Receiving the Holy Spirit

Receiving the Holy Spirit

1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." 4 And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all. 8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." 4 And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Here in several scenes are portrayed in ways in which the gospel impacted Ephesus and the surrounding region. These scenes indicate the diversity and significance of Paul’s encounter with various groups in Ephesus. Overall, the gospel of Jesus Christ and Paul had an amazing impact on this city. A city, which was profoundly, influenced by magic and the cult of the goddess Artemis and other false religions.

Paul’s ministry to the twelve ‘disciples’ of John and not yet the disciples of Jesus in verses 19:1–7 makes an incredible statement. Apollos had received the baptism of John as well as these disciples but because Pricilla and Aquila had pulled him aside they showed him the more accurately the way of God. Now Apollos had come to recognize Jesus as the one to whom John’s testimony and baptism pointed towards. Apollos needed this further instruction to become a truly effective witness for Jesus, himself. However, the disciples whom Paul met in Ephesus had received John’s baptism but did not understand the purpose of John’s mission, they need more. They needed more than John’s baptism. They needed to be baptized in the name of Jesus and they needed to understand, that being baptized in his name guides our behavior and how we speak.

Let us pray...

Receiving the Holy Spirit… gives us more than John’s baptism.

1And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. According to , Apollos went to Achaia, but now we are specifically told that he was in Corinth. Meanwhile, Paul arrived back in the administrative center of the province of Asia, back at Ephesus. Ephesus was also the commercial center of the region and the fourth largest city in the Empire.

Ephesus came into the Roman domain in 133 BC, but was not really elevated to the status of provincial capital until the reign of Augustus.

At that time, Ephesus experienced tremendous growth because of its advantageous situation, advantageous because it was the location of numerous important land and sea routes. Ephesus was called ‘the first and greatest metropolis of Asia’. The temple of Artemis was outside the city wall, and it was the chief glory of the city and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was about four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens and was richly decorated with the works of the greatest painters and sculptors of the age. Luke’s later narratives illustrate the amazing impact of Paul’s ministry on the cult of Artemis and the practice of magic in the city, we will see that in a couple of weeks when we get to (19:11–41). But first, however, he informs us about Paul’s encounter with an unusual group of Jewish disciples. Why are they unusual pastor? Well because the term here for disciples is mathētēs is extensively used in Luke and Acts for Christian disciples. It inclusion here leads many to insist that these Ephesians must have been Christians. But I want you to pay close attention to what Paul asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ (v. 2), Paul is seeking here some evidence of Christian conversion.

Here we see a parallel with the experience of the Samaritan believers in , Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”

They received the Holy Spirit. Apparently in this unique case, where the gospel was first moving beyond the bounds of Judaism, the Lord sovereignly waited to give any manifestation of the full power of the Holy Spirit until some of the apostles themselves could be present (Philip was not an apostle), and therefore there would be no question at all that the Samaritans had received the new covenant empowering of the Holy Spirit in the same way that the Jewish Christians had. This action would show that the Samaritans should be counted and regarded as full members of the one true church, the new covenant community of God’s people, founded and based at that time in Jerusalem.

Now, when asked by Paul, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ the Ephesian disciples answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’. Now here’s the problem for us! How could genuine Christians make such a response? Paul was expressing doubt about their spiritual condition when he asked his critical question in v. 2. Now their answer showed that they were definitely not fully disciples of Christ; but disciples of John.

They had acquired some knowledge of John’s teaching probably from a secondhand source and were baptized by someone else rather than having direct contact with John the Baptist himself. This would explain why they did not understand or recognized the coming of either the Messiah or the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit through Jesus. There was a missing piece in their profession that could have given them the possession of Christ and the Holy Spirit which they should have been seeking.

Had they dealt with John the Baptist directly they would have understood that he proclaimed that the Messiah would soon baptize his disciple with the Holy Spirit.

, As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Jesus endorsed that prediction, proclaiming its imminent fulfillment and describing the Spirit as ‘the gift my Father promised.

, And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many day from now.”

What Jesus is alluding to here is the promise of an eschatological outpouring of the Spirit given to Israel in passages such as , and . It is surprising that anyone who knew the Scriptures well could even say; we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. It is particularly puzzling also that anyone who had received John’s baptism could be ignorant of his teaching on this subject. When they believed, they apparently did not appropriate this vital aspect of John’s legacy. Luke does not explain the reason for this, but continues his account of the way they came to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and receive the Spirit promised by John.

, And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” Again note Paul’s further question (‘Then what baptism did you receive?’) indicates some surprise that they had not received baptism ‘into’ the name of Jesus Christ, in which the outcome of was normally the reception of the Holy Spirit.

, And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."

