[0:00] very well and welcome to you all to our service this morning special welcome to those who are visiting with us as you will know it is a special service of baptism this morning and i'm sure most many of you are visiting at the council we look to worship god we look to his blessing being upon ourselves upon his world in particular and we're going to begin by singing some verses from psalm 62 psalm 62 and we're going to sing the first four stanzas of the psalm psalm 62 psalm 62 at the beginning my soul with expectation depends on god indeed my strength and my salvation does from him alone proceed he only my salvation is and my strong rock is he he only is my sure defense much moved i shall not be how long will he against a man-loved mischief he shall all be slain as he is a toftering fence shall be and bowing wall they only plot to cast him down from his excellency they joy in lies with mouth if less but they curse inwardly these verses one to four of psalm 62 my soul my soul with expectation depends on god indeed my soul with expectation depends on god indeed my strength and my salvation is and God from him alone proceed my strength and my salvation is and God from him alone proceed my sacrifice and my strong rock is he he only is and my strong rock is he he only is and my true and my salvation is and my strong rock is he he only is and my true
[3:05] Mother How long will he again summon Procure is alone Is leng Bedroom A smile on him Will be my Martha
[4:07] They only brought to just him down From his excellency The joy in life will not be blessed But it does it worldly Let us join together in prayer Let us pray O Lord our God as we come into your presence With your word upon our lips Praise us son from the heart We give thanks that you are willing to receive us
[5:07] Not for anything that we are But for the name and sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ We bless you for him And for this day that speaks often In a way that all our days do But this day in particular It speaks to us of the risen Christ The Christ who in order to experience resurrection Had to experience death and the grave And in order to experience death and the grave The reason for dying had to be imputed to him And therein lies the great tale of the gospel That Jesus Christ came into this world
[6:07] Taking our nature to himself And becoming one with us Even as a son of man And we give thanks that he experienced What it was to be born of a woman Carried in the womb until the time appointed Where he experienced birth And the tender care of a mother Dependent upon the nourishment of her breast To sustain him The care within the family home Where he was kept and provided for Instructed from the time that he was able to Receive such instruction Raised up To be taught in the things of God And to know the scripture
[7:07] Even though he himself Was the one through whom the scripture Came as the second person of the Trinity The mystery of godliness Is brought to us Within your word And the very God who gave the word Is the word And we give thanks that He is the word made flesh And at the time appointed Having lived his life in the world Having lived without sin Unlike those that he took Their nature He was without sin He was free from the stain And the guilt that sin has Brought into all our lives And yet he He was judged
[8:09] Because he became sin For his people He bore their sins to the cross And he suffered the penalty For their sin At the hand of a holy God And we give thanks That this is what you decreed In your word That such would be His experience That not only would he be The one who Would experience death And the grave But after being in the grave For a time That he would rise From the dead And following death He would ascend Into glory And take his rightful place At the right hand Of the majesty on high And there continuing As God and man Making intercession For his people And we give thanks For the power
[9:10] Of his intercession Today That in all our weakness We can apply to his power And seek that His word would be Blessed to us So remember us Each one According to the needs That we have Many of us May have Needs that are Current And that are common And that are shared And that each one of us Will know something about Others may have Needs that are Their own needs In particular That they are Unknown to others In the majority They are Needs that are A burden to them And them alone And yet We give thanks That there is a God In heaven Who knows All there is That there is
[10:10] To be known About us That you are a God Who is able to Minister to us In accordance With the knowledge That you have Of these needs Be they temporal Or spiritual We pray for A visitation Of your grace That it would Accompany Your word And that Your word Would fall On ground That you have Previously prepared For it Just as A farmer Prepares the ground For the seed That he Desires to sow Of whatever Of whatever Kind it is It is To fall on Previously prepared Soil And The tender care That he gives To it Prior to The soil Being Filled with the seed Is just as important As what happens
[11:10] Following on From the sowing But just as Surely As you Prepare the soil For the seed Of the gospel We pray That that Preparation Would yield To the glory Of your name Remember then Every one of us Be the young Or old Bless them In accordance With these needs Pour out your spirit Upon us That we may Collectively Know the blessing That enriches And that's No sorrow Remember The whole of the Congregation The community At large To all who Reside Within Its boundaries We give thanks For each one of them For the part They play Within Our lives But in particular For those That Are Without Knowledge Of Christ We Decide for them That they would Come to Know
