AM Ephesians 5:22-33

[0:00] In the evening service we're going to have a sacrament of baptism and the baptism of Eleanor. So we're looking forward to fellowshipping together in the gospel.

[0:12] The evening service will be at 6pm. I hope to be here with you for the evening service. And Wednesday 7pm prayer meeting of Bible studies to be led by David Kenyon.

[0:23] The collection for Christmas presents for those who have attended the Wednesday drop-in total £90. It's been forwarded to Bethany Christian Trust and Pamela Crosby, the drop-in coordinator.

[0:36] She's written in to thank you for your donations. They will be going towards items for gift bags that will be handed out to those who may not be receiving any other gifts at Christmas.

[0:50] Envelope Scheme 2021. Envelopes are available now for the Treasurer for all who currently place their offering in the envelope. Additional envelopes are available for those who would like to go onto the envelope scheme.

[1:06] It encourages a weekly pattern of giving and enables the administration of gift aid for those interested. There is more details in regards to this on the notice board.

[1:16] Also, we found in Downvale that we've been looking at our Treasurer, who is also an Assessor Elder here. He's been trying to get our folk to do online banking if possible.

[1:29] And that makes things so much easier as well. So I'm sure that would work here as well. Total estimates for the eradication of the dry rot and the roofing work amounts to £21,000.

[1:43] The roofer plans to undertake his work in January, which will, when completed, will allow the other contractors to come in to proceed with their work.

[1:54] Grant applications were made to two trusts and we're so thankful to the Lord for the great encouragement that both trusts have responded with offers of grants totaling £10,000.

[2:05] Amounting to nearly 50% of the estimates. The grants are payable on the certification that the work has been completed satisfactorily.

[2:17] Curcession also announced previously is looking to appoint additional elders. A voting form has been made available to all Communicant members. Completed, a voting form should be placed in the box available at the side table no later than next Sunday.

[2:33] Next Lord's Day at 11am and 6pm, Mr. Thompson, Thompson Mackenzie will be preaching here again. Well, they're all according to God's will.

[2:44] So let us worship God. We're going to sing to his praise in Psalm 95. We're going to listen to singing. Psalm 95 in the Scottish Psalter.

[2:56] And singing verses 1 down to the verse mark 5 of the psalm. O come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us everyone a joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation.

[3:07] To God's praise. O come, let us sing to the Lord.

[3:18] of the Lord. Of the saints of the psalm. A joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation.

[3:39] Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing song to live with grace.

[3:53] A joyful voice. Let us sing sound to live with praise and live with a joyful voice.

[4:14] For God the great God has created above all God's He is.

[4:31] Tells all the fear of Him in His hand the strength of His is.

[4:48] To Him the saints He belongs for He the same in name.

[5:03] The pride and loss of His hand is for us at first His name.

[5:19] Amen. Well let us say a bearer heads in prayer. Let us pray. Ten of Father the joy of coming into your presence this morning and the goodness of God to us that we have the health and strength to be here.

[5:35] And as we draw near to you we give you the praise and the glory that your name deserves. As we lift your name up in worship as we draw near to you. And Lord we pray that if it is your will that you would draw near to us as well.

[5:50] So that we may know the presence of God in our midst. And to enjoy the fellowship that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for the freedom you've given us in Jesus.

[6:03] We thank you Lord the example that He's given to us in this world. He came into a setting where religion was so rife in Jerusalem and in Israel.

[6:15] And people thought of themselves so highly. And Christ came where people were so I accept him of Him and the fact that they could feel comfortable in His presence.

[6:26] And we think as He asked people to sit down and to listen to the preaching. And as He fed them as well. As we think of the feeding of the 5,000.

[6:37] We thank you Lord that you are approachable and we come today to our Heavenly Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that at His death that the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom signifying for us an entry through the death of Jesus into the presence of the Lord our Father.

[6:59] So Lord we pray that as we come today that we come in the name of Jesus Christ in the enjoyment of the salvation of God and asking that you would feed our souls as we come to seek you in your word.

[7:14] We thank you for the past week. We thank you for all the things that took place in our lives. Everything according to God's plan and God's purpose. And we pray even in the mundane things of life and in the practical things God is with us.

