Miles de Libros Cristianos Gratis. Accede a nuestra Biblioteca Virtual

Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 19:1

Para un estudio avanzado de: “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 19:1” utilice nuestra app.

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

Act 19:1-7. Paul returning to Ephesus finds there some disciples of John the Baptist

1. And it came to pass that, while Apollos was at Corinth ] The digression concerning Apollos being ended, the history now returns to St Paul. Apollos found, no doubt, that Corinth was the most effective centre for his work in Achaia, and apparently made that his head quarters.

Paul having passed through the upper country ] The English word “coasts” (A. V.) is now confined in meaning to the sea-shore, formerly it signified any “border-land.” The parts actually visited by St Paul were far away from the sea. Indeed the adjective rendered “upper” signifies “that part to which men go up, away from the sea.” It is applied here to the more Eastern parts of Asia Minor. The Apostle’s journey was most likely through the districts of Lycaonia, Galatia and Phrygia which he had visited before.

came to Ephesus ] In fulfilment of the conditional promise made by him when he left (Act 18:11),

and finding certain disciples ] The participle, indicated by the A. V., is not supported by the oldest texts. Read with R. V. “and found.” These men are called disciples, because they were, like Apollos, to a certain extent instructed concerning Jesus, and what they already knew drew them to listen to St Paul who could teach them more.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

While Apollos was at Corinth – It is probable that he remained there a considerable time.

Paul, having passed through the upper coasts – The upper, or more elevated regions of Asia Minor. The writer refers here particularly to the provinces of Phrygia and Galatia, Act 18:23. These regions were called upper, because they were situated on the high table-land in the interior of Asia Minor, while Ephesus was in the low maritime regions, and called the low country.

Came to Ephesus – Agreeably to his promise, Act 18:21.

And finding certain disciples – Certain persons who had been baptized into Johns baptism, and who had embraced Johns doctrine that the Messiah was soon to appear, Acts . Act 19:3-4. It is very clear that they had not yet heard that he had come, or that the Holy Spirit was given. They were evidently in the same situation as Apollos. See the notes on Act 18:25.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Act 18:1-28; Act 19:1-7

And he went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches.

Paul as a model for all gospel ministers

He recognises the importance of–

I. Establishing new converts in the faith. In this visit he does not break new ground, but goes over the old scenes. Who that remembers the treatment which he met with at Lystra can fail to admire his magnanimity and dauntless heroism in entering this place again? Note in relation to his confirmatory work–

1. The method (Act 16:4). He carried with him wherever he went, and expounded, the apostolic letter from Jerusalem (Act 15:23-29).

2. The success (Act 16:5). Here was–

(1) Moral increase–established in the faith. Their views became clearer; their principles struck a deeper root; their attachment to Christ attained a greater strength. Their religion passed from the region of theories and feelings into their heart and life.

(2) Numerical increase–increased in number daily. Let Christians improve in character, and converts will multiply daily. This confirmatory work is preeminently the work of Christians in this age and land of ours. A reconverted Church is essential to the conversion of the world.

II. Enlisting true coadjutors in the work. Off the page of history stands there a man more brave, mighty, self-dependent than Paul. Yet he needs a companion. He lost Barnabas, and he chose Silas, and took with him Timotheus. Christ knew our social needs, and hence, in sending out His disciples and apostles, He sent them in twos. One supplements the deficiencies of the other; in the breast of one there lies a spark to rekindle the waning fire of the others zeal. He selected the best man as his social helper. In a great work, link not yourselves to spiritually common men when you may get moral peers and princes.

III. Accommodating himself to public sentiment. The Jews believed in circumcision. Although the rite was no longer binding, it was not yet a moral wrong; and hence Paul, in accommodation to the popular sentiment, circumcises Timothy. His fixed line of procedure was to act on the cities through the synagogues. But such a course would have been impossible had not Timothy been circumcised (Act 21:29). The very intercourse of social life would have been almost impossible, for it was still an abomination for the circumcised to eat with the uncircumcised. In all this Paul was consistent with himself, with his own grand axiom, I am all things to all men, that I might save some.

IV. Yielding to the dictates of the Divine Spirit (Act 16:6-8).

1. There is a Divine Spirit, and that Spirit has access to the human spirit.

2. If we are the true ministers of Christ, His Spirit, according to tits promise, is with us–Lo, I am with you always.

(1) The will of that Spirit must be obeyed: to oppose that is sin, weakness, ruin.

(2) The will of that Spirit is knowable: He gives indications by impressions within and by events without. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Act 18:23-28; Act 19:1-7

And after he had spent some time [at Antioch] he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia.—

Pauls third missionary journey

1. Nothing was said as to who went with him from Corinth to Syria. It was not, however, Pauls custom to travel alone if he could help it. The probability is, that both Silas and Timothy accompanied him. Silas and he set out together on the second journey, and he and Barnabas had started on the first, and together they would be likely to return. Timothy, in addition to his other duties, was very much of a personal attendant on St. Paul, so that his being with him would be almost indispensable.

2. Silas drops out of the history here, probably settling again at Jerusalem. The special work he had consented to undertake was fulfilled. Some years afterwards, we find a Silvanus mentioned by St. Peter in his epistle to the strangers scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Asia, and Bithynia, as one not unknown to them (1Pe 5:12). It would be natural to find Silas associated with Peter, as both had special relations with the Church at Jerusalem, and natural too, that he should be the bearer of an epistle to people among whom he had personally travelled.

3. Paul and Timothy then went down to Antioch. Something similar to what had occurred before would occur again. The Church would be called together to receive an account of what bad been accomplished. With what interest the Church would listen to the incidents connected with the visit to Galatia, the extraordinary circumstances which led Paul and his companions to Troas, the vision calling them to Macedonia, their advancing to Europe with all that God had done with them at Philippi and Thessalonica, Berea and Athens, Corinth and Cenchrea!

4. After staying some time at Antioch, he set out again with Ephesus as his destination, but contemplating first a visit to the Churches in Phrygia and Galatia. Here, Again, nothing is said of companions. But we may safely say that Timothy at least would be with him. We find him with the apostle at Ephesus towards the close of this journey, and the probability is that he was with him at the beginning. They no doubt visited Derbe and Lystra, and the neighbouring Churches. Timothy would revisit the home of his childhood, would meet probably his mother and grandmother, and perhaps find that his father, if not a Christian before, had been won by the influence of the holy women, beholding their pure conversation coupled with fear. As Timothy had engaged in a Divine work, and had seen in the course of it some of the most wonderful cities in the world; as he was no doubt greatly advanced in character, besides being developed into mature manhood, it is impossible not to feel that the meeting between him and his parents would be one of deep and touching interest.

5. This is the second time that Paul visits Galatia; the third of his visiting Derbe, Lystra, and the neighbouring places; and it looks very like a regular and systematic apostolic visitation. The apostle was always anxious not only to lay a foundation, but to build upon it, like a wise master builder. His confirmation of the disciples consisted in such ministerial instruction, exhortation, appeal, as might quicken the indolent, comfort the distressed, encourage the weak, animate the desponding, and strengthen and corroborate in every soul holy purposes and spiritual aims.

6. While he is doing this we shall look in at Ephesus and see what has been transpiring there since he left Aquila and Priscilla behind there. On their first settling at Ephesus there were no Christian disciples with whom they could meet; and hence, in the absence of the higher means of grace, they attended for Sabbath worship at the synagogue. One morning a stranger appeared in the assembly, and on being invited by the rulers of the synagogue, spoke with fervour, learning, and eloquence. He was an advanced Jew, for he was instructed in the way of the Lord, so far as that could be done by the teaching of John the Baptist. That teaching was the teaching of preparation and repentance–a readiness to receive the coming One. Whether Apollos had got so far as to know that John had recognised in Jesus the Christ whose forerunner he was, it is impossible to say. He certainly knew nothing of the Saviours death, resurrection, and ascension, the outpouring of the Spirit, with the great doctrines underlying these facts; but, so far as he knew, he believed; believing, he spoke. Aquila and Priscilla saw the sincerity and earnestness of the man; they saw also the defectiveness of his knowledge; they were deeply interested in him; so they sought his confidence, took him to their house, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. In spite of the difference between a learned Alexandrian and a tradesman of Pontus, there was much that the one could impart to the other. Apollos had had the advantage of whatever could be acquired in the schools of the Rabbis, but Aquila and his wife had for two years lived with St. Paul, and it is easy to see how much they could reveal of the way of the Lord to one who knew only the baptism of John. It is interesting to think of the power of Christian intelligence, the unlearned wisdom of the heart in Priscilla and Aquila, and of the humility and teachableness of Apollos, who was advanced from a disciple of John to a believer in Jesus. Furnished by a letter of commendation Apollos went to Corinth, where he found ample scope for his new knowledge and old accomplishments, and began to help them much who believed (verses 27, 28). The character of Apollos comes out to great advantage in connection with the effect he produced at Corinth. His powers were so remarkable, and his eloquence of speech so fell in with the taste of the Corinthians, that he became wonderfully popular. When parties sprang up in the Church, there were those who called themselves by the name of Apollos. We have reason to think that this was not acceptable to Apollos himself, for when he was afterwards at Ephesus, and a visit from him seems to have been requested by the Corinthians, and when Paul himself urged him to go, he declined to do so (1Co 16:12).

7. We now return to St. Paul, who did not arrive at Ephesus until after Apollos had left; of him he would hear much that would interest him from Aquila and Priscilla. Immediately on his arrival he met with certain disciples of John, who were in much the same condition as Apollos. Pauls question, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed? brought out the true state of the case, and led to explanations which led to their baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Settled down again, doubtless with Aquila and Priscilla, Paul prepared to attend the synagogue in accordance with the promise he had given to return to Ephesus. For the space of three months he continued to do this, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. We have reason to think that many were impressed; but divers being hardened, the apostle retired to a meeting place that he could call his own, the school of one Tyraunus, where he continued for two years, in addition to the three months mentioned before. The result was, that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. (T. Binney.)

Pauls third missionary journey

I. The disciples of Christ have need of strengthening. Those whom Paul revisited in Phrygia and Galatia were Christians. But they were deficient in knowledge, and probably not established in the practice of Christian principles. Thus they were in danger of being led away by false teachers, and of lapsing into evil courses. Paul, by another visit, would enlighten and establish them. It is not enough that souls are influenced to accept the Saviour. They only are safe who are grounded in the truth. Many a preacher fails of lasting results because hopeful converts are neglected. Indoctrination is the great want of our times. The air is full of scepticism. The building process is vastly important; souls need to be fortified for the foes they are sure to meet.

II. God leads into clearer light and larger usefulness those who live and labour according to the light they have. Apollos was instructed in the way of the Lord according to the imperfect knowledge of Johns disciples; but did not know that Jesus was the Messiah. The sincerity, devotion, and earnestness of his heart fitted him to welcome the news of Christ as come. He was ready for instruction from any source. In the providence of God, teachers were found for him. He became acquainted with Christ, and an open door was ready for him. Souls are not to wait for the knowledge of all truth before they begin to love and serve. At first the full illumination may be withheld; but, doing the truth as one understands it, he shall be led into larger truth for greater service.

III. God often uses humble instruments in accomplishing large results. The learned and eloquent Apollos was vastly superior to Aquila and Priscilla; but they led him into an accurate knowledge of the Messiah. Thus there were two persons belonging to the laity–one a woman, accomplishing a work which usage assigns to public teachers of religion.

IV. Labour is of long range. Paul was instrumental in the conversion of Aquila and Priscilla. These two wrought at Ephesus; led Apollos into the knowledge of Christ. Apollos was instrumental in winning many converts at Corinth, and thenceforth became a missionary of great zeal and power. A child in the Sabbath school is led to Christ; he is educated in the Christian faith, and becomes a teacher, a preacher, a missionary; is instrumental in the conversion of many souls, and these of many more; and so the centuries go by, that teachers work widening until the end. The mountainside sends forth its rill. The rill becomes a river, and the river runs on, watering a continent. Cheer up, then, servant of the Master in any sphere, eternity alone shall tell the story of your toil. (Sermons by the Monday Club.)

And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria.—

Apollos

He is here presented to us as a man of–

I. Superior Biblical knowledge. He was mighty in the Scriptures, and instructed in the way of the Lord. To be mighty in the Scriptures is not to have a mere knowledge of the letter. A mans verbal knowledge of the Scriptures may be extensive and correct, and yet he may be very ignorant of their spiritual import. True mightiness in the Scriptures includes a knowledge of the leading–

1. Historical facts. These embody principles that have to do both with the procedure of God and the duty and destiny of man.

2. Principles. Facts are valuable only as they are the casket and mirror of principles. These principles are doctrinal and ethical–theoretic and regulative.

3. Aims. The grand aim of the Scriptures is not to build up creeds, to establish sects, to make man the creature of dogmas, rituals, and pietistic moods–such a use is a perversion–but to make men morally good. He who does not understand this to be its grand purpose, however conversant he may be with its leading facts and principles, cannot be mighty in the Scriptures or understand the way of the Lord. A man may be mighty in linguistical attainments, in classic lore, in general literature, in the arts and sciences, but unless he is mighty in the Scriptures, he will never be a great preacher.

II. Effective power of expression. Eloquence is influential expression–such an expression of a mans own soul as makes his audience feel one in heart with him in the question discussed. Eloquence will depend mainly on–

1. The power of the subject on the speakers mind. If he has so compassed it with his intellect that he can hold it before his heart until it melts, thrills, and permeates him, he has in him the first condition of eloquence.

2. Adequate communicative organs. A man may have the subject so in him as to inflame his own soul, and yet be unable to make his audience pulsate with his own emotions. He may lack in–

(1) Voice. Its modulations may be incapable of conveying what is in him.

(2) Language. His vocabulary may be too poor, and his tongue too hesitant.

(3) Gesture. It may be stiff, awkward, repulsive.

(4) Countenance. The eye may be too dead to flash the fire; the muscles of the face too rigid to quiver; the whole face too fleshy to radiate the Divine. Although true eloquence is a gift, it may be reached to some extent by cultivation. Men who have it not by nature, and who strive to be eloquent by oratorical contrivances, often disgust their auditory. Daniel Webster says,

True eloquence cannot be brought from far. Labour and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, in the occasion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire to it: they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men when their own lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and their country, hang on the decision of an hour. Then patriotism is eloquent–then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception outrunning the deductions of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward to his object. This, then, is eloquence; or, rather, it is something greater and higher than all eloquence. It is action–noble, sublime, godlike action.

III. Fine attributes of spirit. We learn that it was–

1. Earnest. Being fervent in spirit. Earnestness is the necessary result of genuine faith in the gospel, and is essential to all eloquence in its advocacy.

2. Faithful. He taught faithfully so far as he knew. He did not pretend to a knowledge which he had not. There was much that he did not know, for knowing only the baptism of John, he had not a knowledge of Jesus as the Messiah.

3. Courageous. He was not satisfied with talking in a more private way, but he entered the synagogue, and, with an undaunted courage, spoke to the bigoted Jews.

4. Docile. This man of genius and eloquence feels his ignorance, and modestly submits to the teaching of Aquila and Priscilla. This beautiful little incident furnishes an example–

(1) To hearers. Aquila and Priscilla, though they knew much more of the things of the Lord than Apollos, yet they attended his ministry. If they could not derive much profit from it, they were there to encourage him. They did not scoff at his ignorance, or parade his defects, but endeavoured to give him a more accurate idea of the gospel, not publicly or ostentatiously, but privately and with becoming modesty. Enlightened and experienced Christian hearers may do great service to young ministers in this way.

(2) To preachers. This eloquent young man, who had just come from the university of Alexandria, was not above learning of this humble tent maker and his wife. Great souls are always docile.

IV. Varied capacity for usefulness. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, etc. He had heard, perhaps, of the triumphs of Paul at Corinth, and desired to help forward the good cause. It would seem from 1Co 1:12; 1Co 3:4-5, that his eloquence had so wonderfully charmed certain members of the Church at Corinth, that division sprang up. The description of his work here shows that he had–

1. A capacity for confirming those who believed. It is said, he helped them much which had believed. He helped them, no doubt, by dissipating their doubts, enlarging their conceptions, strengthening their faith, argumentatively vanquishing their assailants.

2. A capacity for convincing those who did not believe. He mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly. He was a man capable of performing the two grand functions of the true preacher–edifying the Church, and converting the sinner. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Apollos

In him we see–

I. A man with great natural gifts devoting them to the study and exposition of Divine truth. All good men cannot be preachers, but intellectual gifts are put to their noblest use when they are employed in the discovery and proclamation of Divine truth, or for the advancement of righteousness. What a difference between Apollos and some eloquent politician or lawyer who uses his gifts merely to win fame and wealth.

II. A great man condescending to be instructed by social and mental inferiors. Apollos was an Alexandrian scholar–a rank corresponding to that of a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge, and yet he submitted to be taught by a tent maker and his wife. Let us accept truth from any quarter. Many poor persons are well qualified to instruct great scholars in the things of the kingdom.

III. A great man risking all his prospects of worldly advancement in the exposition of unpopular truths. Consider how the Jews would have rewarded Apollos had he shown that Jesus was not the Christ. Let it be our concern to ascertain not whether our opinions are likely to be popular, but whether they are true; and if they are true let us not fear to make them known. (R. A. Bertram.)

What is eloquence

Eloquence is speaking out from the heart. I will tell you what I call eloquence in a child: it is the whole child working itself up to gain its wish and have its way. There is a pretty thing that the child wants. He is very little, but he tries to speak about it, and does his best to express his longings. He points to what he wants, and clutches at it, and cries after it. Still he does not succeed, and then he works himself up into an agony of desire. The boy cries all over–every bit of him pleads, demands, strives. Every hair of his head is pleading for what he wants. He not only cries with his eyes and with his tongue, but he cries with his fingers and his hair. He thinks of nothing but the one thing on which his little heart is set. I call that eloquence. There is, in the Vatican, the famous group of the Laocoon: I stood one day looking at it. You remember how the father and his sons are twisted about with venomous snakes, and they are writhing in agony as the deadly folds enclose them. As I stood looking at the priceless group, a gentleman said to me, Mr. Spurgeon, look at that eloquent great-toe. Well, yes, I had looked at that great-toe. It was like a live thing, though only marble. I had not called it eloquent till he gave me the word; but certainly it was eloquent, though silent. It spake of anguish and deadly pain. When a man speaks in earnest, he is eloquent even though he may be slow of speech. His whole nature is stirred as he pleads with sinners for the Lord Jesus; and this makes him eloquent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Apollos

I. The influence to which he was exposed in his early days.

1. Alexandria was a meeting place of East and West, and was characterised alike by mercantile and mental activity. Even the memory of Alexander, its great founder, would tend to produce breadth of view among the Alexandrians, to make them tolerant. Here the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek, and a famous school of Biblical interpretation grew up side by side with schools of Greek philosophy. Such mutual relations of Jews and heathens in this place were among the providential preparations for the spread of Christianity. In the midst of these influences Apollos was brought up; and the accomplishments thus acquired were of essential service to him in his future work.

2. It is interesting to mark how God draws from different sources what is meant ultimately to flow together in one beneficent stream. The contrast between St. Pauls training and that of Apollos was great. The latter was nurtured in Greek scholarship at Alexandria. The former was brought up in Rabbinical learning at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem. Yet afterwards they met, and became fellow workers in the cause of the gospel. It is an example inviting us to cooperation with others.

3. Turning to the more directly religious side of the preparation of Apollos we find–

(1) That he was learned in the Old Testament Scriptures, and through being mighty in the Scriptures Apollos became mighty in other respects; it was the basis of all his subsequent usefulness. With him this sacred possession was limited to the Old Testament. We have, in addition, the still higher blessing of the New.

(2) That he had obtained some knowledge of the Christian revelation, knowing, however, only the baptism of John. This being the case, Apollos knew the most important part of Christianity: for John had said, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. The gospel system, indeed, contains much more than this, but this is the main point–the life-giving part of the gospel system.

II. Features of his personal character.

1. He was eloquent. God chooses His instruments suitably. Eloquence is a gift bestowed only on a few. We may be very useful without, and very mischievous with, eloquence. The point of real moment is, that in the case of Apollos this gift was sanctified and turned to a religious use.

2. He was fervent in spirit. Temperaments vary. Some are naturally warmer than others. And yet there must be enthusiasm where Christ has been received fully into the heart; and enthusiasm in ourselves is Gods instrument for kindling enthusiasm in others.

3. He was instructed in the way of the Lord–he taught diligently the things of the Lord–he learnt the way of God more perfectly. From these phrases, especially in the original, we infer that he had that habit of mind which we call accuracy. The difference between men in regard to real influence in the world relates not so much to amount as to accuracy of knowledge. Moreover, progressive advance in religious knowledge depends, at each step, upon accuracy. On what, then, does accuracy depend? On attention. An inattentive learner never becomes an accurate scholar. Justly then do we lay great stress on attention, in the teaching of the young.

4. He was humble. His secular training came from a very distinguished source, his high religious training from a very lowly one. How often has this been the case since! Those who have been eminent in university honours have often learnt their best lessons of religion even from the poor, and often from women.

III. The active career of usefulness on which he now entered.

1. Equipped with varied knowledge, he was filled with a noble zeal to make that knowledge fruitful. His desires turned with characteristic energy to a distant scene of labour. Alexandria, Ephesus, and Corinth were connected by trade, and Aquila and Priscilla would be constantly speaking of St. Pauls work in Achaia. Thus Apollos was seized with the desire of continuing the work which St. Paul had begun; and Aquila and Priscilla were in nowise loth to encourage him in the enterprise. The brethren in Ephesus shared these feelings, and wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive Apollos. This is the first recorded instance of commendatory letters, a kind of correspondence which became an instrument of the utmost value for binding together the separated parts of the growing Church. Armed with such letters, Apollos crossed to Corinth: and the result is told in forcible though simple language (verse 28). What a great mission was this, to bind together two parts of the Christian community, and to communicate strength where strength was needed! and helping work of this kind, on a smaller or larger scale, is within the power of us all.

2. Here 1 Corinthians helps us to complete our study. The arrival of this learned, eloquent, and fervent man, though intended for the spreading and deepening of practical religion, had been followed by the formation of religious parties. In all that we usually sum up under the term popularity Apollos was probably far superior. On the other hand, St. Paul had founded the Church, and came with supreme authority. Besides this, individual hearts and minds have been relatively brought more closely into contact with the one or the other. Thus that deplorable growth of party spirit took place at Corinth, which has had its counterpart ever since, the true remedy for which is to be found in those general principles which St. Paul enunciates in this Epistle. We are to look up to that one common Divine source from whence all gifts and graces proceed (1Co 3:21-22). Now the question arises whether this party-spirit was the fault of Apollos. 1Co 16:12 decisively proves that it was not. By this time Apollos and St. Paul were in personal companionship. How considerate is his conduct! St. Paul wished him to go to Corinth, but he firmly declined. His appearance there would only have been the signal for a new outbreak of this party spirit. It is difficult to say which is the more admirable, the generosity of Paul and his perfect confidence that Apollos would not abuse an opportunity; or the delicate and thoughtful respect for St. Paul, and the utmost reluctance on the part of Apollos to run any risk of exalting himself at the expense of another. What an example of self-restraint and mutual consideration is presented to us here! It is this kind of forbearance which maintains and strengthens friendship, and secures the continuance of cooperation in Christian work.

3. Friendships thus cemented last long and bear many strains. We are not surprised by the anxiety shown by St. Paul long afterwards for the comfort of Apollos in the prospect of a fatiguing journey (Tit 3:13).

Conclusion:

1. This meditation may serve as an illustration of the large amount of religious instruction which we may secure from the study of a Scripture character. Recognition of Gods hand in our early training–a good and conscientious use of opportunities–a ready zeal for Christs service–humility in learning from those who are further advanced in the Christian course than ourselves–a cheerful rendering of timely help to those around us–a firm discountenancing of factious party spirit–a considerate care for the reputation and comfort of others–can we not all, through the Holy Spirits aid, form such habits of mind as these?

2. And we may revert to the providential guiding of Apollos in connection with St. Paul. His early knowledge of Christianity began at Alexandria; his mature training was received, and his active work began, at Ephesus; his distinguished public career was run at Corinth. Thus three great cities saw the three stages of his religious progress.

3. Or we may treat this providential guidance in another way. St. Paul, apparently by accident, meets Aquila and Priscilla at Corinth. There, through intercourse with him, they become fitted for influence on a large scale. At Ephesus, Apollos is brought under this beneficial influence. And finally he is labouring at Corinth on the foundation laid by St. Paul, while the apostle is again cooperating with Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus. We may justly put all this side by side with our own experience in regard to changes of home, of occupation, of companionship, and may draw from it the comfortable assurance that, wherever we are, if we have a true desire to serve God, He will provide for us suitable work and, so far as we need, Christian sympathy. (Dean Howson.)

A new man in the Church

I. How marvellous is the preeminence of individual men!

1. Herein is the continual miracle of Providence. The great man always comes; yet few can tell how or whence. God is pleased to make sudden revelations of power. He is pleased to surprise men themselves by unexpected accessions of strength, so that the feeble man becomes as the mighty, and the obscure man steps up to the very summit of prominence and renown. Elijah comes without warning, and is Elijah all at once. Other men have been found on the same lines and have challenged society with equal suddenness.

2. Men are so much alike up to a given point, and then without patent reason they separate into individualities, and go out on independent missions. Yet we are all one, centrally and morally. The little bird that can fly seems to have a larger liberty than man, who can only walk; but the air is only the wider earth. So with the great mental eagles–they all belong to us. Argumentative Paul and eloquent Apollos are brethren with us, sitting at the same table and kneeling at the same altar. If we could get that view of our leaders we should destroy all envy, suspicion, rivalry, because Apollos would be my larger self, and Paul in his noblest moods would be myself transfigured. We should glorify God in the greatness of our brethren.

II. Let us look at the preeminence of Apollos and study the characteristics which were natural and inimitable and those which were acquired and therefore possible of reproduction by ourselves.

1. Apollos was an eloquent man. Here Apollos cannot be reproduced by us. Eloquence cannot be acquired; it is the gift of tongues.

2. Apollos was fervent in the spirit. There he may not be imitated. You can paint fire but it will never warm you. Fire is the gift of God. Men who are not fervent are not to be blamed. You would not blame a man for being born blind. The difficulty here is lest men who are not fervent should blame men who are fervent; and lest fervent men should be impatient with men who are not fervent. Here also we belong to one another. Men who are not fervent are often most useful. There is a purpose to be served in the economy of things by ice as well as by fire–only do not let them quarrel,

3. Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures. There we cannot imitate him. Might in Bible reading is the gift of God. To read the Bible so as to become mighty in it requires insight, sympathy, kinship with the writers, a spiritual knowledge of the language, identification with the Spirit of God. Some of us can understand one portion of Scripture who cannot understand another. We must not begrudge one another the partial gift, nor endeavour to reduce it to contempt. There are some hearts mighty in the Psalms; there are other minds mighty in the histories; there are others with a special gift for taking hold of, and explaining, Christ. We must all work together.

4. Apollos was instructed in the way of the Lord. There we may join him. These words involve the devotion of a lifetime. The way of the Lord is in the deep waters, and in the secret places, and in the tabernacles of the thunder. He speaks riddle and enigma. What scope for industry! What a field for teachableness!

5. But this is not all; even in Apollos there was a weak point. Apollos knew only the baptism of John. If he could be so eloquent about water, what will he be when he comes to speak of blood? We shall find this man doing wonders in the Church. It is possible to teach even the alphabet earnestly. Apollos knew only the alphabet, but he taught the separate letters as if they were separate poems. The fervent man touches everything with his fervour. Do not despise the teachers who are not teaching exactly the fulness of the gospel. If they are teaching up to the measure of their intelligence, thank God for their cooperation. There are men who are teaching the elements of morality, and endeavouring to save the world by political elevation. They must not be undervalued; they ought to be treated exactly as Aquila and Priscilla treated Apollos. If the offer of further information is declined, the responsibility has been discharged. But do not despise men who do not teach your particular phase of doctrine. They may be earnest and not belong to your Church; they will, however, show their earnestness by their teachableness. The most advanced scholar will be the most docile learner.

III. Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. Thus, in an indirect way, Apollos was a pupil of Paul. Paul will one day get hold of him, and when the two fires meet the light will be seen and the warmth will be felt afar.

IV. These men are ours. The great things are all ours. We cannot go into the rich mans house and warm our hands at his blazing fire; but the coldest child can hold up its little hands to Gods sun. The dweller in the obscure hamlet cannot claim the secondary cities in the same way in which he can claim the metropolis. So with the great Pauls and Apolloses, and the mighty speakers and teachers, poets and thinkers–they belong to us, everyone (1Co 3:22-23). (J. Parker, D. D.)

A teacher taught

Most of us like to come suddenly upon the record of a famous man in the Scriptures. Apollos comes quite abruptly on the stage of action, like Elijah, unannounced and unattended; but in the end it is evident he proves to be one of the master spirits of the age.

I. His qualifications as a religious teacher were by no means slight.

1. He was mighty in the Scriptures. He could take prophecy, psalm, history, and the ritual, and make the Jewish congregations feel that the great longing of the world for four thousand years had at last found its answer in the advent of Jesus as the Christ. Some modern scholars declare he wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. So here is our lesson: One who is only partly instructed can do much in bringing souls to Christ. Let him tell what he knows. Truth augments its volume and increases its value by extensive distribution.

2. He was an eloquent man. It is a prodigious and priceless gift, that of being able to wield language with skill and success. Tact in teaching is worth d hundred libraries to a Christian worker. The usefulness of any young Christian will depend not upon the many things about which he is ignorant, but upon the vigorous few things he is sure of. Talent is extirpated by disuse. He that hears ought to say, Come.

3. He was fervent, boiling in spirit. A modern scholar talks about a dry light, in which subjects are viewed, without any predilection, or passion, or emotion, simply as they exist. Most likely Apollos did not know what such a thing was. Some so-called great preachers erect their themes as if they desired them to stand like feudal castles in moonlight, with every tower and turret drawn sharply outlined against the cold sky. We do not believe that Apollos had anything of that sort of artistic finish. Things were real to his fervent soul, not just picturesque and pretty. Intellectual deficiency can best be atoned for by a great warmth of heart for Jesus the Master. Let the young Christian cling to the two or three things he positively knows; and let him press them with love and tears; and God will give him his answer.

4. He was industrious. He spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord. Yet his list of themes was very scant. John the Baptist told him only two things: Christ was coming and sinners must repent. But that lasted this young man awhile. If one is all afire for work, and is satisfied with his Bible, he only wants two subjects to talk about: repentance and Jesus Christ. Then let him go and look up Aquila and Priscilla, and get experience.

II. How was it that this teacher went to be taught and came back a wiser and better man?

1. Aquila and his wife spent the time in expounding, not in expostulating. There was untold force in Apollos. He was like a mountain torrent–a magnificent water power needing only a flume and a fresh sort of wheel. These friends did not take him down; they took him unto them. They did not carp nor criticise nor discourage him; they did not talk about his way; but about the way of God.

2. It is better for young people to take help gracefully. Aquila and Priscilla dared a good deal when they took him up. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Apollos

Note–

I. The illustration here given of the providence of God, over human lives. Here are persons, born in the most remote regions, separated by every variety of circumstance, yet brought together, in the changes of this mortal life, to affect one another with reference to the highest interests–Aquila, Apollos, Paul. One from Rome, one from Alexandria, and one from Tarsus. Europe, Africa, and Asia, each contributes an element to this combination. Can we doubt, when we consider how much hung upon that conjunction, that it was of God. God, who can do nothing certainly except He do all things really, arranges the various movements and associations of human life, making all conduce to our improvement if we will, or else, if we will not, to our humiliation.

II. The progress which there is in every Christian life. Our condition on earth is that of a growing life. To stand still is to go backwards. Most of all is this so in the things of God. It is a terrible sign when we are satisfied where we are in the spiritual life. The wisest of us have much to learn, the best of us much to attain. Apollos was already mighty in the Scriptures, and able to teach accurately the things of the Lord. And yet he was ignorant of one whole department of Christian truth. He knew nothing of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. If he had thought himself too wise to learn, he would have lived and died only half a Christian.

III. We must :earnestly use that which we have already received. We do not yet know all that we shall know, nor are we yet all that we shall be. But that is no reason for keeping to ourselves the light we have. It is in using that we acquire. It was by teaching in the synagogue what he already knew of Christ that Apollos put himself in the way of those who could teach him more. A sense of deficiency is no excuse for idleness. It is to him that hath–i.e., that useth what he hath–that more is given.

IV. The proper treatment of persons in a less mature or enlightened condition. Aquila and Priscilla saw that there was a fatal omission in his public teaching. Many modern Christians would have stamped the man at once as a teacher of error, and deserted his ministry. But these good Christians, recognising the natural gifts and spiritual graces of this new teacher, in calm serious conversation laid before him those deeper mysteries of Christian truth which were the life of their souls, and which they desired to make also the life of his. We ought to be ever on the watch for opportunities of leading onward those who are now behindhand in the doctrine or in the life of Christ. Instead of shrinking from close personal communication with others upon the things of the soul, we ought to seek it. There are those who are longing for it; those who are sadly complaining that Christians are always ready to talk of anything but of the one thing.

V. How simply does the office of a Christian towards others resolve itself into work of helping! Apollos, when he had been more fully instructed in Christian doctrine, and had, at the entreaty of those who knew his great gifts, passed on into Achaia to minister to the Church of Corinth, helped much, by the grace given to him, them which had believed. What an idea does this expression convey of the obstacles which a Christian has to encounter! There are great rocks in our path, too heavy oftentimes for our unaided strength to roll out of the way. What a real assistance, in such cases, may the helping hand of a fellow Christian afford who has surmounted the same difficulty himself! And how intricate sometimes is the choice of paths, as we thread the labyrinth of life! What a real assistance may the voice of a friend afford us, if he can say, I have tried many of these paths, but this is the right one. And how heavy sometimes is the weight which we have to carry! What a real assistance is the offer of a Christian friend to relieve us by his brotherly sympathy, and thus to fulfil the law of Christ! And how arduous sometimes is the work which has to be done! And then what a real assistance it is, if some known and tried voice will offer to divide it with us. And how difficult, sometimes, is the discernment of truth! how puzzling the adjustment of the conflicting elements of Scripture doctrine! What a real assistance, at such times, may be the voice of the well-instructed and the sympathising teacher, who can bring into the dark chamber the lamp of discernment and of revelation, unravel the tangled web, draw harmony out of discord, reconcile the jarring elements, and justify the ways of God to men! (Dean Vaughan.)

Mighty in the Scriptures.–

Mighty in the Scriptures

I. The Scriptures are like the ocean.

1. No man can exhaust the stores of knowledge treasured in the mighty deep. It may be studied for a lifetime under different aspects.

(1) In reference to its distribution and topography; its great expanse, as it spreads between Asia and America, between America and Europe and Africa, between Africa and India; its indentations, gulfs, bays, etc., and the effects which this distribution has upon climate, winds, rain, fertility, and hence on commerce and the destiny of the race.

(2) As to its basin, its mountains and valleys, and the nature of its bottom.

(3) As to the innumerable organisms with which it abounds, from the whale to the animalculae, and the changes produced by millions of insects, rendering luminous miles of its surface, or building up reefs, and islands, and continents from its deeps.

(4) As to its tides, its currents, its prevailing winds.

(5) As to its chemistry.

(6) As to how to use it, and to avail ourselves of its power and resources. A man may have much of the other kinds of oceanic knowledge, and very little of this. We should not like to go to sea in a ship commanded by Dr. Guyot or Prof. Agassiz.

2. All this may be applied to Scripture. It may be studied under different aspects, and in each furnish inexhaustible stores of knowledge. It may be viewed–

(1) As a history extending from creation, including its antediluvian, patriarchal, Jewish, Christian, and apostolic periods. A man might spend his life in getting a clear knowledge of its facts, then of the bearing of its facts on ethnography, civilisation, religion, and the destiny of nations.

(2) In its organic relations; the relation of the Adamic period to the Abrahamic, of the Abrahamic to the Mosaic, etc., and the culmination of all in the Christian.

(3) As to its doctrines; what it teaches of the nature and perfections of God, of His relation to the material and the spiritual worlds, of the distinction of Persons in the Godhead, of the Person and work of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit; what it teaches of man, of the plan of salvation, of the hereafter, etc.

(4) As to its moral code, including our religious, social, and political duties.

(5) As to the Church.

(6) There is a knowledge due to the illumination of the Spirit, including spiritual apprehension, deeper insight into and firmer conviction of the truth.

(7) Besides all these there is a familiarity with its language, a knowledge lodged in the memory, so that it can be readily quoted and applied. This is a great gift or attainment.

3. But as scientific knowledge of the ocean may be possessed without practical skill in navigation, so a man may possess a knowledge of Scripture history, etc., and yet not be mighty in the Scriptures. These are the materials which power uses, and without which he can accomplish nothing; but the power itself is the ability to use this knowledge effectively. This includes–

(1) Mental ability; a clearness and power of the intelligence, to bring to bear the truths and facts of Scripture, so as to produce the desired effect, whether that be conviction of the truth, or submission of conscience, or obedience of the will.

(2) Power of feeling.

(a) Strong conviction of the truth and importance of what the Bible teaches.

(b) Fervent desire that it should be recognised and obeyed.

(3) Power of utterance.

II. The importance of being mighty in the Scriptures. The whole power of a minister as such is a power in the Scriptures. This exists in different degrees, but it is all that any minister has, be it much or little. It is therefore the one object to be sought in preparing for the ministry, without which a minister, no matter what else he may have of knowledge or talent, will accomplish no good, and may do immense harm.

III. The duty of being mighty in the Scriptures. It is our duty–

1. To obtain all the kinds of knowledge of Scripture above mentioned, especially committing it to memory, so as to be able to quote it abundantly, correctly, and appropriately.

2. To acquire the ability to use that knowledge. This is–

(1) A mental discipline.

(2) A spiritual exercise.

(3) An art–the art of effective public speaking. (C. Hodge, D. D.)

Mighty in the Scriptures

I. In the study of the Scriptures. This must be–

1. Systematic.

2. Thorough.

3. Oft-repeated.

4. With all the aid that related sciences can afford.

5. Prayerful and with dependence on the Guide into all truth.

II. In the knowledge of the Scriptures; as following from the former. In the knowledge of their–

1. History.

2. Doctrine.

3. Ethics.

4. End and aim.

III. In the exposition of the Scriptures, as following from both the first and the second.

1. In the opening up of their meaning.

2. In the ready and apt quotation of texts.

3. In the application of the truth to the heart and conscience.

IV. In the effects which the mighty study, knowledge and exposition of the Scriptures are calculated to produce. Mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.

1. In the edification of the Church.

2. In the multiplication of converts. (J. W. Burn.)

Whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.–

The importance of Bible teaching

1. It is by being taught that, men acquire knowledge of and competency for anything. All Christians need to be taught (Rom 16:16), and it is impossible for any to begin too early (2Ti 3:15), and none are too old. Apollos, although mighty in the Scriptures, did not feel himself above this necessity.

2. Religion develops the power to learn, and produces the spirit most favourable to learning–humility.

3. The things which Christians are to learn are the sublimest and most important (Act 20:30; 2Ti 3:17). Note–

I. What the Bible is to men in general.

1. It throws light on Nature. The materialist cannot find God in His own creation; the natural theologian can only find traces of Him; the Bible student is taught to find Him everywhere.

2. It reveals Gods plan of salvation (2Ti 2:10; Heb 8:5).

3. It contains the standard of true morality. A well-made clock may be expected to keep Correct time; but owing to circumstances few clocks are always right. It is well, therefore, to have a public clock in every city which shall serve as a positive standard for all the other clocks of the place–better still to have at Greenwich one that is so for the whole country. Man is a moral clock whose original construction was perfect, but whose moral order is now sadly deranged (Ecc 7:29; Rom 3:23); but God has given us a standard whereby the right can be ascertained and the wrong ones rectified, in the Bible.

4. It is the rule whereby the destiny of every man shall be determined at the final judgment (Act 17:31; Joh 12:48). For these reasons, therefore, man, as man, needs Bible teaching.

II. The particular relation of the Bible to the Churches.

1. It is their school book. The Churches are so many schools in which Christ teaches, and He will permit of no other text book but this.

2. It is their legal code. When a man becomes a citizen of another country, it is important that he should become acquainted with the laws of that country, lest he should unwittingly break them. So when a man comes out of the world into the kingdom of God it is necessary for him to master the laws by which that kingdom is governed (Isa 8:20).

3. It is the means of their sanctification (Joh 17:17; Eph 5:25-26).

4. It is their fountain of comfort (Psa 119:50; Rom 15:4).

5. It is their defensive and aggressive weapon. Some weapons are defensive only, but a sword is both (Eph 6:17; Mat 4:3-11).

6. They are its custodians, as the Jewish Church was of the Old Testament.

7. They are the instruments by which its light is to shine on the world (Php 2:15-16); but it must be in them first (Gal 3:16); otherwise they are lamps without oil.

8. They are to teach it to the world (Mat 28:19-20).

9. Through it they are to convert the world (Mar 16:15; 2Ti 4:2).

10. It is the means of their growth–

(1) In numbers (Act 6:7);

(2) In spirituality (1Pe 2:1-2). (R. Hughes.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Act 19:1-23

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul came to Ephesus.

–Ephesus was the third capital and starting point of Christianity At Jerusalem Christianity was born in the cradle of Judaism; Antioch had been the starting point of the Church of the Gentiles; Ephesus was to witness its full development, and the final amalgamation of its unconsolidated elements in the work of John, the apostle of love. It lay one mile from the sea in the fair Asian meadow where myriads of swans and other waterfowl disported amid the windings of the Cayster. Its haven, once among the most sheltered and commodious in the Mediterranean, was thronged with vessels from every part of the civilised world. It lay at the meeting point of two great roads and commanded easy access to the whole interior continent. Its population was multifarious and immense. Its markets, glittering with the produce of the worlds art, were the Vanity Fair of Asia, and furnished the imagery of Rev 18:12-13. And Ephesus was no less famous than it was vast and wealthy. No name is more splendidly emblazoned in the annals of human culture than that of the great capital of Ionia. Here Anacreon sang the light songs which so thoroughly suited the soft temperament of the Greek colonists in that luxurious air; here Thales gave the first impulse to philosophy; here the deepest of all Greek thinkers, Heracleitus the Dark, meditated on those truths which he uttered in language of such incomparable force, and here Parrhasius and Apelles studied their immortal art. And although its splendour was increased by its being the residence of a Roman Proconsul it was still essentially Greek, with a civilisation more deeply imbued with Oriental than Western influences, fostering superstitions which owed their maintenance to the self-interest of various priestly bodies, and utterly debased the moral character of the people. Just as the mediaeval sanctuaries attracted all the scum and villainy, all the cheats and debtors and murderers of the country round, and inevitably pauperised and degraded the entire vicinity–just as the squalor of the lower purlieus of Westminster to this day is accounted for by its direct affiliation to the crime and wretchedness which sheltered itself under the shadow of the Abbey–so the vicinity of the great temple at Ephesus reeked with the congregated pollutions of Asia. So inveterate was the vice of the place that one of its philosophers declared that the whole Ephesian population deserved to be throttled man by man. Such was the city which was, with the exception of Rome, by far the most important scene of Pauls toils, and which he regarded as a great door and effectual though there were many adversaries. (Archdeacon Farrar.)

Paul at Ephesus

He brought the light of the gospel to bear on every degree of darkness. On–

1. The twilight of John the Baptists dispensation.

2. The blindness in part which happened unto Israel.

3. The gloomy midnight of superstition and idolatry. (J. Bennett, D. D.)

Paul at Ephesus

Or the contact of Christianity with idolatry, as sustained by superstition, by national pride, and by the love of gain. Note–

I. The difficulties encountered from the peculiar form of idolatry.

1. The two obstacles which the apostles everywhere encountered were, of course, Judaism and Paganism. But, while Judaism was fixed and unchanging, the heathen systems were variable; and the form of their opposition to Christianity varied with the character of the prevalent idolatry or philosophy, and with the intelligence or barbarism of the people. In one place heathenism was connected with gross profligacy and superstition; in another with intellectual refinement, with all that was beautiful in art and profound in learning; in others with national pride, with secular callings, with the power of the state. All these were to be overcome before Christianity could secure its ascendency.

2. In all countries religion is the most powerful principle that controls the human mind. In its very nature it is supreme as a principle in governing men. There is power in attachment to ones country, to friends, to property, to liberty, to life; but the power of religion, as such, is superior to all these, for men are willing to sacrifice them all in honour of their religion. In addition to this, there is a power derived from the incorporation of religion with customs, opinions, and lucrative pursuits; laws, vested rights, caste, and civil and sacred offices. Both these sources of power existed here in forms most difficult to overcome.

(1) The religious principle itself was as mighty as in any other part of the world. All the religious affections of the people were absorbed in the worship of one divinity.

(2) The natural power of religion was combined with all that could add to its hold upon the mind. It was closely combined with–

(a) The practice of magic (verse 19).

(b) National pride. The temple of Diana yeas the chief glory of the city; and, around that, all that there was of patriotism and pride would be concentrated.

(c) The wealth of the city furnished employment to a considerable portion of its inhabitants (verse 24).

II. The preparation which had been made for the introduction of the gospel. Unlike most ether places, Ephesus was prepared for the gospel, and in a way which bore a striking resemblance to that which was made for Christ by the forerunner. The doctrines of John had been brought to Ephesus, and had been enforced by the eloquence of Apollos, with the result that a little band of disciples were apparently waiting for the coining of the Messiah. Their knowledge was very defective; yet it illustrates their sincerity, their desire to serve God, and their purpose to welcome the truth from whatever quarter it might come, that when these twelve disciples were told by Paul what was the real purport of the doctrines of John (verse 4), they welcomed the announcement, and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (verse 5). On them as on the apostles at Pentecost the Holy Ghost now came, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied (verse 6).

III. The manner of Pauls labours at Ephesus. For this we are indebted to Act 20:18-21.

1. Paul had a tender heart; a heart made for, and warmed with love. He wept much, for he saw the condition of lost men–their guilt, their danger, their insensibility, their folly (Rom 9:2-3).

2. He kept back nothing that was profitable to them–none of the things which would promote their salvation.

3. He did this publicly. In the synagogue, in the open air–wherever men were accustomed to be assembled, and from house to house. He went from family to family.

4. That on which he relied, as the means of mens conversion, was not human learning; nor did he preach good works as the ground of salvation, but repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

IV. The results which followed. A Church was established among the most interesting of all the New Testament churches–one to which the Saviour subsequently said, I know thy works, etc. (Rev 2:2; Rev 2:8). From the address, the narrative, and the Epistle we learn that–

1. was not a small Church. This may be inferred from the number of its elders who met Paul at Miletus, and from the fact stated by Demetrius, that Paul had turned away much people (Act 20:26-27).

2. It was Presbyterian in its form. Those who met Paul at Miletus were elders or presbyters. There is no mention of a bishop in connection with the place, except that the elders are termed overseers or bishops.

3. Its religion was eminently one of principle, and not a thing of mere feeling, nor the result of temporary excitement. It led to such voluntary sacrifices as to show that it must have been founded on principle (Act 20:19-20).

4. Its doctrinal belief, if we may judge by the Epistle, was most advanced. They were evidently capable of appreciating the deep things of God.

V. The opposition which was aroused.

1. It was based on–

(1) Personal interest.

(2) National religion.

2. Christianity promotes the welfare of the world, and in so doing it condemns wrong sources of gain. Commotions may ensue, but society is a gainer in the end. (A. Barnes, D. D.)

Paul at Ephesus

1. Some persons are ever on the watch for points of difference. How unlike St. Paul who, when he taught, ever started from some point of agreement; and when he would correct, always began with something which he could commend. Observe his course here. Is there anyone who agrees with him entirely? Yes, there is his new friend Aquila. Who next? Are there any other disciples? Yes, there are twelve men who know something of the way of the Lord; to them he will first address himself, treat with them on common ground, and lead them on into the higher doctrine of Christian baptism and of the Holy Spirit. A man who would do Gods work must first see how far God has done it to his hand. If there is one who is only defective, he must not be treated as if he were outside the pale; he must be taken up where he is and carried onward. Next, there are those who, though not Christian believers, have yet a true faith so far as God Himself is concerned. To their synagogue, therefore, in the third place, St. Paul wends his way, and argues with them out of their own Scriptures that Jesus is Christ. Rejected by the Jews, however, he transfers his instructions to the school of one Tyrannus.

2. I stop to consider two expressions.

(1) The subject of St. Pauls persuasions was the kingdom of God; that kingdom for the coming of which we pray whenever we utter the Lords own prayer, of which our Lord said, It is within you; and St. Paul, It is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Surely no question can be more urgent than this, Am I inside that kingdom in heart as well as in form? If not, I may be called a Christian, but Christs own word tells me that I am none of His.

(2) Another name for the thing is the way. The Christian doctrine and discipline is a road, or a journey. I do not ask now what its characteristics are; steep or level, rough or smooth, short or long, easy or difficult. I only ask, Are you in it? I know life without Christ is a journey marked by its milestones, with a grave for its end. But Christs way is something more than this. A Christian has not only to get through the life of this world, bearing its troubles as he may, and by slow stages reaching its close; but he has a rule to travel by–Christs word and will. He has an end to make for–the recompense which Christ has promised, the rest which God has prepared in heaven for His people. Are you living by this rule, and making for this destination?

3. A singular scene now opens. Every great city has its peculiarities. Ephesus was a city with one dominant superstition, the worship of the goddess Diana; and with a host of smaller superstitions growing out of it. In particular, it was the headquarters of magical art. Here, then, was a new field for the operations of the gospel. When Moses was confronted with the magicians of Egypt, he first beat them on their own ground, and then led the way where they could not even pretend to follow. It was somewhat thus with the sorcerers of Ephesus. As scrolls and rhymes were thought powerful against calamity, so it pleased God to work in this one place works of power, not the ordinary, by the hands of Paul; marvels of supernatural healing, wrought, without word or even presence, by means of handkerchiefs or aprons brought from his body; just as the hem of our Lords garment was on one occasion the medium of conveying a medicinal virtue to a suffering woman. It was natural that imposture should try its hand at a work so remarkable. Evidently the name of the Lord Jesus was St. Pauls one charm. St. Paul never left it in doubt whence his power came. Thus some of the vagabond Jewish exorcists tried the effect of this all-powerful Name. It is playing with edged tools to preach a gospel–still more, to try practical experiments with a gospel–which we ourselves do not believe. It was so with these Jews. The rumour of their defeat spread through Ephesus, carrying with it the assurance that this was no new superstition added to the already crowded wonder market, but a superhuman power fatal to counterfeit and impossible to resist. And persons who practised the unlawful arts now came forward, under the impression of this terrible event, confessing their deeds and making a public renunciation.

4. So mightily grew the Word of the Lord and prevailed. It was not a mere skulking, creeping progress; it was, for once, a mighty–the word expresses almost a forcible and victorious–growth of the Word: a great battle had been fought, between the power of truth and the power of error, and the saying had been verified once again to the very senses of men, Great is truth, and shall prevail! (Dean Vaughan.)

Paul at Ephesus

I. A teacher will be certain to meet with persons astonishingly ignorant. It is well to set out with this expectation, and so to be prepared for such discoveries.

II. When a teacher meets with such persons he should regard them not with irritation but compassion. Some ignorance, of course, is wicked, but much, as was the case with these disciples, is involuntary. In any case it is a proper subject for pity.

III. Such persons under proper instruction may evince a capacity for receiving the highest gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let us not despair in the case of the pitiably ignorant, but hopefully instruct them. Beneath the thick crust may lie a gem capable of receiving the finest polish.

IV. There are certain unbelievers whom a wise teacher will leave to themselves (Act 20:9). Time spent in arguing with those who will not believe is worse than wasted: you will only confirm them in their self-conceit or harden them in their wickedness.

V. A teacher who, amid opposition, continues to faithfully bear witness for the truth will not be left without witness from God (Act 20:11-12). (R. A. Bertram.)

Paul at Ephesus

We have here four classes of hearers, and we see that the effects produced on each were determined by their disposition.

I. The partially instructed disciples of John. These eagerly welcomed the light and were rewarded by a special benediction. Their conduct is worthy of all imitation. It is said that theology is a finished science, and that no progress in it is now possible. But this is to confound the source of theology with what men have drawn from it. We cannot look for additions to the sacred volume, but surely we ought to look for an increase in our understanding of its meaning. Theology is just like the other sciences. The stars have been in the sky from the day when they were first viewed by Adam; but what progress has been made since then in astronomy! The rocks beneath us have been just as they are now for millenniums, yet what advancement have these last years seen in geology! And in the same way, though the Bible is complete, God has always more light to break forth from His Holy Word. There is sometimes an interpretation given by the very character of an age, and the simultaneousness with which in many lands the doctrines of the Reformation flashed upon the minds of independent inquirers–analogous to the scientific discoveries made in different countries at the same time–may help us to understand how new truths in theology may yet be found in the wellsearched field of Scripture.

II. The Jews. Here we see the blinding influence of prejudice in the hearing of the truth. In Johns disciples we see that To him that hath shall be given, in the Jews that From him that hath not shall be taken even that he hath. They who stubbornly refuse the salvation of Christ are in danger of being put beyond the possibility of being saved.

III. The vagabond exorcists. In them we see how men may turn a little knowledge of the gospel to account as a worldly speculation. Their case is paralleled by the indulgence mongers of the Middle Ages upon whom the people rose as this poor possessed one did on the seven sons of Sceva. But it is equally bad when people attend upon ordinances because it will add to their position in society, or improve their business connection. Avaunt, therefore, all who would make a gain of godliness! The devil himself is ashamed of you. The evils of our times will not recede before Sceva mammon worshippers, but only before the Pauls whose hands are clean and whose hearts are pure.

IV. The magicians. Here we have an illustration of earnest, sincere, and believing hearing. Their repentance was not of that cheap sort that spends itself only in tears. It was like that of the woman who, when she heard a sermon on false measures, went straight home and burnt the bushel. Have you nothing to burn? (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Pauls mission Divinely directed

As Philip was sent to the desert of Gaza with the water of life to the thirsting Ethiop, Paul was sent on the same errand to those twelve men and their companions who punted for the living water in the desert place of a huge idolatrous city. The Lord knoweth them that are His, and how to find them out. He will never leave them nor forsake them. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Apollos completed by Paul

1. Something had occurred since Paul was last at Ephesus. Apollos had been exercising his ministry, and some twelve men had answered the persuasion of his matchless eloquence; but Paul found them out, and noticed that something was absent. He said, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? If you had a new life would have lifted you up to higher levels of thought and feeling and utterance; what is wanting here is the Holy Ghost. Looking upon us today, what would Paul inquire? If he saw us world bound, if he saw our truant minds running out of the Church for the purpose of collecting accounts and alleviating temporal anxieties–if he saw our prayers like birds with bruised wings that could not fly, he would say, What is wanting here is the Holy Ghost–Spirit of fire, of light, of love! There is no mistaking His presence, for there is none like it. The fruit of the Spirit is joy.

2. The twelve men who followed Apollos were like their eloquent leader. Apollos knew only the baptism of John, and what he knew he preached. If you come to me knowing only the first four rules of arithmetic, I must not begin your education by throwing into contempt the only four rules you do know; my object must be to lead you on until you feel that these rules are only for infants. Paul did not attempt to undervalue the work of Apollos–he carried it on to holy consummation. One minister must complete the work which another minister began. The instructive teacher must not undervalue the eloquent evangelist. They belong to one another. We must put out no little light, but be thankful for its flicker and spark. The yoking man likes to hear a fluent speaker. He goes to the church where Apollos preaches long before the doors are opened, and willingly stands there that he may hear this mighty wind of sacred appeal. But Time–teaching, drilling, chastening Time–has its work upon the mind, and we come to a mental condition which says, There was more in that one sentence of Pauls than in that Niagara whose bewildering forces once stupefied our youthful minds. But do not condemn any man. Let him teach what he can.

3. If Paul did not discredit the work of Apollos, the disciples of Apollos did not discredit the larger revelation of Paul. The inference is, that the disciples of Apollos were well taught. They were not finalists; they felt that something more might be possible. That is the highest result of education. Christians are always looking forward and hastening unto. When did Christ say, This is the end? We know what He did say. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Thou shalt see greater things than these. When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. This enables me to look hopefully upon some persons who do not know the full extent of Christs name. Such men are not to be won by denunciation, but by recognition.

4. There were only twelve of these men; and yet there is no whining about a poor Church and a weak Church. We must burn such adjectives out of the speech of Christians. A Church is not necessarily strong because its pews are thronged and its collections are heavy. It may be that the handful of copper given by some village Church may be more than the two handsful of gold given by the metropolitan congregation.

5. The gospel in Ephesus produced its usual two-fold effect. Some received the Holy Ghost and advanced, while others were hardened and believed not. It must always be so. The gospel is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. Every sermon makes us worse or better.

6. In verse 11 we have an expression which is out of place in the cold speech of todays Christianity. We are afraid of the word miracles; we have almost to apologise for its use. But the writer of the Acts not only speaks of miracles, but of special miracles. Until the Church becomes bold enough to use its native tongue it will live by sufferance, and at last it will crawl into a dishonoured grave–the only tomb which it has deserved. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The best method of evangelising a city

When Paul enters Ephesus he does not stand up at once to harangue indiscriminate multitudes on the great subjects of the gospel; but goes philosophically to work. He thoughtfully surveys the situation, inquires into its condition, endeavours to ascertain whether there are any persons in any degree prepared to accept his doctrines.

I. He begins with those who are most acquainted with his doctrines. He found certain disciples who had made some progress in Christian knowledge, and endeavoured to live up to the point of their intelligence. To establish in the faith twelve such men would prove more conducive to the advancement of truth than to elicit the thunderous cheers of a crowded and promiscuous auditory.

1. He promptly convicts them of the deficiency of their Christianity. He does this by two questions–

(1) Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? They said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

(2) Unto what, then, were ye baptized? Their answer explains their ignorance. They said, Unto Johns baptism. They had not yet come fully into the school of Christ. It is clear from the sequel that those questions struck deep and made them profoundly conscious of their deficiency.

2. He effectively ministers to their advancement in Divine knowledge (verse 4). By this he teaches them that Johns ministry was–

(1) Reformative.

(2) Introductory.

John told his vast audiences to believe on Him that would come after him, that is, Christ Jesus. Now this teaching of the apostle was effective (verse 5). Baptism was an expression of that higher stage of experience to which Pauls ministry had raised them.

3. He conveys the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (verse 6). The gift of tongues was not a gift of new languages, but the gift of speaking spiritual truths with supernatural fervour and force. The Spirit did not make them linguists, but spiritual orators. New ideas will make an old language new. This gift of speech enabled them to prophesy–i.e., teach. He that prephesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort.

II. He proceeds to those who were next to the twelve in their acquaintance with his doctrines. His ministry with the Jews was–

1. Argumentative. Disputing. He gave reasons to sustain his propositions, and answered objections. He spoke to mens judgment.

2. Persuasive. He plied them with motives rightly to excite their affections and determine their will. It was–

3. Indefatigable. He was daily at the work, instant in season and out of season.

III. He ultimately goes forth into the wide world of general society–into the school of Tyrannus. The result was–

1. A wide diffusion of the gospel (verse 10). Ephesus was the metropolis, and into it the population of the provinces were constantly flowing for purposes both of commerce and of worship.

2. The ejection of evil spirits (verse 12). His supernatural ministry was–

(1) Derived. Unlike Christ, he had not the power of working miracles natural in himself (verse 11).

(2) Beneficent. It was put forth, not to wound or to injure men, but to heal and bless them.

(3) Strikingly manifest. The mere handkerchiefs or aprons which touched his body carried with them virtue to heal the diseased and to expel the devil from the possessed. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The Word and the world

I. The baptism of Johns disciples.

1. The baptism of John means his doctrine, which is briefly symbolised by the ritual act, and was contained within a very narrow range. Repent. Fruits worthy of repentance–fruits was the burden of Johns message. A preparatory one evidently; one needing something additional to complete it, as St. Paul told these converts. And none felt this more distinctly than John. He must increase, but I must decrease. The work of John was simply the work of the axe; to cut up by the roots ancient falsehoods; to tear away all that was unreal. A great work, but still not the greatest. And herein lay the difference between the two baptisms. The one was simply the washing away of a false and evil past; the other was the gift of the power to lead a pure, true life. This was all that these men knew; yet they are reckoned as disciples. Let us learn from that a judgment of charity. Let not the religious man sneer at merely moral men. Morality is not religion, but it is the best soil on which religion grows. Nay, it is the want of this preparation which so often makes religion a sickly plant in the soul. Men begin with abundance of spiritual knowledge, and understand well the scheme of salvation. But if the foundation has not been laid deep in a perception of the eternal difference between right and wrong, the superstructure will be but flimsy. It is a matter of no small importance that the baptism of John should precede the baptism of Christ. The baptism of repentance before the baptism of the Spirit.

2. The result which followed this baptism was the gifts of tongues and prophecy–the power, i.e., not to speak various languages, but to speak spiritual truths with heavenly fervour. Touch the soul with love, and then you touch the lips with hallowed fire, and make even the stammering tongue speak the words of living eloquence.

II. The burning of the Ephesian letters. Ephesus was the metropolis of Asia. Its most remarkable feature was the temple of Diana, which contained a certain image, reported to have fallen from the skies–perhaps one of those meteoric stones which are reckoned by the vulgar to be thunderbolts from heaven. Upon the base of the statue were certain mysterious sentences, and these, copied upon amulets, were known as the Ephesian letters. Besides this there was a Jewish practice of the occult art–certain incantations, herbs, and magical formulas, said to have been taught by Solomon, for the expulsion of diseases and the exorcism of evil spirits. There is always an irrepressible desire for communion with the unseen world. And where an over-refined civilisation has choked up the natural and healthy outlets of this feeling, it will inevitably find an unnatural one. Ephesus was exactly the place where Jewish charlatans and the vendors of Ephesian letters could reap a rich harvest from the credulity of sceptical voluptuaries.

