Matthew's Gospel chapter 28, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. This morning we gather together here and it's a particular day because one of the sacraments of the church is to be administered. That is the sacrament of baptism. It's not every week we have a baptism. But there are two sacraments in the New Testament church that we are told of. One is the Lord's Supper. and the other is the sacrament of baptism. Both these sacraments, we believe, are signs and seals of the covenant of grace. The Lord's Supper and baptism, they both represent to us what is contained within the preaching of the Word. Now you will notice when in the Old Testament circumcision was introduced as a sign of the covenant, it was introduced at the time when God was teaching Abraham about the covenant. The Lord Jesus here associates teaching with the sign of the covenant, teach all nations and baptise all nations. That is why we always have the sacraments associated with the preaching of the Word. Be it the Lord's Supper, be it baptism, it is not a private thing. It is done in the face of the congregation. It is done as the Lord's people gather together. Teach them and baptise them. And so it is that when we come today, we are seeking to administer the sacrament of baptism. But we want to look at a few things. And I want to first of all ask you a question. Does baptism save anyone? Does baptism as a sacrament save anybody? Now I'm sure if I were to ask you that question, you would probably answer, of course not. But answering that in the negative, you would be wrong. We have read in Peter's epistle, if you go back to it, you will see that he says, baptism doth save. Baptism does save. And it would be wrong for us to say that baptism does not save. And that leads us on to ask the question, how does baptism save? How is it that today the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Reformed men of a past age believed that baptism and the Lord's Supper both were not only signs representing the things of the covenant of grace, but actually sealing them. They are signs and seals. How is it then that baptism can save? Well, can I ask you another question to illustrate what I mean? Does preaching save anyone? And the answer to that question is undoubtedly yes, and undoubtedly no. Does the Lord's Supper save anyone? The answer to that question is undoubtedly yes and undoubtedly no. And at the same token, does baptism save anyone? The answer to that is undoubtedly yes and undoubtedly no. What do we mean? Well, baptism in and of itself saves nobody. Simply to be baptised as a child, an infant or as an adult will save nobody. Roman Catholicism believes that simply to be baptised you are regenerate, simply to go to the sacraments of the Lord's Supper, your sins can be forgiven you. That's why in Roman Catholicism you can have, I don't know if anybody ever saw the film of the Godfather, you can have mafia Godfathers having their children baptised. And they can go to the Lord, to the Mass. And they can be saved. There's no change. There's no spiritual change in their lives. But we do not believe that. Baptism will save no one, any more than simply sitting under the preaching of the Word will save anyone. There are many people who will sit under the preaching of the Word, maybe for many years, and they will never be saved. There are perhaps people in this congregation today who will listen to a sermon, who will listen to the Word of God, and they will go to hell. Because simply sitting under the preaching of the Word will save no one. Does that mean that preaching never saves anyone? On the contrary. The apostle says that it is the preaching of the word that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Preaching, when rightly used, is a great blessing that the God, because faith cometh by hearing. And God uses hearing, the preaching of the word, as a means whereby he will save his people. Preaching is a great means whereby, when rightly used, is a great means whereby he will ingather his sheep, they will hear the preaching, and it will by the power of the Spirit become the power of God unto salvation, and preaching will save them. Not simply preaching in and of itself, but preaching As God uses it as a means of grace, when it is rightly used as a great means to encourage faith, to give you comfort of faith, to bring that you may know that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. And in that sense, preaching saves. And so it is with the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a wonderful means of grace whereby God will bless it to a soul, and they will see past the things that are there, the bread and the wine, and their faith will be strengthened, stirred up, their faith, they will persevere in the faith, because God, when that sacrament is rightly used, it is a means whereby God will save his people. And so it is with baptism. Simply being baptised will save no one. But baptism is a wonderful sacrament that God will use in the life of a sinner to help us in our faith, to encourage us in the Christian road, and by that, it is a means whereby God is saving His people. So if I ask you today, does baptism save anyone? You can say no, but you can also say yes, because baptism is a sign and a seal of the great benefits that are to be found in the covenant of grace. Now when the Lord there says, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them. Simply teaching will not save