First Baptist Church Ottawa

Our Online Church School Lesson - January 7, 2024

Paul Bestows the Holy Spirit - Acts 19:1-7

Today’s Scripture: Acts 19:1-7

Today’s Theme: Paul Bestows the Holy Spirit

Opening Prayer: Dear God, thank you for allowing us to gather here today to learn more about Jesus. Please help our ears to listen, our minds to learn, and our hearts to love as we hear the stories of His work. Amen.

Today’s Lesson: Today’s lesson focuses on the apostle Paul’s visit to Ephesus, the capital of the province of Asia. Paul had already made two missionary journeys and he was now anxious to go out again to strengthen the churches that he had already created and to plant more. And so, he began what we call his Third Missionary Journey, which takes place over five years, from 52 to 57 AD. Up to this point, Paul and his team have spent their time strengthening and encouraging their disciples in the Galatian and Phrygian churches, and now he stops in Ephesus. Paul was in Ephesus before but only stayed for a short while since he had wanted to go on to Jerusalem and Antioch at that time. Now, he returns to establish churches in this great city.

Ephesus was founded in 1100 BC and was governed over the next thousand years by the Persians, Greeks, Macedonians, and others. Rome ruled the city from 69 BC for the next 200 years. Ephesus was a prosperous city and had become the capital of the province of Asia and the leading city of the entire region. Ephesus had a fine harbor to the west and was at the end of an important trading highway to the east. Ephesus therefore served as a center for east-west trade, and it became the greatest commercial city of the province. Its population may have peaked at around a third of a million.

Ephesus was famous for its temple to the goddess Artemis (Diana of Ephesus), a huge structure made of marble that was considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world! The city also had a huge theater on a hillside that could seat 24,000 people, a town hall, a commercial market, baths and gymnasiums, a medical school and a huge stadium.

Besides the cult of Artemis, there is evidence of various mystery religions, the practice of magic, worship of Egyptian gods Sarapis and Isis, as well as devotion to large number of other deities. A Jewish synagogue existed in Ephesus, though archeologists haven't yet discovered its remains. The Jewish community possessed citizenship, were exempted from military service, and granted freedom to practice their religion according to their traditions.

As we can see, most people living in Ephesus did not worship the One True God.  The people worshiped false gods.  When Paul returned to Ephesus he met twelve men. As Paul talked with these men the Holy Spirit gave him wisdom to know that they didn’t have a full understanding about who Jesus is and what He had done.  Let’s read today’s lesson to find out more:

cts 19:1-7
19:1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples.

19:2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

19:3 Then he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism."

19:4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

19:6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied--

19:7 altogether there were about twelve of them.

As we can see from today’s lesson, Paul learned that the “disciples” only knew about what John the Baptist had taught.  They knew that John was preparing people for the One God was going to send as the Savior.  They were baptized to show they wanted to turn from their sinful ways and be prepared for the One John said would be coming. But, they didn’t know about one very important characteristic of Christians. When Paul asked whether they had received the Holy Spirit, they replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”. The group was ignorant of the Pentecost event and everything that followed. The fact that these people—who were almost certainly Jews—were disciples of John the Baptist and his teachings, and had not heard of the Holy Spirit, is puzzling. John the Baptist had clearly spoken of the Messiah as one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Paul saw that these people needed more teaching so they could fully understand the One John prepared them for.  He taught them who Jesus was and what He had done for them.  He explained that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, was buried and rose again.  He explained that anyone who put their faith in the Lord Jesus could be saved from his/her sins and receive eternal life.  Paul told the group that they needed to be baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus”. Then they would receive the Holy Spirit. Whether these “disciples” were residents of Ephesus or had come from somewhere else is not known. How they could be regarded as disciples—apparently knowing about Jesus—but not understand baptism nor even hear about the Holy Spirit is all rather odd. Possibly what Luke meant by “disciples” was that they were followers of Christ in the same way that people followed Jesus during his ministry. They were not disciples in the fullest sense of the word, since the sign of the disciple is one who has received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Luke would have included this encounter to make a point: the true body of Christ is the church, not the beliefs of John the Baptist’s followers. Luke would have been trying to show that such disciples of John needed to become Christians. They could do this by being rebaptized into Jesus by a duly authorized missionary of Christ’s body, the church universal—and receiving the Holy Spirit.

When Paul explained to these former disciples of John the Baptist that they should be baptized into Jesus’ name, they readily agreed. By doing so they were putting their faith in Jesus and repenting. By accepting another baptism, these people were saying that they understood the superiority of Jesus to John. After the former disciples of John were baptized, “Paul placed his hands on them” and they received the Holy Spirit. When God’s Word is taught, the Holy Spirit helps those hearing it understand God’s truth.  The Holy Spirit spoke through Paul and helped these disciples to see clearly the rest of the story about Jesus and they were saved.

Review Questions:

  1. Why do you think the disciples in Ephesus were unaware of the Holy Spirit?

  2. What does it mean to be baptized in the name of Jesus?

  3. How do you think the Holy Spirit empowers us to live out our faith?

  4. Have you ever experienced the presence or power of the Holy Spirit in your life? If so, could you share that experience?

  5. In what ways can we cultivate a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit?

Game: Divide into teams. Each team gets as a list of items or symbols related to the Holy Spirit. The teams must search for these items within a designated area or find pictures representing them online. The first team to collect all the items or find the most within a given time limit wins. This game encourages learning and discussion about the Holy Spirit’s role and symbolism.

Closing Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Help us to embrace His power and guidance in our lives. May we grow in our understanding of His role and seek to cultivate a deeper relationship with Him. Empower us to live out our faith boldly and impact the world around us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.