Let’s talk about the weather for a minute. If we are ever in a situation, similar to last Sunday, and you do not feel it is wise or safe for you to come to church (this includes weather, family circumstances, neighborhood/community needs, or other circumstances that God has placed in your life) please use your own judgement and rest assured, you will not be judged. We believe you are able to make the best decision for you and for those under your care.

We do not believe your spiritual maturity is calculated on the number of inches of snow you are able to drive through to get here. Nor does our opinion of you increase because of the extreme temperatures that you are willing to endure.

God knows, and we do not! We will not put burdens or yokes on your backs, that God doesn’t

“Operation Sanctification”

Joshua 5:1-

Joshua 5:1–9 ESV

1 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. 2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. 5 Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

The information shared in verse one is an affirmation of what has been said in

Joshua 2:11 ESV

11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

In chapter 4 we learned about Joshua taking steps to ensure that the work of God, in bringing them across the Jordan river would be remembered for future generations. Now, in verse 2 of chapter 5 we read of another instance of Joshua being told to take steps to acknowledge and remember the Covenant and Promise of God and His power working to bring to pass that which He had promised.

The Covenants of God

Abrahamic-

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 15:17–20 ESV

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

In we learn more about God’s covenant with Abraham and Abraham’s part in that covenant.

In we learn more about God’s covenant with Abraham and Abraham’s part in that covenant.

Genesis 17:9–14 ESV

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 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, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 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.”

Mosaic-

Deuteronomy 7:6–8 ESV

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Listen to what happened when Moses chose not to circumcise his son.

Exodus 4:24–26 ESV

24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

Exod 4:

Joshua 5:5 ESV

5 Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

Joshua 5:

Circumcision was an outward sign of the inward work of God.

Though God required outward action, it was simply a sign of what was happening in the heart of the man. We are told in the book of Hebrews, “By faith Abraham obeyed . . .” Rahab and many other Old Testament saints were included in the “Hall of Faith” in .

In each instance, their outward actions were merely symbolic of the “circumcision of the heart” that is spoken of in and .

Jeremiah 4:4 ESV

4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

Romans 9:24–29 ESV

24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” 26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ” 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”

Romans 4:9–12 ESV

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Think back to the story of Joshua and the sons of Israel. They had just crossed the Jordan River. They were now encamped in a new land. They were in enemy territory and they submit themselves to the outward “operation of sanctification”. They were left vulnerable to the enemy. If you don’t think that is the case read , the account of the Shechemites’ fall.

In that case, the Shechemites were not submitting, they were seeking to fulfill Shechem’s fleshly desires.

Joshua was commanded to circumcise the sons of Israel as a symbol of their trust and desire to honor God with their obedience as He was about to give them the Promised land. They were choosing to trust God unlike their fathers who doubted and ended up wandering the wilderness for 40 yrs.

The path of duty is the path of safety

God desires the circumcision of the heart.

Acts 15:1 ESV

1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 15:7–11 ESV

7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Philippians 3:3 ESV

3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

Romans 2:29 ESV

29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Colossians 2:8–14 ESV

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:8–15 ESV

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Col 2:

What application does this have for us today?

Trust and Obey for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

This procedure that takes place in our hearts is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit who works in us as we move about in obedience.

Some view baptism as the “circumcision for today”. Especially those who adhere to paedobaptism ( Infant baptism). Though I believe there are certain similarities between circumcision and baptism, I do not believe they are complete, and I do not believe there is sufficient evidence in the Scriptures or early church to adopt the practice of infant baptism. Rather, I believe that baptism is an ordinance of the church, that Christ himself commanded of those who have come to believe in Christ as their Savior. The act of baptism is symbolic of the putting off of the flesh, dying with Christ and being raised to new life in Him.

God still desires a circumcision of the heart that is not done by man. He desires that we turn away or roll back the reproach of our flesh and confess that He is the One true God, who has made a way for us to be Holy and Righteous.

There are times when we may feel susceptible to the enemy, but Christ has already won the battle.

Have you asked the Lord to create a clean heart in you?

I think sometimes we act as though our actions are more important than the sanctification of our hearts.