1It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7There were in all about twelve men. Acts 19:1-7
By now the Way had powerful messengers in strategic locations from North Africa to Rome and maybe beyond. It’s surprising to me that even the ministry of John the Baptist was widespread, still paving the way to Jesus. Apollos is a prime example, and here Paul stumbles into a nest of John’s disciples in Ephesus, twelve in all. All that was needed was to top them off with the Savior, which seemed easy picking.
It is safe to say there is low hanging fruit in any assembly and it’s a good strategy to build on previously constructed foundations. This may be for some the last piece of the puzzle.
Perhaps a good question to ask is this. Tell me, how does the Holy Spirit manifest himself in your lives? If you get vacant stares, you know there is work to do. Keep in mind these were religious men! And also know that we’re not talking about “strange fire” here, but a sense of the Lord leading in every aspect of one’s life.
With this out of the way, with their now fully functional faith authenticated by the Holy Spirit’s manifestations, these men could advance into all facets of the kingdom of God.
8And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God
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