anyone, but teaching that is rightly used The Lord Jesus himself says, go and do it, because I will use it as a means to save even nations. Baptising them, that in itself will not save anyone, but I will use it as a wonderful means to encourage my people and the Church of Christ. Now that brings us then on to ask, and I just want to touch this subject, how are we to baptise? How are we to baptise? A debate as to whether we sprinkle, whether there should be full submersion. We are in a building where beside us here there is an indication to us that would say to us it must be full submersion. I'm not going to spend much time on this. There is no justification in scripture for saying that it must be full submersion. None whatsoever. Indeed the very opposite is the case. 3,000 coming. Imagine 3,000 coming into this building. The Lord says, go and baptise nations. Imagine the nations coming in to be baptised here. You would be all day and every day doing nothing but baptising. It's impossible. 3,000 converted in one day and they came and they were baptised. Did they go into the river and go right down, every single one of them? It's nonsense. On the contrary, you go to the Scripture and you will find in the Old Testament that even Moses dipped and sprinkled the whole crowd, sanctified them. When you go to Hebrews chapter 12, Paul speaks there of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Not the submersion, but the sprinkling of His blood. Therefore today, when we baptise a child here and it's sprinkling, it's a symbol, it's a sign and a symbol. We don't need any more than that. But let us then go on simply to look at whether today we should be baptising children at all. We have a young child coming here to be baptised and The Lord Jesus says, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them, that is, baptising nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Should we today be baptising a child? And the answer most assuredly is yes. The very first reason for that is that children are part of God's covenant people. You go back to the Old Testament to Genesis chapter 17 to the time when the covenant was made with Abraham. And what do you find? Chapter 17 and verse 7. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And the sign of that covenant was the sign of circumcision. It was a sign that children are part of God's covenant people. Now I want you to notice when you come to the Acts of the Apostles and chapter 2, and in verse 39, the terminology and the words that are used here are exactly the same as that which is given to Abraham. I will be their God and they shall be my people." Look at how closely the New Testament covenant mirrors that of the Old Testament. Chapter 2 and verse 39, For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Even as to as many as the Lord thy God, to thy children and to thy children's children. And again in Hebrews chapter 8 we see the correlation once again. Chapter 8 and verse 10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people. See how it is echoing the covenant that is given with Abraham. Because the same covenant covers both Testaments. The covenant that was made with Abraham was a covenant that was based not upon works but upon faith. The covenant in the New Testament is a covenant based on faith. Abraham was saved by the same Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was looking past the signs to the coming Messiah. We look past the signs to a Messiah who has already come. It's the same covenant. There are the same promises. You see, the covenant that is there in the Old Testament is a covenant of grace. And the covenant that we have today is a covenant of grace. And Peter, when he speaks in Acts chapter 2, he says the promise, as it was said to Abraham, the promise is to you and to your children, give them the sign, they are part of the covenant. And Peter says, our children are also part of God's covenant people. So that today, as we meet, and as we baptise a little child in the congregation, we are acknowledging that children are part of God's covenant people. But it's not just that in Genesis, the sign that was given to Abraham was circumcision. Circumcise thy children. And you come to the New Testament And how wonderfully in the New Testament you find the same thing applied when it comes to baptism. When you come to Colossians and chapter 2 and in verse 11, in whom ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. Just as the Passover is replaced today by the Lord's Supper, So circumcision, the sign of the covenant, is replaced today with baptism. And indeed, baptism is called the circumcision of Christ. Ah, you see, we have every reason to baptise our children, to rejoice in baptising a child today. But it's not just what the Apostle Paul says, it's what the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has indicated. Remember when the Lord was sitting and they were bringing, mothers were bringing their children to him and asking him to bless them. No doubt some of them bringing them in their arms. Indeed, the Greek implies that it's younger than just teenagers. They're actually bringing them in their arms to him. And he says, suffer little children to come unto me because of theirs is the kingdom of God. Now whatever you take the kingdom of God to mean, it might just be the outward church. Are children not part of the outward church? Is there a kingdom of Christ that doesn't include and embrace young