Peter and John came to Samaria from Jerusalem to see the effects of Philip’s preaching. They found baptized believers. Unlike the events in Jerusalem, the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were not present in any of the new converts. Baptized believers receive the “Gift” singular, of the Spirit (Romans 6:23), but not the miraculous gifts which can only be passed by the Spirit through the apostles for the spread of the gospel. Peter and John had laid hands on the seven in Jerusalem under the authority of God. They knew they needed God‘s permission to pass on this extraordinary power to those in Samaria. Therefore they “prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:15-16).
Jesus had taught the twelve, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:12-13). We read that in Samaria, the greater works of preaching salvation in Christ’s name and baptizing for the forgiveness of sins occurred. We also read that the apostles prayed that the Samaritans would receive the miraculous gifts in Jesus’ name, and it was allowed. “Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17). We read of Paul’s strong desire to go to Rome for the same reason, to pass the miraculous gifts to brethren at Rome. “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established” (Romans 1:11). Today our faith is confirmed by the unaltered gospel contained in scripture. But until the written word, in its entirety, was available, the gifts were needed. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20). Now, we have their word contained in our New Testaments.
The Samaritan magician Simon observed that some received the gifts through the hands of the apostles. Seeking to add this to his “bag of tricks,” he offered to buy this ability. He said, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God” (Acts 8:19-21). “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity” (Acts 8:22-23). Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me” (Acts 8:24).
For many reasons, people throughout time have wanted the gifts of tongues and healing. Like Simon, they have tried to “buy” the ability with many devious means, all with no success. They have invented tricks like Simon’s to convince others that they possess incredible power of judgment and healing abilities. Some have managed to lure thousands to their teachings. Most require donations of money for their attention. They are nothing like Philip, Peter, and John, who brought nothing but the gospel and took nothing as they departed. Jesus warned, “False Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). Today some tricksters preach a false gospel that does not save (Galatians 1:6-10).
After the Samaritans understood the gospel and received the abilities supplied by the Holy Spirit to grow to maturity, Peter and John “started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans” (Acts 8:25). The Spirit directed Philip to go South to find a traveler returning home from Jerusalem. “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza’” (Acts 8:26).
The Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-39), is the subject of many lessons and sermons. The most common message is that baptism is a total immersion of something or someone in water. Often overlooked is the study of being prepared to teach Jesus and salvation beginning at any passage of scripture. The Ethiopian was reading from Isaiah 53:7-8. Philip began at that point and taught Jesus (Acts 8:35).
Are we content with just using the clear messianic prophecies to start conversations with others? Can we open our Bibles at a random page and know the path from there to Jesus? Can we start with people like Ahab and Jezebel in 1 Kings 21 and “connect the dots” to the line between David and Jesus?
