Circumcision of the Heart

One of the earliest persecutions against the followers of Christ came from a very zealous Pharisee, as we know, by the name of Saul. Let's turn there and look at that, the beginning of my message here today. Acts 9 relates that particular story when it started here with Saul, how Saul started out. Acts 9, verse 1 says, "...then Saul, still breeding threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest. And he asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that he found any who were of thee way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." Now, it's interesting here that the followers of Jesus of Nazareth were referred to by their enemies as those who were of thee way. They were the way of Christ. They were following His teachings, and they were considered enemies by the religious leaders of that day. But as we know, true Christianity is indeed a way of life. It is a way. We deliver our lives from relationship to God and relationship to one another. What is that way of life? And what does it take to be a follower of that way of life? The Apostle Paul here was on a mission, but he was about to receive a very rude awakening. Going on, Acts 9, verse 3, And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

God was driving home a spiritual lesson to Saul, and it's a lesson for us as well. Before our eyes can be opened spiritually, we must first come to realize we've been spiritually blinded by Satan's deceptions. But Saul needed to understand that, so the first step in working with him was for God to blind him, to make him realize that, spiritually speaking, he was blind. He was blinded by his own animosity, his hatred towards the followers of Christ, and so on.

And he had to realize that only a miracle of God could cause his eyes to be opened to the true understanding of the way, as it's called here. That's also interesting, some of the names that are coming to play here. Once in Damascus, he was instructed to go to the street that was called straight. Read that in verse 11. And you think about it, so his attitude and his thinking, his way of life could be straightened out. Interesting how those words kind of play together. So Saul could be set on the straight path, spiritually speaking. Then God, in a vision, instructed a man by the name of Ananias to go to Saul, to lay hands on him so he could receive back his physical eyesight. He was then baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit so his life could be straightened out, and so he could be given spiritual eyesight and understanding. And as we know, Saul then became the Apostle Paul, who ended up writing about half of the entire New Testament that we have today. All this probably took place somewhere in the late 30s AD, mid to late 30s AD or thereabouts. But God also told Ananias that Saul had been chosen by God for a special purpose. Read that in Acts 9 verse 15. But the Lord said to him, said to Ananias, Go, go to him, for he is a chosen vessel of mine, to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. Then, after the conversion of the Apostle Paul, God began to call many Gentiles, if you will, many non-Israelites into the church. And by the late 40s AD, this caused a major controversy to rise in the church. Must non-circumcised Gentiles be circumcised according to the law of Moses in order to be saved?

Now, if you asked that question today, what would your answer be? The correct answer might surprise you. The correct answer is yes. Not only do non-Israelites need to be circumcised, all true followers of Christ must be circumcised in order for their lives to be straightened out in order to be saved. But not physical. Not physically. Not physical. I'm going to talk about physical circumcision. It's not the flesh that needs to be circumcised. In our case, it's our hearts that need to be circumcised. And that's what we'll take a look at today, at the circumcision of the heart, and what that means. How our hearts must be circumcised and how that is accomplished. So the title of my sermon here this afternoon is Circumcision of the Heart. I want to go back to that moment when this controversy took place and arose to the Jerusalem Conference of 49 A.D. And this particular conference was convened specifically to address the controversy and dissension that arose over the matter of circumcision. Let's go to Acts 15, just a few pages over here from where we were. Acts 15, let's begin in verse 1. Acts 15, let's begin in verse 1.

Verse 2.

So this then was the one specific question that they came together to meet and discuss at this particular conference that took place here in Jerusalem in 49 A.D. Verse 4.

One of the main things that God had done through Paul and Barnabas was to call many Gentiles who had not yet been physically circumcised into the church. It's related in verse 3. So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria describing the conversion of the Gentiles.

And it caused great joy to fall on the brethren. So many of these people had not been physically circumcised. They were being called and they were being converted. And they did receiving God's Holy Spirit. So he said, you know, there's something about this we need to look, discuss. Which led then many to realize that physical circumstances are not becoming obsolete and no longer necessary. But there were some dissenters who didn't agree with that position. Verse 5, but some of the sect of the Pharisees who bleed rose up saying it is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses regarding circumcision.

Now the apostles and elders came together then to consider this particular matter in verse 6. And this is that they had much dispute in verse 7, but after much dispute and discussing all these things, they finally concluded Gentiles should not have to be compelled to be physically circumcised. And you read that in verse 19. Therefore I judge, Peter said, for the behalf of those who were there, that we should not, or maybe it was James, I forget if it was James or Peter, but James maybe.

Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God. That is not trouble then by compelling them to be circumcised. Now you stop and think about it. It's not much of a problem when you're a little baby, you don't remember it. But if you're an adult and you've got to be circumcised, that's a painful experience. There's probably not too many we want to go through. Much better to have it done on the eighth day or when you're just after you're born so you don't remember the pain. If I want to now ask this, why wouldn't non-Israelites need to be physically circumcised?

Why not? See, what was the original purpose for physical circumcision? Why was it commanded in the Old Testament? The covenant of circumcision was given to Abraham and his descendants back in Genesis 17. At the time God promised Abraham he would have a son by his wife Sarah who had been barren up to that point. Because God told Abraham his promise to make Abraham's descendants into a great nation would be fulfilled through a son who would be born, it says there in Genesis 17, 21, at this set time next year.

So this is set time next year you're going to have a son by Sarah. A son who'd be born to Sarah and God said his name would be called Isaac, which means laughter. Because Sarah had laughed, once you hear God tell Abraham he was going to have a son by her. When she had been barren her entire marriage she had been barren, not able to conceive, and by now was way past the time of childbearing.

So she laughed. This is an important lesson. Don't ever laugh at God's promises no matter how impossible they may seem. But why did God institute the covenant of circumcision at this particular time back here in Genesis 17? Well, it boils down to it to identify Abraham's descendants and to prove to the world the good God fulfilled his promise to Abraham as originally given there in Genesis 12, verses 1-3.

He says, David, I'm going to make you into a great nation. The entire world's going to be blessed by your offspring. And here now he's 100 years old and Sarah's way up there past childbearing and they have no children.

So I'm going to prove to you that I'm going to fulfill my promise. The whole world can know. So circumcision was a physical sign to identify the physical descendants of Abraham. God promised that Abraham's seed would become, as it says, as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And they would possess the gates of their enemies. That's given in Genesis 22, verse 17.

In other words, if they would become too numerous to count. So circumcision was then a physical sign to identify those descendants. Now I want to just mention something very briefly here. Of course, as we know, the Sabbath is also a sign. As told, we're told that in Exodus 31, verses 13 and 17.

It's a perpetual sign to identify that we, our God is the God of creation, the one who rested on the seventh day and there were his people. So that's a sign as well. But for a sign of who God's people are today, you've got to go a little deeper than that. So now let's fast forward to the New Covenant. So you have to ask, who are the true people of God today? Can you identify who the real true people of God today are just by the Sabbath? That's a sign. That's important. But you've got to go deeper. Who are the true people of God today and how are they really identified?

You know, as we know, throughout the New Testament, they're simply referred to as the Church of God. And the word church there being translated to the Greek word, equa-cea, which means called-out ones. So the church is the equa-cea or the called-out ones of God. But how are they really identified? How do you know who they are? How do you know who they are? There's all kinds of different groups today, and they're among all those different groups. But who are they? Who are they and how are they identified today? See, unlike the physical seat of Abraham, God's called-out ones, God's church is not a physical organism. It's a spiritual organism. It's a spiritual nation of people, those who have God's Holy Spirit working their lives. It's made up of people from every nationality, every ethnic group, every race in the face of the earth. Because it's the people who have been repented and been baptized and received the gift of God's Holy Spirit through the laying out of hands. So how, then, could physical circumcision identify those people? Well, it can't. It can't. There is no physical sign that could identify the true New Testament or New Covenant people of God today. Why not? Because they're a spiritual seed, not a physical seed. They are the spiritual people of God, not a physical people of God, as were the descendants of Abraham. However, is circumcision still the identifying sign for the true people of God today? See, what identifies the true people of God today? Now, the Apostle Paul, who was God's chosen vessel to go to the uncircumcised Gentiles, understood what the true identifying sign needed to be for God's Church. For God's called-out ones, if you will. And he tells us what that sign is in his letter to the Church of Rome. So let's turn there to Romans 2.

Romans 2. Look at verses 28 and 29. Romans 2, verse 28. Where Paul wrote, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, Nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, Whose praise is not from men, but from God. So what's Paul really telling us here? He's telling us that true people of God today cannot be identified outwardly, not completely. They may give some signs outwardly, but you can't truly identify them outwardly. They must be identified inwardly.

