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[Music] welcome to everyone we have just a few announcements before we begin the first is that there is a ladies fellowship breakfast on the 25th of January more information will follow this evening will be the Lord's Supper that's our 5 p.m. service Bible study is back on this Wednesday night that's 7:30 here in the fellowship hall and then most important and most encouraging are Pete and Liz Vischer Pete of course being baptized today and joining the church Liz as well wants to join the church but she's already been baptized so as is our custom I will invite Liz up now well if just one second Liz I'm going to read a bit of a portion from our confession of faith and receive her publicly into the membership we do it that way because we have found in the past that when people are baptized it's obvious that they've entered into the membership of the church if somebody's already been baptized and we simply announce it it's not as visual of an experience so that's why we have them come up and extend the right hand of fellowship and welcome them into the church but I did want to read a brief portion from our second London confession faith speaking concerning the members of churches and in paragraph 6 in chapter 26 it says the members of these churches are Saints by calling visibly manifesting and evidencing in and by their profession and walking their obedience unto that call of Christ and do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ giving up themselves to the Lord and one to another by the will of God in professed subjection to the ordinances of the gospel so if Liz would come forward and I will extend the right hand to fellowship to her to receive her into the membership of the church and then as I said later on in our service this morning Peter will be baptized and enter into the life of the church at that point in time come up here shake your hand and let's pray father in heaven we thank you so very much for Pete and Liz and for their profession of faith and their their fruits consistent with that profession we give praise to you for adding to this local church and we pray that in this you would be glorified that you would be honored that you would be praised this would be that this would prove good to the souls of both Pete and Liz and for this church likewise that we would mutually encourage one another and pray for one another and seek to press on together to that new Jerusalem and we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen thank you well for our formal call to worship you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 100 Psalm 100 and I'll begin reading in verse 1 a psalm of thanksgiving make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands serve the Lord with gladness come before his presence with singing know that the Lord he is God it is he who has made us and not we ourselves we are his people in the Sheep of his pasture enter into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful to him and bless his name for the Lord is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations amen well please take your hem book and turn to Psalm 148 that's Psalm 148 be as in Bravo when you find that you can stand and we'll sing together [Music] [Applause] [Music] well let us pray our blessed God and our holy father it's a privilege and a joy to gather in your house today we come to the father through the son and the power of the Spirit and we confess that God is all in all from everlasting to everlasting you are God you made the world you govern the world and you have redeemed your elect out of the world and we rejoice in your loving-kindness and your mercy and in your grace to us we know father we're not accepted because of our good works for we have none apart from Christ and the power of the Spirit we're not accepted because of our law keeping because we are transgressors and those who lack conformity unto it but we are accepted in the beloved according to the grace that you have demonstrated that you chose us in him before the foundation of the world and that in your timing by the power of your spirit you called us out of darkness into marvelous light you showed us our own sin or depravity or rebellion and you showed us the sufficient Savior that one whom the bride calls altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 we confess that Christ alone is able to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him and we give praise to you for these spiritual blessings that you have poured out upon us we rejoice in your mercy we rejoice in your loving-kindness we rejoice in the reality that we get to gather together on the Sabbath day to praise you Most High God and we would ask even now that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts she would humble us under your mighty hand that you would produce in us that reverence and fear and as well Lord God flood our hearts with joy and with Thanksgiving for Lord certainly we have a gracious and a glorious God and father we thank you for the gospel of our salvation we thank you for the life and the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that blessed second person of the Trinity who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation who took on our humanity who lived a life of perfect obedience who died as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and who was raised for our justification certainly we want to make much of Christ today as we sing as we pray as we look to Holy Scripture and father we pray that in all of this you would be glorified and exalted we asked you would forgive us for our sin and our transgression Lord God you have saved us by your grace unto good works and yet father we find in us that remaining corruption that proneness to wander and that prone is to leave the God that we love we confess those sins even now and we trust in the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to wash and to cleanse us and to purify us and our genuine desire is that any who have come here this morning that are still dead in their sins would be awakened by the power of the Holy Spirit that they would hear the glorious truth of God's gospel and that by grace they would come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior thank you for adding to this church Pete and Liz thank you for this couple we pray for their growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and we pray that our brother would be able to reflect upon this day in the future to think back to that time when he identified publicly with the triune God we also pray our Father that you would look with favor upon us as we enter into a new year help us each one to grow in the Grace and knowledge of Christ help us Lord God to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight to resist sin and temptation and those things that that do come our way in this this fallen world and help us Lord God to be consumed with our blessed mediator our Savior the Lord Christ we ask that you would look with favor upon those in our myths that are that are unwell physically we know God there are those struggling with with physical trials and challenges and hardships and so Lord we commit them to you into the word of your grace and pray that you would look with favor upon each one be with our sister churches we thank you for the Saints and Sri and pray for your great blessing there we also pray for the work and Vernon that you would bless them that you would keep them faithful and God in your in your timing and in your Providence and with your concern would you provide for them a man to labor in the word and in doctrine we also pray for the governing authorities god we know there is much unrest this world we pray in a special way that you'd give great wisdom to political leaders in the u.s. Father we pray that you would be gracious and keep the nations from war and Lord God in heaven we pray that there would be righteousness and there would be justice and and we do rejoice at the the act of justice that you demonstrate even in historical circumstances yet father we pray that you would give great grace to this place so that the context would be such that the gospel could go forth conquering and to conquer we pray in our own nation that you would be merciful here we pray first and foremost you put the fear of God in the hearts of those in high places we