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[0:00] Let us turn now to consider words you will find in the epistle to the Hebrews chapter 11 and we may read from verse 20.

[0:22] Hebrews chapter 11 reading at verse 20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

[0:35] By faith Jacob when he was dying blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones.

[0:52] By faith Moses when he was born was hid three months of his parents because they saw that he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

[1:06] By faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

[1:21] He's steaming the reproach of Christ greater riches and the treasures in Egypt for he had respect and to the recompense of the reward.

[1:32] And so on. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 23. By faith Moses when he was born was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

[1:53] About three hundred and seventy five years or thereabouts after the death of Joseph in Egypt two things happened.

[2:23] A new dynasty ascended the throne, a new line of pharaohs, the name by which the Egyptian kings were known.

[2:37] And under them the policy of the Egyptian nation towards the Jewish community changed dramatically.

[2:49] By this time Egypt had become a great military power. And under this new dynasty had undertaken a great building program.

[3:09] But there seemed to be in the words of scripture a fly in the ointment. This increasing Jewish community had become almost a nation in their own right.

[3:30] And consequently for some reason known and unknown they were becoming a source of real annoyance to the Egyptian kings.

[3:50] And consequently this new pharaoh adopted a policy of extermination towards this people.

[4:05] And in the past days we've been hearing so much about the policies of successive nations through the centuries towards this people of God, the Jews.

[4:25] And the Jews. Do you remember that when Joseph had been made Prime Minister of Egypt and many years after that, his family, Jacob's father Jacob and his family moved into Egypt from Canaan.

[4:39] And as I said for nearly 300 odd years, they held a very honored place in that land. The Egyptians always recognized for many years their great debt of gratitude to this Jew, Joseph.

[4:58] And his family and the increasing nation thereafter enjoyed many privileges in Egypt until this new dynasty ascended the throne.

[5:14] And so they adopted this policy of extermination towards them. And it took three lines. We read this in the first two chapters of Exodus here this morning.

[5:24] Now, Pharaoh thought that he would exterminate them through a policy of hard labor. Now, his dilemma is highlighted there in Exodus chapter 1.

[5:41] He recognized the value of this people for this great building program that he had undertaken. And he thought that much as he would like to get rid of them as a people, he could at least use their number by this policy of hard labor.

[6:05] And so, he set them to work under, as we read, hard taskmaster, who tried to make and who succeeded to a large extent in making their lives a misery.

[6:17] Now, the wisdom of this policy is seen in this way. He had the best of both worlds. He could use them for this hard labor.

[6:29] And at the same time, so break their spirit that he could increase their mortality rate on the one hand and thereby decrease their birth rate on the other.

[6:45] That was his policy. And as you can see, humanly speaking, a very wise one and well thought out one. But Pharaoh reckoned without one great factor.

[7:01] He forgot about the existence of God. And God's relationship with his people. A relationship rooted in his covenant engagement for them.

[7:16] Because towards the end of chapter 2, if you had time to read it, you'd have to come across this verse. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

[7:30] And because of that covenant, a quite astounding thing happened in Egypt. As Pharaoh tried to use his people on the one hand and exterminate them gradually on the other, this thing came to light.

[7:47] The more he pushed them into hard labor, the more their number increased. In other words, Pharaoh was confronted with a miracle in action.

[8:04] And at the back of it, of course, was God. God was working on behalf of this people. God was working on behalf of the Lord.

[8:39] God was working on behalf of the Lord. God was working on behalf of the Lord. God was working on behalf of the Lord. God was working on behalf of the Lord. God was working on behalf of the Lord. Every hebrew child was exterminated at birth. But then, of course, again, Pharaoh reckoned without God.

[8:56] In some wonderful way, those who chart the nursing profession were exercised a spirit of, not just compassion, but of helpfulness towards the pregnant Jewish mother and again the policy failed.