By an inward change, it has taken place. It goes all the way down to a person's heart. That only God can truly see and identify. And then an inward identity change that only God can truly see is called here by the Apostle Paul, It's called circumcision of the heart. As he says, whose praise is not from men, but from God. Because only God can really know and see the heart. So you can't boast because, oh, I'm a Sabbath keeper, I keep the holy days. You can't boast from outward things. It's got to be something that's changing inside that God can see. That's God can praise that. Maybe we don't see that. Men can't see what God sees. So circumcision of the heart is the spiritual sign that identifies the true spiritual people of God today. Which then leads to this obvious question. What is circumcision of the heart? What is it? How does one circumcise his, her, and his heart? How does one circumcise his or her own heart? How is that accomplished? And of course, we realize spiritual circumcision of the heart applies to everyone that God calls male and female. But what is it? How is it recognized? And how is it an identifying sign of who the true people of God are today? Now, it's kind of ironic that the answer to that is given both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We can first turn to the Old Testament to begin our search for the answer to that question. Because circumcision of the heart is really what God wanted all along as identifying sign of his true people. Let's go back there to Deuteronomy chapter 10. Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 12.

Deuteronomy 10 verse 12. And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the law of your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul? In verse 13, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and the statues which you command you today, for you're good. So what did God want it all along for his people? He's always wanted people who would respect him, respect his laws, respect what he says, who would live by his precepts, who would love him and serve him with all their heart and soul, who would love God and love and serve one another, the very depth of their being, to both their lives to that. Going on, Deuteronomy 10 verse 14. Indeed, heaven and the height of heavens belong to the eternal your God, and the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples as it is this day. Therefore, verse 16, again, notice this in Deuteronomy, as God was taking them into the Promised Land, or about to take them into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy is written just as God was about to take them into the Promised Land after wandering the wilderness for 40 years. Therefore, verse 16, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked or rebellious, as my margin says it, no longer. So God has always wanted circumcision of the heart to be the true identifying sign of his people. How do we do that? How do we recognize that? How is that accomplished? Well, the first thing we must do to begin the process of circumcising our hearts is given right here in verse 16. It says, be stiff-necked or rebellious, no longer. In other words, we must no longer be stubborn toward God or the ways of God. We need to try to follow God in every way we can and yield to God what God says. We must no longer be like those at the time of the Judges when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 41 and 25.

In addition to that, what is the second thing we must all do in the process of having our hearts circumcised? Verse 17 of Deuteronomy 10. The Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He's the great God. He's mighty and awesome. And this describes God, who shows no partiality or takes a bribe. So in order for our hearts to be circumcised, we must remove from our minds and thoughts any feeling of prejudice we might have toward anyone, just because of who they are or what they are, what circumstance they're in. We must come to show no partiality or favoritism just because who somebody is and because of what the position is or circumstance they might be in their life.

What else must we strive to do? Verse 18. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow. He loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. So in other words, if you want your heart to be circumcised, you've got to be open your hearts to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. When the opportunity presents itself, if the opportunity is there, what is one aspect of that that we can apply as services and on the Sabbath? We're a family. We should all, and I know I'm trying to do this, but it's hard. It's difficult. That's why I'm changing the format to try to be here more often, because I really feel I can't really do this when I'm only here every other week. But we need to get to know each other to spend time together. And you can use great to spend time together as services. That's great. But when you really get to know somebody, you become a part of the family. You need to spend time outside of services and when you're in the family, in one another's homes and activities and so on like that. That's why it's so important to sometimes invite people over. We can spend time together in an intimate setting with just a small group. We can really get to know one another.

We need to get to know everybody, not just talk to the ones who we easily know and relate to. Because God has called people from all levels of society, and from all walks alive, He's called those who are better off than others, maybe financially, some who are maybe middle class and some who are very poor, struggling. He's called the educated and the not so educated. He's called black, white, yellow, brown and everything in between.

