Shabbat Shalom. Let's turn to the book of Acts, Maasei Shlichim, chapter 18. We're going to read from verse 23 to the end of the chapter, and then go into chapter 19 and read the first seven verses of Acts chapter 19. So, Acts 18, verse 23 to Acts 19 and verse 7. And this passage has to do with the beginning of the third missionary journey of the Apostle Paul of Shaul as he leaves again Antioch, which was in Syria, and began his third missionary journey. And so I'm beginning to read from verse 23. And after he had spent some time there, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia and Perigia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

And a certain Jew, and a certain Jew named Apollos, born in 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 Yohanan, of John. 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 the way of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace.

For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly showing by the scriptures, that Yeshua was the Messiah. 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 Spirit, since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard, whether there be any Holy Spirit. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said unto him, John's baptism. 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 the Messiah Jesus.

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Yeshua. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. And I'm going to stop reading here in verse 7 of Acts chapter 19. We are studying again, and I'm doing always by way of repetition and maybe continuity. We are studying in the book of Acts, and we are arriving right now to the third missionary journey of this amazing servant of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. This man by the name of Paul, his Hebrew name as we know, his name is Shaul, his diaspora's name is Paul.

And we see Shaul Paul, how he continuously served his master and Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. And beautifully to see that he had a beginning in Acts chapter 13, where he was first commended by the assembly in Antioch to the full-time ministry, as we would call it. And he had gone on his first missionary journey, returned back to Antioch. Then he moved again in his second missionary journey, and he returned to the assembly at Antioch, which was in Syria, and reported unto them even his second missionary journey. In fact, we concluded, if you remember, in Acts chapter 18, where we read in verse 22, he went, as we read, and when he had landed at Kessariah and gone up, this is up to Jerusalem, to Jerusalem, he saluted the assembly in Jerusalem, and then he went down from Jerusalem and went back to the city of Antioch from where he began his ministry.

I think it's precious to see how a brother, such as the apostle Paul, of course he is an apostle, was commended to the Lord's work, faithfully of God to do his ministry, and then he came back to report to the brothers and sisters in the local assembly in Antioch, and shared with them how the Lord had blessed his ministry among the Goyim, among the Gentiles. And many became believers in our Lord Jesus the Messiah. And so, brothers and sisters, now here, in the verses that we read, verses 23 on, in fact, the third missionary journey began in Acts 18, verse 23, and it will end up in Acts chapter 21, at about verse 16, where he was in the city of Jerusalem, in Jerusalem.

This is his third missionary journey, which he began again from the city of Antioch. Some believe that this third missionary journey took about 53 to 57 AD. In fact, the church, the assembly, the heavenly company, have already have been in process of growth, and the Gentile world had been actually now exposed to the message of the gospel. Many became believers in our Lord Jesus the Messiah, became part of the church, of the assembly, part of the body of Christ, body of Messiah. And now the Apostle Paul, in this third missionary journey, what he's really doing, you will notice that as we are going, the purpose of this missionary journey is really to strengthen believers, the body of Messiah.

This is important. Even though he was speaking and preaching the message of the gospel as he has gone along, but he was strengthening the disciples, the believers, who need to be strengthened. They don't only need to accept the Lord and to have their ticket to go to heaven, salvation. This is wonderful to be saved and to be part of the body of Messiah, but believers need to be strengthened spiritually, strengthening the things of the Lord, understanding of the scriptures, of the word of God, established in the faith, that they will be able to stand against every wind of doctrine that are coming from everywhere as the world has been influencing the people of God, the believers in Yeshua, the Messiah.

So, he began here, you notice, first of all, just this verse 23, we see the beginning of his third missionary journey. You notice two things here. First of all, it says, after he had spent some time there. The word there, in verse 23, takes us back to verse 22, where it says that he went down to Antioch. There, in Antioch, he spent some time. Now, we do not know how much time he spent in Antioch. He may have been there a few months. He may have been there maybe as long as a full year. But he has spent some time in Antioch, and he was perhaps not only sharing what he had done, but he was preaching the word, teaching in ministry, teaching the brothers and sisters in this city of Antioch.

