even though you are harboring sins in your heart. The circumcision of the heart is mandatory. Whoever wants to go to Heaven must have the sins of their hearts cut off through circumcision of the heart. God is telling us that we should receive the remission of sins by believing in His promise.
Heaven Belongs to Those Who Are Circumcised
To whom did God say the Kingdom of Heaven belongs? He said it belongs to those who are circumcised of the heart. Those who are not circumcised will never be citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, sinners can never enter Heaven no matter what. This is what God said to our father of faith, Abraham. Brothers and sisters are we then going to Heaven or not? Since we are all circumcised in our hearts and received the remission of sins, we are without doubt going to Heaven. This is guaranteed. Isn’t this true? God clearly said that those who believe in His Word of promise and become circumcised would become His people. God said to Abraham, “I will make an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants, and I will be God to you and your descendants.” Likewise, when we are circumcised of the hearts, we will become God’s people and enter the Kingdom of God like Abraham.
The Circumcision of the Heart Is So Extremely Important
We should be circumcised in our hearts. In other words, we should receive the remission of sins. Even among Christians there are people who ask, “Where does it say that? Where is such dichotomous logic that divides sinners from the righteous? Is it not okay to just believe in Jesus the way we wish to? Why do you say as if your faith is the only genuine one?” If God did not tell Abraham to be circumcised in Genesis 17 then they could be right. It would be like this if God told Abraham that circumcision is optional. But what did God say? He said they must be circumcised. He warned them they would be cut off from the people of God if they did not get circumcised.
God said to Abraham, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” What does this mean? He is saying that you and I can become blameless through His promise. Through this promise of Him removing our sins, we can become whole. As a matter of fact, God did cleanse us from all our sins with His Word. God performed this circumcision of our hearts. Brothers and sisters, please bear this in your mind. Those of you who have not been circumcised in your hearts, will fall away from the journey of faith and end up in hell. The end result of not being circumcised is going to hell. It is, of course, unnecessary to ask if people have been circumcised when we preach the gospel. Someone might then retaliate, saying “What is circumcision?” You might then reply, “If you have not yet been circumcised, this means that you still are a sinner. Here in Genesis 17:14 it says, “And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” If you go down this road then you will go into endless disputes. You cannot preach the gospel by stirring up such useless controversies. Circumcision of the heart denotes the remission of sins by believing in God’s Word of salvation, that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, how did we become blameless? We became blameless through our faith in God’s Word of promise. Therefore, it cannot be canceled. God made a promise with us humans, and we have become perfectly blameless by being circumcised in our hearts, which is irreversible. Many Christians in this world say that there is no righteous person on the earth by quoting Romans 3:10, but this is not true. Just as God promised Adam and Eve that He would save them; He said the same thing to the descendants of Abraham and to all the people in this world that He would remove all their sins. If we believe in this promise, we all are made into the righteous. Abraham became a just man when he said, “Amen!” to God’s promise, “I will multiply your descendants as many as the stars in the sky.” Abraham became a righteous man by believing in this Word of promise.
God promised Abraham, “I will multiply your descendants as many as the stars in the sky.” When Abraham believed in this Word wholeheartedly, God accounted it to him for righteousness and gave the blessing of the remission of all his sins. How about us then? He promised us that He would make our crimson sin as white as wool. Did we not believe in this promise? Yes, we did. God’s promise has been fulfilled through Jesus Christ, and we have received the remission of sins by believing in Jesus Christ.
What then does circumcision mean? Our circumcision is like believing in the Word of His promise. In such a way, we have become the righteous by receiving the remission of sins through our faith in the Word of promise, that is, circumcision of the heart. Have you ever felt as if your faith became unstable and imperfect while you are leading a life of faith? If you felt that way, you don’t have to do so anymore. We just double-checked that we are in fact righteous people who have received the remission of sins, through the Word God said to Abraham. To have proper faith in Jesus, we should know Abraham and understand what God said to him, and how he became a righteous man. In Genesis 17, God promised Abraham that He would multiply him and many righteous people would arise from him. And when he believed this Word of promise, God made him a righteous man and the father of faith.
