Why God Wants Us to Baptize Our Children

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:07.759 Lord, we thank you for your many and your mighty works of creation and 2 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:13.000 of redemption. We look forward to the day when the Lord Jesus comes and 3 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:18.839 brings to perfect completion all the things that you have already begun. We look 4 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:26.239 to him are resurrected and Arisen Savior, and we look for his coming again. 5 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:29.640 Until then, Lord, we ask that you would bless us and strengthen 6 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:33.560 us, as you have promised to do, to be a god to us 7 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:39.399 and to our children. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Please 8 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:44.000 remain standing, and let's turn our attention to God's word and acts chapter two. 9 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:15.920 Acts Chapter two. I'll read verses thirty seven through thirty nine. Acts 10 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:21.280 Chapter two, versus thirty seven through thirty nine, as follows the coming and 11 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:26.400 pouring out of the Holy Spirit Peter's sermon, and now the People's response in 12 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.120 Verse Thirty Seven. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to 13 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:34.359 the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, 14 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.760 what shall we do? Peter said to them. Repent and be baptized, 15 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.879 every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness 16 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:47.840 of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, 17 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:52.439 for the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are 18 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:57.879 far off, everyone whom the Lord, our God, calls to himself. 19 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:15.159 May God bless us with his word this morning. May Be seated. Well, 20 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:20.520 as some of you know, and as visitors here today are soon to 21 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.800 find out, we are having a little bit of a baby boom here at 22 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:27.960 covenant, for which we are very thankful to the Lord, and we have 23 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:34.400 the opportunity today to baptize one of these new covenant children. And as we 24 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.599 are going to do so and have more to come, I wanted to speak 25 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:45.280 to you today a little bit about baptism and particularly why God wants us to 26 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:53.280 baptize our children. It's an important thing to consider because it involves the very 27 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:58.120 covenant of Grace that God makes with us, involves a very significant portion of 28 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.879 the membership of our church. How we think about these little ones that are 29 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:09.080 around us and the big ones that were once little ones. The importance of 30 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:16.199 baptism as a general rule is main playing from several scriptures. For example, 31 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:22.479 we have it from the Lord's command in the Great Commission to go and baptize 32 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:25.240 in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. We 33 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:30.560 also have it in the command through his apostles too, like here in acts 34 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:37.680 chapter two, where we read about Peter's command to them repent and be baptized. 35 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:43.080 He says that the promise is for you and for your children and for 36 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.280 who all are far off. We also have it from the example of the 37 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:53.400 apostles and the early believers the importance of baptism. For example, here's one 38 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:58.479 one bit of history from the Early Church and Acts Sixteen, verses thirteen through 39 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.719 fifteen. And on the Sabbath Day we went outside the gate to the river 40 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:06.080 side where we suppose there was a place of prayer, and we sat down 41 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:10.800 and spoke to the women who had come together. One Who heard us was 42 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:15.719 a woman named Lydia from the city of Thiratyra, a seller of purple goods 43 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:18.839 who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention 44 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:24.839 to what was said by Paul and after she was baptized and her household as 45 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:29.120 well. From then it goes on to talk about some of the things that 46 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.959 she did it. So we have these commands and scripture that there is this 47 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:40.639 response of God's people to be baptized, along with their households, their baptized 48 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:47.839 believers and their children. We have this importance of baptism along also given to 49 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:53.680 us in a theology of baptism, not just through the examples and commands, 50 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:58.000 but for example, in Colossians to eleven through twelve, one of many places 51 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:02.519 that speaks to this important issue. Here we have a connection that Paul makes 52 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:09.120 for us between circumcision in the Old Testament and baptism in the new, intersecting 53 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:15.040 at the cross the work of Jesus Christ. He says this. In him 54 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:19.360 also, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off 55 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:25.199 the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried 56 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:29.839 with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through the faith 57 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:34.560 or through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. 