We Haven't Even Heard Series

WE HAVEN’T EVEN HEARD

Text: Acts 19:1-7

Introduction

1. Illustration: There is NO COMPARISON between the power of Satan and the power of the HOLY SPRIT IN YOU. The power of Satan is like a little firecracker while the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you is like a NUCLEAR BOMB!

2. At the end of WW2, our military leaders looked at the possibility of invading Japan. The conclusion they came up with was that it would cost hundreds of thousands of lives. That was when they decided to drop the atomic bomb. After they did, Japan decided that it was more power than they could fight against. So, Japan surrendered.

3. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is about power: power to witness, power for spiritual battle, power for holy living, and the power to worship.

4. Do you have all of the Holy Spirit you need?

5. Read Acts 19:1-7

Transition: Paul asks these believers…

I. Did You Receive (1-4)?

A. When You Believed

1. Last week we talked about Apollos and how Priscilla and Aquila took him under their wings and showed him a more complete understanding of the Good News.

a. He was a good preacher and had a solid understanding of the OT Scriptures, but he only knew about the baptism of John the Baptist.

b. However, once taught the full Gospel by Priscilla and Aquila he became a powerful witness of Jesus.

2. In our text today, we begin with v.1 which says, “While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers.”

a. This begins Paul’s third missionary journey. For quite a while he had wanted to go to Ephesus, but he had to wait for God’s timing.

b. Now, receiving a release from the Holy Spirit, he makes his way to Ephesus.

c. It was a strategic place for Paul to minister because from here he could reach all of Asia.

d. He decided to take the route over the mountains rather than taking the route more used route to the coast.

e. This enabled him to have stops in Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch, where he visited churches, he had established their earlier.

f. When he finally reached Ephesus, he came across a group of “believers.” In the Greek text, Luke uses the word “disciples,” and some scholars debate as to whether they were actually believers in Jesus.

g. However, Luke consistently uses the word “disciples” to describe followers of Jesus.

h. So, the NLT, in my opinion, uses the correct term in calling them believers.

i. But like Apollos, they were deficient is their understanding of the faith.

3. Let’s look at v. 2, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

a. It is interesting that the first thing that Paul asked them is “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

b. The first thing to pay attention to is that the word “believed” is in the past tense, which indicates that not only had they believed, but that it was a continuous belief.

c. Actually, the phrase “when you believed,” can be translated “after you believed.” So, Paul was not questioning their faith, what he was asking was did they receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that the believers received at Pentecost.

d. Like the believers at Pentecost, they had the Holy Spirit living in them when they believed, but they had not yet experienced the endowment of power that the other believers received on the day of Pentecost.

e. Way back in chapter 1, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5).

f. Then on the day of Pentecost, Peter declared, “No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:16-18).

g. So, it wasn’t Jesus they hadn’t received, but rather the gift that Jesus promised his disciples was coming.

h. In fact, they responded to Paul by saying, “we haven’t even heard there is a Holy Spirit.” Now, since they had heard about the preaching of John the Baptist, it’s hard to believe that they hadn’t heard about the Holy Spirit, because he referred to him often, and the Holy Spirit is referenced regularly in the OT.