“Lord God, We Believe in Your Promise”
Human thoughts are all dirty. However, we become the righteous when we believe in Jesus Christ and His Word. We become righteous by believing in Him. We become God’s children and enter the Kingdom of Heaven by believing in this promise, “I will be your God.” God promised that He would multiply us exceedingly. I believe God will do this. So I profess like this, “Dear God, I believe in You. I believe in Your promise.”
Have we all the saints from all our affiliated Churches of The New Life Mission throughout the country become blameless through God’s covenant or not? Yes, we have. Has this come true by a Christian doctrine we have made up? No, this has never been done by something we made up. It has been accomplished by the promise God made with Abraham. It has also been accomplished by the promise God had made with Adam and Eve. We have become the righteous through the promise God made with Abraham and with Moses. Just as God promised, we the true believers have become righteous. We have become blameless. Even though we are small in number now, we will multiply exceedingly in the near future. Brothers and sisters, we are perfect beings. We are blameless in God’s sight. God made the promise and He has fulfilled it for us; so we cannot remain sinful, for we have received the remission of sins by believing in that promise. We are perfectly blameless. And our faith in His Word is whole.
God told Abraham that He would make him the father of many nations. “I make a covenant with you and you will be the father of many nations.” Brothers and sisters, who is the Master of the universe? It is God the Almighty. Just as God promised Abraham that He would make him the father of many nations, we the born-again saints who have received the remission of sins have also become the masters of this world. God’s people have become the masters of this world. I want you to become the masters of the world by believing in this Word. So, stop being a slave to this world. When you become the master to this world, everything on earth will submit to you. When we become the masters of this world by believing in God’s promise, we will be able to reign over whatsoever is in this world. Who was the master of the ancient world? It was Abraham. And today it is we who are born again by believing in God’s Word. We are the masters of this present world. God declared, “I will make a covenant between you and Me, and you will be the father of many nations.”
As you all know well, Abraham is the father of faith. Wherever he went, people submitted to him and obeyed him. He reigned over all the people in his known world. When we trust in God wholeheartedly we also can do the same. Let us put our faith in this. If we don’t have this faith, we will end up living as a slave to this world. So let’s pray, “Dear God, we trust in You. We believe that You enabled us to reign over this world. We believe that You made us the masters of this world. Give us such a brave and strong faith.”
We Are the Descendants of Abraham
All the Bible verses related to Abraham are about faith. Let’s read verses 7 through 8 in today’s Scripture reading. It says, “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
God said that He would establish His covenant between Himself and Abraham and his descendants to be God to them forever. This covenant was established based on circumcision. In other words, God made this promise when we received the remission of sins by believing in His Word. God said He would be God to the descendants of Abraham through circumcision. You and I are the descendants of Abraham. The Creator God who made this covenant with us and became our God. The Almighty God became God to us, we who have received the remission of sins in our hearts. He is not God to just anyone, but He is the God to only those who have received the remission of sins. Do you believe this truth that God is the God of those who have received the remission of sins? Do you believe that God is your own God? God is our God. God is not God to those who have not received the remission of sins or have not had their hearts circumcised from sin. He is God to you and me, we who have been circumcised based on His Word of promise. Because of this pure faith, I believe that God has become our God, our Shepherd who will lead us to the right paths and who will take very good care of us.
God promised Abraham, “I will establish My covenant with you and I will multiply you exceedingly.” Abraham became a righteous man by believing in that covenant and begot Isaac. The name ‘Isaac’ means ‘he laughs.’ Laughter wells up from someone who receives the remission of sins into his heart by accepting God as his God. It makes him laugh from the depth of his heart.
God promised Abraham, “I will establish an everlasting covenant with you that I will be your God and your descendants.” The descendants in this context refer to us. I believe that God has become our God. I believe you and I have become the righteous through this very Word of God. I believe God has become God to us, we who have received the remission of all our sins. I thank God for this. God is surely our God. He is not God to sinners but only to the saints who believe in Him properly. He is God to those who have received the remission of sins by believing in the Truth.