58 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:39.519 So, even if you've not thought much more about baptism and the life 59 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:42.720 of in the Christian life and in life of the church, from these passages 60 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:46.480 alone you can see why baptism has such an important place in the life of 61 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:51.920 the church. But today, with this baby boom under the way under way, 62 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:58.600 I want to go a little deeper beyond just the general importance of baptism 63 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:02.439 to why God in stitudes baptism and, in particular, a few reasons why 64 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:06.920 it is applied to the children of believers, why he wants it to be 65 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:12.959 given to the children of Believers. There are many, many reasons for this. 66 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.959 I want to offer just three of them today. The first one is 67 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:23.839 because God makes disciples in community. This is how God's were. God works, 68 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:29.199 it's a pattern he set from the very beginning. Remember that in Genesis, 69 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:32.040 when God made man, we read that he created man in his own 70 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:38.480 image, the image of God. He created him male and female. He 71 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:44.160 created them. And so each of us bears the image of God, yes, 72 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:48.040 individually, but we also bear the image of God together as a community, 73 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:53.560 male and female, and we know that that that community that God formed 74 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.920 and Adam and Eve and which he said it is not good for man to 75 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:02.920 be alone. Children were to come forth from that union. God blessed them, 76 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.480 we said, he the scriptures say, and God said to them be 77 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:13.800 fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. This reminds us that 78 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.920 ever since the very beginning of life itself, our relationship with God is a 79 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:26.360 relationship in community with other people, a family, a household and, even 80 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:30.279 more broadly, under the new covenant and the old how of God, the 81 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:35.360 household of God, the family of God, which is the church. So 82 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:40.839 alone time with God, quiet time with God, is of course critical. 83 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:45.920 He works on us and teaches us things when we are in the lonely places, 84 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:50.920 in the deserted places. Jesus often goes off by himself to be alone. 85 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:56.639 Jesus instructs us to go into your room by yourself, shut the door 86 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:01.680 and pray to your father, who hears you in secret. But that is 87 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.199 not where we are supposed to stay and remain all of our lives. So 88 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:11.439 much of our sanctification happens when we are shoulder to shoulder, rubbing, rubbing 89 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:16.759 against our family, our friends, are communities and, honestly, even the 90 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:20.240 creation itself. If you've ever had to do some yard work in the heat 91 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:26.720 of summer, you will learn very quickly about sanctification. It's easy to read 92 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.879 do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. It's hard 93 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:35.639 to stay committed and connected to that when you're actually with those others. It's 94 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:43.519 easy to hear love your enemies until they start enemying you, and it's difficult 95 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:46.960 and sometimes, honestly, it can feel impossible. We come to an end 96 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.759 of ourselves and we say, Lord, I can't do this. How am 97 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:56.639 I supposed to love that enemy when he's doing this to me and she's doing 98 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:03.639 that to me? This means that the baptized life a life in community, 99 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:09.759 in our families, in our churches, in our world. The baptized life 100 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:15.440 is a tough life, a difficult life. We are set on a path 101 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:22.759 of growth which is in community and requires it, which means there will be 102 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:30.039 challenges, great challenges, at every turn within our families, within our churches. 103 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:35.000 This means that some of us who are been who have been baptized, 104 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:39.799 lose our way, we get off track. We belong to the family but, 105 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:45.440 like the Prodigal son, we've forgotten the great love of the father. 106 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:50.679 There's also means that those who remain at home will suffer great heart ache and 107 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:54.200 times and, like the elder son in that story, have to undergo their 108 00:09:54.240 --> 00:10:00.480 own kind of sanctification and repentance. As we think about o our own self 109 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:07.360 righteousness and trust in ourselves, sometimes we are wounded by the very people whom 110 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:13.399 we love so much and we count as members of our family, people who 111 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:20.159 have been marked by God. It even means, heart ache of heart aches, 112 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:26.840 that some, like Esau, will reject the covenant. Blessings and it's 113 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:31.399 Hebrews puts it, crucify again the Lord who saves us. These are scary 114 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:39.480 thoughts, but also realities that the scriptures teach us, the realities and warnings 115 