So, in other words, don't be clique-ish. Try to spend time with and get to know as many as you can. The congregation is to be best of your ability. Show no partiality. Get to know children who are the ever fatherless. There's children here who don't have a father. They're an important part of the congregation. I know I'm not real good at that, but we all need to strive to do that. Get to know the children, especially those who might not have both parents. Get to know and spend time with widows. And it's also interesting here, it says, and I gave a whole sermon just a year or so ago, but love the stranger. Verse 19, it says, Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Egypt symbolizes the world. One time we were all a part of the world. Then God called us and we came into God's church. Do you remember the first time you came into God's church? You weren't sure what to expect, were you? Because a lot of us, if you're like me, I was very shy. You may not think so, but I was. I didn't like talking to strangers. I was scared to talk to strangers, especially female strangers. But you know, and I didn't know what to expect. I was a little nervous. I thought, what am I going to expect? I'm going to walk into a church. I don't know anybody. And it was a large church. When I walked into Scottish Rite in 1964 for the first time, I don't know, there were three or four hundred people, maybe more there. I don't know. It was a large congregation, and I didn't know what to expect. Wow. And I've said this before, but the first person I went to was Matt Shafer's mother, Irene. I walked in, and she saw somebody new. Never been there before. She immediately came up to me and said, well, oh, what's your name? Who are you? I was 22-year-old. This is Steve Shafer. She says, Steve Shafer, my name is Irene Shafer. And she adopted me as her son. I was a part of the family. I was no longer a stranger, immediately. I hadn't gotten into the hall yet.

Are we like that? Do you see somebody new? Are you like that? Do you say, wow, here's somebody I haven't seen before. Find out who they are. Welcome. And make them feel like this is a home to them. Make them feel like, wow, this is not a strange place. This is God's house. This is where I want to be.

In a letter sent to all pastors and elders, I just read a little bit of it, announcements on January 9th. Victor Kubik said this in regards to the urgent need to update all of our local websites. He said, for the month of December, this past month of December, we had more than one million unique visitors. That's mean enough people to come back several times, but unique visitors, over one million unique visitors to our ucg.org website. Some of these people will wonder whether there's a local congregation. They can discover that easily from the contact tab on the home page, and will find their way into local websites. That's why we're trying to update and standardize all the local websites and bring the quality up. Make them very inviting and easy to use.

So when a stranger, when someone new comes to our services for the first time, when they walk in and still feel like a stranger, you know, I don't know what's going to happen, but God's Church is moving forward. You think of that, a million people unique. Some of those are going to go to the local website. They're going to be intrigued by what they see there and what they see. I wonder if maybe I should take that step and find out what these people are like. Whether they're a stranger, or whether maybe feel like family.

See, when the stranger, when someone new comes to our services for the first time, and begins to still feel like a stranger after being walking in the door, or will they feel love and acceptance like they found a home? Will they feel like they found the true house of God and the true people of God? Will they feel at home, or will they still feel like strangers in a strange place? Well, those whose hearts are circumcised will love the stranger. They'll love the stranger. Remember that we were once strangers ourselves, and they will go out of their way to welcome and get to know all newcomers so they can readily feel they are part of the very family of God, which we are. And when it comes to showing no prejudice and showing no partiality, what was the first thing Peter had to learn in order for his heart to be circumcised? Let's go to Acts again. Let's go to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10, beginning in verse 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, and a centurion of what was called the Italian regimens. He's an Italian. He's not an Israelite. He's an Italian. But he was a devout man, and one who feared God with all of his household and who gave alms generally to the people and prayed to God always. In about the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius. And when he observed him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? So he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have come from a memorial before God. Maybe a man doesn't see what's going on, but God says, I see. I see what you're doing.

So then he said in verse 5, Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon of Tanner, whose house is by the sea, and he will tell you what you must do. He said, Go to Peter, my Apostle Peter. Now there was only one big problem with that. Peter was a Jew. And even though he had God's spirit, Jews were extremely precious against Gentiles and non-Jews. They wouldn't even talk to them or associate with them. And Peter still had some of that ingrained in him. He hadn't overcome that yet or seen that yet.

But God's Church was about to change. And God had miraculously called Saul to be a chosen vessel to bear his name, the name of Christ before Gentiles and kings and children of Israel, as we read in Acts 9, verse 15, just in the previous chapter. So God's Church was changing. Had Peter received God's Holy Spirit a number of years before that, on the day of Pentecost, it was hard to not yet become entirely circumcised, because he still had prejudicial feelings, I should say. He still showed partiality to those like Cornelius. So it was about time for God to give Peter a vision, to show him what he needed to learn in order for his heart to be circumcised. Acts 10, verse 9.