We Who Are the Circumcised and the Masters of This World Have Gained Great Assurance
It is so great and joyous that God has become our God and He makes us whole. It is the blessing through Jesus that we have this confidence, this boldness and assurance in our heart. I did not have such strong conviction of heart in the past, but ever since I believed in Jesus and His Word of promise properly, everything became so clear. I used to be very indecisive and I was often taken advantage of by street vendors. With this doubtful heart, I used to buy a lot of unnecessary things. It was the same in my life of faith. I was unable to put my faith properly in one thing, and whenever I did, I found myself being fooled. But I don’t get fooled anymore. It is because I have a strong faith in God’s Word and I firmly believe that I am the master of this world.
Brothers and sisters, when you have faith in the Word of God like this, you also will never be fooled. How precise is God’s Word then? It says, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants and become God to you and your descendants after you.” By believing in this Word of promise, Abraham received the remission of sins and became righteous. Then he proved his faith by being circumcised.
The same thing happened to me. I received the remission of sins and became circumcised through God’s Word. I have the sign of this faith like that of Abraham’s. The sins in my heart were cut off cleanly and handed over to Jesus Christ when He was baptized, and He carried them all away. Now I have the mark in my heart that shows the removal of all my sins. This mark is engraved with the righteousness of God. Right on that spot where my sins were cut off, God’s righteousness was engraved, proving that I have become a blameless child of God through the baptism and the blood of Jesus Christ.
I hope you believe wholeheartedly that God is our God. God said this not only to Abraham but also to us all. God said in verse 8, “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” This Scripture passage is also for you and me. Just as He promised here, God also gave us all the land of Canaan, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven as an everlasting possession. The land of Canaan in the Bible symbolizes Heaven, the place flowing with milk and honey. We see every man of faith in the Bible had entered into the land of Canaan. What does this mean? This implies that people who believe in the Lord and His Word properly, received the remission of sins, will all go to Heaven. God created Heaven that way, and allowed only those who are circumcised in their hearts to enter this Heaven. And God promised that He would be God to everyone who has the very same faith as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, just as He was to them. I believe that God of blessings, who became God to Abraham, has become our God. I thank God for giving me this faith.
“And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendants. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant’” (Genesis 17:9-13).
The above passage means that only those who are circumcised are truly the righteous. God told Abraham here that he and his descendants must keep the covenant. Who then are these descendants of Abraham? People say that we humans are the descendants of Adam. That is right. All people are the descendants of Adam. In other words, we are the descendants of one man. But God commanded that all males should be circumcised. This circumcision is the covenant of God. It is the covenant of God for us to cut off the sins from our hearts and to be born again as the righteous. All humans are born as the descendants of Adam, that is, born sinners. Therefore, they need to be circumcised to become the descendants of Abraham. We cannot become God’s children by blood. This cannot be achieved by flesh nor by human will. Even a servant of God must be circumcised. God said every male child should be circumcised, and so should anyone who is bought with money.
God told every male to be circumcised. He commanded them to keep the covenant. Since God said this, all human beings should be circumcised without fail. Without being circumcised, no one can become God’s people. God told Abraham that his descendants should be circumcised as well. “You must be circumcised, even you and all your descendants after you throughout their generations.” This means only circumcision can lead everyone to the remission of sins. No matter who you are, you must be circumcised to become God’s people. What would happen if you think to yourself, “My father has received the remission of sins, but is it necessary that I be circumcised? Should all sinners receive the remission of sins? Can’t I just pass this circumcision by?” Please keep this in your mind: God declared that only those who have received the remission of sins can become His people. And whoever still has sin would be cut off from the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we must be circumcised in heart before God. We can become God’s people only if we received the remission of sins in the presence of God. Do you understand that this circumcision and the Word of covenant are on the same page? Trust in this Truth. The circumcision and the remission of sins are the signs that God would save us.
