IBS Acts 8:15-16 (1/23/14)

Inductive Bible Study Method for Acts 8:15-16 (1-23-2014)

“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.”

God sent Peter and John to Samaria to pray for the believers there, that they may receive the Holy Spirit. These Samaritans had repented and been baptized in the Name of Jesus, but the Holy Spirit had not come into them yet. After Peter and John had prayed over them, the Holy Spirit was received into them. 

I have seen the Holy Spirit work in my life and it’s only by the grace of God that my heart had been softened to let Him in. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. He is the One who knocks on the doors of people’s hearts to lead them to repentance. Jesus is our Advocate to the Father - He intercedes on our behalf and shows that He paid the fine for our sins after we repent. But before we can repent, we need to see the need for a Savior. This is what the Holy Spirit’s job is - to intercede on behalf of Christ. He opens people’s eyes to see that there is nothing they can do to earn Heaven, and points them to the Cross. 

The Holy Spirit does not force Himself where He is not wanted - for believers and unbelievers. I have experienced the hardening of my heart towards the Holy Spirit’s convictions, and its really scary. There’s been sins in my life that I have NOT wanted to give up - the Holy Spirit had tried to speak to me through my conscience, and since I was ignoring my conscience, He stopped talking to me. It was only after repenting of my sin that He began to speak to my heart once again. 

I need to be sensitive to His leading. If I truly want to be filled with the Spirit, I need to listen when He speaks to me. We as human beings are prideful in that we think that we couldn’t fall into sin. This is extremely dangerous - being afraid of falling into sin is what keeps us humble. I need to acknowledge that I am capable of any kind of sin, and I need to be down on my knees - submitted to Christ - so that I am willing to repent when He brings to Light the evil things in my heart. 

I want to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading. I’m going to take an extra 10 minutes every morning to just sit and listen to what God has to say to me. Haley is my prayer partner and I'm going to have her keep me accountable.