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The Gospel Makes Progress in a Very Unique Way – Acts 19:1-7 NKJV

A Beautiful Portrait of How the Gospel Spread to all Types of People Who Lived both Pre-cross and Post-cross!

All Spirit-controlled believers find it exhilarating to learn how to accurately and thoroughly study the Bible. In fact, that is probably why you are going through this Bible study right now! And when Spirit-controlled believers discover how they can know God’s Word, apply God’s Word, and learn how to teach others to do the same, it produces an insatiable joy in their hearts to continue growing. And when this happens, it strengthens the entire Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-13). Acts 19:1-7 is a passage that offers an example of how believers learn some profound principles about salvation, care for people's souls, and evangelize the world, but also how to serve fellow believers by accurately teaching them.

Today’s devotional is unique in that we will read a portion of Scripture that is primarily descriptive in its purpose but contains some profound principles to adopt for today’s believers.

This passage addresses how Paul shared the complete message of the Gospel with disciples of John the Baptist (i.e., the baptizer). These believers had an incomplete understanding of the Holy Spirit, among other things, which Paul corrected. Further, there were unique experiences and one-of-a-kind scenarios that no longer occur today. And while these circumstances are unique to the believers in the first century, Acts 19:1-7 is not without some guiding principles that believers should look to adopt in their lives today.

Acts 19:1-7 provides a vivid portrait of the unique factors that went into sharing the Gospel in the one-of-a-kind, never-to-occur-again generation of people. They not only lived pre-cross (they actually knew Jesus Christ on earth), but they continued living post-cross after the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. They also experienced the arrival of the Holy Spirit upon the earth (which sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it?). The primary purpose of descriptive passages like Acts 19:1-7 is to offer believers today a description of what occurred and not necessarily to provide us with specific commands and spiritual prescriptions we should adopt. But do not worry, there are many spiritual principles that can be extracted from this scene that should be adopted into every believer’s heart. This is not uncommon throughout the Bible as the Holy Spirit inspired a significant portion of the Old Testament to offer historical descriptions of how God worked in the land at the time (I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles, etc.). Occasionally, the book of Acts provides vivid, historical descriptions of the unique factors the Gospel preachers were presented with as they fulfilled the mandate Jesus gave to spread the Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NKJV). But again, that is not to say that these portions of the book of Acts have no significant purpose today. Far from it!

In Acts 19:1-7, Paul engages twelve disciples of John the baptizer, similar to how Aquila and Priscilla engaged Apollos in the previous four verses (Acts 18:23-26). These men also had an incomplete understanding of Jesus’ words, actions, and ministry (For a refresher on what disciples of John the baptizer believed but also did not know, see the devotion covering Acts 18:24-28). They were different from the Jews who were steeped in the Mosaic Law, Samaritans who adopted portions of Judaism, or Gentiles who were not strongly influenced by Judaism. They were similar to all Old Testament saints who believed God
in faith and in His promise for the coming of His Messiah to deliver His people (Romans 4:1-3; Luke 2:25-38). Whereas every believer who was saved after the Resurrection has a clear understanding of all of Jesus. He is the true Deliverer and suffering Savior to all. He is the One who rose again and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell every believer immediately upon salvation. But their understanding of the words and work of Jesus Christ was limited. They were unaware of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and the role He now has in believers' lives (Acts 19:1-4). In essence, they were Old Testament saints with the added advantage of possibly having met Jesus while physically on this earth.

So, when these believers advanced in their understanding about Jesus’ work on the cross and the full significance of the resurrection and ascension and acknowledged these new details about Jesus Christ, they immediately received the Holy Spirit just as believers today receive the Holy Spirit immediately upon believing in Jesus Christ with full understanding (Acts 19:5). In essence, the moment these disciples of John the baptizer declared their full understanding of the Jesus’ work, they received the Holy Spirit and were changed from Old Testament saints to Christians!

One detail that has caused some confusion in 21st Century church denominations is the fact that these men received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
and prophesied approximately 20 years after the Day of Pentecost (Acts 19:6). As a result, some church denominations today believe that believers can be saved but may not receive the entire indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit until later on in their Christian journey. Some also suggest that, based on this passage, a true believer must demonstrate the ability to speak in tongues and prophesy to confirm one’s salvation. The problem with basing these positions upon Acts 19:6 is that this portion of God’s Word is only meant to be understood descriptively (simply to share what occurred) rather than prescriptively (to mimic every detail and do it this way today). But when one understands that receiving the Holy Spirit after personal belief in Acts 19:1-6 is unique to these saints who lived pre-cross/post-cross transitional generation, then there is no confusion. This was a description of what happened to disciples of John the baptizer who lived pre-cross and then post-cross and how they came to have their theology enhanced so they could preach about Jesus Christ with the utmost accuracy.

