The Disciples (15)

John the Baptist is often called the forerunner of Christ.  He came to prepare the people for the Lord’s coming.  A quick look at his message will reveal a very familiar pattern as he plowed through the religious hypocrisies of his day like a bull dozer. As Jesus would later say he was not a man of soft clothing… unless one would consider camel hair soft.  His message was not soft either.  It was very straight forward and it shook the religious world of his time. 

“Repent!”  John cried, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  He came to call the nation of Israel to repentance in preparation for the coming Messiah. 

“John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.”  (Matthew 3: 4-6)

Our template is showing up very plainly.  This is not to be surprising to us as when truth is discovered within the word of God there tends to be many confirmations… especially on important doctrines like salvation.  There are many more witnesses to this templates’ legitimacy.  Repentance (death) and baptism (burial) are the key parts of John’s message up to this point in the bible’s account of his ministry.

John had one more element to his preaching (by now we should expect that to be the case… and we even have an idea what that element might be!).  John declares, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance.  But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:  he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire”!  John preached repentance and practiced baptism.  His final message was that there was coming a empowering of the Holy Ghost!  It was from these teachings that many people followed and became his disciples.

In the meantime Jesus began his own ministry and many of John’s disciples followed the Lord… John said “He must increase and I must decrease.”  He knew this was God’s plan… his was a ministry of preparation and by the time his work was winding down, Jesus had begun his.

Not all of John’s disciples were local.  Some moved on into other regions before Jesus came on the scene… so they continued in all that they knew… John’s teachings.  It is here our story begins.

“And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?  And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.  And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized?”  (Acts 19: 1-3)

The setting of this event was in modern day Turkey, far from the land of Israel.  Paul comes across this group of disciples and begins to visit with them.  Asking if they had received the Holy Ghost he was informed that they didn’t know if there was a Holy Ghost.  Paul then asks, what appears to be, a strange question.

“Unto what then were ye baptized?”

Before we read on let us examine his question, which actually is a very logical one… once we see why he asked it. 

When these disciples answered that they didn’t know if there was a Holy Ghost Paul realized something.  (More likely than whether the Holy Ghost existed… as the King James makes it sound, they did not know if the Holy Ghost was poured out yet.  These disciple would have known of the existence of the Holy Ghost… we will know that when they answer Paul’s question.)

Paul understood (as do we) that the first proclamation of the New Testament plan of salvation came at Pentecost when Peter stood with the eleven and preached the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and told the crowd to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and that they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Basically, it was a package deal.  It all was first preached at Pentecost and was practiced then as well.  Three thousand people responded and were added to the church that day… the first day of the Churches existence.  

Paul knew it all went together.  If they had not known about the Holy Ghost, then he understood they most likely had not been baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins.  While he was ready to find out if they had received the Holy Ghost, he realized that they had probably not been baptized in the “only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”  He needed to know how, or if, they had been baptized.  Their answer gives him all the information needed for Paul to continue ministering to their salvation need.

“Unto John’s baptism.”  The answer came and Paul knew what to do!

“Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”  (Acts 19: 4)  Now that Paul knew where these disciples stood he could tell them where they stood!  They understood his message and responded appropriately.  By doing what?  (Lets’ look for a template!)

“When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.  All the men were about twelve.”  (Acts 19: 5 & 6)

Again, we see the element of repentance (accomplished some time earlier under John’s ministry), baptism (actually a re-baptism in this case), and the out pouring of the Holy Ghost (by the laying on of the Apostles hands with the accompanying sign of tongues).

This is a story of a group of believers who had gone as far as they knew to go in their religious understanding and subsequent experience, but needed more.  How vital it is for people in any age to have the same attitude as the disciples of John in this chapter of Acts.  Many people today have gone as far as they understand, but like these disciples, they need more.  

One more thing

The need to go further in the Lord’s plan is illustrated by one more account in Acts… from the previous chapter… a man (mentioned in verse one of our story) named Apollos.

“And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.  This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.”  (Acts 18: 24 & 25)

We see that Apollos was a gifted speaker and knew the scriptures well.  He would not be one that we would expect to need further explanations in the ways of God.  However, he knew only the baptism of John (like our group of twelve men in Ephesus).

“And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him in the way of God more perfectly.”  (Verse 26) 

The preacher needed more!  How humbling it must have been to need to have the way expounded more perfectly, when he was an eloquent, educated, preacher who was fervent in the Spirit.  The need of being teachable is maybe nowhere in the scripture made more clear than in the example of this great and yet humble man who wasn’t presumptuous about his salvation.  He was willing to have his faith (as well as his teaching) verified.  His humility did not hurt him, or his reputation, as after he was recommended in writing to the disciples in Achaia it was said of him…

“For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”  (Verse 28)

While it is not specifically written what Aquila and Priscilla taught this man who knew only the baptism of John, it is known what was taught twelve others who knew only the baptism of John!  We can safely conclude that it was the same message!  Paul confirms this as he later writes concerning Apollos that they worked together in reaching the lost.

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”  (I Corinthians 3:6)

One does not need to be eloquent or educated like Apollos (the disciples of Jesus were called “unlearned and ignorant men”) to understand the ways of the Lord.  One reason is the simplicity of the Gospel… Death… Burial… Resurrection.  The point is:  Anyone can understand this simple message if they have an open mind, can set aside the traditional teachings of religious dogmas, and be taught by those who have learned for themselves what the original message of the apostles to the lost was.  You can count yourself among that group now!  Obey the gospel and become an Apollos, or a Peter, or a Paul… or, best of all be yourself in the hands of God!  How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel!  We can see why!