2. The essence of magic consists in the belief that by some external act–not making a man wiser or better–communication can be ensured with the spiritual world. It matters not whether this be attempted by Ephesian letters or by Church ordinances or priestly powers. The spirit world of God has its unalterable laws. Blessed are the pure in heart, the merciful, the peacemakers, the meek, the poor in spirit. If any man will do His will, be shall know. If a man love Me he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him. There is no way of becoming a partaker of the powers of the world to come, except by having the heart right with God. No magic can reverse these laws. The contest was brought to an issue by the signal failure of the magicians to work a miracle, and the possessors of curious books burnt them.

3. You will observe in all this–

(1) The terrible supremacy of conscience. They could not bear their own secret, and they had no remedy but immediate confession. It is this arraigning accuser that compels the peculator to send back the stolen money with the acknowledgment that he has suffered years of misery. It was this that made Judas dash down his gold in the temple, and go and hang himself. It is this that has forced the murderer from his unsuspected security to deliver himself up to justice, and to choose a true death rather than the dreadful secret of a false life.

(2) The test of sincerity furnished by this act of burning the books.

(a) It was a costly sacrifice.

(b) It was the sacrifice of livelihood. And a magician of forty was not young enough to begin the world again with a new profession.

(c) It was the destruction of much knowledge that was really valuable. As in the pursuit of alchemy real chemical secrets were discovered, so it cannot be doubted that these curious manuscripts contained many valuable natural facts.

(d) It was an outrage to feeling. Costly manuscripts, many of them probably heirlooms associated with a vast variety of passages in life, were to be committed mercilessly to the flames.

(e) Remember, too, how many other ways there were of disposing of them. Might they not be sold, and the proceeds given to the poor? or be made over to some relative who would not feel anything wrong in them. Or might they not be retained as curious records of the past? And then Conscience arose with her stern, clear voice. They are the records of an ignorant and guilty past. There must be no false tenderness. To the flames with them, and the smoke will rise up to heaven a sweet savour before God.

4. Whoever has made such a sacrifice will remember the strange medley of feeling accompanying it. Partly fear constrained the act, produced by the judgment on the other exorcists, and partly remorse; partly there was a lingering regret as leaf after leaf perished in the flames, and partly a feeling of relief; partly shame, and partly a wild tumult of joy, at the burst of new hope, and the prospect of a nobler life.

6. There is no Christian life that has not in it sacrifice, and that alone is the sacrifice which is made in the spirit of the conflagration of the Ephesian letters. If the repentant slaveholder sells his slaves to the neighbouring planter, or if the trader in opium or in spirits quits his nefarious commerce, but first secures its value; or if the possessor of a library becomes convinced that certain volumes are immoral, and yet cannot sacrifice the costly edition without an equivalent, what shall we say of these mens sincerity?

III. The sedition respecting Dianas worship. Notice–

1. The speech of Demetrius; in which observe–

(1) The cause of the slow death which error and falsehood die. Existing abuses in Church and State are upheld because they are intertwined with private interests. This is the reason why it takes centuries to overthrow an evil, after it has been proved an evil.

(2) The mixture of religious and selfish feelings. Not only our craft, but also the worship of the great goddess Diana. And so it is with many a patriotic and religious cry. My country, my Church, my religion–it supports me. By this craft we have our wealth.

(3) Numbers are no test of truth. The whole world worshipped the goddess. If numbers tested truth, Apollos in the last chapter need not have become the brilliant outcast from the schools of Alexandria, nor St. Paul stand in Ephesus in danger of his life. He who seeks Truth must be content with a lonely, little-trodden path. If he cannot worship her till she has been canonised by the shouts of the multitude, he must take his place with this wretched crowd who shouted, Great is Diana! till truth, reason, and calmness, were all drowned in noise.

2. The judicious speech of the chamberlain, in which observe–

(1) The impression made by the apostle on the wiser part of the community. The Asiarchs were his friends. The town clerk exculpated him, as Gallio had done at Corinth. Herein we see the power of consistency.

(2) The admitted moral blamelessness of the Christians. Paul had not blasphemed the goddess. As at Athens he had not begun by attacking errors. He preached Truth, and its effect began to be felt already. Overcome evil by good, error by truth. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER XIX.

Paul, coming to Ephesus, finds certain disciples who had not

received the gift of the Holy Ghost, knowing only the baptism

of John, but receive it through the imposition of his hands,

1-7.

He preaches for three months in the synagogues, 8.

Many being hardened, he leaves the synagogues, and teaches

daily in the school of Tyrannus for two years, 9, 10.

He works many miracles, 11, 12.

Account of the vagabond exorcist Jews, and the seven sons of

Sceva, 13-17.

Many are converted, and burn their magical books, 18-20.

Paul purposes to pass through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to

Jerusalem, and afterwards to Rome; but, having sent Timotheus

and Erastus to Macedonia, continues a little longer in Asia,

21, 22.

Demetrius, a silversmith of Ephesus, raises an uproar against

Paul, which, after some tumultuous proceedings, is appeased by

the town clerk, 23-41.

NOTES ON CHAP. XIX.

Verse 1. And it came to pass – while Apollos was at Corinth] The Codex Bezae begins this chapter differently. But then Paul was desirous, according to his own counsel, to go to Jerusalem, the Spirit commanded him to return into Asia: then, passing through the upper parts, he came to Ephesus. This addition is also found in the Latin or Itala part of the same MS., and in the margin of the later Syriac.

Paul having passed through the upper coasts] That is, through those parts of Asia Minor that lay eastward of Ephesus, such as Galatia, Phrygia, and probably Lycaonia and Lydia; and it is in reference to Ephesus that these are called the upper coasts. See their situation on the map.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The upper coasts; the north parts, in which were Pontus, Bithynia, Phrygia, and Galatia, Act 18:23.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1-3. while Apollos was atCorinthwhere his ministry was so powerful that a formidableparty in the Church of that city gloried in his type of preaching inpreference to Paul’s (1Co 1:12;1Co 3:4), no doubt from themarked infusion of Greek philosophic culture which distinguished it,and which the apostle studiously avoided (1Co2:1-5).

Paul having passed throughthe upper coasts“parts,” the interior of Asia Minor,which, with reference to the seacoast, was elevated.

came to Ephesusthusfulfilling his promise (Ac 18:21).

finding certain disciplesinthe same stage of Christian knowledge as Apollos at first, newlyarrived, probably, and having had no communication as yet with thechurch at Ephesus.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth,…. Whither he came after the Apostle Paul, and where he watered what the apostle had planted, and where he became very famous and eminent; insomuch that he was set up, though not with his will, at the head of a party, in opposition to the chief of the apostles, Peter and Paul; see 1Co 1:12.

Paul having passed through the upper coasts; that is, of Phrygia, Galatia, Pontus, Bithynia, Lydia, Lycaonia, and Paphlagonia;

came to Ephesus; into Ionia, of which Ephesus was the chief city, and lay near the sea; wherefore the other countries are called the upper coasts; hither he came, according to his promise in Ac 28:21

And finding certain disciples; such as believed in Christ, made a profession of him, and had been baptized in his name, for such were commonly called disciples: these do not seem to be persons, who were either converted by Paul, when he was at Ephesus before, or by Apollos, who had been there since, and was gone; but rather some who came hither from other parts, since the apostle was at this place; though indeed his stay at Ephesus before was so short, that they might be here, and he not hear of them, or meet with them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Paul at Ephesus.

1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7 And all the men were about twelve.

Ephesus was a city of great note in Asia, famous for a temple built there to Diana, which was one of the wonders of the world: thither Paul came to preach the gospel while Apollos was at Corinth (v. 1); while he was watering there, Paul was planting here, and grudged not that Apollos entered into his labours and was building upon his foundation, but rejoiced in it, and went on in the new work that was cut out for him at Ephesus with the more cheerfulness and satisfaction, because he knew that such an able minister of the New Testament as Apollos was now at Corinth, carrying on the good work there. Though there were those that made him the head of a party against Paul (1 Cor. i. 12), yet Paul had no jealousy of him, nor any way disliked the affection the people had for him. Paul having gone through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, having passed through the upper coasts, Pontus and Bithynia, that lay north, at length came to Ephesus, where he had left Aquila and Priscilla, and there found them. At his first coming, he met with some disciples there, who professed faith in Christ as the true Messiah, but were as yet in the first and lowest form in the school of Christ, under his usher John the Baptist. They were in number about twelve (v. 7); they were much of the standing that Apollos was of when he came to Ephesus (for he knew only the baptism of John, ch. xviii. 25), but they had not opportunity of being acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, or had not been so long in Ephesus or were not so willing to receive instruction as Apollos was, otherwise they might have had the way of God expounded to them more perfectly, as Apollos had. Observe here,

I. How Paul catechised them. He was told, probably by Aquila and Priscilla, that they were believers, that they did own Christ, and had given up their names to him; now Paul hereupon takes them under examination.

1. They did believe in the Son of God; but Paul enquires whether they had received the Holy Ghost,–whether they believed in the spirit, whose operations on the minds of men, for conviction, conversion, and comfort, were revealed some time after the doctrine of Jesus being the Christ,–whether they had been acquainted with, and had admitted, this revelation? This was not all; extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were conferred upon the apostles and other disciples presently after Christ’s ascension, which was frequently repeated upon occasion; had they participated in these gifts? “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? Have you had that seal of the truth of Christ’s doctrine in yourselves?” We are not now to expect any such extraordinary gifts as they had then. The canon of the New Testament being long since completed and ratified, we depend upon that as the most sure word of prophecy. But there are graces of the Spirit given to all believers, which are as earnests to them, 2Co 1:22; 2Co 5:5; Eph 1:13; Eph 1:14. Now it concerns us all who profess the Christian faith seriously to enquire whether we have received the Holy Ghost or not. The Holy Ghost is promised to all believers, to all petitioners (Luke xi. 13); but many are deceived in this matter, thinking they have received the Holy Ghost when really they have not. As there are pretenders to the gifts of the Holy Ghost, so there are to his graces and comforts; we should therefore strictly examine ourselves, Have we received the Holy Ghost since we believed? The tree will be known by its fruits. Do we bring forth the fruits of the Spirit? Are we led by the Spirit? Do we walk in the Spirit? Are we under the government of the Spirit?

2. They owned their ignorance in this matter: “Whether there be a Holy Ghost is more than we know. That there is a promise of the Holy Ghost we know from the scriptures of the Old Testament, and that this promise will be fulfilled in its season we doubt not; but so much have we been out of the way of intelligence in this matter that we have not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost be indeed yet given as a spirit of prophecy.” They knew (as Dr. Lightfoot observes) that, according to the tradition of their nation, after the death of Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Holy Ghost departed from Israel, and went up; and they professed that they had never heard of his return. They spoke as if they expected it, and wondered they did not hear of it, and were ready to welcome the notice of it. The gospel light, like that of the morning, shone more and more, gradually; not only clearer and clearer, in the discovery of truths not before heard of, but further and further, in the discovery of them to persons that had not before heard of them.

3. Paul enquired how they came to be baptized, if they knew nothing of the Holy Ghost; for, if they were baptized by any of Christ’s ministers, they were instructed concerning the Holy Ghost, and were baptized in his name. “Know you not that Jesus being glorified, consequently the Holy Ghost is given? unto what then were you baptized? This is strange and unaccountable. What! baptized, and yet know nothing of the Holy Ghost? Surely your baptism was a nullity, if you know nothing of the Holy Ghost; for it is the receiving of the Holy Ghost that is signified and sealed by that washing of regeneration. Ignorance of the Holy Ghost is as inconsistent with a sincere profession of Christianity as ignorance of Christ is.” Applying it to ourselves, it intimates that those are baptized to no purpose, and have received the grace of God therein in vain, that do not receive and submit to the Holy Ghost. It is also an enquiry we should often make, not only to whose honour we were born, but into whose service we were baptized, that we may study to answer the ends both of our birth and of our baptism. Let us often consider unto what we were baptized, that we may live up to our baptism.

4. They own that they were baptized unto John’s baptism—eis to Ioannou baptisma that is, as I take it, they were baptized in the name of John, not by John himself (he was far enough from any such thought), but by some weak, well-meaning disciple of his, that ignorantly kept up his name as the head of a party, retaining the spirit and notion of those disciples of his that were jealous of the growth of Christ’s interest, and complained to him of it, John iii. 26. Some one or more of these, that found themselves much edified by John’s baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, not thinking that the kingdom of heaven, which he spoke of as at hand, was so very near as it proved, ran away with that notion, rested in what they had, and thought they could not do better than to persuade others to do so too; and so, ignorantly, in a blind zeal for John’s doctrine, they baptized here and there one in John’s name, or, as it is here expressed, unto John’s baptism, looking no further themselves, nor directing those that they baptized any further.

5. Paul explains to them the true intent and meaning of John’s baptism, as principally referring to Jesus Christ, and so rectifies the mistake of those who had baptized them into the baptism of John, and had not directed them to look any further, but to rest in that. Those that have been left in ignorance, or led into error, by any infelicities of their education, should not therefore be despised nor rejected by those who are more knowing and orthodox, but should be compassionately instructed, and better taught, as these disciples were by Paul. (1.) He owns that John’s baptism was a very good thing, as far as it went: John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance. By this baptism he required people to be sorry for their sins, and to confess them and turn from them; and to bring any to this is a great point gained. But, (2.) He shows them that John’s baptism had a further reference, and he never designed that those he baptized should rest there, but told them that they should believe on him who should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus,–that his baptism of repentance was designed only to prepare the way of the Lord, and to dispose them to receive and entertain Christ, whom he left them big with expectations of; nay, whom he directed them to: Behold the Lamb of God. “John was a great and good man; but he was only the harbinger,–Christ is the Prince. His baptism was the porch which you were to pass through, not the house you were to rest in; and therefore it was all wrong for you to be baptized into the baptism of John.”

6. When they were thus shown the error they were led into, they thankfully accepted the discovery, and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, v. 5. As for Apollos, of whom it was said (ch. xviii. 25) that he knew the baptism of John–that he rightly understood the meaning of it when he was baptized with it, though he knew that only–yet, when he understood the way of God more perfectly, he was no again baptized, any more than Christ’s first disciples that had been baptized with John’s baptism and knew it referred to the Messiah at the door (and, with an eye to this, submitted to it), were baptized again. But to these disciples, who received it only with an eye to John and looked no further, as if he were their saviour, it was such a fundamental error as was as fatal to it as it would have been for any to be baptized in the name of Paul (1 Cor. i. 13); and therefore, when they came to understand things better, they desired to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and were so: not by Paul himself, as we have reason to think, but by some of those who attended him. It does not therefore follow hence that there was not an agreement between John’s baptism and Christ’s, or that they were not for substance the same; much less does it follow that those who have been once baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (which is the appointed form of Christ’s baptism), may be again baptized in the same name; for those that were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus had never been so baptized before.

II. How Paul conferred the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost upon them, v. 6. 1. Paul solemnly prayed to God to give them those gifts, signified by his laying his hands on them, which was a gesture used in blessing by the patriarchs, especially in conveying the great trust of the promise, as Gen. xlviii. 14. The Spirit being the great promise of the New Testament, the apostles conveyed it by the imposition of hands: “The Lord bless thee with that blessing, that blessing of blessings,” Isa. xliv. 3. 2. God granted the thing he prayed for: The Holy Ghost came upon them in a surprising overpowering manner, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied, as the apostles did and the first Gentile converts, ch. x. 44. This was intended to introduce the gospel at Ephesus, and to awaken in the minds of men an expectation of some great things from it; and some think that it was further designed to qualify these twelve men for the work of the ministry, and that these twelve were the elders of Ephesus, to whom Paul committed the care and government of that church. They had the Spirit of prophesy, that they might understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God themselves, and the gift of tongues, that they might preach them to every nation and language. Oh, what a wonderful change was here made on a sudden in these men! those that but just now had not so much as heard that there was any Holy Ghost are now themselves filled with the Holy Ghost; for the Spirit, like the wind, blows where and when he listeth.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

While Apollos was at Corinth ( ). Favourite idiom with Luke, with the locative of the articular infinitive and the accusative of general reference (Luke 1:8; Luke 2:27, etc.).

Having passed through the upper country ( ). Second aorist active participle of , accusative case agreeing with , accusative of general reference with the infinitive , idiomatic construction with . The word for “upper” () is a late form for (Lu 14:10) and occurs in Hippocrates and Galen. It refers to the highlands (cf. Xenophon’s Anabasis) and means that Paul did not travel the usual Roman road west by Colossae and Laodicea in the Lycus Valley, cities that he did not visit (Col 2:1). Instead he took the more direct road through the Cayster Valley to Ephesus. Codex Bezae says here that Paul wanted to go back to Jerusalem, but that the Holy Spirit bade him to go into Asia where he had been forbidden to go in the second tour (16:6). Whether the upper “parts” () here points to North Galatia is still a point of dispute among scholars. So he came again to Ephesus as he had promised to do (18:21). The province of Asia included the western part of Asia Minor. The Romans took this country B.C. 130. Finally the name was extended to the whole continent. It was a jewel in the Roman empire along with Africa and was a senatorial province. It was full of great cities like Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea (the seven churches of Acts 19:2; Acts 19:3), Colossae, Hierapolis, Apamea, to go no further. Hellenism had full sway here. Ephesus was the capital and chief city and was a richer and larger city than Corinth. It was located at the entrance to the valley of the Maeander to the east. Here was the power of Rome and the splendour of Greek culture and the full tide of oriental superstition and magic. The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the world. While in Ephesus some hold that Paul at this time wrote the Epistle to the Galatians after his recent visit there, some that he did it before his recent visit to Jerusalem. But it is still possible that he wrote it from Corinth just before writing to Rome, a point to discuss later.

Certain disciples ( ). Who were they? Apollos had already gone to Corinth. They show no connection with Priscilla and Aquila. Luke calls them “disciples” or “learners” () because they were evidently sincere though crude and ignorant. There is no reason at all for connecting these uninformed disciples of the Baptist with Apollos. They were floating followers of the Baptist who drifted into Ephesus and whom Paul found. Some of John’s disciples clung to him till his death (John 3:22-25; Luke 7:19; Matt 14:12). Some of them left Palestine without the further knowledge of Jesus that came after his death and some did not even know that, as turned out to be the case with the group in Ephesus.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Upper coasts [ ] . Coasts is a bad rendering. Better, as Rev., “the upper country;” lit., parts or districts. The reference is to districts like Galatia and Phrygia, lying up from the sea – coast and farther inland than Ephesus. Hence the expedition of Cyrus from the sea – coast toward Central Asia was called Anabasis, a going – up.

Certain disciples. Disciples of John the Baptist, who, like Apollos, had been instructed and baptized by the followers of the Baptist, and had joined the fellowship of the Christians. Some have thought that they had been instructed by Apollos himself; but there is no sufficient evidence of this. “There they were, a small and distinct community about twelve in number, still preparing, after the manner of the Baptist, for the coming of the Lord. Something there was which drew the attention of the apostle immediately on his arrival. They lacked, apparently, some of the tokens of the higher life that pervaded the nascent church; they were devout, rigorous, austere, but were wanting in the joy, the radiancy, the enthusiasm which were conspicuous in others” (Plumptre, ” St. Paul in Asia Minor “).

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

PAUL’S RETURN TO EPHESUS V. 1-7 (Confers Gift of Holy Spirit on Certain Ones)

1) “And it came to pass,” (egento de) “Then it occurred,”

2) “That, while Apollos was at Corinth,” (en to ton Apollo einai en Korintho) “While Apollos was to be in Corinth,” in Achaia, where certain admiring disciples later gloried in his grandiloquent style of preaching, in preference to that of Paul, to the point of becoming party to carnal contention in the church, 1Co 1:12; 1Co 3:4.

3) “Paul having passed through the upper coasts,” (Paulon dielthonta ta anoterika mera) “That Paul had passed through the upper (higher parts) or coasts,” not the main road to Ephesus which passed thru Colosse and Laodicea, but the shorter road running thru Cayster Valley, a route that led over higher mountains of Asia from Antioch in Pisidia to Ephesus, Col 2:1.

4) “Came to Ephesus: (ethein eis Epheson) “To come or he came into Ephesus,” making good his former conditional intentions, Act 18:19; Act 18:21.

5) “And finding certain disciples,” (kai heurein tinas mathetes) “And when he found some special disciples there,” some one dozen who appear to have come to Ephesus with, and have been disciples of Apollos, 18:24-26; There were about twelve of them, Act 19:7, who knew nothing of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, Act 2:1-12.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

−

1. Luke showeth here that the Church of Ephesus was not only confirmed and increased by Paul’s return, but also that there was a miracle wrought there, because the visible graces of the Spirit were given to certain rude and new disciples. Furthermore, it is not known whether they were inhabitants of the city or strangers; neither doth it greatly skill. It is not to be doubted but that they were Jews, because they had received the baptism of John; also, it is to be thought that they dwelt at Ephesus when Paul found them there. −

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

DIVINE HEALING AND HEALERS

Act 19:1-20.

THE paths of Paul and Apollos cross and recross. They are mutually attractive, and while duties may send them on separate errands, affection will often draw them together.

This coming of Paul discovers a small church, constituted of certain disciples, about twelve in number. They were imperfectly instructed; they had received Jesus for salvation, but not the enduement of power for service. They had been evangelized by Apollos. They were in sore need of instruction by Paul. Salvation is one thing; ones upbuilding in the faith is another and an additional thing, and through the cooperative endeavors of Apollos and Paul, this small company are getting both.

The Word of God is not only a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death, but it is a test of the thoughts and intents of the heart. When Paul, in the synagogue at Ephesus, continues to speak for the space of three months, and the majority simply harden their hearts against the Word and speak evil of the Christ way, he departs from them. But he goes to another and even more difficult task, namely, to meet the philosophers in the school of Tyrannus. He is a warrior, indeed, who, when his work wanes with the common people, dares to undertake the scholars, and no small man would continue such a task for two full years. Whatever may have been Pauls size physically, he was a mental and spiritual giant, and the multitudes of both Jews and Greeks heard the Word at his lips, and special miracles were wrought at his hands.

The remaining portion of this record leads us to speak on both healing and healers, and our text adequately covers both. It presents The Apostle of Faith; it reveals The Professional Faker, and it Discovers and Uncovers and Converts.

THE APOSTLE OF FAITH

It was Paul who, for the space of two years, in the school of Tyrannus, had reasoned daily, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks (Act 19:10).

He was not a mere peripatetic. He was no disciple of Aristotle tramping from pillar to post, and carrying with him a pocket full of credentials from the unsophisticated or cowardly. True, he was a traveling missionary, and by the labors of such the early church made its progress. He was not one of that limited sort who can preach two or three sermons and then must move on because they have no more.

We believe in the private ministry! Moses voiced a Christian sentiment when he said, Would God the Lords people were prophets every one! If a man can preach but a single sermon, let him do so much; and if he can bear only the testimony of one clear statement, God will use that. But the minister does well to equip himself for a long-continued strain, so that, if need be, he can stand in the same pulpit for two years, or twenty, or fifty, and reason from the Scriptures without repeating. Paul was such an Apostle!

He was a most marvelous teacher. The statement that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks, from Pauls lips, strains ones credulity; and, of course, it is probable that it is the common language, and that any one who believes the record of the Apostles labors can understand that Asia was permeated with his teaching, as a little sugar sweetens the whole cup.

Paul enjoyed the two most important essentials to successful teaching. His mental equipment was not surpassed; his spiritual experience was seldom ever equalled. He knew; letters, for he grew up at the feet of Gamaliel. But even more important still was his personal experience with the Lord on the way to Damascus, from which hour he was a new man and a minister of the truth. S. E. Herrick, in his volume, Some Heretics of Yesterday, speaks of John Taulers conversion which occurred in 1340 when Tauler was fifty years of age. It seems that one day there appeared in Taulers audience, (for he was preaching before his conversion,) a stranger who heard the sermon through and then asked to make confession and receive absolution. He went a number of times and finally requested Tauler to preach on The Highest Spiritual Attainment Possible, and How to Reach It. The sermon was delivered as asked, under twenty-four heads. When it was finished the layman frankly said to Tauler that he had missed the mark, and while preaching to others, had not himself discovered the sinfulness of his own heart, nor yet made a complete surrender of his will to God, and warned him against deceiving himself. Tauler was angry at first, but finally recognized it as the faithful wound of a friend, and said to the layman, Thou hast been the first to tell me of my fault; stay with me and show me how I may overcome. For two years the friars lips were sealed with the sense of sin and consequent shame. This agony wasted his body and sapped his physical strength as a disease might have done. His enemies taunted him, while the monks ridiculed him for taking life so seriously. But finally he came into conscious faith in God and knew that his sins were forgiven. Emptied of self he was filled with the peace that passeth understanding, and with the peace came power. Then the layman said, Now thou knowest the power of Gods grace, and thou understandest the Scriptures as never before, and will be able to show thy fellows the way to eternal life. Now one of thy sermons will bring more fruit than a hundred aforetime, coming from a simple, loving, humbled heart; and as much as the people set thee at naught they will now far more love and prize thee. But a man with a great treasure must guard against thieves. See to it that thou hold fast thy humility, by which thou wilt best keep thy riches. And it came true; and he was called Dr. Illuminatis one upon whom great light had shined. Such was the Apostles appeal.

Permit this remark! The recovery to the church of the blessed doctrine of Divine healing will never come to pass at the lips of mere prattlers; it will not be recovered by men who are dealing in pious phrases without understanding their meaning, or experiencing their significance. It will take the well-balanced Bible teacher to recover that doctrine to the Church of God. There is a certain section of the Church of God that responds readily to a smiling face and rolling eyes and clapping hands, and boasted achievements, and hypnotic exercises; but it is the most superficial section of the church. The rightly instructed crowd will wait for the arrival of a teacher and will believe in Divine healing when the Word of God has been intelligently set forth, and its multitude of passages have been collated, systematically arranged and properly emphasized.

Many miracles are wrought at his hands! Perhaps it is well to pause at this point and define a miracle. George Lorimer, one of the great preachers of last century, declared that a miracle is an astonishing and expressive effect of which God is the Author. But that does not mean that a miracle is necessarily removed from the more ordinary forms or courses of nature. William Jennings Bryan tells of a skeptic who questioned Emerson as to his belief in miracles. The philosopher smiled and pointed to a fly. Miracles, he said, they are all about us. When we drop a brown seed into the ground, we get a radish and find it is red without and white within, and we can give no explanation of it. Men are not distressed about miracles in the dining room; it is only in religion that miracles distress them.

Some of us are not distressed about them in religion. We believe the record. Not only so, but we consent to the soundness of the philosophy, With God all things are possible, and rejoice in the Scripture statement, attested by ten thousand, thousand, All things are possible to them that believe.

The text says, God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them (Act 19:11-12).

Now, far be it from me to advocate a mere superstition. I am willing to let Popery have well-nigh a monopoly of holy tapers, holy water, and the bones of the saints, and the signs of the cross, and all that, for I do not find a reference to any of them as healing agencies in Gods good Word. But if it was true in the Apostles day, and I believe it was, that a handkerchief or an apron sent from his person to the sick one was made the medium of fixing the human mind upon the Great Healer, the Physician of the agesChrist Himselfwho will question that a look to Christ now may save? In other words, since Christ is the same yesterday, and to day and for ever, I am never surprised to see Him do over again what He once did: repeating His own action. But I frankly confess to you that I find a profound difference between this record and some of the professed healings of which I now hear. The latter are too much like the gold mines, the fruit farms, and rubber companies, and the gas fields: they increase in value in proportion to the distance at which they are exploited. I have never been quite able to understand how Minneapolis people were gullible enough to believe that a mine in British Columbia, just a little north of Seattle, which was going to yield millions, did not find enough ready purchasers in Seattle itself, not to make a visit of its agents to Minneapolis needful; nor why it is that California oil fields are increasingly exploited as you travel toward the eastern seaboard; nor why it is that Texas people do not buy up once and for all the fabulous rubber producing plantations of Mexico, just over the line, for I bear testimony to the fact that Texans are commercially keen and financially capable. The longer I live the more interest I take in a case of Divine healing in Minneapolis vs. Los Angeles, for the very simple reason that I am tired of exploitations that have no corresponding facts. It looks too much like a piece of self-advertisement to claim that a lad somewhere at the ends of the earth recovered at the touch of a handkerchief, when neither handkerchief nor apron, dismissed from the person of the same man, succeeded at home. In the instance of Pauls work, God was as evidently present where the handkerchief and apron went, as in the presence of Paul, and the disease departed from them, we are told. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the proof of a mans profession is in the exhibitions of Divine power that appear.

I do not recall that in one instance Christ ever told the people of a community about miracles He had wrought in other sections of the land in order to increase their faith in Him; nor do I hear the Apostle employing such an argument in defense of his Divine commission or his unusual blessing. The more certainly a man has God with him, the more surely will he need less of written testimonials or of attendant corroborative evidence. In the many published sermons of Charles Spurgeon, I do not recall a single instance in which he boasted, or even rehearsed how God wrought healing by his hands; but others affirm that no physician in London ever saw so many recover by his pills as rose in answer to Spurgeons prayers.

The crowd never asked of Jesus Christ, What proof has this Man of His mighty words? They inquired instead, Whence hath this Man these mighty works? And of Him Herod bore testimony unto his servants, saying, This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, and thereby do these powers work in Him. The unbelieving crowd Christ challenged after this manner, If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do them, though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (Joh 10:37-38, A. S. V.).

THE PROFESSIONAL FAKER

But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the Name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preached.

And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this (A. S. V.).

Fakers by flocks! I call your attention to some of the special marks which almost always characterize a pretender. This Scripture suggests them. There are three of these!

In the first place, he takes advantage of an engendered interest. It was when Paul was working real miracles and men and women were being healed of the Lord, that this school of pretenders appeared. You will remember that in the Old Testament when Moses, with his rod, began to work miracles, the magicians gathered and began to imitate. The interest in miracle working was excited and they proposed to take advantage of it. There are people in America who suppose that Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy gave rise to the great movement in favor of Divine healing. On the contrary, she is one of the multitude who have taken advantage of the suddenly rising tide of interest. Quite a few times in life I have seen a Christian man call a crowd on the street corner and deliver to them the Gospel message while some socialist would draw nigh and wait his opportunity to harangue the same crowd. The advocates of the millennial dawn make it their business to go to great meetings where the Second Coming of Christ is preached, and the doctrine of the future state set before the people, and as the people turn to leave the place of preaching, push into their hands their misleading and unbiblical literature. A Mormon behaves after the same manner. Not one of them cares a rap whether he makes a convert from sin; his concern is to make a proselyte from any conceivable quarter to his personal views. The problem with these is not that of turning men from iniquity to holiness, but of seeking a convert to the latest social or semi-religious fad. It is now almost universally accepted as a scientific certainty that the mind has marvelous power over the body, even to the extent of recovering certain forms of disease, and all kinds of mental healers and mediums are following in the wake of this interest, as sea gulls track the great steamers, and it seems fairly clear, for the same reason, namely, that they may feed thereby.

He makes superficial use of sacred phrases. They took upon them to call over them which had the evil spirits, the Name of the Lord Jesus, saying, we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. There may be people who are favorably impressed by the multiplication of pious phrases. I am not opposed to a proper expression of religious emotion. A hearty Amen does not jar me in the least, but I am sometimes fearful that Oh glory! Praise the Lord! Bless His Name! and other kindred expressions have been overworked. I hear a great many people pray, Lord, send the fires! when I think it is the last thing in the world they really want. Some months ago I was with a man who believed that if we would sit down and sing, Lord, send the fire, for a solid hour, the fires would fall. I did not tell him what I thought would happen. If they did fall they would find fuel enough in his life and mine to keep burning for quite a while, and that in the form of stuff that ought to be cleaned out. I have a personal friend in Chicago, one of Gods great and good men, who prayed deliberately one morning, Baptize me with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and expected suffering in consequence. And it came seven times hotter than he expected, but he never flinched, saying, This is what I wanted. This is what I asked for. Holiness is commonly the result of refining fires. A woman went up to my good friend, Dr. Carrol, and said to him, Doctor, I wish I had your patience. He looked at her a moment and, as his eyes filled with tears, said, My dear sister, if you knew what it had cost me to be patient you might retract your wish. My patience was acquired at the bedside and at the coffins and at the graves of two of my sweet children. I know that he might have added, And by one experience, infinitely exceeding all of these in sadness, Which broke my heart. Let us be careful how we employ Gods Name, to what use we submit the Holy Name of Jesus! These exorcists were not praying; they were blaspheming!

They had an eye to the financial advantage. Now this may be a strange interpretation, but I really believe it is a legitimate one. There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew who did this. If you ever saw a Jew; who did not convert the occasion into cash, I have not met him. It is a custom these days to praise Christian Science for their liberal contributions to the faith they have appropriated. I am not so certain it is justified. The average Christian Science church runs at a far less expense than the average evangelical church. They pay no pastors salary, and no small portion of their number, instead of making this movement a means of self-sacrifice, have seen in it an opportunity of commercial advantage. The New York Science Teacher is only one of hundreds that have gathered around them classes and are instructing them for so much per capita. In fact, the greatest financial reckoner last century knew was Mrs. Eddy herself. Her Divine revelations were so remarkable that they included the purchase of her oft-revised book at an extraordinary price each time, by every disciple of her faith, and she pocketed the profits. There were men who took the same advantage of the Emmanuel movement. Dr. W. W. Everts once said, I learned the other day of a Boston minister who was offered $3,000 per annum if he would form a partnership with a Boston doctor, dividing the fees on the Emmanuel movement basis. And Dr. Everts said, Think of that! Thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. He added, Churches are being turned into clinics for the sick and otherwise distressed. There is not so much objection to that. The Church of God ought to be the place where people go for every conceivable blessing; but when once men attempt to bring the power of God into line with their financial greed, the whole cause of Christ suffers and the Church is discredited accordingly.

I heard recently of a negro preacher who excited my ardent admiration. He had been preaching in the streets, and at the conclusion of his talk when the hat was passed, he said, Now gentlemen, I wants to be fair and square in this whole matter. I is not taking up dis here collection for de Lawd at all, but for my own pusonal uses; I needs dis collection myself and I is gwine to take every last cent of it. My friend said, I chipped in a silver piece. He should have put in a five! Such honesty deserves support!

There can be no sort of question that one of the sins that threatens America is mammonism. Mammonism is never so low, so degrading, so hell-deserving as when it takes the name of the mighty God, and by pious phrases, yet with impious spirit, tries to make of it a magic wand with which to turn all it touches into gold.

THE UNCOVERING AND THE CONVERTS

And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are yet

And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.

And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together, and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

So mightily grew the Word of the Lord and prevailed (Act 19:15-20, A. S. V.).

Demons of disease defy mere pretenders. Who are ye? And they know the difference between the boasts of the mortal man and the commands of the mighty God. There is only one way in which the unregenerate exorcist can continue to employ sacred texts and yet escape satanic reproof, and that is by going into partnership with him, and seeking with him to run a counterfeit business. Satan has his lying wonders, so Paul says in 2Th 2:9, and I believe that he will let any man or woman be something of a healer who will consent to believe a lie, and become an apostle of the same to his followers. When at last he raises up the anti-Christ, we are told that he shall work mighty miracles. But there is not an instance in which he permits an exorcist to be a healer, but he leads him sooner or later to deny the Deity of the Son of God, either insisting, as in some instances, that He never came in the flesh, or, as in others, that He was a mere medium, or as in yet others, that He was a mighty man but a mortal only. The one who shows any disposition to stick by the fundamental truths of Christ will be opposed by the devil.

The public is impressed by the failure of mere profession. One would think that such work must of necessity discredit the cause of Christ. On the contrary, even the unconverted have discerned between the success of Paul and the profession of the sons of Sceva. And fear fell upon them all and the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. God commonly justifies and even honors His faithful representatives. Paul may perish at the hands of a mob, but he goes with perfect calm, saying, I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day. His life was glorious and his death victorious. Contrast the end of Moody and Dowie. When Moody died the followers of Dowie said that it was the direct result of Dowies curse. His opposition to Dowie was his death knell, etc. But what man ever left behind him a more honored record than Dwight L. Moody, and when did one have a more glorious access to the Fathers presence? Beckoning his children to his side as he went, he said, This is my coronation day. Earth is receding, heaven is opening, and God is calling.

Even sorcerers are led to seek Christs salvation.

Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.

And not a few of them that practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

So mightily grew the Word of the Lord and prevailed (Act 19:18-20).

The Adversary conquers against the godless, but Gods man is always and everywhere more than victor over him. Robert Stuart McArthur once said, There are two great works of art illustrating this truth. The first is the Laocoon, discovered in 1506, on the Esquiline Hill at Rome, immortalizing the legend of the Trojan hero and priest Apollo, who attended by his sons, is encoded by serpents and suffers the agony of strangulation. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture, and it illustrates how a man who, though a priest-father, was unable to tear, unaided, the coiling serpent from himself and his children. They wound about his arms and his legs and rendered him and his sons equally helpless and hopeless, and they sink in despair to death. It is not the death of repose, but of agony. It is the picture of heroic, yet hopeless despair. It is the parable of the godless Greeks conception of the end of life.

The other work of art is St. George and the Dragon. A similar struggle is portrayed, but the saint prevails. Mounted on his horse, in full armor, he tramples and pierces the dragon which dies at his feet. He goes forth now in his own might, but supported by the strong Son of God. He meets the last enemy, not with quailing and fear and conscious defeat, but with a shout of victory upon his lips and the Te Deum in his heart, crying, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? and in the midst of the last struggle to shout, Thanks he to God which giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You must make your choice of the method of your life. As for me, I want the magical arts of godlessness and all the books stained by sin to be burned, and the commercial advantages that could keep me from Christ, eschewed, that I may run my race unimpeded and meet the last enemy inspired and strengthened to the shout of conscious victory.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL REMARKS

Act. 19:1. While Apollos was at Corinth.A note of time for the incidents narrated in the present chapter. The upper coasts, or the upper country.The district mentioned above (Act. 18:23) as the region of Galatia and Phrygia, and commonly regarded as the territory of Northern Galatia (see on Act. 16:6), though Prof. Ramsay explains the term upper coasts, or higher districts, as the elevated mountain country of Phrygia which separates the Sangarios from the salt lake Anava, both of which were situated in Low Phrygia, and understands Luke to intimate that instead of pursuing the ordinary caravan route to Ephesus, which passed along the coast of Lake Anava as it descends to Laodicea, Paul traversed the higher districtsi.e., preferred the shorter hill road practicable for foot passengers, but not for wheeled traffic, by way of Seiblia (The Church in the Roman Empire, p. 94). Came to Ephesus, and finding, should, according to the best authorities, be read came to Ephesus, and found. One MS. (Codex D) begins the verse thus: But Paul, desirous according to his own plan to proceed to Jerusalem, the Spirit told him to turn aside into Asia. (See Critical Remarks on Act. 18:19.) Certain disciples.Baur detects a contradiction, and therefore a sign of untruthfulness, in these men being called disciples when they had not been baptised.

Act. 19:2. Whether there be any Holy Ghost.Better, whether a Holy Spirit is; probably (as in Joh. 7:39) whether a Holy Spirit is given at baptism or on profession of faith.

Act. 19:4. Omit verily and Christ. The verse is not to be read as if Paul intended to say that John baptised in order that the people should believe (Meyer), but his meaning is that while John baptised he spoke to the people that they should believe.

Act. 19:7. Twelve men.The truthfulness of this story is impeached on three grounds:

(1) the unlikelihood of Pauls meeting accidentally with these, when Aquila could have told him about them before; and
(2) the improbability that none of these twelve had ever heard of the Messiahship of Jesus and of the baptism of the Holy Ghost from some one of their own kind who had been converted (Wendt); and
(3) the difficulty of seeing why they should have required to be baptised and Apollos not (Holtzmann). But, perhaps
(1) Paul knew of their existence before he met them;
(2) they may never have met with Apollos or Aquila; and
(3) Apollos may have been baptised.

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS

Act. 19:1-7. Pauls return to Ephesus; or, the Re-Baptism of some of Johns Disciples

I. The Apostles meeting with these disciples.

1. When he encountered them. On returning to Ephesus, which he reached

(1) by way of the upper coasts (or country), meaning probably the mountainous regions (as distinguished from the lower elevations (see Critical Remarks) of Phrygia or of Asia as distinguished from the low ground on which Ephesus was situated, and

(2) after Apollos had departed and was established in Corinth, where he laboured in the gospel with such acceptance as to draw around himself a considerable body of adherents who recognised him as their spiritual teacher (1Co. 1:12; 1Co. 3:4-6).

2. Who they were. Certain disciplesi.e., believers in the Christian faith, twelve in number, living, probably, together as a kind of ascetic community, attending the meetings of the Church, yet not sharing the fulness of its life (Plumptre)who, like Apollos (Act. 18:25), had some knowledge of the way of the Lord as proclaimed by the Baptist, and had even been baptised by the forerunner or one of his disciplesit is not certain that Apollos was baptised (but see Critical Remarks, Act. 19:7)but were totally unacquainted with the later facts of Christs history, and with the Spirit baptism of Pentecost.

3. His surprise at meeting them. The credibility of the narrative is half suspected by Holtzmann on the ground that Paul should not have felt any surprise at falling in with the twelve followers of the Baptist, since Aquila must have prepared him for such a meeting by relating his experience with Apollos; while Wendt is half inclined to doubt whether the disciples spoken of could have been so ignorant as they are represented, if they were really converted; and Ramsay cannot understand how these men could have escaped the knowledge of Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos, and yet attracted Pauls attention before he went to the synagogue. But

(1) Paul may have met these disciples on his first arrival in the city and before he had resumed acquaintance with his old friends Aquila and Priscilla.
(2) The disciples in question may easily enough have accepted the Baptists account of Christ and submitted to baptism without having subsequently learnt about the Resurrection and Ascension, with the Pentecostal effusion of the Holy Ghost. And
(3) it is gratuitous to assume that Paul did not learn of the existence of Johns followers from Aquila and Priscilla, while his knowledge of the state of imperfectly developed Christianity in which Apollos was, may have been the very circumstance which led him to suspect that the disciples now spoken of were in a similar condition.

II. The Apostles conversation with these disciples.

1. The first question addressed to them by Paul. Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? or Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?

(1) The import of this question was, not whether they were acquainted with the personality of the Holy Spirit, or whether they had received the Holy Spirit at any period subsequent to their believing, but whether on the occasion of their first profession of faith (by baptism) they had been the subjects of any supernatural endowment with spiritual gifts.
(2) The object of the question was to ascertain whether they had been baptised after a full and distinct profession of faith in the crucified and risen Christ.
(3) The sufficiency of the question arose from this, that had they been baptised with true Christian baptism, then undoubtedly they must have received some spiritual gift (compare Act. 10:44-45; Rom. 1:11), whereas if they had not received any such gift, then they could not have been baptised with Christian baptism, and must still be imperfectly instructed Christians.

2. The answer returned by them to Paul. We have not so much as heard (or, we did not so much as hear) whether there be any Holy Ghost (or, whether the Holy Ghost was given). Again

(1) the sense of this reply can hardly have been that they had never heard of the existence of a Holy Spirit (Hackett), since, as Bengel remarks, they could scarcely have been followers either of Moses or of the Baptist without attaining to such knowledge (Exo. 31:3; Exo. 35:31; Num. 27:18; Mat. 3:11); but

(2) must have been that when received into the faith either nothing had been said about the Holy Spirit at all (Alford), or nothing had been spoken about a dispensation of the Spirit being connected with the act of reception into the Church by faith (Lechler).
3. The second question addressed to them by Paul. Unto or into what then were ye baptised? What was the object of your faith and the subject of your confession when ye were baptised? The questions presuppose that some declaration was made either by them of their faith, or by the administrant of the baptismal rite of the significance of the ordinance, perhaps by both.

4. The second answer returned by them. They said, Unto (or into) Johns baptism. Not unto John as the Messiah, or unto John as their spiritual leaders which would certainly have been opposed to the humility and the entire character of the Baptist (Lechler); but into that repentance and faith in the coming Messiah which John preached, and to the exercise of which he took those bound who submitted to the rite of baptism.

5. The further instruction supplied them by Paul. This consisted in

(1) an exposition of the true purport of Johns baptism, which was designed to point his hearers to a Messiah who was to come and commit them to faith in that Messiah when he did come, and
(2) an intimation that that Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, on whom therefore it was now their duty to believe.
6. The response given by them to this instruction. When they heard it they did not dispute the correctness of the apostles teaching, but believed. This, though not stated, must be assumed.

III. The Apostles re-baptism of these disciples.

1. The fact of it. The text cannot be read in this wayWhen they (Johns disciples) heard (what their Master, John, said) they were baptised (by John) in the name of the Lord Jesus, as if it were a continuation of Pauls remarks (Beza and others),even to wrest it from the Anabaptists. That the baptism was performed by Paul is as clear as it is true that John never baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.

2. The manner of it. Most likely, as was Pauls usual practice (1Co. 1:14), by the hands of another than himself, though this is not absolutely certain.

3. The accompaniment of it. The laying on of hands upon the baptised disciples. This was performed by the apostle, and was instantly followed by the descent upon them of the Holy Ghost so that they forthwith spake with tongues and prophesied (compare Act. 10:44-46).

4. The inference from it. Not that re-baptism is always necessary when conversion intervenes after the first. It is not demonstrable that those who had been baptised by Johns baptism were always re-baptised on becoming Christian disciples. Doubtless among the thousands baptised at Pentecost were many who had been baptised by John; but no evidence appears that the apostles who had only received Johns baptism were re-baptised. Possibly in their case the baptism with fire at Pentecost rendered the repetition of the water rite unnecessary. The re-baptism of Apollos is also problematical.

Learn.

1. That genuine faith may coexist with very imperfect knowledge of Christian truth.
2. That sincere faith will always be ready to receive further enlightenment.
3. That a properly instructed faith always looks towards and rests on the name of the Lord Jesus.
4. That true faith is always followed by the reception of the Holy Spirit.
5. That Christian baptism once received does not need to be repeated.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Act. 19:2. On receiving the Holy Ghost.

I. The necessity of receiving the Holy Ghost.That one who has believed in Jesus must also receive the Holy Ghost was: I. The express declaration of prophecy. See the utterances on this subject of Isaiah, Joel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, John the Baptist.

2. The explicit promise of Christ Himself. As, for instance, to the woman of Samaria (Joh. 4:14) and to the Jews in the temple (Joh. 7:38-39); to the twelve at the supper table (Joh. 14:16-17; Joh. 15:26; Joh. 16:7), and again to the eleven after His resurrection (Luk. 24:49).

3. The unambiguous assertion of Christs apostles. Examine the language of Peter (Act. 2:38, Act. 5:32), of Paul (Gal. 4:6; Eph. 1:13), and of John (1Jn. 3:24).

II. Marks by which the Holy Ghosts presence in the heart may be known.In the early apostolic age of the Church the descent of the Holy Ghost upon a believer revealed itself in certain miraculous endowments which were thereby communicated to him, such as the gift of tongues (Act. 19:6), the gift of prophecy, or of healing or of discerning spirits, or of interpretation of tongues (1Co. 12:9-10). Now it is recognised by such signs as:

1. Inward illumination, the Holy Ghost being a spirit of truth (Joh. 14:17), whose office it is to guide into all truth (Joh. 16:13); compare 1Jn. 2:20.

2. Growing sanctity, the Holy Ghost being a spirit of purity, as His name implies, and bringing holiness into the heart as He imparts light to the understanding (Eph. 5:9).

3. Habitual devotion, the Holy Ghost being essentially a spirit of grace and supplication (Zec. 12:10).

III. Advantages that result from receiving the Holy Ghost.The reception of the Holy Spirit by a believer constitutes

1. A true bond of union between the believers soul and Christ. The union of Christ to His people and of believers to Christ is not merely external, forensic, legal, but also internal, moral, and spiritual (1Jn. 4:13).

2. A seal of the believer as Christs purchased possession. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, Christ, as it were, claims the believer as His own (Eph. 1:13).

3. An earnest of the believers inheritance. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost is the foretaste of future glory (Eph. 1:14).

Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? The influences of the Holy Spirit are extraordinary and ordinary. His ordinary influences are those which are exerted in conversion and after conversion. It is of the Spirits work in believers I shall now speak.

1. Have ye received the Holy Ghost as a teacher? Believers need instruction. They do not receive a new revelation. The author of the Book explains it to them. On what subjects? The house of the interpreter.
2. Have ye received the Holy Ghost as a guide? Believers need guidance as well as instruction. Practical religion. No Urim and Thummim. The Bible a guide-book. Ministers and Christian friends convey information about the route. The Holy Spirit is the guide. Mentor.
3. Have ye received the Holy Ghost as a sanctifier? Believers do not learn all at once the plagues of their own heart. They are led from one apartment to another of the chambers of imagery. They desire to be holy as the miser desires gold, or the scholar knowledge, or the statesman power. They use the means, but rely on the Holy Spirit.
4. Have ye received the Holy Ghost as a comforter? He is a comforter because He administers consolation to believers in seasons of affliction. But more. He supplies to them strength adequate to every exigency. And more. He bestows on them true and lasting happiness.
5. Have ye received the Holy Ghost as an intercessor? Distinguish between the intercession of the Spirit and that of Christ.G. Brooks.

Act. 19:3. On the Import of Baptism.Into what were ye baptised? Into

I. Repentance of sin.
II. Faith in Jesus Christ.

III. Resolution after new obedience.
IV. Submission to the leading of the Holy Ghost.

Act. 19:3; Act. 19:5. The two Masters, John and Christ.

I. Human masters may transmit their words; Christ only can impart His Spirit.
II. Human masters may teach the elements; Christ only can conduct to the goal.
III. Human masters may establish schools; Christ only can found a Church.Gerok.

Act. 19:6. The Tongues which the Holy Ghost gives.

I. The tongue of the wise.The tongue of truth, the tongue of knowledge (Pro. 15:2; Mal. 2:7; Eph. 4:25).

II. The tongue of the holy.The tongue of righteousness, the tongue of purity (Psa. 35:28; Psa. 39:1; 2Pe. 1:21).

III. The tongue of the loving.The tongue of kindness, the tongue of soft speech (Pro. 31:26; Eph. 4:15).

IV. The tongue of the learned.The tongue of eloquence, the tongue of persuasive speech (Isa. 1:4; Psa. 45:1).

V. The tongue of the earnest.The tongue of fire, the tongue of zealous utterance (Isa. 6:7; Act. 2:3).

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Butlers Comments

Special Study
PAULS POWER TO GIVE CHARISMATIC POWER

(Act. 19:1-41)

There is much ambiguous, scripturally-imprecise and confusing exegesis of Act. 19:1-7 being done today.

Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? The apostle Paul asked this very important question of twelve saved disciples of Christ, at Ephesus. Act. 19:2 . . . Later . . . when they prayed together, The Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied. This should have been expected since in all four gospels we are told that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Ghost. FromThe Baptism in The Holy Spirit According to Gods Word, a tract by the Full Gospel Assembly, 3688 Lee Rd., Shaker Heights, Ohio, 44120.

Note: The writer omitted the statement of the Scripture that Paul laid their hands on them. . . . and inserted something that is not even in the text, Later . . . when they prayed!

The same tract says, Must I speak in Tongues? Yes, this is important! . . . To refuse tongues is to refuse to yield yourself completely to God . . . and further on, It is very important to pray in tongues! Practice this new language of the Spirit until it becomes as natural as breathing. Why does it need practice to become natural if it is supernatural?

The tract also states, To manifest Gods love for our fellow man we must have supernatural power.

From another interesting but ambiguous and self-contradictory book A Handbook on Holy Spirit Baptism, by Don Bashan, pub. Gateway Outreach, p. 16, At times baptism in the Holy Spirit may come immediately following conversion, like in Act. 10:1-48. . . . Most Christians today receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit only after instructions and specific prayer. . . . Cornelius was not converted until baptism in water.

From the same book, p. 100, How can I receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. . . . By no means should anyone who is not a believing Christian pray for baptism in the Holy Spirit. . . . Cornelius received it before he was a Christian.

Page 104 tells how one knows he has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. At this point you may actually feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, physically. His presence may come as a warmth enveloping you, or as a silent powerful Presence enfolding you. You may experience a tingling sensation or a gentle vibration as if touched by an electric current. But even if you feel nothing, rest quietly in the confidence that the Holy Spirit is now coming upon you in power and is about to furnish you with a new language of prayer and praise to God.

Why all this confusion? Because of poor hermeneutics. People let their hermeneutics be influenced by their emotions and/or psychological needs.

Many people want to lump everything said and/ or promised concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit into one categorythe supernatural baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This brief study proposes to show that there are definite, scriptural differences and distinctions:

(1)

all ministries and works of the Holy Spirit are not alike in degree or manifestation.

(2)

specifically, the power of the apostle Paul was not power to baptize anyone in the Holy Spirit, nor even power to become an agent through whom Christ would baptize anyone in the Holy Spirit,

(3)

specifically, to show that Paul and the other apostles could impart only the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of their hands, and that that power ceased when the apostles died.

Paul did not give the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Act. 19:1-41 because there are only two instances of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures.

Act. 2:1-47, the Day of Pentecost

Nothing could be clearer than the fact that it was the Apostles and the Apostles only, who received Holy Spirit baptism on the Day of Pentecost.

(1)

It was not some psychical or emotional experience for the purpose of converting those who received itthey did not need to be converted.

(2)

It was an outward manifestation, a special miracle for a Divine purpose.

(a)

It was something that could be seen and heard (not felt).

(b)

There were immediate effects; they spoke with foreign languages; they spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance.

(c)

Only the apostles spoke in other tongues; and very obviously, they spoke in the different native languages represented by that audience.

(d)

They gave utterance only to the words which the Spirit placed upon their tongues. They themselves did not comprehend the scope of their utterances: Peter did not comprehend that the promise was to all who were afar off.

(3)

Holy Spirit baptism was not for the purpose of converting anyone.

(a)

Holy Spirit baptism was to be conferred by Christ as a promise to be fulfilled.

(b)

Water baptism was a command to be obeyed by all who wished forgiveness and salvation.

THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE BAPTISM OF THE GREAT COMMISSION AND HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM. THE FORMER WAS A COMMAND TO BE OBEYED: THE LATTER WAS A PROMISE TO BE FULFILLED DIRECTLY FROM HEAVEN. The former to be administered by any evangelizer; the latter was administered only by Christ.

(4)

Holy Spirit baptism was a special miracle for

(a)

clothing the apostles with divine authority, power and infallibility; and for incorporating the Jews (Gentiles in Act. 10:1-48; Act. 11:1-30) into the Body of Christ.

(b)

With their authority and infallibility guaranteed and perpetuated in their writings, there was no longer any necessity for special authority or infallibility.

(c)

Hence, we find no evidence in the New Testament that the apostles ever conferred their authority upon any other man or group of men. THEY HAD NO SUCCESSORS. THEY COULD NOT BAPTIZE ANYONE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. ONLY CHRIST COULD DO THAT.

Act. 10:1-48; Act. 11:1-30, Cornelius

Nothing could be clearer than that even the Jewish apostles had difficulty accepting their own Old Testament prophets that Gentiles were to become members of the Messiahs kingdom.

(1)

They persisted in preaching the Gospel to the Jews only for several years following the day of Pentecost.

(2)

Finally, a series of divine interventions became necessary to break down this wall of prejudice and bring about the admission of the Gentiles.

(3)

God did it in such a way as to leave no doubt in the minds of the Jews . . . by Holy Spirit Baptism. There are no Holy Spirit baptisms between Act. 2:1-47 and the one of Cornelius!

What happened in connection with the conversion of Cornelius does not happen with any other conversion in the book of Acts,

(1)

and even this did not cause the conversion nor was it a result of the conversion . . . it came directly and arbitrarily from Heaven.

(2)

It certainly was not to give Cornelius faith.

(3)

It was not to purify his heart.

(4)

Nor was it to make Cornelius and his household Christians . . . they became Christians the same way all other persons became Christians in New Testament times, by repenting, believing and being immersed in water (Act. 10:47-48).

(5)

That text substantiates beyond any possibility of doubt that the Holy Spirit baptism was a promise to be fulfilled directly from Heaven, whereas Christian baptism was a command to be obeyed by believers; and that the baptism permanently incorporated into the structure of the Church was not Holy Spirit baptism, but baptism in water!

(6)

The Holy Spirit baptism of Cornelius household demonstrated once for all that the blessings of the New Covenant were for Gentiles as well as Jews AND ON THE SAME TERMS!

The only instances of Holy Spirit Baptism recorded in the New Testament (Act. 2:1-47; Act. 10:1-48; Act. 11:1-30) had no connection with conversion regeneration or sanctification of the saints. It was not conferred for the purpose of giving faith to the non-believer or purifying the sinful heart; nor is there any evidence that it was bestowed in answer to prayer. It is not connected in any direct way with the remission of sins.

It was conferred upon the apostles as representative of the Jews at Pentecost and upon Cornelius as representative of the Gentiles to signify Gods acceptance of both Jew and Gentile into the kingdom of Christ on the same terms. Those are the only two instances of which we have any scripture record of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (we may safely assume it was given to the apostle Paul as one born out of due season).
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit ceased when its ultimate end was accomplished. No person has any justification from the Scripture for asking for, expecting, or claiming Holy Spirit baptism today!

Paul did give the charismatic power of the Holy Spirit to some Christians.

The greatest measure of Spirit-power ever bestowed upon human beings was, as we have looked at, the OVERWHELMING MEASURE (or, the Baptism).

The charismatic power of the Spirit is inferior to the overwhelming.

This is not my attempt to impose limitations upon the operation of Gods Spirit.

It is not a question of power, but of fact.

How The Spirit manifests Himself and the channels through which He exerts His powers are clearly indicated by Scripture.

Any other point of reference as to how He functions (human reason, emotion, alleged miracle) cannot be depended upon.

The charismatic power was:

conferred upon some Christians

in the apostolic age,

inferior to the Baptism of the Spirit,

conferred not by the Lord from Heaven, but by the laying on of the hands of the apostles.

primarily for evidential purposes, to confirm their message,

commonly designated gifts and listed by Paul in 1Co. 12:1-31.

There are some cases of the conferring of the evidential power of the Spirit preliminary to Pauls giving of it in Act. 19:1-41 which will help in over-all understanding of it.

The first case of miracles performed by anyone other than an apostle is described in Act. 8:1-40.

(1)

Philip the evangelist, 1Co. 8:6-8

(a)

Philip given this power when the apostles laid hands on him, Act. 6:1-6

(b)

He went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed unto them Christ, Act. 8:5.

(c)

Simon the converted sorcerer continued with Philip; Simon was a baptized Christian, but did not have the power to do miracles; he wanted to buy the power.

(2)

It was not until the apostles from Jerusalem went down to Samaria and laid their hands on the people whom Philip had converted that they received the charismatic powers of the Holy Spirit, Act. 8:17.

(a)

Simon still did not have the power of the Holy Spirit the others had and sought to buy it.

(b)

If the baptismal power or even the charismatic power of the Holy Spirit belongs to all Christians and can be gotten by prayer only, why didnt the Samaritan Christians have it? Why couldnt Philip, who did have it, pass it on to these Christians?

(c)

If it is so imperative for every Christian to have, why didnt Simon have it? He recognized that it came only by the laying on of the hands of the apostles!

OF COURSE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS NOT FROM THE APOSTLES, PER SE. . . . IT DID NOT ORIGINATE WITH THEM. . . . THEY WERE THE SPIRITS INSTRUMENTS.

The case of Timothy

(1)

Some think that the laying on of the hands of the eldership (1Ti. 4:14) imparted to Timothy the charismatic gift of the Holy Spirit.

(2)

We know that the laying on of hands was done by persons other than the apostles for purposes other than the conferring of charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit (Act. 13:2; Jas. 5:14, etc.).

(3)

Paul explicitly states in 2Ti. 1:6 that Timothy did not receive his speical gift of the Holy Spirit at the hands of the elders, BUT BY THE LAYING ON OF PAULS HANDS!

(4)

Timothy laid hands on some (1Ti. 5:22) but no mention is made that he conferred the charismatic power of the Holy Spirit in so doing.

There is no evidence whatever in the New Testament that the early Christians who were not apostles, had the power themselves to confer these extraordinary charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit on others.

(1)

It is clear that the impartation of the charismatic power of the Holy Spirit required the personal presence of an apostle.

(2)

However much the apostle Paul may have desired to impart some charisma to his brethren at Rome, he could not do so without visiting them personally (Rom. 1:11-12).

Paul could not even confer these miraculous gifts by telling the Christians at Rome to lay their hands on his inspired epistle which they received from him and could touch! Paul could not even pray for them from a distance and confer charismatic power.

Paul in Act. 19:1-41

We do not know why Paul asked them whether they had received the Holy Spirit.

(1)

Actually the original Greek text omits the word given. Act. 19:2 KJV ASV

(2)

This may indicate they did not know the Holy Spirit existed.

(3)

Regardless of their lack of knowledge, Paul knew immediately they had not been baptized in the name (authority) of Jesus Christ. If they had been baptized in water according to the Great Commission, they would have known the Holy Spirit existed.

Pauls question as to whether they had received the Spirit when they believed, does not say whether he referred to the miraculous or the indwelling of the Spirit.

(1)

However, we do know that when he saw something was wrong with their water baptism he baptized them.

(2)

HE THEN LAID HIS HANDS ON THEM AND CONFERRED THE HOLY SPIRIT IN A MIRACULOUS WAY!

We cannot receive the charismatic power of the Spirit today as did those in Act. 19:1-41.

(1)

If we could, it would mean that everyone who was actually baptized into Christ and saved, should have the apostles hands laid on them that they might receive the Spirit.

(2)

If that is so, we cannot be Christians today because there are no apostles to lay hands on us and confer the Spirit in this way.