pray father that they would not continue to legislate things that are contrary to the law of God that they would indeed be marked by an execution of justice and righteousness and to that end father we know we need the power of God Most High for Lord the the king's heart is in your hand and you turn it the way you do the waters and we just thank you that you are sovereign over all things we thank you that Jesus Christ presently is the ruler over the kings of the earth and for all of us God may this settle our hearts and may this give us that that peace and that calm that we desperately seek in this lower world we ask that you would bless the preaching of the gospel as it goes forth throughout the earth we know there are nations and people groups that are still steeped in in darkness and ignorance we pray that you'd raise men up biblically qualified men men who know scripture and good theology to go to these places and to proclaim Christ and him crucified we pray that your word would go forth and that many people would come to know Christ as Lord and Savior and to that end God encouraged us with what we find in the book of Revelation when we see a great multitude assembled before the throne of God and the Lamb who sits upon that throne Lord we know it's not just a handful that you have purposed to save but the prophets tell us that the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea Lord may this be a great help to us and may this be a great encouragement to us in our prayer our times of Prayer both publicly and privately may we beseech the God of heaven earth for the souls of men and women in boys and girls in this world and may your word run swiftly and be glorified and may you be exalted through the preaching of the gospel and please bless other churches here in our town we thank you for them we pray for your blessing upon them we pray that they would prosper and they would know the nearness of God as their good and Lord we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen we could turn with me again in your hymn books to number 440 hymn number 440 will stand as we sing together [Music] we could turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter eight Hebrews chapter eight I'll begin reading in verse 1 now this is the main point of the things we are saying we have such a high priest who is seated that at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man for every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer for if he were on earth he would not be a priest since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle for he said see that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises for if that first covenant had been faultless then no place would have been sought for a second because finding fault with them he says behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them says the Lord for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people none of them shall teach his neighbor and none his brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember more in daddy says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away a man will let us pray our Father we thank you for your written word and we pray now for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit to guide us and to help us and to lead us as we consider this blessed passage of Scripture we thank you for the priestly office of our Lord Jesus that he is most priest and victim that he is both the sacrificer and the one sacrificed and that that sacrifice was in fact as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world in this we greatly rejoice Most High God and we pray even now that you would help us to appreciate these things and to see the the blessedness and the supremacy and the superiority of our Lord Jesus Christ and and the New Covenant and our Father again forgive us now for all sin and anything that would darken our understanding and we pray through Jesus Christ the Lord amen well remember that the book of Hebrews was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and as a result there was still a temple there was still a sacrificial system it was apostate to be sure but those things were extent the people of Israel were continuing in these patterns and yet there were those among Israelites that had believed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ some of them were being pressured to go back to this sort of system of sacrifice and temple worship and so the Apostle writes this letter to study that to call them to perseverance to call them to endurance to call them to continued faith in the Lord Jesus Christ not to relinquish faith in Christ and they go back to see these mosaic ceremonies so that's the broader context and one of the ways that the Apostle argues that the people of God maintained fidelity to Christ is to show his superiority and he does that throughout this book the entirety of Hebrews is taken up with the severe superiority of Jesus Christ over angels over prophets over Moses over Joshua over all persons and as well over that old covenant priesthood in chapters 5 to 7 the Apostle indicates that Jesus is the high priest Jesus Christ is the priest that God sent to save his people from their sins that Old Testament system was typical those bulls and those sacrifices and those heifers and those various elements pointed forward Tippa logically to that Lamb of God who would come to take away the sin of the world well here in chapters 8 to 10 he wants to emphasize not only the greatness of Christ as high priests but he also wants to demonstrate the pre sacrifice it was in the giving of himself Jesus is different than that Levitical priesthood they took animals they slaughtered those animals and then they presented those under Yahweh Christ rather was not only the priest but the victim as well and he also wants to show here in chapter 8 the superiority of Christ covenant this new covenant not that Christ was in no ways connected to the Old Covenant but the superiority of the new covenant is developed here by the Apostle in Hebrews chapter 8 at verses 7 to 12 so I want to look first at the minister of the true Tabernacle in verses 1 and 2 secondly the ministry of the high priest in verses 3 to 6 and then finally we'll focus on the superiority of the New Covenant in verses 7 to 13 and I will try and make a few comments that are appropriate to the doctrine of baptism along the way but with reference to the minister of the true Tabernacle notice what he says in verse 1 in chapter 8 now this is the main point of the things we are saying we have such a high priest Oh as he's not speaking in some sort of theoretical way he's not just sort of saying wouldn't it be great if we had this kind of a priest he says we have this kind of a priest we have the Lord Jesus Christ he is exalted he is enthroned he's at the right hand of God Almighty and he is in fact the minister of the true Tabernacle this is the main point of the things we're saying we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man now there is a contrast here again between Old Covenant and New Covenant God commanded Moses he gave him the plans and then gave him the executional of the execution order to build the tabernacle and then under Solomon Solomon the temple was built and these served their purposes they functioned appropriately in God's covenant and in God's timing but they were destined for obsolescence they were going to be done away they were typical in nature and when the fullness of the time comes God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law the tabernacle and then the temple pointed forward to the Lord Jesus such that now that Jesus has come the idea of constructing a tabernacle or a temple is absolutely contrary to the New Testament we're not to go backward in redemptive history we're not to look to a future temple wherein there will be the animal sacrifices this is simply inconsistent with the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ over and over again in this book of Hebrews the author emphasizes the once for all offering of the Savior that one offering Christ confesses on the cross it is finished and so he is now the minister of this true tabernacle he is the reason for which it stood one man says it is described as the true tent or true tabernacle because in contrast to the perishable tent or tabernacle which accompanied