A Covenant Sign

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 105:23-45

Psalm 105:23–45 ESV

Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And the Lord made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes. He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants. He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. They performed his signs among them and miracles in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they did not rebel against his words. He turned their waters into blood and caused their fish to die. Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country. He gave them hail for rain, and fiery lightning bolts through their land. He struck down their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country. He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts without number, which devoured all the vegetation in their land and ate up the fruit of their ground. He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength. Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night. They asked, and he brought quail, and gave them bread from heaven in abundance. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant. So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

Scripture Memorization:

Genesis 50:19–20 “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:15-21 (Micah)

Galatians 2:15–21 ESV

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Sermon:

Well once again, and as always, good morning church. I was certainly glad when they said to me let us go and Worship in the house of the Lord. One thing I pride myself on, I think, in a good way. It's okay to have pride in some things. One thing I pride myself on.

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Is what I would call a commitment to expositional preaching? But there's a problem even when we say that different people have different thoughts about what expositional preaching means and is. Largely. Definitionally, I would say expositional preaching is preaching through. Any text of scripture where the main point of the texts is the main point of the sermon.

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It's different than topical preaching, where you take a topic, and you begin to look systematically through scripture as to what scripture says about a topic. I am committed to expeditional preaching for a whole host of reasons. But topical preaching. Is not inherently wrong. There are dangers and the cuts of conversation for another day as to why I think expeditional preaching is better.

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But topical preaching is not wrong. And in fact, today, we have a pseudo. Topical sermon. If I was just preaching through Genesis without the context of Life, the context of the world we live in, the context of church history looming over it, the passage that we will preach today.

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Is really the end of last week's sermon. Genesis 17, 1 through 14. Is God enacting the Covenant with Abram? In fact, with Abraham, he will change Abram's name to Abraham and we looked at the call and the the context tent of this Covenant. We looked at the guarantee is what we ended with.

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But really, the text ends with verses 9 through 14. Are the sign of the Covenant? And so, to take it out of what we looked at last week, I better have a really good reason. This is what I say to myself, you better have a really good reason. To take this one point out and make it a whole sermon.

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And they do. Is because thinking through what circumcision means as a sign of the Covenant and tracing that through church history, church thoughts, and what scripture teaches? Ends up being an enormous. Thing. And what we find is this becomes one of the greatest sources of disagreement among people who otherwise would agree on most almost everything else in the Bible, this one topic.

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How do we deal with the signs of the Covenant becomes one of the biggest things that divides Christians? Since the time of the Reformation in particular since the time of the anabaptists. In the second wave of the Reformation, where there were people who said, hey. We might have been getting more wrong than just like who the pope is, who has that Authority?

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There might be more than just the five solas. There also are some practical things acting out that maybe we need to think through again. There's been disagreement. People have lost their lives. Because of disagreement. About what a, what the sign of the Covenant is? And so, this morning, we will be looking at.

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Circumcision God instituting circumcision as a sign of the Covenant he has made with Abraham. And then God willing with hope. We will fast forward. To now, and what this means for us. I will know and preface. My goal today is to present. I don't baptize babies. But if you were to say, oh well, I have family members who believe that we should baptize babies.

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I don't think that this sermon. My goal is not to argue with and prove why I think I'm right, and they're wrong and offer debate. That's not my goal. Rather, my goal is to present what I believe, why I believe it from the scriptures, trying my best to be as faithful to what God's word says on this subject.

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And presenting it from my personal point of view. So that being said, let's read our text because? I would like to base it off of what we read in Genesis, but I'm just warning you. That's where we're going. We're going far afield from just Genesis this week, Genesis chapter 17, starting in verse 9.

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And God said to Abraham. As for you, you shall keep my Covenant. You and your Offspring after you throughout their Generations. This is my Covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your Offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your four skins, and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and you.

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He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your Generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any Foreigner who is not of your Offspring. Both he who is born in your home and he was bought with your money shall surely be circumcised.