They then disclosed that they had received only John’s baptism. John the Baptist’s ministry was a summons to definitive repentance initially expressed in baptism and the motivation for the imminent coming of the Jesus and His salvation.

I fail to explain this well last week and it has haunted all week, my explanation was not inaccurate but it was inadequate.

, And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" 7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."10 And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?"11 And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise."12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"

13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do."14 Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

There was something defective about the way these Ephesian disciples had understood the significance of their baptism, since John had told the people ‘to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus’.

John clearly indicated that the Christ was yet to come, that he would be mightier than John, and that he would baptize with the Holy Spirit. , And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” Here Paul chooses to focuses on the name of Jesus, which brings the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit. If they would put their trust in Jesus as Messiah, they would receive the gift of the Spirit and become Christians. Paul wanted them to understand that John’s baptism was on a precursor to salvation, but the baptism in the name of Jesus was the prize that they should be seeking.

Receiving the Holy Spirit … grants us power in the name of Jesus.

, On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Once again, Luke’s narrative is brief and does not appear to record all that was said. Paul presumably told them that baptism into the name of the Lord Jesus was the only way to rectify their situation and to received the gift of the Spirit.

This is the only instance of re-baptism recorded in the entire NT, and it highlights the unusual nature of the recipients and their situation.

Marshall rightly argues that ‘it would be wrong to conclude from this incident that people today do not receive the Spirit at their baptism (whether as infants or adults) and ought to be re-baptized in order to receive the Spirit; the characteristic and essential feature of the sacrament of Christian baptism is that it is performed in the name of Jesus, and the gift of the Spirit is given simultaneous.

records the Apostle Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

This was a strong affirmation by Peter that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Being baptized in the name of Jesus indicates an understanding by the person being baptized that Christ is the Savior. Christian baptism is also in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (). Being baptized in this manner simply means we are identifying ourselves with the Trinity. We belong to the Father, the Son saves us, and the Holy Spirit indwells us.

This is similar to how we pray in Jesus’ name ().

When we pray in the name of Jesus, we are praying with His authority and asking God the Father to act upon our prayers because we come in the name of His Son, Jesus.

Being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is being baptized in identification with them and their power over and in our lives. Jesus Himself specifically tells us to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (.) In the Book of Acts, new believers were baptized in the name of Jesus (; ; ; ; ). It is, however, essentially the same thing—Jesus, and the Father God and the Holy Spirit are one.

Per Jesus’ own instructions, believers should be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but as the book of Acts proves, baptizing in the name of Jesus is also done. The bottom line is that the name of Jesus confers upon us in baptism the character of the Father and the Spirit and identifies us with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, our Savior. We are buried with Him and we have risen to walk with Him in newness of life.

, And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Here the events seem to somewhat parallel the Samaritan incident (8:15–17), when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Like Peter and John in Samaria, Paul had a special prophetic role and status within the general pattern of ‘prophesying’ made possible for all believers at Pentecost.

However, there is no record of tongues and prophecy being expressed in Samaria (though outward signs of the Spirit’s coming may be implied), and in Ephesus there was no significant delay between baptism and the laying on of hands. Luke here is not indicating that the gift of the Spirit is normally a supplement to baptism. In fact, Paul’s question in v. 3 identifies the fact that true baptism comes with the reception of the Spirit at the same time. Apart from the narrative about the Samaritans, this is the only account in Acts where the laying on of hands is specifically linked with the coming of the Spirit. It is ‘the climax of a single ceremony whose most important element is baptism, and whose object is the reception of the Spirit’. In that context, it expresses prayer for the recipients, while welcoming them into the fellowship of Christ.

When Luke says that the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied, he affirms the fulfillment of for this particular group of people. It could be argued that ‘they experienced a mini-Pentecost. Better, Pentecost caught up on them. Better still, they were caught up into it, as its promised blessings became theirs.’ The expression came on them recalls the promise that say, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Paul commissions the Ephesians as fellow-workers in the mission of the church and the twelve through being baptize in the name of Jesus become true Christians. They became Christians and were empowered for Christian life and ministry by a single endowment of the Spirit.

The reception of the Holy Spirit always should be ‘a matter of immediate perception’, but those manifestations as we find in 2:1–13; 8:17–19; 10:46; 19:6, are not to be regarded as normative for our ongoing Christian experience. Judaism anticipated only an initial outburst of charismata when the Spirit came upon someone; it was a dramatic and public attestation to the transfer of the Spirit. This was necessary to legitimate the recipients in some way to Israel’. So why did the group in Ephesus collectively experience the phenomena of tongues and prophecy when other converts in Acts apparently did not? At one level, it was the appropriately dramatic inauguration of Paul’s ministry in this city, where God’s Spirit would be remarkably at work, opposing the power of magic and false religion, and winning many to Christ throughout the region.

