0:07 Let's pray together again. Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear children, as we were singing, I had a a deep longing. As we were singing, purify my heart. 0:24 My heart's one desire is to be holy. And I look back on this past week and searched my heart and asked the Holy Spirit to search my heart and say, "Lord, is there been any unholiness that I've allowed in?" 0:44 And the standard of unholiness is not what the world says, but the glory of Christ. That is the standard of holiness. Let's pray. Search your heart, dear brother, dear sister. Dear children, if you regard 1:04 iniquity or sin, unrighteousness in your heart, if you allow any uncristlike thought to remain in your heart, not dealt with. 1:22 Search this past week. Was there any even a small uncristlike thought in your heart towards somebody else or about somebody 1:39 else? Critical, ungrateful, complaining, bitterness, unforgiveness. Was there any of it? Then all that praying and all that singing was empty. The Lord did not 1:57 hear. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness. But if you cherish, that's what that word regard means. [clears throat] If you allow unrighteousness to remain in your heart, 2:15 you could ask for everything. And you could sing with all your heart and cry, but it's empty. The Lord turns his ear away. Search me, oh Lord. Try me. Examine the deepest parts of my heart 2:34 and show me. Was there anything that was uncristlike that grieved you? And you tried to show it to me this week, but I didn't want to let it go. that little bit of bitterness or some complaint I have about somebody 2:52 else, about my wife, about my husband, about my children, about this brother or that sister in the church, about my boss, about anything, any circumstance you've allowed in my life. Forgive me, Lord, for that ungratefulness. 3:09 Forgive me that I haven't said thank you to those who have served me. Forgive me that I've been so self-centered and hung up with my own lofty thoughts about myself and my feelings. Forgive me for that proud uncristlikeness. 3:27 I want you to hear me, Lord. If you don't hear my prayer, what hope do I have here on this earth? And today Lord, I choose to let go of all unrighteousness, all sin, all iniquity, everything. Lord, every thought. 3:45 It's in the heart. You desire truth in the innermost being. It's in the heart where you're searching me this morning. And if I have allowed sin to remain there, perhaps it's been for a day or for a week or for months or for years 4:01 that it sat there. Lord, today I choose to be cleansed of it. Thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin. Lord, will you move through your Holy Spirit? We don't need another sermon. We may need a move of your Holy Spirit, a 4:19 conviction deep within. Lord, what a tragedy it would be if we sat in this church week after week, month after month, year after year. Some of us has been here for years. Forgive us, Lord, if we haven't been changed truly from the same person we 4:36 were last year, let alone 5 years ago. It's our fault, Lord, that we've been so proud and so stonyhearted that deep down you haven't been able to change it. Perhaps we've been praying and you 4:54 haven't heard because we've allowed this world to remain in our heart. Forgive us, Lord. We humble ourselves before you this morning. I pray that you will move today, Lord. I need a touch from you. I need more than that. I need you to fill me deep within. 5:12 Purify my heart. Cleanse me from my sin deep within. My heart's one desire is to be holy. You've shown me unholiness in me, Lord. And my one desire is to be holy, set apart for you, 5:30 unstained by the things of this world, by the attitudes of this world, from the way of speaking that's like this world, from the way of thinking that's like this world. Cleanse me deep within. Lord, I pray. Thank you that for those 5:45 of us that turn to you in faith, that are really willing to set aside our pride and self-centeredness and invite you to be on the throne in our hearts, you will hear and you are hearing. Your ear has been opened aresh this morning, 6:01 Lord, because one heart perhaps today has decided to to let go of that sin in our heart. Thank you, Lord. Your ear is reopened. Your ear is open to the cry of those who are hungry and thirsty. 6:19 You've sent away the rich empty, but you've given good things to those who are needy. Thank you, Lord. We come to you needy. I come to you needy, Lord. I don't have a finger to point at anybody else. I don't have a complaint 6:34 or a dis an issue with anybody else. It's with me and you, Lord. Today I set an altar between me and you and say, "Lord, my whole life is yours. And everything that I've held on to, every other negative attitude and critical attitude 6:50 I've had towards anybody else, I laid on the altar. My whole being is yours, Lord. And thank you. You will send the fire of the Holy Spirit on that sacrifice. Praise you, Lord. We give you the glory and honor. You're going to speak to our 7:04 hearts. You're going to send the Holy Spirit and find a home deep in that deepest recess of our hearts that you haven't been able to go through yet. You're breaking it down. You're breaking down that wall. You're break you're 7:16 taking out that heart of stone and giving us a heart of flesh. Thank you, Lord. Oh, this is too good to be true. How good you are, Lord. How good you are. How kind you are. How kind you are. Praise you. Praise you, Lord. But I pray 7:31 that not a single heart will go away from this time of your presence being here unchanged. I want to be changed. Lord, change me a little bit more into your image today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Let's turn to Deuteronomy chapter 7:50 30. It's a serious word. Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear children, if I regard sin in my heart, you could hide it from everybody in this church. You could hide it from your own spouse, from your children, from everybody else. But the 8:07 Lord sees the heart. He knows what you think about. And it's a serious thing. I don't know if we realize the seriousness of that command of that warning that if there's sin in my heart and sin maybe you're not committing 8:25 adultery, you're not murdering people, but your critical attitude, your judgmental attitude, your unforgiveness, that sin that you that somebody's hurt you, perhaps they'll have to answer to the Lord. But what a tragedy if the 8:43 devil can kill two birds with one stone where because I refuse to forgive, because I refuse to let go of that unthankful, critical attitude, the Lord doesn't hear my prayer. Let's take it to heart. The Lord wants to hear our prayers. 9:03 Deuteronomy 30, we read in verse 15, "See, I have set before you today life and good on one side and death and evil on the other side." You know that the Lord sets before you death and evil. That's what he says in Deuteronomy 9:22 30:15. He doesn't create evil. He's not the author of evil, but there is evil in this world. And after all that the Lord speaks to us, after all that he gives us, after all his blessing, he says, "Listen, here's 9:42 life and good on the one side and death and evil on the other." He doesn't force life and good down our throat. He says, "I've I've I've made it all available to you, but you still have the choice." 