[7:29] And for that Lord we thank you. We think today of those who are not able to be here. We think of Jack Dobbs who would be here but cannot because of ill health. We think of others too who are celebrating the birth of a child and we thank you for parents and for grandparents as they enjoy Lord a child coming into the world.

[7:52] We also think of unborn children and asking Lord that your blessing would be upon them. What a privilege to think of children of Christian parents being prayed for the moment that they know that they are carrying a child and looking forward to that child.

[8:09] We thank you for the care and the protection that is for the child in the womb as we think Lord this is something that Christ himself experienced in the sense that God became man.

[8:23] So Lord today as we come for the baptism of Eleanor Eleanor we pray that you would bless them as a family be with David and Juliana we thank you for their Christian faith and their love and their bringing their child a covenant child before the Lord to be baptised as we Lord see in scripture and we pray that this would be blessed to them as a family bless them all as a family we're thinking Lord as a congregation as we are waiting for the election of new elders we pray that you would guide your people to choose wisely we pray that the chosen ones would be those ordained by God to come to serve as elders in this church we thank you Lord that you're the one who guides us by your hand and we pray that we today would be in your will so as to fulfil the law of Christ so bless us then watch over us keep us safe and deliver us from all evil as we ask all of this in Jesus name

[9:25] Amen Amen Well then boys and girls I just love this time of year because I know I can tell my story about one of these have you ever seen one of these? Yeah have you noticed one of these?

[9:38] You see them all over the place at this time of year and when I read about the story of these candy canes they are red and white and they are important because we're told a story told long ago that the candy maker wanted to make a candy that would tell the story about Jesus Christ and he made it a hard candy when you bite it it's really hard in your teeth so you need to wash your teeth when you eat one of them so it's he wanted to tell the meaning of Christmas so first of all he thought of the candy like this and the letter the letter J and that is what Jesus begins with the letter J and also it is hard and Jesus for us is the rock of ages and this is what reminds us when we think of this Jesus our rock of ages we also notice the colour of the candy the candy cane it is red and white now white for us tells us that Jesus is pure

[10:46] Jesus is not the way we are with sin Jesus was sinless and the white reminds us of the purity of God but the red also reminds us something about Jesus and that is the blood of Jesus because Jesus died on the cross for sinners like us and because of his blood and if we're washed in the blood of Jesus our sins are forgiven the Bible tells us but you know there's something else that this represents it is when you turn it round that way and I'm sure there's a shepherd or two in here who looks after sheep and they take their shepherd's crook with them and they take it and they take it to hook the sheep if they need to catch them but they protect and they guide the sheep like this as well oh I saw them doing it way years ago like one of these and they're usually longer as well the shepherd's crook now the Bible tells us that Jesus is the good shepherd the good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep so this is important whenever you see one of these you'll see them at this time of year it will remind you

[12:00] I hope about Jesus and what the Bible tells us about Jesus so when you see one of these candy canes think about Jesus Christ let us bow our heads in prayer oh Lord we thank you for the many signs that we do have in our world especially at this time of year where we're drawn our thoughts are drawn to the birth of Jesus and we do pray Lord that you would use that and use us as a means to tell people about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ the reason for the season and the reason why he came to die for our sins so Lord bless our time we ask in Jesus name Amen our next item of praise is Jesus loves me this I know to God's praise Jesus Jesus was in this cycle for the Bible has been so when the world wants to him be on they are weak but he is strong yes yes is yes is us

[13:23] We will we we will see Thank you.

[14:09] Thank you.

[14:39] Thank you.

[15:09] Thank you. Thank you.