children? Of course it does. It includes babies. The kingdom of God embraces young children. The Lord Jesus Christ has told us so. Of such is the kingdom of God. But not just that the Lord Jesus Christ here gives to us that children in the Old Testament and children in the New Testament, and that children are invited even to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what the Lord Jesus here says to these disciples. Go ye and teach and baptise all nations. He doesn't say all nations, oh but exclude the children. What nation is there that does not include children? Are your children part of the Scottish nation, or the English nation, or your United Kingdom? My children are part of the nation. And the Lord Jesus says, go out and baptise nations. You see, it's not just individuals, it's even nations that should be Christianised. There was a day when Scotland was seen, and Britain was seen, as a Christian nation. And how right it should be. We surely pray for the day when, once again, our nation would become a Christian nation. And the Lord says, go out and baptise nations. Baptise cities. As they come and as they are brought into the kingdom, as they are part of the Church of Christ, baptise them. It's a sign that they are part of God's covenant people. As we've already said, it doesn't imply they're saved. that God can use it as a great means of grace, properly used to bless them. All nations, but it's not just nations, it's families. Remember how the Apostle Paul went out and he came to the house of Lydia, and we are told that the house of Lydia and all her family were baptised. came to the Philippian jailer and all his family were baptised. He and his household were baptised. Oh, wait a minute. Households without children. So you now have the Kingdom of God without children, you now have nations without children, and now you have families without children. No, my friend. The Kingdom of God includes children, nations include children, and families. Households have children. And what a wonderful thing it is that the Lord Jesus Christ has said to his church, you recognise that children are part of families, part of nations, and they are part of my kingdom. Part of my kingdom. But you see, there's even something further than that that the Apostle tells us. He actually tells us that our children are holy. Our children are holy children. Do you recognise today that the young child that will come before the church here and will be baptised before the congregation, do you recognise that that child is a holy child? It's a holy child. The Apostle Paul tells us that when you go to 1 Corinthians. And in chapter 7 and verse 14, For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy. What does that mean? Well, if you have two unbelieving parents, two unbelievers, neither of them are sanctified. Their children are unclean. And in the Old Testament, the terminology of unclean was they are unfit to be presented and to be given to the Lord. They're not fit to be that. But what you need, one parent that is a believer sanctifies the unbelieving husband. And the believing husband sanctifies the unbelieving. In other words, they're the holy household. What does it mean? It means That there's a household. And there are children that are now clean. Else, your children would be unclean. But now are they holy. Why are they holy? Because of the believing parent. In other words, there are children here, holy means to be set apart to God. That's what holiness means. To be holy means to be set apart to God. And the apostle is saying here, there is now a child, just like the firstborn in the Old Testament. The firstborn in the Old Testament of the Lord's people were to be set apart to God. to be dedicated to God. But he says, with one believing parent, therefore that child can be set apart and dedicated unto God. And how do you separate and dedicate your children to God? In the first instance, it's not a service of dedication. The Bible doesn't speak of a service of dedication to children. That's something that's invented. What the Bible tells us is that we dedicate our children to God by baptising them, giving them the sacrament that involves the outward union with Christ in the visible church. And to say that this child is entitled to all the privileges of a member of Christ's visible church. It doesn't say the child is regenerate, it doesn't say the child is born again. It says that this child is dedicated to God. It's holy. Separated and dedicated, but otherwise your children, he says, are unclean. If you've got two unbelievers, your children are unclean. But one believing parent sanctifies the other. There's a household here that is sanctified and your children, he says, are holy, and entitled to be consecrated and dedicated to God, like the firstborn in Israel, even from the eighth day. That brings us then, come on, to ask, what is the meaning? When the Lord here says, go ye into all the world, into the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son, what does it mean? What does it mean today when we have a child brought into the Church of Christ, and when that child is baptised, what is that meaning? Well, we've almost already answered that. We've already almost given an answer to that. It doesn't mean to say that we're christening a child. You know, we often have the idea that baptism is a christening. It's not such a thing as a christening, making a Christian. Baptism isn't making the child