(3)

It would mean that if one were really a Christian, he would speak with tongues or languages and prophesy by inspiration of the Spirit.

Why did Paul confer the miraculous Spirit-charisma on these men? To prove that God approved of Pauls baptizing them again in the name of Jesus instead of allowing them to continue in John the Baptists baptism. That was the purpose of Pentecost Holy Spirit miraclesto supersede John the Baptists baptism.

The Purpose of the Charismatic Power of the Holy Spirit was Evidential.

Its primary and almost sole purpose was to confirm the Word that was preached by apostles, evangelists and other selected Christians.

It may have had a secondary purpose to establish the saints in their most holy faithBUT ONLY TO CONFIRM THE WORD BEING PREACHED TO THE SAINTS. . . . IT WAS ONLY AS THE SAINTS OBEYED THE WORD PREACHED THAT THEY WERE EDIFIED . . . THE CHARISMATIC GIFTS SIMPLY CONFIRMED THE PREACHED WORD AS AUTHORITATIVE!

Consider these scriptures: Mar. 16:20; Rom. 1:11; Heb. 2:3-4; 1Co. 2:1-5; Rom. 15:18-19.

In the infancy of the Church, when the local congregations everywhere were compelled to depend upon the oral instruction of the apostles and their co-laborers for guidance in faith and practice, God graciously confirmed the Word by signs and miracles in those selected to preach.

A child just learning to walk often has to rely upon its parents for the additional strength and guidance that it needs. So the Church. When the Church was still a child, she spake as a child, she felt as a child, she thought as a child; but when the Church became a grown integrated man, she put away childish things (1Co. 13:11; Eph. 4:13-16). When the body of Christ was fully formed (both Jew and Gentile incorporated) and permanently established (with her elders, deacons and evangelists); when Truth was fully revealed and embodied in the New Testament THEN THE SUPERNATURAL SUPPORT BY WHICH SHE WAS SUSTAINED THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD OF HER INFANCY, THE CHARISMATIC MEASURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS NO LONGER NEEDED, AND PASSED AWAY!

Most certainly, the special charismatic measure of the Holy Spirit was not given to the primitive Church as toys with which they were to amuse themselves in the presence of a cynical world. They did not need it to motivate them to go everywhere to preach the word; once the Word of Christs death and resurrection was validated by preachers who proved their message by gifts, those who accepted went everywhere preaching it. Even the apostles did not have the power to use their gifts of healing whenever they had any sick person.

(1)

Why would Paul leave his friend and traveling companion sick, having the power to heal him (2Ti. 4:20)?

(2)

Why could not Paul, or some other Christian with charismatic power, remove Pauls thorn in the flesh? (2Co. 12:7 ff.).

(3)

The Handbook on Holy Spirit Baptism, p. 22 says, Just as there are reasons why people do not respond to the gospel message, so there are many reasons why people do not respond miraculously when a prayer for healing is offered. Page 24, If those who insist the age of miracles has ended had lived in Jesus day, the age of miracles might never have begun.

Answer: The miracle of charismatic power in its working did not depend upon faith or expectation. Jesus worked miracles on people who could not have believed in Him, on people who did not believe in Him, and so did the apostles.

Duration of the Charismatic Measure of the Holy Spirit

The conclusion from the foregoing studies is that since no one but the apostles had the power to impart the charismatic measure of the Spirit; and this they did only by the laying on of their hands personally, IT FOLLOWS THAT WHEN THE APOSTLES CLOSED THEIR EARTHLY LABORS AND WENT TO THEIR ETERNAL REWARD, THE POWER TO IMPART THE EVIDENTIAL MEASURE OF THE SPIRIT CEASED.

What the apostles conferred was NOT the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus from heaven, directly, conferred that measure of the Spirit and that in only two recorded instances.

When all those Christians died who had received this measure (charismatic) at the hands of an apostle, (the Christians scripturally unable to pass it on) the charismatic manifestations of the Holy Spirit naturally ceased to be wrought. THIS IS MADE VERY CLEAR IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

AT EPHESUS. Act. 18:24 Act. 19:41

Apollos teaching the baptism of John is corrected by Priscilla and Aquila. Act. 19:24-28.

Act. 19:24

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures.

Act. 19:25

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John:

Act. 19:26

and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately.

Act. 19:27

And when he was minded to pass over into Achaia, the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him: and when he was come, he helped them much that had believed through grace;

Act. 19:28

for he powerfully confuted the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Act. 19:24-25 As the work of the Lord was begun in Corinth by Paul and continued by Apollos, so in Ephesus the work was begun by Apollos and continued by Paul. What Paul did for Apollos in Corinth, Apollos did for Paul in Ephesus. What a wonderful lesson can be gained from a study of the life and work of this Apollos.

1. A Jew. 2. An Alexandrian. 3. An eloquent man. 4. Mighty in the scriptures. 5. Instructed in the way of the Lord. 6. Fervent in the spirit. 7. Spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John.
We can say with G. Campbell Morgan that like Paul, Apollos combined the powers of the Hebrew religion with the learning of his Greek background. Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, but he was also reared in the Greek city of Tarsus. How the Lord does place His hand upon the very one He can use best in every given circumstance. How well fitted was Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles. He had all the background of his Hebrew training to enable him to speak to the Jews, all the personal experience of living under Grecian culture to assist in his approach and message to the Gentiles. This also was the combination with this man Apollos.
Alexandria was the center of learning in Pauls day, a large university being located there. This might account for the eloquence of this one. He was not only an orator, but one who touched the emotions of his listeners and used the word of God as the basis of his discussion. What an example for New Testament preachers of today.
The statement that He was mighty in the scriptures does not simply mean that he quoted one passage after another, but rather like Nehemiah of old gave the sense thereof. He had a grasp of the interrelationship of the scriptures, something to which Paul was alluding when he said rightly dividing the word of truth.

It might be interesting to read Mat. 3:3 in connection with the statement that Apollos was instructed in the way of the Lord. Here in Matthew we have a prophecy carried over from Isa. 40:3 concerning John the Baptist. A way, a highway was to be prepared by John the Baptist for Jesus. This way was prepared by Johns preaching and his promise. John told of the soon coming of the Messiah and His kingdom. In this doctrine Apollos had been carefully taught, either by John himself or by some one of his disciples. We might ask: Didnt Apollos even so much as know that the Messiah had already come? Oh, yes, Im sure he did for we find later that he taught and spoke with a fiery spirit the things concerning Jesus. But his teaching and preaching on this subject were limited to that which was known and taught by John the Baptist. John knew that the Messiah had come. He knew also that He was to have a kingdom and that very soon He would set it up. He knew of his miracles and power. Something probably of His life and teaching reached Johns ears. Apollos must also have heard of the death of this Jesus and possibly something of His being raised. But Apollos knew nothing of the message of the cross, or resurrection. He was probably looking for this Nazarene to appear again and set up His Messianic kingdom.

700.

How was the work in Ephesus like the work in Corinth?

701.

Give from memory four of the seven characteristics of Apollos.

702.

Show how Paul was especially fitted for his work.

703.

How was Apollos prepared by God for his work?

704.

What might have accounted for the education of Apollos?

705.

Show how Apollos was more than just an orator.

706.

What is meant by being mighty in the scriptures?

707.

How does Mat. 3:3 relate to the preaching of Apollos?

Act. 19:26 This man was found in the synagogue of the Jews speaking out boldly on these matters. There were two attendants of that synagogue who also knew of the Way of God and the things concerning Jesus, but their knowledge was complete and their message unto the salvation of the soul. Be it said to the everlasting honor of this good man Apollos that although he had much in which he could take pride he was not bigoted. We can observe this in the response that was given to Priscilla and Aquila when they took him aside and instructed him more accurately in the Way of the Lord. Apollos was glad to admit his past mistake and from henceforth include in his message this new found truth.

Act. 19:27 It would seem that the acceptance of this new position prompted his decision to leave the town of Ephesus. It would be, to say the least, a disadvantage to boldly proclaim one thought for a space of time and then rather suddenly make almost an about-face on the same subject. When he decided that he could work in a more effective way for Christ in Achaia than in Asia, he left. Priscilla and Aquila probably told him of the work in Corinth. The brethren encouraged him in the thought and wrote letters of recommendation to the brethren in Achaia. The fact that there were Christians in Ephesus before Paul arrived is fine testimony of the good work of Priscilla and Aquila.

Act. 19:28 The disciples (or believers) in Corinth did receive Apollos. Indeed, he became such a favorite of some that they formed a sect around him. (Cf. 1Co. 1:12). Luke say that the greatest contribution of this evangelist was his ability to help them much that had believed through grace. The Jews that opposed Pauls preaching of Christ in Corinth were due for a real setback and that publicly when this man Apollos put in his appearance.

708.

What was missing from the message of Apollos?

709.

What very honorable thing can we say about Apollos?

710.

How did Priscilla and Aquila go about correcting Apollos? Any example for us today?

711.

Why did Apollos leave Ephesus?

712.

Do we find an example in these verses of a so-called church letter?

713.

How is it that there were Christians in Ephesus before Paul arrived?

714.

How did Apollos get along in Corinth? What did he do?

Paul corrects some on the baptism of John, baptizes them, lays hands on them; they receive the spiritual gifts. Act. 19:1-7.

Act. 19:1

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples:

Act. 19:2

and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given.

Act. 19:3

And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into Johns baptism.

Act. 19:4

And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus.

Act. 19:5

And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

Act. 19:6

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

Act. 19:7

And they were in all about twelve men.

Act. 19:1-2 God did will, and Paul did come back to the city of Ephesus.

It would seem that he was in a hurry to arrive for Luke says that he came through the upper country instead of coming along the longer, but more convenient highway route.
What an interesting passage is before us. Why is it that Paul met these twelve men rather than any others in this place? Well, it is not to be concluded from this text that these twelve were all the disciples in Ephesus, but rather that he encountered in these men something of interest for our learning and example.
Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? . . . Note: Not since ye believed as the King James version has it. To say since ye believed would suggest a second blessing. But the American Revised Version is accurate when it suggests that the reception of the Holy Spirit was co-existent with saving faith.

Why did Paul ask this question of these persons? This question cannot be answered with certainty but it would seem that Paul saw something in the lives of these persons that made him wonder. Possibly some lack of evidence of the fruit of the Spirit (Cf. Gal. 5:22). Be that as it may, the inquiry was made and now notice their response. We did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was . . . (the word given has been supplied by the translators). Of course this does not mean that these men were ignorant of whether there was or was not such a being as the Holy Spirit, but rather they were unacquainted with the fact that the Holy Spirit had made His advent.

715.

What is meant by the statement that God did will and Paul did come back to Ephesus?

716.

What shows that Paul was in a hurry to get to Ephesus?

717.

Why mention Pauls meeting with the twelve disciples?

718.

Why not use the word since in the question of Paul?

Act. 19:3-5 When Paul realized this he immediately inquired into the one action that brings the Holy Spirit into the life and body of manwater baptism. If this is not true, why bring the subject of baptism into the answer of their question? Some are inclined to the opinion that Paul was asking these persons whether they had received the spiritual gifts since they believed, but this is not so for it does not read since but when ye believed.

When they said that they were baptized into Johns baptism, then Paul knew that they were like Apollos, i.e. in need of instruction. The fourth verse must be but the briefest outline of Pauls instruction to them. They needed to know all that Apollos did (possibly they were his converts). Johns baptism was a baptism of testimony, testimony to the repentance of sins and a testimony of belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. Paul must have spoken to them of the meaning of the cross and the necessity of the baptism of the Lord Jesus (Cf. Mar. 16:15-16). But forget not that the first purpose of their baptism was the reception of the Holy Spirit. When they were thus taught they were baptized by immersion for the remission of sins (cf. Act. 2:38) and they received from God the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Act. 19:6-7 Immediately following their baptism (or so it would seem) Paul granted to these men the spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues (and doubtless others, but these are all that are evident on this occasion). This was done by the laying on of Pauls hands and for the purpose of granting inspired leadership for the infant church until the New Covenant could be placed in permanent written form.

719.

What does this text tell us as to the time when we receive the Holy Spirit?

720.

Why do YOU think Paul asked this question of the twelve?

721.

What did the twelve mean by their answer to Pauls question?

722.

Why inquire into their baptism?

723.

What about the thought of spiritual gifts in connection with this incident?

724.

What did these twelve men need to know? What verse describes their instruction?

725.

What baptism is the baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus?

726.

What special spiritual gifts were given to these men? How?

Paul preaches in the synagogues and the school of Tyrannus. Act. 19:8-12.

Act. 19:8

And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Act. 19:9

But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

Act. 19:10

And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Act. 19:11

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

Act. 19:12

insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the disease departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.

Act. 19:8-10 The appearance of the apostle in the synagogue was welcomed upon his first visit to Ephesus (cf. Act. 18:19-20) and now they manifest their open mindedness by giving heed to his bold preaching for the space of three months. Now here is a question: If Paul established a church in Ephesus by reasoning and persuading concerning the kingdom of God what must then be the relationship of the kingdom of God and the church? There is only one conclusion and that is that the kingdom of God and the church are one and the same institution. (Cf. Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:7).

I like the two words of description as to Pauls preaching: reasoning and persuading. Lets have more of it.
But a determined minority so quenched the voice of their conscience that they became hardened toward the truth. This caused them to enter into disobedience and to express this disobedience in words of ridicule and contradiction. When such evil speaking was done before the general assembly of the church there was only one thing to do and that was to leave the synagogue. It would seem that when Paul withdrew the disciples, he took with him the largest proportion of the synagogue congregation.
The town of Ephesus was about 600,000 in population. In this large city Paul and the Ephesian Christians must find a place to meet. The school room of one Tyrannus was secured. This evidently was a large lecture room in which lessons on rhetoric were given. Ramsey suggests that the hours for work were from early in the morning until 10 oclock and then a period of five hours intervened in which the noon meal was eaten and time was taken for rest and relaxation. He suggests that in this way Paul could work at his trade and at the same time speak during these hours to those who could and would hear. Whatever the circumstance, from this schoolroom there was heralded forth the word of life for the space of two years. Paul was not content simply to arouse those of the city, but also the many living in the great province of Asia. And so we read: so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

727.

Did the Jews mean what they said upon Pauls first visit to Ephesus? (Cp. Act. 18:19-20)

728.

What is the relationship of the kingdom of God and the church? What two descriptive words are given concerning Pauls preaching?

729.

How long did Paul continue preaching before opposition arose?

730.

What real sin did the disobedient ones commit?

731.

What determined the separation?

732.

What was the population of Ephesus when Paul was there?

The seven churches of Asia referred to in Rev. 1:4 as well as the church at Colossae (Col. 1:2) were doubtless established at this time.

Act. 19:11-12 In this great town full of superstition and sin God granted special acts of power through the hands of the apostle. Such acts would even stop the Ephesian in his onward rush to destruction. Just what these miracles were that were performed personally by Paul Luke does not say, but another unusual circumstance that came as a result of the apostles effort is described. The power of God was so in evidence among them that nothing appeared impossible. If the hands of the apostle could heal, why not some of his personal effects? Paul, as we have said, was working at his occupation of tent making. In this work he would naturally wear an apron to protect his person and garments. Such aprons or coverings were eagerly sought by some to be carried to the sick that Paul had not time to visit. Strange to say, diseases were cured, and not only so, but by the use of such even evil spirits were cast out. We cannot imagine that this was done with the approval of the apostle.

733.

What was the school of Tyrannus?

734.

What suggestion of Ramsey seems to help in our understanding?

735.

How could all Asia hear the word with only one preacher?

736.

What does Rev. 1:4 and Col. 1:2 have to do with Pauls work?

737.

What were the special miracles wrought by Paul? Why?

738.

How is it that the Ephesians used the aprons or handkerchiefs?

739.

Did these items really effect the cures? How?

740.

Show how the use of the aprons and handkerchiefs was not wise.

Exorcists overcome by evil spirits. The name of the Lord magnified. Act. 19:13-20,

Act. 19:13

But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

Act. 19:14

And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.

Act. 19:15

And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

Act. 19:16

And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Act. 19:17

And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Act. 19:18

Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.

Act. 19:19

And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Act. 19:20

So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.

Act. 19:13-16 That such efforts of healing were not, to say the least, wise can be seen from the effect that they had upon unbelievers. When word got around that the sick were being healed by proxy, it seemed to some that there must not be any limitations on the power of the name of this one whom Paul preached. Certain ideas came into the hearts of strolling Jews whose time and interest were taken up with nothing better than dabbling in the black arts. The participants in the particular incident described here were seven degenerate sons of one Sceva, who was, at one time at least, a high priest. Others had been using the name in a supernatural way saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. So two of the boys of Sceva (perhaps more but two are mentioned) hit upon a plan of casting out a demon which was quite unique. Their plan was to get the poor possessed man into a room and once there they could then rebuke the spirit and cast it out by their new power. But they were entirely unprepared for the results of their efforts. They had no sooner pronounced the magical formula than the evil spirit had a word to say in answer to them: Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? Imagine the surprised look on the faces of the two young lads when they heard these words. And then their surprise turned to fright as the possessed man leaped upon them. Fight as they did he mastered them both. In the scuffle their clothes were torn and their bodies injured. There was only one thing to do and that was to get out of this room and escape from this madman. What a sight it must have presented to those who saw them fleeing from the house naked and wounded.

741.

Who were these strolling Jews? Who was Sceva?

742.

Why did these sons want to cast out a demon?

743.

What was the plan of these two sons in casting out a demon?

744.

When did surprise turn to fright?

745.

How was it that this incident with the two sons turned out to good?

746.

How was the death of Ananias and Sapphira a parallel for this case?

Act. 19:17 But the result was good. The news of the incident spread far and wide to both Jews and Greeks. When they heard of it fear fell upon them. The respect here given was evidently due to the fact that although Paul was very successful in casting out demons, yea, even the aprons and handkerchiefs of the apostle could do the same, yet when this power was at all mishandled, the power of its misuse was as great as its use. Hence the name of Jesus was magnified rather than degraded.

Act. 19:18-20 When Ananias and Sapphira were carried out to their graves for lying, fear came upon every soul. Of the rest of the church Luke says that they durst not join themselves to them, i.e. if there were some who were at all hypocritical like the two described, they made no effort at all to join themselves to them, fearing lest a similar fate befall them. The good accomplished here in Ephesus went far beyond that in Jerusalem. The positive good accomplished was that it brought the hypocrites out of hiding to come in a confession of their sins (See Jas. 5:16). The fear of the consequences of pretending truly took hold of the hearts of these people. Oh, that it might be so today. To be specific, Luke tells us of $75,000 worth of books that were burned. What were these magical books? Perhaps that would best be held for a question of discussion, It would suffice to say that they were in direct opposition to The Way and were thus aligned in some fashion with the evil one,

Pauls far reaching plans. Act. 19:21-22.

Act. 19:21

Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

Act. 19:22

And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

Act. 19:21-22 Before we discuss Pauls future plans, it might be well to place before our minds the important thoughts that relate to this time in the chronology of events. First let us say that Paul was laying plans for a collection for the poor saints in Judea. With this in mind he had written a letter to the Corinthians instructing them concerning it. He mentions in his letter to the Corinthians that the Galatians and those of Macedonia were also to have a part in this collection. Some writers assume that the letter to the Galatians was written from Antioch before he left on the third journey.

747.

How did the good accomplished in Ephesus supersede that of Jerusalem?

748.

How is it that $75,000 went up in smoke?

749.

How does the collection for the poor saints of Judea fit into this narrative?

THEATER AT EPHESUS.

Ephesus, the capital of the province, was in a fertile district and stood partly on lowland and partly on the hills near the mouth of the Cayster. It had a fine harbor so that at the beginning of the Christian era it was the emporium of that part of the peninsula north of the Taurus. During the ages, however, its harbor became filled up with earth brought down by the river, and its great trade passed over to Smyrna. Besides the two great roads that led easterly there were coast roads, one leading northerly to Smyrna, the other southerly to Miletus. Ephesus was the center of the worship of Diana, a goddess similar to the Greek Artemis, who was worshiped under different names throughout Asia Minor. The manufacture of shrines of silver, marble, and terra cotta, used in the worship of this deity, was a lucrative business in Ephesus. (Act. 19:24-27.) Its temple of Diana was a grand specimen of Ionic architecture and was one of the seven wonders of the world. The length of the building was 425 feet, the breadth 220 feet, and its columns, of which there were 137, were sixty feet high, and six feet in diameter. The temple and its precincts were held most sacred and furnished safe asylum even to criminals. It was also used as a bank for the safekeeping of treasures. This great structure, like other portions of Ephesus, is now a mass of ruins. Paul made Ephesus one of his chief centers of missionary enterprise, Paul himself did not probably visit all the cities of the surrounding country where churches were established, but directed the work carried on by his various associates. The apostle John is said to have spent the closing years of his life in Ephesus.

Historical Geography of Bible Lands, pages 105106.

Now as to Pauls plans. He had purposed in the spirit that he was to pass from Ephesus into Macedonia and Achaia taking up the collection, as we before stated. He planned also to winter in Corinth. And from thence to Jerusalem to take the offering to those in need. Then Paul says, I must also see Rome.

In writing to the Corinthians Paul stated that a great door is opened unto me and there are many adversaries (1Co. 16:9). Because of the very promising work in Ephesus Paul decided to stay until Pentecost. Therefore he sent on ahead Timothy and Erastus. Erastus was the treasurer of the city of Corinth and Timothy was given the highest recommendation in the letter the apostle had already written to Corinth (1Co. 16:7-11) also (Rom. 16:23).

750.

When and from where was the book of Galatians written?

751.

What were the three places Paul purposed to visit upon leaving Ephesus?

752.

Give one fact of interest about Timothy and Erastus.

753.

What was meant by the effectual door?

The riot of the silversmiths. Act. 19:23-41.

Act. 19:23

And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.

Act. 19:24

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen;

Act. 19:25

whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth.

Act. 19:26

And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands:

Act. 19:27

and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple, of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

Act. 19:28

And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

Act. 19:29

And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Pauls companions in travel.

Act. 19:30

And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

Act. 19:31

And certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre.

Act. 19:32

Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.

Act. 19:33

And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defence unto the people.

Act. 19:34

But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

Act. 19:35

And when the townclerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

Act. 19:36

Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.

Act. 19:37

For ye have brought hither these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.

Act. 19:38

If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another.

Act. 19:39

But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

Act. 19:40

For indeed we are in danger to be accused concerning this days riot, there being no cause for it: and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.

Act. 19:41

And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

Act. 19:23-27 When Paul said there was an open door for the Word, he probably had reference to the good results from the Sceva incident. Further words concerning the many adversaries can be gained from reading 1Co. 4:9-13.

An unexpected adversary arose to close the door of opportunity. It was not the Jews this time, but the vested interests of the town leaders. A certain rich man in the city found out what was causing his business to fall off so sharply. This mans name was Demetrius and his work was that of a silversmith. The main outlet for his work was in the little silver shrine and image that he made by the hundreds to be sold to the devotees of Diana, goddess of the Ephesians. Her great temple was located in the city. The reason these shrines were not selling like they once did was all centered in a certain wandering preacher named Paul. He was a preacher of faith in a God not made with hands. So successful were his efforts that all Asia was being influenced. This man Demetrius was a very candid speaker. Upon calling the silversmiths together, and those of like occupation, he made no apology for the statement that he was interested in their wealth first and the promotion of worship of Diana second. When you strike a man in his pocket-book you have struck a vital and sensitive spot.

We are losing money.

Pauls preaching is the cause of it.

Therefore Pauls preaching must be stopped.

This was the reasoning of this craftsman. And besides that, he told the ever increasing crowd, it could be that even this temple of Diana (perhaps gesturing in the direction of it) could be made of no account. And then appealing to the popular mind, he laid the trap into which so many fall. He said in thought, Ten thousand Ephesians cant be wrong. The general popularity of the goddess is here given as a measure of correctness and truth.

754.

What was different about the adversary here in Ephesus?

755.

What angered Demetrius?

756.

How wide was the influence of Pauls preaching?

757.

What were the first and second interests of Demetrius?

758.

What was the trap laid by Demetrius?

Act. 19:28-34 The gathering called together by Demetrius occurred either in the street or in some place of public meeting. It wasnt long until they had the interest of most of the people of the city. In no time at all a great uncontrollable mob gathered. The word was thrown about that Paul and his preaching was the center of the objection. Two of Pauls companions were seized upon by some of the mob. Now the whole vast howling throng rushed into the immense amphitheatre. (It still stands to this day.) By this time Paul heard of the trouble and had ascertained the cause. He was about to enter in among the crowd and reveal himself to them and to speak to this gathering. He had spoken to mobs before. But the Christians in Ephesus who were with Paul saw the utter futility of such effort and hence strongly entreated the apostle that he not attempt it. Then a rather unusual word is given concerning this critical decision:

And certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre.
Who were these men? What influence would they have over Paul? In answer to this we quote again from Cuningham Geikie, Hours with the Bible, Vol. III, pages 9899:
The provinces of Asia Minor had officials of high rank, named after their province. Bythyniarchs, Galatarchs, Lyciarchs, or in Asia, Asiarchs, who were presidents of the sacred rites, and of the public games and theatrical amusements, exhibited yearly in honour of the gods and of the emperors, providing for the vast outlay solely at their private expense. One was chosen each year, but those of past years were still associated, through courtesy, with him, or at least retained the great liberality implied in their office. So wide had the influence of Paul become by this time that some of these high dignitaries were friendly to him, and sent, beseeching him not to venture into the theatre; knowing, perhaps, his fearlessness and valuing his safety.
This theatre held no less than 5,000 and by the time it was reasonably full of people, all shouting their devotion to Diana, the place indeed was in confusion. As new persons came into this place and inquired as to why such a meeting was being held, some cried one thing and some another, . . . and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
Some in this multitude felt that a defense must be made for the Jews, the thought being that just because this man Paul was a Jew there was no reason to blame the Jews as a race. The one the Jews selected to make this defense was one of their number called Alexander. He was evidently recognized as a speaker of some ability. He was hurried through the crowd to a place where all could see him. When lifted up before the multitude, Alexander waved his hands for quietness and they seemed to give heed to him, at least for the momentbut then someone cried out, Hes a Jew. Down with him! Great is Diana of the Ephesians. The multitude caught up the word and so by the space of two hours there was an incessant cry from this vast crowd, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Thus was this effort on the part of the Jews frustrated.

759.

Where was the place of meeting for the gathering of Demetrius?

760.

Why seize Gaius and Aristarchus?

761.

Why did Paul want to enter into the crowd? Why prevented?

762.

Who were the Asiarchs and what influence would they have over the apostle? Why not ask the Holy Spirit?

763.

Why was the assembly in confusion?

764.

Why the attempted speech of Alexander?

765.

How did the town clerk select an expedient time to speak?

Act. 19:35-41 When the mob had about exhausted itself emotionally and physically, (cf. p. 164) a dignitary who commanded respect appeared on the scene; the town clerkan official who had charge of the municipal archives, official documents, and had the duty of reading them out to the town assemblies. This man was accustomed to addressing crowds, and besides this he had authority behind what he said. To give this man trouble would be to bring the rough Imperial law down on their heads. So it was that when he stood in a place to be seen and heard the great crowd was hushed and they gave heed to what he was about to say.

What a wonderfully clever speech is this of the town clerk. He surely understood the crowd and the need. Notice his procedure.

There was a need to satisfy their religious pride.

So the town clerk says: Why are you acting as you are? Who is there that doesnt know of the position of Ephesus and Diana? The fame of Diana is spread throughout the whole world. Why, everyone has heard of the image which has fallen down from JupiterSeeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

There was a need for many to understand the charges being made against Gaius and Aristarchuswere they guilty or not guilty?

So the town clerk mentions two things concerning Diana of which these men are not guilty.

They never robbed our temples.

They never blasphemed our goddess.

The town clerk was careful not to speak of what they had done, or to meet the issue as to what Paul had done.

There was a need for a solution to the grievance of Demetrius and the craftsmen.

So the town clerk reminded all, and Demetrius in particular, that the regular courts were open and there were proconsuls to act as judges in the case. This procedure was for a local offenseto be handled by the courts of Ephesus. The clerk goes further to explain that if they had a matter that entered into the realm of Imperial jurisdiction, it would be settled in the regular gathering of that court which met three times a month.

Above everything else there was a need that the mob be quieted down and dispersed.

To this end all the previous remarks were directed. And they had their effect. Now the town clerk could press upon them the conclusion that he had hinted at previously.

Since (notice the pronoun) we have no good reason for this wild gathering, if we were called into account for it before the Roman authorities, we would have no defense to make. Should the authorities accuse us of riot, we would be in a serious position. His words were so well received by all that when he dismissed the assembly they all dispersed and went home.

766.

Why give heed to the town clerk?

767.

How was the need for the satisfaction of religious pride met?

768.

How did the town clerk side-step the guilt of Paul and his companions?

769.

How was the grievance of Demetrius going to be settled? What were the two courts?

770.

How was the mob to be dismissed? Why the change of pronouns?

AT TROAS. 2Co. 2:12-13.

2Co. 2:12-13 Although not mentioned in the book of Acts, the visit to Troas mentioned here in II Corinthians must have occurred right after he left Ephesus. Here are the reasons I say this: Because of the writing of the epistle of I Corinthians. He evidently wrote the first epistle to the Corinthians from Ephesus while he was yet laboring there. He had received the sad news in Ephesus of the problems that existed in the church at Corinth. To solve these problems he wrote this first epistle to the Corinthians. He sent it by the hand of Titus. Paul fully expected the return of Titus to Ephesus before he left but he did not come. When at last it became imperative that Paul leave Ephesus, he went out from the city looking for Titus on the way. Oh, how the apostle longed to meet Titus that he might know how his strong corrective epistle was received. With these thoughts in mind you can understand clearly the words of 2Co. 2:12-13. Paul thought that surely he would meet Titus in Troas. But when Paul arrived he found not Titus. What a disappointment. No relief of spirit. Although there was an open door in Troas to preach the word he could not enter it because of this weight upon his heart. This need seemed to demand immediate action and solution. So bidding the brethren in Troas a fond farewell he pressed on into Macedonia looking anxiously for Titus my brother.

771.

Why say that the meeting of Titus in Troas must have occurred at this time?

772.

Was it wrong for Paul not to enter the open door for the Word here at Troas?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

XIX.

(1) Paul having passed through the upper coasts.This implies a route passing from Galatia and Phrygia through the interior, and coming thence to Ephesus. The coast, in the modern sense of the term, St. Paul did not even approach.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 19

IN EPHESUS ( Act 19:1-7 )

Act 19:1-41 is mainly concerned with Paul’s work in Ephesus. He stayed longer there than anywhere else, almost three years.

(i) Ephesus ( G2181) was the market of Asia Minor. In those days trade followed the river valleys. Ephesus stood at the mouth of the Cayster and therefore commanded the richest hinterland in Asia Minor. Rev 18:12-13 gives a description of the trade of Ephesus. She was known as “The Treasure House of Asia” and someone has called her, “The Vanity Fair of Asia Minor.”

(ii) She was an Assize Town. That is to say, at specified times the Roman governor came there and great cases of justice were tried. She knew the pomp and pageantry of Roman power and Roman justice.

(iii) She was the seat of the Pan-Ionian Games which the whole country came to see. To be president of these games and to be responsible for their organization was a greatly coveted honour. The men who held this high office were called Asiarchs and are referred to in Act 19:31.

(iv) She was the home of criminals. The Temple of Diana possessed the right of asylum. That is to say, any criminal reaching the area round the temple was safe. Inevitably, therefore, Ephesus had become the home of the criminals of the ancient world.

(v) She was a centre of pagan superstition. She was famous for charms and spells called “Ephesian Letters.” They were guaranteed to bring safety on a journey, to bring children to the childless, to bring success in love or business enterprise. From all over the world people came to buy these magic parchments which they wore as amulets.

(vi) The greatest glory of Ephesus was the Temple of Artemis. Artemis and Diana were one and the same, Artemis ( G735) being the Greek name, Diana the Latin. This Temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was 425 feet long by 220 feet wide by 60 feet high. There were 127 pillars, each the gift of a king. They were all of glittering Parian marble and 36 were marvellously gilt and inlaid. The great altar had been carved by Praxiteles, the greatest of all Greek sculptors. The image of Artemis was not beautiful. It was a black, squat, many-breasted figure, signifying fertility; it was so old that no one knew where it had come from or even of what material it was made. The story was that it had fallen from heaven.

INCOMPLETE CHRISTIANITY ( Act 19:1-7 continued)

19:1-7 It happened that when Apollos was in Corinth Paul went through the upper districts and came to Ephesus and found certain disciples there. He said to them, “When you believed, did you receive the Holy Spirit?” They said to him, “No, we never even heard that the Holy Spirit exists.” He said to them, “With what. then, were yon baptized” They said, “With the baptism of John.” Paul said. “It was the baptism of repentance that John administered and he told the people that it was on him who was to come after him that they must believe and this is Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. In all there were about twelve of these men.

In Ephesus Paul met some men who were incomplete Christians. They had received the baptism of John but they did not even know of the Holy Spirit in the Christian sense of the term. What was the difference between the baptism of John and baptism in the name of Jesus? The accounts of the preaching of John ( Mat 3:7-12; Luk 3:3-11) reveal one radical difference between it and the preaching of Jesus. The preaching of John was a threat; the preaching of Jesus was good news, John’s preaching was a stage on the way. He himself knew that he only pointed to one still to come ( Mat 3:11; Luk 3:16).

John’s preaching was a necessary stage because there are two stages in the religious life. First, there is the stage in which we awaken to our own inadequacy and our deserving of condemnation at the hand of God. That stage is closely allied to an endeavour to do better that inevitably fails because we try in our own strength. Second, there is the stage when we come to see that through the grace of Jesus Christ our condemnation may be taken away. Closely allied with that stage is the time when we find that all our efforts to do better are strengthened by the work of the Holy Spirit, through whom we can do what we could never do ourselves.

These incomplete Christians knew the condemnation and the moral duty of being better; but the grace of Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit they did not know. Their religion was inevitably a thing of struggle and had not reached the stage of being a thing of peace. The incident shows us one great truth–that without the Holy Spirit there can be no such thing as complete Christianity. Even when we see the error of our ways and repent and determine to change them we can never make the change without the help which the Spirit alone can give.

THE WORKS OF GOD ( Act 19:8-12 )

19:8-12 He came into the synagogue and for three months he spoke with boldness, debating and persuading people about the things connected with the kingdom of God. When some made themselves difficult and would not believe, and when they spoke ill of The Way before the congregation he left them and withdrew the disciples from them and debated daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all who lived in Asia, Jews and Greek alike, heard the word of God; and God kept on doing extraordinary works of power through Paul’s hands, so that sweat-bands and aprons which had touched his body were taken away to the sick and their diseases left them and the evil spirits departed.

When work in the synagogue became impossible because of the embittered opposition, Paul changed his quarters to the hall of a philosopher called Tyrannus. One Greek manuscript adds a touch which sounds like the additional detail an eye-witness might bring. It says that Paul taught in that hall from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Almost certainly that is when Paul would teach. Until 11 a.m. and after 4 p.m. Tyrannus would need the hall himself. In the Ionian cities all work stopped at 11 a.m. and did not begin again until the late afternoon because of the heat. We are told that there would actually be more people sound asleep in Ephesus at 1 p.m. than at 1 a.m. What Paul must have done was to work all morning and all evening at his trade and teach in the midday hours. It shows us two things–the eagerness of Paul to teach and the eagerness of the Christians to learn. The only time they had was when others rested in the heat of the day and they seized that time. It may well shame many of us for our talk of inconvenient times.

Throughout this time wonderful deeds were being done. The sweat-band was what a workman wore round his head to absorb the sweat as he worked. The apron was the girdle with which a workman or servant girded himself. It is very significant that the narrative does not say that Paul did these extraordinary deeds; it says that God did them through Paul’s hands. God, said someone, is everywhere looking for hands to use. We may not be able to work miracles with our hands but without doubt we can give them to God so that he may work through them.

THE DEATH-BLOW TO SUPERSTITION ( Act 19:13-20 )

19:13-20 Some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists tried naming the name of Jesus over those who had evil spirits. They said, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” There were seven sons of a certain Scaeva, a Jewish chief priest. who did this. The evil spirit answered them. “Jesus I know and Paul I understand, but who are you?” And the man, in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them and mastered them all and overpowered them so that they fled naked and battered from that house. This became known to all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus; and awe fell upon all of them; and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many of those who had believed came and confessed their faith and revealed the spells which they had used. Many of those who had practised magic brought then books and burned them in the presence of all. They calculated the value of them and found that it amounted to about L2,500. So the word of the Lord increased mightily and prevailed.

This is a vivid bit of local colour from the Ephesian scene. In those days everyone believed that illness and disease, and especially mental illness, were due to evil spirits who settled in a man. Exorcism was a regular trade. If the exorcist knew the name of a more powerful spirit than that which had taken up residence in the afflicted person, by speaking that name he could overpower the evil spirit and make him depart. There is no reason to disbelieve that these things happened. The human mind is a strange thing and even misguided and superstitious faith has its results in the mercy of God.

When some charlatans tried to use the name of Jesus the most alarming things happened. The result was that many of the quacks, and also many of those who were sincere, saw the error of their ways. Nothing can more definitely show the reality of the change than that in superstition-ridden Ephesus they were willing to burn the books and the charms which were so profitable to them. They are an example to us. They made the cleanest of clean cuts, even though it meant abandoning the things that were their livelihood. It is all too true that many of us hate our sins but either we cannot leave them at all or we do so with a lingering and backward look. There are times when only the clean and final break will suffice.

THE PURPOSE OF PAUL ( Act 19:21-22 )

19:21-22 When everything was completed, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and go to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have been there I must see Rome too.” He sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, into Macedonia and he himself extended his stay in Asia.

It is only by the merest hint that Luke gives us an indication here of something which is filled out in Paul’s letters. He tells us that Paul purposed to go to Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem was poor; and Paul aimed to take a collection from all his Gentile churches as a contribution to it. We find references to this collection in 1Co 16:1 ff.; 2Co 9:1 ff.; Rom 15:25-26. Paul pressed on with this scheme for two reasons. First, he wished in the most practical way to emphasize the unity of the Church. He wished to demonstrate that they belonged to the body of Christ and that when one part of the body suffered all must help. In other words, he wished to take them away from a merely congregational outlook and to give them a vision of the one universal Church of which they were part. Second, he wished to teach them practical Christian charity. Doubtless when they heard of the privations of Jerusalem they felt sorry. He wished to teach them that sympathy must be translated into action. These two lessons are as valid today as ever they were.

RIOT IN EPHESUS ( Act 19:23-41 )

19:23-41 It happened that at this time there was a great disturbance about The Way. A certain man called Demetrius, who was a silversmith and who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought very considerable profit to the craftsmen. He called them together, with the workers who were engaged in like crafts, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends on this craft; and you see and hear how not only in Ephesus but throughout nearly the whole of Asia this fellow Paul has won over and led away a great number of people telling them that gods made with hands are not gods at all. There is risk for us that not only our business may come into disrepute but also that the shrine of the great goddess Artemis may come to be held of no importance, and that she whom the whole of Asia and the civilized world worships should be robbed of her greatness.” When they heard this they were filled with anger and they kept shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.” So the whole city was filled with confusion. By common consent they rushed to the theatre; and they seized Gaius and Aristarchus who were fellow-travellers of Paul’s. Paul wished to go in to the people but the disciples would not let him. Some of the Asiarchs, who were friendly to him. sent to him and urged him not to venture into the theatre. Some kept shouting one thing and some another. The meeting was confused and the majority had no idea why it had met. At the proposal of the Jews, some of the crowd put forward Alexander. Alexander made a gesture with his hand and wished to make a defence to the people. When they realized that he was a Jew one shout arose from them all as for about two hours they kept crying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.” But the town secretary quietened the crowd. He said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of Ephesus is the temple-guardian of the great Artemis and of the image which fell from heaven? Since these things are beyond dispute we must remain quiet and do nothing reckless. You have brought in these men who are neither temple-robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. If Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, sessions are held and there are proconsuls. Let them bring a case against each other. If you are anxious for further steps to be taken, the matter can be settled in a properly constituted assembly. For we are running the risk of being charged with a riot for this day’s events since there is no cause which we could advance as a reason for this uproar.” And with these words he dismissed the assembly.

This thrilling story sheds a great deal of light on the characters in it. First, there are Demetrius and the silversmiths. Their trouble was that their pockets were being touched. True, they declared that they were jealous for the honour of Artemis; but they were more worried about their incomes. When pilgrims came to Ephesus, they liked to take souvenirs home, such as the little model shrines which the silversmiths made. Christianity was making such strides that their trade was threatened.

Second, there is the man whom the King James and Revised Standard Versions call the “town clerk”. He was more than that. He kept the public records, he introduced business in the assembly; correspondence to Ephesus was addressed to him. He was worried at the possibility of a riot. Rome was kindly but the one thing she would not stand was civil disorder. If there were riots in any town Rome would know the reason why and the magistrates responsible might lose their positions. He saved Paul and his companions but he saved them because he was saving his own skin.

Third, there is Paul. Paul wished to face that mob but they would not let him. Paul was a man without fear. For the silversmiths and the town clerk it was safety first; for Paul it was always safety last.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

PAUL AT EPHESUS, Act 19:1-41.

Rebaptism of the Twelve. John’s Disciples , Act 19:1-7 .

1. Upper coasts From his visit to Jerusalem, (Act 18:22-23,) and brief residence at Antioch, Paul had taken the circuit of his Churches in Asia Minor, and was now ready, according to his promise, (Act 18:21,) to fulfil his apostolic mission in the illustrious city of EPHESUS. Four great city Churches had been formed by him in Asia Minor, four in Europe, and between these Ephesus was to stand, a tall observatory, from which both fours could be contemplated, as at a bird’s eye view a central medium of communication, through which the Churches of the East and West, Asia and Europe, could maintain the communion of saints as one great Christian republic. His success in this purpose was very complete. Here a holy Church of Christ was built, to which a most loving epistle was addressed. Over this Church a Timothy first presided. Then a John here resided, wrote probably here his epistles, and laid here his earthly remains. Here, too, tradition affirms the mother of Jesus lived, died, and was entombed. To this as the head of the “Seven Churches of Asia,” is made the first Apocalyptic address. (Rev 2:1.)

Descending from the upper coasts, that is, the Phrygian and Galatian highlands, near the high sources whence the Meander and Cayster flow down to the sea, on both sides of Ephesus, as Paul moved down from the east, he would behold the city lying on a plateau, less than five miles square, flanked on the left by the long mountain ridges of the Coressus and the Prion, along whose summit the city wall extended, with the buildings lining the lower slopes. Nearer at hand, on the margin of the slope, stood the theatre, so memorable in Paul’s history, whose remains are the largest of the kind extant. More distant, and near the harbour, was the temple of Diana, one of the wonders of the world. Beyond was the blue AEgean, which Paul had so lately crossed on his voyage from Corinth. and which he was soon to re-cross on a brief visit to that same Corinth. The great religious characteristic which Paul was to encounter in Ephesus was the overwhelming power of the worship of the great goddess Diana, (Greek, ARTEMIS.)

Certain disciples These disciples appear not to be pure Johnites, who had never heard of Jesus; but imperfectly informed Christians, who had never heard of the effusion of the Holy Ghost. Followers of John, unknowing of Jesus, would hardly be called DISCIPLES.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

PART THIRD.

CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE GENTILES. From Chapter Act 13:1, to End of Acts.

Through the remainder of his work Luke’s subject is the evangelization of the Gentiles, and his hero is Paul. His field is western Asia and Europe; his terminal point is Rome, and the work is the laying the foundation of modern Christendom. At every point, even at Rome, Luke is careful to note the Gospel offer to the Jews, and how the main share reject, and a remnant only is saved. And thus it appears that Luke’s steadily maintained object is to describe the transfer of the kingdom of God from one people to all peoples.

I. PAUL’S FIRST MISSION From Antioch, through Cyprus, into Asia, as far as Lystra and Derbe, thence back to Antioch, Act 13:1 Act 14:28.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And it came about that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples, and he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

When Paul arrived in Ephesus he ‘found’ certain disciples. Perceiving the lack of any signs of the Holy Spirit in these men, in spite of what they appeared to believe, Paul asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Without the Holy Spirit they were not members of the body of Christ, nor were they full Christians.

‘Found certain disciples.’ They would probably be Jews whose faith had been extended by acceptance of the teaching of John the Baptiser and belief in the Coming One. They were ‘almost-Christians’. They followed ‘the way of righteousness’ and have therefore to a certain extent entered under the Kingly Rule of God (Mat 21:31-32). Indeed a number of the Apostles had once been such disciples of John. They can be classed as ‘disciples’ because in their own way they are believers in Jesus and desire to follow Him (although we should note that Luke does not necessarily always refer to true believers when he speaks of ‘disciples’ – Luk 6:17; Luk 19:37; Luk 19:39). We are not told how he found them. Note that they are honoured by being given precedence to his visit to the synagogue. They are dealt with first and are seen as a unique and precious harvest-field to be garnered. Perhaps he had learned of them from a previous visit and had now sought them out.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Paul’s Ministry in Ephesus among The Disciples of John the Baptiser (19:1-7).

Meanwhile Paul, having encouraged the churches in Phrygia-Galatia arrived via the mountain regions in Ephesus. There he came across a group of believers, possibly in the synagogue, who seemingly honoured Jesus and yet whose lives were lacking the glow of the Spirit. Whether these were original disciples of John, or merely those who had received Apollos’ teaching before he himself had had his eyes opened, we do not know. Had they been Apollos’ converts, however, we might have expected Luke to say so.

But spread around the Jewish world were large numbers of disciples of John the Baptiser. They had responded to his teaching on various visits to Jerusalem and their hearts would be waiting for the full truth about Jesus. Yet it was important for all, and especially Jews, to recognise that they were not Christians (although hopefully Christians-in-waiting), nor were they an alternative to Christianity. Thus in this incident it is made quite clear that if these disciples of John are to be true Christians they must come to believe fully in Jesus Christ, and must be baptised and given the Holy Spirit, and thus become one with the Christian church. This fact is now emphasised.

But this incident is important in another respect. Paul had not been present at Pentecost. He had only heard of what had happened. But now he was to see something of it for himself. It would be like a new Pentecost. The Holy Spirit would be poured out and men would speak with other tongues. As far as Acts is concerned this is Paul’s first experience of it. It would be a boost in preparation for what was to come.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Mission to Europe (16:6-19:20).

Paul’s plans now seemed to begin to go awry. All doors seemed to be closing to him as in one way or another he was first hindered from going one way, and then another. But unknown to him it was to be the commencement of the mission to Europe. Why then does Luke emphasise these negative responses? It was in order to underline that when the move to go forward did come it was decisively under God’s direction. He was saying, ‘the Spirit bade him go’.

We need not doubt that new Christians had already entered Europe, as converts at Pentecost and other feasts had returned to their home cities taking the Good News with them, and that Christian traders and travellers also spread the Good News, but as far as we know this was the first direct Spirit-impelled attempt to evangelise Europe as a whole. Europe, as it were, now lay within God’s sights. It was a prepared Europe, a Europe using one main language, Greek, with good main roads and an established system of justice. What it lacked was the truth.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Paul Sets Out on His Third Missionary Journey: Ministry Among The Disciples of John The Baptiser (18:23-19:7).

Paul Sets Out On His Third Missionary Journey.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Third Missionary Journey And The Ministry of Apollos (18:23-19:20).

This section from Act 18:23 to Act 19:20 follows the section which has described Paul’s ministry from first leaving Antioch for his first missionary journey to his arrival back in Antioch after his second missionary journey (Act 12:25 to Act 18:22), in between which was sandwiched the enquiry at Jerusalem. It is thus not part of the Act 12:25 to Act 18:22 chiasmus. However, it is still a part of the section from Act 12:25 to Act 19:20 which ends with the subscription in Act 19:20, ‘mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed’. It forms its own chiasmus.

It commences with Paul revisiting the churches in Asia Minor and then deals primarily with ministry in Ephesus, the largest city in Asia Minor and third largest city in the Roman Empire (Syrian Antioch was the second largest after Rome). It includes the remarkable activity of Apollos, and the conversion of the disciples of John the Baptiser, followed by Paul’s ministry there. It is characterised by a lack of persecution, and this in spite of the opposition of the Jews at Ephesus. (Although it may be that any persecution which took place is simply unmentioned. Compare 1Co 15:32; 2Co 1:8). Such persecution will, however, certainly result in Ephesus in the next section of Acts). On the other hand it has all the appearance of the early days of Acts.

One reason for this subsection being here would appear to be in order to demonstrate that God had raised up another champion to take over the care of the churches in the face of Paul’s coming arrest and journey to Rome. It was saying that God would not leave the churches without someone to minister to them. When Paul was arrested the work among the Gentiles would still go on, for God always has His replacements. The word would continue to multiply. A second reason would appear to be in order to deal with the vexed question of disciples of John the Baptiser. We know from elsewhere that there were many of these in synagogues around the Roman world and it was important that the way into the church of Jesus Christ should be opened to them, while making clear to them that they did still require something more. But a third reason may well be in order to reproduce the atmosphere of the early part of both Luke and Acts so as to demonstrate that the same Spirit was at work at this time as from the beginning, and this as a preparation to commencing Paul’s journey to Jerusalem and then to Rome, which to a certain extent parallels Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. Thus this subsection tells us that his coming journey was to be seen against the background of the powerful and continually maintained triumph of the Gospel which had gone forward right from the beginning without hindrance (see analysis below).

We may analyse it as follows (giving comparisons with Luke and early Acts with the analysis):

a The ministry of the disciples of John through Apollos expands into the full proclamation of Jesus (Act 18:24-28). Compare here Luk 3:3-22; Act 1:5.

b The disciples of John the Baptiser are incorporated into the church by the Holy Spirit coming on them in power and they speak in other tongues and prophesy (Act 19:1-7). Compare here Luk 3:21-22; Luk 4:1 and Act 2:1-13.

c The Good News of the Kingly Rule of God is declared to the Jews, who are revealed to be hardened (Act 19:8-9 a), and then to the Gentiles in a continually successful ministry so that all in Asia heard ‘the word of the Lord’ (Act 19:9-10). Compare Luk 4:16-43. See especiallyLuk 4:43 which with its ‘also’ demonstrates that Jesus saw the whole passage as preaching the Kingly Rule of God, and Act 18:24-27 which illustrate Jewish hardness and Gentile success. Compare also Act 2:14 to Act 12:24 and Act 12:25 onwards.

d Great wonders and signs continue to be performed by God through Paul (whereas John did no miracle). Even aprons and handkerchiefs (or headbands and leather aprons) taken from his body are God’s instruments in the performing of such signs and wonders (Act 19:11-12). Compare Luk 4:18 to Luk 9:50, and Act 4:30; Act 5:1-16; Act 6:8; Act 8:6-7; Act 8:13.

c Hardened Jews who deal in the occult are defeated, and the name of the Lord, even Jesus, is magnified (Act 19:13-17). There are no direct parallels with this in Luke and early Acts but the idea of the conflict with the powers of Satan appears constantly in Luke, and in Luk 9:49-50 we have a contrasting story of one who also used the name of Jesus to cast out evil spirits but was acceptable because his heart was right. See also Act 5:16; Act 8:7; Act 13:8; Act 13:10-11.

b The books which are the instruments of Satan are burned in fire (Act 19:18-19). These acts are symbolic of the destruction of Satan himself (Rev 20:10) and depict the rejection and defeat of Satan as in Luk 4:33-37; Luk 9:37-43; Luk 10:18; Luk 11:14-22 and finally at the cross. See also again Act 5:16; Act 8:7. For destruction by fire see Luk 3:17; Luk 17:29-30; Act 2:19.

a The word of the Lord grows mightily and prevails (Act 19:20).

In ‘a’ the ministry of John develops into the ministry of Jesus, and in the parallel mightily grows the word of God and prevails. In ‘b’ the disciples of John are immersed in the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues, in the parallel the books which are the instruments of Satan are dealt with by being immersed in fire. We are reminded of John’s words, ‘immersed in the Holy Spirit and in fire’. In ‘c’ the Jews as a whole are hardened (and thus become false witnesses), while the Gentiles continually respond so that all Asia hear the word of the Lord, and in the parallel the hardened Jews who are false witnesses are defeated, while the name of the Lord Jesus is magnified by ‘all’. Central to all in ‘d’ are the signs and wonders which confirm Paul’s ministry to be of God and to be continuing what happened at Pentecost. The whole section demonstrates the bringing to completion of the ministry of John and the atmosphere of the days following Pentecost as a reminder that Pentecost still goes on.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Disciples at Ephesus Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit – We know from Act 19:1-7 that the believers at Ephesus were filled with the Holy Spirit with the gifts of tongues and prophecy. We can be pretty certain that the churches in the surrounding region of Ephesus partook of the same, being influenced by this key church. We know from 1Co 1:4-7; 1Co 12:4-11 that the church at Corinth was operating in the nine-fold gifts of the Spirit. We also see in Gal 3:5 that the churches throughout Galatia were receiving the Spirit and experiencing miracles. We see in 1Th 5:19-20 that the gift of prophecy was active in the church in Thessalonica. Thus, we can be sure that most, if not all, of the churches that Paul established would be considered “Pentecostal” by modern definition.

Testimonies to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as a Separate Experience from Salvation – Act 19:1-7 serves as one witness to the fact that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is a separate experience from salvation. Note verse 2, “have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”

Other passages that witness to this fact:

Witness 2: Luk 24:49, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Jesus was speaking to believers to wait for the Baptism in the Holy spirit.

Witness 3: Act 8:16, “(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)”

Witness 4: Act 9:17, “And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

Note how Paul the apostle ministered the baptism of the Holy Ghost to the disciples in Ephesus. When he finds out that they had not heard of the Holy Spirit, he endeavors to meet them at their point of faith by asking them where their faith has been placed. When they reply that their faith is in the baptism of John the Baptist, Paul then leads them into a greater revelation of God’s Word. Therefore, the disciples followed Paul in his ministry to them.

We can lose our opportunity of a successful ministry to someone by failing to find out what his point of faith is resting in.

Act 19:1 “while Apollos was at Corinth” Comments – It is reasonable to assume that Apollos served as a teacher in the church of Corinth, and perhaps as their pastor upon Paul’s departure. We know that the Corinthians were familiar with his ministry and some even preferring him above other apostles (1Co 1:12; 1Co 3:4-6 ; 1Co 3:22; 1Co 4:6). As to how long he stayed, we are not certain. But he could have been there two or three years before he departure (A.D. 52-55), for Paul later asked him to return and continue his ministry there (1Co 16:12).

1Co 16:12, “As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time.”

Act 19:1 “Paul having passed through the upper coasts” – Comments – A third possible reference to a visit to the churches of Galatia is made in Act 19:1 where Luke tells us that Paul visited the “upper country” before moving down into Ephesus. This upper country could very likely refer to the upland plateau of the northern part of Asia Minor, which included the district of Galatia.

Act 19:2 “He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” Comments – This is the clearest verse in the New Testament that confirms the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a separate experience from salvation. Paul assumes that these believers had already been saved when he says, “since ye believed”. The brake between chapters 18 and 19 cause us to forget that Paul had left Priscilla and Aquila about a year earlier to establish a church. Apollos came and taught them for a season. Because they were so new in the faith, they did not know how to lead these Ephesian converts into the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It was not until Paul’s return that they were filled with the Holy Ghost after being saved at an earlier date.

The distinction between salvation and the baptism of the Holy Ghost is also seen in Heb 6:4 when it says that the gift of salvation is different than partaking of the Holy Ghost.

Heb 6:4, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Paul in Ephesus Act 19:1-41 gives us the testimony of Paul’s ministry in the city of Ephesus.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. The Disciples at Ephesus Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Act 19:1-7

2. Paul Turns to the Gentiles in Ephesus Act 19:8-10

3. Paul’s Miraculous Work at Ephesus Act 19:11-20

4. The Riot at Ephesus Act 19:21-41

Archeological Discoveries of Ephesus – The archeological discoveries made by John T. Wood between 1863 and 1874 of the ancient city of Ephesus support the reliability of Luke’s description. Philip Schaff writes, “The excessive worship of Diana, ‘the great goddess of Artemis’, the temple-warden, the theatre (capable of holding twenty-five thousand people) often used for public assemblies, the distinct officers of the city, the Roman proconsul ( ), the recorder or ‘town-clerk’ ( ), and the Asiarchs ( ) or presidents of the games and the religious ceremonials, have all reappeared in ruins and on inscriptions, which may now be studied in the British Museum.” [251]

[251] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 1: Apostolic Christianity A.D. 1-100 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1955), 736.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Church’s Organization (Perseverance): The Witness of the Church Growth to the Ends of the Earth Act 13:1 to Act 28:29 begins another major division of the book of Acts in that it serves as the testimony of the expansion of the early Church to the ends of the earth through the ministry of Paul the apostle, which was in fulfillment of Jesus’ command to the apostles at His ascension, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Act 1:8) However, to reach this goal, it required a life of perseverance in the midst of persecutions and hardship, as well as the establishment of an organized church and its offices.

Outline – Here is a proposed outline:

1. Witness of Paul’s First Missionary Journey (A.D. 45-47) Act 13:1 to Act 14:28

2. Witness to Church at Jerusalem of Gospel to Gentiles (A.D. 50) Act 15:1-35

3. Witness of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (A.D. 51-54) Act 15:36 to Act 18:22

4. Witness of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey (A.D. 54-58) Act 18:23 to Act 20:38

5. Witness of Paul’s Arrest and Trials (A.D. 58-60) Act 21:1 to Act 26:32

6. Witness of Paul’s Journey to Rome (A.D. 60) Act 27:1 to Act 28:29

A Description of Paul’s Ministry – Paul’s missionary journeys recorded Acts 13-28 can be chacterized in two verses from 2Ti 2:8-9, in which Paul describes his ministry to the Gentiles as having suffered as an evil doer, but glorying in the fact that the Word of God is not bound.

2Ti 2:8-9, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.”

Paul followed the same principle of church growth mentioned in Act 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” He first placed churches in key cities in Asia Minor. We later read in Act 19:10 where he and his ministry team preaches “so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks”.

Act 19:10, “And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

In Rom 15:20-28 Paul said that he strived to preach where no other man had preached, and having no place left in Macedonia and Asia Minor, he looked towards Rome, and later towards Spain.

Rom 15:20, “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:”

Rom 15:23-24, “But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.”

Rom 15:28, “When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Witness of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey (A.D. 54-58) Act 18:23 to Act 20:38 gives us the testimony of Paul’s third missionary journey.

Oultine Here is a proposed outline:

1. Apollo’s Ministry in Ephesus Act 18:23-28

2. Paul in Ephesus Act 19:1-41

3. Paul’s Journey to Macedonia and Greece Act 20:1-6

4. Paul at Troas Act 20:7-12

5. Paul Journeys from Troas to Miletus Act 20:13-16

6. Paul Exhorts the Elders at Ephesus Act 20:17-38

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Paul’s Work at Ephesus. Act 19:1-20

Paul’s arrival at Ephesus:

v. 1. And it came to pass that, while Apollos was at Coririth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples,

v. 2. he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

v. 3. And he said unto them, Unto what, then, were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

v. 4. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

v. 5. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

v. 6. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues’ and prophesied

v. 7. And all the men were about twelve.

While Apollos was in Corinth, having made the voyage across the Aegean after his stay in Ephesus, Paul, having finished his visitation trip in the upper, the mountainous, districts of Asia Minor, came down to Ephesus. Apparently Paul did not take the main road from Pisidian Antioch, which passed through Colossae and Laodicea (See Col 2:1), but took the very shortest route, farther north, down the Cayster Valley. So he found himself in Ephesus within the briefest possible time. Ephesus, the capital of Proconsular Asia, was, like Athens, a typical city of heathendom, the “home of every Oriental quackery and superstition in combination with its Hellenism. ” It stood a mile from the Aegean Sea, fronting an artificial harbor. On the hill above the city rose the Temple of Artemis, one of the most magnificent buildings in Asia Minor. For Paul’s purposes it was especially valuable that the system of Roman roads from every quarter of the province made Ephesus easily accessible. Upon his arrival in the city the apostle found a peculiar, a singular condition obtaining in the congregation. Due to the efforts of Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos, there was an assembly of brethren there, of men and women that accepted Jesus as their Savior;, but there was a wide difference in the state of Christian knowledge. For Paul here found twelve men whom he proceeded to question as to the extent of their knowledge of Christian doctrines. One of his questions was whether they had received the Holy Ghost at the time when they became believers, the sense of the inquiry being whether they had received the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost which had been vouchsafed to so many converts. Their answer was rather surprising, for they stated that they had not even heard of the existence of a Holy Ghost in connection with their conversion. Upon Paul’s further question into what, then, they had been baptized, that is, what form of baptism they had received, they answered that they had been baptized into the baptism of John. This answer showed Paul that they were lacking in the proper understanding, and he proceeded to give them the necessary instruction, namely, that John had baptized with the baptism of repentance, incidentally telling the people that they should believe on Him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus Christ. This explanation of Paul fully opened their understanding, and they received Baptism into the name of the Lard Jesus, thus being added to the number of those that belonged to Christ as His own. “The papyri have shown that where the phrase ‘baptized into’ occurs, that the person baptized becomes the property of the divine person indicated. ” And when Paul, who seems to have performed the baptizing personally, laid his hands upon the men, the Holy Ghost came upon them with extraordinary gifts, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

The story of these twelve men, as here related, seems very strange if viewed in the light of present knowledge, but the strangeness disappears when me take the circumstances into account. The case is on the order of that of Apollos, whose ignorance of what certainly is an important part of Christian doctrine was just as profound. We must distinguish between the baptism which John personally administered, and that of his later disciples, which is commonly referred to as the baptism of John. The baptism with which John, by a special command of God, baptized, was a valid sacrament, which gave to those that confessed their sins, and believed the preaching of John, forgiveness of sins and the grace of God. But John the Baptist was merely the precursor of Christ; his preaching, as his baptism, was a testimony of Christ, who was to come after him, and who, through His suffering and death, was to earn salvation and forgiveness for all sinners. After Christ had been revealed to Israel and had formally entered upon His ministry, the time of preparation was ended, the work and the office of John ceased to have value. And when Christ then, by His death, had finished His work and after His resurrection had given His disciples the command to baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; when, above all, the Day of Pentecost had come, and the disciples of the Lord were now baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ, the crucified and resurrected, then the baptism of John no longer had any value, just as the Old Testament sacrament of circumcision, though still practiced by the Jewish Christians, was regarded as a mere ceremony.