When Abraham believed this promise from God, he became righteous, and then God told him to be circumcised as a sign. He tells his descendants to be circumcised like this as well. The promise God made with Abraham was as follows: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will cleanse away their heavy and burdensome sins once and for all.” And this is the promise given to everyone in the world. God wants us to be righteous like Abraham by believing that the Lord has circumcised our hearts. He removed all the sins from our hearts and cut them off completely. Do you believe this?
You should realize how important it is to be circumcised. God said, “You should be circumcised in your flesh of your foreskins. This shall be a sign of the covenant between you and Me.” Dear fellow believers, we must cut off our foreskins of our hearts and cut out the sins of our hearts without fail. And we should believe that Jesus Christ took all our sins away. We should cut out all our sins by such a faith. This is the sign of God’s covenant. The sign of God’s covenant that He would cleanse us from all our sins is circumcision. In other words, cutting off all our sins from our hearts is the sign of being God’s people, and the sign of receiving the remission of sins.
Have You Become God’s People Now?
Have the sins of your heart been cut off completely? Are they all cut out? God told us to be circumcised in the flesh of the foreskins. This means we should draw a definitely clear line of salvation in our hearts. Didn’t Jesus Christ bear all our sins through His baptism, die on the Cross, and rise again from death just for us? Yes he did. Halleluiah! We need to confirm this faith. We need to believe that Jesus Christ took all our sins away and say “Hallelujah!” You shouldn’t think, “Is it really the Truth that Jesus took all my sins away? No one else talks about this, but why does this Church always talk about it? Isn’t this just the unique teaching of Pastor Paul Jong which cannot be found anywhere in any Christian community?” But remember what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 2 regarding this important matter, “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter” (Romans 2:29).
We have received the remission of sins by believing that our sins were handed over to Jesus at the time of His baptism. We became righteous by believing this from our hearts. This is the circumcision of the heart. Receiving the remission of sins is the sign of God’s covenant. Receiving the remission of sins is the sign that we have become His children. I have received the remission of all my sins. How about you then? Have you also received the remission of all your sins? Do you have no sin in your hearts? I hope you believe this wholeheartedly as the Truth rather than in some obscure Christian doctrines. Do not trust your wills but trust in God’s Word.
God says, “My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17:13-14). Those men who are not circumcised will be cut off from God’s people. Such people will no longer be found among the children of God. This is true. People, who claim to believe in God without being circumcised, or have not received the remission of sins, will be cut off from God’s people. Cutting them off from God’s family is the natural result of this because they don’t believe in and keep God’s Word. Not believing in God’s promise is the same as betraying God’s promise.
God promised us that He would remove all our sins from us humans. Jesus Christ who is the true God came to this world just as He had promised. And He solved the problem of our sin thoroughly in the Jordan River. Jesus Christ was circumcised for us in the Jordan River. Just as General Naaman was cleansed from his debilitating leprosy when he immersed his body seven times in the Jordan River, Jesus was baptized to take all our sins and cut them off from our souls. In other words, Jesus Christ cleansed us from all our sins and evils. Are you not going to believe this in spite of the fact that Jesus has already cleansed us of all our sins? God promised this and then fulfilled it, but why are you still reluctant to believe? You should not do that. If you reject this circumcision, you will be called the betrayers of God. And then God will consider you as Satan’s followers.
You Are a Traitor to God When You Don’t Believe in God’s Word
God made a promise with His Word and kept all His promises by coming to this earth and removing all the sins of the world. God then said that He would accept those who believe in this Truth as His people and that He would treat those who do not believe in it as His enemies. If you think to yourself, “God will treat me kindly, for I have been working so hard. I have pioneered five churches, so I guess He will surely look over all my wrongdoings.” If you have these thoughts then you are greatly mistaken. I know a lot of people who have pioneered more than 5 churches. But they did not plant those churches by preaching the Truth to the lost souls but only to boast about their merits to people. I tell you that being saved by God has nothing to do with our own work. You might think to yourself, “God will save me because, while I have been serving Him, I have been denying myself.” But these kinds of thoughts are akin to betraying God. If you don’t believe in His Word properly even if you have met with Him, God will treat you as a betrayer.
