The church is more than just a place for singing, preaching, and fellowshiping.

Dr. Tony Evans talks about an aspect of the church many believers don't fully understand.

The church is God's legally authorized agency on earth to draw down from heaven the will of God to be executed in history.

This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

Dr. Evans has been taking us on a journey through the Book of Acts, telling the story of the

miraculous growth of the early church.

Today, we'll see how the gospel spread to a whole new continent

and learn how the church's God-given authority came into play,

overcoming challenges and obstacles.

Let's join him.

In Chapter 19, Paul would become the lead personality in the Book of Acts. And it is following his missionary journeys

as he takes the gospel throughout Asia. He comes to Ephesus in chapter 19, verse one,

where he finds some disciples, some Christ's followers there.

He raises a question in verse 2.

He wants to know, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

Notice the word when, because it was Paul's expectation that believers would receive the

spirit at the point of salvation.

But because we're in this transition between the Gospels and the epistles,

certain groups hadn't gotten worried about the work of the Holy Spirit,

did not have an understanding of the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came.

And so throughout the book, as you've seen, when they hit different groups, they introduced them

to this new arrangement, this new covenant, this new presence since Jesus had gone with the Holy Spirit.

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