But not all the disciples of John had entered into the discipleship of Christ. We find, even after the death of John and after the death of Christ, a small association or communion of disciples of John that did not unite with the Church. They thus became a sect, regarded John as their head, and acted contrary to the will and command of their own master. And therefore their baptism, which they performed and proclaimed as the continuation of I he baptism of John, was no real baptism, but a mere dead ceremony. This ceremony had been performed in the case of the twelve disciples in Ephesus, the one that had administered it to them very likely not testifying to them in the form and with the power of John, that Christ had baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. But these men had now heard the story of Jesus in Ephesus; through the mercy and the power of the Holy Ghost they had come to faith. And now they also, by the administration of the sacrament which was the real Baptism, received the extraordinary gifts which had been given to other baptized Christians.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Act 19:1

Country for coasts, A.V.; found for finding, A.V. and T.R. The upper country ( ); the inland districts of Galatia and Phrygia, through which St. Paul journeyed on his way to Ephesus, as distinguished from the seacoast on which Ephesus stood. Disciples. They were like Apollos, believers in the Lord Jesus through the preaching of John the Baptist. It looks as if they were companions of Apollos, and had come with him from Alexandria, perhaps for some purpose of trade or Commerce.

Act 19:2

And he said for he said, A.V. and T.R.; did ye receive for have ye received, A.V.; when for since, A.V.; nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was given for we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, A.V. Did ye receive, etc.? The R.V. gives the sense much more accurately than the A.V., which is, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost at the time of your baptism, when ye first believed?” Something led the apostle to suspect that they had not received the seal of the Spirit (comp. Eph 1:13, ), and so he asked the question. The answer, Nay, we did, not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was given, as in the R.V., is justified by Joh 7:39, where the exactly similar phrase, , is rendered in the A.V., “The Holy Spirit was not yet given.” “Esse pro adesse“ (Bengel). The sense given in the A.V. does not seem probable. The answer means, “Not only have we not received the Holy Spirit, but we had not even heard that the dispensation of the Spirit was Come.”

Act 19:3

He said for he said unto them, A.V. and T.R.; into for unto (twice), A.V. Into what then were ye baptized? Nothing can mark more strongly the connection between baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit than this question does. For it implies, “How could you be ignorant of the giving of the Holy Ghost if you were duly baptized?” (comp. Act 2:38) The answer explains it, “We were baptized with John’s baptism, to which no promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost was attached.”

Act 19:4

And Paul said for then said Paul, A.V.; John for John verily, A.V. and T.R.; Jesus for Christ Jesus, A.V. and T.R. The baptism of repentance. See Luk 3:3, etc., and for the difference between John’s baptism and that of Christ, Luk 3:16. Him which should some after him.

Act 19:5

And when for when, A.V.; into for in, A.V. Into the Name of the Lord Jesus (see Act 8:16). So too Act 10:48 of Cornelius and his company, “He commanded them to be baptized in the Name ( ) of Jesus Christ” (R.V.). The formula of baptism, as commanded by the Lord Jesus himself, was, “In [or, ‘into’] the Name ( ) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Mat 28:20). But the candidate always first made a profession of his faith in Jesus Christ, as in the A.V. of Act 8:37; and the effect of baptism was an incorporation into Christ so as to partake of his death unto sin and his life unto righteousness. It was, therefore, a true and compendious description of baptism, to speak of it as a baptism in (or into) the Name of Jesus Christ. (See the Baptismal Service in the Book of Common Prayer.) There does not seem to be any difference of meaning between and .

Act 19:6

Had laid his hands, etc. (see Act 8:17 and note). We have here a distinct mark of Paul’s true apostleship (see Act 8:17, Act 8:18). For the manifestation of the Spirit, see Act 10:46.

Act 19:7

They were in all about twelve men for all the men were about twelve, A.V.

Act 19:8

Entered for went, A.V.; reasoning for disputing, A.V. (, as Act 19:9 and Act 17:2,Act 17:17; Act 18:4, Act 18:19, etc.); as to the things for the things, A.V. This last is a needless change, since properly governs an accusative of the things persuaded or taught, and it is a right English use of “to persuade” to apply it to the thing inculcated. For the use of the phrase “the kingdom of God” as a compendious description of Christian doctrine, see Act 1:3; Act 8:12; Act 20:25; Act 28:23. St. Luke uses the phrase very frequently (Luk 6:20; Luk 8:10; Luk 9:27, Luk 9:60, Luk 9:62; Luk 10:11; Luk 11:20; Luk 13:20, Luk 13:28; Luk 16:16; Luk 17:20; Luk 21:31, etc.).

Act 19:9

Some for divers, A.V.; disobedient for believed not, A.V. (, as Act 14:2; Act 17:5, T.R.); speaking for but spake, A.V.; the Way for that way, A.V.; reasoning for disputing, A.V.; Tyrannus for one Tyrannus, A.V. Were hardened; or, hardened themselves. Whether considered as active or middle, the hardening their minds against the reception of the truth was just as voluntary an action as that of one who shuts his eyes that he may not see the light. For the use of (Hebrew , applied to the heart or the neck), see Rom 9:18; Heb 3:8, Heb 3:15; Heb 4:7passages all founded upon the LXX. of Psa 94:8. See also Exo 7:22; Exo 8:19; and Ecclesiasticus 30:11, where, as here, disobedience is the consequence of being hardened. , “Lest being hardened he disobey thee.“ The A.V., by leaving out “were” before “disobedient,” and translating as if “hardened” and “disobedient” were two adjectives, destroys this consequence. Speaking evil of; , frequent in the LXX. as the rendering of (Exo 21:17; 1Sa 3:13), which is otherwise rendered by ,” as in Le 20:9. It is nearly synonymous with . The Way (as verse 23; see Act 9:2, note). They would speak evil of the gospel by describing it as a blasphemy against God and against Moses, as contrary to the Law, as subversive of all the customs and traditions of the Jews, and so on. He departed. is more than simply “departing;” it implies a withdrawal and separation front fellowship with them, as in 1Ti 6:5 (A.V.), “From such withdraw thyself;” Ecc 7:2, “Depart from the unjust” (comp.Luk 13:27). Separated the disciples. Hitherto the converted Jews at Ephesus had continued to join their unconverted brethren in the worship of the synagogue; now Paul withdrew them and separated them (, Gal 2:10). The school of Tyrannus; , leisure; then, “the employment of leisure,” as especially in philosophic discussions and the like; thirdly, the “place” were such discussions were held, a school. It is uncertain whether Tyrannus was a Gentile well known at the time (without the ), who kept a lecture room for philosophic discussions or lectures on rhetoric, or whether he was a Jew who held a private school or meeting in his housea beth-midrashas was not uncommon in largo towns where many Jews were. “Beth-midrashThe Jewish divinity school, where their doctors disputed of the more high and difficult matters of the Law” (Index to Lightfoot’s Works). It was commonly the upper room in the house of a rabbi (Lightfoot, on Act 2:13, vol. 8.363), whence “house of rabbis “was synonymous with beth-midrash, house of discussion. The name Tyrannus occurs in 2 Macc. 4:40; Josephus, ‘Ant. Jud.,’ 16. 10.4; ‘Bell Jud.,’ 1. 26.6, of an officer in Herod’s bodyguard, who might be a Jew or a Greek; and a certain Tyrannus is described by Suidas as a sophist and an author, possibly the same as is here spoken of. Lightfoot, Meyer, Alford, and others think that the Tyrannus here spoken of was a Jew; Lange, Olshausen, Howson, Farrar, Lewin, etc., think he was a Greek philosopher or rhetorician. Some think that “the school of Tyrannus” was the name of the lecture-room from some former teacher.

Act 19:10

For for by, A.V.; Lord for Lord Jesus, A.V. and T.R. Two years (see Act 20:31, note). Both Jews and Greeks. This mention of Jews is rather in favor of Tyrannus being a Jew; but not decisive.

Act 19:12

Insomuch for so, A.V.; unto the sick were carried away from his body for from his body were brought unto the sick, A.V.; went out for went out of them, A.V. and T.R. From his body (); literally, the skin, but used here by St. Luke for the body, in accordance with the usage of medical writers “from Hippocrates to Galen” (Hobart). Handkerchiefs; , the Latin word sudarium, properly a cloth for wiping off the sweat. It is one of those words, like , , etc., which exactly represent the political condition of things at the time of the writers, who were living in a country where Greek was the language of common intercourse, but where the dominion was Roman. It is found in Luk 19:20; Joh 11:44; Joh 20:7, and here. Aprons; , more properly written . It is the Latin word semicinctium, a half-girdle; the Greek word is . According to some, it was a narrow girdle, but according to others, and with more probability, an apron covering only half, i.e. the front of the body. It only occurs here in the New Testament or elsewhere. The careful mention of these cures of the sick may also be connected with St. Luke’s medical profession. As regards these unusual modes of miraculous cure, comp. Act 5:15. It might well be the Divine purpose, in the ease of both Peter and Paul, to invest with such extraordinary power the very persons of the apostles who were to stand forth as his messengers and preach in his Name. In St. Paul this parity of miraculous energy stamped his apostleship with an authority equal to that of St. Peter.

Act 19:13

But certain also for then certain, A.V.; strolling for vagabond, A.V.; name for call, A.V.; the evil for evil, A.V.; I for we, A.V. and T.R. Strolling (); going their rounds from place to place, like strolling players or like peddlers. The words should be construed together, “strolling Jewish exorcists.” That certain Jews in our Savior’s time exorcised evil spirits appears from Mat 12:27; Luk 9:49. We learn also from Josephus, ‘Ant. Jud.,’ Luk 8:2, Luk 8:5, that forms of exorcism, said to have been invented by King Solomon, so efficacious that the devils cast out by them could never come back, were used with great effect in his days. He adds that he himself knew of an instance in which one of his own countrymen, Eleazar by name, had cast out devils in the presence of Vespasian and his sons and officers and a number of his soldiers. The method used was this: The exorcist applied to the nose of the possessed the bezil of a ring, under which was a certain root prescribed by Solomon, and so drew out the evil spirit through the man’s nostrils. The possessed then fell to the ground, and the exorcist commanded the evil spirit in the name of Solomon never to return, and then recited one of Solomon’s incantations. To give full assurance to the bystanders that the evil spirit had really left the man, the exorcist placed a vessel full of water at some distance off, and then commanded the ejected spirit to overturn it, which he did. Thus far Josephus. Lightfoot, on Act 13:1-52. (vol. 3.215), quotes the book Juchasin as speaking of certain Jews as “skilled in miracles,” and the Jerusalem Talmud as speaking of their enchantments and magical tricks and charms” in the name of Jesus” (see, further, Alford on Mat 12:27).

Act 19:14

A chief priest for and chief of the priests, A.V.; this for so, A.V. A chief priest (); not, of course, in the sense of high priest, but in that wider sense of the word which comprised the chiefs of the twenty-four courses and the members of the Sanhedrim and all who had ever been high priests or who were of the kindred of the high priest (see Mat 2:4; Mat 16:21; Mat 21:15; Mat 23:1-39. 45, etc.; Luk 9:22; Luk 19:47, etc.; Act 4:23; Act 5:24; Act 9:14, Act 9:21, etc.). It is probable that the Eleazar mentioned in the preceding note was a priest, both from his name and because Josephus calls him one of his , which may mean “fellow-tribesmen.” The name Sceva occurs nowhere else, nor is its meaning or etymology at all certain. Some identify it with the Latin Scaeva (Horace, ‘Ep.,’ 1. 17.1), “left-handed,” l.q. Scaevola; or the Greek Sceuas, a proper name in Appian. Simonis gives it an Aramean etymology.

Act 19:15

Said unto them for said, A.V. and T.R.

Act 19:16

Mastered both of them for overcame them, A.V. and T.R.

Act 19:17

Became for was, A.V.; both Jews and Greeks for the Jews and Greeks also, A.V.; that dwelt for dwelling, A.V.; upon for on, A.V. Fear fell upon them. Comp. Act 5:11-14, where the same effects are ascribed to the death of Ananias and Sapphire and the signs and wonders which were wrought by the apostles at that time. This fear produced by the putting forth of God’s power paralyzed for a time the enemies of the gospel, and enabled believers, as it were, to take possession of their new heritage, just as the miracles at the Red Sea and the destruction of Sihon and Og paralyzed the courage of the Canaanites and enabled the Israelites to take possession of their land (Jos 2:9-11). With respect to the incident which caused this fear, it might at first seem inconsistent with our Lord’s saying to the apostles (Luk 9:49, Luk 9:50). But the cases were very different. He who cast out devils in the name of Jesus, in the Gospel, does not seem to have had any hostility to the faith, for our Lord speaks of him as one who “is not against us.” But these sons of Sceva were among the unbelieving Jews who were “hardened and disobedient;” and if their exorcisms had been permitted to succeed, they would have had power to withstand Paul, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, and the very purpose for which miraculous power was given to St. Paul would have been frustrated. Therefore they were discomfited, and the subtle design of Satan to destroy, while seeming to magnify, the Name of Jesus was signally defeated. Comp. the somewhat similar incident at Philippi (Act 16:16-18). Justin Martyr, in his ‘Diologue with Trypho,’ quoted by Alford on Mat 12:27, speaks of the Jews as exorcising, sometimes in the name of kings (referring, doubtless, to Solomon), sometimes of just men, or of prophets, or of patriarchs. So these men took up the name of Jesus.

Act 19:18

Many also of them that had believed for and many that believed, A.V.; confessing and declaring for and confessed and showed, A.V. Many also of them that had believed. This and the following verse speak of that class of converts who had previously been addicted to magic arts. It gives us a curious view of the extent to which magic prevailed among the Jews at this time. Nor was it less prevalent in heathen Ephesus. The magic formulae of Ephesus were famous under the name of , and the belief in magic seems to have been universal. Hesychius gives as the names of the oldest Ephesian charms, Aski, Kataski, Lix, Petrax, Damnameneus, AEsion, which he explains as meaning severally “Darkness, Light,” “the Earth,” “the Year,” “the Truth”.

Act 19:19

And not a few for many also, A.V.; that practiced for which used A.V.; in the sight of all for before all men, A.V. That practiced curious arts ( ). The adjective applied to persons means “a busybody” (1Ti 5:13), one who does what it is not his business to do, and pries into matters with which he has no concern; applied to things, it means that which it is not anybody’s business to attend to, that which is vain and superfluous; and then, by a further extension of meaning, that which is forbidden, and specially magic arts and occult sciences. Fifty thousand pieces of silver. There is a difference of opinion as to what coin or weight is meant. If Greek coinage, which is perhaps natural in a Greek city, fifty thousand drachmae of silver would be meant, equal to 1875, If Jewish shekels are meant, the sum would amount to 7000 (‘Speaker’s Commentary’). It is in favor of drachmae being meant that, with the exception of Jos 7:21 and Jdg 17:2, the LXX. always express the word “shekel” or “didrachm” after the numeral and before the word “silver.” If St. Luke, therefore, had meant shekels, he would have written But it was the Greek usage to omit the word before when the reckoning was by drachmae (Meyer).

Act 19:20

The Lord for God, A.V. If the R.T. has the true order of the words, they must be construed, To such an extent, according to the might of the Lord, did the word grow and prevail, after the analogy of Eph 1:19. , however, taken by itself, is quite usual, like , etc. (Alford), and is rightly rendered “mightily.”

Act 19:21

Now after for offer, A.V. Purposed in the spirit ( ); literally, set, fixed, or arranged it in his spirit, like the Hebrew phrase, , in 1Sa 12:1-25, etc. Similarly of past things, Luk 1:66, , “laid them up in their hearts “(comp.Act 5:4). When he had passed through Macedonia, etc. Observe the constant solicitude of Paul to revisit the Churches which he had founded, so as to confirm the disciples in the faith and to consolidate his work (Act 14:21; Act 15:36; Act 16:6; 1Th 3:1-5, etc.). It marks the unrivalled tenderness of his heart toward the disciples. Observe also the insatiable appetite of the apostle for spiritual conquests, and his noble contempt for idleness. He has but just won Ephesus and Asia, and already he undertakes Macedonia and Achaia. Nor does his mind stop there, but reaches on to Jerusalem, then stretches onwards to Rome, and meditates the invasion of Spain. Truly neither Alexander, nor Caesar, nor any hero of antiquity was a match for this little Benjamite (paulus) in the magnanimity of his designs (Bengel).

Act 19:22

And having sent for so he sent, A.V.; Timothy for Timotheus, A.V.; he for but he, A.V.; while for season, A.V. Two of them, etc. Erastus is here mentioned for the first time. If he is the same person who is mentioned in Rom 16:23; 2Ti 4:20, it is probable that he was one of St. Paul’s Corinthian converts who had gone with him from Corinth to Jerusalem and Antioch, and had accompanied him through Phrygia and Galatia to Ephesus. Silos, who had been Timothy’s companion on the former visit to Macedonia, seems to have left St. Paul, possibly at Jerusalem, from whence he originally came (Act 15:22, Act 15:32, Act 15:34), and to have attached himself to Peter (1Pe 5:12). Perhaps he was especially connected with the mission to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, etc., as it appears from the passage just quoted that he was “a faithful brother unto them,” A.V.; “or our faithful brother,” R.V. He himself stayed, etc. This phrase is in singular harmony with 1Co 16:8, which seems clearly to have been written after Timothy’s departure for Macedonia and before his arrival at Corinth, since Timothy is not mentioned either in the superscription or among the salutations (1Co 1:1; 1Co 16:19, 1Co 16:20), and his coming to Corinth is spoken of as doubtful, though probable, in 1Co 16:10. Both passages imply a prolongation of Paul’s stay at Ephesus beyond his original intention. The special reason for this prolongation of his sojourn at Ephesus, and which is alluded to in 1 Car 1Co 16:9, is thought to be the Artemisian or Ephesian games, which were celebrated at Ephesus in Mayand therefore just at this timeand which brought a vast concourse of Ionians to Ephesus. It was at this time, doubtless, that the principal sale of “silver shrines of Diana” took place, and therefore it was natural that Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen should be very angry when they found their usual gains were cut short by the multitude of converts all over Proconsular Asia. We learn from 1Co 16:7 that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus had arrived at Ephesus from Corinth. It is likely that their presence, together with that of Tychicus and Trophimus, two Asiatic converts, enabled St. Paul to dispense with the services of Time-thy and Erastus for a time. , understand , kept himself back, i.e. stayed; , a while, an indefinite phrase, but indicating a short time. Herodotus has , , and (9. 49).

Act 19:23

About that time for the same time, A.V.; concerning the Way for about that way, A.V. (see Act 19:9).

Act 19:24

Of for for, A.V.; little business for small gain, A.V. Shrines of Diana, or Artemis. They were silver models of the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus, and were carried as charms on journeys and placed in people’s houses to ensure to them the protection of the goddess (Meyer). These gold or silver shrines contained within them an image of Artemis, as similar ones, which have been found made of terracotta, do of Cybele. Repeated mention is made in Diodorus Siculus, Ammianus Marcellinus, and elsewhere, of gold or silver shrines (), which were offered to different gods as propitiatory gifts, or carried about by the owners as charms, Business; , here and Act 19:25 (see Act 16:16, note).

Act 19:25

Gathered for called, A.V.; bust. ness for craft, A.V., but “craft” is the better rendering. Workmen; , different from the skilled laborers or artisans. Demetrius called together all who were in any way interested in the shrine trade. His true reason came out first.

Act 19:26

And for moreover, A.V. We have here a wonderful testimony from an enemy to the power and efficacy of St. Paul’s labors. Asia, here and in Act 19:22, etc., means Proconsular Asia, of which Ephesus was the chief city. That they be no gods, etc. This is an incidental proof that St. Paul’s success at Ephesus lay chiefly among the heathen, since we know from Act 14:15-17; Act 17:23, Act 17:24, etc., that this was exactly his style of preaching to Gentiles, quite different from his method with Jews.

Act 19:27

And not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute for so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught, A.V.; be made of no account for should be despised, A.V.; that she should even be deposed from her magnificence for her magnificence should be destroyed, A.V. and T.R. Is there danger. There is no example in St. Luke’s writings, or in the New Testament, or in the LXX., of , being taken impersonally, as it is sometimes, though rarely, in G reek authors. The subject, therefore, of this sentence is (the portion, part, or business), and .., must be construed together, “This trade is in danger for us to come into disrepute,” or, put into English, “This our trade is in danger,” etc. Come into disrepute; , only found here in the New Testament; literally, into refutation; hence into disrepute, or into reproach, i.e. be a ground of reproach to us who practice it. The great goddess. An epithet especially applied to the Ephesian Diana. Lewin quotes in the Ephesian Xenophon , in an inscription at Ephesus; (Achill. Tat.). Add from Pausanias, 4,31, 8, All men hold the Ephesian Diana in the greatest honor.” From her magnificence. The R.T. reads instead of in the T.R. But Meyer, while he accepts the R.T., construes it “and some of her magnificence,“ etc.; and rightly, because the genitive after should be preceded by , as Act 13:29; Jos 8:29; Jos 10:27 (LXX.), and the word is also specially used of lowering the honor of any one. All Asia and the world. This is scarcely an hyperbole, the worship of the Ephesian Diana, and of her image reported to have fallen down from heaven, was so very widely diffused.

Act 19:28

This for these sayings, A.V.; filled with wrath for full of wrath, A.V. Great is Diana, etc. A notable instance of assertion and clamor crying down reason and truth.

Act 19:29

The city for the whole city, and the confusion for confusion, A.V. and T.R. ( for ); they rushed, etc., having seized for having caught, etc., they rushed, etc., A.V. With one accord (); see Act 1:14; Act 2:1; Act 4:24, etc., and for , see Act 7:57. Into the theatre. The common place of resort for all great meetings. So Tacitus, ‘Hist.,’ 2.80 (quoted by Alford), says that at Antioch the people were wont to hold their public debates in the theatre, and that a crowded meeting was held there to forward the interests of Vespasian, then aspiring to the empire. So Josephus speaks of the people of Antioch holding a public assembly () in the theatre (‘Bell. Jud.,’ 7. 3.3). The people of the Greek city of Tarentum received the ambassadors from Rome in the theatre, “according to the Greek custom,” Val. Max., 2.2, 5 (Kuinoel, on Act 19:29). The theatre at Ephesus, of which “ruins of immense grandeur” still remain, is said to be the largest of which we have any account. Having seized (); a favorite word with Luke(Act 6:12; Act 27:12; Luk 8:29); and found also in the LXX, of Pro 6:25; 2 Macc. 3:27; 4:41; but not elsewhere in the New Testament. It is a common medical word of sudden seizures. The force of the is that they hurried Gaius and Aristarchus along with them to the theatre, no doubt intending there to accuse them to the people. Gaius and Aristarchus. In Act 20:4 there is mention of a certain Gaius who was one of Paul’s companions in travel, but who is described as “of Derbe.” Again in 1Co 1:14 a Gaius is mentioned as one of St. Paul’s converts on his first visit to Corinth, whom he baptized himself; and in Rom 16:23 (written from Corinth) we have mention of Gaius as St. Paul’s host, and of the whole Church, likely, therefore, to be the same person. Then we have the Gains to whom St. John’s Third Epistle is addressed, and whose hospitality to the brethren was a conspicuous feature in his character, and one tending to identify him with the Gaius of Rom 16:23. We seem, therefore, to have, in immediate connection with St, Paul, Gaius of Corinth, Gains of Macedonia, and Gaius of Derbe. But Gaius (or Caius, as it is written in Latin) was such a common name, and the Jews so often shifted their residence from one city to another, that it is not safe either to infer identity from identity of name, or diversity from diversity of description. Aristarchus, here described as of Macedonia, is more precisely spoken of in Act 20:4 as a Thessalonian. In Act 27:2, where we find him accompanying St. Paul from Caesarea to Rome, he is described as “a Macedonian of Thessalonica.” In Col 4:10 he is St. Paul’s “fellow-prisoner,’ as voluntarily sharing his prison (Alford, on Col 4:10), and in Phm 1:24 he is his fellow-laborer. His history, therefore, is that, having been converted on St Paul’s visit to Thessalonica, he attached himself to him as one of his missionary staff, and continued with him through good report and evil report, through persecution, violence, imprisonment, shipwreck, and bonds, to the latest moment on which the light of Bible history shines. Blessed servant of Christ! blessed fellow-servant of his chief apostle!

Act 19:30

Was minded to enter for would have entered, A.V. With the courage of a pure conscience, conscious of no wrong, and therefore fearing no wrong, Paul would have gone straight to the theatre, and cast in his lot with Gaius and Aristarchus; but the disciples, knowing the savage temper of the multitude, dissuaded him; and when their entreaties were backed by the magistrates, Paul thought it his duty to yield. To enter in unto the people. , or , or are phrases implying the intention of pleading his cause before them (see Schleusner and Kuinoel, on Act 19:30).

Act 19:31

Certain also for certain, A.V. (the more natural order would be, and certain of the chief officers of Asia also); chief officers for chief, A.V.; being for which were, A.V.; and besought him not to for desiring him that he would not, A.V. Chief Officers of Asia. The Greek word is Asiarchs (). The Asiarchs, ten in number, were officers annually chosen from all the cities of Proconsular Asia, to preside over all sacred rites, and to provide at their own expense the public games in honor of the gods and of the deity of the emperor. This necessitated their being men of high rank and great wealth, and Schleusner adds that they were priests. The name Asiarch is formed like Luciarchai, Syriarchai, Phoenicharchai, etc. We have here another striking proof of the enormous influence of Paul’s preaching in Asia, that some of these very officers who were chosen to preside over the sacred rites of the gods, and to advance their honor by public games, were now on Paul’s side.

Act 19:32

In confusion for confused, A.V. (: comp. , Act 19:29). The more part, etc. A graphic picture of an excited mob led by interested and designing agitators.

Act 19:33

Brought for drew, A.V. and T.R.; a defense for his defense, A.V. (). Alexander. Some think he is the same as “Alexander the coppersmith,” of whose conduct St. Paul complains so bitterly (2Ti 4:14, 2Ti 4:15; 1Ti 1:20), and he may or may not be. It seems likely that, as St. Paul’s offence was speaking against the gods and their temples, the Jews, who were commonly accused of being atheists, and one of whose nation Paul was, came in for their share of the popular odium. They were anxious, therefore, to excuse themselves before the people of having had any share in St. Paul’s work, and put forward Alexander, no doubt a clever man and a good speaker, to make their defense. But as soon as the people knew that he was a Jew, they refused to listen to him, and drowned his voice with incessant shouts of “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Meyer, however, thinks he was a Christian, because of the word . The people (, as verse 30). It was a true , though an irregular one, and the people who formed it were the , different from the , the mere crowd outside.

Act 19:34

Perceived for knew, A.V. , to recognize; see Act 3:10; Act 4:13).

Act 19:35

Quieted the multitude ( ) for appeased the people, A.V.; saith for said, A.V.; who for that, A.V.; temple-keeper for a worshipper, A.V.; Diana for goddess Dann, A.V. and T.R. The town clerk (6 ); i.e. the scribe, is the city secretary. , Thucyd., 7.19 (Meyer); , inscription quoted by Howson. His office, as appears from the passage in Thucydides, was to read public documents to the people. According to some, it was not a post of much dignity at Athens (Becket, on Thucyd., 7.10); but according to Kuinoel it was an office of first-rate influence in the senate in the Greek cities of Asia, seeing the scribe was the chief registrar, had the drafting of the laws, and the custody of the archives. As there were three orders of scribes, there may have been a great difference in the political rank of each. Had quieted (, and , Act 19:36). means to “arrange,” “put in order,“ the hair, the dress, or the like; hence “to restrain,” “quiet;” found only in these two places in the New Testament, but not uncommon in the Maccabees and in Josephus. In classical Greek, is a man of calm, quiet demeanor, as opposed to , one who is bold and violent. In medical language, is to soothe, calm, etc., and and are medicines which check the growth of diseases, ulcers, eruptions, and the like. Temple-keeper, in R.V. and margin of A.V. (); literally, temple-sweeper, from , a temple, and , to sweep. The word Neoceros was a peculiar title, assumed first by persons and then by such cities, in Asia especially, as had the special charge of the temple and sacred rites of any particular god. It first appears on coins of Ephesus, in the reign of Nero, and was deemed a title of great honor. One inscription speaks of () as making a certain dedication. But another use of the term sprang up about this time. Among the vile flatteries of those corrupt times, it became usual with cities to dedicate temples and altars to the emperors, and they received in return the title, meant to be an honor, of of the emperor. Some extant coins exhibit the city of Ephesus as both of Diana and the emperor. The image which fell down from Jupiter, ; which is described in verse 88 of the same play as “the image () of the goddess Diana, which they say fell down from heaven ( ) into her temple in Tauris;” and in line 1349 it is called , , “The image of the daughter of Jove which fell from heaven,” brought away from Tauris by Iphigenia and Orestes into Attica. But it does not appear that there was any tradition that the identical image brought from Tauris was carried to Ephesus. There are several representations of the Ephesian Diana, or Artemis, on coins, of which one or two are given by Lewin and by Howson. The image was of rude form and execution, mummy-shaped, or like an inverted pyramid; (rendered by St. Jerome multi-mammia, and explained as intending to represent her as the nourisher of all living things: Preface to Ephesians); made of wood variously described as ebony, cedar, and vine wood. Pliny says that, though the temple itself had been restored seven times, the image had never been altered (quoted by Kuinoel).

Act 19:36

Gainsaid for spoken against, A.V.; rash for rashly, A.V. ( is the adverb), quiet (: see above, Act 19:35, note).

Act 19:37

Temples for churches, A.V.; ,or for nor yet, A.V.; our for your, A.V. Ye have brought, etc. is especially used of “bringing before a magistrate,” “leading to execution,” etc.. Robbers of temples; found only here in the New Testament. The verb occurs in Rom 2:22. Blasphemers of our goddess. If the A.V. is right, perhaps we may see in the phrase “your goddess” an indication that the town-clerk himself was more or less persuaded by St. Paul’s preaching, that “they are no gods which are made with hands,” and did not care to speak of Diana as his own goddess. It appears also that St. Paul had not launched out into abuse of the heathen gods in general, or Diana in particular, but had preached the more excellent way by faith in Jesus Christ, to draw them from their idols (1Th 1:9).

Act 19:38

If therefore for wherefore if, A.V.; that for which, A.V.; the courts are for the law is, A.V.; proconsuls for deputies, A.V.; accuse for implead, A.V. Against any man. Mark the skill with which the town-clerk passes from the concrete to the abstract, and avoids the mention of Paul’s name. The courts are open; (or ) . Some supply the word , and make the sense “judicial assemblies,” “sessions,” coming round at proper fixed intervals. But the verb , more naturally suggests , as Bengel says ( : : , etc.), and then the meaning is, “The regular court-days are kept, when the proconsul attends to try causes;” there is no need to have an irregular trial. So Suidas explains it, . There are proconsuls. Bengel, with whom Meyer agrees, thinks the plural denotes the unbroken succession of proconsuls. But Lewin thinks it may mark the exact time of these transactions as being immediately after the poisoning of the Proconsul Junius Silanus by order of Agrippina, when the two procurators, Celer and AElius, exercised the proconsular power till the appointment of another proconsul, according to a law of Claudius to that effect. Others have other explanations.

Act 19:39

Seek for inquire, A.V.; about for concerning, A.V.; settled for determined, A.V.; the regular for a lawful, A.V. If ye seek, etc (). means either “to make inquiry” or” to desire earnestly.” The verb in the next clause, , it shall be “settled,” or “solved,” favors the first sense: “If you wish to inquire further into the spread of Paul’s doctrine, and the best way of dealing with it, the question should be decided in an assembly of the , legally convened.” For , about other matters, some manuscripts read , further. The regular assembly. That summoned by a magistrate in the constitutional way. The Greek cities under the Roman government preserved their rights and liberties, and the privilege of popular assemblies. The town clerk, therefore, gave them their choice of either having the case tried before the proconsuls or having it laid before the ecclesia of the demos, if they wished it to be gone into on wider and deeper grounds.

Act 19:40

For indeed for for, A.V.; accused for called in question, A.V.; concerning for for, A.V.; riot for uproar, A.V.; for it for whereby, A.V.; and as touching it we shall not be able to for we may, A.V. and T.R.; account for an account, A.V. We are in danger (: see Act 19:27, note). To be accused concerning this day’s riot. The Greek cannot well be so construed. The margin is right; is “to be charged with sedition;” is for , “this day,” as in Act 20:26, : only in English we should say, “on account of this day,” i.e. what has been done this day. The R.T. places a stop after As touching it. But “it“ must mean “the riot,” which is feminine, whereas is masculine; so that the R.T. is impossible to construe. It is much better, therefore, to adhere to the T.R., which has good manuscript authority, and to construe as the A.V. Whereby, equivalent to “on the ground of which” (Meyer). With regard to the great tumult to which the foregoing narrative relates, it is certain that St. Luke has by no means exaggerated its importance. In his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, written from Macedonia shortly after his departure from Ephesus, St. Paul speaks as one still smarting under the severity of his sufferings. In the language of trust, yet of a trust sorely tried, he speaks of the Father of mercies” who comforteth us in all our tribulation.” He speaks of the sufferings of Christ as abounding in him. And then, referring directly to the trouble which came upon him in Asia, he says, “We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death” (2Co 1:4-10). And the same tone breaks out again in 2Co 4:7-18; 2Co 6:4-10; 2Co 11:23-27; 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:10. It is also very probable that it was on this occasion that Priscilla and Aquila saved St. Paul’s life at the risk of their own, to which he alludes in Rom 16:3, Rom 16:4, written after he had reached Corinth from Macedonia, i.e. before Easter of the year 58 A.D. So that it is certain that the riot and the danger to St. Paul’s life were even greater than we should have inferred from St. Luke’s narrative alone. It should be added, with reference to the three years‘ residence at Ephesus (Act 20:21) which this nineteenth chapter describes, that one or two important incidents which occurred are not related by St. Luke. The first is that encounter with a savage rabble to which St. Paul refers in 1Co 15:32, but of which we have no account in the Acts. It must have happened in the early part of his sojourn at Ephesus. Another is a probable visit to Corinth, inferred from 2Co 2:1; 2Co 12:14, 2Co 12:21; 2Co 13:1, 2Co 13:2; and thought to have been caused by bad accounts of the moral state of the Corinthian Church, sent to him at Ephesus. It was probably a hasty visit, and in contrast with it he says, in 1Co 16:7, with reference to his then coming visit, “I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you.” It is also thought that there was another letter to the Corinthians, written from Ephesus, soon after that second visit, which is now lost, but is alluded to in 1Co 5:9. The First Epistle to the Corinthians was manifestly written at this time from Ephesus (see 1Co 16:8, 1Co 16:19). Some think that the Epistle to the Galatians was also written from Ephesus, a little before the First Epistle to the Corinthians (see 1Co 16:1; Gal 2:10); but Renan thinks it was written from Antioch, before he came to Ephesus.

HOMILETICS

Act 19:1-20

The advance.

The founding of a Church at Ephesus, the capital city of Proconsular Asiaa great center of Greek and Asiatic life, civil, religious, and commercial, the seat of the famous temple of Artemis, the place of concourse of all Ionia for its celebrated gamesis one of those great epochs in the history of Christianity which arrest the attention and demand the consideration of the Christian reader. Not above two years (if so much) had elapsed since the Holy Ghost had expressly prohibited the preaching of the Word in Asia, for reasons which we know not; but now that prohibition is removed, and, after a preliminary movement by Apollos, we find St. Paul planting his foot firmly on the soil of Asia, and taking possession in the Name of the Lord Jesus. The banner which he then set up has never been taken down to this present hour. What the influence of the great success of St. Paul’s ministry at Ephesus upon other Asiatic cities may have been, we have no means of knowing in detail; but that it was very great and widespread we learn from the tenth, twentieth, and twenty-sixth verses of this chapter. The first, second, and third chapters of the Revelation of St. John supply further important evidence, both as regards Ephesus itself and the other Churches of Asia; and so do the two Epistles of St. Paul to Timothy. From hence St. John exercised his jurisdiction over the whole of the Churches of Asia. The Epistle of Ignatius to the Church of Ephesus carries on the tradition; and we learn from later ecclesiastical history how important a position Ephesus held, being styled . The third general council was held there in A.D. 431. In thus casting a hasty glance at the succeeding history of this apostolic Church, we are led to the reflection how little we know what may be the consequences of any single forward movement in the kingdom of God. The humblest servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, in a meeting with a few like-minded brethren, may be laying the foundation of institutions which will last while the Church lasts, and exercise a world-wide influence upon the destinies of mankind. A mission to a race of semi-barbarians may be the planting of a Church under whose shadow millions may hereafter walk in all the joy of Christian hope, and in all the beauty of Christian holiness. The simplest word spoken in the kingdom of God, the simplest action taken in the Name of the Lord Jesus, may be the instrument used by the power of God for advancing his own purposes of grace and salvation to untold multitudes. When Augustine had his first interview with King Ethelbert in the city of the men of Kent (Cant-wara-byrig), who could have foreseen the influence upon the Christianity and civilization of the world which that interview was destined to exercise? And so in the case of every fresh effort to preach Christ where he is not known, there is a glorious uncertainty as to the ultimate consequences of such advance. The missionaries’ stammering speech telling the story of the cross to a handful of heathen may be the first step of a mighty change which shall make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. One Heaven-born thought in the mind of a man of God, one prayer in the Holy Ghost, one faithful word of truth, may be the seed of a sacred history which shall fill, not earth only, but heaven also with enduring fruits of joy and salvation. Let St. Paul himself make the application: “Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1Co 15:58).

Act 19:21-41

The greed of gain.

Several instructive lessons crop up from this narrative. When two people advancing from opposite directions meet in a narrow pathway, one must give way to the other. When the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ encounters the greed of gain in a human breast, either the Word, with its promises, its hopes, its commands, must stand aside that the love of money may pursue its onward course, or the worldly gain must become as dung in the eyes of the hearer of the Word. We have noble examples in such men as Moses, Elisha, Daniel, Nehemiah, Zacchaeus, Peter and the other apostles, Barnabas, Paul, and many more both in ancient and modern times, of that contempt of worldly gains in comparison with the treasures of heaven, which marks the true servant of the living God. But we have, on the other hand, many sad though instructive instances of the love of gain holding its ground and barring the entrance into the heart of love and obedience to God. It was so in the instance recorded in this section. Here was the blessed gospel of God’s redeeming grace preached with extraordinary power by St. Paul, confirmed by signal miracles, attested by the conversion of multitudes, glorified by the open confession and the voluntary losses of so many professors of curious arts; it was presented with a power and a beauty to the minds of the Ephesians which seemed to be irresistible. What sweet lessons of godliness, what glorious promises of immortality, what captivating revelations of the goodness and love of God, did that gospel contain! It could set men free from sin; it could raise them to fellowship with angels; it could give them the victory over the very grave. But when Demetrius heard it he saw in it one fatal blot which obliterated all its excellences: it would destroy the trade in silver shrines. Let men once be convinced that there is one true and living God, the Lord of heaven and earth, and one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, and that to know him and love and serve him is eternal life, and there would be an end of the worship of the great goddess Diana of the Ephesians. The strangers who flocked to the pan-Ionian games would no longer crowd to the shop of Demetrius, that they might carry home with them a silver shrine; silver ornaments would no more be devoted to beautify the famous temple; the skill of the craftsmen would no longer bring them honor and respect; the faith of Jesus Christ would be the death-blow to the magnificence of Diana and to the gains of her workmen. Therefore the faith of Christ must be resisted. It must be kept out of the workmen’s heart, and it must be crushed that it spread no more. The true cry wasOur gains are in danger! The pretended cry wasThe honor of Diana is at stake! And this leads Us to the further remark that selfish greed seldom dares show itself without disguise. It has an instinctive consciousness of its own unworthiness as a motive of action, and even of its repulsiveness in the eyes of others. It must therefore always put on some cloak of hyprocrisy. It must simulate zeal for God or benevolence towards man. It must pretend to be seeking some end very different from the true one, or at least one to which the true end is quite subordinate. Even if it admit that “this our craft is in danger,” it puts forward as the supreme danger that “her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.” And this teaches us the importance of a very close scrutiny of our own motives of action, when our worldly interests are concerned. It is astonishing how much men’s judgment and their powers of discrimination are affected by considerations of interest. It is, perhaps, less common for men to act deliberately against their conviction of what is just and right than to be biased in their opinion of what is right by the disturbing force of self-interest. The man whose real aim through life is to do what is right and accept what is true, quite irrespective of any influence which his belief or his action may have upon his own temporal gains, should spare no pains to maintain a judgment quite independent of selfish considerations, and to force his conscience always to give a true verdict upon the evidence before it, unmoved by fear of loss, and unseduced by hopes of gain. Once more, the example of the Ephesian silversmiths supplies a caution, not unneeded to all Christians, against supposing that “godliness is a way of gain.” A large part of the corruptions of Christianity, and of the scandalous lives of worldly minded clergy in all ages, has arisen from the attempt to make religion a source of individual gain and aggrandizement. Legacies extorted from death-bed terrors, preferment gained by unworthy means, the sale of indulgences, paid Masses for the dead, the huge treasures accumulated by divers pretences at the shrines of saints, and many other infamous devices to make religion lucrative to the professors of it, are examples of what I mean. The man of God and the chaste Church of Christ must flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. These are the Christian’s treasures, the results of his craft, the rewards of his labors. These are the branches which grow on the stem of heavenly truth, and with these alone can he be satisfied. He covets not the wages of unrighteousness; he cares not for the silver shrines; he frames not his creed either to catch the gifts of the wealthy, or to secure the praises of the world. The practical lesson to the Christian tradesman is to beware lest the interests of his trade lead him into any antagonism with the requirements of the gospel. Certain gains may be incompatible with perfect integrity, or with a supreme regard for the honor of God, or with true love to man. Let the Christian tradesman look to it that he is always ready to sacrifice his gains to his higher Christian obligations. His willingness to do so is the test of his Christian sincerity, and it is a severe test. The voice of a thriving, growing, swelling business is a loud voice, and the fear of checking a trade and losing all is a very telling fear. The cry of a feeble business, crying for more aliment and a wider field, is a very pressing cry. Let the voice of conscience, and duty, and fealty to Christ be louder and more pressing still, so that the silver shrines may pale before the claims of the supreme Lord of all, and the treasures of the world may become as dung before the glory of the righteousness of the children of God.

HOMILIES BY W. Clarkson

Act 19:1-7

Essential but insufficient; valuable but temporary.

We have here, in connection with the Christian faith and with Christian work

I. THE ESSENTIAL BUT THE INSUFFICIENT. (Act 19:1-5.) At Ephesus Paul met with disciples who had been baptized “unto John’s baptism” (verse 3), but who had not learnt to exercise faith in Jesus Christ, nor even heard that there was a Holy Ghost (verse 2). These men were well on the way to salvation by Jesus Christ, but they were far from the goal. Repentance is essential, but it is not sufficient of itself.

1. It is essential; for without it the heart remains estranged from God, the soul unturned from self and sin, the life unrelieved of that which is false and wrong; and without it there is no sense of that spiritual need which welcomes a Divine Savior with humility and trust, which rejoices in a Divine Lord to whom full submission may be made. The Christian preacher who does not enforce repentance is fatally lacking in his duty; the Christian disciple who has not experienced it is fatally short of fulfilling the condition of acceptance with God.

2. It is not sufficient; for

(1) it leaves the soul without any pledge of Divine forgiveness;

(2) it leaves the heart without that personal union with a Divine Redeemer in which consists the very essence of spiritual and eternal life;

(3) it leaves the spirit of man without the abiding indwelling and quickening influence of the Spirit of God. Therefore let the Christian teacher make much of the distinctive doctrine of the faith he preaches, and continually testify not only “repentance towards God,” but “faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Act 20:21).

II. THE VALUABLE BUT THE TEMPORARY. (Verse 6.) “When Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues,” etc. It was desirable, then, that the presence and power of the Divine Spirit should be manifested by “signs and wonders.” It was, at that stage of the progress of the gospel, a very valuable contribution to its triumph; it gave assurance to those on whom he came, and evidence to those who “were without.” Experience soon proved (e.g. the Corinthian Church) that this order of evidence and influence was open to abuse, and that it was not of the kind that could be permanent in the Church.

1. We can plainly see that in these days it would be practically useless: it would be, to ordinary observers, indistinguishable from the jugglery and affectations of the impostor.

2. God has given us that which is better, with which we may well be content, and for the perfection of which we should strive and pray. He gives us, as the consequence of our faith and as the response to our believing prayer, quickening influences in the soul; a Divine action upon and within the spirit, of the actual working of which we are not usually conscious at the moment of operation, but the effects of which are obvious to ourselves and to others. They are these:

(1) an assurance of sonship (Rom 8:16);

(2) a desire to bear witness unto Christ, so that without any gift of tongues we shall overcome all obstacles, and speak of him and for him;

(3) a holy heart and a beautiful life (Gal 5:22; Eph 5:9).C.

Act 19:8-17

The spiritual, the supernatural, and the natural.

The faithful labors of Paul in the synagogue of the Jews and the room of Tyrannus, the unusually extensive employment of the miraculous, and the discomfiture of the exorcists suggest to us

I. THAT THE SUPERNATURAL IS TO BE SUBORDINATED TO THE SPIRITUAL. (Act 19:8-12.) We remember how our Lord refused to gratify the unworthy craving for signs and wonders in his day: “There shall no sign be given to this generation” (Mar 8:12); repeatedly he discouraged the demand for the miraculous, because it interfered with the teaching of truth, and so with the furtherance of his spiritual work. We find Paul making comparatively little of these great “gifts;” his chronicler does not enlarge on them, but disposes of them in very few words, no doubt reproducing and reflecting thus the mind of the apostle; he himself does not make a single allusion to them in his address to the eiders at Miletus (Act 20:1-38.); he disparages rather than magnifies their importance in his Epistles (2Co 13:1-14., 14.). We are led to feel that the “special miracles wrought by the hands of Paul” are of very secondary value, as compared (Act 19:11) with his diligence in persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Act 19:8), and with his enterprise and zeal in so acting that “all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Act 19:10). We need not sigh for departed times when the gospel had some sanctions and supports which it has not now. All that is of first importance, all that is truly redemptive and Divine, abides with the Church of Christ, and will remain for ever.

1. The knowledge of the living and saving truth.

2. The love of it, and joy in it.

3. The privilege of making it known.

4. The accessibility of those heavenly influences which make it powerful and efficacious to our own hearts and to the souls of those whom we address.

II. THAT THE NATURAL CANNOT DO THE SPECIAL WORK or THE SPIRITUAL. These exorcists (Act 19:13) had probably been so far successful that they had induced their fellow-citizens to believe that in them resided a strange power over the insane or the possessed. But when they used the name of Jesus in order to effect their object, they failed signally and disgracefully. In this respect they are types of those who attempt to do God’s work without Divine weapons. Only the spiritual can do spiritual work. It is true that unspiritual men may

(1) understand much of the Divine thought;

(2) speak what they know with skill and force;

(3) assume a sacred tone and spirit, and may affect men by that assumption;

(4) maintain for years a reputation for devotion and usefulness.

But it is also true that

(1) if any spiritual result should follow, it will be through the overruling power of God,it will not be their work, in any true sense;

(2) no considerable or permanent results will follow,such unreal conditions will not stand the test of time;

(3) there will come exposure and humiliation, either here or hereafter. Wherefore let us honor the spiritual as that which is the one true, abiding Divine power.

Let us:

(1) Welcome to our heart the first teachings and leadings of the Divine Spirit.

(2) Establish our whole life on the basis of the spiritual; live and walk “in the Spirit,” as those who realize that outward shows are as nothing to the great spiritual realities.

(3) Do the work of God with spiritual weapons; not attempting to build up the kingdom of God by bodily benefits, political economies, or human philosophies. These have their place and their work, as handmaids and auxiliaries, and are by no means to be despised. But the Christian minister must make men “hear the words of the Lord Jesus,” must speak of those things which distinctively “concern the kingdom of God;” he must utter specially Christian doctrine, and look for positively Divine influence.C.

Act 19:18-20

The sign of sincerity.

We are reminded by the text

I. THAT WHEN WE ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST WE YIELD OURSELVES TO HIM. To exercise a living faith in him is to take everything from him and to give everything to him; therefore to give ourselves to him and to his service. It is to recognize and respond to his supreme claims on heart and life.

II. THAT TO GIVE OURSELVES TO CHRIST MEANS TO ABANDON ALL THAT IS HATEFUL TO HIM. HOW can we love him and not hate and shun the things which are painful and offensive in his sight?

III. THAT TO ABANDON WHAT 1.8 HATEFUL TO CHRIST IS TO PUT AWAY ALL THAT IS FALSE AND IMPURE. To live a life of imposture; to be systematically enriching ourselves at the expense of the credulity of others (as these Ephesians had been doing); to be acting falsehoods daily, or even frequently; to be introducing a large measure of vanity or folly into that which should be good and pure;this is hateful to him who is the holy and the true One; this is unendurable by him in one who bears his name and professes to be like him and to follow him.

IV. THAT TO PUT ASIDE THAT WHICH IS PROFITABLE OR PLEASANT FOR CHRIST‘S SAKE IS A SURE SIGN OF SINCERITY. The burning of these profitable “books” was the very best guarantee that could be given of the sincerity of the Ephesian converts. If we want to know how deep and true is a man’s conviction, we do not ask what strong things he can say in its favor, or how eloquently he can descant upon it, or what fervor he shows on one or two occasions respecting it, but how much he is prepared to part with on its account. We ask what deep-rooted habits he will cut away, what cherished treasures he will put aside, what keen enjoyments he will forego, what money he will sacrifice, what prized but hurtful friendships he will surrender. This is the test of sincerity. A man that will do one or more of these things, “we know the proof of him.“

V. THAT DELIBERATE SELF–SACRIFICE IS THE MOST APPRECIATED WITNESS WE CAN BEAR FOR CHRIST. “So mightily grew the word of God,” etc. (Act 19:20). There is no way by which we can so powerfully affect the judgment and win the sympathy of men as by sacrificing for Christ’s sake that which all men prize and strive for. When the world sees all who “profess and call themselves Christians” not only engaging in devotion, and endeavoring to make converts, but also denying themselves pleasures they would otherwise enjoy, spending on others the money they would else have spent on themselves, foregoing worldly advantages which they cannot conscientiously appropriate, then it will be convinced by arguments which now are without any cogency, and will be won by persuasions which now are urged in vain.C.

Act 19:21-41

The supreme conflict.

Of all the struggles which have occurred or are now taking place in the human world, there is not one which deserves to be named in comparison with that supreme conflict which is proceeding between Divine truth and human error, between holiness and sin, between Christ and “the world.” We are

I. ONE STRONG ADVERSARY WHICH HAS TO BE OVERCOME. The world will never be renovated until many strong “interests” have been bravely encountered and utterly overthrown. The gospel of Christ cannot be proclaimed in its fullness without giving occasion for many to say, here and there, now and again, “This our craft is in danger” (Act 19:27). It is the inevitable tendency of all purifying truth, not only to eradicate evil from the hearts of men, but to bring to naught the hurtful institutions of the world. But by these men live; with these their material interests are closely bound up. Whether it be “drunkenness, slavery, or war,” which have been declared to be “the three great evils which have cursed mankind.” or whether it be any other harmful thing which Christ purposes to overthrow, his truth must occasionally and incidentally assail the temporal interests and prospects of men. And such is our human nature that, when it does this, it will call forth the most bitter, vehement, crafty, determined opposition. It is in this incidental way that Christ comes, “not to send peace on earth, but a sword” (Mat 10:34). And we may learn

(1) that it is doubtful whether we are declaring the whole counsel of God, if we are provoking no hostility by our utterance;

(2) that we need not wonder that the coming of the kingdom of God is delayed when we take this envenomed hostility into account.

II. THE SUCCESS OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH, NOTWITHSTANDING. By the confession of Demetrius: “This Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people,” etc. (Act 19:26). There may have been a note of exaggeration in his speech, but it is a significant fact that these “shrines“ were in much smaller request in consequence of Paul’s preaching. Truth will tell, sooner or later. Against all prejudices, material interests, social habits, civil laws, military forces, it will ultimately prevail. Imperceptibly at first, but in growing numbers and accelerating force, it wins its way until it is accepted, honored, crowned.

III. THE SUBTLETY OF SIN. When the silversmiths of Ephesus find their craft in danger, they say so, plainly enough, while they confer together; but when they face the populace, they disguise their selfishness under the cloak of piety, and cry, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians” (verse 29). Sin sometimes fights without any mask at all; it shows itself in its native hideousness,the rank, foul, selfish, shameful thing it is. But usually it seeks to conceal its ugliness by draping itself in something which is elegant and becoming. It affects piety, benevolence, patriotism; it is concerned for the comfort, the temporal necessities, or even the spiritual well-being of the world. God strikes through such miserable pretences with his penetrating eye, and it is often open to our human intelligence to recognize the hateful features beneath the graceful folds.

IV. THE WEAPONS OF DIVINE WISDOM. These are three, as suggested here.

1. Prudence. This is least in virtue and value; but it is not unimportant. The town-clerk of Ephesus is a model of the politic in behavior and address (verses 35-41); what he employed so admirably in the discharge of his secular duty, we may use advantageously in the fulfillment of our high mission. The disciples of Ephesus showed a wise prudence in not suffering Patti to enter the theatre; humanly speaking, they saved his life (verse 30). He himself prudently left the city after this great disturbance. We may be and should be politic and prudent when our caution is not cowardice nor faithlessness (Joh 16:8).

2. Courage. Paul was ready to go into the midst of the excited, violent, murderous multitude (verse 30). The same unfaltering courage carried him over perilous seas, into dangerous countries, among hostile peoples,-everywhere, if only he saw the Master’s pointing finger or heard the cry of spiritual distress.

3. Faithfulness. It was the preaching of the cross, the telling of the old, old story of redeeming love, whatever the Jew might demand or the Gentile crave, which was the source and secret of the apostle’s power.C.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON

Act 19:1-7

Paul and the Baptist’s disciples.

I. LESSONS FROM PAUL IN THIS RELATION. His care for souls is comprehensive, zealous, and wise.

1. “Have ye received the Holy Ghost?” Is your religion genuine? Is it profound? Is it a living consciousness of God within the soul? Or a dependence on forms, on creeds, on ideas merely? How many trained and taught as Christians must answer, “We know not yet the Holy Spirit”! the new birth, the love, “the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”!

2. “In whom were ye then baptized?” A question also for us. What means the name “Christian” that you bear? Is the devil and all his works daily renounced? Baptism reminds us of God the Father, and of childhood to him; of God the Son, and of redemption through his blood; of God the Holy Spirit, and of the temple we ought spiritually to be. Let us ask ourselves the questions Paul asked of the disciples of the Baptist.

II. LESSONS FROM THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

1. They are typical, as we have seen, of many among us; and those who resemble them among us should be treated in like manner. There are those who stand upon a lower step of faith. They know that the gospel requires them to give up sin; perhaps not yet that it calls them to the perfect trust and the love that casts out fear. They confess themselves ignorant if questioned of this “higher life.”

2. The testing question. A living faith, a life in conformity with the baptismal profession, a sanctified speech and life, give the only satisfactory answer.

3. The unity of all disciples under one Master. “One is your Master, and all ye are brethren” Human teachers impart their words, Christ his Spirit. Human teachers lay the foundation, give the elements; he leads on to perfection, guides to the goal. Many are the schools of philosophy, one is the Church of Jesus Christ.J.

Act 19:8-20

Work of Paul at Ephesus.

Here we have the victory of the Divine Word over the power of falsehood and evil in the minds of men. Such episodes show on a small scale what the effect of the evangelical leaven is in the world on a large scale.

I. THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL SEEN IN THE ACTIVITY OF PAUL. It becomes a two-edged sword in his hand against all the powers of darkness. Three months’ continuous preaching of great evangelical truths may lay the foundation of spiritual building for the lifetime of many souls. In three relations this influence of the gospel is felt:

(1) upon the hard and unbelieving hearts (Act 19:8-10);

(2) upon forms of sickness;

(3) upon the dark works of godless magic.

1. With reference to the first, he refused to throw pearls before swine. Or, like a faithful shepherd, he separated the untainted sheep from the rest of the flock, that they might not be injured. To attempt in act or thought to separate or excommunicate individuals from the true Church is a usurpation of Divine authority; a violent plucking of the supposed tares from the wheat. It is a different thing to go apart one’s self from those believed to be in error. This is an exercise of personal liberty; the former an encroachment on the rights of others.

2. With reference to the second, it appears to have been the vital health of the inspired apostle which opposed and conquered bodily sickness. Not relics of a dead man, but clothes of a living man, were the instruments of the cure. The means are of slight importance when the Divine power is present. It was not Peter’s shadow at Jerusalem (Act 5:15), nor here at Ephesus Paul’s handkerchief, which wrought the cures, but the living spiritual force in the will, that is, the faith of the worker. The Roman relic-worshipper expects life from dead things, salvation from that which in the nature of things has no healing power. Nor is the expectation of life and spiritual health from rites and ceremonies more reasonable. The service of dead works is placed in the room of the inward organ of a living faith.

3. The third mode of St. Paul’s activity: the people placed in trust of God’s Word had fallen into the practice of the most foolish magic arts. The impostors’ mode imitate the apostle’s. Not in teaching the truth nor in converting souls, but in aping the wondrous deeds of the apostle, so seeking to secure a like credit. ‘Tis the way of all false teachers and spurious imitators; they can mimic the gesture, cannot catch the spirit. The counterfeit is all but the original; but an immense chasm lies in that all but! “Jesus whom Paul preaches.” The faith of very many is but a faith in the faith of some one elsea dependence on hearsay, like that of these teachers. And this is weakness itself. The “seven sons of the high priest” may remind us of the old commonplace that external association with sacred things is not always favorable to piety. On the contrary, the old proverb says, “The nearer the church, the further from God.” This is an extreme way of stating a patent truth. But the evil spirit defies the feeble imitator, will not yield to his spells, knows the difference between the man filled with and the man empty of God. If we advance to the combat without a call and without an inspiration, we shall incur humiliation. We cannot create an inspiration, nor call ourselves. “Paint a fire; it will not therefore burn.” Mock enthusiasm will be found out. “Jesus and Paul I know; but who are ye?” Try to preach without believing your own doctrine, speak of Jesus as a Friend while the heart is averse from him; the mocking voice of the fiend will be heard within, and efforts to convince others will be as the blows of one that fighteth the air. The lie of the heart will paralyze the mightiest eloquence; but the simple truth of the conscience will be a power made manifest in weakness. The false teachers are impotent in the presence and before the attack of the passionate evil spirit; they are overpowered, and flee naked and wounded out of the house. The devil is a thankless master, and puts to shame his most zealous servants. ‘Tis a condensed tragedy, this scene. A naked and a wounded soul is all that we may expect to carry from the service of falsehood.

II. THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IN THE AWAKENED CONSCIENCE,

1. Fear fell on all. Falsehood bows before the majesty of truth. The devils give witness to Jesus. His Name is glorified by the triumph of his servants and the subjection of his foes. Silence was broken, guilty reserve vanished. Probably both converted and unconverted had sin to confess. Fear is in the soul what the earthquake and the tempest are in the physical world. It breaks up the hard crust of habit, lets the pent-up lava-floods break forth, brings purification and health in its train.

2. Confession is freely made. We have no right to force the secrets of the heart. Happy is it when they are volunteered, and when the soul brought to itself thus of its own accord “gives glory to God.”

3. Practical results. We need not debate the question of the confessional.” More important is it to recognize that genuine confession is followed by a renouncement of the sin. Here those who had seen the error of their superstition promptly undid it. They brought their books and burned them in public. It seems a pity that we should thus have lost valuable information. They might have renounced the teaching of the books and spared the books themselves. The records of human aberration are equally useful to us with the records of sound philosophy. Experiments that have failed will not readily be tried again. But in the fervor of a first love all is excusable. Where great corruption has prevailed, there will be presently a reaction, and extreme Puritanism will set in. Where pleasure has run to license legitimate pleasure will presently be looked upon with suspicion. The example of the Ephesians is not to be followed literally, but in spirit. Evil, like good, is everywhere present. Burn bad books, they will be read the more. Denounce “spiritualism,“ etc., and people’s curiosity wilt be inflamed about it. Sophistry is hydra-headed: directly we seem to make little way against it. The best counsel isLet alone what you know is injurious to you. Let the understanding be strengthened and the affections purified, and superstition will fall from the mind as an eruption disappears from the skin when the body is restored to health. “Thus mightily grew the Word of God.” Live for the truth; sow it, plant it out in all minds, and let there be no room for the ill weeds to grow.J.

Act 19:21-41

The spirit of rebellion against the gospel.

The tumult at Ephesus presents a picture of certain aspects of human nature and of the contest between good and evil in the world.

I. ITS CAUSES. Most radical of all was the instinct of self-seeking. This is the dark background out of which all manner of fiendish shapes arise to contend against the light. Then it was self-seeking under the guise of religious zeal. Demetrius is the type of all those who make great professions of interest for the “truth,” the “honor of God,” the “cause of religion,” and the like, while their real motive is personal profit, honor, or notoriety. They appear to be aiming at the highest, are really driving at the lowest object. At the same time, consistency with self gives an appearance of truth, no matter how corrupt and base the self may be. Hence selfish men often earn a credit and reputation refused to the more conscientious. For the egoist always “knows his own mind,” though it be a bad mind; the conscientious man has frequent self-doubts and conflicts, the signs of which cannot be suppressed.

