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Pastor Jordan Hiness
April 28, 2024 at 9:30 AM
Acts 8:26–40
Acts
Baptism
Acts 8:26-40
By Pastor Jordan Hines
We're going to do our scripture reading this morning. We're going to be in the book of acts, chapter eight, and reading verse 26 through 40.
So if you follow along, or if you want to, just listen. Acts, chapter eight, starting in verse 26. Now, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning.
And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah, the prophet. Then the spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, do you understand what you are reading? And he said, how can I unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
The place in the scripture which he read was he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before shearers is silent. So he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice was taken away.
And who will declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth? So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning at the scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now, as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, see, here is water.
What hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. So he commanded the chariot to stand still.
And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now, when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuchs saw him no more. And he went on his way, rejoicing.
But Philip was found at Azotus and passing through. He preached in all the cities until he came to Caesarea. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Heavenly Father, we give you praise and worship. Lord, we're thankful that your son, Jesus Christ, is the one by whom we are saved. His finished work on the cross and his resurrection, that we can have eternal life.
We're thankful that by faith in him and by nothing that we do or have done, that we can be saved. Lord, I do thank you for those who have trusted in Christ as their savior, who have placed their faith in Jesus. We pray for any here that might not know Christ as their savior, that they would come to recognize their needle, to trust him.
Lord, we thank you for the service. We thank you for the time that we're gonna spend in the word this morning. We pray that you would help us to be good listeners, help us to learn, help us to know what you would have us to do, and help us to see you clearly this morning.
We're thankful for the testimony of these believers that are coming today to be baptized. We thank you that they have trusted you and that they will show through this picture of your death, burial, and resurrection that they are part of your family. Lord, we do pray that you would help us to honor you in this service and help us to just focus on you above all other things.
Lord, we thank you again for this time. In Jesus name, amen. You can open your bibles to acts chapter eight.
This morning we're going to take a little break from our study in acts chapter two to look at a very specific baptism. And Philip is the evangelist that is teaching the gospel here. And we're talking about the Ethiopian eunuch.
This man is going to be baptized, and his response to the gospel is what we're looking at. His response to the gospel is, naturally, I would like to be baptized. What hinders me from being baptized? But before we get there, let's look generally here at the book of acts.
It's written by Luke. It is to a man named Theophilus. It's a third person narrative, meaning it's looking from outside.
It's saying, this person did this at this time with this other person. And then as we look at this book, we're looking at the growth of the church. So it's sort of a history book that shows us what God did and how God grew the church.
And today we get to look into the life of a man who's about to be changed and about to show the world the change that happened to him on the inside. And we just read through that passage of scripture not too long ago. So I'm just going to.
Going to start in here. The setting here of the text is the first two verses, verse 26 through 28. And it says this.
Now, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, arise. Go to the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert.
So he arose and went. And behold a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, had come to Jerusalem to worship. This is sort of the setting, the context of our text today.
This is who we have. We have the protagonist here. Thinking of a broader view is really not even Philip.
It's not even the Ethiopian eunuch. It's the Holy Spirit. And the gospel.
The gospel is the one that's making the change in this story, the one that's radically transforming the story. God, the Holy Spirit and the gospel. And the antagonist here really is sin and death.
And where you, and you might ask, where are the other characters? These other characters are just agents, people that God is using. And God is using a man named Philip. Philip's an evangelist.
You can look at his story. Let's just briefly review. Even in the Book of Acts, a couple chapters back, acts, chapter six, verses one through seven, he is mentioned as one of the seven men chosen to serve the widows in the early church, sort of a proto deacon, if you will.
In acts, chapter eight, verses five through 40, where we're at, he is one of the first Jews to take the gospel to the Gentiles. And then later in the Book of Acts, we look in acts, chapter 21, verses eight through ten, where Paul calls him an evangelist. This is a consistent characteristic of his.
And he is going to go to an Ethiopian eunuch. Now, the Greek word for eunuch here can mean one who's physically been altered for service in a specific way, or it can just mean a high ranking. It can mean both.
I think you see that this man has great authority. Look at verse 27, the eunuch of great authority under Candice, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury. So it could just be speaking to.
To his appointment, his position, his power. But in any regard, that's not the main event of the story. That's not the main point of the story.
The main point of the story is the gospel transforming his life and his response to the gospel and what he does with it. Another agent in this story is the angel of the Lord. He's the one providing the special direction.
He's telling Philip to go. This is a special expression of God's specific purpose. If you'd like more homework on this, this is an interesting study.
You can go to Luke, chapter one, verse eleven, Luke two nine, Luke 519 and acts 826. And there's more. But this angel of the Lord is a very specific messenger that's used to express the purposes of God, people's lives, and obviously the Holy Spirit is involved here.
And Candace, the queen of Ethiopians, is clearly not a Jew, someone, a foreigner. And this man, this eunuch who represents Candace here, is going to worship. He comes back with this scroll from the book of Isaiah.
So we have here the Holy Spirit working and prompting. We have Philip's obedience in going. And we have God's sovereignty here, that the eunuch here is reading scripture.
