If the Apostle Paul walked into most of today’s churches, he wouldn’t wait for the service to start, he would rush to the pastors, elders, and deacons and ask, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
The leaders might hem and haw, explaining their beliefs and theological insights on the Holy Spirit.
Paul would shake his head at their words. “Do you prophesy? Do you speak in tongues?” he would ask, with his dark eyes blazing.
Maybe you disagree.
Okay, did you know Paul spent one to five months planting each church in such cities as Pisidian Antioch, Iconic, Lystra, Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea? Then he left them alone without pastors or leaders for a long time, as much as two years.
Now remember:
Fifty percent of Paul’s converts were slaves.
There were no Bibles and few had even one Old Testament scroll.
90% of the converts were illiterate.
95% could not write.
Average life expectancy for a male was 45 years of age and for a female 38. (The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola.
Yet, the gospel that Paul and Barnabas preached to these new converts that were once heathen and miserable Gentiles, was enough for them to love each other and evangelize their neighbors without any outside help.
How did Paul accomplish this feat?
Pursue love, and desire earnestly the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)
The Apostle Paul made sure the spiritual gifts were working in the believers for each church. It was through the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, that Christ came to life in their midst.
So, do we really want to turn our cities upside down for Jesus?
If so, maybe we should rethink prophecy and the spiritual gifts. It worked for the Apostle Paul in Pisidian Antioch, Iconic, Lystra, Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.
And I believe it will work today in our cities, too.
(Conclusion)
Larry Who 
However, regarding the average lifespan in Paul’s era, this was so low mostly due to infant and childhood mortality. Even before this era, David lived to 70 years old and Moses noted in Psalm 90 that a man’s days on earth would be 70 or if, by reason of strength, 80 would not be uncommon.
If someone, even a slave, made it through childhood, he or she would likely live to a ripe old age.
Also, 90% of the Gentile converts were illiterate. Among the Jews, both men and women, literacy rates were probably much higher as so much emphasis was placed on the Word of God.
Paul was confident that the Christians in Rome were competent to instruct each other (Rom. 15:14); he urged Christians in Galatia to point out each other’s shortcomings (Gal. 6:1); he encouraged the Christians in Corinth to judge each other’s behavior to ensure that it is consistent with the gospel (1 Cor. 5:12; 6:1-2). In 1 Tim. 3:2, an essential qualification of the overseer is that he can teach; similarly, those elders who are also overseers should be rewarded for laboring in the message and teaching; Timothy is urged both to command and teach those in his congregation (1 Tim. 4:11-13); and older women are urged to teach younger women (Tit. 2:3-4). Additionally, both in Rom. 12:7 and 1 Cor. 12:28-29, Paul refers to those who appear to have the office of teacher. This concentration and spread of references serve to demonstrate that Paul held the task of teaching in high regard, and sought to entrust the responsibility of instruction to others.
❤️&🙏, c.a.
Thanks. Well thought out and well written.
They taught without having Bibles which is so different from what we think teaching is today. How did they do that? It had to be through the Spirit and via the gifts of the Spirit.
My guess is that most of our teaching today comes mostly from knowledge and not so much from the Holy Spirit. Not that knowledge is bad, but it may puff us up.
God bless you.