Baptism Service

Life Church, 5^th August 2012, evening.

Baptism is one of the most significant services we have.  Why? 

Jesus was baptised!

It’s intrinsic to the gospel – repent and baptised (Acts 2:38).

There is something about baptism that seems to seal our decision to follow Christ.  It’s an act of obedience and also one of symbolism.

We are demonstrating the desire to follow Christ in His sufferings and also His resurrection!

Colossians 2:11-12: In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,  having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

We can see that baptism is a symbol of burial with Jesus as He was buried in the tomb and also resurrection with Jesus as we come up out of the water. 

What happens here is a declaration of the old life getting left behind because we’re choosing to live the new life Jesus has given us.

The faith of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch are good examples for us.

Acts 8: 26-40: Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,  and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.  The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”  Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.   “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.  The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

    and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,

    so he did not open his mouth.

In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

    Who can speak of his descendants?

    For his life was taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”  Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.   As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptised?”  And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

The Christian’s Responsibility:

1.            Philip Leaves the Crowd

26: Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

If you read ahead of these verses you discover that there are several great things going on in Philip’s ministry!

Acts 8:5- 8: Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.  When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.  With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.  So there was great joy in that city.

It sounds like he is in the middle of the kind of church that we’d love to belong to, but then he is told to move on, to leave the revival!

He could have refused!  He could have said, “But Lord, look at what’s going on around me!”  but he didn’t, he went down the desert road.

Sometimes we are so focused on our desire for revival and renewal that we forget about the lost on the desert road!

2.            Philip Answers the Call

27a: So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch…

So he started out… do you know that often God’s will for your life only becomes apparent after the call is answered!  We would love everything sown up before we venture out, but life is not like that.

We have to step out to see who God would bring across our paths.

3.            Philip Hears the Cry

30-31: Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?”

The Ethiopian is frustrated!

You see he has been to Jerusalem to worship and was on his way home (28-29).  But it seems to me that, like the old U2 song, he still hadn’t found what he’s looking for!

This man, who was not a Christian, had been to Jerusalem and worshipped and was now reading Isaiah on the way home.  He is seeking but he has not met Jesus yet.  He probably has not been to a church, but the Temple which would be destroyed some five years later (Acts is normally dated about A.D. 65 and Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70).  However, he would not have been allowed in the Temple (Dt. 23:1) so would have been turned away!

This man is seeking for truth and God in His wisdom has brought Philip alongside him.

The desert road would have been a pace where ambushes would have taken place, it was obscure, and then we have this obviously wealthy man in a chauffeur driven chariot reading.

Philip is told by the Spirit to get alongside it and stay there and hears what is being read (29-30).  To the Eunuch this would have been a natural occurrence, he probably assumed this man to be a beggar who’d run alongside for a few hundred yards and give up, and so he keeps reading (30).

It is interesting to note two things:

Firstly, although he is seeking truth the Eunuch does not automatically turn to the Christian for answers;

Secondly, God uses natural situations to open doors in people’s lives!

4.            The Eunuch is Converted

Let’s look at this process quickly to help our witnessing!

ü  Ask a question!  Don’t preach! 

People respond much better when their opinions are asked rather than thumped with a Bible!

30: “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?”

ü  Answer Their Questions!

Do we ever wonder why people don’t respond when we’re not willing to answer their questions!  Much of our witnessing has to do with our answered questions!

34: The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”

ü  Start where they are!

Philip was sensitive to the needs of the Eunuch and so picked up where he was and used that as a foundation for explaining the gospel.

35: Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

ü  Stay with them!

36a: As they travelled along the road…..

Philip travelled with him for some time.  We should not abandon people when they don’t respond to the gospel immediately – travel with them, do some life together with them!

ü  Disciple Them!

Don’t leave them prone to wavering.  Philip took him through the right of baptism – the symbolism of turning away from his old life and commencing the new.

36a: …. they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptised?”  And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.

There is no record of this guy’s life being perfect, but something had happened in his heart he could not deny.  So he obeys Jesus, and follows him through baptism.

Later church history tells us this man went on to take the gospel into Africa:

Irenaeus of Lyon in his book Against Heresies (180 AD), wrote regarding the Ethiopian eunuch, "This man (Simeon Bachos the Eunuch) was also sent into the regions of Ethiopia, to preach what he had himself believed, that there was one God preached by the prophets, but that the Son of this (God) had already made (His) appearance in human flesh, and had been led as a sheep to the slaughter; and all the other statements which the prophets made regarding Him."

In short he took the gospel to Africa and, if Philip had stayed with the ‘revival,’ Africa would not have had its first preacher!

Wrapping it Up:

Today as these folks get baptised we’re celebrating their discipleship and obedience to the gospel that they are showing.

Not all will give testimony tonight – they have all confirmed their faith to us, but for some they are embarrassed by standing up in public.  But all believe!

If you have not been baptised yet, well, here is water what is stopping you from being baptised?