[15:41] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[15:53] Thank you. Thank you. for thee yes Jesus loves me yes Jesus loves me yes Jesus loves me the Bible tells me so well if you can turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 and we're going to read from verse 22 down into chapter 6 to verse 4 Ephesians chapter 5 at verse 22 Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church his body and is himself its saviour now as the church submits to Christ so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendour without spot or wrinkle or any blemish in the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies he who loves his wife loves himself for no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does the church because we are members of his body therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh this mystery is profound and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church however let each one of you a one of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right honour your father and mother that is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord

[18:35] Amen and my God bless us a reading of his own holy word well friends as we come to look at this passage today and consider the words that we have here obviously scripture speaks very highly of a Christian marriage and this was important for the Apostle Paul to tell the folk in Ephesus about this and what is interesting is like Ephesus and our day were quite similar because people did not hold a high view of marriage or a high regard to marriage as we know in scripture Ephesus there was the temple of Diana there where there was cult prostitution taking place and that was simply the norm among the people in Ephesus but when the Lord's people came to faith the Apostle Paul wanted them to show them the structure that we have that God has laid down for us and to understand what it is to live in a happy

[19:40] Christian marriage now as we know the book of the letter of the Ephesians that we have the situation where the first three chapters of the book Paul speaks about theology about Christian faith and from chapter four onwards he is speaking about the duty of the Christian the conduct and the practicalities of the Christian life and Christian living now we see in chapter five here from verse 21 into chapter six what Martin Luther called the household rules or order the order of the household and there are three divisions we see here first of all there's husband and wives there are parents and children and then thirdly there are masters and slaves today we're going to look at the first two to consider husband and wives parents and children many would say that there are many problems in our day in regards to marriage so what is the problem well part of the problem is that we are living in a sinful world where nothing is perfect nothing is as we would like it to be and marriage is one of these areas that is used and misused time and time again and misrepresented as well compared to the way that God wanted marriage to be and it is a problem and as marriage is some place which causes great hurt to many many people so the chief problem in regards to this is that we have forgotten the mandate that God has given us for marriage and the guidance that we have for marriage years ago we had a man from OM

[21:35] I think it was OM he was with no it was WEC Patrick McGilligot he was with WEC in Japan for 34 years and he was speaking to us about the Japanese culture and he was saying it is so different to other cultures but he says this is what their commitments were like in regards to their culture first of all it was their commitment to work then their second commitment was to their children and to their parents the third commitment was to their wives and husbands and finally if there was any commitment at all it was to God well that is not the way God has structured our world that is not the way God has structured our lives God has structured our lives practically and it begins with our submission to God chief end of man is to glorify

[22:36] God and to enjoy him forever so what we do in life is to put God first and it is to ask the desire of the Holy Spirit to come and live in our hearts so as to live a Christ-like life secondly and we see this in the creation order that the marriage relationship is important to God he saw that Adam was alone and it was not good for man to be alone and we find there that for those who are married that this is important for them after God their relationship with God and then thirdly there is our relationship with parents and our children now that is important within a marriage because a marriage is between a man and a woman it tells us here even in this passage that you've left your parents so decision making is within the family unit between the husband and wife and that is important that is set by God we leave our parents we make our decisions the way we see fit according to

[23:47] God's work and then finally and this is something in our culture that we get so caught up even in ministry is our commitment to work the danger is even for ministers to put work ahead of other people I remember I remember when we were in Carloway our youngest boy came and he said to me dad we've got a game of football tonight will you come I said Callum I'm really busy I can't make it and he said dad you never come you are always busy and I thought what a rebuke and I said I'll tell you what go and get ready and I'll take you there my child rebuked me because what should be fourth I know it's important the preaching of the word is important but there is an order that God has given us and it comes this way I believe the scripture is teaching us this now we see the place that marriage has in society and it is important and it is a good idea why is it a good idea because it is God's idea and anything that God sets in place is good he spoke about that in his creation order so marriage is first established and described for us at the very beginning now notice where we see here in Paul's teaching and what he's saying notice when he's speaking to wives in verse 22 notice the first word he uses and mentions submit submit now this word is alien in our individualistic day that we live in you see the problem is that this instruction has been abused by sinful men and they have used it for their own advantage for example a couch potato who does absolutely nothing and thinking that his wife is his slave that is not what scripture teaches at all yes the wife has to submit to their husbands look at verse 22 and 23 wives submit to your own husbands ask to the

[26:07] Lord for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church his body and is himself its saviour now what is this telling us this is not speaking here or telling us that the wife is inferior to her husband note they are both equals in God's sight and created in God's image but notice what it says in verse 23 it speaks of the head what does that mean here it means to have authority over just as Christ has authority over his church so what does it mean then for a husband to have authority over his wife well this is not a matter of being bigger or stronger this is a divine order given by God and it is a divine mystery for us but notice how he is to have the authority in the marriage it is as servant leadership notice what it says here for the husband is the head of the wife as

