{"id":74,"date":"2011-07-10T17:20:54","date_gmt":"2011-07-10T17:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/?page_id=74"},"modified":"2011-07-10T17:20:54","modified_gmt":"2011-07-10T17:20:54","slug":"step-12-the-laying-on-of-hands","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/?page_id=74","title":{"rendered":"Step 12 The Laying on of Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Instruction about <\/strong><strong>the Laying on of Hands<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The Fourth of Six<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8220;Elementary Teachings about Christ&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">from Hebrews 6:1,2<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We are studying Hebrews 6:1-2:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Therefore let us leave <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">the elementary teachings <\/span><\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">about Christ<\/span><\/em><\/strong><strong><em> and go on to maturity, not laying again <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">foundation<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of repentance from acts that lead to death, and <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of faith in God, <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><sup>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">instruction<\/span><\/em><\/strong><strong><em> about <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>baptisms, <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">THE LAYING ON OF HANDS<\/span>, <\/em><\/strong><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the resurrection of the dead, and <\/em><\/strong><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 eternal judgment.<\/em><\/strong><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Topic Headings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and the Imparting of a Blessing<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and the Gift of the Holy Spirit<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and the Commissioning of a Person<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 for Some Special Service<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and the Healing of the Sick<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Laying on of Hands<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 and a Couple More Considerations<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What Shall I Do?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Laying on of Hands\u00a0<\/strong><strong>and the Imparting of a Blessing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The laying on of hands was sometimes used by one person or group of people to impart a blessing from God to someone.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<strong><em>And He <\/em><\/strong>(Jesus)<strong><em> took the children in His arms, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">put His hands on<\/span> them and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">blessed<\/span> them. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(Mark 10:16)<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do not neglect the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">spiritual gift<\/span> within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">the laying on of hands<\/span> by the presbytery. <\/em><\/strong>(1 Timothy 4:14)<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and the Gift of the Holy Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Holy Spirit can be received at the laying on of hands.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Then Peter and John <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">placed their hands on them<\/span>, and they <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">received the Holy Spirit<\/span>. \u00a0When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">the laying on<\/span> of the apostles&#8217; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">hands<\/span>, . . . \u201d<\/em><\/strong> (Acts 8:17-18a)<\/p>\n<p>The laying on of hands seems to have been the normal situation in which the early believers received the gift of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>However, there were exceptions. \u00a0The believers received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost without it (Acts 2:4).\u00a0 Cornelius, his family, and his friends received the Holy Spirit without it (Acts 10:44-48).\u00a0 So, obviously it\u2019s not absolutely necessary; God can and does do things otherwise when and where He wants to do so.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and the Commissioning of a Person <\/strong><strong>for Some Special Service<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The laying on of hands can be used to commission a person for some special service.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>While they<\/em><\/strong> (certain prophets and teachers at Antioch)<strong><em> were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, &#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Set apart for me<\/span> Barnabas and Saul <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">for the work<\/span> to which I have called them.&#8221;\u00a0 So after they had fasted and prayed, they <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">placed their hands on<\/span> them and sent them off.<\/em><\/strong> (Acts 13:2,3)<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, the apostles laid hands on a special group of men who were commissioned to take care of widows in Jerusalem (Acts 6:6).<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and the Healing of the Sick<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jesus laid hands on the sick and they were healed.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">laying His hands on<\/span> each one, he healed them.<\/em><\/strong> (Luke 4:40)<\/p>\n<p>Jesus promised that believers would lay hands on the sick, and they would get well:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cAnd these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">place<\/span> their <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">hands on<\/span> sick people, and they will get well.&#8221;<\/em><\/strong> (Mark 16:17-18)<\/p>\n<p>This happened.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n<p>[The father of Publius who was the chief official on the island of Malta] <strong><em>was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery.\u00a0 Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">placed his hands on<\/span> him and healed him.<\/em><\/strong> (Acts 28:8)<\/p>\n<p>It still happens!<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Laying on of Hands <\/strong><strong>and a Couple More Considerations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Apostle Paul warned Timothy:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do not be hasty in the laying of hands, and do not share in the sin of others; keep yourself pure. <\/em><\/strong>(1 Timothy 5:22)<strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unlike the teachings that we have looked at previously, the laying on of hands is nowhere commanded in the Bible nor are there any specific promises attached to this practice.\u00a0\u00a0 However, the example of the early Christians\u00a0\u00a0shows us that they often laid hands on others for a\u00a0variety of reasons \u2013 usually to convey some good\u00a0 thing from God to another person. \u00a0 So, it seems that, when this practice will help us to\u00a0convey a blessing to another person, we would do\u00a0well to do it also.\u00a0 But it is not required.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Shall I Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First, understand how our Lord and His apostles used the laying on of hands.<\/li>\n<li>Then, use the laying on of hands yourself or support the use of it by others when the situation suggests it.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t be in a hurry to do it.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t think that it is necessary in every situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 copyright 2011<\/p>\n<p>Lyra Publications<\/p>\n<p>Preston, Minnesota<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Instruction about the Laying on of Hands The Fourth of Six &#8220;Elementary Teachings about Christ&#8221; from Hebrews 6:1,2 \u00a0 We are studying Hebrews 6:1-2: Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings \u00a0 about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the foundation \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of repentance from acts that lead to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76,"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74\/revisions\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/firststepsontheway.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}