{"id":1929,"date":"2019-11-20T12:57:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T20:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1929"},"modified":"2019-11-20T12:57:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T20:57:41","slug":"devotion-acts-191-7-spreading-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1929","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 19:1-7 Spreading the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 19:1-7\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0While Apollos\u00a0was at Corinth,\u00a0Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.\u00a0There he found some disciples<\/span>\u00a02\u00a0and asked them, \u201cDid you receive the Holy Spirit\u00a0when\u00a0you believed?\u201d\u00a0 They answered, \u201cNo, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 3\u00a0So Paul asked, \u201cThen what baptism did you receive?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cJohn\u2019s baptism,\u201d they replied.\u00a0 4\u00a0Paul said, \u201cJohn\u2019s baptism\u00a0was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.\u201d<\/span>\u00a05\u00a0On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.<\/span>\u00a06\u00a0When Paul placed his hands on them,\u00a0the Holy Spirit came on them,\u00a0and they spoke in tongues\u00a0and prophesied.<\/span>\u00a07\u00a0There were about twelve men in all.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Apollos\u00a0was at Corinth,\u00a0Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.<\/i>\u201d Remember that the letter, book, word from Luke did not include punctuation and chapters.\u00a0\u00a0Here Luke is moving from his writing about Apollos in Chapter 18 to now picking back up with Paul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is referred as the \u201cinterior\u201d here in the NIV is said in the KJV as \u201cupper coasts\u201d and in the ESV as \u201cinland country.\u201d Today we might say that he traveled the high lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere he found some disciples<\/i><\/span>\u00a02\u00a0and asked them, \u201cDid you receive the Holy Spirit\u00a0when\u00a0you believed?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0They answered, \u201cNo, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0\u00a0Luke, moving away from Paul, does seem to be tying some of Apollos story with what Paul encounters with the group.\u00a0\u00a0There is a similar experience between Apollos and this group of disciples that Paul meets.\u00a0\u00a0Both they and Apollos had been baptized in John\u2019s Baptism, but not partaken in the baptism that Jesus taught.\u00a0\u00a0However, Apollos had strong knowledge of Jesus, and this group did not.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is much discussion about whether the group that Paul encountered were Christians or not, and what was meant about when the Holy Spirit \u201ccame on them.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The discussions about these topics are too full for this short format.\u00a0\u00a0However let\u2019s take a concise look.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say that these were Christians because they were referred to as \u201cdisciples.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0If they were not Christians then this would be the only time in Acts that Luke referred to non-Christians as disciples.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say they were not Christians because they had not \u201creceived\u201d the Holy Spirit and didn\u2019t know anything about Him.\u00a0\u00a0It is true that if they were believers then they would have the seal of the Holy Spirit within, as all Christians do (2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30<\/b>). It could be thought that since these were called disciples (synonymous with \u201cBeliever\u201d in Acts) that they were believers and so had the Holy Spirit within.\u00a0\u00a0Proponents of this propose that the Paul was referring to the \u201cbaptism of the Spirit\u201d in which the supernatural giving of power and gifts came upon them, as was promised by Jesus (Luke 24:29<\/b>), in the book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:26-27<\/b>), and in the book of Joel (Joel 2:28-32<\/b>) and was first fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0After all, Paul did ask if they had received the Spirit \u201cwhen you believed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Therefore these were called, within a couple verses (V1, 2<\/b>) both disciples and were acknowledged as believers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo Paul asked, \u201cThen what baptism did you receive?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u201cJohn\u2019s baptism,\u201d they replied.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/span>4\u00a0Paul said, \u201cJohn\u2019s baptism\u00a0was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\u201d\u00a0 The baptism this group had received was John\u2019s baptism, which was one of repentance.\u00a0 The repentance was to be ready for the coming Messiah.\u00a0 Now Apollos, while in Egypt had been taught of Jesus.\u00a0 It would seem possible that this group had heard of Jesus, but what they knew of Him was sparse and they had not heard of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 John had instructed them to look for the Messiah and if they understood Jesus to be the Messiah that John had taught would be coming, they well could have become a disciple of Jesus, though their knowledge was sparse.\u00a0 However, it would seem that from what this group told Paul of their knowledge that they did not understand about Jesus and so Paul was led to tell them how Jesus was Messiah.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Paul placed his hands on them,\u00a0the Holy Spirit came on them,\u00a0and they spoke in tongues\u00a0and prophesied.<\/i><\/span>\u00a07\u00a0There were about twelve men in all.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul instructed the group so that they would understand that Jesus was the Messiah.\u00a0\u00a0He then explained who the Holy Spirit was and then placed his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came on them.\u00a0\u00a0The word that is translated in the NIV as \u201con\u201d does not mean in, but upon, or on.\u00a0\u00a0When a person becomes a Believer the Holy Spirit comes within, or inside of the believer (John 14:17, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0So in this verse the Holy Spirit came upon them, not in them.\u00a0\u00a0Opinion varies whether this group, after Paul laid his hands on them, first received the Spirit as believers or, if being believers, received the supernatural empowerment of the Holy Spirit to be the witnesses of Jesus.<\/p>\n

What transpired in this verse came after Paul placed his hands on them.\u00a0\u00a0It is tradition for one believer to place hands on another believer when praying for them.\u00a0\u00a0Yet it is good to remember that Paul also instructed Timothy \u201cDo not be hasty in the laying on of hands\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0(1 Timothy 5:22<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0The laying on of hands is to impart blessings and to pray for the sick.\u00a0\u00a0It is for ministering to each other.\u00a0\u00a0But be circumspect how we pray for others, especially for the ones who opposes Christ.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pray for and bless each other, for all people, that the love and beauty of God be clear to all who want to see.\u00a0\u00a0Let our actions and words praise God!\u00a0\u00a0Yes, praise God!<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 19:1-7\u00a0–\u00a0While Apollos\u00a0was at Corinth,\u00a0Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.\u00a0There he found some disciples\u00a02\u00a0and asked them, \u201cDid you receive the Holy Spirit\u00a0when\u00a0you believed?\u201d\u00a0 They answered, \u201cNo, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 3\u00a0So Paul asked, \u201cThen what baptism did you receive?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cJohn\u2019s baptism,\u201d they replied.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,129,1841,705,2082,100,106,94,1874,17,2036],"class_list":["post-1929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-corinthians","tag-ephesians","tag-ezekiel","tag-joel","tag-john","tag-luke","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1930,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929\/revisions\/1930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}