Have You Received the Holy Ghost? - Acts 19:2

The beloved physician Luke wrote, “while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, ...”, and in chapter nineteen and verse two of the book of Acts Luke shared how Paul asked the believers at Ephesus, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” where we read:

He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?

And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

The verse reads, “He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?”: Luke began with the words, “He said unto them” which means “Paul uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked the certain disciples at Ephesus”, “have you received” or “have you, disciples, laid hold of, claimed and procured” “the Holy Ghost” which means “the sacred, pure, morally blameless and religiously and ceremonially consecrated third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, who is coequal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son” “since you believed” or “since you, disciples, trusted in, relied upon, clung to and had confidence”? Luke shared how “Paul” asked the “disciples in Ephesus” whether they had “received” God's Holy Spirit “since” they believed in Him.

The verse continues, “And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.” Luke added the words “and they said unto him” or “and the disciples at Ephesus uttered, declared, proclaimed and answered Paul”, “we have not so much as heard” which means “we, disciples at Ephesus, have not been endowed with the faculty for hearing, perceiving or understanding” “whether there be any Holy Ghost” or “if or in case there exists a sacred, pure, morally blameless and religiously and ceremonially consecrated third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, who is coequal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son”. Luke shared how the “disciples at Ephesus” told “Paul” they were unaware of the existence of the “Holy Spirit”.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Paul” was interested in whether the believers or “disciples” at “Ephesus” had “received” God's “Holy Spirit”. They were without knowledge that there existed a “Holy Spirit”, so they let “Paul” know of the same. In other words, these “disciples at Ephesus” believed according to their “knowledge” of God, and we shall see how “Paul” addresses their situation. God desires all people to know Him through a personal relationship with His Son Jesus. Jesus said, “this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (See John 17:3), and everyone is invited to believe and trust in Jesus and grow in their knowledge of God. Those who are wise will receive “Paul's” question for themselves and respond accordingly - “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed”?

Next time Luke shares how Paul asks the believers at Ephesus, “Unto what then were you baptized?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".