Samaritans received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:14-17

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“Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” Acts 8:14-17

Philip had a very successful ministry in Samaria, as quoted, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Acts 8:5-6

The Apostles governed the Way of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem. When the other Apostles [in Jerusalem] heard of the multitudes in Samaria coming to Jesus Christ, they sent Peter and John who brought the Holy Spirit to the Samaritans in the name of Jesus Christ. Philip could have done so himself, being an Apostle of the Christ, Jesus, but sometimes the Lord uses one person to plant and another to water. In the case of the Samaritans, Philip planted the Gospel seed and Peter and John watered. Paul considered himself to be one who planted and Apollos the waterer, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” 1 Corinthians 3:5-8

As followers of Jesus Christ, there is no need to see ourselves as the one who shares our born-again experience [which is the Gospel of Christ written on our heart] and the same one who leads people to receive the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, a person will readily hear the Good News, which is the planted seed. Then later, someone will water the seed of that Good News and the person will be eager and ready for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, the watering that people need is to be encouraged to confess with the mouth that Jesus is their Lord, after all, only by the Holy Spirit can someone truly say that Jesus is Lord, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3 If you are not opposing Jesus and can genuinely call Him Lord, you have the Holy Spirit.

Today, receiving the Holy Spirit does not come by fleshly hands being laid upon us, but comes by Jesus Christ laying His Spirit upon us. When we confess with our mouth that He is Lord, and believe in our heart that He is risen from the dead, then we are children of the Spirit, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 Live for God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit become spart of who you are.

“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…” Philippians 1:6

Water baptism is only an outward expression of our desire to walk with Jesus Christ in this sin-plagued world. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a result of walking with Him after the water of the outward baptism has dried off. I was baptized in an Ohio creek called Paint Creek, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience by any means. Everyone there pulled their cars alongside the sandbar, and we all walked towards the edge of the water. The current was a little more rapid than anyone would have wanted it to be, but we all decided to do the baptisms. When my turn came, I was dipped under the water, and one of the two men holding me lost their grip for just a second, and I started to be carried downstream. They caught me. Still, water ran up my nose, and it felt awful, still I was baptized. The point is that I wanted to show my commitment of living for Jesus Christ but by no means did I receive the Holy Spirit from that baptism in the waters of Paint Creek.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11