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.399 that are meant to draw our faith again to the grace of God that we 116 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:52.200 all so desperately need. That good news, that grace of God is beyond 117 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:58.960 all measure. It truly is God's grace in the lives of our families and 118 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:03.519 the lives of our church, and the lie in the in the whole world, 119 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:07.559 is more than we can imagine. And for those of us who put 120 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:16.519 our faith in the promises that are signified in baptism, we are guaranteed success, 121 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:20.799 measure by measure, in this life, bit by bit, grace by 122 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:28.039 grace, God does perfectly complete and fulfill in the life to come what he 123 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:33.480 promises here and now. It is received by faith alone, by putting our 124 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:37.360 trust in Christ alone, by putting our faith in those things that are signified 125 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:46.039 in our baptisms. So God grants success, God will bring to perfect completion. 126 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:50.360 That's which he that which he starts. But the baptized life will be 127 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.440 a tough one. Putting off the old man and putting on Christ as the 128 00:11:54.440 --> 00:12:00.159 path that he sets, he sets us on when we are baptized, and 129 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:03.559 believe me when I say it will require the very strength of God to do 130 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:11.000 those things, to put to death the old flesh and to put on the 131 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:15.399 new life of Christ. So this is one of the things, one of 132 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.720 the reasons God wants the children of believers to be baptized. He wants to 133 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:24.240 place us all, every single one of us, in a community of discipleship. 134 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:28.519 Yes, it is hard, but God is very gracious and he calls 135 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.679 us to put our faith in him. That takes us now to a second 136 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:39.399 reason, a reason which comforts us when we think about how difficult it is 137 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:46.919 in family life, in church life, even as baptized Christians. The reason 138 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:54.200 is this. God does have a very valued place, or special place in 139 00:12:54.279 --> 00:13:00.039 his heart. He for the weak and the powerless. One of our great 140 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:07.159 errors, one of our great errors, is thinking that our salvation comes by 141 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:13.200 our own strength. So much of scripture maybe all of scripture is about disabusing 142 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.039 us of this point, to help us to understand and believe that our salvation 143 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:26.759 is only and always of God. There's an important moment in the Lord's life 144 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.600 in Luke chapter eighteen, verses fifteen through seventeen, that makes this point. 145 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:37.879 In this moment, he actually blesses infant children and warns everybody else, his 146 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:43.320 apostles as disciples in particular, not to get in the way of that's what 147 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:48.000 God's word says in Luke eighteen, fifteen through seventeen. Now they were bringing 148 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:52.879 even, that is, people of Israel. They were bringing even infants to 149 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.559 Jesus that he might touch them. And when the disciples sought they rebuked them. 150 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:03.320 But Jesus called them to him, saying let the children come to me 151 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:09.200 and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God. 152 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.159 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God 153 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:22.279 like a child shall not enter it. Nothing baclar pictures God's placing his benefits 154 00:14:22.279 --> 00:14:26.200 and his blessings on those who can't do anything to earn it, than infants. 155 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:31.840 Well, maybe there are other examples, like paralyzed people, blind people, 156 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:37.000 deaf people, people filled with demons, as our elder mentioned this morning. 157 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:41.879 The Lord goes to the sick, to the weak, to the helpless, 158 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:46.159 to those who are stuck, like the man at the pool of the 159 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:50.159 side. I says, I can't get into the pool, there's no one 160 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:56.440 there to carry me. God comes to us in our weakness. He teaches 161 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:00.720 us, in the baptism of children, that there is no thing we can 162 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:05.000 do to earn his blessing. We confess that we are saved in our weakness, 163 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:11.320 that our salvation is all from God and baptism, particularly of the children 164 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:16.279 of believers, pictures this John one thirteen, says so clearly that we are 165 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:20.039 born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of 166 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:26.559 the will of man, but belong but of God. Kids, it's very 167 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:30.039 important that you hear me, and adults, is very important that you hear 168 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:35.600 me, or rather the Lord, on this point. Belonging to God is 169 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:41.559 not an adult thing, it's not a grown up thing, a big thing, 170 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:46.559 it's not a wise thing or a strong thing or a money thing. 