October 22, 2017 Gen 17 “Circumcision Certifies the Covenant”

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Walk Thru The Word for Today:   Genesis 17: 1 – 6: (ESV) (God Changes Abram’s Name to Abraham)

1When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;a walk before me, and be blameless, 2that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be called Abram,b but your name shall be Abraham,c for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

 Walk Thru The Word for Today:   Genesis 17: 7 – 10 (ESV) (The Covenant of Circumcision)

Gen. 17: 7-10 7And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

9And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

 Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 17: 9 – 13: (ESV) (Circumcision – Covenant Participation – Is For Everyone!)

9And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12He 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, 13both 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.

Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 17: 14 – 17: (ESV) (God Changes Sarai’s Name to Sarah)

14Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

15And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah^d shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 17: 18 – 21: (ESV) God promises and names Isaac, who will carry on the covenant

18And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.^f I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 17: 22 – 27: (ESV) (The Covenant Encompasses Everyone)

22When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Message map: Genesis 17 “Circumcision Certifies The Covenant”

Elshaddai empowers His Covenant

• God Empowers Abraham’s, Sarah’s & Isaac’s Name
• God Empowers Pregnancy That Overrides Physics
• God Empowers the future he proclaims
• The covenant of Canaan Is everlasting
• God’s decision is permanent – Everlasting to take place Forever – God is not going to change his mind on This
• The Guarantee of a Land grant of Canaan to Israel

Is transferrable throughout the generations

• The Covenant Holds Abraham Accountable to Train Children – as The Next Generation Abraham’s Covenant Accountability is to Train Children – as The Next Generation
• Knowledge of The Covenant & its Conditions Are One generation from extinction
• Circumcision certifies The Covenant
• Circumcision Is the Exterior Accountability of Our Interior Condition Before God”.
• God’s heart surgery makes us Suitable Servants!

 Elshaddai explains his power Gen 17:1

Gen 17: 1 “When Abram was ninety-nine (99) years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;(= El Shaddai = “El,” the Lasting, Eternal, Absolute & “Shaddai = the Irresistible, Unchangeable, Destructive).

When God says, “walk before me, and be blameless” He means (walk in whole-hearted sincerity that is fully committed to Me/God),  Walking with God in this way, is the condition God requires for covenantal blessing.  For Gen 17: 2 says, “that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”   This indicates:

1. God shows his power on behalf of the obedient.
2. Whole-hearted followers see God’s power
3. God’s power is conditionally shown to us.
4. If Abraham whole-heartedly follows God, God will fulfill His plan through him. .

God’s conditional covenant Is sealed by circumcision

Gen 17: 4

3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4“Behold, my covenant is with you (El-berith* – a formal agreement in which God binds Himself in relationship with those who meet His conditions.

God’s covenant …

1. puts us in league with God. It is conditioned on Gen 17: 2 where God says, that I may make my covenant between me and you)
2. is a peace treaty that expiates/atones our sin (Gen 15:6, Col 1:20)
3. can benefit Abraham’s (and perhaps our) offspring
4. a divine constitution or ordinance with signs or pledges
5. is an “if—then” proposition conditioned on “walk before me.” (2 Chron 7:14)

If my people who are called by my name 1) humble themselves, and 2) pray and 3) seek my face and 4) turn from their wicked ways, then I will 1) hear from heaven and 2) will forgive their sin and 3) heal their land.  God’s covenant accomplishes which of the following?

Matthew Poole:  I am the Almighty God, who can do all that I have promised, or shall promise to time, and whatsoever pleaseth me; and therefore do thou firmly believe all my words.

Walk before me as becomes one in the presence of thy Lord, and Judge, and Rewarder, being careful to please and obey me in all things, and depending upon me for thy well-doing and well-being. See the same phrase, Genesis 48:15 1 Kings 8:25 Psalm 116:9. And be thou perfect, i.e. sincere, universal, and constant in my belief of my promises, and obedience to my commands. See Genesis 6:9.

Noah Webster’s 1828 http://webstersdictionary1828.com/ COVENANT, noun [L, to come; a coming together; a meeting or agreement of minds.]

The covenant of works, is that implied in the commands, prohibitions, and promises of God; the promise of God to man, that mans perfect obedience should entitle him to happiness. This do, and live; that do, and die.

The covenant of redemption, is the mutual agreement between the Father and Son, respecting the redemption of sinners by Christ.

The covenant of grace, is that by which God engages to bestow salvation on man, upon the condition that man shall believe in Christ and yield obedience to the terms of the gospel.

God’s unconditional covenant is based upon the condition of God omnisciently knowing as the Divine Potter, which clay he will compel and empower to obey Him.  (Jer 18:3-6, Rom 9:21)

COVENANT, verb intransitive To enter into a formal agreement; to stipulate; to bind ones self by contract. A covenants with B to convey to him a certain estate. When the terms are expressed it has for before the thing or price.

They covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:15.

COVENANT, verb transitive To grant or promise by covenant.  God’s unconditional covenant is based upon the condition of God omnisciently knowing whom He, as the potter, compels and empowers to obey Him.  (Jer 18:3-6, Rom 9:21)

Jeremiah 18:1-12 The Potter and the Clay

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? Declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ 12“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.

Romans 9:21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the …Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

God’s covenant Changes Abram’s Name to Abraham = Fruitful Father of A Multitude Gen 17:2-3

3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be called Abram,b but your name shall be Abraham,c for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

This means:

1. Hebrews/ Jews are a nation fathered by Abraham.
2. The Arab nations were fathered by Abraham. (Rom 9:7)
3. Offspring for the Hebrews, like Samaritans, are included as children by Abraham. (The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant originating from the Israelites of the Ancient Near East, and because they did not practice pure Judaism they could not be considered converts, and were shunned by Torah faithful Israelites).
4. All Christians who have faith in God are children of Abraham. (Gal 3:7)

Faithful Vs. Fleshly Children of Abraham

Romans 9:7 Explains the controversy over who are the Real Children Who Inherit God’s Promise To Abraham: “7Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

Galatians 3:6-8 …6So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7Understand, then, that those who have faith are the sons of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”…

When listening to a commentary by Chuck Missler, he stated when God changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, the change was an addition of the Hebrew letter ה and symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

Best Answer:  actually, the word translates as spirit and as breathe in both Hebrew and Greek. So the “ah” that was added to their name was the breath of God. Now, when God created Adam, genesis says He “breathed” into Him, indicating that what He breathed into Adam was His spirit, because breath and spirit translate as the same word. God “breathed” on Abram and Sarai and gave them new names as a testament of His covenant with them. Hope that answers your question.

God fulfilled The covenant that Changed Abram’s Name to Abraham (Fruitful Father)

1 Chron 1: 1- 54 contains a genealogy that traces From Abraham descend by Keturah 6 People groups – most notably – the Midianites, but others are mentioned in the Bible

God establishes an everlasting covenant & empowers the future he proclaims Gen 17: 7-8

Gen. 17: 7-8 7And I will establish (confirm and accomplish, take a stand to make it happen) my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting (forever, permanently, perpetually) covenant, to be god to you and to your offspring after you. 8And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Sojourning means one is on a pilgrimage – moving about in a temporary dwelling.  In a sense Hebrews still are sojourning, because by the map on the next slide, we can see, Israel never has actually occupied the entire portion of land God gave to Abraham – not even in David’s nor Solomon’s time.

But this may be what Israel will look like in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.

Noah Websters 1828 Dictionary says, Sojourning means…

PIL’GRIMAGE, noun A long journey, particularly a journey to some place deemed sacred and venerable, in order to pay devotion to the relics of some deceased saint. Thus in the middle ages, kings, princes, bishops and others made pilgrimages to Jerusalem, in pious devotion to the Savior. Pilgrims now resort to Loretto, in Italy, to visit the chamber of the blessed virgin, and the Mohammedans make pilgrimages to Mecca, where their prophet was buried.

By this covenant God obligates Himself …

1. to be God, who administers its affairs from His throne
2. to work His will permanently forever,
3. to grant land to Israel by displacing others – BTW – God elevates and brings down nations so nations rise and fall depending upon how they cooperate with God regarding his land grant to Israel!

 Maps showing Borders of the land God promised Abraham compared to the land Israel actually occupies:

Israel never has occupied the entire portion of land God gave to Abraham – not even in David’s nor Solomon’s time. But the territories marked by the slide on the left in blue and the one on the right with the red outline, may be Israel’s borders in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.

The slide on the left has my poorly hand drawn boundary of what Israel actually occupies today.  The slide on the right has current day Israel marks out in dark brown.

BTW – When Barak Obama calls ISIS “ISIL” the “L” stands for “Levant”, a huge land mass – encompassing the land God gave Israel!  By using ISIL, Obama was signaling to the Muslims that the Caliphate is upon us.  And that he was supporting ISIS, which he called a JV Team to get the world to not take seriously the threat from radical Islam that much of the world is suffering from today.

The Caliphate is the rule and reign of a caliph or chief Muslim ruler, who will perhaps be the renowned and anticipated 12 Imam – is believed by “Twelver Shī‘a Muslims” to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams who will emerge with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world – which I have been told includes “killing all the Jews.”

Abraham’s covenant accountability  Includes “Keeping & teaching” Gen 17: 9-10

When God says in Gen 17: 9-10 to Abraham, “you shall keep my covenant, between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations ‘Every male among you shall be circumcised’” God holds Abraham accountable to …

Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

“Train” means dedicate yourself to doing this properly, focusing on God’s narrow way.  It means we initiate or discipline our children in the The 3-W’s Of Godliness the 1) Word, 2) Wisdom and 3) Ways of the Lord.

