Thank you for stopping by and taking to time to watch, listen, or read this week’s message, What have We Received?
I hope you find encouragement in your faith in Jesus, and maybe even learn something new along the way 🙂
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Recap
We have been spending time looking at the formation and expansion of the early church from Luke’s account in the book of Acts. In recent weeks, we have been reading through Paul’s missionary journeys and work. In his travels, Paul spent time in Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth, teaching the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When Paul was moving on from Corinth, he was heading to Jerusalem to complete a vow he had made to the Lord. On his way to Jerusalem, Paul passed through Ephesus. Even though he was just passing through, but he took some time to teach in the synagogue. In that brief visit, some believed his message while others wanted him to stay longer.
He declines their offer to stay since he was wanting to get to Jerusalem to complete a vow he had made. Instead, Paul leaves Ephesus, leaving Aquila and Pricilla behind to work with the disciples. It is here, as we saw last week, that Apollos arrives in Ephesus, teaching an incomplete message.
Because of his incomplete teaching, Aquila and Pricilla teach Apollos the message more adequately. Then, Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, whose capital city was Corinth, and the followers sent letters of recommendation for him.
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Now we come to Acts 19.1-10…
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.
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
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In this passage, Paul’s experience with the believers at Ephesus reveal three truths about our God. These truths can have a profound impact if we can learn to live by them.
1. The Spirit of God is present and personal.
Paul enters Ephesus, and the first thing he does is find some of the disciples. He then proceeds to ask them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. To his surprise, these disciples had not even heard about the Spirit.
They had believed and were baptized, but only a baptism of repentance through water as was taught by John the Baptist. To this, Paul refers to what John taught when he says in Matthew 3.11, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Even when He was baptized by John, Jesus went through the waters of repentance. However, when He came up out of the water, the heavens opened and the Spirit, like a dove, descended and stayed upon Him. This is the same Spirit that the disciples were to receive.
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Because of what these disciples experienced, it is good for us to consider what we have received in regards to faith. If we have been baptized, was it just through water for the repentance of sins? Have we experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit? What does that even look like?
In this case, after baptizing them in the name of Jesus, Paul lays his hands upon these disciples and they received the Spirit. There were signs of speaking in tongues and prophesying that came with this filling. Is that what we are to experience as well? How do we know if we have the Spirit?
For us, we have been given a promise from Jesus of the Spirit’s presence in our lives (John 14:15-31). His presence is probably most evident as we begin to listen for God’s leading through the Spirit, trusting what He is saying, and obeying His lead as it comes. We can also know of the Spirit’s presence as our lives change and grow in Him.
2. The Kingdom of God is now and forever.
Paul then went to the synagogue and spoke boldly of the Kingdom of God for three months. The question for us is, what is the Kingdom of God?
If we look at that time in history, a good picture comes from the Roman colonies, like the city of Corinth. These colonies were a representation of the city of Rome. If one were to visit one of these cities, it would be as if they were in Rome itself. There would have been the same roads, buildings, money, laws, etc., like the city they represented.
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A personal example comes from the church I grew up attending. This denomination had several churches, but no matter where you went, you would experience the same service. There would be the similarities, those familiar aspects of the church, that wherever you chose to visit, you knew you were at home in their presence.
Or consider the way of the business world. Let’s take McDonald’s as an example. It used to be, and pretty much still is, that wherever you saw the golden arches, you knew what you were going to receive. The layout of the store would be similar. The food would look and taste the same. Whether you were in small town USA to the big cities, to locations all around the world, wherever you would find a McDonald’s, you would know what you were getting before you even walked through the doors.
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The same is true for the Church. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 6.9-13, we are to pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
What this means is that we are to be a representation of the Kingdom of God. When we are gathered together under the headship of Christ, we are bringing His Kingdom to this earth. Everything that takes place is the same as in His Kingdom. When the world sees the Church they are experiencing the Kingdom of God before their eyes.
The Kingdom of God is not something we are waiting to enter. It is here, now, and will continue for all of eternity.
3. The Riches of God are searchable and limitless.
Historians and commentators say that around AD 55, Paul returned to the city of Ephesus. When his efforts to teach in the synagogue are challenged, Paul rents a hall from Tyrannus, where he teaches about Christ. Over the next two years, Paul’s ministry impacts over two million people!
Paul taught the people every day. Other commentators have said that this teaching most likely took place from 11am-4pm. This would have been the time, during the heat of the day, when the people would have taken a break from their work.
Not only did he potentially teach five hours a day, but he did this for two whole years. He was able to teach the Good News of Jesus Christ without exhausting the greatness of our God. Through his teaching, we are told that all the Jews and Greeks heard the message.
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What this can tell us is that there is no limit to the greatness of Jesus. The more we look into Him the more we will find.
We can see this in our own lives today by looking at the world around us. There are a couple views about the age of the earth. Biblical scholars believe in a young earth that is approximately 6,000 years old. Whereas scientists believe the earth is millions of years old. In either case, after all these years of exploring, harvesting, digging, and unearthing, we are still nowhere near depleting the earth’s resources.
Or consider the universe in which we live. The earth is just a speck of dust in the Milky Way galaxy. Yet our galaxy is just one of what astronomers have estimated between 100 billion to upwards of 2 trillion galaxies in the universe. The more the universe is searched, the more is found. God’s created order cannot be exhausted.
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The same holds true in the spiritual realm in regards to Jesus. God led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, through the wilderness wanderings, and into the Promised Land. This land was a land “filled with milk and honey.” It was a land of untold wealth and resources.
This land, however, was just a shadow, a pale image, of the person of Jesus Christ. Like the Israelites, God is leading us out of the bondage of sin, through the wilderness of life, and into the Land of Promise that is found in Jesus. In Jesus are the unsearchable riches of His glory. We can never exhaust all that He is and all He has to offer as we live our lives for Him.
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Because of these truths, we can experience the profound impact of what Jesus has to offer us as we…
- Get in tune with His Spirit within us to guide us,
- Live out the expression of the Kingdom of God around us,
- Become awestruck at the Riches God has for us.
May we represent Him in all that we do!
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Have a Great Day!