In salvation-historical terms, these disciples were a transitional group, whose full incorporation into the church needed to be openly demonstrated to all.

, There were about twelve men in all.

Luke’s interest in numbers surfaces again when he mentions that there were about twelve men in all. There is no reason to attribute any special significance to the number ‘twelve’ on this occasion. However, twelve men probably implies a considerable number of family members with similar beliefs, who also needed to be brought to Christ and receive the Spirit. They presumably remained attached to the synagogue until Paul was forced to leave and take the whole body of Christian disciples with him. Paul again insisted that receiving the Holy Spirit grants us power in the name of Jesus.

Receiving the Holy Spirit guides our behavior and our tongues.

, And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

Paul’s ministry in the Ephesian synagogue lasted for three months; then he found it necessary to leave and establish a new center for teaching in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. Here are parallels with Paul’s experience in Corinth.

, When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

Once again, Paul entered the synagogue, taking up where he left off on his first visit to Ephesus (18:19). The members of this synagogue were still receptive to his ministry, and he spoke boldly there for three months. Three familiar verbs are used to describe Paul’s engagement with the synagogue congregation. Paul spoke boldly, Paul reasoned and Paul persuaded. His argument was coupled with persuasion and pressed upon the hearts the truth of the Scriptures and the kingdom of God. This last term persusaion is used at critical points in Acts to make a connection with the preaching of Jesus and show how scriptural expectations about the eschatological rule of God are linked with the person and work of Christ Jesus and His prevailing gospel.

Though there is no announcement of a decisive move to the Gentiles in Ephesus. Indeed, what follows is not an exclusively Gentile mission; yet opposition from the Jews in Ephesus was intense.

, But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

The lecture hall functioned as a substitute for the synagogue as a place for public teaching and discourse, though presumably Christians also gathered in houses to minister to one another. As a result of his two-year ministry in this central venue, ‘all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord’.

, This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul carried the gospel message to every part of the province, and many were convinced of its truth. However, the outcome for Paul and his converts was eventually the same as before. Some of them became obstinate ‘grew hard’, refused to believe, ‘were unbelieving’, and publicly maligned the truth by ‘speaking evil [about] the Way. Once again it is proved that truth either draws people or drives them deeper into unbelief.

They did this evil speaking in public. They became divisive, they disturbed the fellowship, they planted seeds of doubt among the people, and they only grew in their own disbelief.

gives us direction on how we should handle such a problem. “10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self condemned.”

The expression “the Way” is used here to differentiate Christianity from mainline Jewish beliefs and practices. Early Christians were called “ the Way” because ‘Jesus is the way the truth and the life.’ So because of this contention Paul left them and took the disciples with him, marking his last contact with a synagogue in Luke’s record. This was a dramatic new step was taken by when Paul began discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. He spent the early morning engaged in manual labor, and the middle of the day teaching, preaching and debating when most of his clientele could attend; those who heard him must have been ‘infected with his keenness and energy.’ Tyrannus, who is otherwise unknown, owned this lecture or it could have been the place where Tyrannus as a local philosopher held classes. This venue, with its daily discussions over the course of two years, enabled Paul to have the most extensive influence so far recorded in Acts. Paul brought the gospel to the marketplace without compromising the gospel. His reach in Ephesus increased without his teaching of truth decreasing. Presumably the size and location of the building made Paul’s work more readily known than his synagogue ministry. More people could come and go, knowing that there was a daily opportunity to engage with Paul and his presentation of the Way, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the fact that he identified with the scholarly world by using this instructional center must have attracted the attention of a wider group of inquirers. The result was that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord and understood that truth knowledge and baptism in the name of Jesus must alter our behavior and speech.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;

let him turn away from evil and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

True baptism in Christ Jesus addresses our behavior and our speech.

Paul taught in the hall of Tyrannus for two years and what was the outcome? I think these words express what was the only outcome.

Any true definition of preaching must say that that man is there to deliver the message of God, a message from God to those people.

In the language of Paul, he is 'an ambassador for Christ'. That is what he is. He has been sent, he is a commissioned person, and he is standing there as the mouthpiece of God and of Christ to address these people. In other words he is not there merely to talk to them, he is not there to entertain them. He is there - and I want to emphasize this - to do something to those people; he is there to produce results of various kinds, he is there to influence people. He is not merely to influence a part of them; he is not only to influence their minds, not only their emotions, or merely to bring pressure to bear upon their wills and to induce them to some kind of activity. He is there to deal with the whole person; and his preaching is meant to affect the whole person at the very center their life. Preaching should make such a difference to a person who is listening that they are never the same again. Preaching, in other words, is a transaction between the preacher and the listener. It does something for the soul of man, for the whole of the person, the entire person; it deals with them in a vital and radical manner.