And then notice that, in the second thing that we find here in verse 23, after he has spent some time there, verse 23b, he departed, left Antioch, and he went over all the country of Galatia and Pergia in order, strengthening all the disciples. Notice that he departed from Antioch, and he went to the Galatia and Pergia. And if you remember, if you go back to chapter 16, back in your Bible, you notice that in chapter 16, in verse 6, we read the fact that it says now when they had gone through Pergia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.

In other words, he have already passed through these areas, but now he's going over again the same area, which he have already covered, led many people to the knowledge of Yeshua, the Messiah. And now notice it says at the end of verse 23, strengthening all the disciples. That is a ministry that is so much needed today in the body of Christ, in the body of the Messiah. The strengthening of the disciples, those students, or Talmidim as we call them in Hebrew, those who've accepted the Lord and become part of the assembly of the church of the living God, and now they need to be strengthened. Every local church, local assembly, need the strengthening of the believers.

It's not only strengthening in a sense of knowing the gospel, but growing spiritually. We need pillars in the local assembly. We need believers that are mature and can stand for the things of the Lord and can speak for the Messiah and can testify the truth of the word of God. And when they ask them anything, they can say, listen, I can turn the page into the book of Acts and into the Gospels and into Epistles and into the Old Testament, the Tanakh, and find the scripture and share what they know, what they have learned from the things of the Lord. And that's what the Apostle Paul wanted those believers in these areas, the country of Galatia and Pergia.

He wanted them to grow spiritually. So he began the third missionary journey going in order. You notice that he has order. Unless something happened and changed the purpose of his going to one city or one area, one region or another, he went in order. He was going from one town to another town for another area, another region. And in order, he was going to strengthen the disciples. That is a very beautiful thing that we find about the Apostle Paul, Shaul. Now, from here, from verse 24 to the end of the chapter, we have something very interesting about a Jewish man by the name of Apollos. Now, here's a great lesson for us to learn here in these verses.

We find out, first of all, in verse 24, the origin of Apollos. So where does he come from? And who this man by the name of Apollos? This is not Paul, Shaul. This is another Jewish person by the name of Apollos. Certain things we find out about this man of Apollos. Very interesting Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah. Verse 24, we read, a certain Jewish man by the name of Apollos was born in Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the scripture, he came to Ephesus. So we find now, the Spirit of God placed before us this man by the name of Apollos. First of all, we notice that he was a Jewish man, and his hometown, or where he was born, it was in Alexandria.

Today, Alexandria is in the land of Egypt. And I remember my grandfather, when he immigrated from Yemen, a Jewish man to Israel, he immigrated through Egypt. And he spent some time in Alexandria. And apparently, Alexandria was a city that was established at about 332 A.D. by Alexander the Great. And as this city was established, at that time, it was maybe about 600,000 individuals who live in that city. And that city was very well known as a city where there was a school, there was a university, it was a very popular city, Alexandria, one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. And in this city, apparently, there was a lot of learning that were going on in that city of Alexandria.

They had a big library there with thousands and thousands of books. And there was a large Jewish community in Alexandria. Some say that maybe one quarter of the population of Alexandria at that time were Jewish people. Others say that maybe one third of the population of Alexandria at that time was the Jewish community. So, a great library in this place, large university in Alexandria. Many of the Jewish people have been living in the city of Alexandria. There was actually Jewish community in Alexandria. Just like you have large Jewish community in many, many cities in the world like New York City and Toronto City and in Montreal and other countries in Europe, in Paris.

In Alexandria, there was a large Jewish community and apparently, also, the Septuagint, it is the Hebrew translation of the Tanakh, the Old Testament, was translated into Greek in Alexandria. And so, Alexandria was a very well-known city at the then Roman Empire of which this man by the name of Apollos came from. He came from the city of Alexandria. He was born in that amazing city with much intellect, much brilliancy and much learning with this university as well as with this library that they have had there. But we find a few things about this man that we read here in the next verses. This Jewish man by the name of Apollos, not only that he came when he was born and he was born in Alexandria, we find out that he was an eloquent man.

And you can just imagine, of course, coming from Alexandria, a place where there is so much learning, large library, great Jewish community. well, he must have been a man that could speak. As it says here that he was an eloquent man. He was speaking with much eloquency as he was sharing what he was sharing. And he was actually a man that was a man who believed in the God of Israel as part of the Jewish community. because notice what it says next about this man by the name of Apollos that he was mighty in the scriptures. He knew the Hebrew scriptures. Again, to remind you, no Brit Hadashah at that time, no New Testament.