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So shall my Covenant be in your flesh and Everlasting Covenant? Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people he has broken. My Covenant. These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's begin our time together with a word of prayer.

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Dear Lord, our Lord. The God Who knows us, who loves us, who has saved and redeemed? The one who called us out of Darkness and into light, the one who has removed from our hearts, the Heart of Stone, and given to us a heart of Flesh, your law written upon it.

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The one who calls us redeems us and saves us and loves us. We are grateful. For all of the precious promises that you give to us. We are grateful for all the precious gifts that you have given to us. May we see and understand your word this morning? I asked that you would speak to our hearts.

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I ask that you would speak through your servant. May my words be clear. May I speak your truth? It's in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. And amen. So, in order to get? Where I want to get today, which is baptism. I'd like to Wade through. And I want to give you some very particular points that we see here.

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That I think will help us understand. Where I'm coming from. When we come to baptism. So, before we get to baptism, circumcision, and see what the connections are, let's just start with what we have in front of us, which is what circumcision. God says to Abram you and your Offspring, you shall keep my Covenant.

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This goes back to what was said last week, walk before me. This was 17, verse 1 be blameless, and here God reiterates keep my Covenant. It's not just to me Abra, not just between me and you, Abraham. It's between me and you and your children, your Offspring throughout their Generations.

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And then verse 10 becomes very important. This is my Covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your Offspring. God says, this is my Covenant. Every male among you shall be circumcised.

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The language here. And we should pay attention to this. There is an equation. The Covenant is circumcision and circumcision is the Covenant. As I was sitting there this week, thinking, oh man, you're going to preach about circumcision. Most people might say, you know, that's a private matter. It's not.

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Most people might say, oh, well, that's, you know, that's just a medical procedure. Well, in modern days, I might agree, yes. But here, in this text, no, it's not. We know that's just sort of a unique Oddity of of history. No, it's not. Well, it's just a cultural thing.

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It's a personal decision. No, it's not. Circumcision in the Covenant are here equated. This is my Covenant. Every male among you shall be circumcised. Verse 11 you shall be circumcised in the Flesh of your foreskin. It shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and you. So this is our first blank here.

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Circumcision. Is a covenant sign. It is something visible. It is something tangible. It is something really that exists in the world. That is a sign of the gift and promise that God has given to this people.

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It is fitting, and right, that the Covenant sign matches the Covenant promise. If we just stay in Genesis? Noah. And the Covenant with Noah. It also had a covenant inside. Those of us who remember what it was. It's the rainbow. And it's right, and fitting that the Covenant sign a rainbow.

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Has a close connection affiliation and appears in the same place and time as. The Covenant promise I will not flood, so when it rains and storm clouds come. We get rainbows, the Covenant sign. Has a close connection with what the Covenant promises. Why would God have? The mal. Cut off the foreskin of their reproductive organ.

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Asking it that way intentional? Because the Covenant sign circumcision? Has a close affiliation and connection to the Covenant promise, which for Abraham is. Descendants. And those descendants become a nation. And so, as the men come and. The vehicle by which the promise is given the male reproductive organ. Is where the Covenant sign will be?

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The Covenant sign has a connection to the Covenant promise. That's what I want us to see here. Here in Genesis, it's true. It was true with Noah's Covenant. It was true in. Abrams Abraham, the abrahamic Covenant. What I hope we'll see when we get there. It's true of the New Covenant as well.

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But isn't the only point I want to make from our text in Genesis, the Covenant sign. Has proper. Subjects. The Covenant sign has proper subjects. There is a right person to receive the sign. This is not a sign given to whomever. We don't just say, whoever, and in this sign, it's very particular because it's only applicable to half of the people that fall under the Covenant.

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But notes. Who are the proper subjects? Eight tables. A day old infants descended from Abraham. Verse 11, you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins. It shall be a sign that come between me and you verse 12. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised.

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Who are the proper subjects of circumcision eight day old? Abrahamic boys.