[12:10] The one Whom to know Is life eternal To that end Grant to us That spirit Of prayer Collectively For the Praying people Of this Community And congregation That we would Be as one Deciding That you would Rend us Into the heavens And come down Our prayers Extend beyond The community To pray for Presbytery The congregations Within it And all the Congregations That seek To promote The gospel And Who preach Jesus Christ At whom Crucified We pray for Our nation We pray for The nations Of the earth For the Evangel of Christ As it goes out Into these nations We remember Especially at this Time Of Preparation For gender Election Those who Are involved In that We would Ask Lord That you would Raise up
[13:11] From those Candidates Those who would Wish to serve God before man And whatever Service they are Willing to give you That clearly That will impact Upon the service That they give Their peer So bless them We pray Who walk In the fear Of the Lord Remember Our king And his family And particularly At this time Of illness Amongst that Number We seek Recovery And the Blessing of God To accompany Their encounter Encounter With that Illness We pray For the Parliaments Scottish Parliament And the Parliament Recently Dissolved And all Who still Serve you On behalf Of the king We pray For your Blessing Upon their Labour On our Behalf Pray for The armed Forces The various Agencies
[14:11] That ensure Our preservation And protection Be it At sea On land Or in the Air And especially At such Fragile times When we know That within The European Continent Even as we Have seen Remembrance Made of D-Day And all that Involved Countless Souls That were Willing to Perish For the Sake of Life For others Remember Them And remember Those who Are still Spared And we Pray for Wisdom To ensure That these Very things Are an Encouragement To us To strive For peace While we Cannot do so At any Price We know We know That our First Port of Call Is always To a Throne Of Grace Remember The parts Of the World
[15:11] Involved In And embroiled In war Some Who have Been Engaged In such For a Long time We pray For the Ukraine And The Russia Conflict We pray For all Of the Places That we Seek to Remember Before you Where there Is civil War Where there Is war Neighbors Constantly Engaged In Disputes That are Ongoing And Seemingly Reconcilable Lord In Mercy Pour out Your spirit Upon us As a Generation That we Would know The wisdom Of seeking Peace At your Hand So remember Us today As we Gather in Your name And especially Later on As we Mark The Baptism Of an Infant Brought into
[16:13] The Fellowship Of those Who Belong to The Church of Christ Here on Earth Hear our Prayers On the behalf Of our Job There is Each One Forgiving Sin In Jesus Name Amen Well boys and girls Before you Go out To Sunday School I believe Today That you're Going to Be looking At The Early Church New Testament Church And there's One person There who Was very Much to The fore At the Beginning Of the Church of Christ A person Called Stephen He's remembered Because he Was put to Death He was Stoned By the Enemies of The gospel During The beginnings Of the New Testament Era But the
[17:17] Thing that we Have to Remember About Stephen Is that His enemies Put him To death And not Because he Was bad Or not Because he Did anything That any Person should Consider bad But they Took his Life Because Of what Was true About him And I Think this Has to be Remembered We are Told about Him That he Was a Man full Of faith And of The holy Ghost Man full Of faith And of The holy Ghost And That same Truth Is again Spoken up Before he Died That he Was a Man full Of faith And of The holy Ghost And it's
[18:17] Quite amazing That that is The reason Why he Was put to Death Not because He was bad Or he did Bad things But because Of what he Believed Who he Believed And who he Wanted to Speak about More than Anything He wanted To tell Others about Jesus Christ And that Is really Something that That is Often brought To our Attention That People Don't Always want To hear About Jesus Christ You would Think that It would be Something Recently said That it was The good News Of salvation The good News The best News And you Would think That anybody In their Right mind Would be Pleased To hear Good news But no That's not The way it Is And even Till this
[19:18] Day The good News Of Jesus Christ Coming from Any source Is often Something that Rattles Rattles Cages Makes people Angry And that Makes people Very Very Resistant To it So I Think One question I would want You to be Asking today When you're Told about Stephen Who lived A good Life Who lived Telling others About the Lord Jesus Christ And the Good things That Christ Would give To us Why Would anybody Want Not to hear Of that Christ For themselves Why would You want Anything Other Than to know That Christ For yourself And some People would Do well To think About What is it
[20:19] Within their Heart The moment That they Hear mention Of the Gospel Of Jesus Christ That they Are stirred Up To Anger To resist It To deny It It's a Question It's worth Thinking About Well I hope You'll hear More about That today We're going To sing Now as You go Out to Sunday School Coming back In just Before The baptism Takes place You have Going out To Sunday School And we're Going to Sing some Verses From Psalm 34 For O Taste And See Verse 8 O Taste And See That God Is Good Who Trusts In Him Is Blessed Be A God Who Saints And Not In Fear Shall Be With Want Oppressed The Lions Young May Hungry Be And They May Lack Their Food But They That Truly Seek The Lord
[21:19] Shall Not Lack Any Good Sing To Verse 13 For So Taste And See That God Is Blessed O Taste And See That God Is Good God Is God Is He God Is His Son And That Is The Earth Shall Be With One Of Rest Heart A Limit Rest A Strangeising Is안
[22:24] ALEX Lower H市 Thank you.