When we read about the scriptures, we read about the Hebrew scriptures, the Tanakh, the Torah, the Nevi'im, the Ketuvim, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. And he was, as it says, mighty in the scriptures. In other words, he knew the word of God, the Hebrew scriptures. And then we read about him also in verse 24 that he came to Ephesus. So he was born in Alexandria, came to Ephesus, and it is the same city to which the Apostle Paul was heading on as he was traveling now in his third missionary journey. By the way, the Apostle Paul had already been at Ephesus. Go back to chapter 18 and verse 21.

It says, in fact, I'll read verse 19, he came to Ephesus. This is Paul. And he left them there. This is Priscilla and Aquila. He left Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus. He only stayed for a short time in Ephesus. And then he entered into the synagogue as we read it in verse 19 of chapter 18. And he reasoned with his Jewish brethren from the word of God. We have talked about it already. And then they desired him, verse 20, to stay longer with them at Ephesus, but he consented not. So he stayed very short time, Paul, at Ephesus because he was going to go to the feast in the city of Jerusalem.

and indeed he had gone to the city of Jerusalem and that's where he had gone to the church there, to the assembly and visited the brothers and sisters in the local assembly in Jerusalem, in the city of Jerusalem. But now Apollos arrived to the city of Ephesus, a Jewish man that was born in Alexandria. He was an eloquent man. He was mighty in the Hebrew scriptures, in the Tanakh, but he doesn't stop here. That when he arrived to Ephesus he tells us a little bit more about this man. Notice it says in verse 25 that he was also instructed in the way of the Lord. Look at this verse 25.

This man, Apollos, was instructed in the way of the Lord. Now, we have to pause here for a moment because you can see later on as we move down in these verses that when it says that he was instructed in the way of the Lord, it does not mean that he actually knew the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah yet, but he was instructed in the way of the Lord, meaning the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures, in the way of the Lord, and he was not yet where he should have been, and he will become a believer in the Messiah, but at this point we find that he was instructed in the way of the Lord.

In other words, he was taught by word of mouth. In other words, somebody told him about the Lord, Yeshua, he was instructed about him, but he was not yet, we would say in what we call it the New Testament time, he was not as yet born again believer in Yeshua, the Messiah. He was instructed about him by word of mouth, he heard about him, but he was not yet established in what the Messiah, Yeshua, have done, and in what is known for us today in the present-day teaching of the church age. So he was instructed in the way of the Lord, and then it continues, and the fifth thing that it says about him, that he being fervent in the spirit, again it's not the Holy Spirit here, he had this zealousness and he was speaking, in other words his spirit was so fervent when he was speaking about the things of the Word of God, the things of the Lord, and then it's said here that he speck and taught diligently the things of the Lord, in other words he was teaching and teaching the things of the Lord, but now notice that thing beloved brothers and sisters, what it says here in verse 25 at the end, notice it says knowing only the baptism of John, of Yohanan, the moment you arrive to the end of verse 25, knowing only the tevila, the baptism of Yohanan that tells you that he only gone so far and no more.

Now, whatever the reason may be, at that time that Apollos only knew about the baptism of Yohanan, of John, tells us that yet, even though he came to Ephesus, he was speaking in a synagogue, he was not yet what we would know this today, a born again believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, who is part of the body of Christ, the body of Mashiach, the body of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, he was not yet where he was heading towards to become a child of God, part of the body of Messiah, but he was a Jewish believer that had arrived so far with his knowledge concerning the things of the Word of God.

Now, let's for a moment make sure that we understand this expression knowing only the baptism of John. Now, the word baptism comes from the Hebrew word means to be put under, to be immersed. And what he really came to, if you will, the threshold of understanding what John was presenting when he presented himself before the nation of Israel. You know that John Yohanan was a forerunner of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. John Yohanan, he presented the Mashiach, the Messiah, in his first coming. When he went down to the Jordan River in Judea, he was a Jewish man, John the Baptizer, actually he's not called John the Baptist, he really should be called John the Baptizer, he was presenting himself before the nation, and he was saying to our people Israel, he says, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, repent.

