Good morning. Paul then goes to those same churches he visited before; but my Bible says he does so in reverse order from the first time. While he is doing that, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John (this will be important later). He began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila (the couple Paul stayed with) heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. He wanted to go to the region around Corinth, and so he left Ephesus, and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. He powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. While this was happening, Paul, during his journey, came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Why would he ask that? My guess is that he was not seeing any evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in their lives, including speaking in tongues. The king James translates this passage as “since you believed”. Partially because of this, there is a Pentecostal group that says that receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a separate act from getting saved - they believe you must receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit to have Him within you. We will see next time how the disciples responded. Father thank You that we received the Holy Spirit when we believed. Thank You that He gives us guidance every day. Give the reader the guidance that he/she needs today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds

  Good morning. And men repented, right? And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and the water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Previously, the 6th angel blew his trumpet and told them to release the four angels at the river Euphrates so that the army of 200 million could cross over. Back to the bowl: and I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great Day of God, the Almighty. Father continue to bring blessings upon the reader and his/her family every day  of their lives.
Read more

So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed

  Good morning. We left John at the entrance of the tomb, stooping and looking in. “Shy” Peter then arrives following John, and enters the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. So the other disciple, John, who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. It does not say whether or not Peter believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. I’m not exactly sure what it means by their own homes. They were originally from Galilee and would not have had homes in Jerusalem. Perhaps it means the homes where they were staying while in Jerusalem. Apparently, they were not staying in the upper room, or it would have said so. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped (just like John) and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been l...
Read more

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body

  Good morning. After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pounds weight. Remember that myrrh was one of the gifts that the magi brought when Jesus was a baby. Also notice that he had 100 pounds of spices. Normally one does not have that much just lying around the house. Since most likely he was older, he may have been storing it up for when he himself was going to die. Or perhaps while Jesus was hanging on the cross, he went to the merchants and purchased it, because there was no time to do so after Jesus died prior to the beginning of the Sabbath. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. My Bible says that these were thin ...
Read more