[23:02] Thank you.
[23:32] Thank you. Thank you.
[24:04] Thank you. I'm going to read a short passage from the Old Testament Scriptures from the book of Genesis chapter 12.
[24:17] Genesis chapter 12. And we're going to read verses 1 to 9. Verses 1 to 9.
[24:55] Bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him.
[25:11] And Abraham was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abraham took Sarai his wife and loved his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran.
[25:27] And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan. They came. Abraham passed through the land unto the land of Sivim, into the plain of Moreh.
[25:41] And the Canaanite was then in the land of Canaan.
[26:11] And Abraham journeyed, going on, still toward the south. And so on. The Lord had his blessing to a reading of his word.
[26:25] To his name be praised. We're going to sing now from Psalm 94. Psalm 94, verses 14 to 17.
[26:37] Four sentences. For sure the Lord will not cast off those that his people be. Neither his own inheritance quit and forsake will he.
[26:51] But judgment unto righteousness shall yet return again, and all shall follow after it, that are right-hearted men. Who will rise up for me against those that do wickedly?
[27:05] Who will stand up for me against those that mark iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help when I was so oppressed, almost my soul had in the house of silence been at rest.
[27:21] And so on. These are forced answers to God's praise on 94. For sure the Lord will not cast off those that his people be.
[27:32] For sure the Lord will not cast off those that his people be.
[27:52] God's praise on the Lord. For sure the Lord will not cast off those that his people be.
[28:22] God's praise on the Lord.
[28:52] God's praise on the Lord. Those that do wickedly. Who will stand up for me against those that were connected with him?
[29:22] And so on. The Lord has given me help when I was so depressed, almost my soul had in the house of silence been at rest.
[29:52] Amen. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
[30:44] Amen.
[31:14] The fall of man, we have the description of the flood, and that because of the way that sin came into the world, and sin took a considerable hold on the hearts and minds of those who were in the world.
[31:35] And Abraham is a descendant of one of the sons of Noah. I have difficulty myself with the pronunciation. I try and say the name Abraham or Abraham without saying the name Abraham. I find it very difficult to do that.
[32:01] But the name was changed by reason of the relationship that existed between God and this man, and his intention to bless him, as we have seen in our reading.
[32:20] Now the fact of the matter is that most people, when they read this part of the book of Genesis, their focus inevitably falls on the call of Abraham.
[32:37] How God came to Abraham.
[33:07] What did that entail? Was it simply the voice of God being heard audibly by Abraham and persuading him to leave his people and go elsewhere?
[33:23] Or was it something that came to him in the depths of his mind? And nobody else would have heard these words but himself.
[33:36] But I don't want us to really spend much time thinking about the nature of the call of Abraham or what it entailed or what will come into our thinking.
[33:50] I want us to think rather more of these promises that God gives to Abraham. He is clearly declaring to him that he has a purpose for him.
[34:07] There are seven things that are listed within that series of promises that God declares to Abraham.
[34:22] And we cannot really understand these things without emphasizing at the very outset that this is what God is going to do.
[34:35] It might seem obvious to us. It might seem that it doesn't need to be said. But I think inevitably having followed the path that Abraham as a man takes and the record that scripture has of him.
[34:56] And the place that is given to him as a man, to him as the father of a nation, the emphasis inevitably falling upon the individual rather than on the God that made him what he was.
[35:16] So that's the very first thing that we must understand. This is what God is going to do. And the fact that what he is going to do is declared by God, there are no ifs, buts or maybes about it.
[35:35] If you give a promise or an undertaking to anyone, very often we paraphrase, well, we put a little aside at the end of it, God willing.
[35:50] D.V. I will do this. I will be there, D.V. God willing. God willing. Now because God is God, he doesn't look outside of himself in order to ensure that what he is promising is going to be fulfilled.