He was preparing the people of Israel for the coming of the Messiah. And it may have been, beloved brothers and sisters, that Apollos went to the land of Israel, to the land of his forefathers, for the time of one of the feasts perhaps, and as he had arrived there, he had learned the ministry of Yohanan the Baptizer. And he was listening to what he was saying. In fact, I would like you please, for a moment, turn to Matthew chapter 3 for a second, so we can see what John, what Yohanan was presenting. In Matthew chapter 3, we read in those days, verse 1, Yohanan the baptizer, Yohanan Hamatbil, John the baptizer, came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.

And what was he preaching? Look what he said, Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his path straight. The same Yohanan had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loyens, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about Jordan, and they were baptized of him in the Jordan confessing their sins. You see this is verses 1 to 6 of Matthew chapter 3.

You see John's baptism was a Jewish baptism. It was a baptism unto repentance and it was Judea and Jerusalem came down to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan confessing their sins. In a sense identifying with the call of Yohanan because the Lord, the Messiah was going to come. Prepare he says to them. You remember as Isaiah said, prepare you the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Get ready. The Messiah is coming. So Apollos have gone and have heard the message and as a godly Jewish man, he have accepted the message of John and he understood according to Acts chapter 18 and verse 25 he only knew the baptism of John the baptizer and no more.

So we have to understand in our mind in Old Testament time as well in the first century when there was a message from the Lord the God of Israel and he sent a messenger one of the things that baptism represented is represented identification with the message that the messenger was proclaiming.

So when Yohanan the baptizer was proclaiming repentance because the Messiah is going to come soon and those of Judea came down to the Jordan and got baptized by Yohanan in the Jordan they were really identifying with the message of repentance which he was proclaiming to our Jewish people 2000 years ago before the beginning of the ministry of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and so here we find Apollos a great person in many ways born in Alexandria eloquent man mighty in the scripture instructed in the ways of the Lord being fervent in spirit he taught diligently the things of the Lord but he only have arrived to the knowledge of the baptism of John the baptizer

and no more so here we find out the interesting thing that he was really in preparation by the spirit of God to come to the full knowledge of the gospel and to be part of the ecclesia the called that one body of messiah and to begin to be used by the Lord in the church of our Lord Jesus the messiah so what we find out now in verse 26 that Apollos now in verse 26 he had to learn the ways of God more perfectly that's where verse 26 comes in and you remember he came to Ephesus Paul has not been yet in Ephesus the second time he left Priscilla and Aquila there in Ephesus and

so in verse 26 it says he began to speak boldly in a synagogue now here's that Apollos going to the very same local synagogue at Ephesus where Paul previously has preached and he has gone to the very same synagogue here's another Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah and he was presenting there boldly speaking in a synagogue whatever the measure of understanding that he had but apparently there were those beautiful couple by the name of Aquila and Priscilla they as he says in verse 26 when Aquila and Priscilla heard him they took him aside or took him unto them and they expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly or more thoroughly so there are

a few things that we learn here also that even though there was already a local believers at Ephesus that Aquila and Priscilla still went to the synagogue on the Shabbat day you remember that we are in the first century of the church age at that time there were Jewish people who became believers in Yeshua they retained themselves in the synagogue they were going on Shabbat to the synagogue though they still have separate meetings of the believers and so we find out Aquila and Priscilla going to the synagogue on the Shabbat day and they were listening to Apollos speaking in the synagogue and boldly presenting what he understood from the word of God but Aquila and

Priscilla discerned that he lacked something as they were listening to his message perhaps he was talking a lot about the promise that the Messiah would come and how John wanted to prepare the nation for the coming of the Messiah but he haven't gone beyond it maybe he even heard John says in John 1 29 behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world he may have heard about the Messiah Yeshua and have understood that he was going to be the Messiah but he didn't go any further he didn't know any further because he left the city of Jerusalem he had gone back to his own country perhaps back to Alexandria and

now he is coming to Ephesus not yet in the full understanding of what has happened after the finished work of the Messiah and the beginning of the building of the church the heavenly company so Aquila and Priscilla heard him speaking they took him to them and apparently they had to talk to him in the side and they didn't speak publicly there in the synagogue because they wanted to instruct him and to help him to understand to expound to him the way of God more perfectly and I'm kind of wondering what they have talked to him about because they didn't have again a complete canon of scripture they only and maybe they explained to him Apollos

