Pass On What You Have

Leviticus 18-19; Psalms 13; Acts 19 

“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’”

Acts 19:1, 2

Apollos knew only the baptism of John, a water baptism of repentance of sin. That was what Apollos taught in Ephesus. When Paul arrived and asked the disciples about whether they had received the Holy Spirit, they didn’t know what he was talking about. We can only take others in ministry as far as we ourselves have gone. When the seven sons of Sceva, the Jewish chief priest, tried to pray with demonized people, they commanded demons to flee in the name of Jesus, “whom Paul preaches”. They did not know Jesus personally through the Holy Spirit. We can only pass on to others what we ourselves have. Paul laid hands on the Ephesian disciples and they received the Holy Spirit. When we teach or preach biblical truths or realities that we ourselves have not experienced, we will not see lasting fruit. The world is looking for the reality of God, not a theory.

“Lord Jesus, fill me again this day with the power of your Spirit to live on your mission, for your glory.”