In verse 1 we are told, “While Apollos was at Corinth Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.” On the second mission trip when Paul was leaving Ephesus, he said, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” (18:21) It was the will of God and now he is returning once again to Ephesus. When Paul returns to Ephesus, he meets up with some brothers who are a little strange. They were Christians, but they had a limited understanding of the gospel. Paul asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (2) To receive the Holy Spirit means that their relationship with God is renewed, that they received eternal life, in other words, that they are saved. The Holy Spirit is a central teaching of Christianity and an important theme. However, there are many cases besides this one of not really understanding about the Holy Spirit. Today let’s look at 3 aspects of receiving the Holy Spirit

I. Did you receive the Holy Spirit? (vs. 1-3)
First let’s look at the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit. When Paul returned to Ephesus, he met some disciples. The word “disciples” means disciples of Jesus Christ and refers to Christians. For Paul to ask Christians if they had received the Holy Spirit or not, seems a little rude. This is because I Cor. 12:3 says, “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, it would be impossible for someone to accept Christ as their Savior and believe in Him, and not to have received the Holy Spirit. Anyone that is a Christian has received the Holy Spirit. Paul probably asked this question because he sensed something was a little different about them. They answered his question with, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” (2) If they were Christians, they would have repented of their sin, believed that Jesus Christ had died on the cross for their sins and 3 days later rose again, and would have received forgiveness and eternal life. At that time they would have received the Holy Spirit. In other words, they had received the Holy Spirit, but they didn’t realize it. This was because they didn’t know anything about the Holy Spirit. In other words, they believed in Christ, but they didn’t understand the Gospel fully.
They had received “John’s baptism” (3) ２ weeks ago we looked at John’s baptism when we looked at Apollos who had “a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures”. (18:24) Even though he was such a learned man, like these disciples, he only knew about John’s baptism. Not only that, but Apollos was here in Ephesus. Perhaps these disciples had received their teaching from Apollos himself in his earlier state of partial understanding. John’s baptism was the water baptism that John performed at the Jordan River. It was a baptism of repentance in preparation for the coming of Jesus. Therefore, it was different from the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. John’s baptism was based on repentance rather than on faith in the finished work of Christ. Therefore, they didn’t know the grace and joy of salvation through the Holy Spirit.
“There were about twelve men in all.” (7) Possibly they were single men, but we don’t know. Since they were all men it is possible that they were living a life of like John eating locusts and honey and wearing clothes made of camel’s hair. His lifestyle was a visual protest against self-indulgence and many of his followers also lived a simple self-disciplined lifestyle as a sign of repentance. It may have been this lifestyle and the lack of the joy and other fruits of the Spirit that caused Paul to ask if they had been baptized with the Spirit or not. This is not teaching what Pentecostals teach as “the second experience”. These men had a limited understanding of the gospel like Apollos. Anyone who repents of their sins, and believes that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose 3 days later receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life. At that time they also receive the Holy Spirit. In other words they had received the Holy Spirit, but they just didn’t understand that fact.
This is something we see quite often. Many people believe that Jesus is God. They believe that if they believe in Christ that they can go to heaven and that they are saved. However, they don’t realize that the Holy Spirit gives joy, peace and thanksgiving. They don’t fully realize what it means to believe in Christ and so they live like non Christians. This is like the 12 disciples. To these people Paul is asking, “have you received the Holy Spirit?”
How about you, have you received the Holy Spirit? In John 7:37 and 38, Jesus said. , “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the Scriptures has said streams of living water will flow from within him.” The living water is the Holy Spirit. Any one who comes to Jesus and drinks, in other words, believes in Christ “streams of living water will flow from within him.” The Holy Spirit will flow from within him. He will experience not superficial joy and peace, but joy and peace and the fruit of the Spirit from deep within.
When we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit is given to us. The important thing is to come to Jesus and drink from him. Then you will have living water, the Holy Spirit, flowing from the innermost part of your heart.

II. Baptism in the name of our Lord (4,5)
After the people said that they had received the John’s baptism, Paul said, “’John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.’” (4,5)
A baptism into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is a baptism of those who believe that Jesus is their Savior. In other words, it is not just repenting of sin, but involves in accepting Jesus as your personal Savior and believing in the work of salvation in the cross and resurrection. It is accepting Jesus as your savior.
Romans 6:3-8
It is not just repenting of sin, but accepting and believing that Jesus was put on the cross and died for those sins and then rose 3 days later. Those who believe this have eternal life and forgiveness of sin. This type of person is baptized in the Holy Spirit. He is baptized into the name of Christ. Water baptism symbolizes this. Just as Jesus dies on the cross we die to ourselves and are buried in the water. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we rise out of the water to a new life in Christ. We have the life of Christ and can begin living a new life in Him. Therefore, if we have been baptized, we are saved and it is not necessary to be baptized again.
There are some groups like the Anabaptists that teach if you aren’t completely immersed when you are baptized or there was something about the baptism that isn’t in keeping with the denomination that you must be baptized again. However that isn’t necessary. In this case they were baptized again because they had not been baptized into the name of the Lord. If you have been baptized into the name of the Lord then it is not necessary to be baptized again.
Also sometimes we are depressed and worried about many things, and at times we wonder if we really didn’t have faith when we were baptized. We think that maybe we should be baptized again. However that is not necessary. That’s not a problem with the baptism, but a problem with faith. We need to not be controlled by our emotions, but by the Word of God.

III. The Holy Spirit came on them (vs. 6)
Lastly, let’s look at the result of being baptized into the name of the Lord. After being baptized into the name of the Lord, “the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” (6) Speaking in tongues and prophesizing were 2 of the gifts that were prominent in the early church.
I Cor. 14:2,3
In other words, these 12 disciples left their strict life of discipline and had joy, were changed into Christians who praised God, and witnessed to others. This is the result of Paul’s good news. When a person is born anew by the Holy Spirit, they will be changed into a life like these men experienced.
Have you received the Holy Spirit? Is Jesus the Lord of your life? If so you will be changed into a person who sings with joy and earnestly witnesses. If this is not so, there is a reason. It is said that in the church there are two types of people. There are Christians by name and by custom and there are Christians whose faith and life are unified. There are those in the church that worship God out of custom and there are those who worship God in Spirit and in truth. There are those who give their hearts to the world and those who give their hearts to God. There are some people who believe in the Bible and earnestly strive to follow the Bible and there are those who don’t. To be born again is to live in the life of God. In other words, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” This is a question about rebirth. It is a challenging message to us to be changed into a new being. It is the most important question in our lives. Have you received the Holy Spirit?
The key for having victory over sin in our lives is being filled with the Holy Spirit. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then we can overcome sin. Through the Holy Spirit, we are able to have new strength, and want to do what is right. The Holy Spirit gives the strength to put these things in our lives. When the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we become more and more like Christ.
The power of God can change our broken hearts to joy. By walking with God we can have peace. That is how people who are filled with the Spirit are. For example if we are sad, then we have peace that prevents us from being totally pushed out of shape by sadness. Have you received the Holy Spirit? Do you have new life through the Holy Spirit? Let’s walk together with the Holy Spirit in this new life.