Acts 19:1-2 (KJV) Observations and Questions

Acts 19:1-2 (KJV)
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,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.

I think it was Torrey who speculated that Paul questioned that these disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost because there were only twelve of them. Torrey fell into the same trap as most in that he equated numbers with the presence of God’s power. This idea has, in my opinion, created the environment of worldly compromise we see in churches today.

The more common error springing from this passage is that of the Pentecostals and Charismatics. They see this passage as instructing them to urge people who do not speak in tongues to be filled with the Holy Ghost.

The two errors are similar in that they both look for some outward evidence of an inward work. I believe the lesson of the passage is much more basic. Paul approached a group of professing believers and asked them questions to determine how he might most effectively help them.

The ministry ought to be about taking people from where they are spiritually to somewhere else. Whether it was the heathen philosophers of Athens or these would-be believers in Ephesus, Paul made observations and asked questions so that he might best determine how to preach to them and to help them spiritually.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3900 earlier Daily Visits with God visit http://bit.ly/18XDiAs. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
My author spotlight at Lulu.com:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/marvinmckenzie

My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Acts 19:1-2 (KJV) Observations and Questions

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.