A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XIX - I
I, Paul, had been travelling for some time.... However, I had promised the believers in Ephesus that I would return.... If the Lord opened the door for me to do so.... And eventually He did....At my arrival I met with some disciples.... I was delighted to meet with them.... We began a conversation about their faith.... As I listened to them, I began to have an unease within me.... I could not exaactly pinpoint why this was so... But I sensed something was not quite right.... I decided to ask them a question.... So I did.... I am not sure what they thought of my question.... But that did not matter.... For I knew I needed to ask it.... As I believed that their answer would help me understand my unease within me....So I asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed.... Their answer was very revealing to me.... For they told me they had never heard of the Holy Spirit.... Then I understood why I had sensed something was lacking in their lives... But I needed to ask them another question before I could proceed with any teaching.... This time I asked them what baptism they had received.... They replied that they had received the baptism of John the Baptist.... He was the forerunner of Jesus.... Then I fully understood....They had not yet heard the gospel in all its fullness....So I, first of all, told them what the Baptism of John had been all about.... I then continued by preaching to them all what Jesus had already accomplished.... It was wonderful to see these disciples receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit afterwards... With all the accompanying signs just as it had happened at the Day of Pentecost.... And as I had experienced as well."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn of Paul's encounter with some disciples in Ephesus....
ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XIX - I
Paul had been travelling and ended up in Ephesus again where he met some disciples. And he asked them a very interesting question as you can read in Acts 19:1-2
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."
What a strange question to ask these disciples, don't you think? However, Paul must have had a reason for asking it. He must have realised something was missing from their lives though he may not have been able to pinpoint exactly what was missing. The answer of these disciples only confirmed that Paul was right for they had never received any teaching on the Holy Spirit.
Paul, having realised that these disciples had not rceived the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, asked them another question as you can read in Acts 19:3
So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied.
Paul then understood from their answer why he had sensed something was lacking in their lives. Their answer had revealed to him they they only knew the teaching of John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus as you can know from Matthew 3:1-3
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him."
So Paul explained to these disciples what the ministry of John the Baptist had been as you can know from Acts 19:4
Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
Paul realised that these disciples did not yet know that the One John had spoken of, the Lord Jesus, had already come, had already died on the Cross for their sins, had already been resurrected, and had gone back to heaven from where He had sent the Holy Spirit to earth to reside within believers the moment they are born again, and to empower them for their God-given task. No doubt, Paul then explained the Gospel Message in all its fullness to them, whereafter he baptised them in the Name of the Lord as you can know from Acts 19:5
On hearing this, they were baptied into the Name of the Lord Jesus.
He, furthermore, prayed for them to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as you can read in Acts 19:6
When Paul placed his hands on them, The Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Paul will have recognised that they received a genuine Baptism in the Holy Spirit for the outward signs were as they had happened on the Day of Pentecost as you can read in Acts 2:4
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
And it will have been like Paul's own experience as you can read in Acts 9:17
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul (Paul), he said, "Brother Saul, The Lord - Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Read Part Six HERE
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