II. ITS MEANS AND INSTRUMENTS. The imagination of the multitude must, as usual, be acted upon. For good or for evil, great movements among the masses, are due immediately to influences upon the imagination. The preacher’s power lies here, and also that of the sophist and the demagogue. The ideas connected with profit and those connected with religion have immense governing newer over the mass. We remember the commotion a few years ago among the match-makers in the east of London when it was threatened to tax their industry. So with bread-riots, land riots, and the like All the instincts of self-preservation rise against those who appear to menace the very means of existence. Religious ideas are only a degree less powerful. Society rests upon religion. We can only faintly imagine how the Athenian felt about his guardian goddess Athene, or the Ephesian about great Artemis. The Greek city was to each native as one large house or home, the very hearth of which was the altar of the god, the very foundations of which rested on reverence for that god. Here, then, were two of the mightiest instincts of human nature roused up and armed against the gospelthe self-seeking and the religious or superstitious instinct.

III. THE VICTORY OF THE TRUTH.

1. The kingdom of sense and of nature is represented by the great gods of Greece. Christianity is the kingdom of the spirit. The worship of the Greek cities was that of the beautiful; art and science were supreme. Christianity makes the moral ideal supreme.

2. The true temple is the spirit of man. And no worthy temple can be built to God unless his Spirit purify the heart, and his strength be perfected in weakness. Without the internal cultus of the heart, the external, in buildings and ritual, is vain.

3. The spiritual kingdom alone is abiding. Ephesus and its temple have long been in ruins; but against the Church of Christ the gates of hell cannot prevail.

4. The security of the faithful amidst the storm. They are concealed in a safe place till the hour of danger be over past (Act 19:30, Act 19:31). Help is raised up in unexpected quarters (Act 19:35, et seq.). The storms of angry passions are subdued (Act 19:40). The ark of the Church is guided safely through the tempest.

5. Character brought to light in troublous scenes. The chancellor at Ephesus is an example of undaunted courage, of calm prudence, of impartial justice, and of human kindness.J.

HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD

Act 19:1-7

Practical exemplification of Christian doctrine.

The principles involved in the case of Apollos might be lost sight of for lack of examples. He himself was so distinguished. The Church needed to be taught by a more prominent and wider illustration. The distinctions insisted on by Paul essential to Christianity. Hence the whole episode of the appearance of Apollos on the scene ordered providentially. Paul’s journey through Upper Asia to Ephesus possibly hastened by his desire to watch over the spiritual work there. The gift of the Holy Ghost not a mere endowment, but a seal upon the faith as faith in Christ and his spiritual kingdom; it betokened an entire change of position and of life. The twelve disciples, probably converts of Apollos, were still occupying a Judaistic position, believing in Jesus, but only as John preached him. Their public baptism into the Name of the Lord Jesus was a public renunciation of their old standing as Jews and their acceptance of the higher platform of the spiritual kingdom. The gifts poured out on them and exercised by them was a glorious testimony to Christ in Ephesus. Learn

I. THE SUPREMACY OF THE GOSPEL.

1. To Judaism.

2. To reformed Judaism with the new hopes revived in it by John.

3. To mere moral change and reformation of life.

II. THE PRACTICAL POWER OF A TRUE FAITH. Those that believed as Paul would have them believe became, not only spiritual men, but preachers. The faith which evangelizes is not a cold assent to truth, not a mere principle of religious reverence and order regulating the individual life, not a mere setting of Christ on the throne of the intellect as the highest Teacher, but a faith which works by love through the energy el the Spirit bestowed. They believe, and therefore speak. The test of true faith is its aggressive tendency. That which sits at home is paralyzed.R.

Act 19:8-20

(or Act 19:20).

Triumphs of the gospel at Ephesus.

Asiatic character of the superstitions prevalent Dark. degraded mysterious Amulets and charms. Magical words. Exorcism. Not merely among the lower classes, but throughout the city. A dead man said to have spoken from the funeral pile. A wrestler with magic scroll round his body always victorious. Magic an elaborate, abstruse, difficult science, contained in learned books, studied for many years. Notice, therefore

I. THE PECULIAR GRACIOUSNESS of the miracles wrought at Ephesus, as speaking so loudly against the prevalent superstitions.

1. As showing forth a greater power than was dreamed of amongst men.

2. As connecting the working of signs with the messages of mercy. Paul disclaimed all power of his own, and simply invited faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. As rebuking and dishonoring the falsehoods and presumptions of those who were enslaving the people.

4. As revealing the benevolence and philanthropy of the gospel in distinction from the selfish and sordid practices of those who used sorcery for their own profit.

II. THE MARVELLOUS SPIRITUAL POWER PUT FORTH. The whole neighborhood ringing with the fame of the miracles and with the story of the gospel.

1. The special difficulty of effecting a change in such men. Their interests involved. Their pride wounded. Their ignorance and self-deception binding them fast.

2. The vastness of the change wrought. The burning of the books, their very means of livelihood. The value greattwo thousand pounds stealing. The publicity of the act made it irrevocable.

3. The widespread influence of such a testimony, more than words, more than personal confession. It would preach the gospel to all Asia.

4. The beneficent effect on the future of the people in delivering them from the entanglement of magical superstitions, and so leaving them open to the preaching of the gospel. “Fear fell upon them all, and the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified (of the similar event at Florence under the preaching of Savonarola).R.

Act 19:21, Act 19:22

The purpose of a great heart.

I. An example of INTENSE DEVOTEDNESS.

1. Care of the Churches. Bad news from Corinth. Apostolic supervision required. Help for the poor saints at Jerusalem.

2. Love of souls. The message must be preached everywhere, even at Rome.

3. Self-sacrifice. The labors at Ephesus great. The weakness of the apostle a constant temptation to lessen his toil. The prospect both at Jerusalem and at Rome one of dark suffering, persecution, and probable death.

II. THE PURPOSE OF GOD BLENDING WITH THE PURPOSE OF MAN.

1. No self-assertion, but simply absorbing desire to be employed for God.

2. Although the course of events unforeseen, yet the issue worked out gave the apostle “the desire of his heart.”

3. The separation from Ephesus, which might have been painful and injurious to the Church there, prepared for by the occurrences in the city. It was necessary that Paul should go for his own personal safety. The disciples willingly parted with him.R.

Act 19:23-41

A popular riot.

A glimpse into the darkness of the heathen world. Passions pent up let loose. The deep foundation of heathen superstition in the selfish, immoral practices of those who ministered to it. The widespreading effects of true religion in revolutionizing the habits and customs. Society must be reformed by the action of spiritual principles from within, not by merely external changes. Ignorance is the mother of disorder. The conflicts of the world are the result of the antagonism of good and evil. All wars proceed from religious roots. The true and abiding peace is the fruit of no other tree than that which God has planted. Notice

I. ALL FALSE RELIGION RESORTS TO VIOLENCE TO PROTECT ITSELF. Idolatry was afraid of the truth. The corrupt Church has condemned itself by the use of such methods. All departure from the peaceful spirit of Christ has wrought evil results.

II. ALL BUSINESS WHICH PROFITS BY THE IGNORANCE, SUPERSTITION, AND EVIL PASSIONS OF MEN IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY. The immoral traffic by which men satisfy their greed of wealth cannot be too strenuously denounced. True religion remodels society in all respects. The working men should be taught that Christianity is their best friend; not any form of it, but the pure gospel.

III. EVEN IN THE HEATHEN WORLD GOD HAD WITNESSES TO HIMSELF. In Roman law and discipline; in common sense; in that natural religion, which doubtless prompted the more cultivated men of the time to doubt the extravagances of idolatry; in the moral instincts of conscience, which could appreciate the law-abiding and peaceful efforts of the new teachers and protect them from mob violence.

IV. Comparing this scene and its revelations with the Epistle to the Ephesians, we learn how the TRUTHS OF CHRIST WERE ADAPTED TO LIFT UP MIND, HEART, AND LIFE in the heathen world, substituting a better worship, a purer theology, a more stable society, a grander future, for all that then held mankind in bondage. “Silver shrines to Artemis” being abolished, the handicraft of men is turned to build up the earthly state, that it may bless those who live in it and the God to whose Name it is consecrated.

V. Face to face with the disorderly violence of the ignorant and misguided, the rule of all Christian enterprise is to withdraw as much as possible from contention; not to meet violence with violence, but to trust implicitly to THE ABSOLUTE SUPERIORITY OF MORAL OVER PHYSICAL FORCE. “Force is no remedy.” Let the potsherd strive with the potsherd. Religion should regulate politics and social life by indirect means. As far as opportunity permits, the regulation of earthly matters should be left in the hands of the secular powers. Let the town-clerk dismiss the assembly. Let not Paul mix himself up in the strife. “Cast not your pearls before swine.” Jesus did not strive, nor cry, nor make his voice heard in the streets.R.

HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER

Act 19:2-7

Baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and its sequel

The exceeding economy of Scripture will prevent our supposing that these verses lie on the page of Scripture for no end, and will equally prevent our supposing they are present for no distinct and important end. Starting from quite the opposite creed, we are led to notice

I. THAT THE STRESS OF THE PASSAGE BELONGS, NOT TO THE SUBJECT OF BAPTISM, BUT TO THE SUBJECT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The point of departure of Paul is from the question, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?” His first inquiry is not respecting the baptism of those whom he was addressing.

II. THAT THE DISPENSATION OF CHRISTIANITY IS TO BE EMPHATICALLY APPRAISED AS THE DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Too little stress is ever laid upon this grand fact. Too much stress cannot possibly be laid upon it. And whatever the causes of the former of these things, it may be said that the apostle, from the very first, did what in him lay to provide against a defect so disastrous in its certain tendency and work.

III. THAT BAPTISM IS THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS, WHATEVER REFERENCE IT MAY OBVIOUSLY AND FOR OBVIOUS REASONS CARRY TO HIM, IS EQUIVALENT TO THE SIGN OF ADMISSION TO ALL THE PRIVILEGES OF THE SPIRIT, AND TO IMPLICIT SUBMISSION ON THE PART OF THOSE OF MATURE YEARS TO THE FULL RULE OF THE SPIRIT.

IV. THAT TO INVEST THIS FACT WITH THE GREATEST POSSIBLE PLAINNESS AND EMPHASIS, EVEN THE SPECIAL GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN APOSTOLIC TIMES WERE BESTOWED AS THE SEQUEL OF BAPTISM IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS.B.

Act 19:9, Act 19:10

The shelter awhile of young converts.

We must be conscious, in reading this passage, of something approaching a new point of departure on the part of Paul. He was not the man hitherto to shrink from either the malice of the synagogue or the uproar of the market-hall. But there were reasons why, with so long a stay at Ephesus, the company of the disciples should be “separated, and some foreshadowing be now given, under the continued supervision of Paul, of what should come to be the form of an individual Christian Church. And we have here the nucleus of this. We are reminded of the Church of Christ, as existing in any individual place, that it should be answerable to find

I. A HOME OF SOME SAFETY FOR DISCIPLES. Such a home should be able to show:

1. Shelter from the “hardened” world; the world that does not believe, and resolutely will not believe; the world that, being thus disposed as to itself, is also manifestly disposed to disturb the belief and peace of those who do believe, seeking to enter in to ravage “the flock” (Act 20:29). This it was abundantly easy to do in the synagogue by every kind of dishonest quibble and disputatious debate. It should not be by any means so possible within the fold of the Church.

2. Teaching of the truth. The truth should be certain of being obtained here, and the teacher should be competent. He will teach, not by force of authority, but by persuasion of the truth. He will be listened to and esteemed because he shall prove his word, and prove it to be a word of power.

3. Sympathizing companionship. It is needed

(1) for prayer and the exercises of religion;

(2) for daily social life;

(3) for the stimulating of religious purpose and work.

II. AN OPEN DOOR OF ENTRANCE AND A WELCOME FOR THE WORLD.

1. Nothing more dishonors the place of the Church of Christ, or disowns all that is most characteristic of his Spirit, than exclusiveness.

2. The door of entrance is to be large enough to admit not only the honest seekers, not only those who already show the signs of penitence, not only those by nature humble and meek, but all who will enterthe worst, the most unpromising. These cannot, indeed, enter into the Church itself of Christ; but even to them welcome may be given to the place of the Church, that “haply they may be born” again therein. If, indeed, they enter and stay to show themselves the disturbers of disciples and the resolutely “hardened,” we have here our authority how to proceed. But otherwise let them be free to enter within the walls of Zion. Let them there hear the Word and, if needs be, debate it. Let them be free to hear the prayers and join the songs of disciples; for “much people” for Christ may be amongst them. This is at least one of the ways by which the world is to be gained for Christ. It does not, indeed, exempt the Church from missionary and “aggressive” workwork which probably, in the more settled ecclesiastical state of our own country, has been lamentably overlooked. But it appears that it was the method by which, during “the space of two years, all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” When the world’s turbulent streams dash by that river, full and deep and peaceful, of the city of God, the very contrast will arrest attention and arouse reflection in not a few.B.

Act 19:11, Act 19:12

“Special miracles.”

Under ordinary circumstances this description of miracles wrought by God by the hands of Paul might be liable to the supposition is here that it is found. And when we look a moment beneath the surface we discover ample justification for the epithet applied to these miracles. Let us observe

I. IN WHAT THE SPECIALTY OF THESE MIRACLES CONSISTS. We are taught the answer in one verse.

1. They are wrought without the laying on of the hands of Paul, without his presence, without his voice, without (so far as appears) even any knowledge on his part of the persons or the needs of the persons who received healing. These four circumstances do incontestably entitle them to the description of “special;” the nearest approach to them being miracles of the kind that were wrought when one touched “the hem of the garment” of Jesus. But Jesus did then perceive and know that “virtue was gone out of him.”

2. They are wrought with intervening signs of most unusual kind; the connecting visible links being handkerchiefs and aprons that have been in some contact with the body of the apostle, and are now carried to the sick and possessed by any onepresumably any one of their friends. The nearest approach to anything so “special“ as this may, perhaps, be considered to occur in the conduct of those who brought their sick on their couches into the streets, that haply the mere “shadow of Peter might overshadow some of them” (Act 5:15). But in these cases there was far nearer and closer connection between the miracles wrought (if such were wrought) and Peter than the connection of handkerchiefs fitfully carried by any one.

II. THE OBJECTS OF THIS SPECIALTY OF MIRACLE.

1. To arrest a lively attention.

2. To suggest really far deeper thoughtfulness in all those who had thought to think.

3. To spread far and wide blessings themselves, each one of which had a hundred tongues to speak the praise of some one.

4. To attract attention to the miracle itself and the blessing wrapt in it and to the real Worker of it, rather than to suffer attention to be distracted by an apparently too close relation of the miracle to Paul personally. It is true that many in their blindness might still think and speak of all the wonderfulness of Paul, and even of the body of Paul. But yet others would be helped to see (what with time all the world would be sure to see) that it was no more due to Paul than to the handkerchief, that the miracle was wrought, but all due to God, and all to his praise and glory.

III. THE MORE GENERAL AND PERMANENT LESSONS OF THIS SPECIALTY OF MIRACLE. For the “special miracle” helps to reveal only the more definitely and distinctly the meaning of any miracle.

1. It is for the attainment of a great moral end; to give sufficient and just ground, for instance, to believe, to trust, and to act the things which, without it, might be only believed and trusted by credulity, or not at all.

2. It is to attain this moral end, without overriding the exercise of men’s own reason and heart and conscience. The just suggestions of a miracle, forcible as they ought to prove, are still only moral helps and guides.

3. The miracle is so far forth for darker days and for the more backward stages of humanity. The foundation work for much to be built upon as time should travel on; the time fittest for the miracle is the earlier time, the more childish time of the world. Then the besetting snare of the miracle would, at all events, count for less harm, and the moral good of it would be enshrined a “possession for ever.”

4. The miracle is useless if permanent. Evidently the day of miracle was drawing near its end when Peter’s shadow was waited for. But very near indeed to its end was it when even Scripture says, “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul.” If their end had not been now near, one of two things must have followed. Either they must have taken their place as grateful resources for the healing of the diseased and the dispossessing of the possessed, or, in order to keep their moral virtue and effect, they must have been becoming in long vista yet more and more “special.”B.

Act 19:13-17

The prompt exposure and punishment of human iniquity by an evil spirit.

Of the character of these exorcists there can be no doubt Their deceiving and iniquitous profession was one for gain, and gain only was in their hearts. With less hesitation even than Simon Magus (Act 8:18, Act 8:19), they propose to themselves to take their chance at least in using and abusing the “glorious and fearful Name.” And they suffer for their blasphemous and profane attempt. Notice

I. THE PRESUMPTION INVOLVED.

1. They dare to try the use of the name of Jesus without any authority. No doubt Paul was cognizant of the aprons and handkerchiefs taken from his body, and willingly authorized the proceeding. Nothing analogous, however, finds place now with the exorcists.

2. They use that Name to supersede and as an experimental substitute for the name, or odious deceptive practices, whatever they were, which they had been accustomed to use.

3. They do this for no high-minded ambitious (even if erroneous) adventure, but doubtless for the adventure of money gain alone.

4. Those who do it are Jews, and they are sons of one who was “chief of the priests,” and they conspire, seven in number, to do it.

II. THE EXPOSURE.

1. It is the exposure, not of Paul (as in the case of Simon Magus it was of Peter), nor of the horror of true disciples, nor of Heaven’s intervention by lightning or thunderbolt.

2. A more humiliating exposure is reserved for these. Even the evil spirit cannot bear the presumptuous and intolerably conceived iniquity. And in the keen satire of truth, which perhaps none know better to accentuate than evil spirits, this ill spirit resents the puny challenge and scathes the hollow deception by a question following upon an honest enough confession, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”

3. The mournfully afflicted man himself joins to make patent the exposure. No doubt already by the usurped organs of his speech it was that the ill spirit had uttered forth his trenchant rebuff, but now the record gives us to understand that the man himself (from whatever source he gained his inspiration) joined hand and limb, and suited the action to the word. The exposure surely needed no more to make it complete.

III. THE PUNISHMENT.

1. It was summary. Naked and wounded, the seven fled out of that house.

2. It was retributive. The man on whom they had experimented, and perhaps not now for the first time, had doubtless (like he of the tombs) often been “naked and wounded;” but now it is they who are in this plight.

3. It was essentially humiliating. “Seven flee before one” (Deu 28:7, Deu 28:25), and him the despised or pitied one of long time!

4. It was humiliating in its circumstances. For it was not only patent at the time, but it became notorious. “It was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus.” So sometimes even now iniquity reaches its height, the cup is filled to the full, the bold daring face that sin sets to heaven is overwhelmed with confusion, and the hour of judgment is arrived.

IV. THE EFFECTS. Whatever may be said too often, too inconsiderately in modern days, to the disparagement of faith in miracles and faith in prayer, and among other things faith in providence and the veritable nearness of the Divine hand, “strong to save” or “swift to smite,” there is no doubt that these things were all heartily believed in by the early Church. They were also believed in by many who were not “disciples.” Nor is this evidence traveling down from those who were on the spot in the alleged age and place of miracles unimportant. In the present history, just as true as anything else recorded, must this be held, when we read that the great effect was that “fear fell on them all, and that the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.” If we are open to learn, we may receive help in the firm persuasion that there was such a thing as the possession by alien and evil spirits of the organs of the human body; that there was such a thing as miracle, special Divine interposition to the suspension of the ordinary course of things; and, dread suggestion that by whomsoever else, evil spirits are not to be overmastered by, but rather overmaster, evil men.B.

Act 19:18-20

Practical evidence of genuine repentance.

The evidence which” many of them that believed” now came and gave, of the vitality of their faith and the reality of their repentance, was conclusive. And the very thought of it is refreshing as we read it. Here follow four grand evidences of a genuine “faith in Jesus” and “repentance from dead works.”

I. TO COME VOLUNTARILY AND CONFESS.

II. TO DISCLOSE, AND TO DISCLOSE VOLUNTARILY, UNDER NO PRESSURE OF TORTURE OR INDUCEMENT OF FEAR OR BRIBE.

III. TO REPUDIATE FORMER WAYS, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE THE WAYS OF LIFE‘S LENGTH, OF GETTING A LIVELIHOOD.

IV. TO PUBLICLY RENOUNCE THE VERY INSTRUMENTS BY WHICH THE FORMER LIFE AND PROFESSION WERE SUSTAINED. This renunciation was particularly satisfactory in the present instances, inasmuch as it was:

1. Public.

2. A renunciation of large value of capital.

3. A determined putting away from the eyes the things that had often fed temptation.

4. And an effort to put the old evil course, as far as might be possible, out of memory itself. To this hardest thing of all God would give his gracious and effectual help, for its very endeavor’s sake.B.

Act 19:23-41

A typical exhibition of human nature.

This section of the history marks itself offan episode which gave apostles and disciples, albeit in a very modified time, to rest, and made them spectators of an ample display of certain aspects of human nature. The world, ever ready to arm against the truth, and especially against Christ, the first distinct and bright embodiment of truth, is left sometimes to fight out its own battles. And the amount of smoke in which they end is sometimes, as in the present case, something wonderful. Notice

I. THE ADMITTED ROOT OF GRIEVANCE WITH THE WORLDLY MAN. The illustration which Demetrius here affords of what is often deepest down in the heart of the worldlove of money gain, faith in money gain, the illusion that money gain is the one thing needful, and by which alone men liveseems for a moment pleasantly relieved by his apparent free admission of it. Any sense of relief, however, arising from this consideration is speedily largely discounted:

1. By the fact that the ready admission of it but speaks the deeper root of the malady, and that it is a fact grown to be viewed as venial, perhaps natural, nay, very probably necessary, and therefore true to right nature.

2. By the fact that the admission, though apparently free enough, was, when it occurred, only of a semi-public character. Demetrius owns and unfolds the state of his own mind, not to the wide world, but to his own “craftsmen,” whose sympathies would lie very near his ownand he knew it.

II. THE UNDERTAKING TO ENLIST A VASTLY WIDER CIRCUMFERENCE OF FEELING, BY MIXING THE PERSONAL OR AT MOST CLASS GRIEVANCE UP WITH THE RELIGIOUS SENSE OF “ALL ASIA AND THE WORLD? The opportunity was no doubt a tempting one. And though too evident to allow of its inferring any great talent on the part of Demetrius, yet he skillfully avails himself of it. Some persons will miss very tempting opportunities, which are as evident as they may be tempting. “The children of this world are,” however, “wiser in their generation,” as a rule, “than the children of light;” and this was one instance of it. It took most successfully.

1. It is the speedy outcry of” the whole city.” And the movement spread so rapidly from the craftsmen class interest, that when the whole city is “come together” (Act 19:32), “the more part knew not wherefore.” It made little difference. They had their throats and their limbs with them, and a couple of victims, “Gains and Aristarchus” (Act 19:29), traveling “companions of Paul.”

2. Most combustible fuel was forthcoming to add to the fire, in the person of a Jew (Act 19:34), who was probably unpopular with his own people. He was thrust into prominence by his own people (Act 19:33), either that he might be their scapegoat and bear the brunt, or possibly because he was judged to be the most competent man. Of this view there is some evidence in his ready preparedness to address the surging multitude and to “make his defense.” Anyway, for two hours more did the conflagration burn more fiercely for that one move. And it was a move which derived its force from “the burning religious question.”

3. The success of the scheme of Demetrius is illustrated most significantly in what it elicited from the lips of the “town-clerk” (Act 19:37, Act 19:38), especially in his huge fallacy of asserting to acclamation

the outward signs of repentance and mortification, but something was manifestly lacking for their spiritual completeness.” In his anxiety to find out what was wrong, the apostle asked this searching question, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?” They did not; they knew nothing about the Holy Ghost. So St. Paul lifts them on stage after stage. First to the apprehension of Christ, the Messiah and Savior, to whom John gave witness, and then to the experience of the coming and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, as the seal of the believer. And in this we are plainly taught that there is a progression in Christian truththat it is unfolded to us in parts and stages. And we may even cherish the inspiring assurance that “the Lord hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his Word.” A sentiment is allowed to prevail that “revelation must always be perfect and complete.” It is always perfect in its fitness to its times and to its purpose, but any particular revelation is only a piece and a part of the truth, and it is imperfect when it is treated as separate from the whole of which it is a part.

1. There is historical progression in Divine revelation. Broad principles, covering the general relations of God with men, were given to the early world. Each passing age was helped to fill in some part of the outline. There was a fullness of times for the manifestation of Messiah, and, step by step, truth had advanced to meet the revelation which he brought.

2. There is progression in our apprehension of the Christian truth. No man can grasp it all at once. It comes to us all bit by bit, step by step. Some of the more advanced Christian truths cannot possibly be grasped until certain other and preparatory ones are well learned; and some even of these preparatory truths cannot be really grasped until we have passed through the sanctified experiences of middle life. Take, for instance, the Fatherhood of God. A man must experimentally learn the mystery of the human fatherhood before he can really receive the full revelation of the Divine Fatherhood. As a son he may know how he feels towards the Father, but until he is a father he cannot know how the great Father feels towards him. In the matter of our salvation the Divine order of progress seems to be

(1) John and repentance;

(2) Jesus and faith;

(3) the Spirit and holiness.

I. IS THE PROGRESSION OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH, THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY GHOST IS THE HIGHEST REVELATION YET MADE. It comes last. It comes after and through the objective Christ. It is the inward witness to him who lived, labored, died, and rose,” God manifest in the flesh.” The spiritual operations of God in men’s minds and hearts may be traced in Old Testament times. All spiritual life always is by the energy of God’s Spirit. And the specialty of the working of the Holy Ghost in the new kingdom is not that he is some new Spirit, but that his agencies of motive, persuasion, and instruction are all taken from the manifested life of the Son of God. He “takes of the things of Christ, and reveals them unto us.” Our Lord said of him, “He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.”

II. THE TRUTH OF THE HOLY GHOST, BEING THE HIGHEST TRUTH, IS THE ONE WHOSE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE IS MOST ESSENTIAL TO HIGH AND HOLY LIVING. We are responsible for attaining the best that can be attained. We are not at the highest when we accept of the truth of Christ for us; that is but a low first step of spiritual apprehension. We have but taken a little step]up when we apprehend the truth of Christ with us. We only gain the wonderful experiences, and reach the highest Christian power, when we know of Christ in us. All growth in the Christian life is response to the life of the Spirit in our souls. Growth

(1) in knowledge;

(2) in graces;

(3) and in the mastery of the soul over the body.

His presences and his working in us are the spring of all our impulses to whatsoever is good and wise and true.

III. THE TRUTH OF THE SPIRIT, BRING THE HIGHEST TRUTH, IS THE ONE MOST EASILY IMPERILLED. Therefore we should be most jealous of the doctrine and the personal experience of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The Christian sin that is of unspeakable sadness is quenching or grieving the Spirit. The sin that hath never forgiveness is sin against the Holy Ghost. The prayer that utters forth to God a soul’s innermost agony is this: “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” The highest truths are always likely to fade first. In the individual experience, and in the Church doctrine, the truth of the Spirit will fade from its place and power long before any dimness seems to pass over the figure of the manifested human Christ. Trees mostly die from the top downward. And the first effect of wearing and weathering is to rub off those delicate touches and tints, which are the highest efforts of the artist, and give the supreme charm to his work. Impress that we may be, like these Ephesians, behind the revelation that has been made for us, or indifferent to it. Then we may pity them, but we must blame ourselves. And we must humble ourselves, and repent, if, knowing of this gentle, awful, gracious, comforting Holy Ghost, we are found neglecting his Divine inworkings. He is the last and highest revelation of God to men; then let us not “grieve the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption.”R.T.

Act 19:9

The first Christian congregation.

St. Paul had before this taken a room near the synagogue at Corinth, but it seems that this case at Ephesus represents the first distinct effort to form a Christian congregation, with its own order and officers, as separate from the synagogue. Now St. Paul casts himself free of Judaism; the time had come for separation, and for arranging a distinctly Christian organization. The school of Tyrannus was a public hall for lecturing and discussion. Canon Farrar says, “There must have been many an anxious hour, many a bitter struggle, many an exciting debate, before the Jews finally adopted a tone, not only of decided rejection, but even of so fierce an opposition, that St. Paul was forced once more, as at Corinth, openly to secede from their communion. We do not sufficiently estimate the pain which such circumstances must have caused to him. His life was so beset with trials, that each trial, however heavy in itself, is passed over amid a multitude that were still more grievous. But we must remember that St. Paul, though a Christian, still regarded himself as a true Israelite, and he must have felt, at least as severely as a Luther or a Whitefield, this involuntary alienation from the religious communion of his childhood.” We do but suggest three lines of thought; the treatment of them will depend upon the standpoint of the preacher.

I. SEPARATION AS AFFECTING THE IDEA OF THE CHURCH. Several distinct conceptions of Christ’s Church on earth are found established among Christian people. Show how the idea of separation stands related to each; and how the Church, as a whole, ought to stand to any separated members.

II. SEPARATION AS AFFECTING THE FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS. Show that as fellowship depends on common Christian life and interests, we may reasonably expect it to triumph over differences in modes of worship, places of worship, and even over diversities of opinion.

III. SEPARATION AS AFFECTING THE RELATIONS OF MINISTERS TO SECTIONS. Especially point out the peril of over-estimating the point of division, and setting it in undue prominence in public teaching. A minister may preach sectional opinion rather than the “whole counsel of God.”R.T.

Act 19:11

The call for special miracles.

It should be carefully shown that Scripture miracles are never mere wonders, or displays of mere power. They are always signs, and always wrought for the sake of some immediate or prospective moral benefit. This may be affirmed, however singular the mere form of the miracle may be. The circumstances under which God sees fit to allow his servants to work miracles need careful examination and consideration. In connection with the text we find special circumstances. St. Paul had separated the disciples, and formed a distinct Christian community. For his own sake, and for the satisfaction of the people, it was important that some attestation of the Divine approval should be given. The question had to be settledWas the Christian community, thus separately constituted, as fully under the power of the Holy Ghost as the older Jewish Christian community had been? The speciality of the miracles is designed to intimate that, under these circumstances, a new and mightier baptism of God’s Spirit came upon the apostle, so that, apart from conscious efforts of his own will, healing virtue went forth from him. It is also noticed that “This great effusion of healing power, which, it is implied by the tense of the verb wrought, continued for some time, was granted as a counterpoise to the magical and theurgic practices to which the Ephesians were addicted” (verses 13,19). In explanation of the agency of “handkerchiefs and aprons,” the following notes from Eastern travelers may be helpfully suggestive:Thomson, in ‘The Land and the Book,’ says, “The external instruments connected with working miracles had, in ancient times, transferred to them, in imagination, a portion of the sanctity and reverence due to him who used them, or to that Divine power which was transmitted through them. This applied not only to the staves, robes, and mantles of prophets while living, but to such things as their bones also, and even their very gravestones, when dead. It is now common to bind on or wrap round the sick some part of the robes of reputed saints, in the belief that healing virtue will be communicated from it.” Morier says, “At a short distance, near the roadside, we saw the burial-place of a Persian saint, enclosed by very rude walls. Close to it grew a small bush, upon the branches of which were tied a variety of rags and remnants of garments. The Persians conceive that these rags, from their vicinity to the saint, acquire peculiar preservative virtues against sickness; and, substituting others, they take bits away, and, tying them about their persons, use them as talismans.” How far God was pleased to fit in with the common sentiment of the age, in his gracious condescension, requires consideration; we may observe that such special manifestations of miraculous powers were strictly temporary, limited to the particular occasion for which they were required. We view these “special miracles” as the outward sign of three things.

I. GOD‘S APPROVAL OF ST. PAUL‘S ACTION IN SEPARATING THE DISCIPLES. That action had been intensely trying to the apostle himself; and a very questionable thing to the view of the synagogue folk, and of the disciples who followed the apostle. If miraculous attestations had been withheld just at this juncture, the enemies of St. Paul would have been enabled to assert the Divine disapproval of his conduct, and St. Paul would himself have been disheartened. Compare how graciously now God often gives success to his servants when they are called to take special action; giving them converts in unusual numbers, and so silencing their adversaries.

II. GOD‘S ATTESTING PRESENCE WITH THE CHURCH‘S LIFE AND LABOR. In those days miracles were the strong affirmation,” God is with us.” The very point of them is that they were wrought in the power of God. The very purpose of them is to bring home to men’s hearts the conviction that what the miracle-worker says is from God, seeing that, so evidently, what he does is from God. Miracles are needed when men are dependent on outward and sensible proofs. Miracles are not needed when men are able to estimate moral and spiritual proofs. And, therefore, miracles are not needed now.

III. GOD‘S CONDESCENSION IN PERSUADING THE EPHESIANS BY ADAPTING HIS DEALINGS TO THEIR SENTIMENTS. They were inclined to magic, and based their belief on superstitious rites. God would not admit the truth of their “black arts,” but he would consider the tone and temper of mind which characterized them, and adapt his dealings so as to meet their prejudices and persuade them. So teaching us that while we must never misrepresent or prejudice God’s truth, we must always seek so to know men that we may adapt our presentations of truth to them, and meet them on their more impressionable sides.R.T.

Act 19:18, Act 19:19

Signs of religious sincerity.

The incidents narrated in these verses suggest the subject of the demands which men feel that a Christian profession makes upon their practical life and conduct. It appears that these disciples at Ephesus had been converted for some time before they made these sacrifices; but presently the relation of the Christian truth to their magical and superstitious sentiments was fully recognized, and they were impelled to destroy the books which had been associated with their early religious beliefs. “Ephesus was the chief seat of the black art at this time, and the popular mind was familiar with the pretension to supernatural gifts and endowments, and by its experience in sorceries and charms was in a measure hardened against the due effect of miracles.” “Magicians and astrologers swarmed in her streets, and there was a brisk trade in the charms, incantations, books of divination, rules for interpreting dreams, and the like, such as have at all times made up the structure of superstition.” “By actually destroying the books, they not only acknowledged the sinfulness of the practices taught therein, but also cut off at once and absolutely the possibility of relapse on their own part, or of leaving a temptation or stumbling-block in the way of others.” But the books burned were private property, and did not stop the evil work of those who made and sold such books. In one form or in another the question always comes before the new convertsWhat are you prepared to give up for Christ’s sake?

I. SINCERE AND EARNEST CHRISTIAN LIFE IS ALWAYS, IN GREATER OR LESS DEGREE, ANTAGONISTIC TO THE FORMER LIFE. A man may take up with religion as a mere matter of profession, and find that such a religion makes little or no demand for change in his general sentiments or conduct. But if a man is truly regenerate, if religion is to him a serious, searching reality, he will soon find out that it is out of harmony with much in his former life, and as he cannot give up the religion he must give up the old habits and indulgences. This applies not only to such evils as intemperance and immorality, but also to more minute forms of questionable indulgence. Earnest Christian life is found to be corrective of even our cherished ideas, our views of truth and duty; and the most moral and amiable man is made so sensitive to purity and truth by a Divine regeneration that he finds something in his former life and thought which is out of harmony with his new feeling. It appears, therefore, that our Lord’s principle is much more minutely searching than we imagine it to be: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” The point of this head may be represented in full detail, as it concerns the several classes of a congregation. The principle enunciated will gain force by precise application to the class evils which sincere piety resists.

II. SINCERE AND EARNEST CHRISTIAN LIFE CAN ONLY BE MAINTAINED BY SETTING LIFE, ACTION, AND RELATIONS IN RIGHT TONE. A man may feel how opposed his sentiments and his habits are to the Christian profession he makes, and yet he may do nothing towards readjusting their relations. He may try to live his old self-willed life, and at the same time try to keep his faith in Christ and his soul-allegiance to him. But the point on which we now insist is, that he cannot do this. He imperils his Christian life in the attempt. He keeps himself open to Satanic temptations. He is in the almost hopeless, and certainly dishonorable, condition of those who, in olden times, “feared the Lord and served other gods.” Full consistency between life and profession is absolutely necessary. In any case of conflict between the two, the Spirit of God will help us to a victory. If, even in small matters, we fail to keep the full harmony between piety and conduct, piety loses its tone, and gradually its very life. Formalism can allow license. Piety never can.

III. EFFORTS TO ADJUST CONDUCT SO AS TO MATCH RELIGION MAY INVOLVE SERIOUS SACRIFICE. As in the case of these Ephesian Christians. They destroyed books representing a great wealth. They might have sold them; but since others might be injured by them, they destroyed them, at great personal sacrifice. Illustration may be taken from certain forms of trade, which Christians feel they can no longer carry on; or from certain pleasures, in which they feel they can no longer indulge. Impress, in conclusion, the teaching of our Lord about the foolishness of the man who would take up a Christian profession, and does not “sit down first and count the cost.”R.T.

Act 19:20

The prevailing power of the Word.

“So mightily grew the Word of the Lord and prevailed.” Compare other Scripture figures; e.g. “His Word runneth very swiftly “(Psa 147:15). “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified” (2Th 3:1).

I. THE GROWING POWER OF GOD‘S WORD. Reference is to the gospel messagethe tidings brought to men concerning Jesus Christ; the message brought by Jesus Christ, the message centering in, and gathering round, Jesus Christ. Put into all kinds of moulds and shapes and forms of language, the “Word of the Lord” is this: The heavenly Father has himself overcome the hindrances and separating difficulties dividing him from his children. He is become a reconciling God, and in Jesus Christ his Son he is willing to pardon; he is waiting to welcome back home every returning, repenting, believing child. The apostle thinks of this gospel message as a “living thing,” and so he speaks of its “growing.“ Wherever there is life there is growth. If there be life in the seed, there will be growth of blade, breaking the soil, and shooting up into the light. If growth ever ceases in our bodies, death ensues. And so, if there be life in God’s gospel, it will have the power of widening, spreading, and enlarging its influence. The sign of growth noticed in connection with the text is the power which Christian truth increasingly gained over the feelings and the conduct of the Ephesian disciples, leading them to a most impressive public act of self-denial. Show that the growth takes two forms.

(1) Inward growth; the gospel as the soul’s new life, gaining an ever-increasing self-mastery.

(2) Outward growth; the gospel as a testimony, winning more and more adherents as it is proclaimed more fully and widely. And impress

(3) that these two modes of growth are mutually related and mutually helpful. Culture of inward spiritual life always should bear its fruit in enlarged Christian activity; and greater energy put into Christian work should always be felt to make greater demands on Christian life and feeling. Illustrate this twofold growth from the history of the early Church.

II. THE PREVAILING POWER OF THE WORD. This sets before us two points.

1. Since there is life in the Word, and that life is seen in growth, it will be sure to meet with opposition. If the apostles would only have ceased to witness for Christ, they would have suffered no persecution. If any of us will let the life in Christ fade down and die within us, the world will cease to present any opposition. The dead in trespasses and sins have no difficulties; but “they that will live godly must suffer persecution.” It is a simple condition of growth, that it involves resistance; it pushes its way against opposition. And, in the case of earnest piety, this opposition becomes more than resistanceit is enmity and willful endeavor.

2. Since there is life in the Word, we may be sure that it will overcome the opposition; or, as the text says, it will “prevail“gain the mastery. This may be illustrated from martyr-times, when Christianity has seemed to be crushed, but the life has proved stronger than all outward resistances. See especially, in recent years, the result of persecutions in Madagascar. Illustrate also from missionary spheres, in which various kinds of hindrances are presented, yet the life in the Word gains gradual mastery. Illustrate by St. Paul’s sublime triumphs over all forms of opposition tact with in his missionary work. And show how the prevailing power of the Word is found in individual experience; in the gradual mastery of personal habits; and in our external relations and circumstances. Impress that faith in the “growth” and “prevailing power” of Christianity needs to be kept alive in the Church and in all our hearts; and that such a faith would prove an abiding inspiration to holier living and to nobler laboring.R.T.

Act 19:24-29

Self-interest opposing Christianity.

The introduction should concern the temple, statue, and worship of the goddess Diana; the reputation in which this goddess was held; the numbers of persons who visited her shrine; the various opportunities afforded by this fact for making money; and the fears which were created by the act of self-sacrifice in burning the magical books. “The shrines were miniature models of the temple, containing a representation of the statue of the goddess,” and they were chiefly made for the visitors to take away as memorials of their visit. “There was a sacred month at Ephesusthe month of Dianawhen a great religious gathering took place to celebrate the public games in honor of the goddess. It was the pleasant month of May. Trade was brisk then at Ephesus, not only from the large temporary increase of population, by the presence of provincials, and strangers from more distant parts, but from the purchases they made in the shops and markets. Among the tradesmen of Ephesus, there were none who depended more upon the business of this month than did makers and dealers in holy trinkets.” “In the sacred month of the third year of St. Paul’s stay in Ephesus, the makers of the ‘ silver shrines’ found, to their consternation, that the demand for their commodity had so materially fallen off as most seriously to affect their interests. Upon this one of the leading men of their guild convened a meeting of their craft, and, in an inflammatory speech, pointed out Paul as the person who, by his preaching that there were ‘no gods made with hands,’ had not only produced this crisis in the trade, but had endangered their glorious temple, and imperiled that magnificence which the world admired.” Kitto well says, “Here we witness a carious, but not unparalleled, union of the ‘great goddess Diana’ with the great god Self, whose worship still exists, though that of Diana is extinct.” This brings out the point which seems to have practical interest for us, which we have suggested in our heading. Self-interest opposes

(1) vital religion;

(2) earnestness in Christ’s services; and

(3) the very progress of Christianity. We observe

I. CHRISTIANITY IS A LATE. It is a Divine inward renewal; it is a new creation; it is an impartation of Divine life; it is not, primarily, an interference with social evils, or any endeavor to set the world’s wrong right. St. Paul preached the Christian truth, and bade men seek Christ for themselves, that “they might have life;” but we have no reason whatever for supposing that he attacked the shrine-makers, or even made any peril for himself by arguing against the claims of Diana. The power of Christianity still lies in the change which it works in each individual, the regeneration of the man, his possession of a new life. Christian teachers must deal afterwards with the relations between the Christian life and the family and society; but the Christian preacher comes first and declares that “God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his son: he that hath the Son hath life.”

II. CHRISTIANITY IS SURE TO EXERT A SOCIAL INFLUENCE. It comes to save souls; but the action of the renewed cannot fail to tell on social life, bringing in a new set of sentiments and habits, and steadfastly resisting some of the older ones. Illustrations may be found in connection with slavery. Christianity makes no plea against it, and yet, when men become Christians, they are sure to feel the evil of slavery, and are ready to resist it, as a social custom, even at a great sacrifice. So with war. At Ephesus no word need have been spoken about the superstitious use of charms and amulets; but when the Ephesians accepted Christ as their Savior, a social sentiment against these superstitions would speedily be raised. The one all-effectual counteractive to social and moral evils is strong, vigorous, noble Christian life; and just this the world so greatly needs today.

III. CHRISTIANITY, IN EXERTING ITS SOCIAL INFLUENCE, IS SURE TO BEAR HEAVILY ON SOME. It did on the shrine-makers of Ephesus; it has done on slaveholders in England and America; it does on drink-sellers, and on all whose trade is in any form immoral: it does on those who would make personal gain out of the superstitions and fears of the people; it does on those who proclaim skeptical and infidel ideas.

IV. THE INTENSEST OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY IS AROUSED WHERE SELF–INTEREST IS AFFECTED. Men may feel more deeply when they are touched in their emotions, but they make more immediate and active show of their feelings when they are affected in their self-interests. And, on the ground of such self-interest, combinations of men are easily made to resist a truth or a reform. Show how this finds application in these our own milder times. Spiritual Christianity finds itself affecting men’s purely worldly interests nowadays. Many a man wages a great fight with himself ere he lets his piety master his very trade; and wins a willingness to sacrifice golden opportunities of advancement and wealth, rather than lose his soul’s eternal life. And there are modern illustrations of the way in which men, whose self-interest is touched, will combine to resist revival and reformation. In so many forms the principle laid down by our Lord finds ever fresh illustration: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Remarking on the deceptions which lead men to combine against established order or new truth, Bode names the following:

“1. One pretends to high aims, and is influenced by the grossest selfishness.

2. One thinks himself free to act, and is the involuntary instrument of crafty seducers.

3. One values himself as enlightened, and commits the most unreasonable acts of folly.

4. One prides himself that he contends for the right, and perpetrates the most unrighteous deeds of violence.

5. One is filled with extravagant expectations, and in the end gains nothing.”R.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Act 19:1. Paulcame to Ephesus Ephesus was the metropolis and principal mart not only of Ionia, but even of all the proconsular Asia, situated on the river Cayster, celebrated for its swans, on the side of a hill, which toward the west has the prospect of a lovely plain, watered and beautified with the pleasant circles of the river, turning and winding in so many curious mazes, that some travellers have mistaken it for the Meander; and this the rather, because the Turks have given it the name of Mendres. It was most celebrated for the magnificent temple of Diana, which was two hundred and twenty years in building, was reared at the common charge of all Asia Propria, and was accounted one of the seven wonders of the world. It was four hundred and twenty-five feet long, and two hundred and twenty broad, supported by a hundred and twenty-seven marble pillars, each of them sixty feet high; the work of a king, who erected them as a token of his magnificence. It had been twice burned down before this period: the first time was on the very day on which Socrates was poisoned, about four hundred years before Christ’s incarnation; and the second was on the night in which Alexander the Great was born. It was then set on fire on purpose by Erostratus, who, being condemned to die for it, confessed, that he had destroyed so exquisite a structure purely that he might be remembered in future ages: upon which they not only put him to death, but made a decree, very fruitless indeed in its effects, that his name should never be mentioned more. It was again rebuilt,the famous Denocrates, whom Alexander the Great afterwards employed in planning and building the magnificent city of Alexandria, being architect; and it was wonderfully adorned, especially by the Ephesians, the ladies contributing very largely towards it. After this, Nero plundered it of its riches; but in St. Paul’s time it retained a great deal of its ancient grandeur. In the days of Gallienus the emperor, the Goths entirely destroyed it. It is at present become a mean and sordid village, with scarcely a single family of Christians dwelling in it: nay, indeed, the place where it stood is so little known, that it affords matter of conjecture to travellers. The only two buildings worth observing, are a strong and lofty castle situated on an eminence, and a beautiful church, honoured with the name of St. John, but now converted into a Turkish mosque; and, according to some travellers, there are a few stately ruins, which they suppose to be the remains of the once magnificent temple.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Act 19:1 . ] Concerning this form of the accusative, see Winer, p. 61 [E. T. 72].

] the districts lying more inland from Ephesus, as Galatia and Phrygia, xviii. 23. Comp. Kypke, II. 95. The reading of Theophylact, , is a correct gloss. A more precise definition of the course of the journey (Bttger, Beitr . I. p. 30, and de Wette: through the regions of Hierapolis, Philadelphia, and Sardes) is not to be attempted.

] i.e. as no other definition is added, Christians . It is true that they were disciples of John (Act 19:3 ), who had been, like Apollos, instructed and baptized by disciples of the Baptist (comp. Act 18:25 ), but they had joined the fellowship of the Christians, and were by these regarded as fellow-disciples, seeing that they possessed some knowledge of the person and doctrine of Jesus and a corresponding faith in Him, though of a very imperfect and indefinite character, as it were, misty and dawning: therefore Paul himself also considered them as Christians (Act 19:2 ), and he only learned from his conversation with them that they were merely disciples of John (Act 19:3 ). Heinrichs (comp. Wetstein, also Lange, II. p. 264) thinks that they had received their instruction (Act 18:25-26 ) and baptism of John from Apollos, and that Paul was also aware of this. But the very ignorance of these disciples can as little be reconciled with the energetic ministry of Apollos as with any already lengthened residence at Ephesus at all, where, under the influence of the Christians, and particularly of Aquila and Priscilla, they must have received more information concerning the . Therefore it is most probable that they were strangers , who had but just come to Ephesus and had attached themselves to the Christians of that place. As disciples of John they are to be regarded as Jews, not as Gentiles , which Act 19:2 contains nothing to necessitate (in opposition to Baumgarten, II. p. 3).

Observe, also, that the earlier keeping back of the apostle from Asia on the part of the Spirit (Act 16:6 ) had now, after his labours thus far in Greece, obtained its object and was no longer operative. Of this Paul was conscious . Cod. D has a special address of the Spirit to this effect, an interpolation which Bornemann has adopted.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

III. Arrival of the apostle Paul at Ephesus. He meets with certain disciples of John, whom he conducts to the full grace of Christ

Act 19:1-7

1And [But] it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed [travelled] through the upper coasts [districts]1 came to Ephesus; and finding [found]2 certain disciples, 2He [And] said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed ? [Did ye receive the Holy Ghost, when ye became believers ?] And they said [But they replied]3 unto him, [No,] We have not so much as heard whether there be any [a] Holy Ghost. 3And he said unto them [om. unto them4], Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto Johns baptism. 4Then said Paul [But Paul said], John verily [indeed, ] baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which [who] should come after him, that is, on Christ [om. Christ5] Jesus. 5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had [om. had, ] laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7And [But] all the men were about twelve.6

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act 19:1-3. a. And it came to pass.The are the interior regions, such as Galatia and Phrygia (Act 18:23), which were more elevated than the sea-coast on which Ephesus was situated. On a former occasion Paul had been forbidden by the Holy Ghost to labor on the western coast of Asia Minor, and when he returned from his second missionary journey, the visit which he paid to Ephesus was very brief. He was now permitted to remain during a much longer period in that city, and the divine blessing attended his labors.

b. Finding certain disciples.Luke applies to the men of whom he here speaks, the term , i.e., Christians, unquestionably employing it in a wide sense. The apostle must have been induced by certain circumstances which he had noticed, to doubt whether these men had received the gift of the Holy Ghost at the time of their conversion. [Not, as Engl, version: Have ye received, etc., but: Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye became believers? This translation or interpretation of Alford, is fully adopted by Alexander and Hackett.Tr.]. He accordingly addressed the question to them in direct terms. And yet this question, especially the word [which can bear no meaning than that of believing on the Lord Jesus (Alf.).Tr.] evidently presupposes that in point of fact they are Christians already. The word , with which their answer begins, implies that it is given in the negative, as if it began with No ! [The negative is absorbed by ; comp. 1Co 6:6; 1Co 10:20; Joh 7:48-49. (Winer: Gram. 53. 7.).Tr.].They proceed even further, and without reserve declare that they did not ascertain from report, and still less from personal experience, whether a Holy Ghost exists. [Here, again, not, as Engl, version: we have not heardbut: we did not hear, at the time of our conversion, etc. (Alf.). Both here and in the former case, aorists are used.Tr.]. Now the Holy Ghost in the answer must obviously be used in the same sense in which it occurs in the question, that is, the Holy Ghost as the gift of God in Christ, and as a Christian communication of the same to men. The meaning cannot be that they had at no time heard that there is a Holy Spirit of God. Those who received the baptism of John, must necessarily have also had a knowledge of God and of the Messiah, and, no doubt, likewise of the Spirit of God. We are, moreover, constrained to regard these disciples as Jews by birth; the silence of Luke respecting their Jewish descent certainly does not prove the contrary. Their own expressions do not in any manner suggest a pagan origin, and no traces whatever exist, which indicate that the number of the disciples of John had received accessions from the Gentile world.

c. Unto what then were ye baptized? This question can have no other meaning than the following: To what then did the baptism which ye received, refer? The answer plainly shows that these men had not yet obtained clear views of the general subject. It is very true that they do not say: ; such a reply, indeed, would have been inconsistent with the humility and the whole character of John the Baptist. And yet we cannot assume (as Meyer seems to do) that the men distinctly meant the following: We were baptized unto that which constitutes the nature and purpose of Johns baptism, namely, repentance, and faith in the Messiah who was coming. Such was the case in point of fact, and these disciples were, without any doubt, baptized unto the (unknown) Messiah; still it would seem that their general conceptions of the subject were not clear, for Paul would not otherwise have given them preliminary instructions on this point, Act 19:4. No facts are recorded which sustain the conjecture of Wetstein that these men had been instructed by Apollos, before he was himself made more thoroughly acquainted with Christianity.

Act 19:4-7. a. John verily baptized.Paul describes the nature of the baptism of John in brief but expressive terms: It importedhe saysonly a change of mind; it was simply a baptism of repentance, combined with the obligation to believe on Him who should come after John. is not to be taken here in a strict sense, as if it implied a purpose or design, or meant: John baptized in order that they might believe. (Meyer). The expression , Act 19:4, stands, on the contrary (in accordance with the process by which concise expressions in the Greek language were resolved or weakened in the progress of time), for the infinitive, and merely states the subject to which the words and exhortations () of John referred. [See this pointthat the writers of the N. T. sometimes employed , where according to the rules of Greek prose writers, a simple infinitive (pres. or aor. but not perf.) might have been expectedestablished, in Winer: Gram. N. T. 44. 8.Tr.]. When Paul adds the words: that is, on Jesus, Act 19:4, he connects the fulfilment with the promise, and testifies that although the baptism of John was not yet in point of fact a baptism unto Jesus, it nevertheless referred in its very nature to none other than to Him. In consequence of this declaration, these disciples of John were now baptized unto Jesus, as the Lord. ( , that is, unto faith in Him, and the confession of Him.). [See the Doctr. and Eth. views which are subjoined.Tr.]

b. It is not here distinctly stated whether the apostle himself, or another person, administered the rite of baptism. It seems probable, however, that the latter was the case, because the imposition of hands is expressly attributed to Paul. As the result of this act, which was performed after the administration of full Christian baptism, the persons baptized now received the Holy Ghost, whose operations were made manifest, when they spake with tongues, and when the inspired utterances of their souls were heard.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. These disciples of John, even before they receive that which is strictly Christian baptism, and before they advance to a full knowledge, and to the confession, of Jesus, are, nevertheless, already regarded as disciples that is, as Christians. Luke terms them , and Paul assumes that they are already baptized and converted. These circumstances show that even in the apostolic age there already existed a wider [as well as a narrower] circle of the discipleship of Christ, that is, of the Church. It is not the christianization of entire nations, and still less is it the combination of ecclesiastical and political relations, which lead to a division of the Church into a narrower and a wider circle; the cause is rather to be sought in the general fact of the extension of Christianity. The true boundaries of the two circles are determined exclusively by the relation in which men stand to the Person of Jesus Christ himself. Whoever is united with Him in spirit and in heart, by grace on the one hand, and by faith on the other, belongs to the narrower circle of His people. But he whose relation to the personal Redeemer is only distant, and, indeed, only external, belongs to the wider circle.

2. This is the last occasion on which the results of the labors of John the Baptist are mentioned in the New Testament. The extent of his labors, and the period during which their influence was felt, may be estimated, when we consider the fact, that in the Hellenic, commercial city of Ephesus, and about the year A.D. 55, or about a generation later than John himself, as many as twelve of his disciples suddenly present themselves, who, it is true, now become members of the church of Christ, but who had previously not advanced beyond John and his baptism. They had, indeed, rather retrograded, which is often the case with any tendency, when a long period of time passes by, and the original author of that tendency has passed away, and when, at the same time, no pure and living medium of communication (like the Scriptures and the Holy Ghost in the church of Christ), is retained. It may be remarked, besides, that the most satisfactory evidence of a willingness to make progress and to seek the truth, is found in the circumstance that these twelve men voluntarily received the baptism unto Jesus, and that the remaining disciples of John abandoned their distinctive character by entering the church of Jesus Christ, instead of resisting grace and truth in its fulness, and obstinately maintaining the position which they had previously held.We simply add, in one word, that the so-called Christians of John (Mandans) in Mesopotamia, have no historical connection whatever with John the Baptist; that name they never apply to themselves; it was only introduced by Christian travellers and learned men; see Herzog: Real-Encyk., art. Mender. [Vol. IX. 318324.Tr.]

3. The administration of Baptism in the case of these disciples of John, has been the occasion of many doctrinal discussions. The Reformers (Calvin and Beza), and later Lutheran theologians felt themselves constrained to interpret Act 19:5 in such a sense, that it could afford no aid either to the views of the Anabaptists, on the one hand, or, on the other, to the dogma of the Council of Trent, according to which there was an essential difference between the Johanneic and the Christian baptism. In opposition to the Anabaptists, Calvin unfortunately adopted the expedient of interpreting Act 19:5, not of the baptism of water, but of the baptism of the Spirit, so that Act 19:6 simply furnishes an additional explanation of the meaning of Act 19:5. But Act 19:5 undeniably refers to the baptism of water. This circumstance, however, affords no aid to the opponents of infant baptism. The twelve men were baptized a second time, not because they had been baptized as children, but because the baptism which they had received, was not the full Christian Baptisma circumstance which does not in the least degree sanction the repetition of Christian baptism. And with respect to the Romish canon, viz., that the baptism of John did not possess an efficacy equal to that of the baptism of Christ, no considerations derived from the Scriptures can be advanced against it; only doctrinal prejudices can lead to the opinion that the baptism of John differed from the baptism of Christ, not in its very nature, but only in certain accidental features. Now as that opinion is contradicted by the passage before us, its advocates offered violence to Act 19:5, by representing it as a part of Pauls address to the twelve men which begins in Act 19:4 [see note 5 above, appended to the text.Tr.]. It is not necessary to offer a refutation of such an interpretation. The twelve disciples had, at all events, not been baptized unto the Person of Jesus, and it was necessary to supply this want. The Holy Spirit is also given, but only in Jesus Christ, and for the sake of Christ. The true baptism, and, accordingly, fellowship with the Redeemer Himself, and not the imposition of hands, i.e., the apostolical sanction (as Baumgarten assumes), constitute the conditions on which the gift of the Spirit depends.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Act 19:1. Paul came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples.Paul would not so often have found, if he had not so diligently sought. He that seeketh, findeth. The blessing of God always attended him, because his whole heart was devoted to His cause.Although these people were still very feeble with respect to experience and knowledge, the Holy Spirit nevertheless numbers them already among the disciples. Even a beginner in religion deserves to receive this noble name, if he only possesses in the eyes of God a heart that earnestly desires salvation. A pastor should take special interest in such souls. They are the children whom we should cherish with the fidelity of a nurse. [1Th 2:7]. (Ap. Past.).The course of some Christians of more recent times, who recognize no Christianity as genuine and true, unless it appears in its perfect and complete development, manifests neither much love, nor much knowledge, and is not the course which the apostle adopted. (Menken).

Act 19:2. Have ye received the Holy Ghost?This was the theme of all the inquiries which the apostle addressed to the men. He endeavored to satisfy his own mind by various questions respecting the nature and progress of their conversion, and to ascertain whether their religious experience was of that thorough kind, which is the result solely of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in man. But all their replies amounted simply to the following: We know nothing as yet concerning the Holy Ghost. (Williger).And would not many disciples of our own day, whose Christian knowledge and Christian walk must, to a certain extent, be admitted, be compelled, if they honestly and sincerely replied to the same interrogation, to confess: We know nothing as yet concerning the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of repentance, of regeneration, of adoption, of liberty, of love?

Act 19:3. unto what then were ye baptized?Every Christian should daily address this question to himself, for every one has much to learn and to practise with respect to baptism during his whole life, seeing that it is necessary for him at all times so to labor and strive that he may firmly believe all that baptism promises and offers, namely, the victory over the devil and death, the forgiveness of sins, the grace of God, Christ in his fulness, and the Holy Ghost with all his gifts. (Luther).

Act 19:4. Then Paul said, etc.With what reverence the apostle here speaks of John! He does not attempt to depreciate that servant of God, but refers to the divine office which he held in his day, and shows that if men did not derive advantage from it, the cause could not be attributed to John. Such was the proper course; it is not well when one teacher despises and disparages another. (Ap. Past.).After this point of time, no further mention of John the Baptist is made in the New Testament. Here at length he wholly gives place to Christ. (Bengel).

Act 19:5. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.Previously to the completion of the work of redemption the baptism of John as a baptism unto Christ, as unto Him who was to come, was the true baptism. But after Pentecost, the true baptism is a baptism unto Christ, referring to Him who has appeareda baptism into Christ as into Him who is now present; and the intermediate work of his forerunner has ceased.Hence the baptism of John is no longer valid. If any man should say: I baptize thee with the baptism of John the Baptist for the forgiveness of sins, he would not rightly baptize. For Johns baptism was simply a precursor or herald of the forgiveness of sins. We should, on the contrary, simply say: All thy sins are forgiven thee through the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ; I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. That is, I take all thy sins away, and do not send thee to another, as John has done. But John was obliged to say: Prepare yourselves; receive Him who will give you the Holy Ghost in baptism, and bring to you the forgiveness of sins. (Luther).Those were rebaptized, who had received the baptism of John, because he was not the foundation of our righteousness and the giver of the Holy Spirit, but merely the herald of the Spirit and of the saving grace which Christ, as the sole foundation and author of our righteousness, soon afterwards acquired for us. (Justus Jonas.).It is true that he who comprehended the full and real meaning of the baptism of John, as of the forerunner of Jesus, did not need a new baptism as a follower of Jesus Christ. But whenever John was regarded as the head of a sect, and his baptism as a ceremony, the latter could neither be considered, nor could it operate, as a Christian baptism. (Rieger, and Ap. Past.).

Act 19:6-7. And when Paul laid his hands twelve.These twelve men, in whose behalf the apostle prayed, and whom he blessed while laying his hands upon them, were endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They were a new band of disciples, appointed to be the seed of the church of God in Asia; and they resembled the twelve apostles, who had also previously been, in part, the disciples of John, and had, only after the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, become true disciples of Christ, and the living seed of regeneration for the whole world. (Williger).