171 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:52.559 It's a God thing and it's something that you can only receive, you can 172 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:56.799 never earn it. And to make that point crystal clear. God does not 173 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:03.759 just bless those who can understand that point. God blesses even infants who cannot 174 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:15.399 understand it. But an amazing thing. Finally, in addition to who putting 175 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.279 his blessings on the weak and the helpless, on those who are unable to 176 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:22.799 do anything even for themselves, to remind us that that is true of all 177 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:27.440 of our salvation. None of us are able to receive the blessings of God 178 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:33.000 apart from his will and his work. The last reason I want to give 179 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:37.919 this morning one the reason why God wants us to baptize our children is because 180 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:44.080 God wants to keep the Covenant of Grace that he made with Abraham. He 181 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:48.559 is a covenant keeping God. He keeps his promises. He does not lie. 182 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:55.360 In genesis seventeen seven, God made a covenant with Abraham and his children. 183 00:16:55.639 --> 00:17:00.159 He says, and I will establish my covenant between me and you and 184 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:07.359 your offspring after you, throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be 185 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:12.200 God to you and to your offspring after you. This is the covenant that 186 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:18.200 God made. The covenant is a solemn promise that God makes. The promise 187 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:22.759 is what to be God, to you and to your children, and who 188 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:26.119 are the parties of that covenant? God on the one side, and Abraham 189 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:30.839 and his children on the other. We are also told that there is even 190 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:36.400 more extended here, because Jen in Genesis tells us that Abraham would be the 191 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:41.839 father of many and would be a blessing to the whole world through him. 192 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:45.440 So we can see that, although Abraham's family would eventually be a nation, 193 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:49.720 before they were a nation, they were a family with a promise, a 194 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:55.640 promise through whom others would be blessed, and because of his steadfast love, 195 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:03.119 God would and has kept that promise. It would not even be undone by 196 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:08.720 the disobedience of his people under Moses, a covenant which they broke, a 197 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:12.880 covenant for which they were kicked out of the land, a covenant for which 198 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:19.359 they faced death and all number of curses. But in the prophets after the 199 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:25.799 breaking of that Covenant With Moses, God speaks to his people and he promises 200 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:29.559 them a new covenant that will be different, that will be new, not 201 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:33.720 like the one that they broke, but it would fulfill the one that God 202 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:37.359 had made with Abraham, a one where he would be their God and they 203 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:42.440 would be his people. Here God's Word and Jeremiah thirty one, thirty one 204 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:47.359 through thirty three, which speaks of the new covenant which we now are a 205 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:52.240 part of in Christ. Here the words of the Prophet. Behold. The 206 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.519 days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant 207 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:59.440 with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, not like the covenant 208 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:02.920 that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the 209 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.880 hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they 210 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:11.000 broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord, for this is 211 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:14.200 the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, 212 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:18.079 declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, I will write 213 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:22.000 it on their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be 214 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:26.359 my people. You see, the contrast between the new and the old covenant 215 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:33.400 is not a contrast between Christ and Abraham, it's between Christ and Moses. 216 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:37.160 The contrast between the new and the old covenant is the Covenant that he made 217 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:41.839 with their father's win when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 218 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:48.759 which was some five hundred years after the Covenant with Abraham. The covenant that 219 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.240 they broke is the one that it won't be like this unbreakable covenant, this 220 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:57.839 covenant which is established not by which is fulfilled, not by our obedience, 221 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:04.200 but God's promise. That covenant and that Central Promise to Abraham and his children, 222 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.640 I will be their God and they shall be my people. That covenant 223 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:15.200 is not done away with, that covenant is fulfilled, and this is what 224 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:19.880 Abraham himself was looking for. To forward to John Fifty six, Jesus says, 225 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:26.279 your father, Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw 226 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:32.240 it and was glad, and that's why, based on Romans for and other 227 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:37.680 passages, we call ourselves children of Abraham and not children of Moses. When 228 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:42.079 we put our faith in Christ, we receive that same promise that Abraham and 229 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:47.759 his children received. I will be their God and they will be my people. 