And we see in our own lives this happens, that God places people in our lives at specific times, just when they need the gospel, just when they need hope. God has placed people in your life through circumstances that we can't understand, so that they can be blessed by you, so they can hear the gospel through you, so they can see your character and your life worked out, and God has worked in your life in specific ways. And maybe they're ways that are really challenging.
Maybe they're. They're sin struggles. Maybe they're.
They're family troubles, maybe they're financial troubles. And maybe that God has allowed you to go through those things so you can help other people. Philip here is following the prompting of God.
He's obeying God, and he has a conversation with this man. Look at verse 30 with me. Philip begins this conversation.
He says, do you understand what you are reading? So it's a very simple conversation starter. It's a simple conversation that we could have every single day. It's not something that's great.
Theological, way over our heads, holier than thou. It's not something that we have to consult a doctorate student for. It's not something we have to do anything special for.
We just have to ask questions. It's a simple question. The eunuch, the Ethiopian, said, how can I unless someone guides me? That's a simple phrase, a simple response here.
But it's very true that people have questions about what we believe. People have questions about who we are, because there are people in your life that are interested in getting to know you. Not just you, but what you believe and why you believe it.
People are looking for answers. I think often we can be confused and think that, well, we have to have this very specific plan for evangelism. It happens very spontaneously.
Sorry, I forgot the word there. People are looking for these answers, and we have to give them the answers. And the good news is we have the answers.
We don't just come with our own thoughts, with our own ideas. Verse 31. And Philip asked to come up and sit with him in the chariot.
So he saw the opportunity and he asked, can I come up there and sit with you? We have to take advantage of the opportunities God gives us. Philip here is seeing the opportunity and also taking it and the prophecy that this man is reading is referenced to Isaiah 53, seven, eight. It says in the place in the scripture which he read, it was this, verse 32, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter.
And as the lamb before his shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice was taken away. And who will declare his generation for his life was taken from the earth? So they're talking about Jesus.
Obviously, this prophecy is looking forward to Jesus in his humiliation, in his slaughter, in his silence before the crowds, in his life being taken. This prophecy was powerful because it was historical. It was something people respected from scripture, but it also represented something that didn't happen too long ago from this text.
It's also something that they could very easily reference and people would understand. And Philip here is given a great opportunity to share the gospel, a great opportunity just to tell them, the person that you're reading about is my savior. The person you're reading about is my God.
The person you're reading about changed my life. And he uses this opportunity to share the hope that lies within him. And the Ethiopian responds in verse 34.
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you, of whom does his prophecy say this? Of himself or of some other man? This prophecy brought about questions. And I hope that as you read the Bible, you have questions. I hope that we have questions when we consider who God is, when we consider everything that is said about him in scripture.
This man had questions. And it's worth noting that Philip was able to answer those questions. Do you know you can't answer a question if you don't know the answer? Or rather, you shouldn't answer a question if you don't know the answer.
But Philip knew the answer because he knew his Bible. He knew the word of God. Verse 35.
Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Sort of another broad statement. But what he's preaching is the gospel that Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again.
And likely he's referencing the historical events that happened not too long before this in the life of the church, and he's preaching him. I would submit personally, not just what happened, but what happened to him. In his heart.
God's word has answers for people's questions. And we have to know God's word so we can give it to them. We also have to know God's word so we can continue to grow in Christ.
Verse 36. Now, as they went down the road, they came to some water. See, God provided opportunities for obedience.
Here they come across. They happen to come across this water. There's another example of God's sovereignty where there happened to be an Ethiopian eunuch, and there happened to be an evangelist, and there happened to be a road, and there happened to be this scroll with Isaiah 53, seven, eight.
There happened to be water. It seems a lot like God's sovereignty to me, that God's in control and God's doing a great work in this guy's life. And the eunuch said, see, here is water.
What hinders me from being baptized now, it seems like we're jumping ahead a little bit, but really, I think what's happened here is this man is asking the right questions because he's seeing the truth. He's obviously heard about baptism. He knows what baptism is because he's asking about baptism.
And Philip is making sure here in this last verse, verse 37, that he is ready for baptism. Verse 37. Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. This is an important note here. This is a prerequisite for baptism.
You must be saved. You must believe. You must be able to say with this Ethiopian, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
Believe with all your heart. You must place your trust in Jesus Christ, that when he died, he bore your sins. And when you go, when you die, or when he comes back, when you stand before the father, the sins that you committed are taken care of.
They're paid for. So this conversation seems pretty simple, really. It's just a couple verses from scripture, a couple simple questions, and I want you to have hope today.
And I want to have hope today that I can have conversations like this. Because this text is still in the Bible. It's still in your copy of God's word, and you can still tell people what God has been doing in your life.
The truth is that Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a sinless life, died for your sins, was buried, rose again, and is now victoriously at the right hand of the throne of God. And when you die, if you believe that Jesus Christ is your savior, if you trust in him alone, then your sins are taken care of. They're removed.
You have peace with God. You have access to the throne of grace. And that kind of radical change, that kind of radical movement in someone's life requires sort of a display of action here.