[27:18] Christ is the head of the church his body and is himself its saviour there is servant leadership within marriage the right context of this is Christ as saviour Christ as saviour and if the husband is to fulfil his role he is to do it saviour like Christ like Christ gave himself up for us all now this is done sacrificially willing to die for his wife now remember Jesus came he said I came not to be served but to serve and he gave his life as a ransom for many this is a model for husbands and Jesus is our example in this so being the head or the authority in the marriage means servant leadership so on this basis there is no place for dominance or lordship over our wives

[28:30] I was with a young lad the other day we were distributing gifts around our community and the school local school and he was asking me about a certain person that we both know and he said have you ever seen the way her boyfriend treats her and I said what do you mean well he said I don't like it he said because I was in one day and when he stood up she kind of drew back like that and the next thing he said he grabbed a pillow and he hit her across the face and he said that is how I treat my women folk and I thought how sad and this is what is what is what is what is what is what we live in and have right in our neighbourhoods and it is so sad and it is all through the fall this is not what God meant it to be like at all but to love and to be servant leaders and to love our wives and we'll see something about that in a moment so the wife is expressing in her love notice verse 24 now as the church submits to

[29:45] Christ so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands now when the husband is doing what he ought to be doing then the wife will ordinarily and willingly want to do to submit to her husband because he's showing servant leadership here and the wife wants to express her love to her husband because he is responding in life the way Christ did by living that example so there's no superiority or inferiority in a Christian marriage now the other side of the coin is that we have the duties of the husband from verses 25 following Winston Churchill was at a function once with his wife Clementine and after a meal a strange question was asked the men folk if you were not yourself who would you like to be and you might imagine

[30:58] Winston Churchill being asked this so the question went round the table and there were all sorts of strange answers to the question but finally it came to Churchill and he stood up and he said this if I could not be who I am I would most like to be the second husband of Lady Churchill but what a lovely thing what a lovely thing to say we have seen that a husband and wife become one flesh that entails many things there is depth to their union they become the same they worship the same Lord the same family they have the same fortune they have the same children they have the same destiny and they have the same future I don't know about you but the longer you see couples like together and they've lived together for years they start picking up the same mannerisms have you noticed that and even the older you get you begin they reckon that you begin to look like each other it's quite strange

[32:12] I remember when we were in Smithton a couple used to come in and they looked more like twins but they were a couple and it was so lovely that they became like each other now the instruction given to the husband in verse 25 here is to love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her the model for and for the measurement of the husband's love is Jesus Christ it is love like this is the love that makes a stable home and how do we do that how are we going to learn by these things we do so by what legion did at the feet of Jesus that is where we learn to be Christ like do we understand the love that Christ has for his church well what are the actions towards what were Christ's actions towards his church it's not a feeling it was an act of his will and that is what our marriages should be like too notice first of all

[33:24] Christ loved the church he loved the church I love my church Christ says the church is his bride he gave himself up for the church and the full measure of his love was that he died for the church and then thirdly the goal is to make his church holy look at verse 26 that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word now the idea we have here is the old testament where a Hebrew girl on the day of her wedding would get up rise up with the sun she would wait for her female friends to appear so that they would all join together in a ritual bathing for the marriage verse 26 it is under the washing of water with the word it is the picture of what

[34:32] God does just like remember what Jesus mentioned in John chapter 3 when he was speaking to Nicodemus and he mentioned this we were looking at this in Danville the other day where it says in regard Jesus I truly say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God so it is like the word of God this is what God's word does that comes into our lives it it penetrates our minds and it travels from our mind it's like washing its way down into our heart and it has this cleansing power the word of God and what is moving this water is the spirit of God that has put this into action the spirit washes his way through us as he comes to convert us so as to make his own that the spirit of God is in our hearts and the work continues the work of sanctification that goes on so under the washing of the word this is symbolized here husbands are to win their wives over for themselves but to win them over in a way that they are devoted to