[9:15] The birth rate didn't slow down, the nation wasn't exterminated, the Jewish people flourished. And God again in a very wonderful way made provision for those midwives. He saw to it that they didn't fail. As we saw last week, no one ever fails with God. No one who puts us trust in God, no one who honours God will ever fail. They that honour me says the Lord, I will honour them. And there are many people in this church today who can bear testimony to that principle. And there are many people who will say of them, see it in action in their lives, that God is working for them. So now he implements policy number three, extermination by drowning. And the edict went out from the palace throughout all the land that every male Hebrew child was to be drowned in the Nile. Now this was an awful edict proceeding from the throne. It was so awful indeed that Stephen in his dying speech sheds some light for us on its awfulness. In Acts chapter 7 we read this, that the Hebrew parents themselves had to implement this policy. It wasn't just the Egyptians who were to take hold of every male Hebrew child born and drown the child. Even the Hebrew parents themselves were forced into this kind of act. And you can imagine the pain and the agony and the grief that that would have caused to many a parent's heart. They had to implement this policy themselves. That's what Stephen says.

[11:31] And again it failed because once again Pharaoh reckoned without the great presence and provision of God.

[11:43] Because this was after all a calculated attack on God's covenant provision for this people. And remember this, that embraced by this covenant, within this covenant, and part of its engagement, at the very heart of it, was this, that God had determined not just to save this people from Egypt through Moses, but in the course of time to save the world through this people.

[12:16] Because a savior of the world was to come in fulfillment of a covenant engagement. The savior of the world was to come through this people into this lost world that he might die.

[12:33] For this world had become its savior. Consequently, any policy implemented against this people, calculated to exterminate them, was bound to failure for the simple reason that God was with his people in his own covenant engagement for them.

[13:02] And therefore, and this is where you see the folly of any individual or any people or any nation who takes up arms against the almighty God. This is where you see the folly of any such policy.

[13:16] And this is where you see the truthfulness, the great fact of scripture. No weapon that is formed against him shall prosper. No matter what wisdom is behind it, and no matter what power is wedded to that wisdom, it can never prosper.

[13:34] Because it is power and whisper. Because it is power and wisdom wedded against the almighty God. Now look at this edict. Every male child to be drowned in the Nile. That was to be the means of their destruction. And what does God do? What does God do? God steps in and he uses that as the very means of their salvation.

[14:02] The Nile was to be the means of their salvation. The Nile was to be the means by which the Jewish nation were to be destroyed. And God steps in and uses that very Nile as the means out of which their deliverer is drawn.

[14:19] Moses. Moses. Moses. Moses. Moses. Moses. out of water. And this was part, as we've seen a minute, part of his parents faith. They saw that he was a goodly child. That is, it wasn't just that he was a nice looking child.

[14:42] It wasn't just that. But there was something about this child that drew his parents faith Godward. They recognized in some very wonderful way that this was God's provision.

[14:59] Not only for them but for their people. And all along the line, you see here this fascinating first two chapters of Exodus giving us a narrative of the events that unfolded and the two great actors that were on the stage, Pharaoh and God.

[15:23] Pharaoh the seen and God the unseen. Pharaoh using means to destroy God and his credibility and God employing these very means to show that no weapon that was used against him could prosper.

[15:47] God day saves and God's plan here is bound to succeed because as I said earlier, it was rooted in his covenant engagement.

[15:58] The edict that proceeded from the palace to drown all the male Hebrew children was used by God to bring the Hebrew deliverer out of the means appointed for his destruction.

[16:15] And for those of you who may be interested in it, there's a very interesting parallel here in the life and the death and the work of Jesus Christ.

[16:27] He was to be destroyed by him who had the power of death. That is the devil. The devil. And it was throughout, it was through the very means it was used to destroy him that he rose to become the savior of his people.

[16:50] He rose from that very death to live today as the savior of the world. In the same way as Moses rose from the waters of the Nile to become the savior and the deliverer of Israel.

[17:13] Well, no. This Moses, and if you could follow this through, you know, it makes really interesting reading these two chapters.

[17:23] If you follow this, just may I mention this before I leave it. You see, Moses was not just brought out of the water, but in a very wonderful way, as we write, brought into the palace of Egypt and brought up in the palace of Egypt so that in the course of time again, in accordance with God's wonderful provision, he would come out from that palace to become the great deliverer of his people.