10:01 In fact, that's the same word you read in the last page of the Bible. Let the one who is filthy still be filthy. And let the one who is good, righteous, be righteous. And so today, the Lord is setting before us aresh, dear RLCF Church family, these 10:21 options. If after all that you've heard in this church, your heart still wants to be evil, still wants to love this world, still wants to be critical and judgmental and unthankful, the Lord says, "Go ahead." Verse 16. In that I command you today to 10:40 love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. 10:58 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship money and worship success and worship yourself and worship pleasure. That's what the other gods are. You read that in 2 Timothy chapter 3. 11:17 Loving pleasure, loving money, and loving self. If your heart turns away and you will not obey, but you're drawn away and you still want to worship yourself and your money and your pleasure and serve them, I declare today that you shall surely 11:35 perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. God himself says, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you a choice. Not 11:52 going to force anything down your throat. And neither are any of us elders or this church. It's always an option. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I've set before you life and death, the blessing and the 12:07 curse. But all that you will choose life in order that you may live you and your children by loving the Lord your God by obeying his voice and by holding fast to him. For this is the life and the length of your days that you may live in the land 12:27 which the Lord swore to your fathers. But before that, he says in verse 11, it's what [clears throat] we memorized last week or the two weeks ago actually. For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor 12:44 is it out of your reach. Is that a wonderful thing that when God sets this warning before us and holds us accountable and says, "I call heaven and earth to witness." Is that a serious thing? when God himself, the ruler of your of this universe, says, 13:03 "I'm calling heaven and earth to witness against you, Santosh." But then he says, "This commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of your reach. Nor is it far off." So when you truly see the commandment of 13:20 God, you think, "Lord," you shouldn't think, "Lord, this is impossible. I can never do this." He says, "It is possible. It's not too difficult. It is not in heaven that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us to get 13:36 it for us and make us hear it that we may observe it?" Lord, how am I ever going to get there? This life, the life of Christ is not in heaven. You believe that, dear brother, dear sister, this is what we preach. The life 13:51 of Christ is not far away in heaven. Nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, "Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it that we may observe it?" But the word is very near you in your mouth. That's why we get up here 14:10 and testify. You know, children, when you testify, when you open your mouth and speak of God's word, that's testifying that the life of Christ is right here near us. It's in your mouth and it's in your heart that you may 14:27 observe it. The life of Christ is very near. It's not far away. All of the world is seeking success and peace and joy and satisfaction. and they're thinking, "Oh, if I could get that other promotion, if I could save up 14:45 enough money, or if I could set the right path for my children, or if I could do this or do that, or go here or go there, if only I I had that person's life, or that person's talent or that person's gift or that person's money. 15:00 If only I had a little bit more of this." No, the word, the life of Christ is here and available to every one of us. Do you believe, dear brothers, dear sisters, dear children, that if God wasn't to change anything about your circumstance, 15:19 if God wasn't to change anything about your circumstance, he could still give you everything of the kingdom of heaven. That's the truth. And the world wants you to think, "Oh, I I need to change this or I need to move here or I need to 15:34 do that or I need to do this other thing." The word is very near you. It's in your heart. It's in your mouth. Open your mouth wide. He will fill it. Open your mouth wide and testify of the things that he's done. Speak in faith 15:52 and say, "No, Lord, I'm not asking you to change this around me. I am asking you to change me. Purify my heart. Send the revival, Lord. Let it begin in me. Not in my wife, not in my children, not in that brother, not in RLCF. Let it 16:07 begin in me, Lord. I humble myself and say, Lord, change me. Now, how does he do this? Why is it that the word is very near you and this command is not too difficult? Let's go back to verse six. 16:24 The Lord your God will circumcise your heart. He'll do that if you are willing in honesty to be set free. If if while you were singing, Lord, purify my heart. My heart's one desire is to be holy. And this week as I look back, Lord, I was 16:44 led away from Calvary and from Gethsemane in some way. My mind was so preoccupied with this thing or that thing or the other thing that I lost sight of Gethsemane. I lost sight of Calvary. And that's why I complained. That's why I had a bitterness. 17:01 Dear family, if we are dwelling in Gethsemane, if we're dwelling in Calvary, you will never ever open your mouth in complaint against somebody else. No matter how much the situation seems intense, you'll never have a complaint against God about 17:20 his dealings with you. Cuz you've seen Calvary. You've seen Gethsemane and what he took for you. What he took from me. The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your children. 17:37 Oh, what a wonderful thing. Lord, I don't have to try to figure out what school they'll go to or how they will pass this test. Lord, just circumcise their heart. You said you would do it. This promise is for me and for my children. I hope you will claim 17:54 that dear father, mother. I know we all are concerned about what the future holds for our children. But oh that we will change our prayers and say Lord circumcise my children's hearts. Circumcise mine first of all Lord. 18:10 You know our children can see through us more than we realize. deep down they can see whether daddy and mommy really believe the truth of God's word when we say I'm seeking God's kingdom first and I don't seek my kingdom is not of this 18:25 world I could sing about that and I could sit at RLCF where we stand for that but our children know whether that's really true or not secretly they know if mommy really loves this world daddy really loves this world and 18:40 I could pray all I want but if I regard iniquity putting in my heart, the Lord will not hear. I say, "Lord, heal my children. Open the door for them, for their future." And they say, "Lord, no, the Lord doesn't hear cuz you've 18:53 regarded sin in your heart." But I say, "Lord, I don't want to cleanse me deep within." And then he says, "Yes, I will. I will circumcise." I want to speak about this circumcision, but let me finish reading this passage. 