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Acts 19 "When in Doubt, Ask"
And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all. (Acts 19:1-7)
Paul, returning to Ephesus, meets up with a group of disciples.
But something about them makes him curious. And when he asks, he finds
out that although they looked like disciples, they had never received
Jesus, or been baptised in His name. Here was a group of men who looked
like Christians and acted like Christians but didn't know Christ! However,
this isn't really all that strange. There are many people who attend
church here in Japan, who don't know Jesus. Like the men in Ephesus,
they have an interest in religion, try to be good, feel encouraged listening
to the pastor's sermon, enjoy the fellowship of Christians, in all ways
seem to be themselves followers of Christ, but are lacking in one thing.
They don't know Him.
There is such a thing as a Christian culture. We have a way of doing
things in the church. We gather together on Sunday, fellowship after
the service, meet again at a Bible study later in the week. Maybe you
have noticed that after a while people in the same church tend to talk
the same way. We have our own "spiritual" language. And it
is relatively easy for a person to come into the church and "pick
up" the culture. After a couple of months of attending, they start
bringing their Bible to church. Then, they learn to sprinkle a few "Praise
the Lords" and "Alleluias" into their conversation. But
if people only receive our Christian culture, we have failed. If people
only pick up the outside of our faith, it is worthless. To really change
the inside of a person they must be born again!
I have been living in Japan now for about nine years. I eat Japanese
food, live in a Japanese house, am married with a Japanese woman, speak
the Japanese language. When I talk on the telephone in Japanese I bow.
I have picked up the Japanese culture quite well. But for me to really
be Japanese, I would have to be born again. This is what Paul discovered
with these disciples.
Now at first Paul didn't notice anything wrong. He thought that they
were just another group of Christians who perhaps heard the gospel from
one of the other apostles. But as he spent time with them, he knew that
something was missing. His first question makes it clear. "Did
you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" What was missing
was the Holy Spirit. Paul didn't see the fruit of the Spirit in their
lives. He didn't feel the power of the Spirit in their midst.
We know that only God can truly see what is in a man's heart. We know
that only Jesus is the judge of who is and who is not saved. It is very
dangerous for us to try to judge anyone's salvation. We are working
with limited information in an area where if we are wrong, we could
either discourage a faltering believer with self-condemnation, or mistakenly
strengthen someone in the false belief that they are allright when they
really are not. We can never be 100% sure that any person is really
a Christian or not. My rule of thumb is never to doubt someone who says
that he is a Christian, but don't assume that just because a person
is in church that he is a Christian either. Paul sets us a good example.
When in doubt, ask!
However there are signs that give away the cultural Christians. These
are the signs of the Holy Spirit; fruit and power. This is the first
thing that Paul asked about. "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when
you believed?" Galatians 5:22-23 tells us about the fruit of the
Spirit, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy , peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against
such there is no law." You see anyone who has been born again,
has received the Holy Spirit in their heart, and will start to be transformed
by the Spirit. These fruits will start to appear as a result of the
Spirit working in their hearts. Paul noticed that these fruits were
lacking in these Ephesian disciples. Power was also lacking. With the
Spirit comes gifts, guidance, and the confidence to expectantly ask
for miracles in Jesus name. As Paul spent time with these men, he saw
that although they were serious about pleasing God, the obvious sings
of the Holy Spirit was missing.
When Paul asked, the men answered, "We have not so much as heard
whether there is a Holy Spirit." With this as a clue, Paul pressed
them further, "Into what then were you baptized?", "Into
the baptism of John." Ahh, now it all made sense. John the Baptist
came before Jesus, so of course he didn't know about the promise of
the Holy Spirit. Paul then explained carefully to them the difference
between John's message and salvation through Jesus Christ. John preached
the message of repentance, and pointed the way to Jesus.
The other day I was eating dinner with a man. This man
is about 50 years old and has been attending the same church for many
years. But as we ate he explained to me that he has never been baptized.
He told me that when he had asked a pastor about baptism the pastor
had told him that if he would be baptized he must first learn true repentance.
He must consider himself nothing, look at himself as miserable. And
only then would he be ready for baptism. I couldn't believe what I was
hearing. I counseled the man to consider himself correctly as God does.
First, he must admit that he is made from the dust, without God he could
not exist, could not breath, could not live. He must admit that he is
a sinner, imperfect in many ways. But then he must also see how precious
he is to God. How God loves him so much that He gives him live, breath,
and all things, new every morning. How great God's love for him is that
God should send His only Son to die on the cross for him. As I explained
this to him in the restaraunt, I saw a large tear roll down the cheek
of this Japanese man. You see the only message that He had ever heard
was "Repent", and he had been repenting over and over again.
But repentance is only the first step. Like John the Baptist, it simply
prepares the way for the Lord. Repentance is our communication to God
that we need Him. Jesus Christ is God's expression of His love to us.
John baptized people as an outward expression of what was going on in
their hearts. The people who heard John's message of repentance, decided
to repent and were baptized to show the seriousness of their decision.
Jesus' baptism is also an outward expression of what is going on in
our hearts. Except this time we are showing that we have received the
love of God, offered to us through Jesus. I can imagine how overjoyed
the disciples in Ephesus were when they heard the good news. They had
repented for so long, constantly trying to please God, and now they
knew that God had accepted them, God loved them too.
"When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. " And not only were they baptized but the Holy Spirit
came upon them. And no longer were they simply cultural Christians,
acting spiritual, talking spiritual, but they were born again, filled
with the Spirit, manifesting the gifts and producing the fruit.
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