'28' - Day 19

Acts 19 is the fifth time in Acts we see believers baptized in the Holy Spirit.

1. Acts 2:1-4 (The Day of Pentecost): All 120 spoke in tongues as soon as they were filled with the Holy Spirit


2. Acts 8:14-19 (Samaria): Luke doesn’t specifically say that the Samaritans spoke in tongues, but SOMETHING happened that Simon saw and wanted himself. He most likely saw them speaking in tongues.


3. Acts 9:17-19 (Saul’s Conversion): Again, Luke doesn’t specifically say that Saul spoke in tongues, but we do know that Paul often spoke privately in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:18).


4. Acts 10:44-46 (Cornelius’ House): They spoke in tongues


5. Acts 19:1-7 (Ephesus): They spoke in tongues

The purpose of Pentecost is not tongues. It is POWER. And the message of Pentecost is not tongues. It is Jesus. Tongues is just the first, outward evidence of the baptism in the Spirit. Tongues show that the Holy Spirit has prepared a believer with the POWER to witness for Jesus.

Today, God saves us in the same way He saved the first believers. We are baptized in water the same way they were. And God still fills us with the Spirit in the same way He filled them. When we are baptized in water, we get wet. That’s part of the experience. When we get baptized in the Spirit, we get tongues. That’s part of the experience.