19:09 You know what happens? You know how I went to Deuteronomy 30, by the way, cuz we memorized it a couple weeks ago. And I hope, dear family, that you are in the habit of when we memorize these verses that at some point during the week, you 19:24 go and read those verses. That's what I did. And I started to look at Deuteronomy 30. You know, I used I used to I used to be a little bit when I was young, I didn't even know how to pronounce Deuteronomy. I I I loved how 19:35 some of you got up here and said Deuteromy. It was cute. But they know there's a there's such a book as this. And even if you don't know how to pronounce it, go and find it. Do you know when Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4 and in Luke 4 in the 19:50 wilderness, there's only one book that he quoted from all three times. It was Deuteronomy. He knew Deuteronomy at the age of 12. He knew it. And at the age of 30, he knew it. It was there. And there he was in the wilderness. He 20:04 didn't have his Bible with him or on his phone. He was all alone in the temp the Satan and the devil was tempting him and the Lord brought Deuteronomy alive to Jesus and know that he would do that for you. And this chapter came alive for me 20:19 in a fresh way. So I want to read a few more verses. Verse 7. The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your flesh, your enemies, and on those who hate you, not the people around you, your flesh, and the devil and all the hosts of hell that are 20:36 coming against you and against your family, against your children. The Lord God will inflict a curse on them. Oh, hallelujah. Who persecuted you. Remember how you were tempted so sorely by that flesh, by that lust, by that anger, by that 20:53 critical attitude, by that ungrateful spirit. The Lord your God will inflict a curse on them. Verse 8, you shall again obey the Lord because your heart has been circumcised. Have you been trying to obey the Lord and failing miserably? Dear family, dear 21:13 young people, dear teenager who's struggling in some way, dear children, dear brothers, dear sisters, invite the Lord to come and circumcise your heart today. And you will find that the Lord, you will again obey the Lord. Maybe 21:28 there was a time when you obeyed the Lord and now you're going through a difficult time. You're struggling and you're crying out and saying, "Lord, I want to obey you like I did 5 years ago or last year perhaps." You find that 21:41 obedience is a struggle. It's difficult. He says you will obey him and you will observe his commandments. Then look at verse 9. The Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand. Your school work will 21:56 start to seem a little bit easier. Your fight against sin will start to feel a little bit easier. He will prosper it in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle, in our children, in the offspring of your ground. For the Lord 22:13 will again rejoice over you for good, just as he rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the Lord your God to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law. If you turn to the Lord your God with all 22:28 your heart and soul, I don't think I need to speak much more, brothers and sisters. The Lord has already spoken to me in the time we've been together through our time of singing and praying and through hearing his word through the through the memory 22:45 verses. I feel like we've heard enough already, but I hope to reiterate that a little bit and underline what we've already heard. If you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart, dear brothers, dear sisters, the Lord is 23:00 near. He's here here at RLCF. I believe it. I'm not here to compare ourselves with any other church, but I've known the presence of the Lord in our meetings, in our gatherings in an increasingly rich way over the last few years. I hope you 23:17 have. I hope you're not sitting here and missing it that the that the Lord Jesus was here, but your mind was set on something else, on some critical attitude towards somebody else that you missed it. Um, let's turn to Genesis chapter 17. 23:37 This circumcision that we hear about was first instituted here in Genesis chapter 17. Genesis 17, we read in this is when God gives his promise to Abram. And 23:55 um Abraham was 99 years old. He's walked with God for many years, but he still hasn't experienced the fulfillment of the promise. And then he says in verse 9, he says, "Listen, I'm going to make you verse 6, 24:14 exceedingly fruitful, just like we read in Deuteronomy 30," I'll make you exceedingly fruitful. I will bless you. I will make nations of you. I'm going to do this. But he said further, God said further to Abraham. He changes his name 24:30 from Abram to Abraham. And now it's just like the doors are unlocked. This is the the up to this point God called Abram when he was about 70 75 years old maybe and it's been almost 25 years that God has promised Abram you 24:47 will be I'm going to do this I'm going to do this I'm going to do this but he has no evidence of it some somebody says hey who who are you I'm Abram and then God says I'm going to call you Abraham I'm going to change your name in verse 5 25:05 this was Abram exalted father. And Abraham had a lot of blessing. He had a lot of wealth. God had blessed him in different ways. But now he says, "I want to call you the father of a multitude." I'm talking about people now. Spiritual 25:18 fruit, a seed that's much more than cattle and having a servant and having all this money. Spiritual fruit ultimately, which was Jesus Christ. He changes his name to be father of a multitude in verse 5. And then he says, 25:34 God said further to Abraham, now as for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations, and this is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you. 25:49 So God says, listen, we're going to have a a covenant. In order for you to experience all of this, you and I are going to enter into an agreement. All right? That means there's whenever there's a covenant, there's two parts to 26:02 it. There's God's part and there's Abraham's part. This is my covenant, verse 10, which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised, and you shall be circumcised in the 26:20 flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. And every male among you who is 8 days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations. A servant who is born in the house of you or who is bought with money from any 26:39 foreigner who is not of your descendants. A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised. Thus shall my covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. So what God was saying here is I'm going 26:56 to look wherever I see that circumcision. It was an inner inner thing. It was a circumcision of the foreskin and nobody else could see outwardly. If you looked at the people of Israel and the people of all the other pe descendants of Abraham and all 27:12 the others, you couldn't tell if somebody was circumcised or not. And that's a picture of the circumcision of the heart as well. Today it's not a physical circumcision but it's an inner circumcision and so you could sit you 27:26 know think about this as a picture of the world now everybody sitting in RLCF as a picture of the world back in