anything, it's acknowledging what the child already is. It's a part of Christ's covenant kingdom. The child is a part of the church already. Christening, there isn't such a word as Christening in the Bible. You're not either-neither, you're giving it a name. The child has already got a name. What you are doing is acknowledging what the child already is. The way Abraham, when he circumcised the child on the eighth day, it was an acknowledgement of what that child already was. Part of God's covenant people. And there was a sign forever to let people know that this child was part of God's covenant people. And that's what baptism is. It's acknowledging that the child is a part of this congregation. Isn't that wonderful? You're able to come here and baptise a child and you're saying this child is part of the congregation of Edinburgh Free Church of Scotland continuing here in Edinburgh and by such that child is a member of God's visible church. It's wonderful. That's wonderful, a great privilege our children have. Because there is first of all a sign of the and a sealing of the covenant of grace. Right at the beginning of a child's life there is a sign given to it indicating to that child and to ourselves of the benefits of the covenant of grace. The wonderful benefits that there are in God's covenant in Christ. Right at the beginning of the child's life In the Old Testament, eight days. Right at the beginning. A signifying and a benefit. All the benefits of God's covenant of grace. It signifies that that child is united to Christ. Outwardly in the visible church. The church of Christ is His church. Within that church there is the wheat and the chaff. the good and the bad. But it is His church. It is not the church of any pope. It is not the church of any congregation or minister or anything. It is Christ's church. And when a child is baptised and given the sign of the covenant, it is saying that this child is different to the child out the door. This child is different. This child is united to Christ. Outwardly. It's a sign of sins forgiven through faith. You see, people say to you, the Roman Catholics say to you, by baptism there's regeneration. It's not that. It's a sign of the need of regeneration. It's the sign of the needing of the washing of regeneration. It's a sign that that child will carry with it all its days as you carry with it and as I carry with it if we are baptised as children, if we're baptised as adults. That is a reminder that baptism is a sign of the righteousness of faith. It's not righteousness, but the righteousness of faith. In other words, whosoever believes will be righteous. That's what the sign is. A child gets that sign right at the very outset of its life by the sprinkling of water showing the need of the washing of regeneration. And in the washing of regeneration, our sins are forgiven. Sins are washed away. Just as circumcision signified the cutting off of sin, So baptism, the circumcision of Christ, indicates that we need to be born again and by this new birth our sins are forgiven and we need regeneration. But it's not simply the signs of the covenant. As we have already said, it's a sign of dedication. Baptism is a sign of dedication. If we are baptised as adults, nobody believes that adults can be baptised if they've never been baptised before. It's a sign in baptism that you're dedicating yourself to the Lord. When we come with a child, it's the same thing. It's a sacrament of dedication, where you are dedicating and giving. You're bringing your child in as they brought the firstborn in, and they are saying, we are dedicating our child to the Lord. We are enlisting this child under the banner of Christ in the fight against the devil, the world and the flesh. Ought not we to dedicate our children to God? That's what baptism is. We are dedicating our children the way Abraham and the children of Israel dedicated their children. And there was a sign of the covenant, so we today have a wonderful sign where our children are dedicated. Now, I want to just conclude with two or three things of the consequences of what I've said. First of all, what a solemn occasion it is. a baptism. People, you see, think of baptism as just naming a child and baptisms, you know, sort of christening, you know, it's a wee recognition. Not at all. Here is a sacrament that has been instituted by Christ himself. And that ought to make it most solemn. Solemn. In the sacrament it is emphasising and bringing before us what is already in the preaching, what is already being taught. Go and teach them and baptise them. And what is in the sacraments is emphasising and bringing out in a most wonderful way what is already preached. We preach about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach about Him going to Calvary. We preach of Him giving Himself, of His body being broken and His blood being shed. And we sit at the Lord's table and we handle and we taste and we smell and it all becomes alive to faith. And we preach how you need to be born again, how you need to be regenerate, how you need the washing of regeneration, and how you need to have your sins forgiven and washed away. You need to be justified before a holy God, and we have a sacrament that emphasises that when we see water. What better can we have than water to show how you need to be washed, with the washing of regeneration, and how you need your sins to be washed away in the precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bring