[36:10] If he says he's going to do something, he will do that, whatever it is. And nothing will forbid him from doing it, nothing will prevent him from doing it, nothing will intrude into the path that he plots that will cause him to deviate from his purposes.
[36:30] Because he is God. And that is clearly the case, because when you look at the promises that are made to Abraham, seven of them, as I said, there are many things that would perhaps prevent what God promises from coming to fruition.
[36:50] Many things could be argued as being so complicated and complex that there is no way these things can actually come to pass.
[37:05] And yet God, because he is God, determines the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. And there is no external circumstance that could dictate to him what he should or should not do.
[37:27] So when we look at what comes to pass, I noted these following things that are true about Abraham as an individual.
[37:41] For him as a person, when he hears these words of God coming to him by way of promise, you can almost enter into the way his mind is thinking and he says there's no way this is going to happen.
[38:01] God promises him.
[38:31] God promises him.
[39:01] To him as a person, and where you're comfortable and where you think, you know, your way around. But God is taking him out of that comfortable setting and surrounding, away from his family, away from his friends, away from his acquaintances, whoever, however many there were.
[39:18] Shortly after taking Abraham away from Abraham, we're told his father dies in his family. And he, if you read on in his family.
[39:29] And he, if you read on in his chapter, he faces famine and the hostility of people who don't know him.
[39:42] People who are not his friends. People who are wondering why he is there and who has sent him there and why he has come. And he goes into an environment.
[39:55] He grew up with God. He was taught about God. And he goes into a place where there are many gods. And where the people don't know the gods that he was.
[40:08] So none of these things taken by themselves are, you could say, they're not major things. But they're the very things that you would say act against the possibility of the promises that God makes coming to pass.
[40:25] And yet the promises are set before him. So the first thing that we see is, I would make of you a great nation. I would make of you a great nation.
[40:38] And as I said, it doesn't. I suppose you could interpret that in different ways. If you're American. And because we're in the UK, we get to hear a lot from America.
[40:54] And there's a particular ex-president there, who's intending to be their next president, who says, I am going to make America great again.
[41:06] I am going to make America great again. Now, Abraham isn't saying that. It is God who is saying to Abraham, I will make of thee a great nation.
[41:22] And that's the big difference. As I said in prayer, we're in the middle of an election campaign. And you hear many promises.
[41:35] And if you had the time to record every one of them in detail and bide your time to see how many of these promises would be fulfilled.
[41:45] But at the heart of some of them would be the prospect of better tomorrow. Because they're going to be in power. Or they're going to be given time to put their policies into practice.
[41:59] Because we haven't seen the various policies formulated into whatever it is that they intend to do.
[42:14] But what is important for us, regardless of what men say they're going to do, it is God who is saying here that he is going to do this thing.
[42:26] Now, you suppose you could ask the question, legitimately ask a question, what is it that God is going to do when he makes a great nation?
[42:37] What is it about a nation that makes a nation great? It's a simple question. Now, suppose every one of you might have a different answer. What do you think it is that will make our nation great again?
[42:50] And you may have a host of different answers, but the fact that we can glean from the words of God to Abraham is this, that having this God as their God is essential.
[43:09] It is something that must come first. Whatever the manifestos you will be presented with in the future. I doubt if you'll find this at any part of the manifesto, unless it's a Christian, specifically Christian party.
[43:27] But I doubt if they will put this at any point in their manifesto, that we will have this God as our God, because we're pluralistic, we're secular, we're all kinds of things.
[43:40] But having the only living and true God as our God is something that is not considered worthwhile.
[43:51] You go forward to chapter 15, the promises made by God again. I am you, shield, and you're exceeding great reward. And that contains the promise within it of protection and provision.
[44:08] And the God who is their God is saying this categorically, I am going to be this to you. If I am your God, I will preserve you, and I will protect you, and I will provide for you.
[44:22] And as your God, I give this undertaking. And Abraham is given that promise. The second thing that we have here is, I will bless thee.
[44:38] I will bless thee. And I have said it to you, there is occasions that the word bless is a word that is overused.
[44:49] When we pray, we ask God to bless us. Do you actually know what you're asking for when you're asking God to bless you?
[45:02] Does your mind engage with that word and say, Lord, I want you to bless me in this way or in that way?
[45:17] Or are you content to say, whatever your blessing contains for me, I am content with that.
[45:29] Whatever I'm asking for, keep it from me, if it means that I'm blessed. Whatever I'm wanting you to keep out of my experience, let me have it, if it means that I am blessed.
