Then Phillip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. (6) And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Phillip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (7) For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. (8) And there was great joy in that city……..(14) Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, (15) who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (16) For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (17) Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

The Book, Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke, writer of the gospel, historian and physician. Without Acts a significant historical gap would exist between the events of the gospel and the writing of the New Testament epistles. To understand our verses today we need to understand the history of Samaria which had been the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, which fell to the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C. They resettled many of the Jewish population and relocated Gentiles from other areas into the region resulting in a mix of Jews and Gentiles. This was anathema to the remaining kingdom of Judah. Jesus was of the tribe of Judah. Now, the gospel was soon to be sent to the Gentiles and Phillip (not the apostle but a newly appointed deacon of the church) went to Samaria and was the messenger and witness of God.

After the martyrdom of Stephen – another deacon – the first persecution of the church began. This was a continued rejection of Christ by the Jews and the faithful were scattered abroad and the message of the gospel went everywhere they went. Phillip want to Samaria where he proclaimed the good news of Christ Jesus and many believed. The clear teaching of Acts that all believers receive the Holy Spirit through faith at the moment of salvation was not true only in Samaria where the faithful had to be subject to the authority of the apostles. John and Peter were sent to confirm Phillips’s work – the apostles were commissioned by Christ as teachers to all nations – they laid hands on the believing Samaritans, signifying apostolic approval which was necessary because of the animosity between the two groups. The laying on of hands identified the church in Samaria with the work in Jerusalem.

Prayer precedes nearly every significant event in Acts. Acts presents flawed saints through whom a sovereign God worked. God wants to reach all people – there are cultural differences but the message doesn’t change. All have sinned and all need a Savior. The gospels recorded the end of the beginning of salvation through Christ Jesus and in Acts we are told beginning of the end of salvation history.