the Old Testament as God looked down on Abraham's descendants and all the other descendants he could see ah these are 27:41 the descendants of Abraham these are the people of Abraham whom I can bless because I see that they are circumcised all the others not circumcised Today it's in our hearts and God looks out at RLCF and sees ah there's a 27:58 descendant of Abraham, a descendant of Jesus, somebody who has the spirit of Christ in them because their hearts have been circumcised. That's what the picture of circumcision is here. And he says, "Thus shall my covenant be in your 28:14 flesh for an everlasting covenant." Isn't it amazing that through that small act of circumcision, it was a small thing. Now, it was painful. Uh I, you know, for those of you who have been circumcised, you probably don't remember 28:28 it cuz it was done for you when you were a little baby. But that circumcision of the heart is painful. Spiritually, it's a cutting off of the things of this world. Maybe it's an attachment to something in this world, some person 28:43 that I want or attachment to family. Jesus said that the first condition of disciplehip is you must forsake your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your wife, your children, your relatives. That's the first area of 29:00 circumcision of the heart that God calls you to give up. Now, you could sit here and say, "Yeah, I've given up my relatives." But deep down, God knows whether you have or you're not. If you're still attached to them in some 29:12 way, God sees it. It's in the heart. And then he says, "You must give up, be circumcised from all your possessions." Read Luke 14. Circumcised from all your possessions. Are you attached to your job? Are you attached to the house you have or the 29:31 cars you have or the money you have, the future you have, the things, the plans you have, the goals you have? I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. You may be able to hide it from everybody else, even your own wife, but 29:45 God sees in your heart if you're attached to those possessions. And he sees down. He says, "Listen, oh, I know Santo says he's circumcised, and he's sitting in a church at RLCF where they preach about circumcision, but I 29:58 see he's not really. He's sitting in Abraham's house pretending to be circumcised, but he's not." Now, back then, Abraham forced all those in his house to be circumcised. We don't force anybody here because it's in the heart. I have no right. I have no 30:14 ability to circumcise you in the heart. Only the Lord can do that. And he knows deep down within your heart whether the finger of the Holy Spirit, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, has actually been cutting off the things 30:29 of this world from you. And the other thing he says in Luke 14 is self. Are you still attached to self? I want it my way. Santosh likes to have it his way. Oh, you didn't do this for me or you didn't do that for me. So, but the beautiful thing is that when 30:49 God gave Abraham that little command, see, if you think about it, circumcision was a very small expectation that God had of Abraham. Just a small thing. It was painful, but it was a small act. and and God said, "If you do that, you 31:05 fulfill your small part of the bargain, I'm going to give you an everlasting covenant." See, that's a picture of the circumcision of the heart that God asks of us. What is it that God asks of us? Let's turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 31:32 What God asks of us is a very small thing compared to the eternal glory we get in exchange. The reason that's on my heart is because I know how it is for all of us. And Jesus knows how it is for all of us because he was tempted in all points 31:50 as we are. And Jesus felt that pull that pull of oh, I don't know if I can give that up. Lord, you really want me to give that up? That thing that I'm attached to, that that thing I really want. You want me to give that up? Lord, 32:05 how can I give that up? Some of you young people, you think, how can I give up that my attachment to my friends or that pleasure I get from that thing? Lord, you want me to give that up? That's so hard. And oh, if we can see that what the Lord 32:19 asks us to give up, that small act, painful as it might seem, is so small, so minuscule, so tiny compared to what he gives us in exchange. We read in 2 Timothy 2 verse 8, he says, remember Jesus Christ. 32:43 It's like we sang, lead me to Calvary. Lead me to Gethsemane. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David according to my gospel. You know, that word alone ought to take us through everything. If you really understand 32:58 these three words, I think you've understood Christianity. Remember Jesus Christ. Now, there's a lot more to it, but in whatever you go through this week, dear brothers, dear sisters, just speak this word to your heart. Remember 33:12 Jesus Christ. Remember everything about him. Now, it's not just, oh, Jesus died on Calvary or Jesus was born in A MANGER. THERE'S SO MUCH MORE TO WHO Jesus is. But if you really can remember Jesus Christ, fix your vision on him, 33:26 you it will change the way we live our this week. I believe it. Take that. If you don't take anything else this week, remember Jesus Christ. But let's keep reading. according to my gospel. He says verse eight, for which I suffer hardship 33:40 even to imprisonment as a criminal, but the word of God is not imprisoned. I I occasionally in our um in our house, we have a few magazines from uh that come from uh from organizations that speak about people who are being persecuted. And we get a 33:59 few of these and occasionally I just like to skim through that and hear about the lives of some of the Christians who are living in countries where they're being persecuted in the Middle East in Russia and Ukraine and China and other 34:13 parts of the world, Nigeria. There's a lot of persecution there um and many countries around the world, most of which we never hear about. But I look at the lives that they live and for them the the gospel is very simple. It's life 34:26 or death. That's it. I follow Jesus and it's going to cost me everything, but I have life in exchange. Or I could seek to live for something here on this earth. Dear family, our lives are too complicated for us. It's um do I buy 34:41 this or I buy that? Do I go out to this restaurant? Do I go out to that? Or do I choose this college? Do I go to that college? Now, there's nothing wrong in that. But oh that we might boil it down to Lord, I choose you or death, eternal 34:53 death. That's it. and oh that you would guide me into choosing you. For many people the choice is oh do I choose this church or that church. Sometimes I see that in community posts. Can you recommend a good church? And every church has a reason why they want 35:09 you to come to their church. I say Lord I'm not going to defend this church. If you want somebody to be a part of this church you bring them. I have nothing good to say about this church. I'm fixing my eyes on Jesus. And if somebody 35:23 walks in this door, think about this. Dear family, pause for a moment. This is my prayer. Every time we sing, every time we sit here and listen. If a visitor comes in this door, I don't want them to be excited by, oh, bunch