Word = Bible, line by line, precept upon precept.

God’s Wisdom is imparted when we know enough of the Word to explain “Why the Bible says what it says.” understand how The New Testament is a Commentary on the Old Testament – when we know enough to see how The Bible Interprets The Bible, so we aren’t tricked into going outside the Word to think man’s latest fad is a commentary on the Bible. This is how the church has become the tail being wagged by the worlds and government dog.   Explain to our children “Why the Bible says what it says.”

When we teach children “The Ways” of the Lord, we instruct them in how in wisdom to apply God’s Word to the outcomes of their lives.

Proverbs 22:6It is well to remember the general truth that all life can be trained. Dead substances cannot be trained. The higher you rise in the scale of life the more wide is the scope and the possibility of training. (2) Children are trainable sponges who absorb much of what we want them to absorb and some of what we may be unaware of what they are absorbing.

We must know that children are always at school, even when they seem to be away from it. What is meant by training up a child in the way he should go? It may be said to consist in four things—true teaching, discipline, example, and prayer.

1. True teaching, or, if you will, the teaching of the truth which concerns it, in its relations to God and man. Store children’s minds with truth. Let them know all that it is right to do, both with respect to God and man, that they be not destroyed for lack of knowledge.
2. Example. To tell a child what is to be done is a very valuable thing, but to show how it is done is far more valuable. The precept is then seen to be more than a merely cold and perhaps impracticable injunction. The power of one’s example is the power of character.

III. Prayer. You are not left to this work alone. There is none in which you may more certainly calculate on the help of God, if you seek it, than in the endeavour to guide your children in the way that leads to heaven. He Himself is concerned for the welfare of your children. They are His gifts to you, and are meant to be, not curses, but blessings. He may seem for a season to delay His answers, but even while He delays He may be, in fact, working out the very results you have so earnestly sought.

1. Mellor, The Hem of Christ’s Garment, p. 52

Knowledge of The Covenant & its Conditions Are One generation from extinction 

Judges 2:10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.

This verse means …

1. people had children to whom they did not pass on the faith
2. people had children to whom they did not teach what it means to be a believing (Judeo-Christian) nation
3. children were not prepared for what would attack their faith or steal their faith
4. people had children to whom they did not teach the consequences of failing to stay true to God
5. people had children whom they did not prepare to defend their faith against what would deceive them into diluting and walking away from out of their faith

Today people are taking for granted as true and godly concepts that are fundamentally opposed to The view of the world the Bible provides: (Examples “Man-made Global warming,” Abortion is not murder but is a woman’s right to choose, and there are no negative consequences to her nor society psychologically, physically and to the moral souls of our conscience – which the Bible says in 1Tim4:2 can be seared – as with a hot iron that cauterizes and deadness all the never endings.

Is Today’s Generation failing to “keep & teach” so Christianity becomes extinct?

Today’s school children are trapped in an education system that forces upon them into Restorative Practices and Mindfulness.

A Restorative Practices Teacher’s Circle Keeper’s Toolkit is suggested to have these items — none of which is a Bible.

These are some of the things we keep in our Circle Kit, which is a basket we carry with us to all of our circles. You can create your own toolkit that reflects your particular style of circle leadership.

 Bell—a small “singing bowl” style meditation bell.

 Talking pieces: a selection of 3 to 6, various items including sticks, stones, seashells, feathers, stuffed animals, toys, and so on.

 Fabrics: a few fabrics that have rich colors and/or textures, sufficient to cover an area about 3’ on each side.

 Battery-powered LED candles are a safe way to create a sense of warmth emanating from the center of the circle. Placed in the center, they represent the traditional “children’s fire” kept to remind the community to act with awareness of its responsibility to the children present, and those yet to be born.

 Bowl: Find a handmade bowl that can hold water or stones or flowers to float in this bowl.

 Kalimba: An African musical instrument made with a gourd and spring steel tines.

 Rattle: Any kind of rattle will do. It can be used as a talking piece, or can be given to a student to use during the circle to signal if the circle needs to refocus.

 Stones: A selection of small polished stones or smooth river rocks

 Animal Figurines: Make great talking pieces representing each animal’s unique characteristics. If given a selection of different animals, students will often choose one whose characteristics mirror the current process of the classroom community.  (This is saying a variety of animals will give the students lots of models to meditate upon to as a reflection of what goes on in the classroom.  And we wonder why children are being dumbed down and getting worse.  Education is supposed to assist us to rise above our animal like passions – not model them.  Animals are not more socially developed than humans.  Animals do not resolve challenges based upon morality, but upon survival of the fittest.  Humans are not going to arrive at loving outcomes by modeling animalistic characteristics.  God made us humans, males and females.