the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings the heavenly reality into which the ascendant Lord has entered is the genuine sanctuary the imperishable Holy of Holies remember that reality in Leviticus chapter 16 the one day out of the year the high priest actually went into the Holy of Holies he was only in there for a brief amount of time he was only in there to sprinkle blood for his sins for the sins of the people for the sins of the very tabernacle itself upon that mercy seat but he got out later in chapter 10 the book of Hebrews is indicate that once Christ finished his redemptive work he sat down in fact dis tax emphasizes that as well he is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens an Old Testament High Priest never sat down in the holy of holies an Old Testament High Priest went in did his business and got out not so with Christ he now occupies this place the holy of Holy's he is the true minister or rather the minister of the true tabernacle now notice secondly the ministry of this high priest in verses 3 to 6 he says that there is a necessity for the offering of sacrifice again he's already indicated that Christ gave himself in Chapter 7 and he's going to develop this more so in chapters 9 and 10 but here's suffice to say this is what marks a priest we are to understand with reference to the priestly office they both sacrifice and intercede that's the task that the priest has you can kind of look at the difference between a prophet and priest this way a prophet comes on behalf of God to declare the mind of God to the people so he functions on behalf of God to the people the priest goes to God on behalf of the people and the priest goes to God on behalf of the people in prayer or intercession and then as well with reference to sacrifice and so the Apostle the Apostle Paul is indicating that Christ is this high priest Christ is this minister of the true tabernacle and Christ did not become this without sacrifice but rather he sacrificed himself notice in verse 3 for every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer and he did this is the the significance of Golgotha this is the significance of the passion narratives Christ doesn't go to that cross simply as an example Christ doesn't go to that cross simply as some sort of moral persuasion Christ goes to that cross as the Lamb of God who takes away to sit in the world Christ goes to that as a substitute Christ goes to that cross as a sacrifice because as Paul will say in Hebrews chapter 9 without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sins and if you're not a believer here this morning you need to take this to heart unless Jesus died and was raised the third day there's no hope of ever the fact that Jesus has died the fact that Jesus Christ was raised the fact that Christ is now stationed at the right hand of the Majesty on I means that there is hope means that there is forgiveness to be had for sinners who come to God through this Jesus in fact look back for just a moment at verse or chapter 7 at verse 23 also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing but he because he continues forever has an unchangeable priesthood therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them that's the good news of the gospel sometimes people preach the gospel as good advice sometimes people preach the gospel as some assistance but the reality is that God is in the world Retta God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself the reality is 2nd Corinthians 5:21 God made him Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him my point simply is this if you're not a believer here this morning listen listen to what scripture says may the Spirit of the Living God give you understanding to see this Christ this one who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand this one who is holy harmless and undefiled separate from sinners what why does the text indicate this to show his fitness as a sacrifice remember in the Prophet Malachi in chapter one the people of God are indicted the Covenant people are indicted by the Prophet through our God through the Prophet for their having brought the worst in terms of sacrifice they go out you know the night before the Sabbath and they'd find the worst animal in their flock I mean that is just pathetic they'd find the mangy one they'd find the lame one they'd find the loser in any sort of barnyard scrap and they would take that one to the very temple of God Almighty and God in Deitz then he says would your governor be pleased with this at this point Israel was under Persia God says try to pay your taxes to the Persian pagan king with a with a mangy loser in a barnyard scrap try to pay your governor's taxes with a blind animal and yet that's what the people of Israel we're doing so the fact is is that Christ is holy harmless and undefiled in accordance with the Levitical law that stipulated that the worshipper bring the best of his flock when God comes to deal with men in our salvation he doesn't do it half-heartedly he doesn't do it haphazardly he doesn't do it in the manner that's inconsistent with his dignity in his honor in his majesty but he sends the son of his love he sends the best he sends the second person of the Trinity and that one takes on our humanity in order to redeem our humanity and you need to hear this and you need to understand that this is evidence that God is in the business of saving sinners it never ceases to amaze me living in our community how many persons have this idea that God's really not a savior god is a savior there will there will be a multitude from every tribe and tongue and people and nation we invoke that passage in Matthew 22 many are called but few are chosen later in Matthew 26 Jesus says that he sheds his blood for the remission of sins of many may be Matthew 22 doesn't mean that only a handful of people will be in heaven I would argue that it doesn't the reality is is what we find in the book of Revelation of great multitude that no man can number so before you try to argue yourself out of being saved listen listen to the Word of God faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God it's a beautiful thing fact I would emphasize that as well it's not just corporate worship and the public preaching of the gospel you should take up and read every day if you're not able believer in Christ if you are a sinner or somebody's still in their sins you need Jesus that's all I want to tell you is you need Jesus desperately and the place to find Jesus is in the word that is all about Jesus he says to the religious leaders of his day you search the Scriptures for in them you think you have ever lat eternal life but these are they which testify of me you want Christ go to his word privately family publicly in the corporate worship of the living and true God this Christ offered up a perfect sacrifice and that sacrifice was himself for every high priest is appointed 8-3 to offer both gifts and sacrifices therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer now note this contrast for if he were on earth he would not be a priest since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle the contrast is simple the Old Covenant priests offered up sacrifice on a daily basis except that one yearly day of atonement sacrifice that Leviticus 16 expounds upon but what Christ has done is a once for all offering he wouldn't be a priest in Old Covenant Israel prior to the destruction of ad 70 because he had already fulfilled that task and yet the ones that were existing at the time that the Apostle wrote were daily continuing to offer up these sacrifices to God or as they thought to God and then notice bringing this to bear on the point in verses 1 to 6 verse 6 he says but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises that's a good statement isn't it sometimes we're taught that the New Covenant is just like the Old Covenant but that's not what the author is saying he's saying it's a better covenant with better promises it affords a better hope because it's got a better surety and a mediator namely the Lord Jesus Christ and then that moves us thirdly to consider the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant and that's what verses 7 to 13 takes up before we look at that I don't want to not read what I've got from Owen it's always a good thing to read John Owen but when he comments about this specifically