[17:55] How wonderful God is. How wonderful is covenant engagement for his people. How certain of fulfilment. How thankful you are to be here today if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[18:09] That with you is your God. And pledged for your comfort and your consolation and your support and your deliverance is God's covenant engagement with you in Christ.

[18:23] Nothing will ever fail in that covenant. Nothing that he has ever promised will fall. God will bring it into glorious fruition for you.

[18:34] And God is working for you even as you sit in this church today. Do you remember the words of Paul in Romans chapter 8? If God be for us, who can be against us?

[18:49] And that was part and a very real part of the nature of the faith of his parents. As we read in this verse. They were not afraid of the king's commandment.

[19:02] Why? Because they knew that God was with them and for them. Well then. That deliverance. Moses came out of the palace to become the deliverer of his people.

[19:25] Now. When we read here that Moses, when he was born, he was three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child.

[19:39] They were not afraid of the king's commandment. I just want in a minute or two to have a look with you. In a very brief look it will be really at their faith. I wanted to emphasize this covenant relationship that God had with his people.

[19:56] As sort of leading us into this very brief consideration of their faith. And I will only take ten minutes to discuss it with you. You see. Look at the faith that they had in its exercise.

[20:11] First of all. They hid him for three months. By faith Moses when he was born was hid three months of his parents.

[20:25] Now. This is the way in which faith worked. You see. Faith is as the New Testament tells us. Faith is not dead.

[20:36] Faith is always accompanied by what? It was one of the great arguments of James in his letter. To the kind of person who said to him. Oh well he says I have faith. Is that so? Prove to me that you have faith.

[20:49] How can I prove it? James answers. By your works. Faith without works is dead. Now. Look at it like this. If we believe as we do.

[21:02] That Moses' parents recognized God's provision here in their own son. That they recognized Moses as the deliverer of his people.

[21:13] Why could they not just have sat back and put their hands in their pockets and said well. This is God's provision and God will see to it that he will bring it to fruition.

[21:25] Why do people who have faith for example not just sit back and say well I believe in God and God is going to provide so therefore I don't need to do anything about it. Why don't people act like that?

[21:36] I'll tell you. Because they know that it is unbiblical so to act. And something else. It is not in the nature of faith to sit back with folded arms. Faith works.

[21:48] Faith has eyes. It has eyes not just for the provision of God. But it has eyes for the means that God puts at their disposal.

[21:59] I must say. And maybe I put my head on the chopping block for saying this. But I must say that it is with great preservation that I listen to such people as who claim to live solely by faith.

[22:12] By that I mean of course people who do nothing but who depend upon what God is going to give them for their existence. And I don't want to, I wouldn't want to be, I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings and I wouldn't want to cast aspersions on the great memory, the memory of such great men as Hudson Taylor and people like that.

[22:41] That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is this. I feel that there are people who claim to live by faith.

[22:53] I'm not talking in the spiritual sense, I'm talking in the material sense as well. People who tend to live by faith. And to say, who make so much play of this, that the very fact that they're saying it, is a means that is being used to bring a means of support towards them.

[23:17] The kind of person I would like to think who lives by faith is a person who says nothing about it. Not the person who's parading it to the four points of the compass. In any case, that's a digression.

[23:29] Faith works. Faith works. And faith uses means. And here were these believing people using means. They believed that God would look after their child.

[23:40] But they had a responsibility towards the child. And so they hid him. They hid him. Until such time as they could hide him no longer. They realised that by the time the child became, the time he was three months.

[23:54] Well, a child at that stage brings attention to himself from the neighbours round about. People start hearing the child cry. And crying very strongly at that, at three months.

[24:05] People come to notice a child at that stage. A child makes himself known at that stage. So it was their responsibility until that time arose.

[24:16] It was their responsibility to look after him. They hid him. That was faith. That wasn't unbelief. That was faith. Using its eyes. And using its common sense. Using its reason. Faith is not irrational.

[24:27] It lays hold of a God who's beyond our understanding. Yes. But it also listens to what that God says to it. And it acts responsibly. And that is why, for example, when we come here today for the service of baptism.

[24:38] That is why parents here today are going to take vows upon themselves to bring up the children and the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. How does faith react? How does a believer react to such a vow? Does he say, does he put his hand in his pocket and then on and say, well, the church can look after them.