[35:51] Christ and to make sure that their devotion is to Christ well when's the last time we asked our wives how are you doing spiritually you know we should really know that anyway because we're living with them but do we ever ask the question are you okay with God how are your prayers these days I know you're busy with children I know we can be taken up with these things but do you feel that you're growing in Christ so a husband these are the kind of questions that the husband should be asking about the spiritual development of their wives this should be in view and when a husband does these things his wife can be presented notice what happens at the end so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish the question that husbands as I ask myself should be asking is my wife

[37:03] Christ like because she's married to me or is she Christ like in spite of me now that is quite a solemn question because sometimes when things are not good these are the things that drives us to Christ I often think of Leah where for long enough she sought the love of her husband but it wasn't there because he had his love for Rachel remember and it was when she had her fourth son and this is what's so amazing about God when she had her fourth son his name was Judah and the name Judah means praise she turned her praise that she had for her husband to her Lord and notice how God blessed her it was through the tribe he God saw that things weren't good with her and her husband but what does he do he blessed her that through the seed of

[38:10] Judah that that is where his son was to come from you know I often feel so sorry for Leah but you know God was on top of it God knew and God dealt with this situation in his own gracious way as he does so the question for us are are our wives growing in Christ because they are married to us husbands should love their wives we are told in verse 28 as they love their own bodies now when we look in the mirror now you just go you kind of go like that and you're thinking man getting old but you know what how do we love our own bodies we feed ourselves we clean ourselves we make sure when we're not well we go to the doctor we do all of these things for ourselves and we are to make sure that we ask the question how are you today how are you today are you well today how's the headache did you get over your headache we care for them we care for our wives so do you see now the importance of a

[39:27] Christian marriage and there was a wee boy who was playing with his friend one day and he said have you noticed he said how my dad loves my mum and the wee boy said yeah I have noticed how he loves your mum and he said that's an example of how Jesus loves us what a testimony that a child would say that about his dad so now when we have marriage sometimes some folk are blessed with children and it is truly a blessing children are a gift from the Lord and it's interesting that within this one flesh you've become one flesh and now someone else is going to come in between and when they do you wondered what you did in life before then because they have taken up all of your time they come between them but this person doesn't cause strife in your relationship because what you have is a child that is loved by both mum and dad it is something quite unique immediately there is a bond formed

[40:46] I believe for mothers carrying the child the bond is there from concept to birth and beyond and as the child grows it's growing in the mother's womb they share their excitement with each other and they share that excitement about the future of the child but what a blessing the moment that a Christian couple know that they're having a baby they immediately begin to pray for that child the child in the womb being brought to the throne of glory and for God to protect and for God to save them they share the excitement between themselves they pray for the child as we said quite often I don't know if you notice that but you notice things I used to notice with Maggie my own wife that the heavier the pregnancy got she used to put her hand on her tummy but you know there's so much love in what she's doing because she's holding the child because there's life inside of her and I often think of

[41:58] Mary what that must have been like for her as she carried Jesus in her womb protecting but you know so lovingly protected too by Joseph he is obviously one of I believe one of the unsung heroes of all of scripture you should study him and see how amazing he was and how he loved his wife how he loved Mary and he would have loved Jesus too and then there's the excitement of the birth and when it's the first one to be honest your world is turned upside down we've got a couple in our congregation and he's in his she's in her late thirties he's in his forties and this is their first baby they thought they couldn't have a child but they have a baby now I was asking him what is it like and he said oh it's different he said it's different and so it is but you say okay give me the baby and he said no no way no way will I give my child they are a bundle of joy and when you hold them in your arm you know that they are totally dependent on you to care for in our context today we look at Eleanor who is to be baptized and the other children with us such a joy to be in a church with children and you feed her you make sure she's clean that her nappies are clean and you make sure that she's warm and as we see she's looking beautiful she keeps you from your sleep you begin to develop new worries in your life but you also think that you could never love another child like you've loved your first one and then the second one comes and if a second one comes you find that you love that child just just the same do you know it is an amazing picture for us and there is the contentment in the home you know is an amazing picture of what happens in regards to our relationship as we are God's children he is our heavenly father he talks in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5 before I formed you in the womb