The next day, as he went on to their journey, they drew near the city. Peter went up on the house, off to pray about the sixth hour, about noon. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were ready, he fell into a trance. And he saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheik bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. And then there were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and birds of the air, and all these unclean animals, as far as what we consider what God had labeled as being unclean. And then a voice came to him and said, Peter, rise, kill, and eat! But Peter said, well, not so, Lord, for I've never eaten anything common or unclean. And a voice spoke to him again, and second time said, what God has cleansed, you must not call common or unclean. Of course, people take this thing and say, well, we can get anything we want. It doesn't matter. I can eat slugs. No, that's not what God was saying. It doesn't make any sense, does it? This is done three times, verse 16. And then the object was taken up into heaven again. But Peter knew that God was not telling him he could now eat anything he wanted.

He knew that God wasn't declaring that all formerly unclean foods were now somehow declared to be clean, and God had changed that as I'm supposed to day.

Going on in verse 17, now while Peter wondered as he was perplexed by margin, says he was perplexed by it. He knew that couldn't be what God was saying. He said, what in the world is God driving at here? What's he saying? What does he want me to learn from this? This doesn't make any sense. While Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen would mean, would meant, the old men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. They were right there. But Peter was perplexed what this vision meant, but he was about to find out that God was not somehow cleansing unclean meats or foods. What he was going to do instead, he was about to begin cleansing Peter's heart, cleansing it of prejudice and partiality that was still ingrained there, which is one of the first steps needed in the process of circumcision of the heart. Verse 24, in the following day they entered Caesarea, nor Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and all of his friends to come with him, his whole family. As Peter was coming up, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up, I'm also just a man like yourself. Don't worship me. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. Then he said to them, Peter did, he said, Peter said, You know how unlawful it is? This is our prejudice that we had Jews had. You know how lawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But here's what Peter came to understand from the vision, but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclaimed. And then verse 34, then Peter opened his mouth again and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation who ever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him, not just those who have some kind of an outward physical sign. It took a miracle, but after many years, Peter's heart was now beginning the process of becoming circumcised. As he drew to proceed, the God shows no partiality. See, his heart had been hardened toward others who were different from himself, but now it was beginning to become pliable. God was beginning to cut away his prejudice. His heart was becoming circumcised. See, all those things that we've touched on here have to do with the process of such a position of the heart, which is simply describing the process of conversion. I think it was probably all understand. The process of becoming like God the Father and like Jesus Christ. We're trying to be converted to become like them.

Before we conclude, I want to look at three things, physical and spiritual, that three things that physical and spiritual circumcision share in common. There's three things that share in common. Without getting graphic, physical male circumcision involves these three things. Number one, removing a covering which then exposes something that previously not been exposed. I want you to be thinking of the spiritual analogies here. Number two, cutting off or getting rid of something that had previously been a part of us. And number three, it involves pain. It's a painful experience. Just witness any little baby when they're being circumcised. They scream out bloody murder. Very painful.

But after the pain's over, it's no longer remembered. They don't remember it. But those three things are also a part of the process of the circumcision of the heart. Number one, the first thing God has to do after he calls us is to remove our self-deception so he can expose what we really are. Expose our real nature, which we would prefer to keep covered. We really don't want to look at it or see it. We don't want our real human nature exposed to others. We'd rather keep it covered and hidden. We don't really even want it exposed to ourselves. I'm not going to turn there, but the Apostle Paul came to understand that. It was explained very thoroughly in Romans chapter 7. I just wrote a couple of verses where he wrote in Romans 7, 14. He came to see when his human nature was uncovered and exposed. He said, I'm carnal. I'm sold under sin. And here he'd been in Pharisee. He thought he was so righteous in keeping God's laws. And he found out just the opposite. I'm carnal. Sold under sin. Romans 7, 14. Then he said in Romans 7, 24, I'll wretched man that I am. Who can deliver me from this body of death?

Paul came to see that as God began the process of circumcising his heart and cutting away all the covering deception he had. God began by removing Paul's self-deception as to who he really was, deep down in the heart, and by exposing his real nature. Number two. Once we come to see who and what we really are and how that separates us from God, then we have to get rid of it. We have to put that off. We must pull off or cut off and get rid of anything and everything that separates us from becoming like Christ, even though those things must have been a part of us for a long time. Though these first two things in regards to circumcision of the heart are summarized in Paul's letters to Colossians. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians 3 verse 1, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which were above, where Christ is, seeing at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden now with Christ in God. And your life is hidden now with Christ in God. Verse 5, Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth. Put to death and cut yourself off from your former way of life, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covenants, which is idolatry. So we must cut ourselves off and separate ourselves from these things, which were once a part of our life. We must put these former members of our life to death, so to speak. Then follow all these other things that we have to put off, cut away from our lives. In Colossians 3, verse 8.