[24:53] The minister can instruct them. The child can come to his own decision. This is one of the wonderful teachings of the day in which we live. Is that the way in which faith reacts. Far from it. If you, my friend, here today may I say this to you.

[25:19] Parents who are sitting not in the front seat here. here today, may I say this to you parents who are sitting not in the front seat here, but sitting down below in the gallery. If you have taken vows upon yourselves for your children, and who, in the presence of our congregation, promised to bring up your child in the fear and the admonition of the Lord, you ask yourself as you sit here today, how responsibly have you acted, have you reacted since then to the vows that you took? Have your faith that you professed in this church years ago been accompanied by works in that direction? Has it? Faith works. Then secondly, faith works because of the motive, and the motive is the power of the promise of God. And, you see, they recognised that he was born for a purpose, and there were two things that they had in their heart, and two very powerful principles that work for the good of any child whether they're there. Love for the child, and faith in the one who gave them the child. Now, if you have these two principles wed in a human heart, you've got two very powerful forces that work for good for the child. Now,

[26:43] I'm sure that people say, well, anybody has love for the child. Very well, it's a wonderful thing, and a wonderful gift, for parents to love their children. But far more wonderful than that is the love in the parents' heart wedded to faith in the God who gave them the child in the first place.

[27:07] And that was the motive behind their faith. They lay hold of God and of his promise. And then there was its nature, and I've mentioned this already.

[27:29] You see, in some way, God must have revealed to Moses' parents that he was to be this child, that he was such a child as this. And notice what it did for them. It raised them in their acting above the fear of the king.

[27:57] of the king. They were not afraid of the king's commandment. They were not afraid of it. And so all that they did was done by faith in God.

[28:12] And that is what raised them above the fear of the fear of the commandment that proceeded from the palace. That they lay hold of the greatness and the power and the provision and the love of God.

[28:26] That they claimed all that God was himself for themselves and for the child. If they had been taken up solely with the edict, I've no doubt that terror would have been struck into their bones.

[28:44] But their faith in God raised them above that fear. And that's what God does for the person whose faith is an exercise upon God. Remember how Paul put it.

[28:56] How light affliction is but for a moment. And it works for us. A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It works for us. But notice he didn't say it works for us like that.

[29:08] Every time. Only as we look to him who is unseen. And only as we think of the things that are eternal. Not the things that are temporary and transient.

[29:24] You know that there are many things that are eternal. You know that there are many things in this life. If you look at them and consider them solely. Many things that would strike terror into the hearts of every parent here today. When you think of the kind of environment your child is born into.

[29:39] The kind of world he's going to be brought up in. The uncertainty of the age. The difficulties and the problems and the pressures of the age. The sins of the age.

[29:50] The only thing of these things. The contempt in which God is held in this age in which you and I live. There are many people who I'm sure that you who are here today as grandparents.

[30:07] In many respects you don't envy the young parents here today bringing up their children in this day and age. I'm sure you feel like that. And I've no doubt that every parent here today will know the awful feeling of foreboding that you find in your heart from time to time.

[30:29] How your spirit seems to sink under this very crushing weight. Of the things to which your children are exposed in this world. From every conceivable angle.

[30:44] From many sources and sources from which they weren't exposed to these things some years ago. But things have changed today. We live in a difficult world. And if you allow your mind and your heart to be invaded with these thoughts. You'll be bowed down with fear.

[31:01] What then is the answer to that problem? Ah my friend the Bible has the answer to the problem. It is the God of the Bible. It is the Christ of God.

[31:18] And if you lift your heart to him. And if you take your child to him. Then you too can live as Moses' parents lived. Without being afraid of the king's commandment. As long as. You look to him. And you trust in him. And you listen to him. And you obey him. Because of God before us.

[31:43] Who can be against us. But I want to end with this note. Again coming back to what I said already. Faith and its work. Or rather faith and its responsibility.

[31:56] You see as I said earlier. Faith is not. In this sense irrational. It is not as someone put it once. It is not a leap in the dark. It is a leap in the light. That is what faith is.

