Read: Acts 19:1-7
[Paul] said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” (v. 2)
An incomplete believer, as this passage shows, is a person who knows the Father and the Son but does not know the Holy Spirit. God has self-revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which Christians call “The Trinity.” To know God as the Father is to know his vast eternal care—what theologians call his providence. To know God as the Son is to know his forgiving grace—what theologians call salvation. To know God as the Holy Spirit is to know his empowering energy for holiness and ministry—what theologians call sanctification.
Without the Holy Spirit, there’s no illumination of the Word, no gifts for ministry, and no power to do the work that we’ve been called to do in the world. Clearly, not knowing the Holy Spirit is to be bereft of energy, love, and joy. A very serious omission!
So, hearing of the plight of the believers in today’s passage, Peter lays hands on them and all heaven breaks loose—they began speaking in tongues, preaching boldly outside their comfort zones (v. 6), and moving out into the world that God so deeply loves to participate with God in healing (vv. 11-12). I have seen this power with my own eyes and experienced it in the lives of people I love. And I want more of it in my own life and in every believer.
As you pray, ask God to send the Holy Spirit upon you and empower you to do the work God is calling you to do.
Dr. Timothy Brown is the Henry Bast Professor of Preaching and President Emeritus at Western Theological Seminary where he served from 1995-2021. Tim continues to actively coach and encourage former students and pastors who seek help in their preaching life and he has become a certified public school substitute teacher so that he can continue investing in the lives of young people. He is married to Nancy and together they have three children and ten grandchildren.