about verse sex says now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises John Owen writes he is in the New Covenant the mediator the surety the priest the sacrifice all in his own person the ignorance and want of a due consideration here of are the great evidence of the degeneracy of the Christian religion we just unpacked that for a moment before we move on he first highlights the significance of Christ as priest in the New Covenant the superiority of Christ as priest in the New Covenant he is in the New Covenant the mediator he is prophet priest and King he is the surety when the one that pays our debt is the Lord Christ we have great confidence if I paid your debt I would come up short if Christ pays your debt he doesn't come up short he says from the cross it is finished he goes on to say the priest the sacrifice all in his own person the ignorance and want of a due consideration here of in other words the ignorance of who Jesus is the ignorance and lack of concern for these realities about Jesus Christ are the evidence of the degeneracy of the Christian faith in other words what problems are the churches facing today what problems are individual Christians facing today well as I read Owen I would surmise that he is saying a lack of understanding of who Jesus is so we talk about church how do we get people in thankfully we don't do that we just seek to be faithful but you talk about Church and problems with churches what's lacking what's absent what does Owen indicate was the truth in the seventeenth century it was a lack of an understanding of who Jesus Christ is see brethren it's called Christianity it's all about Jesus we are to be consumed with and concerned for his glory his honor we're supposed to understand his person his work we're supposed to understand the sacrifice that he brought out we're supposed to understand his life of obedience his sacrifice on the cross we're supposed to get these things because this is defining for the Christian Church and for Christian individuals laziness on this point is simply intolerable we're not to be lazy with reference to Christ do you meet a man or a woman that you're gonna eventually marry and show the attitude that yeah I don't really need to know much about this person you know I know they breathe that's that's pretty good for me I know they can they can say my name that's pretty good no you want to know that person you want to understand that person you want to know what they like you want to know what they don't like well for Christians it's all about Jesus there is in us this tendency to be lazy at this particular place to be sort of bored or unand about who Jesus Christ is but read scripture the scope the focus the very frost the foremost champion and all of the Bible is our Lord Jesus Christ I don't think Goines wrong and I think Owens probably even more right for our current situation concerning the degeneracy of Christian religion see Church isn't supposed to be entertainment Church isn't supposed to be fun and games Church isn't supposed to be a rah-rah session among the people of God it is a place of worship we come to the Father through the son by the spirit and we need to know that God as Jesus prayed in his high priestly prayer in John 17:3 and this is eternal life that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent see it's the book of Hebrews and it's heavy emphasis on the superiority of Jesus Christ that all of us would do well to study in this coming year now let's get to the superiority of the new verses 7 to 13 there is first an introductory statement and then there is secondly an appeal to the Prophet Jeremiah notice this introductory statement verse 7 for if that first covenant had been faultless then no place would have been sought for a second that's the reality if the Old Covenant functioned in a way as to make the people of God the people of God there'd be no need for a new covenant now when we talk like this we need to understand that God designed God purpose God decreed the existence of the Old Covenant it was good it served the purpose for which God intended it in the last hour we considered general revelation God manifests his glory his power is eternal God add in the created order the created order does its job the problem is with the receptors the problem is with us we see that and then we suppress that truth in unrighteousness same with the law of God the law is good the problem is us we break that law and in fact if you look specifically at verse 8 he says because finding fault with them not with the Covenant not with the law not with the particular sort of elements and features of that covenant but the problem was with them the problem was Old Covenant Israel the problem would be with us God says do this and lift we get all about 30 seconds in and then we we have not done it and then we decline remember that ratification ceremony in the Old Covenant at Exodus 24 all that the Lord has said we will do they promise fidelity to their covenant Lord chapter 32 comes and they're dancing before a golden calf evidence saying that they have not one whit of understanding what it is to obey the law of God Almighty so the law or the Old Covenant was purposed by God for a particular purpose hew says the fault of the Old Covenant lay not in its essence which presented God's standard of righteousness and was propounded as an instrument of life to those who should keep it but in its inability to justify and renew those who failed to keep it namely the totality of fallen mankind the New Covenant went literally to the heart of the matter promising as it did a new and obedient heart and the grace truly to love both God and his fellow man that's a very important statement and when we consider this contrast we need to soak it in the New Covenant is better the New Covenant does have better promises the New Covenant does afford a better hope again that's no commentary on the Old Covenant being bad it functioned for the purpose for which God had intended and now with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ that Old Covenant was done away with now it was still at least in terms of the people going to the temple those still engaged in animal sacrifice in their minds it was still going and that's why the Apostle argues as he does here and then specifically in verse 13 indicates something of the contours of Old Covenant to New Covenant before we get there let's look secondly it has appeal to Jeremiah verses 8 to 12 or a quotation from Jeremiah 31:31 234 it is the announcement of the New Covenant now just a little background not a lot don't want to keep us all here I noticed our clock has stopped so I guess I could keep all of us here you start getting hungry in about three hours you say what's with that clock it still says 923 I kind of like that we can just forget actually I keep a watch so I don't punish the people of God it's never my intention to punish the people of God I really don't plan to do that ever sometimes it may happen but it's never purposeful but when it comes to this particular section it is the the announcement of the New Covenant and just to give you a little background Judah was in sin that shouldn't surprise any of us because that's what the prophets relate the prophets functioned as if they were God's prosecuting attorneys God would send the various prophets to the nation the the Prophet would remind them of their sin excuse me and their rebellion against the terms of that Old Covenant and then the Prophet would call them to faith in and repentance toward our great God and Father and when you look at specifically Jeremiah chapters 2 and 3 you see the kinds of sin that Judah was engaged in and one of the things that is obvious is idolatry that God through the Prophet says has a nation changed it's gods yet my people have exchanged me towards the pagans are consistent and at least show fidelity to Astra to Bale and to the various deities that they subscribe but the people who have the true and living God have departed they have been wicked they have been lawless it's in the chapter 3 of the Book of Jeremiah where God in the midst of of in dining them for their gross sin says 5 times yet return to me says the Lord it's a beautiful thing and even the last time or the second or last time he says it he says return to me backsliding Israel and I will heal your backsliding see the thought I think