(On Act 19:1-7.) St. Paul, our teacher in pastoral life; I. His pastoral labors had the proper extent; II. They exhibited the corresponding diligence and zeal; III. They were guided by true wisdom. (Leopold).Unto what then were ye baptized? I. Unto God the Fatherthen, ye have received the adoption as sons of God; II. Unto God the Sonthen, ye have redemption in him through his blood; III. Unto God the Holy Ghostthen, ye have become the temple of God. (Leonh. and Sp.).The resemblance of many Christians among us, to the disciples of John at Ephesus: I. Wherein it is seen, Act 19:1-4; II. The religious experience which such Christians therefore need, Act 19:5-7. (Lisco).That they, too, belong to our number, who still occupy a lower grade of divine truth: I. Who are they? II. How can they be considered as, nevertheless, belonging to our number? (id.).Have ye received the Holy Ghost?the question considered as a test applied to all who call themselves disciples of Jesus. For it is only by the power of the Holy Ghost that, I. Our faith demonstrates its life and power, Act 19:2; II. Our baptism, the blessings which it conveys, ver 3, 4; III. Our tongue, its consecration to the service of the Lord, Act 19:6.Unto what then were ye baptized?the question viewed as a solemn admonition addressed to all baptized persons. It reminds them, I. Of the divine foundation of baptism: Jesus Christ, Act 19:4-5; II. Of the sacred duties which flow from baptism: repentance and faith, Act 19:4; III. Of the blessed fruits which proceed from baptism: the gifts of the Holy Ghost, Act 19:6.The twelve disciples of John, and the twelve disciples of Jesus, or, One is your Master, even Christ, [Mat 23:10]: I. Human masters may transmit their words; Christ alone can impart his Spirit; II. Human masters may teach the elements; Christ alone can conduct to the goal; III. Human masters may establish schools; Christ alone can found a Church.

Footnotes:

[1]Act 19:1. a. [The original is , i.e., parts. On the word coasts, see note 8, appended to the text of Act 13:42-52.Tr.]

[2]Act 19:1. b. Tisch. and Lach. [and Alf.], in accordance with A. B. [Cod. Sin. ], some minuscules, and Vulg. adopt the reading (in Act 19:1) , and in Act 19:2, [found in A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin.], whereas the reading [of text. rec. from E. G. H.] is evidently a conjectural emendation.

[3]Act 19:2. [of text. rec. from G. H.] is wanting in several important manuscripts [A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin.], and is a spurious addition to the text. [Omitted by recent editors.Tr.]

[4]Act 19:3. The reading [of text. rec. from G. H.] is also spurious. [Omitted in A. B. D. E., Vulg., and by recent editors.Cod. Sin. reads: E .Tr.]

[5]Act 19:4. X before is found only in the two latest uncial manuscripts, and is undoubtedly spurious. [Omitted in A. B. E. Cod. Sin.; Vulg., and by Lach., Tisch., and Alf.D. reads simply X.M, after is omitted in A. B. D. Cod. Sin., but found in E. G. H; it is rejected by Lach., Tisch., and Born., but retained by Alf., who, like Meyer, believes that it was dropped, because no corresponding occurs in the words which Paul pronounced. But those interpreters who regard Act 19:5, as the continuation of Pauls address, find the correlative in that verse.Tr.]

[6]Act 19:7. [For the Hebraistic of text. rec. from G. H., and found also in some minuscules, fathers, etc., Lach., Tisch., and Born, read , from A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin., minuscules, etc. Alf. retains the less usual form of the text. rec.Tr.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

Paul passeth through Ephesus. The Holy Ghost blesseth his Ministry. A Tumult is excited in consequence of Paul’s preaching. The Town-clerk appeaseth the People.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, (2) He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. (3) And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. (4) Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. (5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (7) And all the men were about twelve.

This is a very interesting record of the Church. I beg the Reader’s close, attention to it. There is no little difficulty in discovering, what class of disciples those were. It is said, that they bad been baptized into John’s baptism; and yet had never heard, whether there were any Holy Ghost. It is very strange this, because John the Baptist himself, is said to have been filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb, Luk 1:15 . And, it is most certain, that John entered on his office of preaching repentance, and commanding the people to believe on him that should come after him, by the immediate influence and direction of the Spirit. Yea, John declared, that his knowledge of the Person of Christ his Lord, was wholly derived from the Spirit’s teaching. He that sent me to baptize with water, (said John,) the same said unto me; upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, (said John,) and bare record that this is the Son of God, Joh 1:25-34 . So that John preached of the Holy Ghost, as well as of Christ, to all the people. And John taught those he baptized, to observe the vast difference between Christ’s Person and Ministry, and his, by this very circumstance, that Jesus baptized his people with the Holy Ghost. I indeed, (said John,) baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, Mat 3:11 . All these things very fully prove, that as John preached of the Holy Ghost, all his disciples must have heard of Him; and therefore the expression here used, that they had not so much as heard whether there were any Holy Ghost, could not possibly mean, that they were altogether ignorant of His Being, and Godhead.

I am inclined to think, that those disciples were such as had never known, or experienced the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, upon their own hearts and consciences: and therefore might, in the strictest sense of the words, be truly said to have never heard, in respect to any Saving knowledge, whether there were any Holy Ghost, And, Reader! pause over the thought, (for it is a very solemn one,) and say, how many in this our day, who like those men are called disciples, and like them are supposed to believe also, who, if called upon; could give no better account of themselves than these persons. They are Christians, because born under the meridian of Christianity. They are believers, as far as creeds and prayer-books can make them so, and no further. They assent to the truths of the Gospel because they have never troubled themselves to enquire about them; and therefore take them up on trust. And, thus thousands live, and it is to be feared, thousands die; as ignorant whether there be any Holy Ghost, as to any real conversion of the heart towards God, by His sovereign and Almighty Power, as those unenlightened nations of the earth, to whom the Lord hath not sent the Gospel. Reader! hath the Lord made you to differ from such? Have you received the Holy Ghost since you learnt of him only by the hearing of the ear; or formed your belief from the creed or the prayer-book?

If my views of the persons here spoken of in this Chapter, whom Paul found at Ephesus, be correct; what a beautiful account is given of the real conversion of the heart towards God? Surely here was a renewal of the day of Pentecost. It was not equal in number, neither was the descent of God the Holy Ghost accompanied with equal splendor and glory; but the sovereignty of his power, and the blessed effects of his grace, were the same. Some have thought, that those persons were truly converted, when the Apostle met them; and that what is said here of their ignorance of the Holy Ghost, is not intended to say, that they had never heard of the Holy Ghost in his divine office of convincing of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; but as ordaining to the ministry. And that now meeting with Paul, and receiving the extraordinary gifts of God the Spirit, they entered on the ministry. And this opinion is formed from what is said, that when the Holy Ghost came on them, they were blessed with the same gifts as the Apostles; for they spake with tongues and prophesied, Act 2:4 .

I am far from setting up any opinion of mine, in opposition to this. And, it is possible, that this might be the case. But, there is another difficulty which then ariseth; in that they were re-baptized. It doth not appear, that any of the Eleven Apostles had any other water baptism than John ‘s, if they had that; for even of that we are not certain. The Lord commanded them to baptize others, when they should have been baptized with the Holy Ghost but we never read of any water baptism enjoined them by the Lord for themselves, Compare Mat 28:19 with Act 1:5 . Nay, Christ himself had no other water-baptism than John ‘s, Mat 3:13 to the end. And there was no water-baptism made use of at the day of Pentecost, in the three thousand the Holy Ghost came down upon, in that glorious display of his power. So that, on the supposition, that these persons were converted before Paul met them, and were now ordained to the ministry by the Holy Ghost; the re-baptism is totally different from what was observed by Christ and his Apostles. The Apostles were all acquainted with the regenerating influence of the Holy Ghost, before their ordination to the ministry on the day of Pentecost. See, in proof, Joh 14:17 . And their qualification for the ministry, Jesus bid them wait for at Jerusalem. See Luk 24:49 . But having stated both opinions, I leave the Reader, under divine teaching, to form his own judgment, only first praying that the Lord Jesus may bring the souls of all his redeemed, under the continual and unceasing baptisms of God the Holy Ghost!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

There Is a Holy Ghost (For Whit-Sunday)

Act 19:1-2

This singular incident is remarkable as showing that in the apostolical age, as now, there were persons and bodies of persons in possession of fragments of revealed truth, yet altogether strangers to some of its most essential features.

I. Real belief in the Holy Ghost implies an habitual sense of the reality of a spiritual and super-sensuous world.

If any one thing is certain about Christianity, it is that Christianity is an appeal from the visible to the invisible. Christianity is a constant appeal from the importunity of sense to the presence and action of the Eternal Spirit. Nay, it is more; for it presupposes a spiritual world of which nature and the better philosophy is cognisant; and then it proclaims the introduction within this world of a higher power and principle which raises it above its original level, and thus constitutes the supernatural. Surely Christianity, as being strictly a supernatural religion, is fortiori the religion of the spiritual; and yet how constantly does the empire of materialistic ideas force its way into the sanctuary of Christian thought.

II. There is such a thing as a materialised estimate of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. The idioms of Eastern speech, the scenery of the hills and lakes of Palestine, the flora, the climate, the customs of the unchanging East, all are summoned by the highest literary skill that they may place vividly before us the exact circumstances which surrounded the life of Christ. But here too often the appreciation of that life really ends. Men learn habitually to think of Christ as one who belongs only to human history.

Now belief in a communion with the Holy Spirit rescues the life of Christ in the thought of a living Christian from this exclusively historical way of looking at it. For the Holy Spirit perpetually fulfils Christ’s promise in the Church and in souls. ‘He shall glorify Me for He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you.’

The life of Christ is transferred by the Spirit from the region of merely historical studies, where it is appreciated only by the natural intelligence, to the region of spiritual experiences, where it speaks directly to the soul.

III. Belief in the Holy Ghost rescues us from a merely earthly and materialised estimate of the Christian Church. The Church is not a mere material corporation, but a spiritual society. Surely her indefeasible powers would only be put forth with greater energy when temporal succour was withdrawn; and it may be that she would gain in moral vigour, in clearness of faith, in intensity and unitedness of purpose, what she must have lost in the countenance of the powerful and in the wealth committed to her by past generations of her children.

IV. Once more, there is such a thing as materialised worship, and this is a danger from which those who believe most earnestly in the realities of the kingdom of the Spirit do not always escape. Let us give of our best to the Churches and the service of our God, but let us ever remember that since, even in the realm of the Incarnation, He is a Spirit, they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Surely to realise the presence of the Holy Ghost in the soul and in the Church, is to be anxious that that communion with God which cannot be uttered in language should be more constant and fervent; that the inner realities of worship should as far transcend its outward accompaniments, as the kingdom of the invisible transcends the world of sense. Not to feel this anxiety is to be virtually ignorant of the meaning of the Spirit’s presence; it is practically not to have heard, at least in one department of our spiritual existence, whether there be any Holy Ghost. V. A living belief in the Holy Ghost implies a correspondent elevation of character. The Eternal Spirit has set up in the world a school of morals, and He whispers a deeper and purer code within the soul than nature dreams of.

H. P. Liddon.

Behind the Spiritual Times

Act 19:1-3

What is the relevancy of this to our own time? No such impoverishing ignorance prevails among the modern disciples. We know that the Holy Ghost has been given. We know. Ah, I am using a New Testament word, and I must attach to it the wealth of New Testament significance. We may ‘know’ in the way of cognition; and we may ‘know’ in the way of a living fellowship by real and practical experience. As a matter of cognition, of merely mental enlightenment, we may live in the spacious days of Pentecost; but in daily usage and common experience we may be living in the lean and straitened days which preceded it.

I. Much of the mental attitude and spiritual pose of the modern Church is pre-pentecostal, and in this thin and immature relationship is to be found the secret of our common weariness and impotence. (1) If I go into one of our assemblies of praise I find that we are still ‘tarrying at Jerusalem,’ waiting for ‘the promise of the Father’. If I listen to the phraseology of the hymns, I discover that the outlook of the soul is frequently pre-pentecostal

Descend with all Thy gracious powers,

O come, great Spirit, come.

(2) When I listen to some of our prayers I can scarcely realise that the One with whom we are dealing is ‘a gracious, willing Guest, where He can find one humble heart wherein to rest’. (3) But when I look a little more deeply at this mental temper, I find that we are still more profoundly allied with the imperfect mood and inclination of the pre-pentecostal day. Is it consistent with the Christian inheritance that we should so commonly conceive of the spirit as an influence, a force, an energy, an atmosphere, an impersonal breath? The all-compassing glory of the Christian day is this, that we are dealing not with an energy, but with a Person; not with ‘it,’ but with ‘Him!’ (a) You cannot, by fellowship with an energy, produce that exquisite little flower called ‘heart’s-ease,’ which was so prolific and abounding in the life of Paul. (b) You cannot, by fellowship with a force, produce the exquisite grace of Apostolic tenderness.

II. There is a certain compulsory impressiveness of character which attaches to profound spirituality, and which is commandingly present in those who walk in the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. I know not how to define it. It is a certain convincing aroma, self-witnessing, like the perfume of a flower. It is independent of mental equipment, and it makes no preference between a plenteous and a penurious estate. Ours is the Pentecostal inheritance. Let us assume the Pentecostal attitude of zealous and hungry reception. Above all, let us cultivate a sensitive ministry with the Holy Spirit.

J. H. Jowett, The Sunday School Chronicle, vol. xxxiii. p. 926.

References. XIX. 1. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. pp. 404, 416; ibid. vol. ii. p. 144. XIX. 1-7. Ibid. vol. ix. p. 84.

The Office and Work of the Holy Ghost

Act 19:2

The Holy Spirit testifies of Christ. To manifest Him, to draw men to Him, to bring them into captivity to His easy yoke and light burden this is the Spirit’s operation in the human heart. And this it could never be before Jesus was glorified. The testimonies to a Saviour to come were necessarily vague and enigmatical; not the subjects of firm personal reliance nor of blessed assurance, but only just prophetic glimpses into the far distance, enough for those days, to keep the saints waiting on the Lord their God, but not to be compared for an instant with the work of the Spirit now. The whole office and work of the Spirit became new and of a higher order, inasmuch as the truths with which it is now concerned were before unknown.

I. The Testimony of the Spirit. The Spirit has wrought since the day of Pentecost as He never wrought before, in the testimony which He bears in the heart of every individual believer. We do not read of any such direct access to God granted to individual men in ancient times. This is another great characteristic of the dispensation of the Spirit, that all hierarchical distinctions between man and man is for ever abolished, all sacrifice superseded, except the abiding efficacy of the one sacrifice shed abroad in the heart of the spiritual man.

II. The Wisdom of the Spirit. Again, the indwelling Spirit of these latter days of the Church is eminently the Spirit of wisdom. The humble child, walking by the light of this Spirit, is wiser than his teachers if they have Him not. The matured believer, rich in experience as in years of the Lord’s service, is enabled to look down on the world and all that is in it, and count it but dross in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord.

III. The Transforming Power of the Spirit. Lastly, the Spirit of God now abiding among us is a transforming Spirit; not merely enlightening, nor merely comforting, nor merely conferring the adoption of sons, but changing us into the image of God, begetting in us a thirst to be like Him whose sons we are, to have done with sin, and to cast off corruption and to put on perfect holiness. And the end of this progressive change will be the fulness of assimilation to our glorified Redeemer, in that day of which it is said, ‘When He shall appear we know that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is’.

References. XIX. 2. W. M. Sinclair, Christ and our Times, p. 181. J. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iv. p. 198. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches (2nd Series), p. 169. H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. i. p. 380. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1790. Expositor (6th Series), vol. x. p. 14. XIX. 5. J. Keble, Village Sermons on the Baptismal Service, p. 1. Expositor (6th Series), vol. v. p. 43. XIX. 7. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 146. XIX. 9. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. iii. p. 121; ibid. vol. viii. p. 405. XIX. 10. Ibid. vol. ix. p. 22. XIX. 11. Ibid. (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 148. XIX. 16. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. x. p. 134.

Act 19:19

When George Borrow found the Spanish servant girl Geroncina in possession of Volney’s Ruins of Empires, he told her that ‘the author of it was an emissary of Satan and an enemy of Jesus Christ and the souls of mankind’. She listened to his exposure of the book, quietly. ‘She made no reply, but going into another room, returned with her apron full of dry sticks and brushwood, all which she piled on the fire, and produced a bright blaze. She then took the book from my hand and placed it upon the flaming pile; then sitting down, took her rosary out of her pocket, and told her beads till the volume was consumed. This was an auto-da-f in the best sense of the word.’

References. XIX. 19. Expositor (6th Series), vol. v. p. 55; ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 380. XIX. 20. J. B. Meharry, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. p. 329. J. Keble, Sermons for Ascension Day to Trinity Sunday, p. 228. R. H. Baynes, True Revival, p. 29. XIX. 21. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 149; ibid. (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 303; ibid. vol. vii. p. 122. XIX. 22. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. vi. p. 30; ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 77. XIX. 23. Ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 342. XIX. 24. Ibid. p. 1. XIX. 24, 25. Ibid. vol. i. p. 414. XIX. 27. J. Baines, Sermons, p. 29. B. J. Snell, The All-Enfolding Love, p. 113. XIX. 32. A. Ainger, Sermons Preached in the Temple Church, p. 142.

Diana of the Ephesians

Act 19:34

How did St. Paul regard the tumult? He watched it with the insight of one who comprehended the various life of the motley society round him, as well as with the mind of saintly love. We may be sure he was not for one moment dismayed. To him was granted what most of us have always to fight for the discernment of the strong and the true.

I. But although gazing on with Christian gentleness, the Apostle could not forget the words of Demetrius the silversmith. ‘Ye know that by this craft we have our wealth… so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.’ How strangely mixed is the argument: our craft is in danger, and our religion is being despised. Doubtless many of the rioters were zealous for both. But their zeal for religion was mightily raised by the thought that religion helped their craft. What cries we have heard from those who profess to defend liberty and the public-house who would rather see a people free than sober. What frenzies of zeal on the part of rich brewers for the poor man’s right to his beer! ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians.’ Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. It is not our wish to give pain, and we shall not carry illustrations further. Only even in assemblies of good men who cry, ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians,’ it is not too much to say that Diana is not first in the minds of her devotees. ‘The craft in danger’ is the real thought; and a man easily persuades himself that the universe is in perilous plight if his own trade is threatened. It is but too true that the hint of pecuniary loss will often change a reasonable man into a madman.

II. St. Paul could not but perceive that the clamour signed a failing faith. The voices grew hoarse, then they fell silent. And after? The reaction would weaken the whole foundation of idol worship. It would be seen that the mere repetition of the words did not make them surer. It showed that they had been challenged seriously challenged. Indeed, whenever any interest musters and clamours in that fashion, it has been first shaken by the thrill of a coming doom. There are fools who, intoxicated by a momentary advantage, persuade themselves that the world is going to turn backward, that men are to pause finally in the march towards the new earth, and forge again the chains snapped for ever. But the wiser among reactionaries are never so much dismayed as when some threatened wrong rises in strong defiance. They feel, with a death-like chill of the heart, that there is an impending upheaval in the affairs of the world.

III. Of one thing we may be sure: St. Paul was not tempted to cynicism by things which might easily have evoked it in a lower nature. Is it by accident that we read, ‘After the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced them’? There was hypocrisy in Ephesus as well as vast delusion. There were men whose religion was a shield for their ill-gotten gains. There were others almost hopelessly given over to superstition. These all joined in a miserable, childish, superstitious bawling. There was something in the whole business that might move one to despair of human nature. St. Paul knew better. He knew that even then and there a deeper life had risen steadfast to endure. ‘He called unto him the disciples and embraced them.’

W. Robertson Nicoll, Ten Minute Sermons, p. 221.

References. XIX. 34. B. Hunt, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p. 42. XIX. 38. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 57. XIX. 39. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. iii. p. 137. XX. XXI. Ibid. vol. v. p. 202. XX. 4. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ix. p. 259. XX. 5. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. iii. p. 336; ibid. (6th Series), vol. ii. p. 101; ibid. vol. iv. p. 34. XX. 7. J. M. Lang, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. p. 20. Expositor (5th Series), vol. v. p. 62.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Chapter 70

Prayer

Almighty God, thou art near unto us in Christ Jesus thy Son. We come to thee by him, and, therefore, by the only way. We would come boldly in his name, speaking to thee what is in our hearts, telling thee of our sin, singing to thee of our thankfulness, and asking from thee daily direction and continual sustenance. This is our delight; it is no longer a burden to us, because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts. He takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us. Jesus Christ himself thus enlarges upon our wondering vision until he fills all things with his radiant presence. Under the ministry of the Holy Spirit we would live, and would prove that we are under him by our joyfulness, peace, hopefulness, triumph over the world and time, and by all the fruits which they bear who are warmed by the presence of the spirit of fire. We bless thee that we have passed from the baptism of John to the baptism of the Cross. We are no longer in the state of mere repentance which daily begs forgiveness; we enjoy communion with God, fellowship with the Father yea, we have access into inner sanctuaries, into the Holy of holies, which we have obtained through the Cross of Christ; so that we are no longer children of grief and of fear, carrying burdens many and heavy; but are children of the day and of the light, filled with sacred hope, animated with unutterable joy yea, glorying in tribulations, also. This is thy miracle wrought in our hearts; we know it to be thine; this is no workmanship of ours; this is the gift of God, having in it the quality of eternal life and the joy of heaven partially begun. We bless thee for all the gifts of the week; for the balmy winds of summer; for the bread of the table; for the sleep which has refreshed us; for the thoughts which have made us men; for the hopes which have proved us to be in Christ Jesus; for all the favours thou hast shown throughout the rising and falling of the days. We stand here today to praise God with a full heart and an open mouth. Verily we are not afraid of our own voices. We would make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation. We would speak with holy confidence and emphasis of the preserving, sanctifying, tender care of which we have been the continual subjects. Hear thy people when they sing their psalm. Listen to them when they would whisper in the heart of thy love some tale of pain, of sin, of shame, and answer them with great answers, when, at the Cross of Christ and in the presence of its atoning blood, they ask thee for a double portion of thy Holy Spirit. We remember the sick those who are at home and those who are in public institutions. We pray that they may be healed and comforted, and that the thought of their weakness may become a new strength. We desire that having seen the side of life which is humiliating, they may now see the side of life which presents itself towards heaven’s light and rises towards heaven’s rest. Sanctify affliction and pain, sleepless nights, and weary days. Speak comfortably to those who can hear no voice but thine own, and where eyes are closing on earth’s dim light may the eyes of the soul be opened on heaven’s cloudless morning. Give wisdom to all physicians; give patience and tenderness to all nurses; make thou the bed of the afflicted, and keep thou watch by the side of the helpless. We pray for all mankind; and if specially for the land we love the most, thou thyself hast set that partiality in our hearts. We bless thee for love of home and native land; and we pray that every one now before thee, praying for special places and countries, may be heard and graciously answered. Read thy word to us thyself. May we know that we are only listeners, and may the expression of every life be, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” Let this be a wonderful day in the history of the Church. May thy servants speak with new boldness, and by their ministry may special miracles be done. Amen.

Act 19:1-12

1. And it came to pass that, while Apollos was at Corinth [ Act 18:27 ], Paul having passed through the upper [G. “more inland”; i.e., Lycaonia, the Phrygian district of Galatia, Act 18:23 ] country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples [older term still used for Christians, Act 11:26 ].

2. And he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed? [G. “Holy Ghost” without the article, as in Joh 7:39 ; signifying, the gift of the spirit. ” Given” is therefore correctly supplied below, as in Joh 7:39 : “Did ye receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as the consequence of your believing?”] And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was given [1Co 12:13 ; for a strikingly illustrative modern instance see John Wesley’s Alders-gate Street “experience,” as narrated by Tyerman ].

3. And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism.

4. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus.

5. And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord [the Ascended] Jesus.

6. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues [Act 10:46 , Act 10:1 Corinthians 12-14], and prophesied [Act 11:27 . Signs and wonders were still necessary to enable their minds to grasp the new conscious fellowship of the Spirit].

7. And they were in all about twelve men [the Spirit saith “about”].

8. And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God.

9. But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way [compare with Act 9:2 ] before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the [? rabbinical] school of Tyrannus [as Jews came freely to hear Paul this was probably a “private synagogue,” Tyrannus being the Greek name of a Jewish teacher].

10. And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

12. Insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body [G. “skin”: after use by the Apostle] handkerchiefs or aprons [used by tent-stitchers], and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.

Apollos Completed By Paul

PAUL said he would return to Ephesus. In this chapter we find Paul again in that famous city. Something has occurred since he was last there that event occupied our attention in our last study. An “eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures,” named Apollos, had been exercising his ministry in Ephesus, and some twelve men had answered the persuasion of his matchless eloquence. Paul found them out, and as he looked upon them he was surprised. They did not look happy. There was a severity in the face which excited Paul’s anxiety; there was nothing radiant in that little Church. The twelve heads were bowed; the twelve faces were written all over with lines of discipline, subservience, fear, penitence. Paul was a direct speaker. Looking at them, and observing their mode and appearance, he said, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost?” He noticed that something was absent. He said, “This is not a Christian assembly; these twelve men are unhappy; they are not singing men; the spirit of triumph is not in their hearts what is it that is lacking here?” “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” If you had, your heads would have been erect; your eyes would have been flames of light; a new life would have lifted you up to higher levels of thought and feeling and utterance; what is wanting here is the Holy Ghost. Paul was a penetrative observ. He looked for causes, traced their operation, and judged of them by their effects.

Is there no lesson here for us? Looking upon us today, what would Paul inquire? He would read our faces; he would listen to our voices; he would pay attention to our mode of singing the sacred psalm and of reading the Holy Book, and if he saw happiness in our faces and heard music in our voices, and saw that we were not men who were time-bound and fettered by sense, he would say, “This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven, and these are the living miracles of the living Spirit of God.” But if he saw us world-bound, if he saw our truant minds running out of the church for the purpose of collecting accounts and alleviating temporal anxieties, and making arrangements for the lower life if he saw our prayers like birds with bruised wings that could not fly; and if he heard us talking the common speech of time in the common tone of earth, he would say, “What is wanting here is the Holy Ghost Spirit of fire, Spirit of light, Spirit of love!” There is no mistaking his presence, for there is none like it. “The fruit of the Spirit is… joy.”

The twelve men who followed Apollos were like their eloquent leader. We have seen, in the 25th verse of the preceding chapter, that Apollos knew only the baptism of John. What he knew he preached. Paul recognized the work that had been done, and did not attempt to undo it, but rather to complete it; and that is what we must study to do in reference to the education of the world. If you come to me knowing only the first four rules of arithmetic I must begin with you where you end; and recognizing the validity of these four rules of arithmetic, I must lead you up into heights on which no tape line can be laid, and gradually so enlarge your vision and increase the inheritance of your soul until you despise with ineffable contempt everything that can be measured by arithmetical figures and standards. I must not begin your education by throwing into contempt the only four rules you do know; my object as a wise prophet must be to lead you on until you yourselves feel that the first four rules of arithmetic are only for infants, and not for princes and kings of heaven. Paul did not attempt to undervalue the work of Apollos he carried it on to holy consummation. One minister must complete the work which another minister began. The students of Apollos must become the students of Paul. We began by loving eloquence; we end by loving instruction. But do not let the instructive teacher undervalue the eloquent evangelist. They belong to one another. Apollos has the silver trumpet; Chrysostom has the golden mouth. Let such men make their parables, create their metaphors and figures, thunder with strenuous energy of rhetoric, and they will do a good work in the world. By-and-by their students will look out for other teachers, and will pass on from the lower school of eloquence to the higher school of instruction, doctrine, even the theology which is truly theological. So must we have large appreciation of men: so must we put out no little light, but be thankful for its flicker and spark. The young man likes to hear a fluent speaker, one who rushes with unbroken force at a speed incalculable over an area immeasurable. The young man calls it “eloquence.” He goes to the church where the Apollos preaches long before the doors are opened, and willingly stands there that he may see this rushing torrent of eloquence, and hear this mighty wind of sacred appeal. I will not condemn him; many of us once belonged exactly to that class. But Time teaching, drilling, chastening Time works its wondrous wizardry upon the mind, and without violence, or consciousness of transition, we come to a mental condition which says, “There was more in that one sentence than in the infinite Niagara whose bewildering forces once stupefied our youthful minds.” But do not condemn any man. Let him teach what he can. If he is still calling for water to throw upon the faces of the people, or calling for people to plunge into the water, he knows no better let him do it. Have faith in the revelations which accompany a wise use of time.

If Paul did not discredit the work of Apollos, the disciples of Apollos did not discredit the larger revelation of Paul. The inference is, that the disciples of Apollos were well-taught. They were not finalists; they felt that something more might be possible. That is the highest result of education. The heart in a state of continual expectancy and preparedness in reference to spiritual possibilities that is the image of the true scholar, and that is the condition of true progress. Christians are always “looking forward and hastening unto.” Marvellous attitude! A posture created by inspiration! The look, the hastening these are the proofs of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ availed himself of this wonderful provision in human nature which creates continual expectation of still larger and brighter things. When did Jesus Christ say, “This is the end”? We know what he did say. For example: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” Or again, “Thou shalt see greater things than these.” The future will throw the past into relative insignificance. And again: “When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” “Henceforth, know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now, henceforth, know we him no more.” Is there then a new Christ? Certainly not. What is there? This: An enlarging appreciation of the true Christ, Christ is always giving to us his larger SELF. These are the “unsearchable riches.” We have not changed our Christ, but our view of him has become larger, purer, clearer; so that he is to our best conception as is the cloudless noontide to the gray dawn. Look for no new birth in Bethlehem, for no new historical, visible Christ; but see if, in the growing time, the expanding and developing ages, there is not everywhere the print of the nails and the scar made by the sharp spear, and lay your finger-tip upon one proved and established benefit of civilization which cannot be traced back step by step to the cradle in Bethlehem. Perhaps preachers may have themselves to blame for not having given a true revelation of the magnitude and glory of the name of Christ. For myself, I find Christ everywhere; I cannot get away from him. If you have been thinking of some merely ecclesiastical Christ, I can, to a large extent, agree with you that such a Christ can never spread himself over all the ages and take into himself all the experiences of mankind. But the Christ we preach is not a creation of the Church, is not under the patronage of the Church, is not secured in his place by the lock and key of the Church. He is Alpha and Omega First, Last; who was, and is, and is to come; filling all things. This view of Christ enables me to look hopefully upon some persons who do not know the full extent of his name even upon Apolloses who have only got so far as the baptism of John. Such men are not to be won by denunciation, but by recognition, and recognition of the frankest, manliest, and most independent quality. The Church is larger than any four walls built for its accommodation.

We learn from verse seven that “all the men were about twelve”; and yet there is no whining about a “poor” Church and a “weak” Church. We must burn such adjectives out of the speech of Christians. There is no “poor” Church; there can be no “weak” Church. If you think of the Church as a commercial institution with investments, endowments, revenues, and outgoings, then you may speak about the Church being both poor and weak, but the Church is a spiritual fellowship, a branch in the vine sucking the very life of the root. Have we now to re-define the term “Church”? I fear so. There is a great deal of inquiry as to whether the Church is “poor,” or “rich,” or “weak,” or “strong.” It is not heroic inquiry. Moreover, we may be totally wrong in our estimate as to which is the “poor” Church and which is the “rich” one. A Church is not necessarily strong because its pews are thronged and its collections are heavy. It may be that the handful of copper given by some village Church may be more than the two handsful of gold given by the metropolitan congregation. In the large sum there may not be one sign of sacrifice and giving only begins when sacrifice begins. The little sum may represent pinching and suffering and economy equal to sacrifice. Banish from your thought and speech the idea that any Church, redeemed, purified, inspired by the Holy Ghost, can be either poor or weak though the number of the men may be “about twelve.” If you allow the other style of reasoning you will insult not only the ministry, but the very genius of the Christian Church. We shall then talk about our “weaker” brethren and our “poorer” brethren, and will apportion them places on the back seats when they come up to the feast of trumpets. Let us protest against this. On the floor of the Church and in the presence of the Cross all Christians are equal.

We find from the verses remaining that the Gospel produced its usual twofold effect. Some received the Holy Ghost and advanced in the doctrines of grace, being strengthened daily by the indwelling Spirit of God. “But when divers were hardened and believed not” is the other side of the case. It must always be so. The Gospel is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. Every sermon makes us worse or better. Here you have the same city, the same preacher, the same doctrine, but not the same result. The results were twofold. In the one instance the Gospel resulted in life unto life, and in the other in death unto death.

In the eleventh verse we have an expression which would indeed be out of place in the cold speech of today’s Christianity. We are afraid of the word “miracles”; we have almost to apologize for its use. But the writer of the Acts of the Apostles not only speaks of miracles, but of “special miracles”; miraculous miracles; miracles with a difference. Truly such men were not afraid of the word “miracles.” We whisper it, or slur it; even in our most energetic speech we have cunning enough to drop the word miracle into a kind of tertiary tone; it is not uttered with a boldness, roundness, emphasis. But in the eleventh verse we find “special miracles.” Until the Church becomes bold enough to use its native tongue it will live by sufferance, and at last it will crawl into a dishonoured grave the only tomb which it has deserved.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXVI

PAUL’S THIRD MISSIONARY TOUR PAUL AT EPHESUS

Act 18:23-21:16 .

The scriptures, so far as Acts is concerned, devoted to this tour, are from chapters Act 18:23-21:16 . The special theme is “Paul at Ephesus” (Act 19 ). The time of the whole tour is from A.D. 54 to A.D. 58 four years. The time at Ephesus, three years. At this time Nero was emperor at Rome, and under him Paul was to suffer martyrdom.

Let us trace on the map the whole tour from Antioch to Jerusalem. Commencing at his usual starting point, Antioch, he came near Tarsus, and went up into upper Galatia Galatia proper confirming the churches at Tavium, Ancyra, and Pessius. Then he went down to Ephesus. He was at Ephesus three years. In that time he made many other runs into the country, so as to reach all Asia. Leaving Ephesus, he went again into Macedonia, stopping at Troas, as before, where Titus met him, or was to have met him, came on into Macedonia, and went to these same churches where he had labored on his second missionary tour, then coming on down to Corinth, where he remained quite a while, three months anyhow, and in that time he wrote the letter to the Galatians and the letter to the Romans; while at Ephesus he wrote the first letter to the church at Corinth; while up in Macedonia he wrote the second letter to the church at Corinth. Then he came on back and took a sea voyage to Tyre and to Caesarea, then he went to Jerusalem, and there he was arrested and remained a prisoner all through the rest of the book of Acts.

A large part of this tour is devoted to confirming churches previously established. Until he goes to Ephesus all that part of the first tour is devoted to confirming churches previously established, and after he leaves Ephesus, all that part of the tour through Macedonia and Achaia is devoted to confirming churches. The advanced work is the work that he did at Ephesus. The letters written during this tour, as stated above, are as follows: While he was at Ephesus he wrote the first letter to the Corinthians, and after he got over into Macedonia he wrote the second letter to the Corinthians, when he got to Corinth he wrote the letter to the Galatians, and also the one to the Romans, and this last letter, the one to the Romans, was to prepare the way for his coming to Rome.

The closing part of Act 18 tells us that Apollos came to Ephesus; that he was a Jew from Alexandria; that he was a very learned and a very eloquent Jew; that he had heard of John’s preaching over in Judea that Jesus had come, John pointing to Jesus as “The Lamb of God that was to take away the sin of the world.” Further than that he did not know. It was a gospel of a Messiah, but what that Messiah he did not know. He is one of the most remarkable characters in the Bible, and his contact with Paul is very special. Just about the time that Paul goes to Ephesus, before he gets there, Apollos has expressed a desire, after being instructed in the way of the Lord by Aquila and Priscilla, to go over to Corinth. They write letters of commendation, and he goes to Corinth, being now fully instructed in the gospel of Jesus, and becomes a tremendous help to Paul in Corinth, but is made the occasion of a division, though himself not intending evil.

Perhaps there was no man living who could, in a more popular way, present the Old Testament scriptures, and their bearing upon Jesus as the Messiah. He did not have an equal in his day as a popular speaker. In his graces of person all the matters preached were lost. At Corinth some brethren were so attached to him that they preferred him to Paul and Peter, or anybody else, and in that way, without his intending it, he was made a part of the occasion of creating a division in the church at Corinth. To show that he had no part in it, Paul, after Apollos came back to Ephesus, wanted to send him back to Corinth, but in view of the troubles that had arisen, he declined to go. He did not want to go there and let a crowd of schismatics rally around him. The scriptures which refer to this man are not a great many, but they are very pointed, showing his real value as a genuine preacher, and Paul was very much attached to him.

A mighty financial enterprise was engineered on this third tour, an enterprise of mammoth proportions to help the poor saints in Jerusalem. We have to gather the history of this work, which was a big enough piece of work for any one man to do, from the various letters. The most notable scriptures bearing upon it are 1Co 16:1-3 ; 1Co 2 Corinthians 8-9, though there are references elsewhere. When he got there into Galatia that he had previously evangelized, he gave orders to these churches to lay by in store on the first day of every week, and take up a systematic collection. When he got over into Macedonia, he repeated these orders, and the finest response of any of them was made by these poor people living at Philippi. When he came down into Achaia, he repeated the same instructions to the churches there, and in his two letters, particularly the two to the church at Corinth, he tried to stir them up to redeem the pledges they had made the year before. All through this period of four years, that systematic collection was going on. He sent Titus to help out the Corinthians in engineering their collections, and as the funds were raised, they were placed in the hands of representatives of the church raising the money, and some representative of each section went back with him when he went to Jerusalem to carry it. So when he got to Jerusalem, the end of this tour, he put down before the leaders of the church funds that had, during the four years, been gathered in the Gentile churches of Asia and in Europe. What a pity that, coming before that Jerusalem church with these funds, the brethren did not give him a more cordial welcome!

What is written about this financial enterprise is of inestimable value to the churches today. To show how much value could be drawn, I got my first idea from what is a prepared collection from studying these financial enterprises as stated everywhere in these letters. Every preacher should group the references to this enterprise and the different expediences adopted, and learn once for all how a collection is to be taken, how a great contribution is to be engineered. I practiced it in my pastoral life in Waco. When a collection was to be taken for home, state, or foreign missions, or the Orphans’ Home, I spent weeks preceding, preparing for that collection, and when the day came, before a word was said, Is would know within a few dollars what that collection was going to amount to. I had first canvassed the Ladies’ Society, B. Y. P. U., and the Sunday school, and knew what they were going to pledge. I had previously approached the leading contributors as to how much they would give as a start, when the collection was to be taken. As soon as the day came and I had announced the purpose of the collection, Is simply called out, “Ladies’ Society No. I, No. 2,” etc., and their amounts would be called out and the money sent up in an envelope; then the Sunday school, then the Young People’s Union, then expressions from leading individuals, BO that by the time this was over, which would be done in Just a few minutes, we would generally have about a thousand dollars. Then would commence the appeal to others that could not do so much, and in fifteen minutes our collection would be over. If any man imagines that that was an offhand business, then it shows that he has not studied the situation; that he did not know what I had been doing for weeks.

PAUL AT EPHESUS

Ephesus, for a long period, had been a famous city. It is near the coast line and they had at this time a magnificent seaport. It was a Greek city. The Ionians had colonized Ephesus, and the day of the Greek glory had passed, and it was now the capital of the Roman province of Asia. While it had its own municipal government, the Greek ecclesia, the very word that is used to refer to a church, and exactly such an ecclesia as that ruled Athens, ruled in other Greek cities unless the power had been taken away from them, but we will have special occasion in this connection to learn what a Greek ecclesia does.

The celebrities at Ephesus constitute a part of the wonders of the world. This very celebrity was the marvelous temple of Diana. This temple had been burned down the night that Alexander the Great was born, and all Asia Minor and Greece proper contributed funds to rebuild it. When Alexander came to be a man, they still had not completed it, and be offered to furnish all the funds if they would just let his name be written on it. They declined. There were 127 pillars of the most magnificent sculpture that has ever been seen in any structure on earth. A prince was proud to be allowed to put up just one of those pillars if he was able. The stairway work into the upper part of it was just one vine, brought from Cyprus, that naturally curved to make the stairway. That temple is listed among the seven wonders of the ancient world.

In the temple were the finest pieces of sculpture in the world. The greatest of the sculptors at Athens prided themselves on putting their masterpieces in this temple. The greatest painters had hanging on these walls their masterpieces. Votive offerings, priceless in value, were to be seen. The shrine part of the temple, that part which held the goddess, was a small dark place somewhat like the most holy place in the Jerusalem Temple, and back of that shrine was a bank, as we now call it. It was the safe place for all the people of that end of the world to put their money.

The Diana of this temple must not be confounded with the Diana of the Greek or Roman religion. That one was beautiful, but this Diana here, so far as the statue shows, was a beastly, Oriental, ugly image that looked like a mummy, wrapped about on the lower part and covered with breasts, the whole idea being to show the productiveness of nature. And it was claimed that that statue dropped down from heaven. I don’t blame anybody in heaven for dropping it, if it was up there. The worship of it was just as bad as the worship of Venus on the Island of Cyprus, or in the city of Corinth.

The time of the great festival was our May Day in May. All Asia poured into Ephesus in May, and this is just the time that this persecution against Paul takes place just this time of the year. Their May Day festival consisted largely of parades, something like a carnival in New Orleans, but in the city of Rome men put on grotesque masks, some representing Jupiter,, some Mercury, some Venus, some one thing, and some another, and the beating of ten million tin pans, or the scraping of iron, or the grinding of steel, or the letting off of forty steam engines at one time could not equal the kind of noise they made. They thought it great, and that it needed a great noise.

Another celebrity there was its famous amphitheatre. The remnants of it can be seen until this day, in which some of the events in this chapter took place. It would seat thirty thousand people, being somewhat larger than most theatresin this country. These were the notable celebrities the Temple of Diana, one of the wonders of the world, their famous May Festival, and this magnificent theatre.

I have already given some account of the character of their religion. Just as at the fairs in this country, there are thousands of people who made their living by carving little shrines and temples, either representing the temple itself, or representing the image of the goddess, with magical letters written on it. These visitors would come in and want to carry back a portable temple, portable goddess or portable memento of the time they had had at the May Festival. There were a great many Jews there.

There were three co-existent ecclesias present in this one city, which had a bearing on the essential character of a New Testament church. First, there was the Greek ecclesia that organized assembly which performed no functions except as an assembly. Then the Jewish ecclesia, and finally that ecclesia of which Jesus said, “I will build my ecclesia” Every one of them was an organized assembly, each one of them had no power to transact business except in session at the regular assembly. I know that some men, just a handful, yet have an idea that the church is not an ecclesia, and they deny the ecclesia idea altogether. Theological professors who take that position have to repudiate 136 references to the Jerusalem ecclesia, and they have to repudiate every reference to Christ’s ecclesia.

One text summarizes the whole situation at Ephesus. Paul, in writing his first letter to the Corinthians, says, “I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost; for a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” When I was a young preacher I took that as my text and took Act 19 to expound the meaning of the text. We find that passage in 1Co 16 . That text summarizes the whole situation.

The rest of this chapter will be devoted to expounding that text, “There are many adversaries.” Ten special adversaries are mentioned. Act 19:1-7 tells us that when Paul got over there he found a certain adversary in the form of an incomplete gospel, and it was hurtful to the complete gospel to have the ground overcast by an incomplete gospel. Let us state fully the case of the twelve disciples found at Ephesus, and bring out clearly the following points of controversy: (1) Was John’s baptism and gospel, Christian baptism and gospel? (2) Who baptized the twelve disciples? (3) Were they rebaptized by Paul? (4) If so, what the elements of invalidity in their first immersion? (5) What the bearing of the whole case on valid baptism?

The record states that when Paul got over there and found these men, he said, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?” You know that in Act 2:38 there was a promise that whosoever would believe in Jesus Christ would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That gift had come down that day with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now Paul, wishing to find out the status of these men, says, “Did ye receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?” And they said, “We did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given.” That is, they had no knowledge at all of Pentecost. “Well,” he said, “into what then were ye baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul then explains that John truly preached “repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus,” and baptized people, but it was in a Christ to come, John had foretold this thing that had occurred on Pentecost, saying, “When the Messiah comes he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”

John had been dead twenty years. These men evidently had not seen baptism by John. If they had ever heard John, they would have known that John taught that the Messiah would send this gift of the Holy Spirit, and would baptize his people in the Holy Spirit. He saw that there was a deficiency in their baptism, and that their faith did not go far enough, since it did not take in a Messiah as already come. It was a general belief in a Messiah, but not in Jesus as a particular Messiah. John was the harbinger to Christ. He had no successor; no man had a right to perpetuate John’s baptism; so when people elsewhere, as did Alexander, took it upon themselves to baptize with reference to John’s baptism, it was without any authority. So that a capital deficiency in their baptism was that it was not by an authorized administrator, and so Paul, having explained the matter to them that the Holy Spirit in the baptism of the saints had come down, and that Jesus had come, counting as nothing the unauthorized baptism to which they had been subjected, rebaptized them, and then laid his hands on them and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues. They were thus lined up, and that is the way that trouble was disposed of.

This is a real adversary you find as you go out to work. As a rule you will find people lodged about half way. They believe some things, but they don’t get far enough. Perhaps they are satisfied with the sprinkling they received in childhood; perhaps they have had a baptism like these people, but not by a qualified administrator, and the thing tends to confusion, but if you are ever going to have people drawn into cooperation, you will have to meet those things.

The second adversary is presented in Act 19:8-10 : “And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily In the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” That adversary was the Jewish ecclesia the synagogue refusing to accept Jesus as the Messiah, blaspheming his name, bitterly obstructing the work, as we have seen in other places. Paul saw that in that city of the gods a line of cleavage must be drawn so he did just what he had done at Corinth. He moved his meeting to the schoolhouse. He had nothing more to do with the Jews; they could not walk together; they could not agree. The Jews were fighting him and fighting the gospel, so that he disposed of that adversary by a separation of the church and the Jews. He drew a line. He did not want a row every time they came to the meeting. He followed this plan for two years, and held the day.

The third adversary is presented in Act 19:11-12 : “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul; insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.” That adversary was the demons, the devil’s spiritual agency, and if there ever was a place on earth where demonology prevailed in its worst extent, and the demons were multitudinous and disastrous, it was right here at Ephesus. As Satan’s sub-agents, his demons had been controlling that city, and its business, and prompting its spirit, it became necessary that some extraordinary power of God should be brought to bear to counteract the influence of those demons. So here we come to a case of special miracles. Here I commend to the reader my sermon on “Special Miracles.” The Spirit’s power was displayed in an unusual way. We had a case of that remarkable miracle where the very shadow of Peter healed people near him. An apron that Paul wore while he was at work at his trade, carried and touched by a sick man a man under demoniacal possession caused the devil to go out of him, and a handkerchief that Paul used to wipe his face when the sweat would pour down under his labor, had the same effect. These were unusual miracles, like the miracle of Elisha’s bones that brought a man to life when he touched them. God shows extraordinary power in order to meet extraordinary exigencies, and so the demons were wiped out.

The fourth adversary is given in Act 19:13-18 : “But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this. And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many also of them that had believed, came, confessing and declaring their deeds.”

So we find this adversary to be impostors who assumed to cast out’ demons under the name of Jesus, while having no respect for Jesus, and hating Paul impostors that borrowed Paul’s reputation there and the idea of the power of Jesus in casting out demons, and these impostors came from the Jews. I once heard a preacher say, shaking his head, “Those were smart demons, saying, ‘Jesus I recognize, Paul I know, but who are you? You liar, you impostor, you can’t come to meeting shaking the name of Jesus over me. I can whip you.’ ” And so that is the way that adversary was overcome.

The fifth adversary we find in Act 19:19-20 : “And not a few of them that practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.” What was that adversary? Evil literature, called “Ephesian Letters.” Certain letters were written on little slips to carry in the vest pocket, pinned on the lapel of the coat; certain magical incantations were written out. You find abundant reference to it in ancient literature, plays about a certain athlete who never could be killed until he had lost the magical letters on his person. Like a Negro with a horseshoe above his door, or with a rabbit’s foot to keep good luck. It is asserted that that literature obtained a hold over a great many of their minds, and it obtains it yet over many minds. A great many people now will turn back if a rabbit goes across the path ahead of them. They go back and start over if they happen to take a ring off the finger. They will not start on a journey on Friday. In our time there is a vicious literature, vile and corrupt, and that is one of the greatest enemies of Christianity. Good literature has to fight evil literature, and the gospel triumphs when the evil literature goes down. When those books were brought together and piled in that street, and a bonfire made of them, and the smoke of that fire hailed the stars, it stood a lurid monument of the mighty power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The sixth adversary is found by examining several scriptures, viz.: Act 19:21-22 ; 1Co 1:11 ; 1Co 4:17 ; 1Co 5:1 ; 1Co 7:1 ; 1Co 16:8-9 ; 1Co 16:17 . What was that adversary? The devil was very anxious to get Paul away from Ephesus, and so he starts a row at Corinth, the church that Paul had established, and appeals to him to come to Cloe’s household, and so the church at Corinth writes him a letter in which are all sorts of questions about the contention, for him to settle, and an appeal made to him to come and help them. Paul says, “I will tarry at Ephesus.” The devil led them astray that far, and had already weakened his force, since he had to take Timothy and Erastus and send them over to stay that tide until he could get there.

QUESTIONS 1. What is the general theme of this chapter, and what the scriptures?

2. Trace on the map the whole tour from Antioch to Jerusalem.

3. What part of this tour is devoted to confirming churches previously established, what the churches, and what part to advance the work?

4. What letters were written during this tour, what the order of writing, what the place and time of each, and which was to prepare for new work?

5. Give a connected account of Apollos.

6. What mighty financial enterprise was engineered on this third tour?

7. Give an account of Ephesus, its celebrities, its prevalent religion, and the Jews there.

8. What three co-existent ecclesias were present in this one city, and what the bearing of the fact on the essential character of a New Testament church?

9. What one text summarizes the whole situation at Ephesus?

10. What is the first adversary, and how overcome?

11. State fully the case of the twelve disciples found at Ephesus answering the five questions in the body of the text?

12. What is the second adversary, and how overcome?

13. What is the third adversary, and how overcome?

14. What is the fourth adversary, and how overcome?

15. What is the fifth adversary, and how overcome?

16. What is the sixth adversary, and how overcome?

XXVII

PAUL AT EPHESUS PAUL’S THIRD MISSIONARY TOUR (Continued)

We continue in this chapter the discussion of Paul’s adversaries at Ephesus. The seventh adversary was the craftsmen’s ring, organized by Demetrius, the silversmith. In making the silver shrines or other souvenirs of the temple, whether of wood, stone, or metal, or the portable images of the goddess, or the amulets, charms and talismans inscribed in the “Ephesian letters,” or the costumes for the May festivals, a multitude of craftsmen were employed designers, molders, coppersmiths, sculptors, costumers, painters, engravers, jewelers. Perhaps one image or shrine would pass through the hands of several craftsmen before it received the delicate finishing work of the silversmith. The enormous crowds assembled in the annual May festivals, the steady influx of strangers from a world commerce, the devotees of the displays in the theatre, all inspired by curiosity, superstition, lewdness, or the greedy spirit of traffic, would create a demand for such wares surpassing the value of a gold mine. But the preaching of Paul, so far as accepted, undermined the whole business, dried up the springs of demand, and tended to leave all these craftsmen without an occupation.

Demetrius, anticipating the genius of modern times, organized the several guilds to make a life and death fight against a common enemy threatening all alike. His own inspiration was the love of money. His business was as profitable as the slave trade, the whiskey traffic, or the panderers who supplied the victims of lust. But formidable as a craftsmen’s union may be when used as a unit to promote evil, Demetrius was too shrewd a politician to rely on only one means of war. While perhaps religion was nothing to him, he caring only for gain, yet he recognized the value of alliance with that mighty factor, religious fanaticism, the eighth adversary, and so stirred it up in these crafty words: “For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen; whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth. And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods that are made with hands: and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worshipeth.”

The devil never inspired a craftier speech. From his viewpoint the facts justified his fears. We learn from the letter of Pliny, fifty years later, that the gospel had put all the gods of Mount Olympus out of business, and left all their temples desolate. Combining gain, superstition, and civic pride he necessarily stirred up the ninth adversary, namely a howling, murderous, senseless mob. A tiger aroused in the jungle is not swifter in his leap, nor a pack of ravenous wolves more cruel, nor a flood of molten lava, vomited from the hot throat of a volcano, more insensible to argument. If the mob spirit lasted it would be hell. Its own violence exhausts it, or who could escape? A conflagration in heat and roar could not surpass in swiftness and terror the gathering of that Ephesian mob.

“Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” rolled in surges of repetition and reverberation through the streets of the city, and every palace, tenement and house of traffic poured its occupants into the streets to swell the volume of the frenzied throng, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” “Where is this Paul? What house dares to harbor him?” They rush to this place of abode. Aquila and Priscilla interpose and “lay down their own necks” to save their guest. Paul cannot be found. The mob seizes two of his co-laborers, the Macedonians, Gaius and Aristarchus. Had they found Paul he would have been torn asunder, limb by limb, but not finding him against whom their hate burns, they think to invoke another ally, the tenth adversary, the Greek ecclesia, or municipal authority, and so pour themselves, 30,000 strong, into the great theatre, its place of gathering, and keep on howling.

Here occurs a sideshow, or injected episode, unwise, impotent, ludicrous, shameful. The Jewish ecclesia, the unbelieving synagogue, becomes alarmed. They know they are a stench in the Gentile nostril. They know that such a stormcloud charged with electricity will strike somewhere, and in the absence of the particular victim sought, their pitiable experience has taught them that it will strike the Jew. So they put in Alexander, one of their officials, as a lightning rod to assure the dear Ephesians that they did not do it that they hate Paul as much as the mob does. Poor Alexander never got a hearing. Being recognized as a Jew, his appearance was like waving a red rag in the face of a mad bull. The howling was renewed, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” and did not stop for two hours.

In the meantime Paul, informed that his friends were held in jeopardy, with characteristic and magnanimous courage, sought to push his way into the theatre to say, “Here I am; if ye seek me, let these men go.” But prudent friends interposed to restrain him. Even certain of the Asiarchs, officials selected from the province to be managers of the May festivals and masters of ceremonies, who were attached to Paul, besought him not to venture himself into that theatre where he could get no hearing, and would only needlessly sacrifice his life.

The mob, having shouted itself hoarse and exhausted its cyclone fury, the opportunity brought forth a matchless political orator, the town clerk, or recorder of the Greek ecclesia. Using a faultless address as a broom, he coolly swept that exhausted mob out of the theatre a limp, ashamed, inert mass of trash. Truly, he was a master of assemblies. He filled Virgil’s description of Neptune assuaging the storm which inconsiderate Aeolus had let loose against the frail Trojan fleet, or was like Dr. Broadus at the Fort Worth session of the Southern Baptist Convention, in 1890, quieting in a moment the controversy on Sunday school publications.

Young preachers aspire to be masters of assemblies. They ought to study this town clerk’s speech. Note its excellencies. He awaited his opportunity. He would not have been heard earlier. He quietly showed them that their proceedings were undignified, unlawful, unnecessary, and dangerous. Is paraphrase what he said: “Everybody knows that Ephesus is the sacristan, or custodian of the temple of Diana, and of the image of the goddess which fell down from Jupiter. Nobody has questioned the city’s jurisdiction. These men whom you have unlawfully arrested and brought here, are not charged with the sacrilege of robbing the temple or blaspheming the goddess. A mob has no authority to arrest men, and cannot be a court. An ecclesia has no authority unless lawfully summoned. If Demetrius has a grievance against Paul for an offense coming under Roman jurisdiction, let him carry his case before the proconsul. If the grievance touches matters over which the Greek ecclesia has jurisdiction, let him bring this case before the regular session of that court. These courts, both Roman and Greek, being accessible, why raise a tumult so obnoxious to our Roman masters? Indeed, we are liable already to answer to the Romans for this disturbance, this being only a mass meeting and a violent one at that. Rise, be dismissed, go home, keep quiet, do nothing rash.”

We will now analyze the “great door and effectual” opened to Paul (1Co 16:9 ) : (1) Hearts are locked against the gospel so men will not give attention; God opens the heart to attend, as in Lydia’s case (Act 16:14 ). (2) The door of faith is closed against the gospel; God opens it so men will believe (Act 14:27 ). (3) Jesus is the door to the sheepfold, but man cannot see except that the Spirit directs his eyes (Joh 10:7 ; 1Co 12:3 ). (4) Utterance, liberty, or afflatus, does not come to the preacher at his will, but the Spirit can open the door of utterance so that he can speak with a tongue of fire (Col 4:3 ). (5) The door of access to the Father can be opened only by him who has the key of David. He can open and none can shut and none can open. He has the keys of death and hell (Rev 1:18 ; Rev 3:7-8 ). So at Ephesus, God opened to Paul a door of utterance, and to the people the door of attention, faith and salvation. It was great and effectual. Neither the synagogue nor the Greek ecclesia, nor the proconsul, nor Satan and all his demons, could shut it.

The expressions in the chapter that mark the progress of the work are: (1) The baptism of the twelve disciples in the Holy Spirit (Act 19:6 ) so that Paul at one stroke gained twelve mighty helpers; (2) all Asia heard the word (Act 19:10 ); (3) special miracles conquer demons (Act 19:11-12 ); (4) fear fell upon all, and the name of Jesus was magnified (Act 19:17 ); (5) confessions were made (Act 19:18 ) ; (6) the burning of the books (Act 19:19 ) ; (7) so mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed (Act 19:20 ); (8) demons were made to refuse recognition of impostors.

Act 20:17 ; Act 20:28 ; Act 20:35 , proves that under Spirit-guidance elders were ordained and instructed. The great converts of this meeting were Tychicus and Trophimus (20:4) Epaphras (Col 1:7 ), and the family of Philemon (Phm 1:2 ). The following scriptures show that no other preacher in the history of the world labored under such hard conditions, suffered as much, or carried such a burden. He was in the shadow of death, and exposed to the daily malice of earth and hell for three years: Act 20:18-21 ; Act 20:26-27 ; Act 20:31-35 ; 1Co 4:11-13 ; 1Co 15:19 ; 1Co 15:32 ; 2Co 1:8-10 ; 2Co 4:5-15 ; 2Co 6:4-10 ; 2Co 11:23-28 . It is evident that in this three years occurred many of the horrible privations, perils, imprisonments, scourgings, hunger, cold, sickness, and daily death, and the burdens enumerated in 2Co 11:23-28 . The fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus (1Co 15:32 ) has no reference to the Demetrius mob, for that had not yet occurred.

It must be understood literally, that he had been thrown to the wild beasts in the arena of the theatre, and died under their claws and fangs) but, as at Lystra, where he was stoned to death, was restored by the miraculous power of God (2Co 1:8-10 ). He expressly says of this occasion: “We are made a spectacle unto the world, both angels and men” (1Co 4:9 ). The Greek is theatron , to which he again refers in Heb 10:33 . It was at this time he wrote: “If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we of all men are most pitiable” (1Co 15:19 ). It was of this period he wrote: “I bear branded on my body the marks [Greek: stigmata] of Jesus” (Gal 6:17 ). From head to foot he was crowned with ineffaceable scars. It was of this time he wrote: “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and we toil, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even till now” (1Co 4:11-13 ).

He never knew where he could stay at night. Consumed with hunger and thirst, he preached in rags. We would not do it. See the spruce, dapper messengers gather in our assemblies, shining in spotless collars and cuffs, and think of Paul in rags. See him burdened with the care of all the churches. See him going from house to house by day and night for three years, pleading with tears. See him the victim of foul aspersion and misrepresentation. Scorn gibes him. Mockery crowns him with thorns. Envy, jealousy, and malice, raging furies, seek to tear him limb from limb. Defeated greed, slanderer, and exposed uncleanness, like harpies, pick and hawk him with beak and talons. Tyranny binds him with chains to cold rocks that vultures may gnaw his vitals. Every day he dies, every day he is crucified, every day persecution drives cruel spikes and nails through his hands and feet. In the gloom of every night demons come like vampires, or hooting owls, or howling wolves, or hideous nightmares, or croaking ravens, to break his spirit. Hell’s cartoonists sketch his future in a background of evil omens and apprehensions. It was of these trials he wrote:

“But in everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2Co 6:4-10 ).

There are several items that need to be noted in particular: He was supported there by the work of his hands. Perhaps once Corinth sent him a contribution, or at least some kind words, which he counted as food (1Co 16:17-18 ). The designation given to the gospel here and the preceding and subsequent references thereto is “The Way,” i.e., the way of life (vv. 9, 23). The name originated with our Lord: “I am the Way” (Joh 14:6 ), and it was twice used in Acts before the double use of this chapter (Act 9:2 ; Act 18:25 ) and three times subsequently Acts (22:4; 24:14, 22). It became common in the early centuries.

Note the great special service rendered to Paul by Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus. When the mob sought him at their house they offered to “lay down their own necks” that their guest might escape (Rom 16:3 ).

This tour, in its preaching, and particularly in the four great letters, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans, settled forever the systematic theology of salvation by grace through faith, and furnished all subsequent ages with the storehouse of arguments for justification by faith, and vicarious expiation. Out of these letters came both the inspiration and power of the reformation. No man questions their authority. They constitute Paul’s Gospel. A summary of the events condensed in Act 20:1-6 is as follows: While yet at Ephesus, Paul, on varied information, had written I Corinthians, in which he had promised to visit them. But Timothy’s report made him hesitate. He then sent Titus, intending to go to Corinth first, after leaving Ephesus, if Titus brought back a good report in time. But as Titus had not returned up to the time he left Ephesus, he went to Troas expecting there to meet Titus with such a report as would justify going to Corinth from that point. While waiting there he preached effectually and established a church, but though God opened him a door of success, he was consumed with anxiety about matters in Corinth, and as Titus did not come with news, he closed his meeting and passed over into Macedonia to visit the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. In Macedonia, Titus joined him with good news in the main from Corinth, and so from Macedonia he wrote the second letter to the Corinthians, again promising to be with them speedily (2Co 1:1-2:13 ). Passing through Macedonia, confirming the churches, he came to Corinth at last (Act 20:1-3 ), and spent the winter there. It was during this winter’s sojourn at Corinth that he wrote the letters, Galatians and Romans. From Corinth he had expected to sail direct for Syria. Finding out a plot of the Jews to entrap and slay him at the seaport Cenchrea, he returned by land to Macedonia. And from Philippi he sent ahead to Troas, the brethren named in Act 20:4 , and then after the Passover he, with Luke and maybe others, followed them to Troas. The time in Europe was nearly a year.