of 35:37 friendly people or this or that. I pray that as they walk in this door, they will see the hearts of people turned heavenward. They're not looking on, oh, visitors here. Let's be like this or be like that. We're fixed on Jesus and no 35:51 distraction here. No visitor, no friend, no relative or somebody else coming to visit this church this day is going to change my fix my eyes away from Jesus. And if they come into our midst and they see a bunch of people who whose eyes are 36:06 truly heaven word and they're drawn to that and say, "Lord, this church I went, I like the music. that church I went, they were really friendly to me or I like the coffee in the back and this, but here I came to RLCF and I found a 36:19 bunch of people whose only goal is to be like Jesus and they're drawn to that. No amount of bragging about our church will change that. So he says because continues to read that's why Paul had remembered Jesus 36:38 Christ and that's why for him it wasn't about what my lot in life is he says I am even being willing to be imprisoned verse 10 for this reason I do endure [clears throat] all things I have a question for us dear family that the 36:56 Lord's been asking me what have you endured for the sake of for the gospel and for the sake of this body, this church. Most if not all of you, most of you sitting here have chosen RLCF to be the place in which God fulfills his 37:13 purpose in your life. This local expression of the body of Christ. What hardship have you endured? Look at what he says. I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen. What have you endured? I'm not here to point a finger at you. This is the 37:29 question the Lord's asking me Santos. What have you endured? Look at your life. I know you have you wish it could be a little bit more like that or you wish there was more job security or you wish this or you wish that. But what 37:41 hardship have you endured Santosh for the sake of the church for the sake of our LCF? Has it cost you something? Have you experienced some loss so that they may be may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. 38:00 But then he says it is a trustworthy statement. If we died with him, we will also live with him. And this is how the Lord spoke this to me that circumcision of the heart is a very small thing. Dying with Jesus is actually a very 38:14 small thing. How hard is it to die? I mean it's very easy to die you know sadly people take their lives often there are many ways in which they do that in the same way spiritually dying with Jesus is a very small thing 38:33 you know what is the miracle the fact that if I die God will actually come into that dead body and raise it to life that's a miracle I mean that no matter how much I tried to do that no matter how much I long for it, I can never 38:51 bring a dead person back to life. My dead self can never come back to life. But this is the miracle. That small act where instead of choosing death, instead of choosing self, I used to think that way. I used to always be concerned about 39:10 myself and how I felt and this and that. Always complaining, always in a bad mood. And one time I decided today, January 18, 2026, I'm not going to do that anymore. Today, I'm going to make a choice instead to be thankful, to be 39:29 grateful for what the Lord has given me. And that little act of saying, "Lord, I died to myself." HE BRINGS RESURRECTION LIFE into it. You see how that little act of obedience, I know it seems painful. I know that's how you've always been and that's how 39:46 your father was and your grandfather was and you lived down a line of complainers. Sure, that's how I am. Now, I'm not saying my father was a complainer, but I understand I my father was Adam. He was a complainer. He pointed his finger at his wife. And 39:59 that's in my flesh. In my flesh dwells nothing good. In my flesh dwells the desire to point the finger at somebody else. You're the problem. You're the problem. No, you're the problem. And instead today, I say, "Lord, I'm 40:13 going to choose life and I'm going to die to that pointing of the finger, that critical tongue." And he says, "Oh, really? You did the simple act of dying. I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THE LIFE OF CHRIST, that small act of obedience. If we die 40:30 with him, see, the devil wants you to think of dying as this, oh, it's such, oh, I'm going to die. I'm going to die." No, it's a small thing. The big thing is the resurrection power that God breathes into that dead body. How hard is it to 40:44 die? Brother, sister, spiritually I'm talking about. Think about it really. If you were really willing today to decide, Lord, I'm going to die with you in every circumstance. It's not that hard. It's just a choice you make and say, "Lord, 40:58 the problem is the devil wants to paint this picture of fear. Oh, don't die with Jesus because oh, this and that and the other thing. Oh, it's not really true. I know RLCF is a little bit hardcore. They're a little extreme. No, that's not 41:13 really true. It's possible to love the world a little bit and still love the kingdom of heaven, even though that's the opposite of what we preach. Let's go back to Genesis 17. Don't believe the lie of the devil, dear. I I fallen for that lie that I 41:27 don't have to be as radical as the as Jesus really said disciplehip was. But if we die with him that small act of death, what he gives us in exchange is resurrection power. I mean what why did God have to do it? I mean he could have 41:45 just said if you die you die. I'm not going to do anything for you. But what a covenant he makes. What a promise he gives us. If you die, if you do that small act of dying in that moment where I know it feels good to speak back to 41:58 your spouse the way you've always done and have that little conflict and give her a piece of your mind and remind her of how she is always like that or how he's always like that. But in that moment, if you make a choice to die, he 42:12 says, "I'll give you life." Dear young people, in that moment, I know you'll feel that pleasure by watching that video or or saying that with your tongue or or holding on to that grudge. In that moment, if you choose to die, if you say, "Lord, give 42:27 me grace. I want to die with you." What he'll give you in exchange is a power, the glory of the divine nature himself. Choose life. Choose to die today to yourself and you will have this life. Go back to Genesis 17. We read in verse 23 that Abraham 42:47 took Ishmael, his son, and all the servants who were born in the house, and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's household. Now, Abraham's 99 years old. When we circumcise an 8-year-old baby, 42:59 they hardly feel it, they say, cuz it's a cutting of the flesh. But circumcision for an adult, for an older person, is painful. You read that one one time there was a story where the uh the descendants of Jacob I think it was told 43:13 them you have to be circumcised and while they were still healing they came and took advantage of it. So it's a painful thing that Abraham had to go through and it's a choice he had to make. Lord really why do I got to do 43:23 this? What does it mean? Ah but he obeyed. And Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. and Ishmael his son was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of 43:43 his foreskin. In the very same day Abraham was circumcised and Ishmael and his son, all the men of his household who were born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner were circumcised with him. And God saw it and 43:55 he says, "Okay, you did your small part, Abraham. I know that pain you feel in this moment. It'll go away in a few hours, in a few days. You'll forget about that pain. It'll heal. But what YOU HAVE IN EXCHANGE IS my eternal 44:07 covenant." Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. >> [snorts] >> See, this is the lie that the devil wants us to buy into. Oh, it's going to 44:26 be painful. That pain will never end. That suffering will always be there. And that's why, no, no, don't obey, man. You You're going to miss out on this and you're going to miss out on that. Don't believe the lie of the devil because 2 44:38 Corinthians 4:16, therefore do not lose heart. Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear young people, dear children, don't lose heart. Don't be discouraged. Don't give up. Because even though your outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day 44:57 by day. Though that situation is painful, though painful at present, will seize before long. Hallelujah. And then oh how how does it go wonderful the victorious song something like that be gone unbelief for momentary verse 7 45:15 momentary I know it might seem like it's going on for weeks and months and years but that affliction you're going through dear brother dear sister that that circumcision of the flesh that of your heart that's going on in your life where 45:28 the the Lord is cutting away this and cutting away that and cutting away that. What is that? You're praying for something and he doesn't answer. or he delays his answer. You've got some ailment in your body that he hasn't 45:38 healed yet. That's a circumcision of the heart. He's breaking away. He's cutting off an attachment to the things of this world. But that pain you feel right now is momentary and it's light. This commandment is not too difficult for 45:53 you. This light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Dear family, I believe that the biggest regret in eternity, 46:09 whether people are in hell or in heaven, in the presence of God, but God wasn't able to fully accomplish his purpose in their life. Listen to this carefully. I believe scripture is very clear on this that there will be three categories of 46:24 people. Those who are in hell who rejected Christ completely and they will suffer with eternal torment. Dear young people, if you haven't received Christ, if he's been knocking at your heart and he and you know you need to open your 46:40 heart and give it yourself fully, you haven't done that yet. The prospect you're facing, I want to be honest with you, and it could be true for us adults, if Christ isn't the Lord of your heart completely, you're facing a prospect of 46:54 eternity in hell. I don't want to sugarcoat it. I don't want to risk offending you or anything like that. That's the prospect you're facing. But Jesus has done it all. He's paid it all. And today, open your heart and receive 47:08 him fully. But there will be two other categories of people. Those who did receive salvation through Jesus Christ. They made it to heaven, but God wasn't able to finish his purpose in their lives cuz they held back something. They didn't 47:25 trust him fully. They loved the world a little bit. Now I honestly don't know whether they will be in the presence of the Lord or not. I'm not here to judge that God is the judge ultimately. But there will be those who you know it's 47:38 the reason I believe that they could be in the presence of the Lord. If you read uh 1 Corinthians 3, it talks about a man being saved because his foundation was Jesus Christ, but his entire life's work was destroyed. And there's no more time to go back and 47:53 say, "Oh Lord, I wish I had gone back and chosen you and allowed you to circumcise my heart fully." Read 1 Corinthians 3. I read it often. I go back there and say, "Lord, I don't want me to make it to heaven, but my entire 48:08 life's work to be destroyed. I don't want that to be the case." And then there will be those who God was able to circumcise all of their heart. and they will find an eternal way to glory. But you know I was saying that there will be those the the regret in 48:26 heaven or in eternity will be this that they'll look back and realize man that affliction that temptation I was facing that situation where I made that choice for myself or for this world or thinking of what [clears throat] would be good 48:41 for me was such a small thing that moment if only I HAD CHOSEN THIS WHAT GLORY I WOULD HAVE had in exchange you know who's thinking that right now. Esau, we read about him this last week if you were following the reading plan. 48:59 Oh, that hunger, those pangs of hunger was so strong. He had just come back from a hot day of hunting and he could smell the stew and God was allowing him to smell it and almost taste it and he could see it bubbling in the pot and and 49:16 he's he keeps looking over there and he's thinking I want some of that and Jacob at that point is a picture of the devil. Devil's saying I I'll give you it. You want this? It's it's right in front of you. You know, God is offering 49:29 us life and death. And the devil's also on this side saying, "Yeah, choose death. I want you to choose it. Here's that pleasure you'll feel. All those pangs, that hunger, that feeling you feel right now, it will go away. Just 49:43 eat a little bit of this. Taste this sin a little bit. Please yourself a little bit here in this moment. Oh, and you'll feel better. That that pressure will be released by just saying what you want to say and looking at what you want to 49:56 look." And the devil says, "Yeah, go ahead. Eat it." [snorts] And Esau today saying, "Oh man, if I had just held on a little bit longer, if I had trusted God a LITTLE BIT MORE, THAT HUNGER WOULD HAVE GONE AWAY, BUT I LOST OUT ON THE BLESSING." 50:12 Hebrews warns us about it in Hebrews 12. Read it. He says, "Even though Esau sought for it with tears, he couldn't find repentance. It was too late. He'd missed it." Dear family, dear young people, don't give up. Don't lose out. Don't buy the lie of the 50:30 devil that this little thing that you're looking for here on this earth is somehow going to release the pressure and give you the life YOU WANT. NO, IT'S NOT. Choose the kingdom of heaven alone. Choose the way of the cross. Choose 50:43 life. But we all 18 with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed in your heart into the same image from glory to glory just as the Lord from the Lord the 51:03 spirit. Wonderful promise. Let's turn to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3. 