[44:25] I knew you this is before we were even formed he loved us with an everlasting love the child of God what do we do we totally depend upon God in all things remember what Paul said when he was in Athens in you we live move and have our being and when he sees us how does God see us he sees us clothed in our filthy rags he doesn't leave us like that or he washes us he washes us in the blood of Jesus he sanctifies us with the washing of water and with the word and then he clothes us he clothes us with his own son's righteousness we might sometimes think wrongly think that he loves another Christian more than he loves me well any proper mum our father doesn't do that we love them all equally we love them equally and how much more

[45:34] God because God is love his love is perfect as our children keep us from our sleep we also know that God neither slumbers nor sleeps you know these nights that you're lying awake it's not as if thinking that God is asleep just now so I better not disturb him how many nights have you spoken to him and you knew fine that he was listening to you maybe you didn't get an answer to your prayer but you know that he is listening he neither slumber nor sleeps Psalm 121 says this tells us that our God keeps Israel neither slumber nor sleeps God is our keeper and when we lay down at night remember the prayer we used to teach our children Lord as you lay me down at night help me you probably know that

[46:34] I can't remember lay down my head to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep and then in the morning when I rise that we rise with the thankfulness of God and you know thinking of that but you know there was something that I can never ever get over our boys now are growing up and they're married their own children and I see it with their children it's when I used to go into the bedroom and after six o'clock they used to go mental there's something after tea and the hours before going to bed but the amazing thing is this once they settled down and they slept you would go in an hour after that and you see they're lying there at peace and content how can they do that because they're in the security of home the security of their parents and they can rest in peace that is how we should rest at night and leave our burdens with

[47:35] God cast all your burdens upon him and he will sustain you in those things you know this lovely I don't know if I mentioned this the last time I was here was the word adoption did I mention this in Gaelic the word in Gaelic means which means a child lifted into its parents lap and I remember I remember one day in our house in M&S our cousin of mine came round the boy is growing up now but he was just a wee boy and sat in the kitchen having a cup of coffee and yarning away and the boy was in his lap and the boy started looking round the kitchen like this and he was looking round and he said this is strange to me not that our kitchen was strange but it was strange to the wee boy and at one moment I noticed that he felt lost I don't recognise this place

[48:38] I don't know where I am and this look of fear came over his face but he turned round and he saw where he was he saw that he was sitting in his dad's lap and do you know what he did he buried his head in his dance bosom that is what we do the adopted children of God a child lifted into God's into your lap and you simply rest in him as his adopted child children we are told in Ephesus chapter Ephesians 6 1 and 2 children obey your children your parents as in the Lord for this is right honour your father and mother this is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land Christian parents will try their best to give their children a

[49:38] God honour to show a God honouring life we that's the promises of baptism many a day you will feel that you failed many a day you'll find yourself crying when they go off to sleep and you're thinking I let them down Lord I didn't show them Christ in my attitude you see sometimes we get tired too and we're exasperated and it's so difficult sometimes in those moments to show Christ but you know in these moments of despair we know that it is a huge learning curve for us and it's a curve to be Christ like always Christ like and knowing that our father in heaven if we come to him that he will sustain us well as we come today to baptize Eleanor

[50:39] Isla it's such a privilege to know that she has been brought up in the Christian faith and what all of that scripture has told us today what all of that entails and I know fine I often think and as I look at our own boys growing up and to see them and sometimes you see little things that they do and you see yourself in it and sometimes I'm not proud because of they've picked it up possibly from me but you know I'm thankful that they are children of grace and they are sinners saved by grace and just like us all we will make mistakes but it is for us to always bring them to Christ at the throne and say Lord I need your help Lord I'm sorry and Lord thank you for giving this gift that you've given me to protect and to bring up and we pray for them that they would know

[51:48] Jesus as Lord and Saviour well may God bless to us these few thoughts as we think of them so we're now going to sing verses in we're going to listen or sing in Psalm 127 this is in the Scottish Psalter 1 to 5 accept the Lord to build a house the builders lose their pain accept the Lord the city keep the watchmen watch in vain to God's praise to God's praise the Lord to heal the house the brothers who lose their pain and send the Lord the city the ones our love to heal monthly

[53:27] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[54:29] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS that wrote in the Westminster Confession or in the Shorter Catechism.