listen yes it's so wonderful that you have been baptized with the baptism of John and it is good that you understood the message of repentance and maybe it's so wonderful that you understood that he presented the Lamb of God the Lord Yeshua the Messiah but Apollos let us tell you a little bit more what happened you see after Yeshua came this Yeshua that have lived among our own people for 33 years you see he had to go to the cross and he had to die and they may even spoke with him from the Old Testament from Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 and other passages that the Hebrew prophet spoke about the Messiah who will suffer

for the sin of the nation of Israel but they had to teach him things that many many people need to learn today the truth concerning the body of Christ the body of Messiah that now in the present day dispensation in which we live in the Messiah Christ is building up something new which called the church the ecclesia and that is called out once from among Israel and among the Gentile world uniting them together into one body and building what is called the church the assembly the ecclesia they probably told him not to worry Apollos God is going to restore our people Israel in the coming days but you have to understand if you are going

to preach and to teach and administer the word you have to understand the full purposes of God and that's why it says here the way of God more perfectly you know people need to know that God is dealing today with what is known as the body of Christ the body of Messiah he is going to restore Israel in coming days but he is building the assembly the church of the living God and so they took time with him and they have taught him and they ministered to him and they shared with him the body of Christ the body of Messiah is being built now in this present time in this dispensation well how do we

know that he took it in and how do we know that he grasped it because you notice now what happened in verses 27 and 28 in the first part of verse 27 Apollos departed now from Ephesus to Achaia look it says in verse 27 A and when he was disposed to pass into Achaia by the way Achaia was a Roman province that was really embracing all the country called Greece which was including the city of Corinth so what Apollos did right now he departed from the city of Ephesus and he went to Achaia namely really in Achaia this province there was the city of Corinth and he was going now to the city of Corinth

where the apostle Paul was previously ministering with Aquila and Priscilla and now Apollos is going back to Corinth to this province of Achaia and he was commended listen how beautiful this here he was commended by the brethren with a letter of commendation look what it says in verse 27b the brethren wrote and they exhorted the disciples this is there in Achaia in Corinth to receive Apollos notice that so the brethren at Ephesus this is the Jewish believers and the gentle believers of Ephesus wrote a letter to the brethren in the disciples in Achaia in Corinth and they said to him receive the servant Apollos receive Apollos there and it was a nice letter of commendation

apparently if they ask them to receive him that means that he acknowledged the fact that Yeshua was his Messiah that he died he was buried and he rose again he understood the truth of the scripture now with respect to the church age as well and that is so precious to see because the brethren commended him they could not commend him to the disciples at Corinth the believers if he was not a believer they could not commend him if he was not now understanding the truth of the body of Messiah so the very fact that they wrote this exhortation to the disciples to receive him suggest that he understood the truth that Aquila and Priscilla taught

him concerning the person and the work of the Messiah and the church age and now he went to Corinth and look at his brothers and sisters in verse 27 B in verse 28 look how Apollos was used in two ways at Corinth he was used among the believers those who already believed in Yeshua the Messiah and he was used in the synagogue among his own Jewish brethren as he shared with them concerning Yeshua the Messiah first of all we find out in verse 27 B that him this is Apollos when he came there he helped them much to them which believed through grace in other words he helped the believers there and he established them

he strengthened them because they already became believers in Yeshua the Messiah but secondly in verse 28 he mightily convince the Jewish in the synagogue and he publicly showed by the scripture that Yeshua was the Messiah you see what he did twofold ministry in a sense he first of all had ministered to the brethren the believers through grace and secondly he must have gone to the synagogue to his own brethren in the flesh the Jewish non-believers yet and to them he told them every Shabbat and maybe from door to door maybe in personal contact he told them showing to them by the word of God by the scripture that Yeshua was the anointed the Messiah that

he was the Christ the Mashiach and so we see how this interesting man by the name of Apollos came to faith in the Messiah became part of the body of Christ and then went to Corinth and was used mightily in the city of Corinth you know later on when the apostle Paul wrote the letters to Corinth I want you to notice what he wrote to the Corinthians could you please turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 1 the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians you can see that Apollos had a great ministry in Corinth because in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 12 we read it says now this I say that every one of you say