And the natural reaction is baptism. If you look throughout scripture, you can see that whenever there is evangelism, most often there is baptism tied right afterwards. Because people did not want to just stop and say, okay, I'm saved.
That's it. I'm just going to get my get out of hell free card. No, I'm going to change and I'm going to be baptized and tell the world I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I want people to know this. There's immediate action here. Verse 38 says, he commanded the chariot to stand still.
He commanded it. He made sure it was immediate. And he noticed the mode of baptism here, how it is done.
They both went down into the water. Verse 38 and 39, Philip baptized him literally. The word is to immerse.
It's not a sprinkling, it's not a baby who doesn't understand what's going on. It is immersion by a genuine believer in Jesus Christ. Philip then, well, then after he is baptized, immersed, he comes out of the water and is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.
This is what it means to follow in obedience. Now, if this man was not baptized, he would still be saved. He would still have that faith, but that faith that he had moved him towards obedience.
There's a difference there. The motivation for getting baptized was not to get saved. It's because I am saved.
I want to tell everyone. I want to show everyone. And then Philip here is miraculously transported.
It's like right out of a Sci-Fi movie, except this is God genuinely doing this, working in Philip's life, he's transported and continues to preach along his journey. And the Ethiopian here went away rejoicing. He did not expect this kind of car ride.
He didn't expect this kind of journey. He didn't expect this kind of event to happen. He was confused and he had got answers to his questions and God changed him.
So today, I think it's pretty simple for us. We need to either be like Philip or be like the Ethiopian eunuch. To be like Philip is to be people of character.
One of the first proto deacons, a faithful minister of the word of God. To be able to give a biblical answer to biblical questions. We need to be faithful like Philip.
We need to be like him. He listened when God commanded him to do something, and Philip did not hesitate in obeying God's command. Philip knew the word of God.
He was called an evangelist. We need to be confident like Philip. We need to be confident in him, in how he trusted God, because he trusted God.
He trusted how God was leading him to the desert for seemingly no reason, because he was doing ministry in the cities. We need to be confident, because like Philip, because Philip trusted the word of God for his answers. He didn't use his own answers.
He didn't say, oh, well, I think that, you know, I'm just. I try to do good enough, and I try to keep my ministry schedule going so God keeps being pleased with me. No, his answer was from the word of God.
And Philip was used by God. We need to be used by God. We need to be yielded to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives.
And as we are led by the word of God, through the spirit of God, as we look at the life and testimony of Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, we ought to be confident knowing that we are stable and firmly held in the father's hand. We ought to know that like Philip, we can preach this message with confidence. And maybe today you need to be like the Ethiopian eunuch.
Maybe you come with questions. Maybe you don't have access to this gospel. Maybe you don't know what this gospel means.
You can read the Bible, but you don't understand why it's so special. Maybe you need someone to share the gospel with you. You need someone to sit down, open a Bible and tell them how God changed their life through the Holy Spirit working in their life.
Maybe you need to be saved today. Maybe you need to confess your sins, admit that you are a sinner, come before God and say, I need you. I need a savior, and trust in him alone.
And praise the Lord. If you have done that, like the three who are getting baptized today, maybe you need to get baptized. Maybe you need to publicly declare to the world that you are changed.
This ceremony does not change anyone. The people that go under the water come out the water. The same people.
What changes them is the word of God. What changes them is their salvation and sanctification and ultimately their glorification. Baptism does not save you.
Instead, it is a testimony to the fact that you have been saved by grace through faith. Baptism is a step of obedience in the life of a believer, and baptism is always the first logical response to genuine faith. And we are so blessed to have people in this church who have recognized that they are saved.
They're children of God, and they want to step out in obedience and declare, I am a child of God. What a beautiful thing to picture. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Let's pray. And as I'm praying, if you are coming to give a testimony, come up to the front row. God, we thank you that you have so richly blessed us.
You have given us the son of God, you've given us grace. You've given us Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, who was buried in that cold, dark tomb and was risen victorious. God, thank you for giving us these people who are declaring before the world, and for Northridge Baptist church that they are children of God.
God, thank you. In your son's name, amen. All right, so now we're going to have these four.
Jeremiah, Levi, Deb and David is coming for church membership. He was baptized, but keep your testimonies brief. We really.
We just want to understand how you came to faith, what you believe, and why you want to be baptized if you're getting baptized today. So, Jeremiah, if you'd step up to the mic here. I knew those when I saved.
I believe that Jesus died for my sins and woes from the dead. I stopped sinning as much as I used to and I want to be more obedient. I want to be baptized because God wants me to be baptized.
I'm Deb and I was saved in 2020. And it's because I believe God has died for our sins and rose again. And I'm grateful for him.
My name's Dave. It's hard for me because my dad's not here, but I know my dad would be very proud of Deb. He's known her twelve years and he would love to hear that she accepted Christ and that she's going to continue in obedience.
We really want to join the church because we feel welcome here. We feel at home here and we thank you guys for the opportunity. I was saved by my dad at Tipton Bible church in Tipton, Iowa.
I was baptized 1617 years old at Aurora Avenue bible church here in town by my dad. And that's something that I'll never, ever forget. And I'm just really grateful that Deb gets to be baptized here today.