Put off these things as well. Anger. One kind of anger. Wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Don't lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, the former deeds. You've cut yourself off from that. That should be dead. You need to separate yourself from that and throw it away and get rid of it.

Then we have to put on the new man, verse 10, who was renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. Whether he was neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, nor free, but Christ is all in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies. If we have a circumcised heart, then we're putting on these things. This is going to be identifying signs of those whose hearts are circumcised. They will have tender mercies, kindness, humility. One of the greatest qualities of a person with a circumcised heart is that of humility. Meekness, long suffering, burying with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do. And above all these things, put on love, which is a bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. And let the word of God dwell on you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual psalms, sing with grace in your hearts through the Lord. So all these words that we just read here describe the outcome God desires in the process of our hearts becoming circumcised. But that's a lifelong process. And it's also, the third point, it's a painful process. I'm talking spiritually now, a circumcision of the heart. That's a painful process. Removing our self-deception so our real nature can be exposed so we can see ourselves as God sees us. And then removing and cutting ourselves off from our past from anything that separates us from God. It's a painful process. Why? Because it requires many trials, many painful experiences to drive those points home to learn those things, as Peter learned in the process of the circumcision of his heart. Let's go to 1 Peter 4, just quickly here. 1 Peter 4, verse 12. Peter writes a lot about trials. So 1 Peter 4, 12, 11, Do not think it's strange, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Now, you get the context here. Peter is saying this in regards to persecution, but the same can be said in regards to the process of conversion, the process of the circumcision of the heart. Why do we have to go through these fiery trials and painful experiences? Because, as Peter wrote in verse 17, because the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And what's God going to judge? He's going to judge our hearts. What's going on inside that nobody else sees but God?

The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and begins with us first. What will the end be to those who do not obey the gospel of God?

So God's going to be judging our hearts and whether or not our hearts are circumcised, spiritually speaking.

Now, one final point before closing. I think this is an interesting point. As you probably know, physical circumcision was performed on the eighth day. Let's go back there and read that. There's a couple places to mention, but let's go to Leviticus 12. Leviticus 12, beginning in verse 1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a woman has conceived and born a male child, then she will be unclean seven days, as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. Verse 3, But on the eighth day, the flesh of that male child's foreskin shall be circumcised. So all male children were to be circumcised on the eighth day. Now, as science now knows, there's a physical reason for that. Vitamin K, which is a blood clotting agent, spikes to its highest level on the eighth day to about 150% of its norm, then settles back to its lifetime norm on about the ninth or tenth day. So the eighth day is the best day and the safest day for an infant to be circumcised. But I have to ask this question.

God created us, didn't He? God designed us. So He designed it that way. And I have to say, and this is a question probably you wouldn't think to ask, but why did God design it for the best day for a male child to be circumcised would be the eighth day? Why did He design it that way for the vitamin K to spike at that time? Make it the safest day. Why? Why did He pick the eighth day? Why didn't He have it done right from the beginning, the first few days? Of course, back then, they didn't have babies weren't born in hospitals or homes. It was easy to do it on the eighth day. Today, they do it right away in the hospital. Or they go home, usually. But why did God design us so it'd be the eighth day? You know, God created it that way. And I think He created that way for also a spiritual reason.

Because on the eighth millennial day, the second resurrection is going to take place. When all those who horse have not yet been circumcised, we resurrect it back to life, back to physical life, so that on the eighth millennial day, they can have the opportunity to receive circumcision of the heart to be truly converted. I think there's a tie-in there. Everything God does, He does it for purpose. He has a spiritual meaning behind it.

So I think that's possibly why God created that way. In conclusion, who are the real people of God today and how are they identified? Well, they are those whose hearts have been circumcised. Who have experienced circumcision of the heart, if you will. And what identifies those whose hearts have been circumcised? Well, they have cut themselves off from their past, and from their past sins and their past way of life. They no longer have a hardened attitude. Instead, they have a pliable and teachable attitude, willing to want to learn and grow. They show no partiality. They reach out to others who are less fortunate when the opportunity presents itself. They display mercy, kindness, humility, and long suffering toward others. They bear with one another through all things, and they forgive one another in all things. And they learn what God wants them to learn from the painful trials and experiences they go through. And, as I said, they love the stranger. And above all, they have put on fervent love for one another. That's what it means to have our hearts circumcised. And those are the true spiritual signs to identify the two spiritual people of God today. Because the two people of God today are identified by circumcision of the heart.