Today’s school children are trapped in an education system that forces upon them into …

Restorative Practices of Educational Circles where no one or nothing is the authority – so individual chaos becomes the consensus vs. Prov 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight/intelligence/good judgement/understanding.  (If there is no knowledge of the Scriptures being taught, what are children being restored to?)

Rom 12:2 Having a Biblically Renewed Mind in Christ vs. Mindfulness, which is Meditation on eastern multi-deism animal worship and self-deification that dilutes us into thinking we can create our own genders which is empty, because if we seek ourselves, we will find ourselves, and we need affirmation from something greater than ourselves.  People had children to whom they did not teach what it means to be a believing (Judeo-Christian) nation.

Restorative Practices Circles reduces The Teacher to a Peer of the Student. So these outcomes occur:

The social discipline window [1] [42]   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_practices

is a concept with broad application in many settings. It describes four basic approaches to maintaining social norms and behavioral boundaries.   The restorative domain combines both high control and high support and is characterized by doing things with people (collaboratively), rather than to them (coercively) or for them (without their involvement).

Restorative Practices 1st shift which says, “troublesome” behavior is normal. While this is what Rom 3:23 drives at, by calling behavior “sin” you acknowledge that is it not desirable and there is a God who ultimately will deal with it.  Is a denial of Proverbs 22:6. Training a child in the way he should go, requires clear definitions of right and wrong.

The 1st shift is a subtle departure from absolutes of right and wrong: It is always wrong to murder.  Legitimate self-defense is not murder. Punishing criminals after they have due process of law is not murder.

The 2nd Shift is a move away from” Traditional concept Punishment for Crime such as exclusion (time out in prison) to control & remove bad behavior from the community, which communicates “crime does not pay.” Instead “Inclusion & Dialogue” communicate there is no real punishment.

The 3rd Shift is to “Mob Rule” as responsibility for well-being of the community shifts to peers in the circle who will be victims of those who behave the worst in the group.

Sitting in a circle is a fundamentally different experience than sitting in rows, or meeting across a desk. When we are in rows there is generally someone standing in front, commanding attention. Clearly this is the person who is in charge, who has the answers, and to whom the group is accountable. When we are meeting with someone who faces us from behind a desk, we also know instinctively that the authority and power belongs with that person. These arrangements have their appropriate functions and restorative practices are intended to complement rather than replace them completely. They can be effective. However, their effectiveness may have unintended consequences. One of these is the implied lesson that the responsibility for the functioning of the community is on the shoulders of the person who holds authority.

[bctt tweet=”Deut 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” username=”LibertyCF3″]

The Circumcised carry out The Covenant

Deut 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.

Deuteronomy 30:6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

This means we must invite the Holy Spirit into our hearts to surgically adjust our hearts so we …

no longer will be stubborn and resist the God’s leading in our lives, and will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Matt 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 16:25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

John 12:24 – Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Do we want to be used of God to intervene to improve the next generation, then we must die to self and let God resurrect us so He can live His life through us.

For circumcision – John 7:22 22Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Acts 7:8 note. This was the special rite by which the relation to the covenant of Abraham was recognized; or by which the right to all the privileges of a member of the Jewish commonwealth was acknowledged. The Jews of course affixed a high importance to the rite.

Verily profiteth – Is truly a benefit; or is an advantage. The meaning is, that their being recognized as members of the Jewish commonwealth, and introduced to the privileges of the Jew, was an advantage; see Romans 3:1-2. The apostle was not disposed to deny that they possessed this advantage, but he tells them why it was a benefit, and how it might fail of conferring any favor.

If thou keep the law – The mere sign can be of no value, the mere fact of being a Jew is not what God requires. It may be a favor to have his Law, but the mere possession of the Law cannot entitle to the favor of God. So it is a privilege to be born in a Christian land; to have had pious parents; to be amidst the ordinances of religion; to be trained in Sunday schools; and to be devoted to God in baptism: for all these are favorable circumstances for salvation. But none of them entitle to the favor of God; and unless they are improved as they should be, they may be only the means of increasing our condemnation; 2 Corinthians 2:16.

Thy circumcision is made uncircumcision – Thy circumcision, or thy being called a Jew, is of no value. It will not distinguish you from those who are not circumcised. You will be treated as a pagan. No external advantages, no name, or rite, or ceremony will save you. God requires the obedience of the heart and of the life. Where there is a disposition to render that, there is an advantage in possessing the external means of grace. Where that is missing, no rite or profession can save. This applies with as much force to those who have been baptized in infancy, and to those who have made a profession of religion in a Christian church, as to the Jew.[email-download-link namefield=”YES” id=”151″]

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