Were Peter and John Pentecostals?
Hi, welcome to today's Little Lesson. If you're a regular viewer, you know
that we're right now smack in the middle of a series of lessons on speaking in other tongues,
and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My goal in all of this is to get you, and I'm talking to
believers in Jesus Christ now, you, baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues,
and I'm not ashamed. And I'm doing it not through human argument, but just by looking at what the
scripture says. Today, we're going to read a story that we started in our last lesson
about Peter and John, who had the same goal that I have, that I've just announced to you.
What's my goal? My goal is to get you baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking
in other tongues. Peter and John, we're going to read their story, they traveled from Jerusalem to
Sumeria for the exact same purpose. That's right. It's explicit. No one can deny it. No theologian,
no preacher, no minister, no pastor. Nobody can deny that what the Bible plainly says,
that the express purpose of Peter and John traveling from Jerusalem to Judea was to get
new believers, people who had already believed in Jesus, people who had already been baptized
in water, to get them baptized in the Holy Spirit. And so Peter and John believed that just because
you're born again, that's not the end of your experiences with the Holy Spirit. Just because
you're born of the spirit, just because you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that's not the
end. There's still something wonderful for you. It's called being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
And when I asked at the beginning of this Little Lesson, were Peter and John Pentecostals,
I'm saying that a little bit tongue-in-cheek. There was no such things as a Pentecostal
back in the days of Peter and John. But the Pentecostals do distinctly believe that there's
an experience subsequent to salvation, and it's referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit
or the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and we're going to read about it today. So if you didn't
watch the last Little Lesson, at least I hope you watch that one before you watch this one because
we got the context last time about Philip preaching in Sumeria, and the Sumerians giving
heed to his gospel because they saw the signs and the wonders, and they believed, and they
were baptized. And this guy who was a big shot down in Sumeria, who had been doing all kinds of
magic and stuff, but by demonic, satanic power, he himself believed, and he himself was baptized,
and he was following Peter and John wherever they went because he was constantly amazed,
it said in Acts, Chapter 8, and it looks like around verse number 13.
All right, so we're going to start in verse number 14.
Now when the apostles, well, who are the apostles? We know who the apostles
are. When the apostles in Jerusalem, all the apostles who were still up there in Jerusalem
heard that Sumeria had received the word of God. So there's debating this. These were not
people who were unsaved and needed to be saved. They believed according to the Book of Acts,
they were baptized according to the Book of Acts, and now we read that they had received
the word of God and all the apostles heard about it. And so what did all the apostles do?
Again, these are the big shots. These are the guys who were with Jesus for three and a half years.
They sent them Peter and John. So all the apostles sent Peter and John from Jerusalem to Sumeria,
who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Wow! Does that fit your
theology? Do you believe that it's right to pray for people who have been born again,
baptized in water, who have received the word of God according to apostolic testimony?
Do you believe it's right or wrong to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit? If you believe
it's wrong, that's contradictory to what we just read in the Bible that you claim to believe. Okay?
This is actually impossible to refute. There's no theologian who can say Peter and John didn't
come down to Sumeria to pray for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
There's no theologian who can say these people weren't already born-again
believers in Jesus who were baptized in the water and who had received the word of God.
So to try to make this story fit standard North American
theology, it's impossible. It doesn't fit! Because standard evangelical North American theology says
that when you're born again, that's it. You've got the Holy Spirit in you and don't ask for
anything more. Peter and John didn't believe that, nor did any of the apostles in Jerusalem.
So I'm going to stick with them myself, and I'm going to pattern my ministry after their
example, not after some seminary professor who doesn't have any
faith in the most basic, clear description like this, that we just read in Acts, Chapter 8.
To make it even more clear, the apostle Paul says too, about these new believers, speaking about the
Holy Spirit, for He, that would be He, the Holy Spirit, this is verse 16, had not yet fallen upon
any of them. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So again,
it affirms that they've been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit hasn't yet
fallen upon them. That's why the apostles sent Peter and John down to pray for them,
pray for them that the Holy Spirit might fall upon these believers.
It's so simple, only a theologian could miss it. Only a theologian could miss this.
So what happens next? Verse 17. Then they, that's Peter and John, began laying their hands on them,
and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. So what they came for, it worked.
They did it! These people who'd previously not received the Holy Spirit, were receiving
the Holy Spirit. And how do you think they knew that they had received the Holy Spirit?
The same way they knew that just not too long ago on the day of Pentecost, they,
Peter and John and all the rest of the apostles, had received the Holy Spirit. They heard them
speaking in other tongues. Now you say, well, but the Bible doesn't say that. Well, okay,
I'll grant you that the Bible doesn't say explicitly right here that they
spoke in tongues, but let's keep on reading because that's the only logical conclusion.
We keep reading now. When Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying on of
the apostle's hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give this authority to me as well,
so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." Well, clearly,
Simon saw something that he was willing to pay for. And if all he saw was just the disciples
laying hands upon the believers and saying receive the Holy Spirit, and there was no manifestation
whatsoever of anything supernatural, why would Simon want to buy that? There'd be no reason. Now
remember, Simon himself was kind of a miraculous guy prior to his conversion. We read about this on
our last Little Lesson. You can read it yourself if you didn't watch that Little Lesson. In Acts,
Chapter 8 he was a magician, not just a slight of hand magician, but a guy that was delving into the
demonic, satanic realm, and astounding people in some area with his magic arts. But he saw the
miracles that Philip was doing, the casting out of demons, the lame and the paralyzed who had been
healed, and he repented and he believed, and he was baptized. And he began following Philip
wherever he was going because he was astounded, as God worked through Philip.
And now, so he's seen demons cast out. He's seen lame and paralyzed people walking
and rejoicing. He's seen some pretty astounding things, the ministry of Philip. And of course he's
seen miracles through his own life, not ministry, but his magic arts prior to his salvation.
So why is he trying to buy the power to impart the Holy Spirit? Because he saw
something super-duper-natural occur when Peter and John laid his hands upon those new believers.
They were receiving the Holy Spirit, and obviously they were speaking in other tongues. And so here
we have then, the second instance in the Book of Acts of people receiving the Holy Spirit.
In this case, just like on the day of Pentecost, it was subsequent to salvation.
And on the day of Pentecost, everybody who received the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues.
In this case, everyone that Peter and John, those young believers,
they received the Holy Spirit. It doesn't explicitly say here that they spoke in tongues,
but it's obvious that something supernatural happened and it wasn't demons coming out. It
wasn't lame and paralyzed people being healed. What else could it have been other than speaking
in other tongues? And if you read after some of the early church fathers, they agree with that
because that's what was passed down through church history. And so there you have it. Okay.
So I challenge you today to believe the Bible.
And you perhaps are just like those believers in Sumeria. You've received the word of God.
You believe in Jesus, your sins have been forgiven. You've been baptized
in water. Well, there's something else for you, being baptized in the Holy Spirit. You say,
"Well, how will that happen to me?" Well, someone can lay hands upon you, but that's
not absolutely necessary and I'll talk about that in a future Little Lesson in this series, okay?
We're out of time for today. I'm so sorry. If you've never been to the website,
heavensfamily.org, why not? Okay. Heaven, the word heaven, the letter S, the word family.org.
There you'll find all the information about a ministry that I've been blessed to lead
for almost 20 years now. And by the time you watch this it might be over 20 years.
And it's vital stuff about how you can get involved in doing what Jesus said every believer
ought to be involved in doing, that's caring for the least of these. That's why Heavens Family
exists. All right, great. Till next time, may the Lord richly bless you.