Well, as I said this morning, we have the great privilege of seeing JD being baptized this morning. But I'd like to give a few words of instruction about the sacrament of baptism. I'll be reading from Romans chapter four, verses five through 12. And after these words of instruction, James and Sarah, I will be inviting you up. Romans chapter four. And I said verse 5, but how about we start at verse 4? Romans chapter 4. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work, but trust him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Justice David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from the works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. Is this blessing then only for the circumcised? Or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well. and to make him the father of the circumcised, who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised." One of the objections against the biblical practice of infant baptism is, how is it that a little baby like JD, cute as he may be, is to receive a sign about righteousness received by faith if that little baby can't practice faith. In fact, that baby can't even come forward for the waters of baptism without the help of mom and dad. And so why is it that they should receive baptism? Well, Paul would say to that inquirer, you know, your issue is not with the New Testament. If you are saying that it is a problem for God to give a sign, a sign that represents righteousness received by faith through grace to someone who cannot respond to it immediately, you'd have to go to the Old Testament. Because we go and see Abraham, that man of faith who receives circumcision. And circumcision is not a sign of being a good Israelite, or circumcision is not a sign of you trying to work or earn your way to salvation. Circumcision, as Paul writes to the church in Rome, was a sign and seal of righteousness received by faith. And the Lord tells Abraham, take this sign that preaches the Gospel, righteousness received by faith, and place it on Ishmael. Place it on the young'uns in your household. Place it on Isaac. And so when Isaac received circumcision, he was not able to clap his hands with joy. He was not able to say to all of the other people, I have decided to place my faith in the Lord. But the covenant and its sign was all about what the Lord does and promises. He would receive that promise of righteousness made available to him by faith. This is the substance of both the Old and New Covenant. The way that God deals with His people from Genesis to Revelation is His righteousness administered to the people and they receive it by faith. And in the Old Covenant and in the New Covenant, this promise always involved children. The promise made to Adam involved his children. The promise made to Noah, to Abraham, to Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David involved their children. And last Lord's Day, as we read from Acts chapter two, as we hear the beginning of Christian preaching, what is noted? Peter says that this promise is for you and for your children. No, it is not the case that when we place the waters of baptism over Jedediah's head that he is saved. But friends, he is claimed. There is a claim made in baptism. Paul writes about it in 1 Corinthians 7, that the child of at least one believing parent is holy. They are set apart. Jedidiah does not belong to the world. He does not belong to other religions. He belongs to the Lord and should be brought to the Lord in his house. And baptism also gives you those promises to benefit from Christ's work and ministry. From the first day of your life, this was made available to you to respond in faith. And baptism comes with an obligation. Our testimony says it this way. Baptized persons are called upon to assume the obligations of the covenant. Baptism summons us to renounce sin in the world and to walk humbly with our God in devotion to His commandments. And so the obligation on JD, the obligation on all baptized Christians is stay in the house. Stay in the people of God, the family that the Lord has placed you in and increase by His grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. At this point, I'd like to call Sarah and James to come forward. Yeah, sure. Sure, yeah. Oh, don't do that, JD. This is a good day. James and Sarah, do you publicly renew your profession of faith in Christ and acknowledge your acceptance of the covenant of communicate membership? Yes. Okay. I'm going to now ask the congregation to rise, to ask them as well. Do you, the members of the Elkins Park congregation, receive this child into your fellowship and promise to pray for him and to help and encourage him and the parents as they seek to bring Jedidiah up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Amen. You may be seated. Now I'm going to ask you the promises for baptism. Do you believe that J.D. is a possession of God entrusted to your care? Yes. In this light, do you promise to provide for J.D.' 