among psalm is I've got to stop doing these bad things and then I'll go to God that's not biblical the gospel isn't good advice stop doing things and then God will accept you the gospel is good news Christ came to save his people from their sins now when he saves you you don't continue in sin but rather he saves you from that set but there's nothing you and I can do to clean ourselves up there's nothing any of us can do to to pretty ourselves up to make ourselves more lovely to the Lord God we are lawbreakers we are rebels we are those who have taken every one of the Ten Commandments and we have tossed it onto the ground and we have stomped on it the way of salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone so the sin of Judah is the broader context but then in Jeremiah 32 33 this is the book of Hope or the book of consolation and essentially what you have there is you have the promise of restoration God will restore Judah according to Jeremiah 30 you have the promise concerning the New Covenant which we have here in essence in Jeremiah 31 and then you have an illustration of God's faithfulness in Jeremiah 32 when the Prophet is told to buy a piece of property and you gotta understand he's being told to buy a piece of property in Judah if you were half way smart you wouldn't have done that apart from supernatural revelation because what's going to happen to Judah in the Prophet Jeremiah Judah is going to be overrun by Babylonians Nebuchadnezzar is going to lead the hordes into Judah and he is going to decimate their city and he is going to destroy their temple and yet God says to the Prophet I want you to buy this piece of property in Judah why it's an expression of faith in the reality that God will restore that this will in fact be a 70 year period of Exile and desolation but after that they will return after that they will be reconvened in the land of Judah after that the Messiah will come and save his people from their sins so that's the context of this book of hope in Jeremiah 31 now let's look specifically at what the prophet and what the Apostle indicate concerning these blessings of the New Covenant notice in the first place the New Covenant is unbreakable the New Covenant is unbreakable look at what it says in verse 8 because finding fault with them he says behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah whose the house of Israel and the house of Judah it's the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and we know that because of the Apostles invoking this prophecy and applying it to the church this is not some future sort of unification between the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes that is to miss read Biblical prophecy house of Judah house of Israel is an Old Testament convention indicating the people of God there will be this unification that transpires and it's in Christ it's in the church so this much we know but then notice what it goes on to say I will make this covenant and then verse 9 not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them out I took them by the hand lead them out of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them says the Lord see this is an essential feature of New Covenant religion is that it's unbreakable it was John MacArthur who said or probably famously popularized the reality if we could lose our salvation we would we would brethren we would send ourselves right out of the New Covenant as fast as God placed us into the New Covenant the Old Covenant was breakable Deuteronomy 28 Leviticus 26 God says when you go into the land this is the way you're to function if you don't function in this particular way you will be ejected from the land and that is precisely what happens in the Old Covenant the northern tribes in 722 the southern tribes and 586 they are thrown out of the land because they broke God's covenant one of the blessings of New Covenant religion is that it's unbreakable the reality is stipulated by the Apostle in Philippians 1 he says I'm confident that he who began a good work in you will complete it on to the day of Christ or that bit at the very end of Romans chapter 8 there is nothing that shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord it's a brand of theology out there that teaches this external connection to the the New Covenant that is an Old Covenant construct that is not extent in the New Covenant when you're in by grace you are kept in by the power of God he puts his spirit in you he does everything else that's indicated in this particular section will you struggle will you have temptation will you have remaining corruption absolutely positively but actually sever yourself from the head positively not this covenant is inviolable that means it is unbreakable and that is an essential feature of New Covenant religion notice secondly we have the law of God internalized notice in verse 10 for this is the covenant that i will make with the house of israel after those days says the Lord I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts the internalization of the law this was available to Old Covenant believers David says oh how I love thy law it is my meditation day and night but it wasn't an essential feature or element of the Old Covenant so everybody understand that at the time of the Old Covenant you had Isaac and you had Ishmael at the time of the Old Covenant you had Jacob and you had Esau well certainly Jacob and Isaac had the law of God written on their hearts in this way of obedience and the desire to do what's pleasing to God the others didn't because that wasn't an essential element of Old Covenant religion you could be in just like Esau just like Ishmael just like the godless kings in the North the many godless kings in the South they were covenant members they were part of the old coven covenant Commonwealth they were members of the theocratic nation they were participants and yet they did not have this law written on their hearts which is an essential element in the New Covenant think about this the Prophet Jeremiah is telling the people that in the days that are ahead there's this covenant coming that can't be breakable and there's this covenant coming where the law of God is written in your heart and you actually want to do it and we live in the days of that covenant what does Jesus say in John 14 the the one who loves me keeps my Commandments what does John say in his first epistle the commandments of God are not burdensome they're not Grievous don't we with David say oh how I love thy law it is my meditation day and night again there's remaining corruption there is a proneness to wander a proneness to leave the God that we love but we find that principle in us that we love God's law we want to do what pleases the father we want to honor him we want to glorify Him that's not because we're good it's not because we're virtuous it's by virtue of this covenant wherein God has saved us and put this law in our hearts it's a good a blessed thing now notice thirdly the persons in this covenant have the saving knowledge of God verse 10 this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people none of them shall teach his neighbour and none his brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them see again in the Old Covenant Esau was a member he had been circumcised others were members that had been circumcised but they didn't necessarily know the Lord remember those sons of Eli they were great kids weren't they just kidding trying to break it up a little bit everybody looks a bit heavy maybe it's the heat maybe it's the cold I don't know what they think about those sons of Eli they were actually priests ministering and these were the kind of priests that would be this way when when people would come and they would bring meat to offer up to the Lord they take their their their fork and they put it in there pull something out and make sure they got theirs first they had that IGM I got mine sort of a sentiment and then they also lay with temple prostitutes I mean again these is we're not not not wonderful human beings not persons that you would say hey these are the best that we have to offer but it tells us in 1st Samuel 2:12 they did not know Yahweh you see it wasn't an essential element to be in the Old Covenant and even function as a priest in the Old Covenant to knowing your way but that's not true in the New Covenant everybody in the New