“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the better way.” (Acts 18:24-26)

Here we have a man who is filled with a burning zeal for the gospel. He has an extensive knowledge of the holy scriptures and taught about Jesus accurately. What could possibly be missing? This guy sounds like a truly devoted and powerful man of God! But heres the fatal flaw that was missing in his life: he only knew the baptism of John. In other words he was baptized in water alone, but he knew nothing of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

This is a plain as day example of many people you see in churches today. They love the Lord, study the scriptures, share the message of Christ with passion and zeal, and yet they are not baptized in the Holy Spirit. They are ignorant of the true power and presence of God.

Luckily for Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila explained to him the better way. It’s not mentioned there what that was, but we can see clearly it stated that he was only baptized in water, hence he was missing the Spirit’s empowering baptism in his life.

Paul was so passionate about this experience and it’s absolute necessity, that we can read in the very next chapter and see Paul asking a group of believers if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed.

“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 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 in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. (Acts 19:1-7)

To Paul the most important thing to ask these believers was not, how many scriptures have you memorized, or where do you go to church, rather very pointedly he asked, “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” To them he was speaking greek, (pun intended), they had no clue who the Holy Spirit was. They again just like Apollos had only been baptized in water. They were followers of Christ, but were ignorant of the baptism of the Spirit.

Satan perpetuates this same error today: we have churches filled with people who do not know the Holy Spirit, they are disconnected from a vital supernatural flow of His presence. Sure they may live obedient lives, believe correctly about the essential doctrines of scripture, have been baptized in water, sing worship songs on sunday, and perhaps even lead a few people to Jesus, but they are empty vessels lacking the very supernatural presence and power of God that Christ promised we could experience.

God does not live encapsulated in neat-and-tidy doctrines within the mind, He inhabits the realm of the Spirit. Having grand thoughts about Him is not equal to actually being filled with His divine presence, because again, if we stop short at the ink we remain dead.

God cannot be thunk, He must be drunk. He cannot be taught, He must be caught. He is a Person not a doctrine, and must be connected with relationally, and even further because He is a Spirit we must connect with Him spiritually, spirit-to-Spirit. We cannot trade a vital relationship with the Holy Spirit for outward rituals; we need His internal presence. It’s not enough to go through the external motions of religion, as in church attendance, scripture reading, prayer, fasting, or worship. These things are wonderful, but if they are not combined with a true supernatural relationship with Christ they mean nothing. We must have more than the external motions of religion, we need to have the inward flame of God’s love burning in our hearts! Christianity is an inner-union of God and man, and the corresponding intimate fellowship between the two. If we miss this, and merely live in the shallow externals of religious activity we remain dead, for again, “It’s the Spirit alone who gives life, the flesh counts for nothing.” (John 6:63) Outward religion can never compare to the inner-presence of God almighty.

In the Spirit

Christian disciplines are vitally important in the believer’s life so don’t misinterpret me, i’m not de-valuing our great need to pray, worship, and study God’s word. What i’m fighting against is doing these things apart from experiencing the presence and glory of God. It’s extremely vital to pray, but from which position are we praying from, the flesh, or the Spirit? Are we reading the word in the flesh, or in the Spirit? Let me explain. To do christian disciplines like prayer, fasting, bible study, etc, without actively encountering the Holy Spirit is to be in the flesh. A carnal christian is not just a believer that lives in compromise, but one who lacks the Spirit’s presence in their lives. It’s a “Spirit-less” christianity. Rules without presence, disciplines without relationship. There are many who are stuck in this religious rut, never able to breathe the atmosphere of glory they were destined to enjoy. Some who fit in this category may even know their bible inside and out and pray regularly, but they are as dry as a bone, never drinking from the river of living waters.