[32:07] Faith believes what the word of God says. Faith believes that God uses, gives you means that you may use for the good of those whom God has given you.

[32:19] Let me mention one or two of them to you. And you know them already. There is, first of all, the love that you have in your heart for the child. Look at how lovingly Moses' parents hid him for three months. And then look at how parental planning came to their aid.

[32:40] How will we save this child? Well, what about a basket? And what about making it watertight and putting this paper in the basket and the noun? So that he won't drown. There is planning. Independence upon God at the same time.

[32:56] What about prayer? And committing the child. We believe as they did in a prayerful spirit to the waters of the Nile. What about the wonderful ingenuity? Sending his sister to stand in the bulrushes to watch and see what would happen to the basket.

[33:13] What about the sister's wonderful ingenuity in suggesting Anush for this child to the Egyptian princess? And the wonderful ingenuity of the sister in thinking about, and the wonderful planning behind it.

[33:27] What about his mother without telling the princess to Anush? See the way. Faith uses means. Faith works. And God has given you means towards the good of your child today. You've got a Bible in your hands.

[33:43] You've got knees that you can bend in the presence of God. You've got a tongue in your head. By which you can instruct the child from the word of God. You can bring all the forces at your disposal to bear for the good of the child. For the good of the child. For the good of the child. Independence upon God.

[34:04] You've got a church that you can attend. A gospel you can listen to. And see to it that your child knows what these means are.

[34:17] And see to it that you use these means for the good of your child. Teach. As someone put it, fold the little hands in prayer.

[34:30] Teach the weak knees their kneeling. Let them see you speaking to your God. And they will not forget it afterwards.

[34:44] That is but just scratching the surface of this one episode in the history of this great, great man. By faith when he was born.

[35:01] He was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child. And they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Let us pray.

[35:12] Bless to us Lord thy word and help us to honor thee for thy goodness to us and thy long suffering toward us. Bless us oh Lord as we continue before thee here in this service. We pray for thy presence and for thy help.

[35:31] In all that is done now and may it be done with a view to the glory of thy name. For Jesus sake. Amen. We shall sing now to God's praise in Psalm 107. We sing the first six verses of the psalm. That is verses 1 to 9, Psalm 107.

[35:55] Praise God. Praise God for he is good. For still his mercy is lasting be. Let God's praise God for his mercy.

[36:06] Let God's praise God for his mercy is lasting be. Let God's redeemed say so, whom he from the enemy's hand did free. And gathered them out of the lands from north, south, east and west. They strayed in deserts pathless way, no city found to rest.

[36:20] Verses 1 to 9 in Psalm 107. Praise God for he is good. Praise God for he is good. Praise God for he is good.

[36:33] For still his mercy is lasting be.

[36:45] Let God's redeemed say so, whom he from the enemy's hand did free.

[37:01] And gathered in the land of the land of the land of the earth.

[37:18] Here will praise God for his mercy. Let God's praise God for his mercy. Let God's praise God for his mercy.

[37:45] Aww X Thank you.

[38:45] Thank you. Thank you.

[39:45] Thank you. Let us read our warrant for the administration and the sacrament of baptism.

[40:07] In Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 28. And we'll read from verse 16.

[40:40] Amen. Even unto the end of the world.

[41:14] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[41:24] Amen. All right.

[41:34] All right. All right.

[42:05] All right. All right. All right. All right. I just speak this morning about the wonder of God's covenant engagement on behalf of his people, his covenant relationship with them.

[42:19] And really, it is in the terms of the covenant engagement that we are to understand something of the nature of this provision that God has made for his church, the sacrament of baptism.

[42:38] The argument, of course, for the sacrament for baptism of infants is a cumulative one. We recognize, readily recognize, and immediately recognize from the scriptures that we don't come here with scripture and verse, chapter and verse as an argument for the practice of infant baptism.

[43:02] It is an accumulative one that runs right throughout the Bible. And it begins here. It begins with God's covenant provision for his people.

[43:15] Because the Bible always speaks of the people of God as a covenant people. From the very beginning, from the time that God determined to save the first person in the world, he had this covenant people.

