All over the world people are hungry for more: more food, more love, more joy, more peace, more meaning. And so often they are left empty. The Bible tells us that God wants the hungry to be fed both physically and spiritually. He doesn’t ever want to turn us away or treat us harshly, like Oliver Twist experienced when asking for 'more' in Charles Dickens' famous novel. Instead, as the hymn 'Bread of Heaven' says, He wants to ‘feed us now and ever more'. As Christians we should always confidently come to Jesus who fed the multitudes and told us to pray for daily bread. Always we should ask for more: more love, more resources, more fruitfulness and more of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesus was one of the great cities of the ancient world. For the gospel to have any impact, the apostle Paul knew he needed more of the Holy Spirit to work in him and through him. And the people of Ephesus, including the believers, needed to experience much more of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19 we read how the Holy Spirit came in great power which resulted in the whole city being shaken. We see that the believers discovered that God had a lot more for them and their community than they had previously imagined. God also wants to give us as individuals and as churches much more than we have ever known before. And so He wants us to ask for more and expect more.
1. We can know more of the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7; Acts 1:8)
2. We can know more of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6-7)
a. Speaking in tongues
b. Prophesy (1 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 14:1,39)
3. We can know more of the miraculous works of the Holy Spirit
a. Healing of the sick (Acts 19:11-12)
b. Deliverance from evil spirits (Acts 19:13-16)
Apply
How aware are you of your need of more of the Holy Spirit? You may be a good and faithful Christian, but are you a disciple who seeks to be daily filled with the Holy Spirit? How hungry are we as a church for the power and presence of God? This chapter starts with powerful teaching from the apostle Paul that we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7). The Christians in Ephesus had received the gospel and believed in Jesus Christ. They had even repented of their sins when they believed and were baptised in water as is often the case with many Christians today. But they didn’t experience the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised us before He went to heaven, as is also the case with many Christians today. But we should remember that we need the Holy Spirit just as the early Christians did (Acts1:8). Jesus knew that we would need the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel in all the world. We need this supernatural power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be the best witnesses and disciples of Jesus. When you experience the Holy Spirit, He reveals Jesus to you and puts a burning love in your heart for others. We need to be like the 12 disciples in Ephesus who were highly responsive to receiving more of the Holy Spirit when they discovered that there was so much more on offer than they had previously experienced. All movements of renewal, revival and reformation begin with individuals and small groups of people who become dissatisfied with their spiritual state and the state of the world around them, and then begin to pray and hunger for more of God.
Are you seeking the Holy Spirit for more of His gifts to be evident in your life and ministry (Acts 19:6 -7)? Speaking in tongues happened when the Holy Spirit came in power on the Day of Pentecost when Jews from every nation heard the disciples declaring the wonders of God in their own languages, and also when the Holy Spirit came upon the non-Jewish believers in Cornelius' home. Speaking in tongues was part of a normal New Testament Christian experience. The apostle Paul frequently spoke in tongues. This gift of God brings a supernatural freedom to speak to God in prayer and worship and also to declare the word of God, sometimes to speak to people in their own languages as has happened in different documented cases. Prophesy is a liberation by the Holy Spirit to speak words in your own language that strengthen and direct the church. Prophesy clearly declares God’s word and purposes. 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 shows that speaking in tongues and prophesy are just two of a number of spiritual gifts that we can receive, along with giving clear guidance of how and when to use these gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1,39). As Christians we should develop all the gifts and talent God has given us but also seek after those gifts that the Holy Spirit will give us if we ask for more.
Do you pray to know more of the miraculous works of the Holy Spirit? Do you believe that miracles can be a normal part of church life? Healings of sick people were a key part of the ministry of Jesus and a constant feature of the early church. Many healings are recorded in the book of Acts but in Ephesus things obviously moved to another level (Acts 19:11-12). The ministry of divine healing is part of ordinary or normal Christianity. But what went on in Ephesus was EXTRA-ordinary. There was a very special time of healing when the anointing of God on Paul was so strong that anything that touched him and was taken to the sick, like handkerchiefs and aprons, resulted in healing. We too should pray and believe to see miracles becoming a much more normal part of church life and we should always recognise that God can keep increasing the level of anointing. For healing is not only a great blessing to the sick but also a sign of God’s kingdom authority at work in the world, and this power makes people take notice. Healing is also linked to expelling evil spirits from people. This is what happened here as it did in the ministry of Jesus (Acts 19:13-16). But there is also a warning to be sure that you have the anointing and authority of the Holy Spirit when bringing deliverance as these verses also reveal that those who tried this as a religious formula were themselves beaten up by the evil spirits. So, you cannot play about with the power of God. We should always see our great need of God and always we should be confident that we can receive His power when we pray ‘more, Lord.’