I know someone who was running a huge prayer house. He used to fast for forty days twice a year. He set a schedule to do this fasting twice every year and he drank only water during this fasting period. Differently put, he ate regularly for nine months and ten days, but refrained from eating for two months and twenty days. As for me, fasting for a day is very challenging, so whenever I see people like him, I feel amazed. There are, of course, people who fast just to show off. They do this without a dedicated heart but out of hypocrisy. However, the director of a certain prayer house, who was dying of cancer at that time, fasted and prayed from his heart. People who prayed with him at that prayer house told me that he was on pins and needles all night. They first thought that he was doing so because he was in so much pain, but they soon realized that he was in fact begging God for forgiveness all night as he crawled around the floor of that room. He used to be a very popular revivalist who used to create great sensations among blessing-seekers. But he died anxiously worrying about his own sins. Life of unbelievers is like this.
Why do you think he was so much in agony until the last moment before his death? It is because he had not received the remission of sins by betraying God’s covenant. Do you think God will forgive you your sins when you fast and pray for a long time? God promised us His salvation and told us to receive the remission of sins by believing in His Word of promise just like that. But this man could not receive the remission of sins because he only relied on his fasting over two months of every year out of his own will. Not trusting in God’s Word fully is a betrayal of God and His Word. Among many sins, the greatest sin is to not believe in God’s Word, and this sin is none other than committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Please keep this in your mind. All other sins can be forgiven, but those who are not circumcised, those who do not receive the remission of sins like this but claim they believe in Jesus Christ their way will surely go to hell.
You Should Know the Importance of the Spiritual Circumcision
You and I could become God’s children because we have been circumcised. In other words, we have become the citizens of Heaven because we have received the remission of sins. The God of love gave us the Word of promise and the faith of believing in this promise so that we could be circumcised in the heart as the sign of this covenant. We became the authentic descendants of Abraham by God’s grace. We have become God’s people through the Word of His promise. This is so gratifying.
I want to make sure that what we all believe in is the Truth. Our faith is rock solid. We are His people, we who are circumcised according to His Word. During those times the Israelites treated those who were not circumcised as outcasts; they treated the Gentiles as mere beasts. But we have been spiritually circumcised by believing in God’s covenant. We have this definite sign in our hearts that we are saved by Jesus. In this way, you and I have become the blameless children of God.
Who are you? You are God’s people who have been circumcised. You are God’s people, separated from the common people of this world. We are going to hold Nathaniel Bible Camp this summer, and this is only for the college students who have been circumcised. Not all college students can join this meeting. Whoever wants to join must first be circumcised. If you don’t become circumcised, you will be disobeying God’s will, and then you will not receive any blessings from God.
You and I are the people who inherited the same faith as that of Abraham’s. God’s servants as the Apostle Peter and John had also inherited this very same faith. We are indeed circumcised; we are the consecrated saints before God; we have received the remission of sins; we are blameless in God’s sight. God said, “I am Almighty God. Walk before Me and be blameless.” God, who made this statement, blotted out all our sins as white as snow. And He adopted us, the sinless saints, as His very own people. Brothers and sisters, you are not the common people of this world. Do you think that you are just the same as those Christian sinners out there, saying to yourself, “I am the same as those other Christians except that the denomination of my church is a little different?” No, this is not true. You and I are fundamentally different from other Christians in this world. We are the seeds of God. We are God’s children. We are the seeds of the righteous. In other words, we are the seeds of Jesus Christ.