51:28 Verse two, the last part of verse two says, "Beware of the false circumcision." Beware of the false circumcision. You know back then there were people who saying in g in Paul's time that oh all you have to do is be circumcised 51:44 physically and in fact at one point Paul himself fell prey to that he circumcised Timothy even though Timothy didn't need to be circumcised uh Paul himself had been circumcised as a baby but Timothy was not Timothy was the father son of a 51:58 Greek man and he circumcised Timothy but this became an issue and even Peter went astray and Paul and so this was really a battle back then now it's not an issue now cuz it's not a physical circumcision. There's nobody saying that 52:11 you need to be physically circumcised to be part of the kingdom of heaven. I don't think any of us would fall into that. But it's a it's a it's something else that oh you the false circumcision is that you can go part way. That's what 52:25 I believe it is. Just say the prayer, believe in Jesus Christ, and call yourself a Christian, read the Bible, go to a good church, but you can still love money, still love yourself, still pursue your own own interest, still have a mind 52:37 that's more set on the things of this world and pleasure and what will be good for you and your family. That's the false circumcision. Verse three, but we are the true circumcision who worship in the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put 52:55 no confidence in the flesh. That means I have no attachment to the things of this world. I have no trust in my own ability. I put all my confidence in Jesus Christ alone. This is the true confidence. And this is why he has 53:12 promised the Holy Spirit. And as I close, I want you to meditate with me on this. Let's turn to Genesis, back to Genesis 15. Again, the beautiful thing about our reading plan is that the Lord brings alive different parts of scripture that 53:26 often I read before but hadn't really meditated on. We've been reading in these chapters, and that's why it's fresh in my mind. Genesis 15, we read in verse 8. If you're hearing all of this, you're thinking, Lord, I want this. But you know what I've 53:40 preached is not anything new. Every verse that I showed you today has been there in your Bible all along. You probably heard messages on it before. And your response could be like Abraham's where he says in verse 8, "Oh 53:53 Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it? How may I know that you will give me?" The word there is inherit. How may I know that you will give it to me? Lord, I can't do this. I'm an old man already and I I I I know it's impossible 54:10 for me to do. How will I know that I will possess it? And then you see that covenant that God makes with Abraham there. He takes a bunch of animals and splits them into two. And normally back then, the way I understand it, if you 54:26 made that separation and both people walked between the two pieces of animal here was a heer cut in two and all those animals cut in two. And the two people walked in between it. They were saying, "Yes, we're in agreement. I'll do my 54:40 part. You do your part. You read the whole story sometime. You read it this week if you were following the Bible reading plan. God goes by himself. You see this oven and uh smoking oven, verse 17, and a flaming torch going through 54:55 it. That's a picture of the presence of God. He says, "I'm going to do it." Abraham's asleep. So asleep, he can't even fulfill his end of the bargain. And God says, "I'll do that. You just do your little act of obedience. I will 55:08 fulfill my end of the bargain." And so what is that for us? Now if you turn with me to Luke chapter 1, same words. Zachcharias had seen the angel of the Lord coming into him when 55:26 he was in the most holy place. And his response after he hears this, I'm going to do this. I'm going to give you a son. You're an old man. I know you gave up thoughts of ever being having ever having children. But he says, "I'm going 55:38 to give you," and this is not just going to be any child. It's going to be a forerunner. The promised Elijah, this man who couldn't have children and gave up hope of having children and his wife, they were godly, but no fruit. And God 55:51 says, "You who were barren, you're going to be the one who's going to bring forth Elijah, the spirit of Elijah." And Zachariah said to the angel, "How will I know this for certain? It seems impossible. What guarantee can I give 56:07 you?" because he says, "I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years." And this is the word. I'd never seen this. I'd read it before, but it was a wonderful promise. The angel answered and said to him, "I he says, I'm not 56:20 just somebody ordinary giving you this promise. I'm Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you the good news." What if Gabriel was here himself? All of a sudden, Gabriel shows up and he says, 56:36 "Listen, everything, all these verses you've seen this morning, I'm Gabriel. I've come from the presence of God himself and I'm here to tell you it'll come pass. Would you believe it then?" And all all of a sudden, you'd be like, 56:49 "Yeah, Lord, I believe you now. Gabriel showed up. I don't want any angel. We have something far better." Turn with me to second Corinthians chapter 1. See, under the Old Testament, they had Gabriel. Gabriel showed up for Mary and 57:05 that was a guarantee. You know the promise he gave Zacharias? He says, "I'm not just anybody. I'm not just some man. I'm not just a prophet. I'm not Elisha or Jeremiah or Isaiah. I'm Gabriel. I just came from the presence of the Lord. 57:19 And I'm here to tell you this is the promise of God." Today we have something far better. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 21. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God who also sealed 57:38 us and gave us who? Say it with me. The Holy Spirit. Who would you rather have? Gabriel sitting here in my place with his wings and the the aura around him saying, "God said it, Santo. I just came from his presence. He's going to do this 57:55 in you." Or would you rather have the Holy Spirit who also comes from the presence of God living within my heart telling me not just on a Sunday morning but when I'm there in my school or in my workplace or there when I'm facing that 58:09 temptation God said it and he's going to do it. Oh that we might be filled with the Holy Spirit. Not just some Holy Spirit like an aura. The Holy Spirit who is in the presence of God. You know, dear brothers and sisters, why we 58:23 emphasize the filling of the Holy Spirit is because that's my lifeline to the presence of God. That's my guarantee that everything he said in God's word will come to pass. This Holy Spirit, he gave us as a pledge in our hearts. Oh, that you'll invite 58:42 him aresh into your heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit. >> [snorts] >> I said I would close but you know the u Mary's words in that passage were or was it yeah I think maybe it was Zachariz how kind he is Luke 125 let me just look 59:00 at that verse it's another verse I read there um Luke 1 Elizabeth says this is the way verse 25 this is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days you know when I look at how sinful I was and how loving of this world I was. And 59:16 then God says, "Listen, you just do this little act of obedience. I'm going to give you the eternal covenant. I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit as a pledge." And this was my response. Oh, this is the way the Lord has dealt with 59:28 me in the days when he looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among men. How kind the Lord is. That's somewhere there. Anyway, you can find it later. Anybody 59:46 see it? Anyway, um or maybe um but verse 25 is there. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Luke Luke 1 verse 25. I think you you saw that verse. So, but I wanted to close with this. Dear 1:00:03 brothers, dear sisters, um we sang in that song, Fill me, O Lord, with thy desire for all that know not thee. And that really struck me as I we sang that, you know, he says, "Lead me to Calvary." It's one thing to be led to 1:00:20 Gethsemane and led to Calvary and say, "Okay, Lord, I'm going to allow you to circumcise my heart." But the true result of that is that there are others around us that God wants to draw as well. We read about Lot. You know the 1:00:34 sad story about Lot, it says in in second Peter chapter 2. Yeah. Second Peter chapter 2 um that Lot was a righteous man that when he saw the sin around him he was grieved daily. He was second Peter 2. Let me see if that's the 1:00:52 right verse. Yeah. Second Peter 2:7. If he rescued righteous Lot. Listen to this. This is Lot. Do you remember the story of Abraham and Lot? Lot looked out and 1:01:12 said, "Ah, this is a fertile land. I'm going to this will allow me to have a good life. I'm going to choose this. I'll be very happy if I move here and do that. I'm going to choose that." And Abraham said, "Go ahead, Lot. I know 1:01:22 you're my nephew, but you choose first." Abraham chose Sodom and Gomorrah. And now Abra Lot was a righteous man. There he was living in Sodom and Gomorrah. And it says, "He rescued righteous lot oppressed by the sensual 1:01:36 conduct of unprincipled men." Verse 8, "For by what he saw and heard, that righteous man while living among them felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds." Is righteous Lot your example? Is that the 1:01:52 life you want? Being righteous, but you're out there in the world. Your p your real interest is the things of this world. Living around a bunch of worldly minded people and you're tormented. You say, "Oh yeah, the world is headed to, 1:02:04 you know, so bad what all they're allowing. Look at this. This law is passed. That law is passed. I'm tormented. Is Lot your example?" The sad thing about Lot as we read even this past week was that Abraham, the friend of God, Abraham is the father of 1:02:19 those who believe. We read Abraham prayed says, "Lord, I don't know what's going on in Sodom and Gora. I haven't heard from Lot in years, but I pray that Lot, righteous as he is, has at least been able to bring nine other people to 1:02:32 salvation. He's been there for years. Abraham prayed and said, "Lord, are there at least 10 people in Sodom and Gomorrah for which you'll save the He stops there." Remember how he started with 50, went down to 40, 35, 30, 20, 1:02:45 10. Abraham stopped there. I think that his hope was, "Lot, he's learned from me. He's walked with me. He listened to me. He saw my faith. I hope that when he moved to Sodom and Gomorrah that he brought at least nine others to 1:02:58 salvation. How many did Lot bring? Others? Zero. Not even one. He couldn't save even his own wife or his daughters or his the men that his daughters were going to marry. Not even one. Dear brothers, dear 1:03:17 sisters, if you are really circumcised in your heart, the Lord is going to ask us this question. He how many others did you bring? Let's turn to Genesis 18. I'll close there with that. If you are a disciple, Jesus said, I 1:03:33 will make you a fisher of men. If you follow me, I will make you fishers of men. This is serious, brothers. I don't I hope you believe me at least. If not, you believe God's word that when I stand before Jesus Christ and he says Santosh, you 1:03:48 sat at RLCF for this number of years, whatever that is, you heard the truth about disciplehip and at the end of it, you also knew that if you were really a disciple, I would ask you who did you bring? What was the result of the life that you lived? 1:04:04 Genesis 18 verse 19. I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice so that the 1:04:22 Lord may bring upon Abraham what he has spoken about him. This is the promise that he gave Abraham. And this is the reason that he called Abraham. And so today I believe that we face a choice. You going to follow Abraham or you going to follow 1:04:38 Lot. Lot was righteous. He I don't know where Lot is today. You know the descendants of Lot, they were the enemies of Israel. They persecuted the church, persecuted Israel. And nothing came out of Lot's life. Lot may very well be in hell today. I don't 1:04:53 know. But certainly even if he's in the presence of God, he is living with regret that he couldn't even bring his wife, couldn't bring his children. Why? What would his daughter say? Lot I know you, Dad, I know you talked about God 1:05:08 and you told me stories about Abraham and you said, "Oh, read your Bible, pray and all that, but Dad, I saw that deep down you loved money. Deep down you chose Sodom and Gomorrah. So why would I follow your God?" Even his own wife 1:05:23 could testify. Lord, I know you talked about it. I know you said, "Oh, they're sinful like this. They're sinful like that." But Lot, I knew you. I lived with you, and I saw that you love money deep down. You love this world. 1:05:35 What could Sarah say? Abraham, I see you're willing to give up even Isaac, that which is most precious to you. See, before I set before you life and death, choose life that you may live. Heavenly Father, I pray that the serious words 1:05:51 you've spoken to our hearts won't fall on deaf ears. That our we won't have become so dull of hearing that these words will just pass in one ear and out the other and we remain unchanged. Please help me, Lord. I've wasted enough 1:06:04 time here on this earth. I want to run after you aresh today. Reignite the fire in my heart, Lord. Restore to me the joy of my salvation, of thy salvation, and renew a right spirit within me, Lord. Circumcise every part of my heart 1:06:19 completely 360°. Lord, if I stopped short at some point today, I say circumcise my heart fully that I might be fully yours. Purify my heart. Make me fully yours. Set apart to be yours. Lord, I pray and I pray that not a 1:06:34 single person hearing this message will miss out on it. That none of us will have any regret in eternity. Thank you, Lord. We believe you'll do that. Pour out your spirit within us. Thank you, Lord, that the spirit is our pledge. The 1:06:45 spirit is our guarantee. The spirit that comes from the very presence of God has spoken these words and will write it on our hearts, will circumcise our heart and make us yours. We praise you and give you all the glory. We believe this. 1:06:57 You'll do this in our children, Lord. Even as they go to their Sunday school classes, seal this word on their hearts. If there's even a single child here, Lord, that has been resisting the power of your spirit and your open resisting 1:07:09 opening their door to you, Lord. Will they open their hearts to you today? I pray if there's any adult here that's been resisting it, oh that they will open their heart and let the light come in that you might change us deep within. 1:07:21 Thank you Lord. You will do it. You will circumcise our hearts. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen. [music]
