Witness Number Two by Roberts Liardon

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?” So 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.”

Roberts Liardon tells us that 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. Acts 19:1-6 (NKJ)

Sometimes, when I read about the way Paul lived in the book of Acts, I think, “Lord, that sounds so exciting.” Paul found this group of disciples, which means he didn’t know they were there.

Roberts Liardon tells us that because these men believed in John’s preaching, they easily received what Paul had to say about the Holy Spirit. Notice that it was important to Paul to make sure that these disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t an afterthought, the first thing he said to them was, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you have believed?” (Acts 19:2)