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Every male. Throughout ideation, whether born in your house or brought or bought with your money from a foreigner who is not your Offspring. Both he is born of your house, and he was bought with your money shall be circumcised. Who are the proper subjects of baptism? We've expanded a little bit.

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It is. Eight day old boys infant boys. And. Anyone who's been bought and brought into your house. So, it's eight day old boys. And servant slaves. Those are the proper subjects. The proper subjects of circumcision are those who belong to the. Of Abram. This particular Covenant sign has a particular subject that's given that this is a time where it differs from the noaic Covenant who receives the sign of the noaic Covenant, the rainbow.

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We all do. Everyone does. Here in another different Covenant. We find different subjects.

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I believe that pattern will still continue, but we're not quite done with Genesis yet. The Covenant sign has proper subjects. And defines the people of God. When I say defines the people of God. I mean, God has made it very clear. With the Covenant of circumcision, you do this, you're in.

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You don't do it, you're out. Verse 14, any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my Covenant. So, God's promise has a sign here circumcision. Circumcision is given to proper subjects. It is a day old infants, and it is slaves who are brought in.

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And. As we look at, this is why I said it's not a private matter. And this isn't a medical thing, and this isn't just something that is just an oddity of History. This was a defining characteristic of the people of God.

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Cuz anyone who's not circumcised is cut off, and God says he has broken my Covenant. And so, as we get the full picture, we take a step back and we think through what everything God has said to Abram Abraham here. He said, I promise, you'll have a nation, and it'll be descendants.

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It will be a great nation. They will multiply. They will be a blessing to the world around him. You will inherit this land. And Abraham is struggling. He doesn't have any kids yet, and he tries it his own way, and he fails, and God comes in again. At the beginning of 17.

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He's like, you're 99, Abraham. I'm I'm tripling quadrupling pen tupling. Yeah, that would be five times. We're we're going. We're going at this again. I'm promising you. And he gives the promise in verses one through eight. And here, he gives the sign. The sign connects to the promise. Abram is going to cut off the foreskin of his male reproductive organ, because from his male reproductive organ, he will have a child.

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And God says hear the proper subjects. There's one more proper subject that if we think through this. It's 99 year old Abraham, who has to go through with this. God's asking a lot of Abraham here. It's eight day olds going forward from Abraham. It's eight day olds, and it's anyone brought into the house.

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Anyone bought? Who now is part of the house? This is going to happen to you. And the act of doing or not doing, defines and delineates the people. Of God. This is circumcision for us in Genesis 17, 9-14. Is that everything no? Is that an open and shut case for all things I'm going to say in the future?

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No, but this is how I think through this. And my hope is to help you see through these things.

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Colossians, chapter 2.

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I was told I should be a little more specific inverse references when we go far afield. So, we're going to look at Colossians chapter 2. In particular, we are going to circle and highlight verses 11 and 12, but we may go a little further before we may go to laughter, but verses 11 and 12 when you go home and read this for yourself.

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That's where you're gonna. I want you to focus in on. Colossians, chapter 2. Verse 11. To give us some context. Paul is speaking of in Colossians being in Christ. This is going to be the the focus and the thesis statement in many ways of Colossians is you're in Christ.

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You're in Christ in Christ in Christ, not the flesh. You're in Christ, live by the spirit, not by the flesh. Because you're in Christ, you're in Christ. Christ is above all things. He's over all things we're in him. You're in Christ. This is going to be Paul's rallying cry through the book of Colossians.

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So? Second or sorry, Colossians 2, verse 11. In him also. You were? Circumcised.

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These sorts of languages are why some people want to say baptism. And circumcision are the same. And so, they hear this, you were circumcised and think, okay, Covenant sign. Means the sign has changed. We no longer do circumcision. We do baptism. But then, the rest of the sentence has proper subjects and defines people of God.

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We keep those the same. This is the. The pedo, the infant baptism. It's a. They see baptism and circumcision. In many ways, as a one-to-one correspondent where baptism is just replaced circumcision. But everything else is the same. The subjects are the children.