[45:46] Do we actually explore this terrain of God's mystery that means blessing when we ask for it? But God says to Abraham, I will bless you.
[46:01] And whatever it is that God means by way of blessing, for Abraham, he can conclude with every bit of courage that he possesses, that it will mean good for him.
[46:20] He supplies our needs of inexhaustible resources, indescribable resources. And when he does that, well, who will then say that they are not blessed?
[46:38] If you look at, just choose your own Bible character, the saints of God, there are many of them written about in the Bible. We should follow their lives, and you're often confronted with the truth that they're blessed by God.
[46:57] And their blessings are sometimes described to them as being conditional. If they do this, or if they go there, then God will bless them.
[47:09] And that's something that God does at times. He provides blessing on the basis of conditions that he himself sets.
[47:20] He actually puts himself under the same conditional rule.
[47:33] Because he tells his people that he is willing to bless them regardless of what they are. Because his blessings are dependent upon himself, who he is, what he is, the unchangeableness of his being, is something that ensures that what he is to his people is ever the same.
[47:59] And here, what we're being introduced to gradually is the covenantal relationship that God has with his people, and that he establishes, and declares, and describes, and brings flesh to the bones of in his relationship that is covenantal.
[48:25] You know, if you read the biographies of the saints of God, the people of God who were Christians, the late Murdoch Campbell who used to, he wrote several books, and they were books that were experiential.
[48:43] They described to us the experiences of godly, wise men and women. And one thing I think that stands out from that, that's a recent generation, but a past generation, that was, what was true of them was that they were willing and ready to take God at his word.
[49:08] They were willing and ready to take God at his word. And sometimes they felt that God, you know, when they read the scripture, that were parts of the scripture that spoke to them under God's spirit, under God's hand, and they took God's word, literally, to be a truth upon which they relied.
[49:32] And they acted on the basis of that, and their lives were regulated very much like that. Now, I'm not like that, I have to say, to my shame and probably my detriment as a believer.
[49:48] I am not as open to God's word guiding my footsteps, my path, as it should be.
[49:59] He gives one example, just to give you one example of this woman who prayed regularly for her family, her children. And as they were growing, she persisted in praying for them.
[50:15] And one day, the word that spoke to her as a mother was, all your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.
[50:31] all your children will be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. And she took that word literally to herself.
[50:45] She believed that word to be true, and from that point on, although she continued to pray and continued to bring them before God, she believed that at some point in their life, they would come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
[51:04] And so they did. Before she left this world, she saw all of them as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the comfort that that woman had all her days because of God's word, although you have to believe that she probably saw that test many of her times.
[51:26] But God's word came to Abraham and said, I will bless you. And perhaps his life was wondering, how, where, in what way will I know this blessing?
[51:38] All he knew was God was going to bless him. I will make your name great. I will make your name great. I wonder what he made of that promise. Somehow, I don't think he aspired to personal greatness.
[51:54] And yet the Lord promised it to him. When Solomon was asked what he wished the Lord to give him, he sought wisdom.
[52:06] And the Lord gave him wisdom and he gave him wealth. And he exceeded the way that God provided for him more than he asked.
[52:22] And I will make your name great. And I suppose there are different ways that you could imagine that this was fulfilled in the experience of Abraham.
[52:35] A great name, a name that is associated with God in a way that no other name is. Abraham is identified on a number of occasions as the friend of God.
[52:48] the friend of God. Can you think of any other person who's got that name? The friend of God. God gave him that name because of the relationship that he had.
[53:02] And he was identified as such. He is remembered because he is the father of the faithful. That's what is told to him.
[53:14] Go to Hebrews 11. Read for yourself the section of that chapter that speaks of the faith of Abraham. His name is recorded in scripture in that very way.
[53:28] We're going through the epistle of Paul to the Galatians and the faith of Abraham, the nature of it, is brought to our attention there.
[53:38] He's remembered and his name is elevated because of that. Then we see, you shall be a blessing, he says.
[53:51] Somebody has simplified this to say, you will be given the opportunity for service. You will be given the opportunity for service.
[54:05] Do you think that's what it means? You shall be a blessing. Well, I would think that the Lord's people who are here today, that's one thing they would wish for themselves, that not only would they receive God, God's goodness and God's gifts and God's graces, but that in some way that they will be enabled to bring what they have received from God to others.
[54:38] That we spoke of Stephen to the children before they went out. Stephen, he was somebody who exhorted the name of God in his life, the name of his saviour.
[54:52] He spoke of him, he preached about him, he condemned others because they condemned him. He was fearless in his faith.