AT TROAS

The incidents at Troas are these: After a space of five days, he arrived at Troas and stayed a week, and on the first day of the week they all came together to partake of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper was administered probably by the church at Troas, and all the context shows that these visiting brethren from sister churches participated in all particulars of that supper. Luke says they assembled to break bread. Dr. J. R. Graves took the position that only the members of a local church, celebrating the supper, should participate in its observance. He once asked me what I thought of his position. I told him that as a matter of right, only the church could administer the supper, and only the members of that church could claim as a right to participate, but inasmuch as visiting brethren and sisters are of like faith and order, that on invitation they might participate. Then we had it on this case at Troas, and on the uniform Baptist custom. Notice that whenever they go to observe the Lord’s Supper the preacher says, “Any brethren or sisters of sister churches of like faith and order, knowing themselves to be in good order [not disorder], are invited to participate with us.” That is what is called inter-church communion, but not a very good name for it. I always invite the visiting brethren and sisters, but I specify very particularly who is invited.

Another incident occurred that interrupted the preaching a little. Paul, knowing that he had to leave the next day, preached a sermon that night. He was in the third story preaching. It was hot in that country over there, so they had all the windows open for air, and a boy, Eutychus, bad the best place in the house, right in the back window, and as Paul went on preaching until midnight (he did not deliver fifteen-minute essays he preached a sermon) Eutychus’ eyes got heavy, and he went to sleep. Something perhaps disturbed him, maybe a fly lighted on him, anyhow he fell out of the window fell from the third story and was killed instantly. Therefore don’t get sleepy in church. Paul went down and brought him back to life by the exercise of miraculous power, and went right back and resumed his sermon. When he got through they celebrated the Lord’s Supper. Some Campbellite brothers and sisters say it should be administered only on the first day of the week, and every first day of the week, and cite this case here at Troas when they came together on the first day of the week to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. It was a splendid day of the week to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, but Paul’s sermon was so long that it was next day before he even got through that sermon. They did not partake of the Supper until Monday.

When we get a three years’ sample of a man’s preaching we can have some idea, especially if he is preaching every day and every night in that three years, as to the matter, the scope, and the manner of his preaching. Of course, if he hasn’t got much to preach, he could not preach three years right straight along he would run out of material but Paul was brimful, and the scope of his preaching is expressed in two ways: (1) That he had withheld nothing that was profitable. (2) That he had not shunned to teach the whole counsel of God. That would have been a fine seminary course if we could have been there three years; could have taken that three years in the Bible by the greatest expounder since the Master went to heaven. He preached at every town, and particularly in preaching to the unconverted, he says, “Is testified both to the Jews and to the Greeks) repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Some preachers go around and leave out repentance. He ought to preach the gospel, and he should preach repentance as he preaches faith, and he needs to preach it in the order repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As to the manner of his preaching, notice the address itself, how he describes it. He says, “Why, brethren, you know that I was with you in humility. By the space of three years, publicly and privately, from house to house, day and night, with tears, I ministered unto you.”

If we should put together all we have suffered, it would not be as much as that man suffered in that three years. We have not made half as many sacrifices as he did. We have never come as near laying a whole burnt offering upon the altar of God. In analyzing this address, observe that there are three prophecies in it: (1) He says, “After I am gone, wolves are going to come and ruin the flock.” (2) “After I am gone many of your own selves, right on the inside of the church, will rise up and mar the work that has been done. (3) And he says, “Brethren, you will never see me again.” This is his farewell discourse. Those are the three prophecies. The events of this tour testify to the first day of the week as the Christian sabbath. We have the record of this assembly on the first day of the week, and in a letter on this tour he says, “On the first day of the week [and this applies to the churches generally] lay by in store, that there may be no collections when I come.” In other words, he says, “Every week, just according to your ability, give what you give liberally, cheerfully, and lay it by in store, so when I come you will have the collection ready.”

QUESTIONS 1. What the seventh adversary?

2. How did this one stir up the eighth adversary?

3. How was the ninth adversary stirred up?

4. How was the tenth adversary stirred up?

5. What was the outcome of it all?

6. What are the excellencies of the town clerk’s speech?

7. Analyze the “great door and effectual,” opened to Paul.

8. What the expressions in the chapter which show the marvelous development of the work?

9. Who were the great converts of this meeting?

10. What the character and hard condition of Paul’8 ministry in Ephesus?

11. How was Paul supported there?

12. What designation was given to the gospel there, and what the preceding and subsequent references thereto?

13. What great special service rendered to Paul by Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus?

14. What is the full significance of this missionary tour?

15. Give a summary of the events condensed in Act 20:1-6 , and the time covered by them.

16. What the incidents and lessons of the stay at Troas, and what the bearing of the observance of the Lord’s Supper there on interchurch communion?

17. Who was a great advocate of the non-interchurch communion, and what his main argument?

18. Analyze the address to the Ephesian elders, showing particularly the matter, scope, and manner of Paul’s ministry.

19. What is the testimony of the events of this tour to the first day of the week as the Christian sabbath?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

Ver. 1. While Apollos was at Corinth ] A mercy of God to the Church, that in Paul’s absence they should be so well provided of a preacher.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 41 .] ARRIVAL, RESIDENCE, AND ACTS OF PAUL AT EPHESUS.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1. ] By this name were known the eastern parts of Asia Minor, beyond the river Halys, or in comparison with Ephesus, in the direction of that river. So Herodotus, speaking as a Halicarnassian, calls even the neighbourhood of Sardis , i. 177; including in the term, however, many of the inland districts, Assyria, Babylonia, &c. So that the reading , which is found in three cursives and Theophyl-sif., is a good gloss.

] These seem to have been in the same situation as Apollos, see on ch. Act 18:25 . They cannot have been mere disciples of John, on account of , which can bear no meaning but that of believing on the Lord Jesus : but they had received only John’s baptism, and had had no proof of the descent of the Holy Spirit, nor knowledge of His gifts.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Act 19:1 . See critical note for Bezan reading. , cf. Act 21:1 ; see Blass, Gram. , p. 31, and Winer-Schmiedel, p. 95. : The main road to Ephesus which passed through Colosse and Laodicea was not apparently taken by Paul, but a shorter though less frequented route running through the Cayster valley. This route leads over higher ground than the other, and St. Paul in taking it would be passing through the higher-lying districts of Asia on his way from Pisidian Antioch to Ephesus. According to Col 2:1 the Apostle never visited Colosse and Laodicea, which seems to confirm the view taken above (but see Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire , p. 94, on Mr. Lewin’s view of Col 2:1 ). The expression . is really a description in brief of the same district, “the region of Galatia and Phrygia,” mentioned in Act 18:23 . If the journey passed through North Galatia, Ramsay contends with great force that the expressions in Act 18:23 and would be meaningless, as . would apply not to Churches already known to us, but to Churches never mentioned in the book, and if St. Paul did not visit the South Galatian Churches, how could St. Luke mention “all the disciples”? Zckler, Apostelgeschichte (second edition), in loco , as a supporter of the North Galatian theory, takes the term as the equivalent of the places referred to in Act 18:23 , but he does not include in these places as far north as Tavium or Ancyra, and a route through Cappadocia is not thought of; so here Pessinus, Amorion, Synnada, Apameia, Philadelphia, and Sardis would be visited by the Apostle, and from Sardis he would go down to Ephesus; the expression . would thus in Zckler’s view include churches founded on the second missionary journey, but the most northerly are excluded as lying too far away, p. 273; see Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire , p. 93; “Ephesus,” Hastings’ B.D., and Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia , ii., 715; McGiffert, Apostolic Age , p. 275. Blass takes the words to mean districts more remote from the sea; Rendall (so Hackett) explains them as referring to the land route through the interior of Asia Minor by way of distinction to the sea route which Paul had before pursued on his way from Ephesus to Jerusalem. Grimm explains as the parts of Asia Minor more remote from the Mediterranean, farther east, and refers only to Hippocrates and Galen for the use of the adjective, which was evidently a very rare one (see Hobart, p. 148); see also Zckler on Act 19:1 and illustrations of Latin expressions similarly used. R.V. renders “the upper country,” lit [328] , the upper parts, i.e. , inland; A.V., “coasts,” i.e. , borders, as in Mat 2:16 , etc., Humphry, Commentary on R. V. : Ephesus and Athens have aptly been described as two typical cities of heathendom, the latter most Hellenic, the heart and citadel of Greece, the former the home of every Oriental quackery and superstition in combination with its Hellenism; the latter inquisitive, philosophical, courteous, refined, the former fanatical, superstitious, impulsive. And yet Acts portrays to the life the religious and moral atmosphere of the two cities, no less than their local colouring (Lightfoot, “Acts of the Apostles,” B.D. 2 , p. 36). Under the empire it was a regulation that the Roman governor should land at Ephesus, and from all quarters of the province the system of Roman roads made Ephesus easily accessible. St. Paul with his wonted judgment fixed upon it as a fitting centre for the message and for the spread of the Gospel. Like Corinth, with which close intercourse was maintained, Ephesus is described as one of the great knots in the line of communication between Rome and the East; see further notes in commentary, Ramsay, “Ephesus,” Hastings’ B.D.; “Ephesus,” B.D. 2 ; E. Curtius, Gesammelte Abhandlungen , i., 233 ff.

[328] literal, literally.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Acts Chapter 19

Here we have another fact of deep interest as illustrating the state of souls not as yet favoured with the apostolic or even more ordinary gospel testimony. The grace of Christ displays its elasticity in meeting them with the truth which they needed, in order to bring them into the full enjoyment of the Christian condition:

‘And it came to pass, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having gone through the upper parts, came [down(?)]1 unto Ephesus, and finding2 certain disciples, said unto them, Received ye [the] Holy Spirit since ye believed? And they [said]3 unto him, Not even if [the] Holy Spirit was did we hear. And he said,4 Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus’5 (vers. 1-4).

1 Text. Rec. , BHL., most cursives and Versions; AE, many cursives, Arm.

2 Text. Rec. . . . , DEHLP, et al. . . . AB, several cursives, Vulg., et al.

3 Text. Rec. on large authority adds , which does not appear in ABDE, et al.

4 simply AE, et al. Text. Rec. with BHLP and most (HLP, et al, adding ).

6 Text. Rec. has HLP, most cursives; as some with several Versions support ‘Jesus Christ’ but the best , D giving only .

It is important to recognize what is here clearly made known in the inspired narrative that these imperfectly instructed souls, whom Paul found at Ephesus, after Apollos had gone to Corinth, are owned as disciples. The apostle does not question the reality of their faith. He observed probably a certain legalism in them, which raised the question not whether they were born of the Spirit, but whether they were sealed by Him. ‘Received ye the Holy Spirit since ye believed?’ Their answer makes the distinction as plain as it is momentous. They had not so much as heard of the Holy Spirit as the apostle asked. They were doubtless not unacquainted with the Old Testament, nor of course with John’s testimony, as appears from what followed. They were therefore familiar with the Holy Spirit as spoken of in the scripture, and must have heard directly or indirectly that John declared the Messiah was to baptize with the Spirit. Whether this was a fact yet, they knew not.

The existence of the Holy Spirit was never in question. What they had not even heard was of any answer to the promise, still less had they been made partakers. This raised the further question, To what then were ye baptized? with the answer, To John’s baptism. They were not therefore even on the ground of Christian profession, for, as the apostle wound up, John’s was ‘a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus.’ Christian baptism supposes Him to be dead and risen, the work of redemption accomplished, with eternal life and remission of sins proclaimed in His name. They were believers, the Holy Spirit had wrought in their souls so that the word of God had entered, but they were wholly short even of those immediately conferred privileges which faith in the gospel enjoys.

Now the case before us is not without its bearing on souls around us in the present day. How many saints there are who know nothing beyond the new birth, imagining this to be the common blessing of Christianity if they be not also betrayed thereby into the delusion of what they call higher life, holiness, sanctification, or perfection! The last three of these are scriptural terms, but when treated as a goal of attainment, and especially in the sense of the amelioration of nature or the practical extinction of sin within, they veil very grave deflections from the truth.

It is therefore to be noted how careful scripture is to distinguish between the early vital work of the Holy Spirit in awakening souls by the application of the word, and the subsequent reception of the Spirit when the gospel is believed. In the men at Ephesus before us there was as yet no such reception; yet they were born of God, which never is apart from subjection to His word. But it may be far from the gospel of His grace. Any part of the divine word, one might say generally, is applicable to quickening a soul, hardly as in this case going beyond what an Old Testament saint experienced. How many in Christendom rest on promise and have no notion of accomplishment! They of course allow that the Saviour is come, but of salvation come, and of God’s righteousness revealed, they are wholly ignorant. They are still in quest of what they have not got as the present gift of God, they if earnest are therefore anxious, tried, groaning after they know not what, if not over their own proved unworthiness and the treacherous evil of their hearts. They quite overlook the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ; still less do they rest on His work of redemption as valid for their own souls. Am I His, or am I not? is the question that harasses them habitually. Attracted by His love they listen to His words and are momentarily bright, then the thought of self rises in their conscience, and they are in the depths, wholly unable to reconcile the love of a holy God with their actual state which they cannot but feel. Hence they are driven, from ignorance of the gospel, to search after as many signs of a renewed condition as they can discover within them; and thus they toil in a life of hopes balanced against fears, having as little sense of total ruin as they have of God’s love toward them. And no wonder, for they are occupied not with Christ but with themselves. How then can such escape that sense of internal misery inevitable to the spirit, and the more so if born of God, till they know, by faith, the mighty work of Christ, where all evil is judged, all sins forgiven, perfect righteousness established without us and yet for us immutably, and ourselves brought nigh to God as His saints and children without a question unsettled?

Of all this the Ephesian disciples could know nothing. They were avowedly waiting where John’s doctrine and baptism left them, believing on Him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus. But they were wholly unacquainted with the blessing that had already come, the glad tidings taking the place of promises, because all that God requires, as well as every need of the poorest of sinners, is already accomplished in the atoning work of our Lord Jesus. And so it is practically with many a believer now, not speaking merely of schools of doubt, where on principle the right state is laid down to be the most painful shrinking from rest in the saving grace of God, but in view of the thousands who, without a doubt of Jesus as the only Saviour, have no idea that God is proclaiming peace to them through the blood of the cross of Christ.

They too are under law in effect; and hence in a state of habitual bondage through fear of death, feelings as to themselves constantly clouding the simple truth (on which the gospel insists) that we are lost, and that all is grace on God’s part, Who has been already glorified perfectly as to sin in the cross, so that He can righteously afford to bless the believer fully. Ignorant of this wondrous grace which excludes all thought of self save as evil and lost, what can one do but look for good as a ground of hope with God, while vaguely conscious withal that nothing but mercy will do? In truth all is comparatively vague in such a state, alas! far too common in Christendom, where not the wicked only need the gospel, but many a righteous soul, quickened by the Spirit to feel in a measure for God, but as yet never realizing that it is for the lost the Son of man came and died, that they, resting by faith on His blood, might know their sins blotted out, and their old man crucified with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed that they henceforth should not serve sin, but, freed from it and become servants of God, have their fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life.

Now, in the state described, it is too much to assume that souls, wretched in the present, and drawing a precarious and oft vanishing comfort from the future, albeit prayerful and pious, have received the Holy Spirit, the incomparable privilege of the gospel; and this, because they have not really moved on from the promise to which an Old Testament saint clung rightly as to his sheet-anchor in a storm when the light had not yet dawned. It is sad for a disciple now to be in a similar state, instead of submitting to the righteousness of God and thus having peace with Him, as justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are none of us apostles, but it is no mean part of our work and testimony to meet the true’ wants of such souls. Else in vain do you look for an unworldly walk, for worship in Spirit and in truth, in vain, or worse than vain, do you force on these weakly plants into the high region of the church’s privileges as Christ’s body, or even of its responsibilities as of God’s house. Such souls really need the gospel as well as the Spirit in power for their souls. It is after hearing the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation, that saints, it may be as in the case before us born of God are on believing sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Then, and not till then, can they thrive, flourish, and bear the fruit of righteousness, which is by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. The blessing turns on ‘the hearing of faith’, not on works of law, which works wrath and a curse. ‘They which be of faith are blessed’ – they only.

It can hardly be supposed that the twelve disciples in Ephesus here brought before us had enjoyed the teaching of Apollos, still less the help of Aquila and Priscilla who unfolded to him the way of God more exactly. If so, they would have been led on, as they were by the apostle afterwards. For it was pure ignorance which hindered their advance in truth, and not either obstinacy or the absurd and wicked error imputed by some to them, which appeared later in the East, and left traces to a recent epoch, as Neander states in the first volume of his Church History. John’s baptism, in scripture, went with his call to repent, as we have just seen, and that they should believe on the coming Messiah, i.e., Jesus. In no way was it the blasphemy of accepting John as Messiah. They knew of promise, not of accomplishment: but that was to stop short of the gospel. They are now given to receive the full truth and blessing. Paul preached to them Jesus. What is there for souls which is not through Him and in Him?

‘And when they heard this, they were baptized unto the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied; and they were in all about twelve men’ (vers. 5-7).

But here it is well to understand what is taught; for some have inferred from the inspired historian that the original formulary had lapsed, and that the apostles here and elsewhere in the Acts are represented as baptizing only to the name of the Lord Jesus. This is a serious position. It professes to stand on the letter of scripture which cannot be broken; yet is it one which demands and deserves the fullest consideration, for it really annuls scripture. It has been entertained, and even acted on, by not a few whose principle it is to abhor any view or practice which puts a slight on the immediate authority of our Lord. Yet no one denies that He clearly laid down for that institution baptizing to the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mat 28:19 ).

So it is laid down in the earliest of the Gospels, where the great commission is given to the eleven. They were told to go forth and disciple all the nations, the Jews having already been made the object of their testimony in Act 10:5 , Act 10:6 . But now, Messiah being not only rejected but risen, and themselves associated with Him, the circle is enlarged consequently on His death and resurrection; and it is no longer a question of the rights of Jehovah, the one true God and Governor of Israel, but of God fully revealed, not only in the person, but by the work, of the Lord Jesus; and those disciples His servants are to baptize unto the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Here in Matthew was the fitting place to make that Name known, for in this Gospel more than any other, we have the consequences of the rejection of the Messiah, and the new witness substituted for the old, all authority being given to Him in heaven and on earth. From this point of view the rejecting and rebellious Jews are left with their house, and, we may add, their city, desolate till grace works repentance in their hearts another day. Meanwhile, in virtue of the accomplished work of the crucified Christ now risen from the dead grace sends out a message of sovereign mercy to all the Gentiles. It is not the Son of David filling the throne of Israel, nor is it the Son of man with His dominion and glory and kingdom given Him, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him – His dominion an everlasting one which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

These are glories of the new age when the Lord Jesus is displayed from heaven in power and presence on His return. Here it is the Trinity revealed and testimony to be rendered before that day, when they were to teach (not the law nor the prophets, but) all things whatsoever Jesus enjoined on them. And the Lord said, ‘Lo! I am with you all the days until the completion of the age’ an age not completed till even the last week of Daniel’s seventy is fulfilled. This may not be and is not the revelation of the mystery which was reserved for the Holy Spirit through the apostle of the Gentiles, but it is in contrast not only with the law of Moses, but with the promises given to the fathers and the seal attached to them. And Paul could say, as the twelve could not, that Christ sent him not to baptize but to preach the gospel. Yet did he in his place as a confessor submit to that institution of the Lord, as he also baptized from time to time those who confessed Him, as the inspired history abundantly testifies.

But nothing would be less like scripture than to rehearse the formula every time a record of baptism was made in it. The fact was stated, and the mode of statement in scripture is invariably formed according to the character and design of the Book wherein it occurs. Now it lies on the face of the Acts that the Holy Spirit is throughout bearing testimony to Jesus as the Lord. Baptism therefore when predicated of any in its course is so described. This exactly accords with the record, and is as it should be, if the Book be really stamped with that design, as it evidently is to any intelligent eyes. Besides it is in the highest degree probable, that those who administered baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as bound by the injunction of the Lord, would also add the Lord’s name as confessed by the baptized. So in some way it is habitually done at this day by those who follow in their steps. Certainly the Book of the Acts has Christian baptism mentioned as ‘on’, ‘in’, or ‘to’ the name of the Lord, each case being in strict harmony with its own character. But this in no way warrants the inference that the twelve, or Paul, or any other dispensed with the divinely given formulary. The form of the history is due to that design equally divine which controls this Book like every other in the Bible.

Another circumstance may be noticed: namely, that these Ephesian disciples received the Holy Spirit through the imposition of Paul’s hands as the Samaritans did through the hands of Peter and John. It was a signal mark of God’s honouring the apostles. As the work in Samaria was due to the free action of the Spirit in Philip, it was the more necessary to bind all together lest there should have been with God’s sanction a church in Samaria independent of that in Jerusalem. The unity of the Spirit was safeguarded by giving the new converts the seal of the Spirit only in answer to the prayers and by the hands of two chief apostles from among the twelve. What simpler proof that, as the Spirit is one, so is the church, however locally severed? So it is now. The Ephesian disciples, baptized to Jesus on hearing the gospel, had Paul’s hands laid on them in order to receive the Holy Spirit. It was one body everywhere; and Paul’s authority, as of God set first in the church, is attested like that of Peter and John before him.

It is in vain to argue that the Holy Spirit here conferred means only spiritual powers. These powers indeed were included in the divine gift, as the close of verse 6 intimates. But speaking with tongues, or even prophesying, was not all that the reception of the Spirit conveyed, nor yet the best part of the blessing. It is the Spirit Himself Who is given, as well as gifts for sign or for edification, which are both particularly indicated here. Even Bp. Middleton, according to his own too narrow and defective principle, would have been compelled to own the Holy Spirit here personally given. And this gift it is which is never withdrawn, and which indeed makes the Christian and the church to be such. There is neither the one nor the other if there be no gift, nor sealing, of the Spirit any longer.

Nor is it true that this gift depends on an apostle, or an imaginary apostolic succession which is wholly unknown to scripture and excluded by it. For the intervention of apostles, as in Act 8 and 19, was exceptional, however right and wise on each occasion. The large and typical instances were when He was given, first to Jewish believers at Pentecost and afterwards to Gentile believers at Cornelius’ house; at neither of which times does scripture speak of the apostles laying on hands. The Spirit was given directly on their faith of the gospel, a fact made absolutely certain and clear beyond controversy in the case of the Gentiles (Act 10:44-46 ), which of course is especially of interest and importance to us who are not of Israel. Such a fact is decisive for one who believes in the wisdom and goodness of God, not only in so doing then, but in recording it for the comfort of souls ever afterwards; lest they, ignorant of the direct gift to Jewish and Gentile believers, as warrant for the like expectation afterwards, might fall into the error, either of despair because the apostolic order existed not, or of presumption in dreaming of a fresh apostolic choir or band as being necessary for the supply of that gift, or for any other kindred function. The Catholic systems indeed suppose a sort of perpetual apostolicity, and thus solve the difficulty by an error no less portentous, Protestantism believes not in the abiding presence of the other Paraclete so as to make good the promise of the Father for ever; while Irvingism boasts of a new apostolate (well nigh gone) to effectuate an order which would ignore the ruin-state of the church – a gross moral mistake. But the truth is as blessed in its permanence, as these errors are pernicious.

The rather peculiar but instructive case of the twelve disciples in Ephesus being given, the apostle is next seen resuming his service among the Jews at their synagogue. Compare Act 18:19-21 . He was there according to his pledge.

‘And entering into the synagogue he spoke boldly for three months, discoursing and persuading the1 things concerning the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, discoursing daily in the school of 2 Tyrannus. And this was done for two years, so that all those that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord,3 both Jews and Greeks. And God wrought uncommon powers by the hands of Paul, so that even upon the sick were brought from his body handkerchiefs, or aprons, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out’ (vers. 8-12).

1 Some MSS. and Versions omit the article, but most insert it, which Luke’s usage confirms.

2 Most support Text. Rec. in adding ‘a certain’, but the most ancient omit.

3 Text. Rec., with HLP and most cursives, adds ‘Jesus, but not ABDE, and all the old Versions.

The apostle’s patient perseverance was great. For three months he spoke boldly in the circumscribed sphere of the synagogue, ‘the things concerning the kingdom of God’ (ver. 8) being the matter of his discourse and persuasion, as we can readily conceive of all subjects the most suited to inquiring Jews, who knew the law and the prophets. The godly, as we hear of Joseph of Arimathea, were looking for the kingdom of God (Luk 23:50 , Luk 23:51 ). This involved his opening to them the sufferings of Christ and the glories after these. It never occurred to his mind to disparage that kingdom, still less to deny it, because of higher possessions and richer grace in the great mystery as to Christ, and as to the assembly (Eph 5:32 ) meanwhile revealed for the Christian. Even salvation as now opened in the gospel of God’s grace has depths beyond the kingdom. But the Jews, from tradition with its darkening effects, and from unbelief which overlooks what is of the deepest import in scripture, were apt to turn from Jesus as the Christ, and thus got blinded in presence of that light which if heeded would have made everything manifest. It is only by light divine in Him that all things have their true character exposed, and His grace not only frees us from all fear of consequences from it, but emboldens us to desire it as the assured blessing of our souls to God’s glory. Some there were who did go on in faith and taste that the Lord is good; others stumbled at the word, being disobedient.

‘But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way4 before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, discoursing daily in the school of Tyrannus’ (ver. 9).

4 [In apostolic days the Christian faith seems to have acquired the name of ‘the Way’; see Act 9:2 ; Act 19:9 , Act 19:23 ; Act 22:4 , Act 24:14 , Act 24:22 . Peter uses the term, ‘the way of truth’ (2Pe 2:2 ).]

The truth preached in the synagogue had now brought out plainly those who received the love of it that they might be saved, and with at least as much distinctness those whose hard rejection of it led them to speak evil of the Way in presence of the multitude. To have continued longer could have answered no good end; it would have led to bitterness of altercation and reviling from the adversaries. To withdraw from them at this point was clearly of God. Thus were the disciples separated in the capital of the province, the religious centre of an area far larger still. The synagogue being no longer a seemly place, a room commodious enough was due, not only to the disciples, but to the testimony; and the apostle carried on his work of daily discourse in the school of one who was, as far as we can judge, a rhetorician or a philosopher.

What a contrast in that school, no doubt at different hours of the day, between the Christian teacher and the heathen! The one was filled with the grace and truth which, as a revealed whole, came into being by Jesus and in His person, flowing from the love of God to man, and with not a whit less divine authority than the law pronounced at Sinai more than fifteen centuries before, and last, not least, which brought home to heart and conscience by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, a Spirit not of fearfulness, but of power, and love, and a sound mind; the other, not perhaps lacking in imaginative thought clothed in attractive language, gave out speculation, being wholly destitute of certainty on all that most deeply concerns God and man, ignorant of all means of his reconciliation with God on a righteous basis, or of forming near and holy relationships with Him, possessing no present assurance of His will nor affections for every day’s enjoyment and obedience, and still less able to lift up the veil which hides the unseen and eternal. Yet here each of them addressed his hearers, Paul, if not Tyrannus, day by day; the one presenting a work of art which gave scope for excellency of speech, and the assumption, but not the reality, of wisdom; the other a simple yet deep witness, dependent on the Holy Spirit, to the One Who gave Himself a ransom for all, the testimony in its own times, for God delights in grace.

Hence it is, that the place of testimony was of no moment: all the value, virtue, truth, grace, and glory that we boast is in the One preached. Holy place, or most holy, was nothing now, Jesus only. Had He not been cast out by the people of God, by their scribes and doctors, by Levites, and priests, and high-priests? and when they slew Him by the hand of lawless men, had not God Himself testified by rending the veil from top to bottom? Earthly holiness was utterly desecrated. The temple therefore is nothing, nor Jerusalem, nor the mountain of blessing in Samaria. One sacrifice has swallowed up all others, and is alone efficacious. AH centres in the crucified but exalted Jesus on high, where is the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man; where is the Great Priest, even Jesus Himself.

Hence the same building, which man misused for vanity, faith could use for magnifying the name of the Lord. The consecration of a building since the ascension of Christ is a return to Judaism and one of the beggarly elements of the world; and the grander the building is, the more flagrant its inconsistency with the cross. Popery in all this is consistently but outrageously wrong, in rebellion against God and the truth, resuscitating all that received its death-blow in the death of Christ; for it boasts of its temples, its priests, and its sacrifices for the living and the dead. But where is the consistency of the Anglican who, admitting the one sacrifice as already complete and accepted, contends for earthly priests as well as holy places? where is that of the Dissenter, who, discarding an earthly priesthood, clings to the delusion and pride of his temple, chapel, or miscalled ‘church’?

The practice of the early church coincided with and confirms this principle. For those who had boldness to enter into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, the Great Priest over the house of God, what mattered the mere place of assembling themselves together? Alas! indeed, that a place of earthly splendour must cloud the truth and moral glory of the cross. An upper room, a private house, however obscure the quarter, or (if occasion required as here) ‘the school of Tyrannus’, any place, small or great, according to the exigencies of the time, sufficed for the assembly. If numbers grew in a large town, they might for convenience meet in many rooms, but never so as to jeopard the characteristic truth that it was ‘the church’, not ‘churches’, in that town. Where unity is abandoned, save for the foundations, it is no longer God’s church, but man’s.

At Ephesus as yet things were in their infancy, the disciples were separated (i.e., from the Jews who adhered to the synagogue), and in ‘the School of Tyrannus’ the apostle discourses daily. ‘And this was done for two years, so that all those dwelling in Asia, heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks’ (ver. 10). A great and effectual door of testimony lay open to him, if there were many adversaries. Proconsular Asia had the gospel before it. Many may not have listened more than once, for curiosity reigned among the Greeks, which, if easily attracted, is not less easily sated. But if ever an attractive centre existed for Asiatic Greeks, it was in Ephesus. It was a time too, when men, weary of pretentious philosophy and sick of the mental and moral horrors of paganism, yearned after something sure, solid, and good, if they knew not what, which they had found very partially in the synagogue.

They wanted, in the language of Job, ‘an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man what is right for him, and God could be gracious to him and say, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom’ (Job 33:23 , Job 33:24 ). And in the apostle they had one of the rarest interpreters, and, more than that, one who beyond all men could feel for Jews and Greeks; for no Jew had, in his unbelief, ever hated Jesus more bitterly than he, no Greek more proudly than he despised that name. And who had felt or developed so much the riches of God’s grace in Christ? For the space of two years all that dwelt, not in the city only, but in the province (where the seven Apocalyptic churches and others are afterwards known to have been gathered), heard the word of the Lord from one so laboriously zealous and so every way competent to proclaim and unfold and apply it. He was content to go about preaching the kingdom; nor was it enough for him to urge on perishing souls repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. He did indeed testify the gospel of the grace of God; but he shrunk not from declaring the whole counsel of God. Nowhere do we see a spot so favoured; nowhere did this wise master-builder lay a foundation so broad deep, and strong, though indeed it was none other than that only one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But who laid it so well as Paul at Ephesus, according to the grace of God which was given to him?

In due time God’s building in Ephesus comes before us with a wonderful lustre and fulness, not only in the Book now occupying us, but in the apostolic Epistle to the saints that were there and the faithful in Christ Jesus. To no assembly elsewhere does the Holy Spirit so freely bring out the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, and by none was it revealed as by the apostle Paul and to no saints communicated as to those addressed in that Epistle. Yet in the eyes of tradition the church in Ephesus is of slight account compared with that in Antioch, or in Alexandria, to say nothing of Rome or of Constantinople afterwards. But God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and His thoughts than those of the sons of men. No more humiliating proof of the departure of Christian profession from the divine estimate than is found in ecclesiastical history, with its ever-increasing homage to the spirit of the world.

But we may notice the honour which God at this time put on the apostolic testimony to the Lord Jesus and the gospel in the new sphere. ‘And God wrought uncommon powers by the hands of Paul, so that even upon the sick were brought from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out’ (vers. 11, 12). The beneficent power of God in man and for man was thus attested. By-and-by it will triumph in the kingdom where all things are to be put into the hands of the glorified Son of man. But He is glorified already, although we see not yet all things put under Him. Meanwhile the Spirit is here on earth to bear witness of Him and His victory achieved in righteousness over Satan. This is the principle of those early displays of divine energy in man. They were testimonies to His defeat of the devil in man’s favour, powers of the world to come, though of course but samples of what will be then universal. Certainly neither the church nor any individual saint has ground for long centuries to boast on this score. But God did work marvellously not only by Paul but in the assembly, as we see even in Corinth, to the glory of Jesus, that man might learn on all sides and in every way the delivering power in His hands, not only over human infirmity, but over all the power of the enemy.

Through the apostle this victorious power was manifested here with no little splendour. The God, Who gave and sent His Son to become a man as well as a propitiation for our sins, is not indifferent to man’s miseries, or to Satan’s malicious pleasure in rebellion and ruin. And these early days of the victory of the ascended Christ were illuminated with brilliant manifestations that all power in heaven and on earth is in Him Who is at God’s right hand, and Who answers to the faith that called on His name. Nor was it only in the presence or at the word of the apostle: what had touched his person did not fail upon the sick who could not approach him. The faith that brought handkerchiefs or aprons from him to them had its reward: the diseases departed from them, and evil spirits (a distinct class) went out. Truly it was delivering energy to the Lord’s glory in and for man; and it could not but deeply impress those who are sensitive enough to their interests and feelings in this life. But what is it at the best compared with the still deeper glory of the Son of man when God was glorified in Him dying for sin, that there too righteousness might be vindicated and be for ever on the side of man, of believing man unequivocally and absolutely?

But the Lord was pleased to manifest in another way, negatively indeed but effectively, what His grace delivers from in this present evil age.

‘And certain ones of the Jewish exorcists that went about took in hand to call upon those that had wicked spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of Sceva, a certain1 Jewish chief-priest, doing this. But the wicked spirit answering said to them, Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are ye? And the man in whom the wicked spirit was, leaping upon them and mastering them both,2 prevailed against them, so that they fled out from that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that inhabited Ephesus. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many too of those that had believed came confessing and declaring their deeds. And not a few of those that practised curious arts brought their books and burnt them before all. And they summed up the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So with might the word of the Lord increased and prevailed’ (vers. 13-20).

1 So it stands in the Vatican and other good authorities. The ordinary text has ‘certain ones, sons of . . .”, and much the larger support.

2 The better reading is (ABD, et al.), not ‘them’, as in the common text, a change to suit the ‘seven’, whereas two only were concerned in this case.

During His ministry (Mat 12:24-28 ), the Lord answered the reproach of the scornful Pharisee by appealing to those sons of Israel who cast out demons; He did so Himself by the Spirit of God. The spirits were subject not to the twelve only (Mar 6:7 ), but to the seventy also through His name, nor was there any exhibition of divine energy which more affected their minds (Luk 10:17 ). It was the first sign which, when He rose from the dead, He promised should follow those that believe (Mar 16:17 ). Whether by sickness or by spirits’ unclean possession, there was no case which resisted the power of the Holy Ghost (Act 5:16 ). We have seen a similar record of Philip in Samaria (Act 8:7 ), and especially of Paul (Act 16:18 ; Act 19:12 ).

It is the more important to press the word of God as to those evil possessions, because, on the one hand, the bias of man has set in so strangely in modern times to treat their existence with unbelieving contempt, where, on the other hand, people are not given up to besotted and blinding superstition. For Satan catches men by snares of the most opposite kinds. The truth is the one thing which men do not affect. And as they treat evil spirits in possession of human beings as an exploded old-wives’ fable so they no less scout the reality of the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in every believer, and working in some by way of special gift, not to speak of His action in the assembly. The Book of the Acts is most explicit in bearing witness to spiritual power, good and evil: to doubt the continuance of both is mere incredulity, and unworthy of the believer particularly.

Here the Lord displayed His resentment of those who, without owning Himself, sought to avail themselves of the apostolic action in His name as a charm to which divine energy must be attached. Seven were concerned in a general way, two (it would seem) directly, on whom consequently the blow fell. Their position too, as sons of a Jewish chief-priest, drew the more attention to so solemn a discomfiture. In vain did they call over any the name of the Lord, indeed their daring to adjure ‘by Jesus Whom Paul preacheth’ brought out the more distinctly His vindication of His servant, and their own impotence, as well as the reality of the enemy’s power. For the wicked spirit attested at once his acquaintance with Paul and his knowledge of his Master, not only with withering contempt for the hollow profanity of those who abused His name, but with the most practical demonstration that the evil power could tread down and put them to shame, instead of submitting to a victory at such unholy lips.

It is interesting to note how the wicked spirit identifies himself with the one whom he possesses, just as the Spirit of God is graciously pleased to work in those who are made, by His dwelling in them, vessels to magnify the name of Jesus. It is He Who effects all that is blessed yet is it all blended with their minds and affections; so that it is as a whole set to their account. Thus here the demoniac, ‘leaping upon them and mastering both, prevailed against them, so that they fled out from that house naked and wounded.’ It was his doing, though he could not by any means have done it save by that terrible power. The moral impression of this defeat was great on all outside in Ephesus. Nor was it only that fear fell on them all, but the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. It was not simply that God and the enemy were brought before men’s consciences; there was a testimony to the Deliverer also.

But there was even more. What became known universally acted with especial power on many of those who had believed. They came confessing and declaring their deeds; and if any went farther still, they gave the best proof of the abhorrence with which they now regarded their tampering with the wicked one. For ‘not a few of those that practised curious arts brought their books and burnt them before all.’ The price was reckoned up. and it was found not inconsiderable. Living facts brought home the power of the word, and conscience responded at once.

This was one of the many ways in which the Holy Spirit wrought at Ephesus; as we find the varied action of the Spirit one of the most prominent characteristics of the Epistle written to the saints long after. It was the word of the Lord that thus mightily grew and prevailed: not a company of saints merely, but the word of the Lord – that word which He has magnified above all His name. It is now the holiest answer on earth to Christ in heaven; and how precious to see, not merely the fear of His name overawing Jews and Greeks, but those who believed so zealous for His glory as to tell out their own shame and worst degradation in converted days, and to take vengeance on all they had, no matter how costly, which breathed of the enemy’s power and wiles!

Yet it is salutary to bear in mind that, whatever be these dark arts and diabolical energies, the god of this age carries on his most widely destructive work by methods of no seemingly unusual character, but suiting his delusions to the passions and the lusts of the flesh, even to the natural affections as well as interests of men, through the meshes of that world of which he is the prince. It is in this way above all that souls are kept blind through the exclusion of the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ. In Christendom now, as of old in Judea, the mass perish, not in the terrible displays which appear here and there or now and then, but under the placid surface of what is respected and enjoys an unquestioned character of patriotism and even religion, where the Father is unknown, and consequently it is not the true Christ brought home to the heart by the Holy Spirit. But the word of the Lord accomplishes the gracious purpose of Him Who sends it forth, and extensively too in the conversion and blessing of souls, if no longer in the might of apostolic days.

Thus in Ephesus did the word of the Lord grow and prevail ‘with might’ according to the remarkable expression of Luke. Every testimony had been at full tide there, the evident power and presence of the Spirit, attested by tongues and prophesyings, bold preaching of the kingdom of God for months in the synagogue, and still less restricted discoursing daily in the school of Tyrannus for two years, during which time the disciples took up their due separate position; so that not only they of Ephesus, but, speaking generally, all those that dwelt in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord. The uncommon powers wrought by the hands of Paul proved even externally where and with whom God was, as the ignominious penalty of the Jewish exorcists demonstrated that even Satan despised their selfish and profane use of the name of Jesus, so as to overawe all inside, and to exercise healthfully the conscience of many within, where it was for the Lord’s glory. What need was there for the prolonged stay of the apostle whose heart went out to the regions beyond?

‘Now after these things were fulfilled, Paul purposed in his spirit, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, to proceed unto Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there I must see Rome also. And having sent into Macedonia two of those that ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in1 Asia for awhile’ (vers. 21, 22).

1 Dgr has , but this is evidently to avoid the difficulty of , which expresses the direction of the apostle, though it was only a question of abiding where he was, a pregnant construction not at all infrequent.

It is not correct to interpret ‘in the spirit’ here of the Holy Ghost. No more is meant than that the apostle purposed it ‘in his spirit’; a frequent phrase of his, not only in this Book but elsewhere. He longed once more to go to Jerusalem after passing through the two Roman provinces of Greece. He felt that his work was closed for the present at Ephesus, and that after visiting Jerusalem he must see Rome also. With this we may compare Rom 1:9-13 , as well as Act 15:22-29 , though the journey to Spain appears nowhere else in the inspired writings, and we know not that it was ever realized.

How immense the energy which comes out in these few words! How much more, when we consider how fully he preached the gospel of Christ, not where He was already named, but where the good news had never penetrated before! It was also a spiritual capacity and zeal that embraced not heavenly truth only, and the whole scope of divine counsels for eternity, as well as the Old Testament prophecies of the kingdom, but the most ordinary matters of need for the peace and fellowship of the saints, yea, even for their temporal good day by day. We see too, how with apostolic authority he directed the service of others, and this at all cost to himself personally, for at this very time he sent into Macedonia two of those that ministered to him, not Erastus only, but the fellow-labourer nearest to his heart, his beloved child, Timothy, whilst he himself stayed awhile in Asia.

‘And about that time arose no small disturbance about the Way. For a certain [man] by name Demetrius, a silver-beater, making silver shrines [miniature temples] of Artemis, brought no little business to the artisans, whom he gathered together with the workmen of like nature, and said, Men, ye are aware that we2 have our prosperity from this business. And ye behold and hear that this Paul hath persuaded and turned away a considerable crowd, not only of Ephesus, but of almost all Asia, saying that they are no gods that are made by hands. Now, not only is there danger for us that this trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be counted for nothing, and that even she should be deposed from her3 magnificence, whom all Asia and the world [habitable earth] revereth. And when they heard, they were filled with wrath and kept crying out, saying, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. And the city was filled with confusion; and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized together Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s fellow-travellers. And when Paul was minded to enter unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And some of the Asiarchs also, being his friends, sent unto him and urged him not to adventure himself into the theatre’ (vers. 23-31).

2 Tischendorf has shown the mistake of Griesbach in giving for (ABDE, et al.), instead of the vulgar . This error is faithfully repeated in the notes of Scholz, a very inferior critic.

3 ABE and near 20 cursives, et al., rather than as in Text. Rec.

Such was the fresh effort of the enemy, not so much by means of Jews as Gentiles, and accordingly by an appeal to worldly lusts rather than by spiritual power in an evil shape. Nevertheless, religious motives, such as they were, even here threw a certain halo around that which was really selfish and utterly sordid. Nor is any device of the enemy more common or permanent. Satan contrives in this world to interweave debasing and destructive superstition with the present interests and honour of mankind. This being so, one cannot wonder that the mass of men are most readily inflamed by the testimony of the truth which threatens to undermine their religion and their worldly property. It is the same today, in principle, as then at Ephesus. An active leader was easily found to take the matter up and blow it into a flame. The artisans and the workmen engaged in the trade of the silver shrines of Artemis were roused by their employer Demetrius, who appealed to their covetousness and at the same time pointed out that Paul’s teaching threatened not only their trade but the discredit of the great goddess Artemis. And the appeal was not in vain; it never is, save where grace makes known the truth.

Man, ignorant of God, will fight for nothing more keenly than for his wealth and his religion. Nor could it be denied that throughout much more than Ephesus, or even Asia, Paul had persuaded and turned away much people from their gods many and lords many. There was no doubt that he really did mean that those are no gods which are made with hands, that to us there is one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we unto Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things and we through Him (1Co 8:6 ). We ought not to think, therefore, that the divinity is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man. And that one God now commendeth men that they should all everywhere repent, because He hath appointed a day in the which He is going to judge the world, or habitable earth, in righteousness by the Man Whom He hath ordained, giving to all proof of it in that He raised Him from the dead. So had Paul openly preached at Athens during his brief visit; assuredly his long abode in Ephesus was not less fruitful in the solemn proclamation of the truth. We need not have wondered if the silversmith had taken fire at the beginning of his stay. But grace knows how to make the wrath of man praise God, as well as to restrain the residue of wrath

It was well ordered, however, that the outburst should come while the apostle was still there. Two of his fellow-travellers were actually seized; and Paul intended to go in to the raging populace in the theatre, but the disciples would not suffer him. And very interesting it is to see the moral effect of Paul’s teaching and life on certain of the chief officers of Asia, who while distinguished from the disciples are expressly said to have been his friends. These sent unto him and besought him not to trust himself in the theatre. What is more, the scripture shows that Paul, whatever his own courage or feeling, did not despise these friends, notwithstanding their position. but gave way to the remonstrance of his brethren. He who on fit occasion knew how to wield on earth the power of heaven for the Lord’s glory, and who wrote with divine authority for the saints here below till Christ comes, could graciously bend to others, as well as stand alone where this was of God. Only the Holy Spirit can give the discernment at the moment, where the eye is single to Christ.

Such was the uproar which pervaded the crowd in the theatre at Ephesus. ‘Different ones therefore kept crying somewhat different things; for the assembly was in confusion, and the mass knew not wherefore they were come together. And from the crowd they instructed1 (or, drew together) Alexander, the Jews putting him forward; and Alexander waving his hand wished to make defence to the people. But when they came to know he was a Jew, one shout arose from all, crying for about two hours, Great [is] Artemis of [the] Ephesians. And the town clerk after stilling the crowd, says, Ephesians, which of men is he who knoweth not that the city of [the] Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Artemis and of what fell from the sky? Since then these things cannot be gainsaid, you must be quiet and do nothing rash. For ye have brought these men, neither temple-robbers nor blasphemers of our (or, your) goddess. If then Demetrius and the artisans with him have a matter against anyone, court-days are going on, and there are pro-consuls: let them accuse each other; but if you make any inquiry about other things, it will be settled in the lawful assembly. For indeed we are in danger of being accused of riot today, there being no cause concerning which we shall be able to render an account of this concourse. And having said thus (or, these things) he dismissed the assembly’ (vers 32-41).

1 is the best reading (ABE and many cursives) and means as above. The vulgar text hardly falls in with following without tautology.

In this Book we have already had the Holy Spirit’s account of religious excitement among the Jews, not only when it issued in the death of Stephen, but on other occasions where they were the chief instigators of the heathen against the gospel and its messengers. It was meet that we should have a living picture of a quasi-religious tumult among the heathen themselves, and this in the most capacious theatre of which there are remains to the present day. Assuredly the Gentiles were rather more senseless than the Jews, though their convictions were in no way so deep. ‘Some, therefore, cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was tumultuous, and the most knew not wherefore they were come together.’ Whatever the selfish motives underneath, their expression of wrath was about the great Artemis, of whom Ephesians boasted. Nevertheless, as we have seen, God wrought providentially through wiser men of high station among them, for the Asiarchs, whose chief or chiefs lived at Ephesus, had the easiest means and best position in the state, and by their very office would be expected most to resent any dishonour done to their religion. But kind feeling, if not conscience, made them tender the prudent advice to Paul that he should not adventure himself into the theatre. God used them to shelter His servant, where zeal and courage would have been unavailing, and might have exposed him to danger.

Here again we find the Jews putting forward Alexander. This, nevertheless, was a move, which however craftily devised, did not benefit themselves, but rather inflamed the multitude so much the more. The instincts of the heathen resented such an apologist. Was it in common honesty possible that the Jews would have more respect than the Christians for their great goddess?

It was in vain, therefore, for Alexander to beckon with his hand in the desire to make a defence to the people. It was enough that they perceived him to be a Jew, and therefore hostile to their idolatry. There was one voice from all, about the space of two hours, as they cried out, Great [is] Artemis of [the] Ephesians. What a true reflection of the world governed by prejudice and feeling in what is of all moment, not only for the life that now is, but also for that which is to come! God, the true God, is not in their thoughts, which are therefore open to any and every delusion.

The town clerk, or recorder, now appears on the scene; a much more important person in that age and country than in most others, as we learn from ancient inscriptions and otherwise. He was a heathen like the rest; but his common sense was shocked by their objectless excesses, and his speech sets forth in plain and pointed terms their own folly and wrong, not as to God but as among men, and more particularly before their Roman governors.

Having stilled the crowd, he says, ‘Ephesians, who1 is there of men that knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Artemis, and of that which fell down from Zeus (or, the sky)? As these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For ye have brought these men neither temple-robbers2 nor blasphemers of our goddess. If, therefore, Demetrius and the artisans that are with him have a matter against anyone, court-days are going on, and there ere pro-consuls: let them accuse (or prosecute) one another. But if you make any inquiry about other things,3 it will be settled in the regular assembly. For indeed we are in danger of being accused for the riot of today, there being no ground concerning which we shall4 be able to give account of this concourse. And, having said this, he dismissed the assembly.’

1 The , ‘for’, not expressed in our version, or perhaps any other, implies, without bluntly saying, Why this ado? For ‘which of men is there who knoweth not . . .,

2 All the old Protestant English Versions have the absurdly false rendering ‘robbers of churches’. So inveterate is bad habit, even beyond the vulgar. Wiclif and the Rhemish were preserved from it by adhering to the Vulgate.

3 B and many cursives support , and so Mr. T. S. Green, ‘further’, which makes good sense, but the ancient versions are adverse.

4 ‘The best authorities add a negative here. It may be due to immediately preceding. If genuine, it may be explained by emphatic speech, which is not always logically correct.

Thus is man beguiled. He assumes as unquestionable what is a mere delusion of the enemy. No intelligence secures against the lie of Satan, nothing but the truth brought home by the Spirit of God. For this man, otherwise sensible, the great Artemis and the stone that fell from the sky, were things which could not be gainsaid. On this supposition he insists on calmness as the only state of mind befitting his co-religionists. He urges that those concerned were neither temple-robbers nor revilers of their goddess. Why, therefore, should such men be brought before them? But he is more precise also, and sets before Demetrius and the artisans in company with him, that their procedure was irregular and dangerous for all. A charge must be laid at a proper time and place, and before the suited judge. There alone could there be a lawful result. Any other enquiry must be settled in the lawful assembly, which the present was not. More than that, ‘we are in danger’, nor they only, but ‘we’, of being accused of riot for this day’s proceedings, no cause existing for which they could render an account of this concourse. The Romans, it is well known, were most jealous of such disorderly assemblages; which they often punished with bloodshed without measure. As his speech thus closed with a most significant hint, he had no difficulty thereon in dismissing the assembly.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

Acts

TWO FRUITFUL YEARS

Act 19:1 – Act 19:12 .

This passage finds Paul in Ephesus. In the meantime he had paid that city a hasty visit on his way back from Greece, had left his friends, Aquila and Priscilla, in it, and had gone on to Jerusalem, thence returning to Antioch, and visiting the churches in Asia Minor which he had planted on his former journeys. From the inland and higher districts he has come down to the coast, and established himself in the great city of Ephesus, where the labours of Aquila, and perhaps others, had gathered a small band of disciples. Two points are especially made prominent in this passage-the incorporation of John’s disciples with the Church, and the eminent success of Paul’s preaching in Ephesus.

The first of these is a very remarkable and, in some respects, puzzling incident. It is tempting to bring it into connection with the immediately preceding narrative as to Apollos. The same stage of spiritual development is presented in these twelve men and in that eloquent Alexandrian. They and he were alike in knowing only of John’s baptism; but if they had been Apollos’ pupils, they would most probably have been led by him into the fuller light which he received through Priscilla and Aquila. More probably, therefore, they had been John’s disciples, independently of Apollos. Their being recognised as ‘disciples’ is singular, when we consider their very small knowledge of Christian truth; and their not having been previously instructed in its rudiments, if they were associating with the Church, is not less so. But improbable things do happen, and part of the reason for an event being recorded is often its improbability. Luke seems to have been struck by the singular similarity between Apollos and these men, and to have told the story, not only because of its importance but because of its peculiarity.

The first point to note is the fact that these men were disciples. Paul speaks of their having ‘believed,’ and they were evidently associated with the Church. But the connection must have been loose, for they had not received baptism. Probably there was a fringe of partial converts hanging round each church, and Paul, knowing nothing of the men beyond the fact that he found them along with the others, accepted them as ‘disciples.’ But there must have been some reason for doubt, or his question would not have been asked. They ‘believed’ in so far as John had taught the coming of Messiah. But they did not know that Jesus was the Messiah whose coming John had taught.

Paul’s question is, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ Obviously he missed the marks of the Spirit in them, whether we are to suppose that these were miraculous powers or moral and religious elevation. Now this question suggests that the possession of the Holy Spirit is the normal condition of all believers; and that truth cannot be too plainly stated or urgently pressed to-day. He is ‘the Spirit, which they that believe on Him’ shall ‘receive.’ The outer methods of His bestowment vary: sometimes He is given after baptism, and sometimes, as to Cornelius, before it; sometimes by laying on of Apostolic hands, sometimes without it. But one thing constantly precedes, namely, faith; and one thing constantly follows faith, namely, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Modern Christianity does not grasp that truth as firmly or make it as prominent as it ought.

The question suggests, though indirectly, that the signs of the Spirit’s presence are sadly absent in many professing Christians. Paul asked it in wonder. If he came into modern churches, he would have to ask it once more. Possibly he looked for the visible tokens in powers of miracle-working and the like. But these were temporary accidents, and the permanent manifestations are holiness, consciousness of sonship, God-directed longings, religious illumination, victory over the flesh. These things should be obvious in disciples. They will be, if the Spirit is not quenched. Unless they are, what sign of being Christians do we present?

The answer startles. They had not heard whether the Holy Ghost had been given ; for that is the true meaning of their reply. John had foretold the coming of One who should baptize with the fire of that divine Spirit. His disciples, therefore, could not be ignorant of the existence thereof; but they had never heard whether their Master’s prophecy had been fulfilled. What a glimpse that gives us of the small publicity attained by the story of Jesus!

Paul’s second question betrays even more astonishment than did his first. He had taken for granted that, as disciples, the men had been baptized; and his question implies that a pre-requisite of Christian baptism was the teaching which they said that they had not had, and that a consequence of it was the gift of the Spirit, which he saw that they did not possess. Of course Paul’s teaching is but summarised here. Its gist was that Jesus was the Messiah whom John had heralded, that John had himself taught that his mission was preliminary, and that therefore his true disciples must advance to faith in Christ.

The teaching was welcomed, for these men were not of the sort who saw in Jesus a rival to John, as others of his disciples did. They became ‘disciples indeed,’ and then followed baptism, apparently not administered by Paul, and imposition of Paul’s hands. The Holy Spirit then came on them, as on the disciples on Pentecost, and ‘they spoke with tongues and prophesied.’ It was a repetition of that day, as a testimony that the gifts were not limited by time or place, but were the permanent possession of believers, as truly in heathen Ephesus as in Jerusalem; and we miss the meaning of the event unless we add, as truly in Britain to-day as in any past. The fire lit on Pentecost has not died down into grey ashes. If we ‘believe,’ it will burn on our heads and, better, in our spirits.

Much ingenuity has been expended in finding profound meanings in the number of ‘twelve’ here. The Apostles and their supernatural gifts, the patriarchs as founders of Israel, have been thought of as explaining the number, as if these men were founders of a new Israel, or Apostolate. But all that is trifling with the story, which gives no hint that the men were of any special importance, and it omits the fact that they were ‘ about twelve,’ not precisely that number. Luke simply wishes us to learn that there was a group of them, but how many he does not exactly know. More important is it to notice that this is the last reference to John or his disciples in the New Testament. The narrator rejoices to point out that some at least of these were led onwards into full faith.

The other part of the section presents mainly the familiar features of Apostolic ministration, the first appeal to the synagogue, the rejection of the message by it, and then the withdrawal of Paul and the Jewish disciples. The chief characteristics of the narrative are Paul’s protracted stay in Ephesus, the establishment of a centre of public evangelising in the lecture hall of a Gentile teacher, the unhindered preaching of the Gospel, and the special miracles accompanying it. The importance of Ephesus as the eye and heart of proconsular Asia explains the lengthened stay. ‘A great door and effectual,’ said Paul, ‘is opened unto me’; and he was not the man to refrain from pushing in at it because ‘there are many adversaries.’ Rather opposition was part of his reason for persistence, as it should always he.

There comes a point in the most patient labour, however, when it is best no longer to ‘cast pearls’ before those who ‘trample them under foot,’ and Paul set an example of wise withdrawal as well as of brave pertinacity, in leaving the synagogue when his remaining there only hardened disobedient hearts. Note that word disobedient . It teaches that the moral element in unbelief is resistance of the will. The two words are not synonyms, though they apply to the same state of mind. Rather the one lays bare the root of the other and declares its guilt. Unbelief comes from disobedience, and therefore is fit subject for punishment. Again observe that expression for Christianity, ‘the Way,’ which occurs several times in the Acts. The Gospel points the path for us to tread. It is not a body of truth merely, but it is a guide for practice. Discipleship is manifested in conduct. This Gospel points the way through the wilderness to Zion and to rest. It is ‘ the Way,’ the only path, ‘the Way everlasting.’

It was a bold step to gather the disciples in ‘the school of Tyrannus.’ He was probably a Greek professor of rhetoric or lecturer on philosophy, and Paul may have hired his hall, to the horror, no doubt, of the Rabbis. It was a complete breaking with the synagogue and a bold appeal to the heathen public. Ephesus must have been better governed than Philippi and Lystra, and the Jewish element must have been relatively weaker, to allow of Paul’s going on preaching with so much publicity for two years.

Note the flexibility of his methods, his willingness to use even a heathen teacher’s school for his work, and the continuous energy of the man. Not on Sabbath days only, but daily, he was at his post. The multitudes of visitors from all parts to the great city supplied a constant stream of listeners, for Ephesus was a centre for the whole country. We may learn from Paul to concentrate work in important centres, not to be squeamish about where we stand to preach the Gospel, and not to be afraid of making ourselves conspicuous. Paul’s message hallows the school of Tyrannus; and the school of Tyrannus, where men have been accustomed to go for widely different teaching, is a good place for Paul to give forth his message in.

The ‘special miracles’ which were wrought are very remarkable, and unlike the usual type of miracles. It does not appear that Paul himself sent the ‘handkerchiefs and aprons,’ which conveyed healing virtue, but that he simply permitted their use. The converts had faith to believe that such miracles would be wrought, and God honoured the faith. But note how carefully the narrative puts Paul’s part in its right place. God ‘wrought’; Paul was only the channel. If the eager people, who carried away the garments, had superstitiously fancied that there was virtue in Paul, and had not looked beyond him to God, it is implied that no miracles would have been wrought. But still the cast of these healings is anomalous, and only paralleled by the similar instances in Peter’s case.

The principle laid down by Peter Act 3:12 is to be kept in view in the study of all the miracles in the Acts. It is Jesus Christ who works, and not His servants who heal by their ‘own power or holiness.’ Jesus can heal with or without material channels, but sometimes chooses to employ such vehicles as these, just as on earth He chose to anoint blind eyes with clay, and to send the man to wash it off at the pool. Sense-bound faith is not rejected, but is helped according to its need, that it may be strengthened and elevated.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act 19:1-7

1It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7There were in all about twelve men.

Act 19:1 “upper country” This refers to an alternate route through the higher (i.e., elevation) country and to the churches started on Paul’s previous missionary activity in South Galatia.

“Ephesus” Michael Magill, NT TransLine, p. 413, #25, has an informative note.

“This was the capital city of Asia, where Paul was forbidden to go in Act 16:6. He stopped there briefly in Act 18:19-21, planning to return. Now he spends over two years here, Act 19:10.”

“disciples” The term implies they were believers (cf. Act 19:2, “when you believed,” see Special Topics at Act 3:16; Act 6:5) in Jesus as the Messiah through John the Baptist’s messages or possibly through Apollos’ preaching.

The Spirit apparently sent Paul by this upper route for the very purpose of helping these “disciples” know and experience the full truth of the gospel.

Act 19:2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed” The fact that they are called “disciples” (Act 19:1) and the statement “when you believed” imply they were believers. This question links (1) the personal reception of the Spirit at the time one believed (aorist active indicative and aorist active participle) and (2) the Spirit’s preparatory action, without which no one could even believe (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65; Rom 8:9). There are levels and stages of the Spirit’s work (cf. Act 8:11; Act 8:15-17). The book of Acts itself should warn modern interpreters not to be dogmatic in the “necessary” elements and order of salvation. Acts records what occurred, not what should occur every time. Salvation is a personal relationship which involves the whole person, but often this is a progressive experience as the relationship deepens and more scriptural information is understood. See Special Topic at Act 2:40.

“No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit” John’s preaching could not have produced spiritual effect without the Spirit (cf. Rom 8:6-11; 1Co 12:3; 1Jn 4:2). John mentioned the Spirit in his preaching (cf. Mat 3:11; Mar 1:8; Luk 3:16; Joh 1:32-33), but it must be remembered that his was a message of preparation, not fulfillment (cf. Isa 40:3; Mat 3:3). John was the last OT prophet and transitional preacher and preparer for the coming of the Messiah. He pointed people to Jesus (cf. Joh 1:19-42).

Act 19:3 “Into what then were you baptized” They were followers of John the Baptist. Apparently they were faithful to the light they had, but needed further clarification about the life, death, resurrection, and ascension (i.e., the gospel) of Jesus, just like Apollos (cf. Act 18:24-28).

Act 19:3-4 “John’s baptism” John’s baptism involved repentance and expectation (cf. Mat 3:11; Mar 1:15). However, it must be consummated by faith in Jesus. From history we know that there were several heretical groups that formed in the first century claiming to be followers of John the Baptist (Recognitions of Clement, chapter 60). Recording this account may have been Luke’s way of nullifying the effect of these groups. John’s ministry pointed away from himself and to Jesus (cf. Joh 1:19-42).