I am of Paul or I am of Apollos or I am of Cephas this is Petros Peter or I am of the Messiah see there was a division of Corinth apparently and every one of them apparently they appreciated Paul but they also appreciated Apollos and Paul is saying why is it that you are so divided one say I am of Paul another one I am of Apollos another one I am of Petros or Peter and then another one says I am of the Messiah by the way all four of them were Jewish men whether Paul whether Apollos whether Peter or whether Yeshua the Messiah all came from among the nation of Israel and the assembly

they were so divided in that time because of the friction they have had some said I belong to Paul I belong to Apollos I belong to Cephas oh no I belong to Christ I belong to the Messiah and there was a division among the believers there and Paul was writing to them because he understood that some of them were following this man by the name of Apollos look at 1st Corinthians chapter 3 another verse that need to be read here 1st Corinthians chapter 3 in verse 5 Paul said to them who is Paul or who is Apollos but servants by whom you believe even as the Lord gave to every man verse 6 I have

planted Apollos have watered but God gave the increase you see Paul was used among the Corinthians but apparently Apollos as well was used in the city of Corinth and so some of them looked so highly to him that they in the divisions there some say I'm following Paul or I'm following Apollos or I'm following Peter and Paul warned them he says who is Apollos who is Paul I saw the Apollos water but God gave us the increase so the thing that we learn here that Apollos was used by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in the city of Corinth and he was very much appreciated appreciated so verses 24 to 28 concluding Acts chapter 18 we

see the ministry of Apollos and this interesting man a Jewish man by the name of Apollos who ultimately became a servant of Yeshua the Messiah well let's move on to the first seven verses of Acts chapter 19 now and here's another interesting situation that need to be talked about and next we find here in verses one to seven that we have some disciples of John the baptizer that Paul himself now found at the city of Ephesus because it says in verse one and it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth you see so Apollos went to Corinth Paul now having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples you

notice what happened here Apollos went to Corinth and Paul came to Ephesus Apollos went to minister at Corinth and Paul now went to minister at Ephesus and it was at Ephesus that Apollos needed to learn more perfectly things concerning our Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah and so Paul arrived to Ephesus and what does he see he see disciples we find a certain disciples you know disciples in Hebrew mean Talmid Talmid is like a student or a follower of the things of the Lord in this case those were disciples that we will find out a little bit later in the next verses that those were actually disciples of John the baptizer very similar to Apollos so

now when Paul arrived to Ephesus he found those disciples and he immediately approached them and he began to speak with them and Paul asked them a very interesting question and he said to them have you received the Holy Spirit when ye have believed apparently they believed the message of John as well and they even heard somewhat certain things concerning the coming Messiah here's those disciples at Ephesus and Paul asked them have ye received the Holy Spirit when ye believed the King James used the word since here instead of when which is really not the right word to use here it actually should say have you received the Holy Spirit when ye believe not since you

believe and I tell you why it is important because many people because of this word since you believe they suggest that you can receive the Holy Spirit of God again later on and again later on and again later on in other words the Spirit of God can come upon you something very important when a person has accepted the Lord Jesus the Messiah at that same time a person received the Holy Spirit of God there is no delay and if a person has not received the Holy Spirit of God that person really does not belong to the Lord he is not saved she is not saved and so he is asking those disciples have you received

Ruach Hakodesh the Holy Spirit when you believed and you notice what they said to him in verse 2 they said to him we have not so much as even heard whether there be the Holy Spirit now what do they mean by that is remember they were Jewish they were followers of Yohanan Hamadbil John the baptizer and their understanding was again limited just the same like Apollos understanding was limited so what John the baptizer was preaching they understood was his preaching but they didn't quite maybe they didn't even hear him speaking concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit of God now mind you if you remember in Matthew chapter 3 he was speaking about the Messiah

and he said that he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit he was speaking about it but apparently these disciples did not even according to what they say we have not even heard that there was any Holy Spirit now it doesn't mean that they didn't know from an Old Testament scripture that the Holy Spirit was existing that the Holy Spirit of God existing because you read it in Genesis chapter 1 already speaking about that the Holy Spirit was hovering over the land over the whole earth but they didn't understand what you and I understand today from the complete canon of scripture that when a person become a believer in Yeshua the Messiah the Holy Spirit

