Acts 8:26-39

Day 1

Acts 8:30-39 “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 this: ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its 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 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 this 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 eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.”

When we talk about baptism, there are as many different philosophies as there are denominations. Though we do not want to discuss, in this lesson, other modes of baptism, it is important to look at what the Scripture says about this ordinance.

Baptism pictures what happened at salvation. Read the following passage and write a few words summarizing what happens when we are baptized: Romans 6:1

Baptism is not intended as a means for salvation. Read the following passages which speak of salvation and write down how many times each passage speaks of baptism. Romans 1:16, I Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 10:9-13. How many times did find baptism referenced in these passages? Read Acts 16:29-34. This is the only time in the Bible where the question is asked, “What must I do to be saved.” What is Paul’s response?

The Principle: Baptism is an outward expression of an inward faith in Christ.

Apply the Principle: Read Romans 4:1-5. How does Paul say that Abraham became righteous?

Clearly, circumcision was an outward expression of Abraham’s faith in God. Similarly, baptism is an outward expression of our faith in Christ.

Day 2

How do we find true undestanding of the Scriptural meaning of baptism?

We are Baptized because there is a Scriptural Submission.

Look at Acts 8:36 “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.”

One of the biggest problems we face in the church today is the subject of submission. Not submission to a pastor, submission to a deacon board, submission to the elders or to any other ecclesiastical representative. Submission to the Word of God has become a problem. Christians read the word of God and hear what it says, but choose not to put those words into practice in their lives. In this passage the Ethiopian eunuch, the Bible does not name him, but we will call him Eddie, asks a question. When Philip give the answer, Eddie does not argue, does not complain and does not try to come up with his own answer. Eddie did what Philip instructed from the Word of God.

The Principle: Baptism is, in truth, an agreement between you and God that you agree to make the Word of God the authority in your life and to submit yourselft to the teachings of God’s Word.

Think about the Principle: Read that passage again to yourself. If someone gave you such a simple answer, would you accept it or would you try to make your own way, trying to justify your salvation to yourself?

Apply the Principle: Have you been baptized? If yes, have you faithfully made the Word of God the authority in your life? Take a few moments and write some thoughts about how you can better make the Word of God the authority in life.

Day 3

We are Baptized according to a Scriptural Structure

Acts 8:36 Eddie 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 “Eddie” 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 “Eddie” saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.”

I do not want to belabor this point, but this passage, and indeed every passage dealing with baptism, speaks of immersion as the mode for baptism. Romans 6:4 speaks of being “buried with him through baptism…” and being raised “to walk in newness of life.” The picture, as was said earlier, is that of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Additionally, the very word, “baptism”, comes from a Greek word “baptidzo” which means literally to immerse. Interestingnly enough, there is a greek word “rantidzo” which means to sprinkle, and a greek word “keo” which means to pour. Every time, however, that that word baptism is used, it is the word baptidzo, “immerse”.

The Principle: If the Lord intended for baptism to be done by sprinkling or pouring, He could have used either other word, but He doesn’t. Every reference in the Bible to baptism is the word “baptidzo – immerse.”

Think about the Principle: Think of the word “baptidzo” which means “to immerse”. With that though in mind, and considering the fact that there are Greek words which mean “to sprinkle” or “to pour”, does it seem logical to practice baptism by sprinkling or pouring? Why or why not?

Apply the Principle: When we consider that the first principle is to be submissive to the Scriptures and then that the word for Baptism means, literally, to immerse, consider your baptism. Were you sprinkled as a baby? Did they pour the water over you as an adult? Were you sprinkled as an adult? Write some thoughts about what you think about, considering the need to be submissive to the Word of God for our lives.

Close out this day asking God to make you more submissive to His Word in your life.

Day 4

We are Baptized when there is a Scriptural Subject.

Acts 8:36 Eddie 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 “Eddie” 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 “Eddie” saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.”

This is the only place in the entire Bible when someone asks the specific question: “Can I be baptized?” If there is ever a time that the Bible would give the requirement for baptism, it stands to reason that this would be the place. Philip’s answer: If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

The Principle: Baptism is not a requirement to be born again; it is the natural response to being born again; that is, it is not what we have to do to be saved, it is what we ought to do because we are saved.

Think about the Principle: Read the following passages. What are the similarities in each circumstance: Acts 9:17; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 16:30-34 What we find in each passage is that Baptism followed conversion. Ananias called Saul “Brother Saul…”; Cornelius and his friends received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized. The Philippian Jailor asked the question, what must I do to be saved. Paul and Silas instruct him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ., then he was baptized.

Apply the Principle: Is there anything hindering you from being baptized? If you are already baptized, have you shared with someone the reason why you have been baptized? If you have not been baptized, what is hindering you from being baptized? Have you trusted Christ? Are your sins forgiven? Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? If you have, then there is nothing hindering you from being baptized. Close out this day by asking the Lord to search your heart, and then ask youself the question, what is hindering me from being baptized.

Day 5

Acts 8:30-39 “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 this: ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its 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 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 this 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 eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.”

This is such a great question. My prayer for you this week is that you may have looked at your life and asked the question, what is hindering ME from being baptized. Ultimately, our goal as a church is to make sure that every person has the opportunity to trust Christ as Savior. If you have never trusted Him, why not make today that day.

Lord Jesus, we pray for those who do not know you. We pray that they would see their need of salvation and trust Your grace to set them free. We pray, also, for those who have trusted You, but have not yet followed you in baptism. Give them the courage to openly and publicly confess You as Savior and guide them into all truth in their lives.

Taking up the cross

We may be young or old, holding any doctrine of `holiness', with any number of experiences and blessings to our credit, but self dies hard, I'll tell you that. We must know what it is to take up the cross daily and follow Jesus if we are to live in victory over self. There is no other way. But let us remember this meanwhile, that the Holy Spirit has come to help us put our self-centered life to death. The Bible says, "We naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite to the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces (our self-life and the Holy Spirit) are constantly fighting each other to win control over us" (Gal. 5:17-LB). In these days, particularly, when many Christians are confused about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it is good for us to bear in mind that He has come as a Helper to help us put to death the deeds of the flesh (the self-life). He does many other things in and through us. Let us not despise any of them. But if we do not allow Him to put our self-life to death, then all our other experiences are valueless.The Bible says, "If you live after the flesh, you will die, but if you through the Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh (and we've just seen some of the deeds of the flesh in this chapter), you will live - for as many as are led by the Spirit (in this way) are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:13,14). Verse 14 is often quoted out of context and made to refer to the Spirit's guidance in relation to where we are to go or what we are to do. But it is really connected with the previous verse and refers to the Holy Spirit leading us to put to death our self-centered desires. The verse also teaches that this is the identifying mark of the sons of God.-BRO.ZAC POONEN