All posts tagged: Philip in Samaria

Philip the evangelist

The church has Holy Spirit specialists

There is an interesting passage in Acts, that suggests we have Holy Spirit specialists, or individuals who are good at manifesting one particular aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry on earth. We are told, in the Gospel of John, that Jesus had the full measure of the Holy Spirit (John 3:34). This suggests that while believers today can be filled with the Holy Spirit, we do not have the full measure as Jesus did. And we may even see an example of this in the Book of Acts. Gifts of healing specialists? In Acts 8, we are told that Philip went to Samaria and a lot of amazing miracles started happening. “For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed” Luke writes (Acts 8:7). Not only was Philip casting out evil spirits, but notice that it specifically says he was healing the paralyzed or lame. Does this mean that only lame and paralyzed people were showing up to be …