Take pride in the fact that you are God’s circumcised people. Keep your uniqueness. When those who are not circumcised come to our Church and suggest working together with us, since both they and we are all brothers in God, we should say to them, “Are you kidding me?” This kind of thing is insulting to us when they treat us as the same kind. We have self-respect as people of God who are the circumcised. Do not go to just anyone to ask for prayer by the laying on of hands. Do not work with every Jack and Jill, but keep your identity pure before God. We can’t walk with those who are not circumcised. It does not make much sense if those of you who are circumcised invite those who are not circumcised, to walk together with you. Where is the reason for us to feel small before them? Rather, we should tell them with confidence that they should be circumcised so that they can be treated as our fellow believers. They are the wretched people who have not been circumcised.
Of course, they would say things like this, “What is the difference between you and me?”
Then we should say to them boldly, “We are different. God says in the Bible, ‘Every uncircumcised male child shall be cut off from My people for he has broken My covenant.’ Have you then been circumcised? Have you or have you not?”
If they reply, “How do you know this?”
Then ask them, “Do you still have sins in your heart?”
They will then say if they are honest, “I am afraid so.”
Then reply to them,
“That is why I am telling you that you have not been circumcised. Read the Bible carefully. Find out how God’s covenant is related to circumcision. Does the word, ‘circumcision’ not mean to cut off cleanly? Have you been circumcised in your heart like this?”
Then, they responsd, “Uh….”
We then ask again, “Do you have sins in your heart?”
They answer, “Yes.”
We say, “Then you have not cut off your sins yet. You have not been circumcised yet.”
They then reply, “Don’t you also have sins?”
We say, “No, I don’t.”
They then reply, “Do you have no sin from the beginning?”
We say, “No, I also used to have sins, but God cut off all the sins from my heart when Jesus was baptized and then discarded them on the Cross.”
I hope you all would live with such pride as God’s people. No matter where you go, witness to people that you have become God’s children and do not act cheaply. God made a promise to us, saying, “I will establish My covenant with you and your descendants, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” Our God is the God of covenant who always keeps His promises. He always accomplishes them. Since God has promised them, He will accomplish them.
Let’s Live with Pride as the Spiritually Circumcised
If nobody comes to us, then go into each campus and have a Bible study meeting there. And thank God by saying, “Thank You for circumcising us,” and sing praises related to the circumcision of the heart. Thank God who circumcised us and share the bread of life, the Word of God. Pray to God based on His promise that says, “I will make a covenant between you and Me and multiply you,” and wait patiently for Him. If you stand firm before God with strong faith, then the promise that He would multiply us will indeed come true. There will be an increase in the number of people who want to be circumcised.
Dear beloved saints are we God’s people or not? Are we the circumcised people or are we not? We are indeed the circumcised. We are different from the common people. I may look shabby, but I can say to everyone anything I wish to say. I don’t mingle in with them not because I feel inadequate to them, but because I have this pride as a circumcised person. There is no one in the vicinity of Chuncheon City whom we can work together with. As you have received the remission of sins, it is the second greatest blessing from God for you to live with the righteous in His Church. God promised to give us the land of Canaan. God has given us the Kingdom of Heaven. Yes, God’s Church is the Kingdom of Heaven. You might then retort, “How is this place the Kingdom of Heaven?” This is the Kingdom of Heaven. Heaven is a place where your hearts become whole and pure. When we are in such a heavenly place, God will provide things we need in His due time.
You and I are all God’s people who are the circumcised. God appeared to Abraham and said, “I am Almighty God. Walk before Me and be blameless.” Do you believe this? “Yes, we do. We believe that You Lord became our God and removed all our sins just as You had promised. We believe that we have become whole. And we also believe that all Your promises will be accomplished; we believe You hear us when we pray; we believe You will multiply us. We believe we will receive abundant blessings on this earth. We believe You will take care of us, protect us and work on and in us. We believe that You have blessed us. We believe that You will bless us even more.” We should be able to profess our faith like this before God.
I strongly believe that all the saints in this Church will be even more blessed and be happier. I believe this because God is your God and mine. As the Apostle Paul said, I also consider “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). I firmly believe that God will give the blessings of the dew of Heaven as well as the blessings of the fatness of the earth (Genesis 27:28) to us His circumcised children who follow His Word wholeheartedly.
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