's temporal well-being, to teach him to love God and his word, the Bible, and to provide him with a God-centered education? Yes. Do you promise to teach J.D. of his sinful nature, of the plan of salvation which centers in Jesus Christ and his own personal need of a relationship with Christ? to the end that J.D. may grow in the Christian life, do you promise to pray for him, and to train him to read the Bible, to pray, to keep the Lord's Day, and to understand the nature of the church, the value of its worship and fellowship, and his need to seek communicant membership in the church? Yes. Do you promise to lead J.D. by your example, and parental discipline exercised in love, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the relationships of life? Yes. Do you make these promises in the presence of God in humble reliance upon His grace as you desire to give your account with joy at the last great day? Yes. Please join me as I pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your faithfulness and for your great love. You have delivered James and Sarah from sin, from the grave. You have brought them out of the house of darkness and brought them into the kingdom of your beloved Son who is blessed forever. And Lord, if that kindness was not enough, you are so gracious that you extend it to households. And what a joy and blessing that is. We thank you, Lord, that you have brought JD safely into this world and that you desire for him and for everyone to know that he belongs to you. And so, Lord, we ask that you would allow this baptism to be an effective means of grace. but you would allow this water to be an instrument of strengthening Jedidiah so that he would love the Lord Jesus Christ. This water that we now set apart from a common to a sacramental use in the name and by the authority of Zion's king and only head, Jesus Christ, amen. In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. Thank you. You may be seated. Our Old Testament reading this morning comes from the prophet Hosea. It can be found on page 754 of the Pew Bibles. In our reading in Mark, Jesus will say that he must suffer and be rejected and that it is according to the Scriptures. And certainly Hosea and what Hosea preached was in mind for our Lord. Hosea 6, and I'll be reading the first three verses. It's on page 754. Please give your attention to God's Word. Come, let us return to the Lord, for He has torn us, that He may heal us. He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us, and on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going out is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea preaches a message to Israel and Judah of judgment, resurrection, and restoration. In other words, by the Spirit of Christ, Hosea preaches the gospel. And the gospel of Christ then adds to Hosea's message substitution. It is the Lord Jesus who will be torn so that we may be healed. It is the Lord Jesus who will be struck so that we may be bound up and cared for. We see that for Israel, they would be receiving this judgment. The Lord Jesus takes on the judgment for his people. And because the Lord Jesus is God's anointed one, death does not have the final say, but Hosea preaches the resurrection. On the third day, he will raise us up. And the risen Lord then not only suffers for us, but calls us into the presence of God to know the Lord. And the risen and ascended Lord by His Spirit showers us with grace, wisdom, mercy, so that we may be refreshed like the waters and the rains that come down upon the earth. This is what Hosea preached. And Jesus tells his disciples that he must suffer so that all the beauty of the gospel preached by the Lord, preached by Hosea, could be ours by faith. Our New Testament reading this morning comes from 2 Timothy, chapter two, and I'll be reading verses 12 through 13. And that can be found on page 995 of the Pew Bible. 2 Timothy chapter 2, reading verses 11-13. Let's give your attention to God's Word. The saying is trustworthy. For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Jesus will tell His disciples in Mark 8 this morning, pick up your cross and follow Me. Jesus will also say that any who are ashamed of Me and My words, of that person the Son of Man will be ashamed of when He comes in glory. Paul says this is a trustworthy statement. Would you live with Christ? Well, pick up your cross and die with Him. Would you reign with Christ in the age to come? Well, endure carrying that cross. Endure the shame that may be thrown upon you for standing for Christ in His words. But Paul also writes, if you deny the Lord Jesus, He will deny you. Of course, the Lord Jesus isn't expecting us to do this perfectly. And so Paul says, if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. This is our call this morning, to live with Christ by dying, to endure with Him, knowing that one day we will reign with Him in the age to come, and never denying the Lord Jesus, because we do not want Him to deny us. Our sermon passage this morning is Mark Chapter 8. We'll be reading verses 27 through 38. It's going to be found on page 844 of the Pew Bible. Mark 8, going to be starting at verse 27 and reading to verse 38. It used to be the case that children had no idea what was preached at their baptism. If they were at a Reformed confessional church, they could gather, you know, the gospel, the supremacy of Christ, but not any really direct words towards them. Now with sermon technology, a lot of that has changed. So this morning I will be preaching to J.D. in hopes that one day J.D. will sit down and listen to what was preached at his baptism. But before I read and preach, would you please join me in seeking the Lord's blessing and prayer. Lord Jesus, I pray that You would send Your Spirit so that we may have understanding that the Word read and preached would not just go in one ear and out the other, but would land in our hearts. I pray that we would see who You are and who You reveal Yourself to be in the Scriptures and respond in faith. And we pray, Lord, that even now You would be working faith in the heart of J.D. that he would come to know that Jesus is the Messiah, that he would pick up his cross and follow you all the days of his life, and that we, Lord, would all do the same. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Mark chapter 8, starting at verse 27. Please give your attention to God's word. And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist. And others say, Elijah. And others, one of the prophets. And Jesus asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ. And Jesus strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And Jesus said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Jesus. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter. He said, Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And Jesus called to Him, the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for My sake in the Gospels will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." J.D., your ears are already working. In fact, at about 27 weeks, you are able to hear people talking outside of your mother's body. So you heard a whole lot of chitchat, a whole lot of people talking, and because your mother and father bring you to church faithfully, you have heard the Gospel. You have heard sermons about Jesus Christ. You have heard me and Pastor John talk about who Jesus is. However, at some point, JD, I don't know how old you'll be or where you're at. You might be at the playground, you might be at school or on a sports team, maybe a family gathering with extended family members. You will hear other people, not your pastors, not your mother and father, talk about who Jesus is. And they'll say, Jesus is a very nice spiritual teacher. Jesus was a rebel who was trying to overthrow the elites. They'll say all kinds of things. Jesus was a good teacher, but He was not God. Well, J.D., the disciples had a similar experience. They had been following Jesus and His disciples, and along the way they heard a whole bunch of things about who people thought Jesus was. And so He asked His disciples, Who do people say that I am? And the disciples gave answers. Now, notice they didn't give all of the things they've heard said about Jesus because people said Jesus was demon possessed and out of his mind. They gave answers that they thought might be appropriate. Some say you're Elijah. Some say you're John the Baptist. There was a bunch of answers and even today there is a bunch of answers. Friends, isn't it interesting that even though there's a decline in church attendance, and the world wants to get the Bible and Jesus away from the public sphere as much as possible, everywhere you go, you will find somebody who's got something to say about Jesus. People love to talk about the Lord. They love to talk about their opinions on who they think Jesus is. And so, J.D., after some time, you will have no difficulty when Pastor John comes to visit you and says, young man, who do people say that Jesus is? You'll have all kinds of answers. But the crucial question for you, young man, is that Jesus is asking you, J.D., who do you say that I am? Each Lord's Day as you come in the worship of God, as you sit in His house and under His preaching, Jesus by His Spirit is saying to you, JD, who do you say I am? Often when you are asked a question, you have to look inside yourself for an answer. You hear the question, you go inside your brain there and you start trying to file through all the facts and data you have accumulated to give an answer. You look internally and then you move outward with the answer. But you can't do this with this question, JD. The question that Jesus asked, who do you say that I am, must be revealed to you. You must be made able to answer this question. We hear Peter's answer, you are the Christ. And we think, what a brilliant, godly man. Look at Peter. And before we can begin to clap for him and cheer for him, we see Peter pull Jesus aside and rebuke him and tell Jesus that he's got it all wrong. It's as if Peter says, you are the Christ, but let me tell you how you got it all mixed up. You are the Christ, but let me tell you what you really should be doing. I'm happy that none of us are laughing at Peter this morning because we all do the same thing. Is it not the case that we all, given the circumstance, the right time, the right challenge, I know that you're the sovereign Lord over all, but let me tell you how you're messing this up. I know that you are the Lord who reigns supreme, but the way you're handling this person, this challenge, this circumstance, my health, my future, well, you're messing up. Peter answers that Jesus is the Christ. And before we can begin to think that it's something he figured out on his own thinking and his own meditation, it makes it very clear to us by his rejection of Christ being that suffering Messiah, that it needed to be revealed to Peter who is Jesus. And we get this in Matthew's Gospel. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And in what Jesus says to Peter, we hear the nature of Christian truth. Christianity is a revealed religion. We do not learn the contents of the Christian faith or what is confessed about Jesus Christ by looking into nature, by considering culture and traditions. Or by asking ourselves, what do the elites of our day think? No, we must turn to God. He must reveal to us by His Spirit and Word what is true and what should be believed and confessed about Jesus Christ. James and Sarah, what Jesus pronounced about Jesus, this must be your prayer every day for JD and for your daughters. That you would ask your Heavenly Father to send His Spirit and to open the eyes of JD to see who Jesus is. That as you wait and are eager to hear your son confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that you would give yourself diligently to praying that the Lord would reveal to him that great truth, so that your son will be saved. And J.D., as soon as you can, pray and ask God, teach me, Lord. Instruct me. In fact, that's something we should all be praying. When you come to read God's Word, do you pray for that? Or is the silent thoughts in your head not, Lord, send Your Spirit so that I may learn and know and trust, but let me get this done so I can make sure I'm a good Christian reading my Bible. Don't get it mistaken, what I'm trying to say about that, you should be reading your Bible. But read your Bible to know Jesus truly. Read your Bible with the confidence that it's not just a collection of paper, but it's the Word of God and He has promised to teach you, to comfort you, to rebuke you when needed, to reveal to you who Jesus is. No one can confess that Jesus is the Messiah unless by the Holy Spirit. Not only does the Holy Spirit create in us the right confession about Jesus Christ, but produces in us the right response to the cross of Christ. You know, it is impossible. It is impossible to see something as horrific and shameful as the cross and say, truly, this is the power and victory of Jesus. Peter knows what a cross is. It's a Roman torture device to heap as much shame as humanly possible on a poor soul. So that everyone can see the bloodied, suffocating nails driven through his body. See that person and say, this is what would happen if anybody messed with Rome. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot see the horror of the cross of Christ and say, this is the power of God unto salvation. We need the Holy Spirit. We need it to be revealed to us. Imagine with me, if you will, that you're going on a walk with me. And as we're going on a walk, you know, James, me and you turn the corner, and we're seeing somebody just get punched and pummeled again, and again, and again. And I was to turn to James and say, of those two people, who is demonstrating power and victory? And you would say, Hunter, what a silly question. It's obviously the person wailing on that guy. He is showing power. He is showing victory. But then what if I revealed additional information and said that this man who is taking this beating is not doing it or receiving this beating for any fault of their own, but they are taking blow after blow, taking on punishment for another. That they are receiving this vicious beating because they love someone and want to spare them of the wrath of fist after fist after fist. Well, then if I were to ask my brother again, well, who is now showing power and victory? Surely we would say it is the man who has taken such courage and love to suffer for another. This is why we need the Holy Spirit, so that we don't just look at the cross and see what great suffering, what great pain, But as the spirit that applies to our hearts brings us into the understanding, this suffering was for you. A victory and a power that has made God's wrath pass over your head, fall on the sun so that you could be preserved and saved and not crushed. Peter knows what a cross is for. And imagine his surprise when he hears God's anointed teach him, the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Peter wants a kingdom. He wants a kingdom greater than Rome. One that cannot be shaken. Peter wants atonement. He wants the guilt and shame of Israel to be wiped away. He knows that the people of God are not what they should be, but Peter has no place for a cross. He has no place for a suffering Messiah. If I want kingdom and atonement, what good is a bloody cross? Well, how different Jesus is, friends. He teaches that His suffering and death must happen. It must take place because the Scripture has promised it and the salvation of man demands it. And sure enough, true to the words of the Lord Jesus, when you read through the Bible, what do we find? Time and time again of the Lord anointing a man who will enter glory, who will be exalted and benefit others, but first must endure rejection and suffering. Think of Joseph, rejected by his brothers. and thrown into prison only to trust God and be faithful to Him during that great trial to be exalted and save the world. Think of Moses, the one God raises up to deliver His people out of the house of slavery only to be rejected and despised by His people. Think of Samson, that great warrior filled with the Spirit of God to defeat God's enemies and yet he is betrayed and turned over to God's enemies by his own people. Think of David, The one who is anointed king and yet despised by his brothers. Anointed to rule and yet his own kinsmen will reject the reign that God has called him to participate in. I think of righteous Job. What is he rewarded with because of his righteousness? Suffering. And yet as great as the suffering of Job is towards the end, his glory outweighs all of what he has endured. All men who were rejected and suffered, and yet God ordained their suffering for the good of the people and the glory of God. And Jesus knows that all of those men were only pointing to what Jesus would be and do. Jesus knows that His cross will establish His kingdom. His righteous suffering will not only grant Him the reward of exaltation, but His righteous suffering will remove the wrath