Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts 8:26-40

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Faith of the Baptists — Water Wars!

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The Biblical Mode of Baptism

(Part 1)

 

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

This is a desert place.

And he rose and went.

And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.

He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”

And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

 

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he opens not his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.”

And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water!

What prevents me from being baptized?”

And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.[1]

Water wars!

That would be an appropriate description of the age-old controversies surrounding baptism—the mode, the motive and the candidate.

These controversies have continued since shortly after the Apostles passed off the scene.

Why would a preacher present a message on the “mode of baptism?”

Perhaps you think the issue to be irrelevant.

However, the practise of the churches and religious societies that constitute Christendom is far more important than one might imagine.

At issue is far more than the performance of a mere rite or the form of a ritual.

The manner in which the ordinance is conducted exposes much about the belief of those performing the rite.

What is pictured is significant, and the mode of baptism must not be casually dismissed as unimportant.

It is not whether the ritual is performed that is important, but the truth that lies behind the act of baptism is of utmost significance.

It is not strictly accurate to speak of “modes” of baptism.

If the Greek term means “sprinkle,” then we should speak of “sprinkling.”

If the word */baptizo/* means “pour,” then we should properly refer to “pouring.”

If the word means, in the Greek tongue, “to immerse,” then we should speak of “immersing.”

As a Baptist, I am convinced that baptism is important.

Though baptism by immersion is not the raison d’être for our existence, it does nevertheless reveal our passion for evangelism and for obedience to the Word of God.

We Baptists are insistent that we do not baptise in order to transform sinners into Christians, but rather we baptise because God has already saved the sinner and that redeemed individual is called to openly identify with the Master in His passion and in His resurrection.

Consequently, whenever we witness baptism, we rejoice because we count the one baptised as having been redeemed through faith in the Risen Son of God, baptism making this declaration.

There is more than a suggestion of this glorious truth in the account of Philip’s encounter with an Ethiopian official.

Turn to *Acts 8:26-40* for the scintillating account of this drama in the desert.

Join me as we explore the Word of God and learn the reason we insist upon immersion in water as the only valid expression of faith commanded by God.

Philip’s Obedience Led to Effective Service — Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

This is a desert place.

And he rose and went.

Philip received appointment as one of the first seven deacons in the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem.

When the disciples, with the exception of the Apostles, were scattered as result of the persecution precipitated by the murder of Stephen, Philip went down to the city of Samaria [see *Acts 8:4, 5*].

There, among the Samaritans, he was powerfully used of God to open the door to faith to these non-Jews.

It was the first time the message of life had extended beyond Jewish people since the Spirit of God had descended at Pentecost.

Philip was God’s instrument to begin the process of penetrating the dark, Gentile world with the light of Christ’s Gospel.

As I read that account of his service [*Acts 8:4-25*], I am left with the impression that his ministry was just reaching the acme of promise when God intervened.

If you want to thoroughly understand the Word of God, pay attention to the coordinating conjunction.

Conjunctions are so pedestrian, so ordinary, so commonplace, that they are easily overlooked.

In the opening verse of the translation I am reading, the Greek */dè/* is translated into English as “now,” Other translations translate the Greek with the English term “then,” or with “but,” or even neglect to translate it at all.

What is obvious to me is that God is drawing a comparison in order to teach a great lesson.

Philip is being powerfully used as an instrument of God’s grace, and many people are coming to faith.

From our perspective, it would appear that the greatest ministry is that which results in the most conversions to Christ.

Surely, the greatest servants of God are those that have the largest, most visible ministries!

However, obedience to God may well lead us into smaller, more narrow fields of service—fields where we will labour in obscurity, remaining unknown.

However, God calls us to obedience, and not to success.

The only true success is that which compels us to fulfil His will.

So it was that God had a ministry that required a man of Philip’s stature and abilities.

We know that Philip was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit [*Acts 6:5*].

We also know that because he was full of the Holy Spirit, he proclaimed the message of Christ with boldness [cf.

*Acts 4:31*; *8:5*].

He was ideal for the task God had for him.

We should marvel, not at the fact that God would pull His servant out of the midst of a great revival, but at the servant’s instant obedience, for such obedience is rare in our experience.

The angel of the Lord spoke, and Philip obeyed.

Philip did not even know precisely where he was headed; he had only a command to travel the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

The text is careful to note that this is a desert place.

Philip knew that God commanded him go, and that command was enough to send him on his way.

I am struck by the simplicity and the power in the first sentence of that 27th verse: and he rose and went.

Anything else that I may say must rest upon this foundation of obedience to the command of God.

Would you be effective in your Christian walk?

Then, obedience to the command of God will be necessary.

Would you be an instrument of power in the hand of God?

Then, you must be obedient to His orders.

It is nothing less than grace that so often despite acting to secure our own interests that God still uses us.

J.

B. Gambrell, a Texas divine from a bygone era is quoted as saying, “God can hit some mighty straight licks with some mighty crooked sticks.”

Philip was obedient to the command of God, and as result, his service was effective.

So many of us want to be successful, but we want to define success.

We want the honour that Paul enjoyed, but we forget that Paul said of himself and his entourage, we put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honour and dishonour, through slander and praise.

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything [*2 Corinthians 6:2b-10*].

I am often amused when I consider the preparation of Saul of Tarsus for service to the King.

Converted to Christ, he is commanded to wait.

This brilliant rabbi is brought to faith so that he can wait!

After he was saved, he was baptised, and according to the Word of God, immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God” [*Acts 9:20*].

Some waiting!

The result of his impetuosity is that the Jews plot to kill him, and he is compelled to escape from Damascus during the night, concealed in a basket.

This would-be servant of Christ next journeys to Jerusalem where he again preaches boldly in the Name of Jesus and argues against the Hellenists [see *Acts 9:28, 29*] with the result that the Hellenists endeavour to kill him.

As result of his intemperate service, he is again compelled to flee into the desert.

What is fascinating, and not a little bit humorous, is Luke’s commentary following Saul’s escape from Jerusalem.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up [*Acts 9:31*].

Did you see that?