of God come to indwell a believer in Yeshua the Messiah to take residence in her or in him but they didn't understand it they didn't even hear that but they were disciples of John the baptizer and they did actually not receive yet the Holy Spirit of God so you might be a disciple who following a certain school of teaching which was really of God John the baptizer was really of God but they were not yet in the full knowledge of the gospel the way you and I today know it in this time today because we have the complete canon of scripture so they say we didn't even hear about the Holy Spirit of God and

so the apostle Paul asked them a second question in verse 3 he said to them unto what then were you baptized and they said unto him unto John's baptism you see that's how we know that they were the disciples of John because they were baptized he's speaking about water baptism so they have gone to the Jordan river they were baptized unto his baptism meaning that they have been confessing their sins as we read in the third chapter of the gospel of Matthew they confessed the need of the Messiah they confessed the fact that John's message was from God but the water baptism that they had was not unto the Messiah in the name of the

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit but it was unto the presentation of John as he was preparing the way of the coming of the Messiah so they were baptized and by the way there are many baptized in that time to various presentation of certain individuals you know a Gentile who wanted to become part of the nation of Israel had to be baptized as well the proselyte baptism at that time another baptism baptism is simply mean identifying with a message identifying with a person identifying with a call that's what it means it is an external action to say I identify with a certain message and so they have been identifying with the message that

John the baptizer presented but they were not believers yet they were not saved as yet they were not part of the body of the Messiah because they were not at that time yet fully with the understanding what Yeshua have done that he became the redeemer and so they were only having the knowledge of John's baptism that's the answer that they gave him in verse 3 so the apostle Paul now instruct them and he tell them in verse 4 Paul really explained to them what was the baptism of Yohanan he said it then said Paul John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance you you see when John called the Hebrews to come to the Jordan

river he was telling them repent the Messiah is coming get ready for the coming of the Messiah by the way John was the last prophet of the Old Testament John the baptizer is not part of the church of the assembly he was the last prophet of Israel to present the Messiah in his first coming but he never became part of the body of Messiah because he died before the finished work of the Messiah he died before the church was formed John is a friend of the bridegroom but he's not part of the church though he was a great man from among our Jewish people he was a man that was honored by Yeshua the Messiah

he presented the Messiah in his first coming and so in a sense brothers and sisters you know John Yohanan is a representative of the Messiah in his first coming when Elijah going to present to Israel the Messiah in his second coming and you can see in both of them they were an announcers announcing the coming of the Messiah Yohanan the first coming Eliyahu the second coming but both of them were not part of the assembly of the church of the heavenly company and so you see Paul needed to explain to those disciples he says John he baptized the baptism of repentance and he was saying to the people that they should believe on him which

should come after John that is on the Messiah Yeshua so in other words it's fine that you have been baptized with John baptism but John baptism is not yet the full information that you need to know there is the baptism unto the Lord Yeshua the Messiah in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit this is what is known today as Christian baptism we would call it in Hebrew as Messiah baptism baptizing unto the name of Yeshua the Messiah in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God so Paul needed to explain this to them brothers and sisters so remember they did not have the

Spirit of God indwelling them as yet they were not part of the body of Messiah as yet even though they were disciples of John they heard a lot about the coming Messiah they have been baptized unto repentance under John but they were not yet part of the body of Messiah there is a verse in Romans 8 and verse 9 that says this and I want to read this to you Romans 8 and verse 9 says ye ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit since so be that the spirit of God dwells in you now if any man have not the spirit of God he is none of his and let me repeat

it so even though they were baptized unto John's baptism they were still not part of the company that is called the church in fact if we would call it the New Testament way they were not yet saved through the work of the Messiah for them on the tree so now let me conclude here in the last verses here that we have read verses 5 6 and 7 and so in verse 5 look at the response of the disciples to Shaul to Paul's testimony they said unto him when they heard it in verse 5 they were baptized in the name of the Lord Yeshua now that they have heard the message from Shaul Paul concerning the

person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah they understood that and they submitted to it and now not only that they were baptized unto repentance in John's baptism now they have been baptized as you would call it again but this time in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah by the way somebody pointed it out and I thought it was very interesting that all the apostles who were the one who gave us the truth concerning the church age even the apostles had been baptized unto John baptism first remember all those Hebrew apostles they were living in the land of Israel and they were part of the Jewish nation and then they became followers of Yeshua

