Impartation of the Holy Spirit, God's gift, God's way.

Acts 8:14-40 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page)

¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. ²² Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶ But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” ³⁷ And 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.” ³⁸ And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

The text says:  Peter and John,  came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.     

He had not yet fallen upon any of them. There are many things which Christians allow themselves to become divided over, doctrines, preferences and traditions are chief among these things. The Holy Spirit should not be something that we are divided over, because the Holy Spirit is not a thing at all. The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is no less God than the Father or Jesus. In John 14:16-20   Jesus says:

¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; ¹⁷ that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

It is through the Holy Spirit that we have unity with the Father and with Jesus and then according to what He says in John 17:23:  I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me., with each other.

Sadly, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Triune God, is the focus of some  of the greatest  controversies and divisions that exist in the church. From denomination to denomination and between individual believers. There is disagreement in everything from how we receive the Holy Spirit to how active and powerful He is in our lives and in the world today.

As I often say, I am no theological expert. So I will leave the theological debates to the theologians. For today though, let's look at what we can see and learn from this text.  It says that Samaria had received the word of God but the Holy Spirit had not fallen on any of them. In the same way the original disciples, even after seeing the risen Lord with their own eyes, knowing and believing that Jesus was/is indeed the Lord and Savior, were told to wait for the filling or "to be clothed" with the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit.     "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”(Luke 24:49)   So it would seem that believing, receiving the revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is separate from the filling or clothing with the Holy Spirit.

Today's text says that they began laying their hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. This though, does not justify that we create a doctrine that says a believer can only receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. That is just one of the ways we see the impartation of the Holy Spirit in scripture. Remember the Holy Spirit is God. He doesn't need us to do a thing for Him to empower and fill a believer. He doesn't need us but He will lead us.  This example of laying on of hands though does serve as an example of one way that the power of God is released through believers to believers.

The text continues:  Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.       Unfortunately we see this same thing today. There are those who would try to make the impartation of the power of God a profitable venture, something that can be bought or sold.    It is right that those who minister receive compensation for their work, service and ministry. 1 Timothy 5:17-18 says:  17The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18For the Scripture says, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages."       Jesus had also said, when He sent the disciples out in Luke 10:7; "Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages.

It is not wrong that ministers receive compensation for their ministry, but  when the financial reward becomes the focus, when ministry becomes a business it is an affront to the Lord. Jesus paid the only price that needs to be paid. Salvation and the impartation of the Holy Spirit are gifts, free gifts from God the Father. No one can sell what the Father has freely given.    Jesus says in Matthew 10:7-8:   And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.   

Let's look briefly then at the last portion of today's text where we see the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian. The text says:  he(the Ethiopian) was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” This is a God ordained, divine encounter. Philip responded in obediance to the leading of God, through the instruction of the angel and the Spirit. The Word of God was already working in the heart of the Ethiopian.

The text says: Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” ³⁷ And 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.” ³⁸ And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.    We see in  the Ethiopian, a heartfelt pure response to the word and the revelation of Christ he received. Philip, led by the Spirit, puts no additional requirement on the new believer. There are no classes to attend, no other public testimony was neccessary, he procaimed his faith and belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and he was baptized.

Let's look at what happens next by the power of the Holy Spirt.  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.   The eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. He was the benefactor of a divine appointment ordained and orchestrated by the God who created him.

As for Philip, we have seen a lot of encouragement and exhortation to walk in the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit, fully yielded and fully submitted to Him. Remember, the Holy Spirit is God. When we walk with Him and in Him, nothing is impossible. God is not restricted by time or space. He is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. That's the God who abides in us and as we abide in Him we can move and minister in His power. Nothing is impossible.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I yield to You, asking You Father to lead me to divine appointments and encounters today. I desire to follow Your instruction Lord Jesus and as I have freely received I want to freely give. Holy Spirit fill me and empower me to do all the things that the Father and Son have in mind for me today.   Amen