[55:03] death. And the most intriguing thing about it, as we said, was that he was punished because of it, but he was a blessing to many, although he was put to death.
[55:17] And he saw his God, he saw his saviour as he surrendered his soul into his hands. Jesus, you know the expression that is given to Christians, the description.
[55:35] What is a Christian? The question is asked. A Christian is but a beggar telling other beggars where to find bread. and that's what you're allowed to do.
[55:48] You are allowed to be a blessing to others. Abraham was a blessing to others in many different ways, no doubt. He is someone who is going to be the cause of God blessing others and cursing others.
[56:12] I will bless them that bless thee and curse thee. I suppose that's tied into it. The favour of God is something that is so precious to God's people.
[56:27] And God has his eye on his people in this world. He watches them as he watches the apple of his eye. He knows them as his people and he is concerned for them.
[56:41] And if anyone encroaches on their peace, God is not only aware of it, but in his time he will ensure that they are not only protected but those who break that peace are punished because of it.
[57:00] We don't like to think of it like that, but that is the way the scripture describes it. The Christian is not ring-fenced in the sense that nothing will ever come their way, but that God is not oblivious to what is done to his people.
[57:21] And people have to be aware of that. They have seen it too often to be oblivious to it, that God in his own way will deal with those who are mindlessly mistreating his people in the world.
[57:41] The final thing, I suppose, is the biggest thing of all. In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. The nature of that promise is so broad and so wide and so deep it can't be.
[57:58] Limited to the person of Abraham and his own location and his own experience in the world. It has to be beyond that.
[58:10] And we know that this promise that God makes to Abraham is a promise where the spiritual seed that he will leave behind will impact upon this world.
[58:25] And the descendants of Abraham, many as they are, there is one in particular, who is the source of great blessing and the only source of blessing to the world.
[58:36] And that is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who is the Messiah, the one who has come to bring salvation to sinners.
[58:47] That is the way this promise, in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed, through him and through this descendant that is identified through the scripture, the one of whom Paul speaks, the one of whom Stephen spoke, the one of whom the apostles spoke, the only way of salvation to sinners and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
[59:15] And the promises, how many, when you think about what this meant to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the promise to Abraham to be fulfilled in his experience, how many things could have happened to halt it and how many things could have prevented it if God was not the one making the promise.
[59:38] Don't we see that in so many different ways when we read Isaiah 53 for example and see what it says about the sufferings of Christ, the nature of them, the extent of them, the culmination of them, the blessing of them by God.
[59:53] Well may God help us to understand something of that. Let us join again in prayer. Lord our God we give thanks that you are a God who is able to bless your people in this world and your blessings are without number and they are without equal.
[60:16] We would pray that you would remember this day all who are looking with an eye to your glory to the blessing that would enrich and that no sorrow we pray for your blessing upon our service and upon your word and upon the sacrament that is to follow.
[60:37] Hear our prayers pardoned in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We shall sing now to God's praise from Psalm 92.
[60:57] Psalm 92 and we're going to read from verse 12. But like the palm tree flourishing shall be the righteous one he shall like to the seed that grow that is in Lebanon those that within the house of God are planted by his grace they shall grow up and flourish all in our God's holy place and in old age when others fade the fruit still forth shall bring they shall be fat and full of sap and I be flourishing to show that upright is the Lord he is a rock to me and he from all unrighteousness is altogether free.
[61:49] let us sing these verses of Psalm 92 from verse 12 that like the palm tree flourishing shall be the righteous one that like the country flourishing shat be the righteous lower he shall like to that the He's gathered you that is in the earth on earth.
[62:38] Those that within the hearts of God are planted by its face.
[62:56] They shall grow up on earth. They shall in your God's holy place.
[63:14] And gain no guilt when others pay. They will support shall bring.
[63:33] They shall be God's holy. Love's heart and day be blooded.
[63:49] To show that the pride is the Lord.
[64:01] And of the presence of God. For the wise you are not loses, To smash and start to deathly.
[64:46] Thank you.
[65:16] Thank you.
[65:46] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. In Matthew's Gospel, for example, Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
[66:02] Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
[66:17] And, lo, I am with you all the way, even unto the end of the world. Thank you.
[66:54] To be continued in this church until the end of the world.
[67:28] It's as we have read in Matthew's Gospel. These words remind us that the sacrament is a sign and a symbol.
[67:42] And it signifies and presents to us the truth that the Gospel presents to us in word.