but they in the beginning they also identify with the message of John the baptizer because we read there in Acts chapter 1 we read concerning those that will be apostles it really tells us it does tell us that they had beginning from the baptism of John those that will become an apostle he had to had the start of it was the beginning of the baptism of John one must be part of the apostles notice verse 22 beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he this is Yeshua was taken up from us must one be ordained to be a witness with us of the resurrection of the Messiah so even the apostles

who followed the Messiah and became the foundation of the church they have been baptized by John's baptism but that was not enough because John's baptism was not what is known to be Messiah baptism Christian baptism this this is identifying with the finished work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah so finally brothers and sisters they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus you know some people now there are various groups that have evolved over this verse five that they say well you have to be only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus so when they do baptism they say I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus and they say you

cannot be baptized with any other words you cannot use only I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus but they forget that at the end of the gospel of Matthew when Yeshua gave instruction to the apostles the disciples he told them at the end of Matthew chapter 28 he says to them when you go he says go ye therefore and in other words you baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and so many of the leaders who are doing baptism today really use both of these statements they say I baptize you unto the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah in the name of the

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and I think this is a much healthier formula rather than to just say no we cannot do it through any other name just to the name of the Lord Jesus but we really have to take the instruction that Yeshua taught us in Matthew chapter sisters we find out in verse 6 that now they can receive the Holy Spirit of God now that they have accepted Yeshua and they understood what he did and now they became believers in Yeshua the Messiah notice verse 6 when Paul laid his hands upon them the Holy Spirit came on them and they speak with tongues and they prophesied notice that brothers and

sisters now that they became believers now the Holy Spirit of God came and took them and placed them into the body of Messiah took residence in them and not only that but also put them into the body of Messiah and like we read in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13 by one spirit we have all been baptized into one body this is the body of Messiah and this is important beloved brothers and sisters no one who has not the Holy Spirit of God in him or her can be called a child of God without the Holy Spirit of God we are not part of the family of God we are not saved because the Holy Spirit

of God the divine person gives us a new life a new nature when we have accepted the person and the work of our Lord Jesus who died for us on the tree and made us a redeemed people a forgiven people and so you can see now Paul laying the hands speaks of identification now there was nothing special with the hand of the apostle Paul just the same as there was nothing special with the hand of the apostle Peter it's not the hand it is the identification with what they believed and so Paul now could identify with them and as an apostle of the Lord now by laying the hand and identify with their belief in

the Lord Jesus the Messiah the Holy Spirit of God came and took residence in those people that were Jewish people who now believe in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah by the way you notice here that they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy now let's remember brothers and sisters that speaking in tongues and I hope I'm not hurting anybody here speaking in tongues it's speaking in a language that is known to men today it's not gibberish it's not nonsense it is a real language that a person will recognize the message that the believers have proclaimed so in Acts chapter 2 the Jewish believers have spoken languages that their brethren heard the wonderful works of

God in Acts chapter 8 10 10 10 10 10 11 the Samaritans accepted the Messiah and they received the Holy Spirit of God and one of the evidence of the fact that they became part of the body of Messiah we don't read it there but they also we believe and understand spoke in tongues in Acts chapter 10 in the house of Cornelius when the Gentiles became part of the assembly when Peter was speaking the Holy Spirit of God that was understood by the hearers and here in chapter 19 we find out that those individuals disciples of John have also received the Holy Spirit of God after they believe and they spoke in tongues not only

that they prophesied they spoke forth the word of God so people can benefit from the message that they were proclaiming and finally the verse 7 how many of them were there were not hundreds or thousands what the Bible tells us how many of them were here only about 12 of them those 12 were disciples of John the baptizer who had needed to learn the truth concerning the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and once they have acknowledged him they have been baptized they receive the spirit of God and now they are part of the body of Messiah so with this we conclude today in our ministry today chapter 19 of Acts and verse 7

and Lord and Lord and Lord willing as we move on to the rest of the chapter we will find Paul's ministry in the city of Ephesus and the conflict that he had in the city of Ephesus we leave this Lord willing to the next ministry meeting can we say amen to that