that Peter deserves. His righteous suffering will remove the wrath that you deserve, JD, that I deserve, and provides the blood payment to be welcomed into the Kingdom of God. Jesus knows that the cross will accomplish atonement. that as the Lamb of God, Jesus' blood will wash away the guilt and stain of sin of His people and bring them into God's presence for worship. But Peter has failed to see the power of the cross. It's been a while since we've been in Mark, but if we were going through Mark, you would remember, Peter is sounding a lot like Satan. You know, it can be kind of surprising to hear Jesus say to His disciples, you know, Peter, that's supposed to be His main guy, get behind me, Satan! But what did Satan say earlier to Jesus in Mark's Gospel? Satan presented all kinds of temptations to do what? Encourage Jesus to enter into his glory without a cross. Worship me, take it now. Reject suffering, reject weakness. Take your power now. And here we find Peter saying the same thing. Why suffer? Why take on weakness? Jesus says, get behind Me, Satan. It's a very sad thing to read that Peter is despising the very means by which he will be saved. He is looking down his nose at the very cross that will remove God's judgment from over his head. But because of Jesus' infinite love for Peter, Jesus will suffer for him. Friends, is this not the beauty of the Gospel? We know the Gospel starts with that harsh word, that when you look at the cross, we see two things that we could describe as infinite. We see how infinitely sinful men and women are. How much does God hate sin? Well, He hates sin so much, He crushed His Son on the cross. for a proper judgment, a proper payment for what sin demands. The cross preaches the infinite sinfulness of men and women, and that's why many people when they hear the gospel and hear, well, I've got to be a sinner to have this? I have to acknowledge my debt and guilt before the Lord. But if you turn away from acknowledging that infinite sinfulness, what else do you reject? The infinite love of Jesus Christ. Yes, the cross does preach how great your sin is, but the cross also preaches how much the Lord loves you, that He would die on the cross for your sin. It's not the case that Jesus just points out your sin. Look at your unbelief. Look at your lack of faith. Look at your terrible past, your mistakes, your shortcomings. But He points them out and says, I suffered for those sins. I paid the cost for those sins. Peter is a recipient of that infinite love. And JD, that same infinite love is promised to you. The waters of baptism that passed over your head was the sign of the Lord Jesus calling out to you. JD, be blessed by my being accursed. Be healed and restored by my being crushed and broken. JD, I was baptized with a cross so that your baptism may be the gracious call of God on your life to trust me, to love me, and to believe in me. And so too, beloved, your baptism preaches the same thing to you. It certainly reminds you of your infinite sinfulness. That's why we use water. You need to be washed. But it also reminds you of that infinite love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so whoever it is this morning who needs to be reminded of how much Jesus loves you, let me gladly give you that reminder. The Lord loves you so much, He embraced humiliation and unspeakable pain for you, so that you could have peace with God and know that each and every day of your life is ordered by God's wisdom and care. to know that all of your suffering is shared with the Lord Jesus, to know that your future before you is set and purposed by the Lord Jesus, who will establish your steps and direct your path to know Him better, to love Him more, and one day be with Him in perfect glory. So if you needed that reminder this morning, brother, sister, little brother, little sister, the Lord Jesus loves you. And that infinite love comes with a rebuke. Of course, none of us like that. You know, I was preaching to you about God's love. Yes, and now I'm about to start talking to you about rebukes. Oh, the Lord who loves Peter says, get behind me, Satan! That's rough. Not, get behind me, you're not thinking right, Peter. But, get behind me, Satan. JD, that infinite love is promised to you. But I need you to know, JD, that infinite love will come with rebuke. And that rebuke will come primarily through your mom and dad. James and Sarah, there are scores of people who think that it is absolutely impossible for you to rebuke your son with patience, with care, with love. They would sit here and hear me preach this and say, rebuke and correction paired with patience and love, rebuke with tears of care and affection, impossible. And they would say that because they've never seen it done. They were raised in homes, attended churches, and they never received rebuke that was paired with deep love and affection. When you correct JD, when you correct your girls, let them clearly see the love of God is at work. Because your correction is paired with grace, a burden to see your child grow in love and wisdom and conformity to Jesus Christ. Place your children, James and Sarah, in the minority. That when they read rebukes in scripture, they would not say, this is God being unloving. but it would have been demonstrated to them their whole lives in your house. But true love comes with rebuke. J.D., know that Jesus is the Messiah. J.D., don't stumble over the cross, but in faith take full advantage of the weakness and shame that Jesus embraced for you. And