There is only one exception in the Bible concerning the laying on of hands. It happened in Cornelius’s house. The Holy Spirit descended upon Cornelius’s house before there was any baptism or laying on of hands. Cornelius’s house was an exception because after Pentecost, all the apostles thought that the Lord’s grace was confined to the Jews. They were conscious that they were the Jews and that the Lord Jesus was also a Jew. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit only descended upon the Jews. The three thousand and five thousand people who were saved at that time were all Jews. Those who received the Lord’s grace were scattered Jews in dispersion who had returned to Jerusalem. Up to this time, the Lord’s grace had been experienced only by the Jews. They were not sure whether this grace could be shared by foreigners—the Gentiles. Some Chinese call foreigners foreign devils. The Jews cursed the foreigners even more. They considered foreigners as animals and beasts. Even Peter could not drop this attitude. He had the same view as the others.
It is not easy to break through the barrier of man’s darkness. This is why it was a great matter for the Lord to send Peter to Cornelius’s house to open the door for the Gentiles to believe in Him. He first gave Peter a vision—a vessel descending from heaven like a great sheet with many things inside. The Lord said to Peter, “Slay and eat!” (Acts 10:13). When Peter saw it, he said immediately, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common and unclean” (v. 14). This means he had never had any dealings with the Gentiles before. What should he do now? The sheet came down once, twice, three times. By then Peter became clear. Had it not been for this vision, Peter would never have become clear. Old concepts are really strong! This vessel came from heaven, and the Lord Himself spoke to him, yet Peter still had reservations about it. The Lord could do nothing except take back the sheet. When it came down from heaven the second time, the Lord spoke to him again, but he still could not understand. The sheet was taken back again. The third time the Lord sent the sheet down again and showed him the vision once more. He spoke to him again. By this third time, Peter became clear. He could not say, “My eyes were mistaken,” or, “I have forgotten what I have seen; I cannot remember clearly.”
After this vision was unveiled, men from Caesarea came. Then it occurred to Peter that the Gentiles were also able to receive God’s salvation. The dogs could eat the crumbs under the table. He went, but after he arrived at Cornelius’s house, he still dared not baptize anyone. Cornelius’s household had indeed believed, but Peter dared not baptize them for fear that the brothers who were with him might not accept it. They might say, “Peter, you are acting independently.” Peter was in an awkward position at that time. He was clear in himself, but the brothers were not clear.
At this point the Lord poured down the Spirit upon the Gentiles—before they were baptized and before they had received the laying on of hands. When Peter went back, he could say boldly, “I only said a few words; the gospel was not even clearly presented. Yet the Holy Spirit came anyway. I had no alternative but to make up the lack by baptizing them.” Baptism is to forsake the world and enter into Christ, whereas the laying on of hands is to receive the anointing. Cornelius’s household had already received the anointing. Hence there was no more need for them to receive the laying on of hands. This is why Peter only baptized them.
Later, when Paul returned from Gentile lands to the church in Jerusalem, an argument followed concerning the Gentiles. Peter brought up the incident again and broke the deadlock. From that point on, the door to the Gentiles was opened.
In Samaria there was the laying on of hands, but in Caesarea there was not the laying on of hands. However, God used the case in Caesarea to confirm Paul’s work and to settle the case in chapter fifteen. In chapter nineteen, when Paul came to Ephesus, he again practiced the laying on of hands. Therefore, the practice of the laying on of hands continued. It has not suffered an interruption since.
New believers need to realize that as believers, we cannot live alone. We cannot be solitary Christians. We must be fellow members together with other children of God. We must also learn to submit to the authority of the Head. We cannot be rebellious. We must submit to God together with the other children of God. If we do this, the anointing will be manifested in our living and our work spontaneously, and we will have a way to go on before the Lord.