Good morning all. God IS GOOD all the time, ALL THE TIME GOD is good.
What do you have to complain about today? TOO BLESSED TO COMPLAIN!
Okay, let us look at Acts 8 beginning with verse 14.
14 Now
when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:What is happening here? The apostles are in an all Jewish church and hear that Samaria.....wait......who.....SAMARIA???? Samaria had not heard, but received the word of God. This is important - the difference between heard and received. The Bible does not say they heard, but that they RECEIVED the word of God. Received = conversion.
Remember, Samaria was a place where under Ahab, king built altars to Baal through the encouragement of his wife Jezebel. Samaria was the capitol of Northern half of Israel when Israel broke in to two halves.
So, Peter and John are sent to see what is going on in Samaria, the Baal capitol of the north (if you will).
15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
When they arrived they realized the people had been baptized, but were yet to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter and John, realizing the conversion was real began to pray for the Samariatans.
16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
This special function of Peter and John was not to be repeated. The first instance of the Holy Spirit's coming upon a group of individuals was in the upper room and they were all Jews. Peter and John bring the power of Pentecost to another group of people, the Samaritans.
Wow!! The power of the apostles! You have that power! Once you truly believe AND it will bring glory to God; YOU CAN DO IT!! Tomorrow Simon, seeing all this says, "Hey guys, how do I get some of this?" More later. Love you all.
In Christ's Love and Grace
Johnny
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