Good Morning Spirit Filled Disciples. Today we look at Acts 19.
“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.” Acts 19:1-3 NIV
What is going on here? These Disciples don’t have the Holy Spirit? How is that a thing? We don’t commonly see this as we study Paul’s missionary journeys. We also don’t commonly see him asking, “have you received the Holy Spirit?” So there are a few things I think we can grab onto from this exchange.
- Apparently there was something visible about these guys that prompted Paul to ask. The did not “look” like they had the Holy Spirit. Were they not shining the light? Was their countenance somehow different? They were called Disciples so they clearly were following, but were they just going through the motions?
- It appears that they had an incomplete understanding of the Gospel. They didn’t seem to understand clearly what they were baptized into nor had they ever even heard of the Holy Spirit.
- They KNEW they needed what Paul was preaching - they evidently knew in themselves something was missing. Spurgeon once said if you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit you know it! Like touching an electric fence you know!
When I think of these guys I think of those that maybe “raised a hand”, “walked an isle”, “prayed a prayer”, maybe even were “baptized”, or went through “catechism”… but never truly understood their depravity or had a real desire for Jesus. Maybe their reasons weren’t pure or right in the beginning. Maybe their whole Sunday school class did it and they didn’t want to be left out. Maybe it was just the expectation of the family around them so they felt pressured. Who knows.
One thing is clear in Scripture it’s all about your heart. Where is it? All Jesus wants is your heart, and your life… all of it. That’s all. Does he have it? Are you ready to give it to Him?
Love you all! Dig in!
“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.” Acts 19:1-3 NIV
What is going on here? These Disciples don’t have the Holy Spirit? How is that a thing? We don’t commonly see this as we study Paul’s missionary journeys. We also don’t commonly see him asking, “have you received the Holy Spirit?” So there are a few things I think we can grab onto from this exchange.
- Apparently there was something visible about these guys that prompted Paul to ask. The did not “look” like they had the Holy Spirit. Were they not shining the light? Was their countenance somehow different? They were called Disciples so they clearly were following, but were they just going through the motions?
- It appears that they had an incomplete understanding of the Gospel. They didn’t seem to understand clearly what they were baptized into nor had they ever even heard of the Holy Spirit.
- They KNEW they needed what Paul was preaching - they evidently knew in themselves something was missing. Spurgeon once said if you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit you know it! Like touching an electric fence you know!
When I think of these guys I think of those that maybe “raised a hand”, “walked an isle”, “prayed a prayer”, maybe even were “baptized”, or went through “catechism”… but never truly understood their depravity or had a real desire for Jesus. Maybe their reasons weren’t pure or right in the beginning. Maybe their whole Sunday school class did it and they didn’t want to be left out. Maybe it was just the expectation of the family around them so they felt pressured. Who knows.
One thing is clear in Scripture it’s all about your heart. Where is it? All Jesus wants is your heart, and your life… all of it. That’s all. Does he have it? Are you ready to give it to Him?
Love you all! Dig in!
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