“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.
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.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.“
Acts 19:1-7
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APRIL 3, 2025
Paul arrives in Ephesus and meets a small group of disciples. As we know, Paul is bold about explaining, clarifying, and declaring the gospel. But while he’s with these disciples he sees a gap in their understanding of God’s truth. These disciples love God and want to follow Him—but there is something missing. These men were still waiting for the Messiah to come. Like Apollos, they didn’t know about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And they didn’t know anything about the Holy Spirit! Paul is quick to fill in their missing knowledge and baptize them in the name of Jesus. Paul lays hands on them and they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
What a difference this visit made in their lives! Now the Holy Spirit of God dwells within them.
I wonder how many of us are stuck, living our lives as if we had never heard of the Holy Spirit? Are we, even as believers, still waiting for the Messiah? Or we’ve heard of the Holy Spirit but don’t believe the Spirit has an active role in our lives. Maybe we are uncomfortable with the idea of the Holy Spirit or feel the pressure to “manifest” the Holy Spirit in our lives, so we fabricate stories just to bolster our own spiritual status.
Why would we do these things? Because learning how to live with the Holy Spirit within us, learning how to discern the voice of the Spirit, takes diligent, never-ending, work. It takes listening to the Word of God, over and over again, submitting to the Spirit in humility, then waking up and doing it all over again!
The life of following Jesus through the Spirit is hard. But it is so worth it.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- What thoughts and feelings come to mind when you think of the Holy Spirit?
- Do you have gaps in your understanding of the gospel? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where there may be missing or incorrect information.
- How can you practice listening, like giving your fullest attention kind of listening, to the Holy Spirit this week?
- How have you seen the Holy Spirit work in power in your own heart?
Church Reading Plan: Leviticus 6; Psalm 5-6