Acts 19:1-7 (ESV)

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he 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.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.

This time, it’s Paul who encounters someone with an incomplete knowledge of the gospel (actually, twelve someones). This case isn’t identical to what happened with Apollos, but the theme is the same.

There were many folks who had heard part of the gospel. Paul’s job wasn’t always to teach the gospel from scratch; many folks have a partial, or even false, understanding of Christ already.

In both cases, the students have a fairly good partial understanding. Apollos spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord. Today’s group is called “disciples.” Yet they’ve all only heard of John’s baptism.

Now consider the differences. The Holy Spirit isn’t mentioned in Apollos’s case, but here it’s Paul’s main concern. His first question is, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” It turns out that not only have they not received the Holy Spirit, they have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. (That is, they didn’t know about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; they weren’t referring to Old Testament examples.) When Paul hears this he follows up with, “Into what then were you baptized?” He then acts on the answer.

Notice the evangelistic method used in both of these cases. The key is learning what the student believes (by listening in yesterday’s passage, by questioning in today’s) and then addressing any deficiencies.

Frankly, this is how it should always be done.

Do you have a friend or loved one who has resisted becoming a believer? When you think about the next time you’ll see them, do you think about how you will present the gospel? That’s not the next step.

How well do you know what they think? What’s their main objection? What do they believe? Why do they believe that? If you don’t know, find out. Let them teach you how to teach them.

Ask the Lord to help you be a better “listening evangelist.” Ask God to give you the right questions to ask. Pray for patience. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you loving responses.

Canned evangelistic presentations can be downright disrespectful.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies