After the martyrdom of Stephen, most of the Christians in Jerusalem fled the city in fear of Saul (who later became the apostle Paul).

"But the believers who had fled Jerusalem went everywhere preaching the Good News about Jesus. Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to what he had to say because of the miracles he did. Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city…

"But now the people believed Philip's message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized...

"When the apostles back in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there. As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new Christians to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:4-8, Acts 8:12, Acts 8:14-17, New Living Translation).

We can see the process that the early Christian Church established for new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. As a person becomes convicted of the truth of the Bible and the need for Jesus' atoning sacrifice, he or she also sees the need to become baptized.

Baptism is only part of the process, however. A baptized individual must then have hands laid on them by a minister of God, as made clear in the following passage:

"...who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 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" (Acts 8:15-17).

Notice that these Christians had already been baptized. But the Holy Spirit wasn't given to them until the apostles laid hands on them.

"When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:5-6).

Peter had preached that those who repented and were baptized would receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). But from these examples, we see that the Holy Spirit didn't come immediately when a person was immersed in water, but came after a minister of God put his hands on the person and prayed for the Holy Spirit to be given to him or her.