[43:30] And he had, he entered his covenant relationship with them. And they are considered. And I think we could take this with us, this thought with us, if nothing else, for example, today, that you speak of the church as a covenant people.

[43:47] And in the Old Testament, for example, this covenant people, this church that God had, God made two great provisions for it. For example, it, the Passover institution and circumcision.

[44:03] Now, the Passover was that means by which this people remembered how God had saved them. The circumcision was the right that God had given to this people by which they showed that they belonged to his own people.

[44:23] This was God's provision for them. And when you come into the New Testament, you're thinking not of that different church, it's the same church. The same people, the same covenant, but with different covenant provisions.

[44:37] In this respect, the Passover becomes the Lord's Supper by which the people remember how God saved them by the death of the Son. And baptism as the initiatory right by which people are brought into this church of God.

[44:56] And one other thing, that church, or rather the heads of the families in that church, always had a responsibility towards the families. The family is always considered as a unit within the church.

[45:10] You see, the church isn't considered just as an individual here and an individual there. A head of a family comes from this corner, sits with this people. No, no. The head of that family has a responsibility towards that family Godward.

[45:24] And when he comes, he brings his family with him to worship not just his God, but their God. This is the way the Bible speaks of the family in relation to God.

[45:35] And it's a wonderful provision that God has given to the family, to the representative head of that family, to make sure that he gives the privileges of the church to the members of his family.

[45:49] He can't opt out of that responsibility. And that's what brings these parents here today. So that they will publicly testify to the fact that they are accepting a God-given responsibility towards their children.

[46:11] And you see, this places a tremendous responsibility, very onerous one, upon you who are here today as parents.

[46:22] Fathers and mothers. It places a tremendous responsibility upon you. Let me put it like this. In the course of time, your child is going to go to the state school.

[46:34] And knowing that I might incur the wrath of my friends who are in the teaching profession here today, I'll say this to you. The moment your child enters the state school, he or she is going to be exposed to some influences, you will want the child to embrace.

[46:57] Now I say that's apparent myself, without any fear of contradiction whatsoever. And I don't care who quotes me. Any parent worthy of the name recognizes that the more he hands his child over to the state, the child is going to be brought into contact with things, things, some things and a few things, that that parent wouldn't want the child to accept.

[47:25] And wouldn't want the child to believe. I wouldn't want any child of mine to believe that he or she had his or her origin in a molecule or in something else.

[47:39] I believe with all my heart in the creation story as the Bible narrates it. And so to the majority of people in here. But you see, you too are going to be exposed to people who won't believe that.

[47:51] And they'll tell them, and they'll expect you child to believe that. Now you wouldn't want that, would you? No. The point I'm making is this. You have a responsibility to teach your child, to bring your child up in the Christian faith.

[48:04] In the course of time, you're going to tell your child what you've done here today. That you've baptised your child. What does that mean? Well, in the course of time you're going to tell your child that you brought you, in a responsible act, brought your child within the period of the Christian church.

[48:20] Into the privilege of the Christian church. Under the, under the, the, the teaching of the Christian church. And you're going to challenge your child one of these days with these teachings.

[48:31] And you're going to ask your child, look, this is what I believe. I want you to believe it. You're going to tell your child one day, that you want him or her to make a conscious choice of the things that he or she is going to accept.

[48:48] I believe that that is the emphasis that the Bible brings upon family religion. That the, the family is considered as a unit. And they do these things together and they're brought up in that Christian faith.

[49:01] And this is one thing that baptism is going to do. You see, some people come here, there are some people who are so stupid, so silly. They think that the baptism is only the only, is the means only by which a child is given his or her name.

[49:14] Well that's the height of folly. And it's nothing short of superstition. And what? There's a very serious and responsible thing that you are undertaking today in the presence of God.

[49:28] And you, in the course of time, therefore, are going to challenge your child about his relationship to God himself. You're going to challenge your child about relationship to Christ.

[49:40] Is Christ to be your savior? Is God to be your God? You think of a parent, you think of a mother and a child, a mother and father today, with a child. And it's perfectly right that any mother and child, any mother and father worthy of the name, should say these things to a child.