[67:53] That is, that God is gracious to fallen, sinful mankind. And he promises to bless and confess such blessing because and through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[68:13] The emphasis on the sacrament is often misplaced. The sacrament itself is not the blessing but the means by which God's promise and God's blessing is conferred.
[68:32] One thing that is necessary for a proper reception of that blessing that God promises is faith in Jesus Christ.
[68:48] Baptism is the symbol and we know that it tells us something about the need that there is to be cleansed from our sins.
[69:00] The sins that each one of us are guilty of. They are many, they are different, they are varied, but the only way by which these sins can be dealt with is by way of Jesus Christ.
[69:21] When the apostles were allowed to preach, they preached the Gospel to sinners. And upon believing in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the words were spoken to them.
[69:36] Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Sign accompanied the profession or confession of their faith in Jesus Christ.
[69:53] Paul links it with the role of the Holy Spirit. In his letters we often find him referring to the role that the Holy Spirit has.
[70:07] That he says it's not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his memory, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
[70:25] We know that in the Old Testament the covenant sign that was given to Abraham was the sign of circumcision. And yet God says to Abraham, as he says to those who apply to him by faith, I will be your God and you will be my people.
[70:46] To Abraham, as we saw it was, this is my covenant which you shall keep between you and me, and you see it after you.
[70:57] Every man child among you shall be circumcised. You will have the covenant sign. Now the New Testament tells us that fulfillment of God's promise is seen.
[71:10] It's an ever expanding mode of teaching as to what God is doing.
[71:20] We know that Abraham saw the day of Christ from afar. Even though Christ was in his loins by way of seed, he was able to see this Christ.
[71:36] And he was able to put in trust what God was going to fulfill by way of that Christ. God's promises to a covenant people are for them and for their children.
[71:53] And those who are parents are saying, I want the best for my child. I want the best for our children. And the best is knowing this God for yourself as your God and this Christ as your saviour.
[72:12] Faith is important and faith is necessary. In our tradition, I suppose, there is a division as to what that word faith actually means.
[72:27] Whether it's saving faith, whether it's essential application to Christ for yourself, or is it separate elements of it, where the believer applies his mind to the teachings of the scripture, understand what the Bible is saying, and acquiesces in these teachings for themselves.
[72:57] Divines explain it in this way, it is not a sacrament of my faith, but God's grace. It's not a sign of anything I do, but of what God has done.
[73:11] It is God that keeps the covenant. If my salvation depended on my covenant keeping, there would be no prospect of my salvation.
[73:21] It is impossible. It is impossible. But the believer rests upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. And he is saved, whether he has the seal of the covenant or not, whether he has been baptized or not.
[73:39] It is not by virtue of having that seal of the covenant, that salvation is possible, but by reason of what the covenant sign teaches us, that Christ has secured salvation for us in his death on the cross.
[73:59] Well, when we see families come to bring their children to experience baptism, they come with their own profession of faith.
[74:15] And we acknowledge before God that every one of us, whatever our status is, be we ministers, always better members are adherents, that our ability to be, to keep our obligations is often something that we are shamefully lacking in.
[74:49] But we turn to God just now, and we pray to God, and we ask God for his blessing upon our time here. So let us join in prayer.
[75:00] As we do, we can ask you to stand. I'll come down then and ask God to take the vows that, as a parent, he expected to do.
[75:13] But we'll join together in prayer, first of all. Let us pray. Eternal God, as we come before you at this time, we give thanks that you teach us in your word that Jesus Christ is the alone saviour of sinners, that his blood was shed for the salvation of sinners, that he is able to cleanse to the uttermost all who come to him by way of faith.
[75:49] And we bless you and thank you that those who have put their trust in him, while they may at times feel ashamed for their failures and failings, that they are still in the place where they can turn to the one whose power of that shed blood is able to cleanse to the uttermost.
[76:14] We have confessions of the saints throughout the history of this world, and they, through the life that you have given to them of their own condition by nature, they confess that from the crown of their head to the sole of their feet, that they are one mass of putrefaction, because sin has made such a mess of who we are by nature, created in your image, but that image was lost in the fall, and we bless you and thank you that the day will come for your promise will be fulfilled, where those who are in Christ will bear his image in perfection.
[77:00] They will not only be like him, but we with him. And to that end, we commit our friends here to you. And we pray for this family with whom we have met, and all their friends here, and also our witness to what is taking place.
[77:18] So bless us together, and watch over us. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. You can stand.