230 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.799 That doesn't I don't as an aside. I don't want to say that 231 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:56.519 Moses's work and that Administration of the Covenant of Grace was not important or didn't 232 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:00.000 have a role to play. It certainly did. Paul tells us it was 233 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.200 a teacher, a pedagogue. It was to help us to understand that we 234 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:11.720 were incapable of fulfilling this relationship that God wanted with us based on our own 235 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:18.880 obedience. It would require him, his work and even his blood. The 236 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:25.839 covenant would be cut in Jesus Christ, the son of God himself. All 237 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:32.559 this to say that one reason God wants us to wants us to be baptized 238 00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:36.640 in the chill and our children to be baptized, is that he's still keeping 239 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:41.319 his promises that he made to Abraham and his children, and this should be 240 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:49.279 very encouraging to us. We experience broken promises all the time. We break 241 00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:57.839 promises ourselves, but in baptism we see the sign of God, God sign, 242 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:04.960 applied to his people. We see the work of the promise keeper, 243 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:12.240 the Covenant Keeper, whose Love Is Eternal and steadfast. We think about that 244 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:18.720 promise that was made long ago to Abraham and we don't say that God failed, 245 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:26.279 we say that God succeeded and he's still keeping it today. Our BAPTISMS, 246 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:30.319 as a sign of God's covenant, therefore remind us who our God is. 247 00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:34.720 It reminds us of the nature of that covenant, that I will be 248 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:41.440 their God and they will be my people. They remind us that our God, 249 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.640 whose love is steadfast who protects and keep us, keeps us. He's 250 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:51.559 the one who's watching over us. He's the one who died for our sins. 251 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:56.440 He's the one who reigns now for his people. He is the one 252 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:03.200 who provides in himself a steady place for our faith, now and for the 253 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:07.200 rest of our lives. And so, as we consider our own baptisms, 254 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:11.960 as we baptize our children, as we baptize new believers, we keep we 255 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:17.559 just keep saying the same thing. Look to the Lord, look to his 256 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:23.400 promises, look to their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. 257 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:30.359 Our God is a steady God, a loving God, a gracious God 258 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:36.519 who gives to us a salvation that we are unable to earn on our own. 259 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:42.200 We are like infants being carried, infants that are under lacking understanding, 260 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:49.799 infants that need everything provided for them, and he promises to provide for us 261 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:56.319 in Christ. We could add many more reasons to these, many other benefits 262 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:00.920 and things that we ought to be thankful to God for, but I'll conclude 263 00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:07.160 with that today and ask you that as you see a baptism here today, 264 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:11.759 as we witness this, know that this baptism is not just for this little 265 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:17.680 girl, but it is for all of us, that we might see God's 266 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:22.400 Covenant Sign Upon Her and upon his people, that we might put his faith 267 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:27.920 in him, our faith in him, and walk in his ways. Let's 268 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:34.039 pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you for your awesome and mighty grace 269 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:40.240 to us. We thank you that you do not come to us only after 270 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:45.200 we have a succeeded in all things, after we we have come to deep 271 00:24:45.240 --> 00:24:49.759 and abiding understanding of your word, after we have perfected our lives, after 272 00:24:49.839 --> 00:25:00.880 we have given a great sacrifice and done great works in your name. Lord. 273 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.559 Instead, you come to us while we were in our sins. You 274 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:10.240 come to us in our weakness. You saved us while we were still the 275 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:15.839 ungodly. You tell us in your word that salvation comes not through anything we 276 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:22.200 do, but purely through the will and the power and the grace of God. 277 00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:34.559 In the washing of the waters, we are also reminded that this relationship 278 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:38.920 with you, in this salvation that we have, is one that we so 279 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:45.680 desperately need. Borne in to sin and into a world full of sin, 280 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:52.000 we need to be cleansed, we need to be regenerated, we need your 281 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:57.000 Holy Spirit to work in our lives in such a way that we can never 282 00:25:57.079 --> 00:26:03.640 be separated from you and the love of Christ. Our baptisms remind us of 283 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.920 these things, and so, Lord, we ask that you would be at 284 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:14.720 work through your sacraments, blessing us and keeping us as your covenant people. 285 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:21.839 Let our hearts and our minds be fixed solely on Christ alone, for salvation 286 00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:26.839 only comes through him, our savior, our redeemer. It's in his name 287 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:29.720 we pray these things. Amen.