So, why did they experience the miraculous speaking in tongues and prophesying? What exactly happened in Acts 19:6? This was the exact same experience that the believers who were in Jerusalem had on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11). It was similar to what the Samaritans experienced in Acts 8:14-17. And it was the same circumstances that the Gentile believers experienced in Acts 10:43-48! The disciples of John the baptizer divinely and uniquely had the same experience. Meaning, there were 1st Century Jewish people who believed in the coming Messiah (pre-cross) just like the Old Testament saints who were not present at the Day of Pentecost (post-cross). And in God’s divine plan, the Lord provided these believers with a delayed Pentecost experience! When an apostle shared the full teachings of Jesus Christ and the role of the Holy Spirit, their faith expanded, and they understood with perfect clarity the words and work of Jesus Christ. When they matured in their faith from being an Old Testament saint to becoming a Christian, they too experienced speaking in known languages (Acts 19:6) just like on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4-11a). They also prophesied (Acts 19:6), “speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God,” just like the Jewish believers did 20 years previously (Acts 2:11b NKJV).

Why did this occur then but not now? God allowed this unique demonstration to occur so they could experience it as if they were present on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11) and to assure them that the reality of the Holy Spirit was true. Paul told them the Holy Spirit had come, but this demonstration provided infallible proof. The Lord provided these men with the same experience that even Gentile converts received when the Apostle Peter preached the truth of Christ to them (Acts 10:43-48)! Thus, the reason why this demonstration was allowed to occur in these early stages of the development of the church was to make it clear to all that the Holy Spirit would come upon anyone who had a clear understanding and sincere belief in Jesus Christ, whether Jew, Gentile, Samaritan, or Old Testament saint! For Paul wrote in Galatians 3:26-29, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

And once this was clearly demonstrated early in the birth of the church, as documented in the book of Acts, these experiences no longer had to occur. Thus, it should be no surprise that after Acts 2, these occurrences became infrequent in the book of Acts (Acts 2, 10, and 19) as this unique generation received clarity about the work of Jesus and the role of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it should be noted that Acts 19:6 contains the very last occurrence of this demonstration of one getting saved and speaking in tongues and prophesying. The account ends very anticlimactically by simply saying that “now the men were about twelve in all” (Acts 19:7). The reason there was such an anticlimactic ending to such a demonstration of the Spirit’s power was because the era of the Holy Spirit demonstrating His indwelling presence was over. Now, the evidence of a believer is their faith in Jesus Christ and a heart that is convicted to obey God’s Word by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

As of today, the Holy Spirit immediately and fully indwells a person upon salvation. And if the book of Acts is interpreted accurately, there are no other subsequent indwelling or “coming upon” or “second-giving of the Spirit” events that occur or are necessary for believers today. And while the occurrence in Acts 19:1-7 is not the norm for believers today, and never occurs again in the New Testament, the way in which Paul engaged these precious disciples of John the baptizer provides some valuable spiritual principles for believers today. The descriptive account of Acts 19:1-7 provides believers today with at least five spiritual prescriptions that should be adopted in practice:

1. We should know the Scriptures and be on the ready to share the accurate truth of the Gospel (Acts 19:4; I Peter 3:15a; II Timothy 4:2a).
2. Make sure both repentance and faith in Jesus Christ are included in your salvation message (Acts 3:19; 4:12, 11:18, 19:4; 20:21; 26:20).
3. We should take a sincere interest in the spiritual condition of people (Acts 19:1b-2).
4. If people sincerely want to learn more about what God’s Word teaches, we should always present God’s truth with patience (II Timothy 4:2b) and with gentleness, and respect (I Peter 3:15b).
5. We must be committed to doing all of the above with anyone who engages us when God gives us the opportunity, even if a group is small or if no one ever finds out.

Ponder & Pray Today…

Reflect upon your salvation experience and how you are growing spiritually today. Think about how many questions you needed to ask before you came to faith in Christ. Was there someone who explained the Gospel to you and helped you come to a clear understanding? Or, did you accept Christ the first time you heard the Gospel, say, in church? Did you have to return home and ponder what you heard and the implications of it, or was your heart ready to immediately accept it? And now, as a believer, are you open to learning more about the Bible in order to serve and worship God more accurately? Do you enjoy learning how to study God’s Word for yourself? Have you taken steps to learn the Word of God with other believers?

Pray and thank the Lord for your salvation. Thank Him for the precious people who took the time to explain the Gospel to you and to those who live spiritual lives that inspire you to grow in your spiritual walk.