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We're gonna see why I, I think there's a little disagreement, but the subjects are the children of Believers, and it defines the people of God. In him, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. By putting off of the body of Flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism, right?

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So, here's the connection. Paul's making the same baptism and circumcision having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through fa. In the powerful working of God who raised him from. The. Paul is writing to the church in Colossians, who's struggling with with a sort of.

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If you look historically, there's this extreme asceticism. It's an extreme form of gnosticism, where the body and everything relating to the body is evil. Which goes again to Genesis when God made man in God's image. And said, it was good man sin. There is fallenness, but our body still retains some goodness.

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God gave us a good body. So, Paul's fighting against this. And he's, like, wait guys, like, think about this, you are in Christ. And you're, you've been given a sign. In Christ. And Paul will equate baptism with circumcision. So here's where I agree. With. People who would baptize babies?

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Wherein circumcision used to be the Covenant sign. Now, it is. Baptism. Baptism has been given to Believers as a sign of the Covenant that God has made with us. Other similarities. If we wanted to like, tease this all the way out. Just like circumcision was a one-time deal, and then either you were circumcised or not.

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So, to baptism is a one-time deal, and either you are baptized or you were not. This is why I don't go around just. Baptizing people over and over and over and over again. Now, you are in the family of God. Okay. So, I actually agree. So far.

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The the sign? Of the New Covenants that God has made with us is baptism. So, we're in agreement here. Where I disagree. Is that the subjects have remained the same? So, we're in a a infant baptism. A Pale Baptist will say, yeah. So, just like, eight day old infants were circumcised, and they were part of the Covenant Community, so too, eight day old believers children.

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Can be baptized, and they are also part of the Covenant Community. That's their argument. Here's where I would disagree one. Already.

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The infant baptism position is. The subjects have changed. They already have to admit has changed because they don't just baptize. Baby boys. If we were to go down to the Presbyterian Lutheran Church, they would be baptizing infant boys and infant girls. So they have already admitted. That. Subjects have changed.

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And I would just argue the subjects have changed even more drastically. A few places we could go. Not all Israel is Israel. We could go to places like Deuteronomy even in the Old Testament, where it talks about what what really God has in mind is the circumcision of the heart that the physical circumcision actually counts for nothing that it's always been by faith.

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But we could go to Matthew chapter 28. Verses 19 and 20.

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Go there. And make Disciples of all Nations. Baptizing them. So, here's the question. Who does Jesus say are the ones that we should baptize? It's them. Who's? Disciples.

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This is rather simplistic. But I'm rather simplistic. Jesus said, baptize disciples. So I baptized those people who have made a profession of faith and who claim to be a disciple of Christ. It really is that simple? I think when you start to get into all of the weeds of this and we start to say, well, well, Peter says that this promise is for you and your family.

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And so that means we have to baptize infants. See. No, it doesn't. Here's the promise. Then the promises for good for you and for your children. If you call upon the name of Jesus, you will be saved. That is true of you. That is true for every child. It's true for every person on the face of the Earth.

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Believe in Jesus. You will be saved. And then, upon professing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and the visible signs of belief in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. You are welcome into the Covenant community, and we will baptize you. Because where Paul?

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And I believe. The people who believe in human baptism, agree, is.

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Baptism also defines the people of God. If we go back to? Colossians, chapter 2.

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In him. Also,

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you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. Here's another thought just to to make here. The circumcision we have is not a circumcision by hands. And what Paul's talking about here that baptism symbolizes is a spiritual truth that's deeper than just? Blood and who your parents are. There's a spiritual truth because there's something without it. There's something in the spirit that's going on here. Have you bear with him in baptism, having buried with him. You were also raised with him through faith. This through faith idea. What defines the people of God were those who live by faith?

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And so, just like circumcision. Marked off. And set apart the people of God. So too, baptism Marx often sets us apart. Such that once you are baptized, having been dipped into the baptismal Waters, you are not saved. You were saved long before this. But we are welcoming you into the people of God, saying well with open arms. This is a brother or sister in Christ. And of that, we can Rejoice. Let's

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pray.