lastly, J.D., take up your cross every single day. This is what Jesus says. If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake in the Gospels will save it. Let me give some specifics about what Jesus is saying as they apply to you, J.D. Right now, you are a baby boy. One day you will grow and develop into a man. You will develop physically as a male for much of your early life. And so, as a male, you must follow Jesus and take up your cross. The masculinity that you pursue and embody must be the masculinity of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Now, some of you are wondering, what is this random point about masculinity? I will tell you. It's a very easy answer. There are so many young men out there who are asking themselves in our current time in the world, I'm a man, what does that even mean? What do I do with my masculinity? What kind of man should I be? Who do I look to to learn how to be a man? And people are exploiting these young men. You want to learn how to be a man? Buy my supplements, follow my workout routine, subscribe to my channel, buy my clothes, get this haircut that I have, get similar tattoos, and so on and so forth. Meanwhile, the church who is in possession of the great mystery of the God-man has remained relatively silent. Why must we speak about masculinity in the church? Because we have seen true man. True man. We have seen the Lord Jesus with a divine nature and a human nature, perfectly unified in one person, without any mixing or merging. We get to see in the Gospels what a man should be. JD, true masculinity starts with Christ as your ultimate model. When you hear Jesus say to you JD, follow me, follow him and follow after his manliness. This means you are turning your back on models of manhood that you would get from YouTube. from social media, from society, from pornography, you would be turning your back on these models of masculinity to make sure that your manhood is in conformity to Christ. And it is taking up your cross daily and denying yourself that will make you more and more like the God-man, Jesus Christ. This, JD, is the means of attaining true masculinity. You know, many manhood coaches today or maybe red pillars, that's what they're called, they will preach self-denial. Deny yourself and put in extra hours. Be the hardest working one in the room. Deny yourself and become a weapon with intense fighting training and skills. Deny yourself and remove any weaknesses or weak people that are in your life. The problem with that, JD, is that self-denial is weak. Because there is no cross. There is no glory of God. There is no suffering. It's hard work to gain a better life for self. It's discipline in order to win the spoils of this world and not win men and women for Christ. It's intense training to be a better version of yourself and not to be conformed to Christ. It's rejecting weakness to be praised by others rather than sharing in the weakness of Christ to bring praise to His name. There's no cross, no death, no glory of God. And so it is weak. JD, you must be different. James, you must show him a masculinity that bears the cross. The cross that Andrew Tate does not take up. The cross that David Goggins does not pick up. The cross that Jordan Peterson and Jocko Willink does not pick up. James, bear your cross and show your son true masculinity. Your manhood must value and serve the weak as Jesus valued and served the weak. You must weep for sinners in the sad effects of this world as Christ did. You must serve, protect, and elevate women as the Lord Jesus served, protected, and elevated women. You must be a humble servant to all as even the Lord Jesus did not come to be served. but to serve the undeserving. What I say to you, JD, I say to all the men of the church. What would it profit for a man to have all the marks of earthly manhood and fail to have Christ? What would it profit men in this church to have all the checklists of being a real man and fail to resemble Christ? I have money, but no mercy. I have power, but no peace or patience. I have anger, but no love. I have sex and lust, but no chastity and control. I have the respect of all. but I have no life that is truly worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says, whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. Young men, your pastor is pleading with you. Do not be ashamed of Christ and the masculinity He calls you to. Reject what the world is teaching you is what would make you a real man and pick up your cross and follow the Lord Jesus. JD, don't be ashamed of the great confession. Jesus is the Christ. Don't be ashamed of the great cross. It is the power of God unto salvation. And J.D., don't be ashamed of the manhood that Christ and His cross calls you to, for it is the only masculinity that lasts for eternity and brings glory to God. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank You for bringing J.D. into this world and making him here a member of this church. We pray, Lord, that You would open his ears to hear the preaching of his baptism. that your spirit would be at work and that he would be a man who picks up his cross daily. We pray, Lord, that you would give strength to James and Sarah as they raised their son and their daughters, that they would be what you have called them to be, powered by your grace and spirit. We pray, Lord, that we would, as a church, not only faithfully proclaim the God-Man, but model Him well in our lives and in our homes. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.