your child, and I'll give you a sign. Teach and baptise, and I'll give you a sign that it's very setting out in life. This is the first thing we will tell this child as it grows up, as it becomes to an age of four and five, and it begins to understand. What are you going to teach that child? You're going to teach that child how it needs to be born again. You can go back and say, son, daughter, daughter, do you know what happened? You are part of God's outward covenant people. What a great privilege that is for you to date of that. And do you know Christ has even given you a sign to show you that you're part of God's covenant people. You're different to the children that are in your classroom. You're different to the children that you have in your clubs or wherever you go to. You're different to them. You're not different because you're somehow quaint or strange. You're different because you are part of God's covenant people. And you know the very first thing God said to you? When He brought that before you, when you were brought into the church as a little child in your mother's arms, do you know what the Lord was saying to you? You need to be born again. You need to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and you need to trust in Him that you would be saved. That's the first thing the Lord is saying to you, even before you were even able to comprehend it. It's there in the midst of the church, it's there, and the people of the church. Those who themselves have been baptised were there to witness it. Those who were there, they came and they saw it. And they were reminded of their baptism and their need to be born again. I see, it's wonderful. God is preaching to children even before children are born. That's the way in the Old Testament when they had the circumcised, the eighth day, they were being reminded that they needed to cut off sin, there needed to be that departure from sin, and that their fallen human nature came by their ordinary generation from Adam, and they, like Adam, are sinners. Fallen human nature. They're reminded of that. They need to be washed. And you know, That's a reminder to us today. I had a wedding yesterday to perform. And at the wedding, I spoke to the couple who were being married and I told them, you know, what you would expect a minister to say. People of the world there, they might not have quite comprehended why it was that I mentioned that marriage is between a man and a woman and anything else is an abomination. That when a man and a woman take vows, they vow and their vow, their yea should be yea and their nay should be nay. And as they grow up, they should be faithful to one another. And also how the Apostle Paul in Ephesians speaks about Christ dwelling by faith. And we're a difference. The Apostle says that we might comprehend that love. We don't know it by nature. And I encourage them in their married life to, as they are setting out in a married life together as husband and wife, recognised by the state, recognised in the law of the land. And here was a Christian wedding, and I put these Christian things to them. That's right at the beginning of their marriage. You know, that may be all very well. But unless they use that properly, ultimately it will mean nothing to them. And that's true of baptism, that's true of the Lord's Supper. The Lord is speaking to us through these things, but unless we use them properly, that have no effect. That's true of the preaching of the word. Unless we use the preaching properly, when properly used, it's a great blessing to us. A minister saying that to a couple being married could be a great blessing to their marriage and the rest of their days when they perhaps remember it, when we get married, this is what he said. Uncompromising perhaps, but he said it. Let's think upon it. Let's read our Bible. Let's enjoy the company of the Lord's people in our home. Let's delight in faith in Christ because we can do all things and He can do more for us than we even ask or think. He said that. Me saying it might be representing it to them but it won't be a seal to them unless they act upon it. And that's true with baptism. We are reminded here when a child is baptised We're not just being told that the child's been baptised, we are reminded ourselves of the need of all these things. And it's not just that it's a great solemn occasion, but a baptism's a great joyous occasion. Isn't that a wonderful occasion? It's when children are born and that the fruit of the womb, says the psalmist, is God's great blessing to the child. And when a child is brought into the church, not only solemn, it's joyous and joyful. And it ought to be joyful for each one of us today as we meet here and as we baptise Merdina in the congregation, recognising God's great blessing to us. Let us sing in Psalm 127. Psalm 127, singing the whole of the psalm. Accept the Lord to build the house, the builders lose their pain. Accept the Lord, the city keep, the watchman watch in vain. It is vain for you to rise with time, or late from rest to keep. To feed on sorrow's bread, so gives he his beloved sleep. Lo, children are God's heritage, the womb's fruit his reward. The sons of youth, as arrows are, for strong men's hands prepare. Oh, happy is the man that hath his quiver filled with those. The unashamed in the gate shall speak unto their foes. Psalm 127, the whole of the psalm. Accept the Lord to build the house. The builders lose their pain.