Covenant knows your way doesn't know about him it's just not cognition but it's experiential knowledge it's the knowledge of God it's the John 17:3 that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent it's the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3 and to know him and the power of his resurrection see this knowledge of God that we have in the New Covenant is an essential element it is a necessary feature of the New Covenant that wasn't so in the old so you start to see why the Apostle calls it a better covenant with better promises that affords a better hope because when you're in this New Covenant the Bible tells us that you're a believer you're a Christian you're somebody who has been forgiven which is that final feature we'll look at in just a moment but back to verse 11 there by the end of verse 10 I will be their God and they shall be my people one has called this the Immanuel principle I will be their God and they shall be my people isn't this the pinnacle of covenant religion isn't this the pinnacle of our Christian experiences the knowledge of God we are his people he is our God that comes as a result of this blessed New Covenant you see this emphasize from the beginning of the Bible to the end you see it in the book of Exodus The Book of Leviticus Deuteronomy Jeremiah Ezekiel Hosea Zechariah Corinthians in the New Testament revelation 21:3 revelation 21:3 that actual realization God is our God and we are his people that is an essential element of the New Covenant that wasn't so in the Old Covenant and that brings us fourthly to consider the forgiveness of sins notice in verse 12 for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more that's spoken in the manner of men God doesn't forget there's no way God forgets right that would introduce confusion into who God there's something he forgot it's for us that he says this I will remember them no more in terms of justice and righteousness and punishment the prophet Micah uses the imagery in Chapter seven of God casting our iniquities into the depths of the sea it's the same sort of a sentiment it's the same sort of a reality God is not going to continue to bring those things to bear upon us he's not going to continue to bring it to us and say well remember back in 1985 when you did such-and-such no he says I will remember them no more this is covenant blessing the forgiveness of sins brethren I hope that you know this I hope that you understand that I hope that you revel in this if you are not brethren if you are sinner still and hopefully friend but if you are in your sins the way is to God through Christ Jesus because it's the blood of Jesus Christ His Son that cleanses us from all sin again David had the forgiveness of sins others in the Old Covenant had the forgiveness of sins they enjoyed those blessings but it wasn't by virtue of the Old Covenant it wasn't an essential element of the Old Covenant whereas in the New Covenant it is essential this is what makes up the people of God this is what they all have in common we come from different backgrounds we have different ages represented here we have different socio-economic pasts we have all this stuff but these things are true we're in a covenant that can't be broken we're in a covenant that affords to us the internalization of the law we are in a covenant wherein we are God's people and he is our God and we're in a covenant where we can sing with the hymn writer my sin oh the Bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord it's the forgiveness of sins glorious and grand and most excellent I want to provoke anyone here that doesn't know it to want it there is nothing more reassuring than first John 1:9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness nothing more assuring than Jesus emphasis to Peter when Simon Peter comes to the master and says Lord if my brother sins against me seven times in a day am I supposed to forgive him I bet Peter thought he was being very generous very benevolent very kind very large hearted very much the sort of Christian that you want to be Jesus says no seven times seventy and I don't think Jesus emphasis there is on counting how many times a day that person said the emphasis is on if God is fuse in his forgiveness toward us we need to be profuse and our forgiveness to one another in Ephesians and in Colossians the Apostle tells us were to forgive one another even as God in Christ forgave us why would we harbor grudges why would we engage in that sort of bitterness why would we have that sort of resentment when God has forgiven us of our sins there is the blessedness afforded to us in this goodness of God the forgiveness of sins from God Almighty again David knew it David reveled in it David rejoiced in it but it was not an essential element of Old Covenant religion it is an essential element of New Covenant religion so those are the four blessings that bind us all together and hopefully encourages us we're in a covenant that can't be broken again because of God not me we're in a covenant where God has put the law in our hearts such that I actually want to do what he called me to do I'm gonna covenant where God is my god and and I'm his people and I'm in a covenant where God has forgiven me of my sins that's psalm 130 reality if thou Lord shuts mark iniquities O Lord who could stand that's a powerful question isn't it if God should mark iniquities who could stand is there anybody in this room because well I'll take a stab at it I'll stand before God no righteousness of Christ all I'll try it on my own that will last for about a millisecond if thou should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand but he goes on to say but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared this theology that that tries to to keep people in a place where they don't think they can ever go to God he's an affront to the god of grace this God says through his inspired prophet there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared it's a great joy and a privilege to be able to tell real sinners about a real Savior and a real forgiveness of sin you say well what kind of sins ten commandments sort of sins bad sins wretched sins horrible sins the Apostle Paul type sent the the King David type sins the sorts of sins we look at and say wow I cannot believe this well it's the grace of Almighty God and in a few minutes we're gonna sing of that grace and we're gonna say Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see isn't that the glory of the Christian gospel well that's essential to the New Covenant and that's why the Apostle says it is superior and then quickly and finally notice in verse 13 he says in that he says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete where was the Old Covenant rendered obsolete at the cross it is finished Christ said the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through our Lord Jesus Christ that is the great sort of covenant 'el transition in that he says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete he speaks to the historical reality now now what is becoming obsolete and growing old see at the cross not everybody got the memo at the cross those who believe the gospel understood the Old Covenant is gone we're in the New Covenant now but those who rejected Jesus continued as I said to go to the temple to go to the priesthood to go and bring their sacrifices they were still continuing in it and this is what the Apostle recognizes so it was made obsolete at the cross now what is becoming obsolete and growing old in terms of its external manifestation among Israel is ready to vanish away that is a reference I would argue to ad 70 when the Romans come in AD 70 they destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple that was the visible representation the manifestation that the transition between Old Covenant and new had in fact occurred and that's what the Apostle speaks to there at verse 13 well in conclusion few thoughts and then our brother and I will enter into the water together in the first place we need to appreciate the superiority of the new covenant the new covenant is a better covenant it really is the attempts to flatten the two the attempts to make the water you know two into one well it's not that much better it's not that much new or it's not that much greater the very argument is apostle of the Apostle tells us is that much better it