[77:39] The reason you're standing is because you're being asked to witness this for yourselves, something testibly to it. I'm going to ask Scott some questions, or they are those under which you, as a father, are being put.
[78:05] I've done this before your death. Do you believe in God the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God? Do you believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the word of God and the only word of life and faith?
[78:23] Do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the only Savior of God's elect? Do you promise faithfully to raise your child in the fear and admonition of the Lord with the help of God himself?
[78:36] Do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the only word of God?
[78:52] Do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the only word of God? Do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the only word of God? I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost upon God. May the Lord bless you and be keep you.
[79:09] May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and do you. Peace. Let us again join together in the name of God.
[79:25] O Lord of God as we have participated in this service of your thanks that these are outward signs of covenant promises and they tell us of the power that exists and the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ a lone Saviour of sinners.
[79:57] We give thanks for the countless promises that we find at large within the Scriptures concerning the ability that exists with Christ to cleanse from all sin.
[80:13] We pray for this family and the parents of the sweet child that has been brought into the presence and the falls of the visible church that you would bless them.
[80:28] Our Lord is God would know the blessing of the almighty God and pray for God's father for the also as they fulfill their obligations to teach their child and the things of God.
[80:47] We ask that you would encourage them to exercise faith and reaching out to that Christ that he may be their Saviour and their Lord and as they conduct their lives in this presence that they may know this blessing to be their portion.
[81:08] We pray for Donnie and for Linus to bless them together as we see their sibling following their own footsteps and collectively as a family then may they know the blessing of God and that the destruction that they receive may enrich their lives and we pray for them as they go on together.
[81:35] We pray for their grandparents we pray for thanks for them and for their own influence on their children's and their grandchildren's lives.
[81:47] But we are also especially mindful of our great grandfather who is so very much involved in the lives of our children and grandchildren and now great grandchildren.
[82:03] we thank you for the fact that she is unable to be with us by reason of her infirmity at this present time yet we know that praying passion who brings all her children to a throne of grace that she may yet see the fruit of our prayer and see their the extension of the kingdom of Christ as something that is so precious too.
[82:40] Lord, hear the prayer and petitions and grant mercy for their sins in Jesus' name. Amen. You witness for yourself baptism of an infant to be brought into the visible church and even within our own tradition there are closing views as to what that actually means.
[83:20] But those of you who have been baptized as witnesses to this baptism you are fresh under obligation to God to fulfill your baptism verse because you are at this moment in time acknowledging the truth of what has been symbolized using water it is water and I should have been told to be consecrated I never remember to do that but it is consecrated it's consecrated in the sense it's been used for a use that is not its usual use but I would normally pray for that but it has been used for a non-secular use it's not been done it's not been used for any other purpose than the purpose that it was used for today to symbolize and to seal to us the sacrament and what the sacrament teaches and as a believer or those of you who are baptized as believers you're part of the visible church until you walk away from the church and despise the teachings of the church and abuse the teachings of the church and for that all of us are accountable when we take
[85:11] God's word and treat it with lack of respect and you today have been reminded of your obligations as Christians who pray have been reminded of the need that you have to pay for this child here and for the family and everyone who is a Christian knows that the day in which we live is not a day for Christians to have a life of peace because if you believe the teachings and the doctrines of God's word in fact it's very much something that's thought of as being an old half something that belongs to a past generation and has no relevance for this far from it there is nothing more relevant for this same generation and to know that there is a God that you can go to and upon his name you can trust and his blessing you can seek whatever
[86:18] God is for you and I would earnestly encourage you to continue to remember these lovely children of the congregation who are also included in prayer always remembered at the throne of grace that God will bless them that God would enrich their lives and that God would sustain them throughout many testings and tries that this world of ours will bring their way to continue so we pray we're going to conclude ourselves singing the familiar words of Psalm 23 Psalm 23 독 together Z sing the whole psalm to God's prayer
[87:26] The Lord's night shepherd I am on my He makes me come to life And my shearers sing Hidden be The quiet waters align My solemned hour to put again and me to walk down deep within the hearts of righteousness even for the song nimb him him him him him him him him him him him him for thou art with me and thou
[89:29] Stab me, come, Lord, still. Mighty, thou hast garnished Impresses of my voice My head is out just with light The night, unlike the open voice Goodness and mercy all my life
[90:32] Shall surely follow me And in God's heart I am the Lord My dwelling, you please Alleluia For they praise, mercy, and peace And in God's heart The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Addressed and abide with you all Never and always Amen Thank you