Lesson 1923

(Lesson 1923)(01-28-17) Acts 8:14-17

"Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."

Today's quote reveals that after hearing that the Samarians had heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, Peter and John were sent to finalize the deal. The quote simply says that the apostles, by the laying on of hands, gave the Holy Ghost to those who had accepted Christ. We know that there must have been more to it than what is recorded therein because we know that the Holy Ghost comes through acceptance of Jesus Christ and not simply by the laying on of hands. That point is evidenced in Acts 10:47, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" No one in Peter's company, in order to bestow the Holy Ghost, laid hands on Cornelius or those in His house.

I believe that what happened with Apollos in Acts 18:24-26 also happened with Philip and the Samarians, "And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly."

I believe that Peter and John "expounded" the way of God "more perfectly" unto the Samarians the same way Aquila and Priscilla did with Apollos. It was after that more perfect explanation that the Samarians fully trusted Jesus Christ to the point of eternal salvation and the receiving of the Holy Ghost.~