[54:56] We have a question being asked in number 94. What is baptism? Baptism is a sacrament wherein the washing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit does signify and seal our grafting into Christ and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace and our engagement to be the Lord's.

[55:21] And then the next one, number 95, it asks the question, to whom is baptism to be administered? And it says, baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church till they profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him.

[55:40] But the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized. We believe in a covenant God, a covenant keeping God, and we believe that as Christian parents that God wants us to bring our children into the covenant and by giving them the covenant sign.

[56:03] We read in Acts and in chapter 2 where Peter at Pentecost, where he was saying, he said in verse 38, and Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children and for all who are afar off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.

[56:33] And again later in Acts, when Paul and Silas, when they went to Macedonia to Philippi, we read there of where Paul had gone to the house of Lydia after her salvation and we're told in verse 15, after she was baptized and her household as well, she urged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay and she prevailed upon us.

[57:07] And we do again see the Philippian jailer when he came to faith in verse 33, we're told this, and he took them the same hour of that night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

[57:22] So as a covenant was given to us in the Old Testament, the covenant is a sign and so is baptism. There is no salvation in baptism itself.

[57:34] We don't get saved by a child being baptized. We are told, as it's said here, that we are engaged to be the Lords. And as we do know, just as Jewish people, they were Jews, they had the sign of the covenant, but many of them broke their engagement with the Lord and so it is in our own day.

[57:56] So I would like to ask David and you are to come forward, I'm going to ask you a few questions. If you just stand here, I will put my mask on as well.

[58:10] So, do you profess your faith in God, the Father who has created you, Jesus Christ who has redeemed you, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you?

[58:24] Redeemed. And do you promise independence of God's promised help by your prayers and teaching an example to bring up your child in the nurture and admonition, the love and discipline of the Lord?

[58:39] We did. Okay, so if you can forward, David. Eleanor, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[58:53] May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[59:05] Let us bow our heads in prayer. Could the congregation please stand as well? Because it's important as a congregation, we are all promising that we are going to support as God's people to support your child as she grows up.

[59:22] Eternal Father, we thank you for Eleanor and Isla this morning and the goodness of God to this family, to David and Julia, as they hold their bundle of joy, the gift from God to them.

[59:37] We thank you, Lord, that the child is in safe hands, that the child is to be brought up and to be taught the things of Scripture, that she will know Christ in the lives of her mum and dad, and that they, I say, have promised today to do so, to fulfil this in their lives and to do so in a Christ-honouring way.

[59:59] We do pray for her in life, that you would sustain her, that you would give her health and strength and that she, Lord, as she grows up, would know that she is, too, will get to know the Lord Jesus.

[60:13] So bless them, encourage them, be with them, the Lord, in the dark days that we do experience in life, uphold them and strengthen them in their love for one another and their love for their child.

[60:28] So watch over them with your love and grace. We also think of the Jimfrey Street Church congregation, and Lord, as we stand now, we, too, as a congregation, promise to look after the children of the congregation and to do for them to teach them Scripture and to bring them up in the fear and abnation of the Lord so that they may one day come to join the membership of this church, the Lord, to be strong members for Jesus and an example, that they would see that example in this place and that this would be a comfortable and a joyful place to be, to come to worship the Lord.

[61:13] So bless us now, Lord, and bless the family. We ask again in Jesus' name. Amen. You can sit down. We're going to conclude our service by singing verses in Psalm 128 and William Scott.

[61:32] I'll read the verses that we have here. These are the psalms we usually use in baptism. How blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk the way that he has shown, success and blessing will be yours.

[61:47] You'll eat the fruit that you have grown. Your wife will be a fruitful vine and round your table will be blessed. Your children, like young olive shoots, thus he who fears the Lord is blessed.

[61:59] May you behold Jerusalem's good from Zion. May God's blessing flow. Your children's children, may you see. May God on Israel peace bestow.

[62:11] And this to God's praise. Lord, I will be the fruit of mine for old and months of women will be blessed.

[62:32] Your children like other Yes, the Kananающian разowie.

[63:11] Still forever may you see Make of the earth The peace be so Well we'll conclude with a benediction Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with us all now and forevermore Amen Amen Amen Amen Hello My name is