is that much greater of course Jesus as the mediator of the new covenant isn't going to mediate something that is only a little bit better it is glorious it is wonderful it's a better covenant this is established in 722 and 8:6 it's established on better promises according to 86 namely the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity as the mediator of this new covenant who ratified the covenant through his own precious blood in Exodus 24 I had mentioned they say all that the Lord has said we will do well Moses sprinkled the animal blood on them that covenant was ratified in blood so is the new covenant this is the blood of the Covenant Jesus says this is my blood the blood of the new covenant which is shed for the remission of sins of many so this is the glorious truth that the Scriptures tell us in this place concerning the New Covenant secondly we ought to appreciate who makes up the New Covenant the members of the New Covenant notice what it tells us in the first place the members of the New Covenant are those who believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ they believe the truth as it is in Jesus remember saving faithful he's everything that the Bible says but the principle acts of saving faith have regard to Jesus Christ receiving and resting upon him alone for salvation so faith in Christ by the grace of God is absolutely imperative for New Covenant believers secondly consistent with what we find here they're the sorts of people that can't even break the covenant that they're in there are the sorts of people that have the law of God written upon their hearts they're the sorts of people that know God they are God's people and God is their God and they are the people that that have their sins forgiven fact John Owen makes this observation he says the new covenant is made with them alone who effectually and eventually are made partakers of the grace of it indeed this is the excellency of this covenant and so it is here declared that it does effectually communicate all the grace and mercy contained in it unto all and everyone with whom it is made whomever it is made with his sins are pardoned see what I was saying everybody in the new covenant looks like this see there's no external non saving relationship to the new covenant like there was in the Old Covenant this is why we baptized believers this is why persons that have believed persons who have by grace repentant person to demonstrate evidences of the reception of these particular blessings they and they alone are supposed to be baptized now John Owen would say and their children in other places we do not believe that we are a Baptist Church we give the Covenant sign which is baptism to the covenant community which are the persons described like they are in this passage now as far as infants as far as babies as far as toddlers and children and young people we love that we preach to them we catechized them we teach them at all we encourage them to flee to Jesus Christ we don't treat them as heathen we don't treat them as Gentile we don't keep them out at family worship time but we do not give them a covenant sign that the Covenant mediator has given to those in the Covenant this is a most important reason why from a covenantal perspective we ought to baptize believers the Westminster larger catechism seems to indicate this reality as well which if you know anything about the Westminster catechism and faith confession of faith they practice believers baptism but listen to what they say in larger catechism 31 with whom was the covenant of grace made the covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam and in him with all the elect as his seed said done amen praise God that's a wonderful articulation of gospel truth it's only those who believe only those who have received these essential elements of New Covenant religion it's only they that should go into the waters of baptism some have said we practice a dolt baptism no we practice believers baptism if a believer happens to not be an adult we baptize them if they give evidences of faith and repentance its believers baptism it's the persons who manifest these things in their lives that are to go into the water of baptism and those as new members of the New Covenant those who should reflect often on the significance of baptism it's great to be able to fir to Pete as my brother today it's great when he came to me called and said he wanted to be back he came actually came and said he wanted to be baptized what an encouraging thing what a blessed thing we pray for that we ask God to attend the preaching of the word we pray for the Holy Spirit to open eyes open arts and to implant that faith and repentance so that sinners can close with Jesus Christ what a blessed thing and what a blessed time for all of us Pete and every single one of us here who are members of the New Covenant to reflect upon the significance of water baptism our confession of faith is good here baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized a sign of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection Romans 6 death resurrection that's the significance you go into a watery grave a dead center and you come out United to the Lord Jesus Christ again not because of the magic of the water not because of the magic of anything you know mysterious in the water this is an external visible symbolic representation of what God the Spirit has done in the brothers heart goes on to say of his being engrafted into him of remission of sins and others giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life this is really how the Apostle Paul appeals to baptism in Romans says what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound may it never be you died you were you've been raised again you don't continue in sin you seek by the grace of God to put sin to death he's given you the resources he's given you the power he's given you the Holy Spirit in order to do that the idea is is reflect upon the significance of water baptism in your own Christian life and experience it's not just a one-off it's something that we as God's people ought to reflect on on a regular basis something big happened on that day again wasn't that we were saved it wasn't that there was magic conveyed through the waters into our pores or anything like that but it was a public declaration that we are Christ and He is ours that is most glorious and then the final thing I want to mention is the blood of the Covenant the Old Covenant as mentioned was ratified with blood Exodus 24 the Apostle will tell us in Hebrews 10 that blood could never take away sin was a reminder it caused us to reflect upon our own sin and the need for blood atonement that sort of thing but it never did atone it pointed forward to the one who would atone the new covenant was ratified with the blood of Jesus Christ you see that in Hebrews 727 Hebrews 9:11 2:14 Hebrews 9:26 228 Hebrews 10 10 and Hebrews 10 12 to 14 it's the blood of Jesus Christ His Son that cleanses us from all unrighteousness and I want to quote a particular fellow in a commentary on 2nd Samuel 21 you know what a second Samuel 21 have to do with blood atonement well it's an instance of blood atonement there needs to be a reckoning for the way that it's all dealt with the Gibeonites remember Israel entered into a covenant with the Gibeonites and they weren't supposed to slaughter them and yet Saul did have them slaughtered and so the remaining gibeonites come and David indicates or David executes atonement and Rolf Davis comments and I think the the lesson here should be should be graspable to all he says the text 2nd samuel 21 1 2:14 says atonement is horrible it is gory now think about this for a moment we talked about as Protestant Christians that that salvation is for salvation is Grace well it did cost the son of God it's free to us right he paid a debt he didn't know that we could be free it cost Christ according to his humanity his life he says the text says atonement is horrible it is gory atonement is never nice but always gruesome we need to see this for we easily fall into the trap of regarding atonement as merely a doctrine a concept and abstraction to be explained a bit of theology to be analysed or little better to view it as a moving story and to be replayed during Passion Week but we should know better surely the Israelite worshiper realized this when he toed a young