Have You Received the Holy Ghost?

Trevor S. Ferguson

April 4, 2011

Acts 19:1-6 (KJV)
¹ 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,
² 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.
³ And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
⁴ 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.
⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
⁶ And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

INTRODUCTION

It has been reported that there are over 38,000 Christian denominations, all affirming belief in Jesus Christ but having differing views on the way of salvation, the doctrine of God and aspects of Christian living. The diversity of Christian doctrine has caused many to become bewildered and confused as to which church is the right church and what is the right way of salvation. Added to this, even within denominations there are many differences in standards and church policy and even within assemblies some policies seem to change over time.

A fundamental, though uncomfortable question is: Are all persons who affirm Christianity saved? The bible would suggest that this is not so. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus himself said  ^“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”  The second question therefore is: How then can we identify the true church and the true way of salvation? The passage today provides us with a question which should be posed to every professing believer and provides an outline of the basic message of salvation which we all must follow.

                                                                                                                                             

EXPOSITION

The passage in Acts 19 relates an encounter between Paul and persons in Ephesus who were reported to be believers in Jesus Christ. Paul did not question their faith but asked a question to assess whether their experience with Christ was complete: “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” This question has a number of implications as outlined below:

·         Paul clearly expected that all believers should receive the Holy Ghost

·         Paul would not accept their salvation as complete if they had not received the Holy Ghost

·         Paul expected that the Holy Ghost baptism was a clearly defined experience which could be answered with a definite yes or no

The answer the Ephesians gave was clearly not satisfactory to Paul. They responded:  “We have not heard whether there is any Holy Ghost? “ Paul’s next question was therefore: Unto what then were you baptized? They responded that they had been baptized according to John’s baptism. Paul then explained to them that John baptized with the baptism of repentance pointing his disciples to believe on Jesus Christ. After hearing Paul’s explanation they were then baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Verse 6 then tells us that after Paul had laid hand s on them they received the Holy Ghost, spoke with tongues and prophesied.   

Note that these believers were willing to accept revealed truth rather than holding on to what they had heard before. We see a similar situation seen with Apollos in Acts 18.  Apollos was described as being mighty in scriptures, but knew only the baptism of John. Apollos was willing to receive and accept further instruction on the way of salvation from Aquila and Priscilla.

What lessons can we learn from this encounter? 

·         All believers in Jesus Christ should receive the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:39 states “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord your God shall call.”

·         When persons receive the Holy Ghost they will speak with tongues as the spirit give utterance. Speaking tongues (glossolalia) involves speaking a language that the believer has never learnt. This is not gibberish or incoherent syllables. It is an actual language which may be a known or unknown. Several passages make specific reference to speaking in tongues when people receive the Holy Ghost, these include: Acts 2:4; Acts 10:44-46; Acts 19:6 

·         The correct formula for baptism involves calling on the name of Jesus Christ. This is seen in the following scriptures: Acts 2:38; Acts 8:12; Acts 10:48; Acts 19:5; Acts 22:16

·         If one had previously been baptized but did not use the correct baptismal formula they should re-baptized as was done for these disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19:5)

What does one need to do to receive the Holy Ghost? 

There are only two requirements: repentance and faith. God will not come to dwell in a vessel marred by sin therefore we must repent, that is, we must acknowledge and turn from or sin before we can receive the Holy Ghost. The second requirement is faith. If we come to God we must believe that He is, as expounded in Hebrews 11:6. Note that baptism is a part of the new birth but may occur before or after receiving the Holy Ghost.

APPLICATION

God wants to pour out His Spirit on all believers. If you have not yet received the Holy Ghost, God wants to give you this precious gift today. Look at what Jesus said in Luke 11:13, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Ask Him for this gift today! You will be glad you did!!