Acts 19:1

Acts 19:1 says. And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper coasts and came to Ephesus.  He had told them he would visit them again, and he did.  There, he found certain disciples. As the gospel spread, it became more normal to find believers, but they didn't always understand the full gospel. We can encounter people today who profess to be believers, but when we discuss Christ with them, they really don't understand Who He is.  They have a semblance of the gospel, but not a true understanding.  I have heard some people say that they are Christians but are not born again.  You cannot be one without the other.  Verse two adds, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.  Paul asked these disciples if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed.  They replied that they had not so much as heard there was a Holy Ghost. Matthew Henry in his commentary says that it is as impossible to be saved without the Holy Spirit as it is to be saved without Christ.  When we are saved through Christ's sacrifice, we are indwelled and empowered by the Holy Ghost.  Verse three continues, And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.   If someone says they are saved but don't know anything about the Holy Ghost, or Spirit, then we need to ask them as Paul did whose name they were baptized in.  In Paul's case, they said in the name of John. Verse four states, Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.  Paul reminded them that John had said that his baptism was a baptism of repentance as they awaited the One Who would come after him, Jesus Christ.  Verse five adds, When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  They believed Paul and accepted Christ as their Savior and were baptized.   When they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, they were immediately indwelled with the Holy Spirit, as are all Christians.  Verse six continues, And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.  Did Paul transfer the Holy Ghost on them by laying his hands on them?  No, they had just accepted Christ and been baptized, so they were now filled with the Holy Ghost. We cannot transfer the Holy Ghost from us to anyone else.  As it states, the Holy Ghost came upon them.  Why? Because they accepted Christ as their Savior.  When we do one, accept Christ, the other occurs at the same time, being filled with the Holy Ghost.  It would indeed be strange for Christ to save us but leave us without the Comforter He promised to send.  They prophesied, or proclaimed what they now understood, that Jesus Christ was Lord.  They spoke in tongues, which means they were able to reach out to people of other nations with God's word.  I consulted with Matthew Henry again on this, and this was his interpretation.  Since God is not the author of confusion, He bestows gifts upon us to bring unity in Christ.  I use the Matthew Henry commentary because it has been in existence since 1721 and has been widely accepted since then.  Verse seven concludes, And all the men were about twelve.  We are told there were about twelve of them. This was not an excessively large number, but we actually reach people one at a time as God calls them.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acts 18:24

Acts 18:24 says, And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.  Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria, who had come to Ephesus.  He was an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures.  Verse twenty-five adds, This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.  He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit, and he spoke and taught diligently the way of the Lord, but he only knew the baptism of John.  He was still looking for the Messiah to come.  Here in the Bible belt, as we are sometimes called, there are a lot of people who know about Jesus, but they do not know Him as their Savior.  Some may know what the Bible says better than about anyone, but they do not believe it is real.  Some may want to accept parts what they Bible teaches, but not all.  Verse twenty-six continues, And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.  They may be in need of an Aquila and Priscilla, who, when they heard Apollos took him aside and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.  Notice, they took him aside.  We don't need public confrontation but private consultation when we hear someone who is witnessing without knowing the whole truth of the gospel.  If we encounter someone who is witnessing, but we realize they don't know the truth of Christ, we need to draw them aside and expound to them the way of God more perfectly, so we can have an Apollos out witnessing with the whole truth. Their concern was for Apollos to know the truth of Christ.  Verse twenty-seven states, And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: Apollos received their correction of his understanding and went to Acacia.  The brethren had sent a letter to the disciples there to receive him. Apollos helped those there which had believed through grace.  We weren't told why Paul brought Aquila and Priscilla with him, but we see the results.  Paul was not alone, and neither are we.  Verse twenty-eight adds, For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.  Like Paul, all we can do is use the scriptures, the Bible to show people that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah., 

 

 

When Paul left Corinth, he sailed to Syria.  He took Aquila and Priscilla with him.  Paul had shorn his head in Cenchera, due to a vow that he had made.  We are not told what this vow was, but it was important to Paul.  We may be around people everyday who have made a vow to God and not know it, but hopefully they will take any vow made to God with the utmost sincerity.  When Paul got to Ephesus, he left Aquila and Priscilla there, but he went to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.  Even as he had shifted his emphasis to the Gentiles, he had not given up witnessing to the Jews.  Again, if a particular group does everything they can to stop us from reaching people with the gospel, we cannot give up on them.  The Jews were God's chosen people to represent Him in the world, and when the Messiah came, they failed Him.   By salvation through Christ, we are His chosen people to represent Him in the world today, and hopefully we will not fail Him.  The people in the synagogue wanted Paul to stay longer, but he consented not.  That was a change for them to want him to stay, but he said he needed to keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem.  We must never let seeming success and the desires of others keep us from following God's leadership.  Paul did tell the people there that he would come to them again, God willing.  As God's people, any promise we ever make must be made based on the will of God.  With his promise, Paul left Ephesus and sailed to Caesarea.