ball to the tabernacle and had to slit its throat skin it cut it in pieces and wash the insides and legs it was all mess and gore from slicing the bull's throat Leviticus 1 all the way to Calvary Calvary God has always said atonement is nasty and repulsive Christians must beware of becoming too refined longing for kinder gentler faith if we've grown too used to Golgotha perhaps Gibeah can shock us back into truth atonement is a drippy bloody smelly business the stench of death hangs heavy wherever the wrath of God has been quashed now I say all that to say this we speak of the blood of the Covenant we speak of the blood by which God cleanses us and we don't as Davis calls upon us to reflect sufficiently on what really occurred Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief Jesus the very darling of heaven comes into this world he comes to and his own and his own received him not he is not welcomed he is not bowed to his not worship he is not glorified he is by the mass of men reject it when it comes time to pilots question Barabbas or Jesus they say give us Barabbas they want a terrorist they want salamati instead of the Lord Christ it is absolutely horrific so what do I do with him away with him away with him crucify him they nail him to the cross they mock him they spit on him why it is for this reason so that we might have everlasting life so that we might have the forgiveness of sins that we might have the internalization of God's law that he might be our God and we might be his people brethren we need to reflect upon this and rejoice in it because what God has done for us is truly amazing and glorious and wondrous and if God does that it demonstrates his willingness to save sinners if you are still in your sins today quit playing games and flee to the Lord Jesus Christ believe on him and you will be saved let us pray father thank you for your word thank you for your gospel thank you that you save sinners sinners not people that deserve it not people that are upright not people that are a little bit better but sinners sinners as you find us transgressors of the law those who lack conformity unto it those who not only transgress but do so willfully and joyfully and happily and yet God you cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ you grant us the graces of faith and repentance you give us all things necessary for eternal life and this found it upon the Blessed Savior the Lord Jesus Christ the one in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen we ask that you would encourage and strengthen our hearts we ask that you would draw sinners unto yourself by the power of your Holy Spirit and we pray these things in Jesus Holy Name Amen in a him and that ham will be number four hundred and thirty three children who have been down the nursery you wouldn't mind getting you young children downstairs and Surrey encourage that encourage the adults were down there to it to come up to participate is baptism so please turn with me then your and head books to him number 433 Alaska state of these [Music] [Music] typically we do it like this come forward in Gospel we hear the word and sacraments we see the word one man is well said then worship with reference to Christianity ought to be a time with the free store trade the word read the word and sing the word and then see it we see it in Baptism we see it the Lord's Supper certainly we want the little ones to see what is happening up front here this is a picture book as it worked for Christianity I remember early on I got a book about British Columbia and it was basically pictures well you didn't need a lot of words because when you see all of the beautiful picture she learned something about the name of the country or rather the state or province sorry when America and I think states sometimes but but this is a visible representation as was said earlier what God has already done when the service is over we're going to open the faucet and the water is going to run out into the parking lot there's nothing magical here but it's by the Lord's decree he uses tangible things water and baptism bread and wine and the supper things because we're creature saying that things that appeal to us things that we can sink our teeth into pun intended we are we're people that are fed by these things as well and so the Lord God is good in his provision and certainly we want to see the children one day embrace the Savior for themselves and enter the waters of baptism as well just want to remind us and refresh us on baptism again from our confession of faith baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the parting baptized a sign of his fellowship with him and his death and resurrection of his being grafted into him of remission of sins and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life those who do actually profess repentance towards God faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance the outward element to be used in this ordinance is water we're in the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and then immersion or dipping of the person in water is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance so that's the significance behind it we find that scripturally we see they were they believed and were baptized all throughout the book of Acts which does reflect what we find in the prophets announcement in Jeremiah 31:31 234 now usually I give the opportunity for the person being baptized to either a share a bit of an experience of testimony or be I will ask questions and I'm going to ask questions of Pete but just for a moment I'd like to say this is an encouraging day when Pete first started coming here he would visit me and we had some good good conversations and and some rousing conversations and I've just seen over the past while been a couple years now it would imagine just a seriousness and a desire and then as I said when he came a couple weeks ago and said he wanted to be baptized it was just praise God Almighty we pray for these things to happen we beseech the Lord of Mercy to show that mercy to give that grace and God has done that with Pete and Liz if I'm sure you probably have all gotten to know them to some degree or other has been very encouraging to CP confessing openly his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and coming into the waters of baptism it's a real blessing for me and I count myself privileged to be a part of this so I'm gonna ask the questions and then we will baptize you all right do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally his Father Son and Holy Spirit yes do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve his punishment for your sins yes do you believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God lived in obedience to God's law died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners and rose on the third day yes do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins yes and do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ yes stand over here I would plug your nose okay i baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [Applause] well let's pray and then we'll close by singing you doxology father in heaven we give praise to you we know this is not because of Pete's virtue but because of Christ's we thank you for the light from the best and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and God I just pray that you'd help Pete and Liz to continue to persevere we know father it won't be easy it's never the case that these things are and yet father you give great grace and your Holy Spirit is sufficient to guide to lead to direct us on on the path and you strengthen this church it may cause all of us to grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and God we long for the day when these little ones they rise up and they confess faith in Christ the Lord as well and enter into these waters God do this for your glory do this in your sovereignty and do this for the good of your people and when we pray these things to Christ Jesus our Lord amen we can stand and turn to 568 568 [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] bless and keep us and bring glory to your name in it through our lives we thank you for the Lord's Day help us to sanctify it bring us together tonight as we in a special way remember our Lord's death on our behalf and we pray these things to Christ the Lord amen you may be you