The David Spoon Experience 9-7-23 Part 2

1) In chapter 19 of the book of Acts, we see Paul on his third missionary journey. He arrives in Ephesus and finds several believers, who are also referred to as disciples. It is important to note that nobody’s theology on the Holy Spirit, regarding how and when it comes upon people, is perfect. People tend to forget that the wind blows where it will.

2) Paul asks these disciples if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed. This is a unique question, considering that this event takes place 24 years after Pentecost in Acts chapter two. Why is Paul asking if their understanding has enabled them to embrace the empowerment of the Spirit? Several authors have given their perspectives, but there is a great variety of interpretations.

3) What we do know from this text is that these disciples did not know about the Holy Spirit. This is unique because John did preach that Jesus would baptize people in the Holy Spirit. However, we do understand that they were functioning under the ministry initiated by John the Baptist. Some scholars do not believe they were saved, but I do not believe that this is what the text teaches. Their hearts were responsive to the call to repentance, but they did not have the equipping of the Spirit.

4) Paul makes it clear that John’s baptism was about turning from sin and turning to God, which these disciples did. It is not as though God rejected them - that would be absurd. As soon as they heard that there was a deeper way to get more of God into their lives through the revelation of Jesus Christ, they were immediately baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is not meant to change the formula at the end of Matthew 28; it simply states that these disciples went from John’s baptism to Jesus’s baptism.