[49:57] Is my God going to be your God? Is my savior going to be your savior? Is my Holy Spirit going to be your guide and your comforter and your director? Is the people of God to my love, are they going to be your people?

[50:10] The church to which I am affiliated, is that going to be your church? These are perfectly natural questions for the parent to put to the child.

[50:23] And I think that this is one way in which parents who accept baptism are recognizing their acceptance of the great responsibility that God has placed upon them.

[50:36] You see, when God gave you the gift of your child, he gave you a gift. With it, he placed a tremendous responsibility upon your shoulders.

[50:49] Let none of us ever forget that. And let each one of us recognize it as we sit and stand here today in the presence of God. Would the fathers please be upstanding?

[51:01] Now, the parents today have appeared before the Kirk session to receive this privilege of baptism.

[51:17] And I'm not going to go from one end of this lectern to the far away wall there to ask each individual, each one individually, these questions. But I would want to remind the congregation of the questions that were put to them, the vows that they undertook at the session, and the vows that they are now undertaking in the presence of this congregation.

[51:41] And they are these. That they accept the scriptures to be the word of God in their entirety. They accept their authority. They accept that Jesus Christ and Christ alone is the savior of sinners.

[51:57] They have promised to bring their children up in the fear and in the admonition of the Lord. They have promised to give them a Christian upbringing.

[52:09] These are the vows that were put to them and are put to them now. And that I accept that they answer each one for himself in the presence of this congregation.

[52:23] Thank you.

[52:36] Would the congregation please be upstanding? And remain upstanding.

[52:48] Take your children please. Thank you.

[53:01] Amelia Gray.

[53:16] baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Ghost, one God. May the Lord's blessing be upon you. David Alistair. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord bless you. Norman, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord's blessing be upon you. Matthew, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord's blessing be upon you. Karine. Karine, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord's blessing be upon you. Mark, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord be with you. Lorna, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord bless you. Isabel, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord's blessing be upon you.

[55:01] Annabelle, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord bless you.

[55:17] Karen Jane. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord bless you.

[55:28] Jennifer. Jennifer, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord bless you.

[55:42] Alistair Andrew. Alistair Andrew. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord bless you.

[55:57] Alistair Andrew. Isabel. Isabel. Isabel Shona. Isabel Shona. Isabel Shona. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord bless you.

[56:14] Lauren. Lauren. Lauren. Lauren. Lauren. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, one God. May the Lord richly bless you.

[56:30] Let us pray. O Lord our God, we thank thee that thou art God and that we can lift our hearts to thee today, knowing that thou wilt not turn away the cry of the poor.

[56:53] Lord. We thank thee for the gifts and for the blessings of life. We thank thee for the way in which thou hast enriched thy church on earth.

[57:06] We thank thee for children within the church and that the church has always been known as a unit of parents and children. Thou hast said, suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

[57:25] We pray for the children here baptized in thy name today. We pray that they may be spared to grow up in life as a source of enriching blessing to their parents and to all with whom they come in contact.

[57:39] We pray for them, O Lord, as they grow up in an evil world. We pray that thy hand would be upon them for good, to save them, to bless them in accordance with thy covenant engagement.

[57:54] We pray for the parents that may be given grace to honour the commitment that they have given here today. May thy blessing be upon them all and may thy peace prevail in their hearts and in their homes.

[58:07] Guide each one of them, we pray thee, and undertake for us now. Help us to put our trust in thyself and to love thy name as we go out from this place of worship.

[58:18] May the blessing of the Lord God be upon us all. Lift upon us the light of thy countenance and forgive all our sins for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. We shall bring the service to our close now, singing in Psalm 127.

[58:36] St. Andrew, Psalm 127. We'll sing the whole psalm. Accept the Lord to build the house. The builders lose their pain. Accept the Lord to build the house.

[58:55] The will of Jesus are dead And that the Lord the Savior The God that was in vain Tis been for you to rise in time Only from land to be To be a sorrowful friend So give the history of the sea Lo, children of God's heaven

[60:04] The will of Jesus Happy is the man that art His women filled with love The unashamed in the grave Shall feed unto them all

[61:07]  May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ The love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you all Amen Amen Amen