Act 19:4 “believer in Him” See Special Topics: Believe at Act 3:16; Act 6:5.

Act 19:5 “They were baptized” See Special Topic at Act 2:38.

“in the name of the Lord Jesus” Luke describes baptism as “in the name of Jesus” (cf. Act 2:38; Act 8:12; Act 8:16; Act 10:48). See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE NAME OF THE LORD at Act 2:21. Matthew describes baptism as “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (cf. Mat 28:19). The baptism formula is not the key to salvation, but the heart of the person being baptized. To view the formula as the key is to place the emphasis in the wrong place. Salvation is not the sacramental correctness of a rite, but an entering into a repentant/faith relationship with Jesus. See note at Act 2:38.

As far as we know, Apollos, who also only knew the baptism of John, was not rebaptized! The Spirit was obvious in his powerful preaching and teaching.

Act 19:6 “Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them” The laying on of hands is often mentioned in connection with the Spirit (cf. Act 8:16-17; Act 9:17), but not always (cf. Act 10:44, see Special Topic at Act 6:6). The Bible links the Spirit with the believer in three different ways:

1. at the time of belief

2. at the time of baptism

3. with laying on of hands

This diversification should warn us against dogmatism in the matter. Acts is not intended to teach a set pattern, but to describe the dynamic movement of the Spirit.

I must admit that these twelve disciples of John speaking in tongues is surprising to me. Usually in Acts tongues are evidence for the believing Jewish proclaimers that God

1. has accepted a new group or

2. broken down a geographical barrier (see full note at Act 2:4 b)

What new group did these men represent? They were already disciples (cf. Act 19:1). Why did Luke choose to record this event? He chooses to introduce it with Apollos in Acts 18. This just does not fit the pattern, which probably means that modern interpreters are trying to fit an agenda or interpretive grid over Luke’s writing that just does not fit! Maybe this event of speaking in tongues is more like those in Corinth!

There is an interesting variety in the way the NT describes the coming of the Spirit to individuals.

1. came upon (erchomai plus epi), cf. Mat 3:16; Luk 19:6 [just epi, Act 2:25]

2. baptized with, cf. Mat 3:11; Mar 1:8; Luk 3:16; Luk 11:16; Joh 1:33; Act 1:5

3. descended upon, cf. Mat 3:16; Mar 1:10; Luk 3:22

4. coming upon (eperchomai plus epi), cf. Luk 1:35; Act 1:8

5. filled with, cf. Luk 1:15; Luk 1:41; Luk 1:67; Act 2:4; Act 4:8; Act 4:31; Act 9:17; Act 13:9; Act 13:52

6. poured out (ekche), cf. Act 2:17-18; Act 2:33; Act 10:45; Tit 3:6

7. received, cf. Act 2:33; Act 2:38; Act 8:15; Act 8:17; Act 8:19; Act 10:47; Act 19:2

8. given, Act 5:32; Act 10:45; Act 15:8

9. fallen upon (epipipt), cf. Act 8:16; Act 10:44; Act 11:15

“and prophesying” This term has OT connotations of ecstatic behavior (cf. 1Sa 10:10-12; 1Sa 19:23-24). The context may support this interpretation. However, this term in I & 2 Corinthians (cf. 1Co 11:4-5; 1Co 11:9; 1Co 14:1; 1Co 14:3-5; 1Co 14:24; 1Co 14:31; 1Co 14:39) implies a bold proclamation of the gospel. It is difficult to define prophecy in the NT. Since the filling of the Spirit is often linked with a bold proclamation of the gospel, this may be the intent of this context also. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY at Act 11:27.

Act 19:7 “There were in all about twelve men” Twelve is one of several numbers often used symbolically in the Bible, but here it seems to be historical. See Special Topics: Twelve at Act 1:22 and Symbolic Numbers in Scripture at Act 1:3.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

while . . . was. Literally in (Greek. en) the being Apollos.

at = in. Greek. en. App-104.

Corinth. All the notices of Apollos are connected with Corinth, except Tit 3:13, when he was apparently in Crete, or expected to pass through it.

upper. Greek. anoterikos. Only here.

coasts = parts, i.e. the highland district, at the back of the Western Taurus range. Paul’s route was probably through Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, the Phrygian lake district, and the Lydian part of the Province of Asia. It was about August September, A.D. 54.

certain. Greek. tis. App-123.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1-41.] ARRIVAL, RESIDENCE, AND ACTS OF PAUL AT EPHESUS.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Chapter 19

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth [watering what Paul had planted], Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus; and there he found certain disciples [that no doubt, had been planted by Apollos], he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? ( Act 19:1-2 ).

Now there are those who object strenuously to that translation, and the Revised Version of the Bible demonstrates their objection. For the Revised Version translates this, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” The question, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” would indicate a separate subsequent work of grace beyond initial saving faith. And because Baptist’s doctrine declares that you receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit upon conversion and deny any further work of grace subsequent to conversion, the question, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” would totally dispute that Baptist position. And so they prefer the translation, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” However, even that presents difficulty to their position, because it would seem to indicate that a person could believe without receiving. Otherwise, why would Paul ask it? The very question itself would indicate that it was possible to be a believer and not have received that fullness of the Spirit.

Now it was a very common thing to receive the fullness of the Spirit when they believed. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, when he was asked by the people, “What shall we do, seeing we have crucified the Lord of glory?” He said, “Repent. And be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall received the gift of the Holy Spirit. For this promise is unto you and to your children and to those that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” ( Act 2:37-39 ).

So he gave to them the promise of the Spirit as a experience coincident with but subsequent to their repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. “And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And it generally followed, in the book of Acts, that when they believed and were baptized, that they were oftentimes immediately filled with the Spirit, as was the case in the house of Cornelius. When Peter went there, and as he was preaching unto them . . . actually, well, no that wasn’t the pattern, was it . . . as he was preaching, the Holy Spirit fell upon them and then they said, “Well, who can hinder now water to baptize these people, seeing they have received the Holy Spirit? So they received the Holy Spirit and were baptized.” But the general pattern was baptized and then received the Spirit.

There was a time gap in Samaria. Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ unto them, and many believed and were baptized when they saw the miracles that were done. And among the believers was a man whose name was Simon, who beforehand was a sorcerer, and had really hoodwinked the people by his sorcery, but he also believed and was baptized. Now, when the church in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had received the Gospel, they sent unto them Peter and John, for as yet the Holy Spirit had not come upon them, this endowment of power when the Holy Spirit came upon their lives.

And here again points out this little Greek preposition, epi, which signifies that empowering of the Spirit in the life of the believer to be a witness.

Jesus had said to His disciples in the fourteenth chapter of John that He would pray the Father to give to them another comforter, even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees Him not, neither knoweth Him. But you know Him, for he dwells with you and shall be in you.

Here there are two Greek prepositions used to describe the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the believer. First of all, He is with you. Secondly, He shall be in you. Prior to your receiving Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was with you. He was the One that convicted you of your sinful state. He was the One who was pointing Jesus Christ as the answer for your sins. He was the One that was drawing you to the Lord. “For no man can come except the Father draw him.” And the Spirit is the agent that the Father uses to draw men to Jesus Christ. But, when you receive Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit began to dwell in you. And every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you? You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit which are His” ( 1Co 6:19-20 ). Your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. That is true of every believer.

But Jesus declared a time would come when those that believed on Him would experience a glorious work of God, for out of their inmost being there will begin to flow or gush torrents, rivers of living water as He spoke of that ultimate relationship of the Spirit. You see, God always looks at you, first of all, subjectively, because God wants to work in your life His work of the Spirit. But God’s work in your life is never finished when it is just a subjective work. God always looks at you objectively for what He can do through your life.

Norman Grub, in his book, The Deep Things of God, declares that man’s greatest capacity is that of a vessel. For God has created man with the capacity to contain God. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” And so he declares that the greatest capacity of man is that of a vessel that can contain God. And he goes on and got me quite excited one day when I was listening to him at Forest Home about being a vessel containing the eternal God, the Creator of the universe. Oh, how glorious. But as I began to study it, I realized that Norman Grub came short. And as I was reading the book, having listened to him, and I came again to this concept, I said, “Norman, you’re wrong.” The greatest capacity of man is not that of being a vessel to contain God, but it is being a channel through which God can flow to a needy world, the instrument that God can use. Unfortunately, too many of us are vessels to contain, but we’ve bottled it up and there is no flow going forth from our lives, and the work of the Spirit is only subjective; he’s working in me, conforming me into the image of Christ. Glory, that’s beautiful. I need it. I want it. But I should not be satisfied with it. I should not be satisfied until my life has become a channel from which God’s Spirit is just flowing out and touching the needy world around me.

This is the epi. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon (epi) you.” The Greek preposition means “upon or over,” and as I said, I have translated it, “overflows you.” When you’re so full you cannot contain it anymore, and it just starts to flow out from your life and continues to flow out until it becomes like a river of living water. And if you cannot look at your life and say that, “In my life there is a flowing forth from my life of the Spirit of God, like a river of living water.” If you cannot say that of your life, then God has a deeper relationship for you to experience in the power and anointing of His Spirit upon your life. There is something more for you. That gift of the Holy Spirit, where He becomes that empowering force as a river of living water now gushing forth out of your life, and the thirsty world around you being touched and ministered to from that overflow of God’s love in your own heart.

So, this is the epi experience. And so, get out your concordances, I’m not going to do it for you; you’re getting lazy. Get out your concordances and go back through the book of Acts, and notice the epi preposition in relationship to the Holy Spirit upon the believers. And you will see that in each case it was an empowering and the results were that of overflow witness for Jesus Christ.

As Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes (epi) upon you (over you) and you shall be witnesses unto me.” There are those who like the term baptized. There are those that object to the term “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” But if it means to be submersed, surrounded, overflowed with, running off from; hey I’m for it. That’s what I want; that overflowing experience of God, where I am just submerged, submersed, or whatever, in the Spirit of God, and I am just totally overflowing with that power, with that dynamic, with that love.

And so, Paul questions, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said unto him, “We haven’t even heard that there was a Holy Spirit.” That is, that the Holy Spirit was given. They had heard that there was Holy Spirit if they had listened to Apollos, because he preached John’s message that the One was coming was going to baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. But they hadn’t heard that it had yet happened. “We haven’t even heard that that has happened yet.”

And so he said unto them, Then how were you baptized? ( Act 19:3 ).

Now Jesus said, “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” So Paul said, “You haven’t heard of the Holy Spirit? How were you baptized?” If it was the apostle’s formula in Matthew, they at least would have heard of it.

They said, We were baptized unto John’s baptism [which was a baptism of repentance]. Then Paul said, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, but he said to the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus ( Act 19:3-4 ).

So John, yes, did baptize, but he was telling you to believe on the One that was coming. And the One that was coming was Christ Jesus.

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul [now they were baptized, Paul] had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came [epi] [He came] upon them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied ( Act 19:5-6 ).

Paul tells us that there are many manifestations of the Spirit in the Corinthian epistle, chapter twelve. And among those manifestations of the Spirit are the capacity to speak with other tongues and also the capacity to prophesy. And so these two manifestations of the Spirit were taking place as Paul laid his hands upon them as a witness and as an evidence of the work of the Spirit in their midst. However, I feel that the most valid evidence of the working of God’s Spirit in a person’s life is not tongues, is not prophesy, nor the word of wisdom or knowledge, or miracles even, but is love. “For the fruit of the Spirit is love” ( Gal 5:22 ). And if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, they are meaningless sounds. I might as well be taking and ringing a bell. The tongues are invalidated by the lack of love. “Though I have all knowledge, understand all mysteries.”

Someone was asking me even this morning, and I have been asked several times, about a certain gray-haired TV evangelist, who recently has been taken off of his station but bought time on many others, what I thought about him. And I said, “I have watched him on many occasions and I have not yet seen one real evidence of Christian love in that man’s life. I hear a lot of filthy communication, a lot of potty-talk. I hear a lot of vindictiveness, a lot of vengeance and anger.” They said, “Oh, but he’s such a brilliant man.” “Though I have all knowledge and understand all mysteries, if I have not love, it profits me nothing” ( 1Co 13:2-3 ).

Love is what God is looking for. That’s the fruit. God is coming into His garden. He wants fruit. Now what kind of fruit is my life bringing forth? Vile, mean, rancor? Or is there that love that God is desiring? Many people bringing forth bitterness; the fruit of their life is bitter. There comes forth out of their mouth bitterness, cursings, revilings, threats, evil communications. Jesus is looking for love. And if I have all of these other manifestations, and if I have not love, they are none of them valid or profitable.

So Paul laid his hands on them. They received the Holy Spirit. He came epi (upon) them, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

And there were about twelve men. And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened [many of them], and believed not, but spake evil of that way ( Act 19:7-9 ).

It’s interesting that again here is the reference to the Christians as “that way.” It shows that it was more than just a philosophy. It was their life. It manifested itself in their entire lifestyle, as Christianity should; it should affect your entire lifestyle.

he departed from them, and separated the disciples, and he began to dispute daily in the school of one Tyrannus ( Act 19:9 ).

Now Tyrannus was a philosopher. He had a school of philosophy there. And Paul went daily and taught there in the school of Tyrannus. In Ephesus, as was the custom in those parts of the world, your business was on a split shift. You would work until eleven o’clock in the morning, and then you would close shop until five in the afternoon, at which time you would open up again. And during the part of the afternoon where it was so hot, people usually slept. They used to say that there were more people asleep at one o’clock in the afternoon than there was at one o’clock in the morning. It being so hot during the day, you just would find some shady place and try to sleep during the hot hours instead of working. And so you would work up until eleven o’clock and then you wouldn’t work again until five o’clock, and there was quite a nightlife among these people.

Now Tyrannus would then probably be teaching the school until eleven o’clock and then after five. So Paul took the hours in between, when it was too hot for people to be working. And he would work making tents until eleven o’clock in the morning, and then take off his sweat band, and someone would grab it and take it and put it on a sick person, and then he would go to the school of Tyrannus and teach, and then at five o’clock go back and work again as a tentmaker. Paul did work there in Ephesus as a tentmaker to provide his own needs and those that were with him as that will be demonstrated next week in our study as you continue into the twentieth chapter of Acts.

And this continued by the period of two years; so that they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks ( Act 19:10 ).

So as he was there in Ephesus for two years, the effect of it was that the Gospel began to spread throughout this whole area. So when Jesus addressed himself to the seven churches, these seven churches were churches that are surrounding the church of Ephesus, no doubt, that were established as satellites as the result of Paul’s ministry there in Ephesus; as any true work of God seems to have as its natural product, that offspring, and the springing up of other churches. That just seems to be the natural progression in the work of the Spirit.

And it is glorious to see how that God has worked here in a very fabulous way. Through the teaching of the Word and all, God has blessed us abundantly. But the byproduct is that over two hundred churches across the United States have sprung out of this church. And now many of the churches that have sprung out of this church have become strong and churches are springing out of them. So, we not only have son and daughter type of churches, but we have grandson/granddaughter type of churches; churches that have spun off from churches that have spun off. And as time goes on and the Lord continues to work, we will probably even go into the next generation of spin-offs as the Word of God works mightily in the hearts of the people around the country.

So, here the whole area of Asia began to be evangelized as the result of the ministry of Paul there in Ephesus.

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought to the sick handkerchiefs [or literally, the sweatbands] and the aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them ( Act 19:11-12 ).

Now, I believe that the value of these handkerchiefs was that it gave a point of contact to release faith. I think that it is important that faith be activated. Too many times we have what is classified as passive faith, but I think that is a misnomer. I don’t think you can have passive faith. I think that faith is active, or else it is not faith. But, we don’t always act upon our faith. And I think that it is valuable to have a point of contact where I release faith, and I think that the bringing of a handkerchief from Paul or the sweatband, as the case may be, and laying upon the sick person was a place of releasing faith. “I know that as this handkerchief is laid on me, I am going to be healed. God’s going to touch me.” And it gives us just a point of contact to release faith.

There used to be a man in Los Angeles; His name was Chelsel Glover (Kel-sell Glove-r), who for years was on the radio, a deeply spiritual man that I admired. And he had the practice of sending out handkerchiefs. Now there are some that are doing that that I don’t admire. It’s sheer gimmickry. And they are only doing it to get you on the mailing list to get you as one of their regular contributors. And I think that that borders blasphemy and I cannot be in sympathy with it. I abhor it. But Chelsel Glover was a beautiful, godly man, a man of prayer. And when I was a student in college, I became acquainted with him. And many times I would pray with him as he would take a stack of little cloths and lay his hands on them and pray over them that God would use these as instruments of stirring a person’s faith to receive the work of God. And then people would write from all over requesting these handkerchiefs and he would mail them out. And he received a lot of interesting letters of how God had worked a healing in the life of people who had received these handkerchiefs.

I remember especially one letter that he received from a lady who had requested a handkerchief. And he sent it out to her and got another letter back. And in her second letter she said, “Would you please send me another handkerchief? The one that you sent me, I had on my table, and my son, who is an unbeliever, came by with is family to go to the theater, and he saw it, and he said, ‘What’s this Mom?’ And she said, ‘Oh that’s an anointed cloth that an evangelist sent me.’ And he said, ‘Well, I think I’ll take it with me.’ And he stuck it in his coat pocket and went to the theater with his family. And during the movie, he said to his wife, ‘I smell smoke.’ And she said, ‘You’re crazy. You don’t have any sense of smell.’ And it was true, he did not have any olfactory senses. And he said, ‘I tell you, I smell smoke.’ And she said, ‘I tell you, you’re crazy. You cannot smell.’ And so he went to the stage of the theater and he said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we’re having a slight problem, and we want you all to evacuate the theater immediately.’ And he stood there and ordered the evacuation of the theater while his wife thought he had gone completely insane. Once the theater was safely evacuated, a fire broke out and consumed the theater. She said, ‘He won’t give me my cloth back. Would you please send me another one?'”

Now I read the letter. You that have difficulty believing that, only have difficulty because of your limited concept of God’s power, for Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And Jesus said, “Only believe; all things are possible.” And so, special miracles were wrought by Paul. And a part of this was taking these cloths, his aprons. Wouldn’t that be sort of a difficult thing, every time you take your apron off to go preach, someone rips off your apron?

But yet, they would take them unto the sick, lay them on them, and God would work. Now you remember in the Old Testament, the case of Elisha the prophet when they buried him. And sometime later there was a war going on, and this guy was killed and they tossed him into the pit where they had buried Elisha, and when the guy landed, you know, the power of the bones or whatever, I don’t know, the guy was revived and came back to life. Now, of course, a person might say, “Well, you know, when he landed at the bottom, that jarred his lungs and he started breathing again.” The scripture would seem to indicate that there was just latent power even in the bones of Elisha.

Now I am certain that there are many things about the power of God that we have so little understanding. God help us that we would not limit Him more by our unbelief, but we would just say, “Well listen, God can do anything.” And just begin to expect God to do anything. And you know, if you’ll just start expecting God to do anything, you will find He will begin to do something. He will begin to do an awful lot in your life if you just begin to expect Him. Release your faith; turn it loose. Take the bridle off from God and let Him begin to work freely. Don’t be afraid of what God might desire to do in your life. Give Him that freedom.

So, from Paul’s body, they brought the handkerchiefs and aprons to the sick; diseases departed, evil spirits went out.

Then there were certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists ( Act 19:13 ),

Now, Ephesus was a place of great superstition. There were all kinds of magical little emulates that you could purchase there in Ephesus; good luck charms. And the people believed a lot in these things. And there were certain Jews who said that certain writings of the scripture had magical value to help you or to protect you in certain things. So they were wrapping up these little portions of the scriptures and selling them to people. If you wanted to be wealthy then you could buy this little magical portion of scripture, and carry it on you, and wealth would start to come to you. Or if you wanted, you know, different things, they had little scriptures for all kinds of things. They had their little shops and you could buy these little magical charms, which in that case, with these exorcists Jews, were portions of scripture that were supposed to do all kinds of magical things.

and some of them took upon themselves to call upon the evil spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth ( Act 19:13 ).

Because they had heard, no doubt, Paul in the name of Jesus commanding evil spirits to leave.

And there were seven sons of one man whose name was Sceva, he was a Jew, and he was a chief of these priests, which did these things. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? And the man in who the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded ( Act 19:14-16 ).

Quite often persons who are possessed by demonic forces have supernatural strength and power. In this one case, this man possessed by the evil spirit, possessing that supernatural power, was able to overcome these seven brothers, and give them a pretty bad time; ripping off their clothes, beating them up, and sending them fleeing.

And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks who dwelt in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified ( Act 19:17 ).

And so, God used even this experience of these fellows who were rather fraudulent. But God even used that to spread the Word.

And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used [magical books,] books of the curious arts, [their books of magic] they brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed ( Act 19:18-20 ).

So Paul had a very effective and powerful ministry there in Ephesus.

After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome ( Act 19:21 ).

Paul had itchy feet. He couldn’t stay too long in one place when the whole world was needing the Gospel. Now his purpose of leaving Ephesus to go over to Macedonia, or back to Greece, to the churches, was to collect an offering because the church in Jerusalem was going through some real financial problems. The early attempt at communism was a total failure, and it left the church in a bankrupt state.

Now though the church in Jerusalem, it would seem, treated Paul in a very shabby way, it was his desire to take to them financial help. And so he called upon the churches to help those in Jerusalem. It is interesting Paul never asked for an offering for himself. Nor did he ever ask for an offering to support his ministry. But he did ask them for an offering to support the poor Jews in Jerusalem. But he didn’t ever ask for himself. So his desire was to go to those churches to collect from them an offering to take to the brethren in Jerusalem. And after he had taken it to Jerusalem, then his intention, “I’ve got to see Rome, too. That’s where it’s at, you know.”

So he sent to Macedonia two of those that had been ministering to him, Timothy and Erastus; but he stayed in Asia for a season ( Act 19:22 ).

So he sent messages to the churches and in the Corinthian letter he said, “Now when you gather together each one bring an offering. As God has laid upon your heart, so give, and God loves the hilarious giver” ( 2Co 9:7 ). He was talking to them about giving this offering that he would collect when he would go on back to Jerusalem.

And the same time there arose no small stir about that way ( Act 19:23 ).

Again, a reference to the way. There was no small stir. People began to get stirred up.

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana ( Act 19:24 ),

Which is the Latin name for Artemus, the Greek goddess, who was that little goddess, a multi-breasted goddess. You’ve probably seen pictures of her-Artemus, the goddess of fertility, worshipped by the Greeks. And the idea of the multitude of breasts was the ability to nurse many many children at once, I guess, the goddess of fertility.

And this fellow Demetrius was a silversmith, and he had been making all of these little multi-breasted images of Diana.

And so he gathered together those men who were of the same craft and occupation and he said, Sirs, you know that we have been made wealthy by this craft. Moreover, you see and hear, that not here in Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away much people, saying that there are no gods, which are made with hands ( Act 19:25-26 ):

Now what a testimony of the effectiveness of Paul’s ministry. “Not only here, but in all of Asia, this fellow has turned away many people saying that you can’t make a god with your hands. And hey, this is the way we make our living. And we’ve been wealthy by this, but we’re about to go broke if this guy prevails.”

And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia ( Act 19:28-29 ),

So this, no doubt, is the Gaius that had been Paul’s host in Corinth when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans.

They caught this fellow Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, who were Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not ( Act 19:29-30 ).

That Paul, he had guts. I mean, here’s a big crowd of people in a riotous state and all upset over Paul, and he is ready to go in and talk to them. Oh, they would have ripped him to shreds. And so, the disciples would not allow him.

And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. Now inside some were crying one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the most part the people did not know why they had come together ( Act 19:31-32 ).

You know, just one of those mob scenes where people are yelling and screaming, and going into the theater and making a lot of noise. So the rest of the people just follow in and they hear all the shouts, but they really don’t even know why they are there, except there’s a big tumult.

And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defense to the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians ( Act 19:33-34 ).

This temple of Diana in Ephesus was a magnificent building, 425 feet long, 125 columns, and was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built because someone found a little black image of a multi-breasted Artemus there on the spot, and so the word went around that Jupiter had sent down this little image of Diana, and thus they built this huge temple there. And for the space of two hours, these people were chanting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”

And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana [hey, he doesn’t know, but we are all worshippers], and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? [This one particular little black multi-breasted goddess that was found.] Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law [court] is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse [gathering together]. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly ( Act 19:35-41 ).

So, cooler heads prevailed, and the town clerk got up and made this appeal to the people. So, this though did perpetrate Paul’s leaving Ephesus. He had been planning to do so. He had already sent Timothy and Erastus ahead to Macedonia with the letters for the people to gather the offerings for him when he came. He didn’t want any collections made while he was there. “Get it all collected before I come.” And on his way to Jerusalem, he was going to make the swing through Greece. And so, as we get into chapter twenty, we will get Paul’s quick swing through Greece and then his return near to Ephesus, coming to Miletus calling for the elders and this beautiful, impassioned, emotional speech of Paul to the elders of Ephesus in our study next week. Great study next week. Be sure you read chapters 20-21 as we continue through the Word of God.

Now may the Word of God dwell richly in your hearts through faith. That you may be able to comprehend with all of the saints what is the length, the breadth, the depth, the height of God’s love for you. That you might continue in the love of God abounding in every good work, filled with the Spirit, growing into full maturity in Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you. May the hand of the Lord be upon your life mightily this week, and may you be filled with the Holy Spirit and with power as you go forth to bear witness of Jesus our Lord to a dying world. God be with you and God bless and keep you in the love of Jesus our Savior. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Act 19:1. , the upper) ch. Act 18:23.-, disciples) Christians whom he had not seen at the time spoken of, ch. Act 18:19. Perhaps in the intervening time they had come to Ephesus. There is always a new crop springing up.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Act 19:1-12

PAUL AT EPHESUS

Act 19:1-12

1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth,-Luke, the writer of Acts, left the narrative of Pauls journey and recorded the incidents about Apollos. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul came to Ephesus; so Paul did not get to see Apollos while he was at Ephesus. Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. The upper, as used here, means that part of the country to which men go up away from the sea; it is applied here to the more eastern parts of Asia Minor. Pauls journey was very likely through the districts of Lycaonia, Galatia, and Phrygia; he had visited these on his second missionary tour. He came to Ephesus, according to the conditional promise which he had made when he left Ephesus. ( Act 18:21.) When he arrived he found certain disciples there. These men are called disciples because they were, like Apollos, to a certain extent instructed concerning Jesus, and what they already knew drew them to listen to Paul who came to teach the disciples and preach the gospel.

2 and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit-In talking with them Paul learned that they were very deficient in their knowledge of the gospel. He asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. Their reply showed how little they knew about the gospel. They answered: Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given. These disciples believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but they had not heard anything further than what John had preached. They had never heard of the gift at Pentecost; they had heard of the Holy Spirit, for John spoke of him. (Mat 3:11; Joh 1:33.) So they had heard of the existence of the Holy Spirit, but not that he had come on Pentecost. It is difficult to understand why they knew so little about the Holy Spirit.

3 And he said, Into what then were ye baptized?-Paul suspects that they had not been baptized intelligently; hence, he asks: Into what then were ye baptized ? He recognizes that they were baptized into something; he implies that scriptural baptism is into something; hence, his question. They very promptly answered: Into Johns baptism. This is the last mention in the New Testament of John the Baptist. These disciples had been baptized into Johns baptism, but they had not grasped the meaning of it. Evidently they had been baptized by some of Johns disciples after Johns baptism had ceased; hence, their baptism was not valid. Johns baptism was out of date; it was only in force during Johns ministry, and was not to be continued.

4 And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance,-Here we have a fuller comment on the meaning of Johns baptism. Johns baptism is frequently described as a baptism of repentance. John came to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luk 1:17.) Those who submitted to Johns baptism pledged that they would receive the Christ when he came; John did not want to make disciples merely for himself; he wanted them to believe on the one that cometh after me. (Mat 3:11; Mar 1:7; Luk 3:16; Joh 1:15.) Evidently these disciples had been baptized, but had not accepted Christ. It seems clear that they had not accepted Christ because they did not know of him.

5 And when they heard this,-So soon as they learned from Paul of the Christ they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. We have no evidence that the apostles were rebaptized, neither others who were baptized by John; their baptism was accepted; but these were commanded to be baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Their baptism was not accepted. Luke does not give a formula here for baptizing, but simply explains that these men were baptized in obedience to their faith in Christ. These disciples had never received such a baptism as Christ ordained ; hence, they had to be baptized in order to enter Christ.

6-7 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them,-This was not a baptism of the Holy Spirit; no human agency or administrator had any part in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Hands were laid on the Samaritans by Peter and John (Act 8:16), and in Damascus in the case of Paul (Act 9:17). Here a supernatural or miraculous gift was bestowed upon these as they spake with tongues, and prophesied. The speaking with tongues and prophesying was external and positive proof that the Holy Spirit had come on these twelve who were now fully obedient to the gospel and were ready for faithful service in his name. There were about twelve men in this number. There is much discussion as to why the inspired historian should use the word about. There is no use to speculate as to why this term is used.

8 And he entered into the synagogue,-Since the incident of Johns disciples is mentioned before anything else, it seems probable that Paul had found them among the few Christian brethren in Ephesus, and began teaching them before he visited the synagogue. The Jews met in their synagogue for worship on the Sabbath, and Paul went there and spake boldly for the space of three months. It seems that Christians held their religious services in the synagogue; he gave his Jewish brethren full opportunity to hear the gospel in its fullness. He may have just entered the synagogue on their Sabbath, but it seems that he not only entered on the Sabbath during this three months sojourn, but on other occasions he taught the people who assembled there. Again we have Pauls reasoning and persuading; he convinced them by his reasoning and the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, and he persuaded them to accept him as their Savior. He taught them the things concerning the kingdom of God. Pauls idea of the kingdom of God was that it was the church of God which had been purchased with the blood of Christ. (Act 20:28.) Paul understood and taught that the kingdom had been established.

9 But when some were hardened and disobedient,-Paul was permitted to speak longer in the synagogue here without interruption than any other place, unless it be Corinth. Paul had the same experience here that he had at other places; some believed and some disbelieved. Those who disbelieved hardened their heart and began to speak evil of the Way before the multitude. Paul was not a coward; he did not leave the synagogue simply because some opposed him. Evidently he saw the Jewish obstinacy and turned away from them. He left the synagogue and took the disciples and reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus. The disbelieving Jews showed their hardness of heart by reviling Christ, his teaching, his disciples, and Christianity, the Way. (Acts 9 Acts 2.) Paul separated the disciples, and now the meeting place became the lecture room of Tyrannus. He had done the same thing at Corinth. (Act 18:7.) School is from the Greek schole, and meant, originally, to hold on, leisure, and then in later Greek, a place where there is leisure. This is the only instance of its being used in the New Testament. The name Tyrannus is a common one, and means tyrant. We know nothing about this Tyrannus; we do not know whether he was a heathen or a Jew.

10 And this continued for the space of two years;-Paul had been in Ephesus more than three months when he was forced to go to the lecture room of Tyrannus. He continued to preach the gospel here for the space of two years. He continued edifying the saints and preaching to all who would come. He may have continued longer in Ephesus, and sojourning in the house of Aquila and Priscilla for some months. He remained here long enough for all who dwelt in that province to have opportunity to hear the gospel. Paul seems to have remained in Ephesus, but the gospel spread all over the province. Paul heard of the trouble that existed in the church at Corinth and wrote a letter to the church while at Ephesus; this letter seems to have been lost. (1Co 5:9.) He wrote the first Corinthian letter while at Ephesus.

11-12 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:-Paul was endowed with miraculous gifts; he had the power to work miracles. He confirmed the word that he preached by working miracles. In Ephesus magicians and exorcists had claimed to work miracles; some superstitious people had believed in them. Paul had power to do even greater things than they even claimed. They even took handkerchiefs from Paul to the sick. Paul did not have to visit the sick, but handkerchiefs and aprons were carried from Paul and the diseases were healed and evil spirits cast out of those who possessed them. Handkerchiefs were common in the eastern country to use to wipe perspiration from the face. Aprons were the same as napkins. Paul did manual work at Ephesus (Act 20:34) and so used handkerchiefs and aprons. These special miracles would emphasize the work that Paul was doing; the people could know that he was a teacher from God, because God was with him in these great miracles.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The result of the work of Apollos was manifest when Paul reached Ephesus. There he found a company of sincere disciples to Jesus as He had been revealed by John. To them Paul declared the truth in its fulness, and they entered into the experience of the new birth by receiving the Holy Spirit.

For two years Paul remained in Ephesus as a center, influencing all the district. A survey of the whole account shows how all kinds of facts and forces were pressed into the service of the Word. Opposition, however, was fierce, and resulted in an uproar on account of the falling off in the sale of the shrines for the Ephesian goddess, Diana. This uproar shows how men, alienated from God, make all life center around the material. So long as the preaching of “the Way” disturbed the thought of men, or even changed some of their habits, it mattered little; but when these changed habits touched the wealth of the craftsmen, opposition resulted. Vested interests are always saying to Christianity what the demons of old said to Christ, “Let us alone.” Christianity is always saying in reply what Christ said to the demon, ‘Hold thy peace, and come out of him.”

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

the Holy Spirit Working in Ephesus

Act 19:1-12

Paul had planted good seed at Corinth, and Apollos, in turn, had watered it, 1Co 3:6. Large numbers became his devoted followers. This, however, excited no jealousy in Paul. Apollos and he were only instruments through whom God was pleased to work.

Meanwhile Paul had a ministry to fulfill in Ephesus. The twelve men mentioned had known only so much of the truth as had been revealed to the Baptist. They had felt the need of repentance and had heard of Christ as the Lamb of God; but of His resurrection and ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit they were ignorant. Paul at once fixed on this lack as the source of their impotence. He seemed to say, If you men had received the baptism of the Spirit, you would move this city.

It was wise on Pauls part to remove the disciples and his work to their own premises, which soon became famous throughout the city and indeed throughout the adjacent country. People who had come in to worship at the shrine of Diana gave themselves to Christ, and the Christian faith became disseminated through the province, Ephesus itself being mightily moved.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

In this chapter of Acts some most interesting things are brought out in connection with the marvelous ministry of the apostle Paul. The theme of Acts 19 is found in the last part of verse 17: The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. So we will trace the record through and notice what it is that magnifies His name. What are the events as here recorded that glorified that name so long ago? What similar things would glorify and magnify His name today?

The New Baptism (Act 19:1-7)

As Paul continued his third missionary journey he came again to Ephesus where Apollos had received the message of the new creation through the Holy Spirit. We note from the first verse of Acts 19 that Apollos had moved on to Corinth. We read that when Paul arrived in Ephesus he found certain disciples. Who were these disciples? They were Jewish converts who had been instructed by Apollos. He had been preaching in the synagogue regarding the baptism of John, and teaching them all that he knew. Now he had gone on, and as Paul arrived, Priscilla and Aquila no doubt asked him to come and preach to these people in the synagogue. And Paul, always ready to communicate to others what God had made so precious to his own soul, went with them and found these disciples.

Paul wanted to help them, so he asked: Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? Actually what he asked was this: Did you, upon your believing, receive the Holy Spirit? In other words, When you listened to Apollos and heard his messages about the coming Christ and you believed it, did you receive the Holy Spirit?

This was not a question asked of Christians. It was a question put to disciples of John the Baptist-those in, what we might call, the halfway house between Judaism and Christianity. Their answer was, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Of course, as Jews they had heard of the Holy Spirit. But what is actually meant here is: We have not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost is come. You see John had said: I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Luk 3:16). Apollos had told them about that, but they had not heard of the arrival of the Holy Ghost and His work in the believers life.

Paul inquired, Unto what then were ye baptized? Notice the implications of this question. Why did he ask them that question? What did this question have to do with whether or not the Holy Spirit had come? Our Lord Jesus, before He went away, gave His last commission to the apostles: Go ye therefore and [disciple] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. They were to go out and carry His message everywhere in the world, and baptize the converts in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. That is Christian baptism.

If these Ephesians had received Christian baptism, they should have known the Holy Spirit had come. So Paul asked in effect, Into whose name were you baptized? They answered, Unto Johns baptism. That was a different baptism. It was a baptism of repentance, a preparatory baptism, looking forward to the coming of the King. Christian baptism looks back to His death, looks up to His throne at the Fathers right hand, and on to the end of the dispensation when He will come again. The age has not ended yet. Therefore, we are responsible still to baptize believers in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. So when Paul heard their answer, he explained, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

And so Paul, we have no doubt (everything is not recorded here in a few verses), preached the gospel to them. He told them the wonderful story of how Jesus came and died at Calvary, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. He told how His precious body was laid away in the tomb then arose in triumph, and before He went home He commissioned His apostles to go into all the world preaching the gospel and baptizing men in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He taught them how some day He is coming back again to set up His glorious kingdom. And we read, When they heard this-that is, the unfolding of the truth concerning our Lord Jesus Christ-they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Someone may say, Why, you see, they were not baptized in the name of the trinity. They were baptized only in the name of the Lord Jesus. People who reason this way fail to take into account what is involved in that expression. In the name speaks of authority. Why do I preach? It is because I have been commissioned by the Lord Jesus to carry His gospel into all the world, and I preach in the name of the Lord Jesus-by His authority. So these men were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, that is by His authority, which implies baptism unto the name of the holy trinity. Whether Paul baptized them himself we know not-but he saw that they were baptized when they confessed Christ as their Savior. And now, having been baptized with Christian baptism, Paul laid his hands on them and as at Pentecost, as in Samaria, as in Corneliuss house, immediately the Holy Spirit came on them and there were the same wonderful signs as at Pentecost: They spake with tongues, and prophesied.

You see, this little group was living in a transition stage. They were neither Jews as such, still on legal ground, nor were they on full New Testament ground. They were Jews who were looking forward to the coming of Messiah, and had been baptized with the baptism of John. In order that there might be definite evidence that they were brought into the body of Christ, the Spirit fell upon them, thus baptizing them into the body of believers and giving them special gifts as He had given to the Jews at Pentecost. There were not many of them. All the men were about twelve.

This was the last group brought in to complete the various companies to whom the gospel message was to go. First, Peter began at Pentecost and preached mainly to the Jews with some Gentiles present. Then later on Philip went down to Samaria and carried the gospel message to that group who were of a mixed religion of Judaism and paganism, and they were brought to faith in Christ. Next Peter went to the Gentiles, preaching the gospel to Corneliuss household, and as he preached they believed, and the Holy Spirit fell on them and brought them into the body of Christ. Finally, the Spirit of God led Paul to this little company who had accepted Johns baptism but had not yet heard the further message. They believed and were baptized by the authority of the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit fell on them. There are no other groups to be found in the book of Acts. Everywhere else that the message is carried it will go to Jews, Samaritans, Johns disciples, or Gentiles.

And so God has given us a sampling of some people taken out of each of these groups and brought into the body of Christ. The coming of the Holy Spirit is the great, outstanding witness that God is satisfied with the finished work of His beloved Son, and His Spirit now dwells in every believer and baptizes every believer into the body of Christ.

Today there are but three classes of people in the world-Jews, Gentiles, and the church of God. And when Jews and Gentiles accept the gospel message, they are no longer seen by God as such but are new members of the new creation, the church, of which Christ is the exalted Head.

The Power of the Name (Act 19:8-20)

Paul continued at Ephesus for a long time. While the synagogue was open to him, he availed himself of the opportunity given to go there and preach the message of the new covenant.

And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. Some well-meaning but uninstructed people interpret this to mean that during the ministry and journeys of the apostle Paul, he preached the gospel of the kingdom, and that after he got to Rome he received a fuller revelation of the unity of Jews and Gentiles in one body, and therefore no longer preached the gospel of the kingdom.

That, of course, is an utter mistake for when we turn to the very last verse of the book of Acts, we read that during Pauls imprisonment, after he had supposedly received this special revelation, he was still preaching the kingdom message:

And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him (Act 28:30-31).

Up to the very last, Paul preached the kingdom of God, and with that he proclaimed the truth of the church, the one body. The believer in the Lord Jesus is both a member of Christs body and a subject of the kingdom of God. He would be a poor Christian indeed who did not recognize the divine authority over his life. Being a Christian is more than receiving a creed, more than subscribing to a system of doctrine, more than agreeing to certain church rules and regulations. Being a Christian implies submission in all things to God our Father, who is Sovereign of the universe.

Paul continued preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God. But opposition broke out. The name of the Lord Jesus always provokes the opposition of wicked, ungodly men who are determined not to submit to the will of God. In the synagogue he saw that he was only going to produce strife and division because of the opposition of those who hated the name of Christ Jesus. Paul therefore concluded that it would be useless to continue under such conditions, and he said to the Christians-those who had already received the testimony-We will have to separate ourselves from all this.

So they evidently rented a public schoolroom. How often the schoolroom has been used for the proclamation of the gospel! How often our home missionaries found no other place but the schoolroom open to them, as they went about from place to place in the rural areas. Well, they had a good precedent to follow in Pauls experience in Ephesus.

In the school of Tyrannus he continued to preach for two more years, so that we are told, All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

In this we see how wonderfully God carries out His own plans. You remember on the second missionary journey when Paul wanted to go into the province of Asia, the Spirit suffered him not. But now, on this third journey, the door had not only been opened to Asia, but God had so arranged that Paul would stay here long enough for the whole district to be permeated with the message. When we read that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, it does not necessarily mean that all of them came to hear the apostle Paul, but it does mean that many of those who did hear the apostle preach believed the message and in turn carried it to those around them.

We have seen something like that in our own country when there has been a great spiritual awakening. I can remember, for instance, when Dwight L. Moody was in the city of Toronto, Canada, when I was only a little lad. The whole country talked about it, all the newspapers carried reports of his sermons, and everywhere one went throughout the province he would hear of the messages that Moody had brought to the city of Toronto. Even today I can remember the hymns they used to sing as they went to and from the great gatherings. I can remember how people were stirred. All in the province of Ontario heard the Word. So it was with Paul The converts carried Pauls message throughout the district called Asia and many heard about the wonderful name of Jesus, the sinners Savior.

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. We are not told exactly that God commanded this, but it is very evident that the people in their enthusiasm, in their recognition of the fact that God was working in a mighty way through Paul, came to him and said, Let us just press this handkerchief against your body in order that it may carry healing to our sick friends. I have known people who have tried to do that today, but they are very poor imitations. Here in this special way God authenticated the message of His servant. Sometimes it is said that it is only when the Word was being ministered to the Jews did we have any miracles, but here the apostle Paul is ministering in the great Gentile center where there were comparatively few Jews.

Next we find in verses 13-16 an effort to imitate the work of the Lord. If Satan cannot hinder that work by direct opposition, he will try to spoil it by patronage or imitation. You remember how in Philippi he used this method with a poor, demon-possessed woman (Act 16:16-18).

Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. These vagabond Jews were untrue to their own religion, for Gods holy law sternly forbade communication with evil spirits of any kind. God condemns spiritism in no uncertain terms in the writings of Moses and of the prophet Isaiah. But these renegade Jews had given themselves over to this evil practice. They professed to cast out evil spirits by some system of incantation, and they even attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus as a kind of charm in order to exorcise these demons.

Well, they tried it once too often. There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said [that is, a voice came from within the man who was raving in the characteristic manner of one who was demon controlled], Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? And energized by Satanic power the possessed man leaped on them and would have torn them to pieces if they had not run out of the house in dismay. It was the false confronted with the true. They had dared to use the true, the holy name of Jesus in this wicked way to authenticate their own pretensions to power, and God would not permit it.

This incident became known throughout the whole country, and people began to realize that there was power in the name of Jesus. Oh, that lovely name! What does it mean? Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Jehovah, the Savior is the meaning of the name Jesus. And oh, how precious that name is to every believer! And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Even unsaved people recognized the fact that there was something marvelous, something stupendous about the name of Jesus, something well worth their attention in the gospel message, which is the story of the Lord Jesus. The result of this preaching of the Word and the miracles accompanying it was that many believed.

Their belief was not simply an intellectual acceptance of certain truths, but they truly and definitely opened their hearts to Christ. They trusted Him as their own personal Savior, and they stepped out boldly before the world, and, as we read, confessed. What did they confess? Well, of course, they confessed the name of the Lord Jesus for one thing; but they also confessed their sins, and openly repudiated them. It is written: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Rom 10:9). The Lord Himself has said: Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven (Mat 10:32). They confessed that wonderful name, but that was not all. There was another confession they made. And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds.

These people had been linked with the evil one. Their lives had been marked by sins of the vilest character. Many of them were what were called magicians and witches. They probably had been actually indwelt and controlled by evil spirits who performed lying wonders in order to deceive the people. Such charlatans as these were found all over the ancient world of that time. We have many among us even today.

A certain spiritist medium named Helen Templeton once sent me a long communication that she declared D. L. Moody had given through her. While in a cataleptic condition she wrote what was supposedly a direct message from some disembodied spirit. The letter she sent me was of five or six pages, professedly from D. L. Moody. He had come to her and wanted to give a message to the pastor of his old church. I was interested in reading this message that went something like this: He said he was so sorry that when he was here on earth he did not understand. He had preached as well as he knew, but he did not know the glorious truth of spiritism. Now that he was dead, he had discovered he was all wrong. Now he knew the blessedness of spiritism, but he was far behind others, and it would take him centuries to make up what he missed by wrong instruction on earth. In the letter he said this: You know, the whole trouble was my father. He followed in the old paths, and he brought me up in the old ideas. Of course, when I became of age I was responsible and I should have refused, and accepted the truths of spiritism, but not knowing any better I followed his teaching.

I wrote to her and replied, Evidently the spirit that controlled you was not very well up on his history. He did not know that D. L. Moody had no father after he grew up. His father died when Moody was a little baby; and certainly his mother never taught him the old truths, because she was a Unitarian, and was converted through Moody himself years afterward. Evidently some impersonating demon put one over on Helen!

But, oh, how people can be deceived by these things; how they will follow all these wretched efforts to talk with the dead, and work signs and wonders! In all our cities we have clairvoyants, astrologers, dream interpreters, spiritist mediums, and such as those.

Well, many of these Ephesians had been involved with this kind of wickedness. But see what happened. They that believed, confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts [that is, magicians arts] brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. Here was real repentance! Those books cost alot of money. They brought all their books containing magical charms and had a great public bonfire. My, if you could get all the astrological texts and magicians books today, what a bonfire you would have! How readily people are taken up with every kind of superstition. People can believe the most outlandish fables yet tell you they cannot believe the glorious truths of the gospel.

But the gospel did its work there in Ephesus. The light of the truth delivered them from the darkness of error. They were set free. And they said, We do not want our books any more. Someone might suggest that they should have taken them down to the secondhand bookstore and realized a little profit on them, but they would have replied: If they are not good for us, they are not good for anybody else. We are not going to pass poison on to the other people. We are not going to make money on them. These people were so earnest, that they wanted to be right with God at whatever cost. So we read, Mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

Today we would like to see revival; we would like to see marked blessing; we would like to see a great awakening. It will only come when the people of God put eternal things above all else. How many of Gods beloved saints are trifling with things that hinder their spiritual lives! How many tampering with unholy things! How many giving their time to reading and pondering over books of a wicked character! (The presses of our day are literally teeming with the filthiest literature that one could possibly see.) What a cleaning out there would be in many Christian homes if they brought out these vile books and periodicals and burned them, and said, By the grace of God, from now on we will read only what is pure and upbuilding. Give Gods own Word the first place in your life and then surround it with the books that help you to enjoy that Word more, books that tend to give you a deeper understanding of the ways of God with men, and you will find real edification.

May I ask you who profess to have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, What have you ever given up for Him? Have you given up anything for Him? Face that challenge honestly in the light of Gods Word, and remember that He who has redeemed you now claims you as His own. We read:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable [intelligent] service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Rom 12:1-2).

When Gods people put Christ first, when they make everything else subject to Him in their lives, then there will be revival; then there will be blessing; then our prayer meetings will be thronged, and our gatherings for the ministry of the Word will become centers of warm Christian testimony. God give us to be as real today as those Ephesian believers were so long ago!

Christ Challenging Idolatry (Act 19:21-41)

This somewhat lengthy section of the book of Acts is a narrative that requires little explanation. It describes a very striking instance of the beginning of a great conflict between Christ and idolatry. Some perhaps do not realize that at the beginning of the first century a.d. the great bulk of the world lay in the darkness of paganism. Except for the Jewish nation itself and an occasional few among the more philosophically minded Greeks, idols were worshiped everywhere. Throughout the entire Roman empire the people generally were devotees of false gods. The beginning of the end of pagan worship came with the preaching of the eleven apostles on the day of Pentecost. And in the three hundred years that followed that event idolatry had been practically banished from the civilized parts of the world. It is not entirely banished from the world today, but wherever the gospel of grace goes and men open their hearts to receive it, idolatry is destroyed. But this has always been through conflict, and so one of the first of these conflicts is pictured for us in Acts 19.

Paul had made up his mind, after visiting Macedonia and Achaia, that he would return to Jerusalem, and thus complete his third missionary journey. Then he said in his heart, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. He had little idea how he would get there. You remember, in writing to the Romans he said he often prayed, making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you (1:10). God answered that prayer, but not in the way that Paul expected. He went to Rome as a prisoner, and was shipwrecked on the way. I think Paul could have said:

I asked the Lord that I might grow

In faith and love and every grace,

Might more of His salvation know,

And seek more earnestly His face.

Twas He who taught me thus to pray,

And He I trust has answered prayer;

But it has been in such a way

As almost drove me to despair.

What God considers prosperity may often seem to our shortsightedness to be adversity.

Paul then sent into Macedonia Timothy and Erastus, two of his fellow workers, but he continued for a little longer, laboring in the city of Ephesus in Asia where he had already been preaching for about two years. And now, because of the great inroads that Christianity had made in the conflict with idolatry, a riot broke out.

Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines for Diana-a lucrative business to the craftsmen-called together his fellows. Appealing to their cupidity, he said to them as it were, Now brethren, you know that it is through making these idols that we get our living, and this man Paul has come among us and is persuading people that there are no gods which are made with hands, and the result is depression in the idol business. Our business is falling off. People are not buying silver shrines as they did in the past; and unless something is done to stop this new propaganda, our craft will lose its place among the people. He saw the danger and so mentioned it, simply from the standpoint of a worldly minded, selfish man.

It was said that the image of Diana that was enshrined in the temple, and accounted one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, had fallen down from heaven-a gift from Jupiter, the supreme God, Actually what was enshrined in that temple was a great meteorite, which was shaped, very roughly, after the figure of a woman. The people said, This is an image of the goddess Diana, and she sent it down from heaven that it might be worshiped, and that our city may become the center of her cult. On the site of a marsh outside the city they built a gorgeous temple in which was enshrined this black meteorite, and the people thronged there by the thousands to worship Diana. And those who desired to carry back to their homes replicas of the image purchased the silver shrines that they might worship them in their own cities.

So by appealing in this way to the greed of these shrine manufacturers, Demetrius stirred them up to indignation. We read: And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Very often, the less that certain people know about something, the more they shout about it and try to convince themselves as to its truth by the noise they make. It was so on this occasion.

And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Pauls companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. There was a great theater in Ephesus, the ruins of which are still to be seen.

Finally the mob lit upon a prominent Jew, a man by the name of Alexander, and they drew him, out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. Evidently he was to show that as a Jew he had no part in this Christian worship, though both Jew and Christian worshiped the one true and living God, and both of their systems therefore were opposed to idolatry. But no one would listen to him.

If Diana had never been great before, all that shouting ought to have made her great, but it didnt! She was soon utterly defeated and fell before the advance of the cross of Christ.

The town clerk was a stickler for law and order, and he realized that a mob was simply an unruly group liable to go to any excess, and so he sought to quiet them. Notice how sure he was of the greatness of Diana. Yet today there is no man living on the face of the earth who worships the goddess Diana!

Finally the town clerk was able to dismiss the mob. In closing we notice that the word translated assembly in the final verse of Acts 19 is the Greek word ecclesia. This word is used throughout the New Testament to indicate the people of the new creation, the church of the living God. The ecciesia is really a called-out company, and it might be used of a crowd like this as well as an orderly Christian group.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Act 19:2

I. Why should not each of us put this question to his own heart as a personal inquiry, as a question that ought to be answered as before God, without equivocation, without self-deception, and without any attempt to deal triflingly with the piercing and all-important interrogative? If we treat the question in this way, it will become to us a judgment-seat; and why should we not ever and anon arrest ourselves in the hurry and rush and delirium of life, to ask a question or two that shall pierce the heart and bring us to a right knowledge and a proper estimation of ourselves? The Divine mediation is a progress. From the beginning to the end, from the outline, the shadow, the type, to this great spiritual personality, this sovereignty of the Holy Ghost, there has been progress, advancement, culmination; and in all these I see a grandeur most impressive and instructive. Now, are we in the line of that progress, are we as far on as our opportunities have enabled us to be? or are some of us still lingering far behind? Have some of us turned back to the beggarly elements? Is it not matter of debate with the heart whether it has passed through the process called regeneration-whether it has passed from death unto life?

II. What is the one decisive sign by which we may know whether we have received the Holy Ghost? Is it to be a mere sentiment, an impression upon the mind, a religious hope? or is it to be something more decisive, emphatic, and incontrovertible? What is the one decisive sign that a man has received the Holy Ghost? Let me approach that question through two others. Have you received the poetic spirit? How do you prove it? Not by prose, but by poetry. Have you received the heroic spirit? How do you prove it? Not by cowardice, not by craven-heartedness, but by adventure and by freely encountering peril in all its thousand forms and possibilities of visitation. Have you received the Holy Spirit? The decisive sign is love of holiness, not power of theological debate; not only contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, not only outwardly irreproachable character, but love of holiness; not reputation, but reality; a heart that pants after the holiness of God; life concentrated into one burning prayer to be sanctified, body, soul, and spirit; life a sacrifice on God’s altar,-that is what I mean by saying that holiness is the one decisive test of our having received the Holy Ghost. Alas! are not some professing Christians afraid to say the word “holy”? I find this in the course of my study of human nature and my intercourse with men, that I should be almost startled if I heard some men say the word “holy.” They hope; they assent; they would fain believe; they are not without some idea that so-and-so may be the case; but a rich, ripe, unctuous, emphatic expression of Christian experience would be from their lips almost an anticlimax, if not a profanity. We are not called upon to do with as little Christianity as possible; it is not “Just get over the line, and that will do”; it is this: “Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect; be ye holy, as God is holy.” This is the vocation to which we are called, and if, when men ask us if we have received the Holy Ghost, we only answer them by some theological mystery which neither they nor we can understand, then we lie not unto men, but unto the Holy Ghost.

Parker, City Temple, 1870, p. 421.

Act 19:2

I. The Holy Spirit testifies of Christ. To manifest Him, to draw men to Him, to bring them into captivity to His easy yoke and light burden-this is the Spirit’s operation in the human heart. And this it could never be before Jesus was glorified. The testimonies to a Saviour to come were necessarily vague and enigmatical; not the subjects of firm personal reliance nor of blessed assurance, but only just prophetic glimpses into the far distance, enough for those days, to keep the saints waiting on the Lord their God, but not to be compared for an instant with the work of the Spirit now. The whole office and work of the Spirit became new and of a higher order, inasmuch as the truths with which it is now concerned were before unknown.

II. The Spirit has wrought since the day of Pentecost as He never wrought before, in the testimony which He bears in the heart of every individual believer. We do not read of any such direct access to God granted to individual men in ancient times. This is another great characteristic of the dispensation of the Spirit, that all hierarchical distinction between man and man is for ever abolished, all sacrifice superseded, except the abiding efficacy of the one Sacrifice shed abroad in the heart of the spiritual man.

III. Again, the indwelling Spirit of these latter days of the Church is eminently the Spirit of wisdom. The humble child, walking by the light of this Spirit, is wiser than his teachers if they have Him not. The matured believer, rich in experience as in years of the Lord’s service, is enabled to look down on the world and all that is in it, and count it but dross in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord.

IV. Lastly, the Spirit of God now abiding among us is a transforming Spirit; not merely enlightening, nor merely comforting, nor merely conferring the adoption of sons, but changing us into the image of God, begetting in us a thirst to be like Him whose sons we are, to have done with sin, and to cast off corruption and to put on perfect holiness. And the end of this progressive change will be the fulness of assimilation to our glorified Redeemer, in that day of which it is said, “When He shall appear we know that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. i., p. 380.

Consider:-

I. The influence of the Holy Ghost on the department of belief. We are often where these Ephesians were. What came to them and saved them was the Holy Ghost. What must come to us and save us is the same Holy Spirit. There they were holding certain truths about God and Jesus, holding them drearily and coldly, with no life and no spirit in their faith. God the Holy Spirit came into them, and then their old belief opened into a different belief; then they really believed. Can any day in man’s life compare with that day? If it were to break forth into flames of fire and tremble with sudden and mysterious wind, would it seem strange to him-the day when he first knew how near God was, and how true truth was, and how deep Christ was? Have we known that day?

II. The Holy Spirit not only gives clearness to truth, but gives delight and enthusiastic impulse to duty. The work of the Spirit was to make Jesus vividly real to man. What He did then for any poor Ephesian man or woman who was toiling away in obedience to the law of Christianity was to make Christ real to the toiling soul behind and in the law. 1 find a Christian who has really received the Holy Ghost, and what is it that strikes and delights me in him? It is the intense and intimate reality of Christ. Christ is evidently to him the dearest person in the universe. He talks to Christ. He dreads to offend Christ. He delights to please Christ. His whole life is light and elastic, with this buoyant desire of doing everything for Jesus, just as Jesus would wish it done. Duty has been transfigured. The weariness, the drudgery, the whole task-nature, has been taken away. Love has poured like a new life-blood along the dry veins, and the soul that used to toil and groan and struggle goes now singing along its way, “The life that I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Phillips Brooks, The Candle of the Lord, p. 214.

How shall we know whether the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us? The tokens of His indwelling are such as cannot be mistaken.

I. One of them is the growing love of our neighbour which He works in us. I put this test first, because nothing more clearly marks off the growth of Christianity from that of other ideas than this love towards all who contribute to its working out The world has seen many changes brought about by a spirit or an idea. Art, letters, political institutions, have had their time of growth. A general result has been attained at the cost very often of the individuals who bring it about. But of the Church of Christ those inspired words of Paul would serve as the motto, “I seek not yours, but you.” The great eternal house of God, of which Jesus Himself is the headstone of the corner, is built of living stones. The Church is built up by your effort, but your soul is at the same time brought nearer to God. Every soul of man is an end in this work of sanctifying the world, even though it be also a means. Christ is not careless of a single soul. And the absence of love is a proof of the absence of the Spirit who is love.

II. There is another test-the hatred of sin. We can no more have in our hearts fleshly lusts and the presence of the Spirit than we can walk east and west at the same time. They are contrary the one to the other.

III. There is yet a third test-that of love of Christ in God. Let us ask Him to burn up all the wood and stubble wherewith we have been building in ourselves after a fashion of our own, and build up in us a sincere trust in Himself and His Son. For when we can look upon God as our hiding-place from trouble and our shelter from temptation, when we can look up to the cross on which hung the Son of God manifested in the flesh, knowing that from that death came our salvation, then we are sure that the Spirit of God has not deserted us; for there cannot be in us any faith or any love that does not proceed from Him.

Archbishop Thomson, Lincoln’s Inn Sermons, p. 124.

The communication of the Spirit, as imparted by the apostles to the new converts, was generally, if not always, of a miraculous character. It would appear, indeed, from the expression in the Epistle to the Romans and from some others, that the apostles themselves did not quite know, beforehand, the exact nature of the gifts which would be bestowed. But in the instances where the gift is recorded it consisted either of tongues or prophecy or both.

I. It has pleased God that these supernatural gifts should at least for a while cease in His Church. Still, we may lay down, as a general truth, that what God did by gifts, i.e., by supernatural bestowment, in the beginning of the Church, He now effects by grace, i.e., by ordinary communication. God has not withdrawn, God has not diminished His love, or His superintendence, or His largesses to His Church-only He has changed the channels.

II. Confirmation is not the only instrument by which God gives the assuring Spirit, because the Holy Ghost never confines Himself to any ordinances; but whether we look at the intention of the Church, or at the authority or precedent of the apostles, or at the experience of many persons and the witness of facts, I have not a shadow of doubt that confirmation is peculiarly adapted, and blessed of God, to give to the already sincere and believing soul a sealing impression of Divine truth, to assimilate the character and establish the heart.

III. Confirmation is not, properly speaking, a converting ordinance; this must have been done before. It is the establishing of grace. The heart appropriates its baptismal privileges; the soul, receiving and received, feels its calling; the infant baptism has its supplement; early faith is crowned with sensible tokens of acceptance and favour, and the young Christian receives the Holy Ghost after he has believed.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 7th series, p. 53.

References: Act 19:2.-G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p., 311; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 258; Ibid., vol. vii., p. 349; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx., No. 1790; R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 1st series, p. 170; T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 198. Act 19:8, Act 19:9.-R. Davey, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 329. Act 19:13.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 379. Act 19:15.-Three Hundred Outlines on the New Testament, p. 118; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 42. Act 19:18-20.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 192. Act 19:19.-J. M. McCulloch, Sermons, p. 211. Act 19:20.-J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension to Trinity, p. 228. Act 19:21.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 419. Act 19:24-29.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 253. Act 19:27.-J. Baines, Sermons, p. 29; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 230.

Act 19:32

The Voices of Great Crowds.

A crowd is more than a gathering of individual minds, feelings, hopes. It is itself an individual, possessed for the time by a spirit of its own. It may be powerful for good or strong for evil. It is often the representative of one single undivided passion, and as it may be lifted above thoughts of self by enthusiasm for a great cause, so it may be the blind and violent expression of self-interest.

I. As we are constituted we must lead two lives, an individual life and an aggregate. “To his own master each man must stand or fall.” This is the assertion of the necessity of our individual life. “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together”; here of our social life. There is a power, hard to define, but appreciable by all who have tried it, in union of minds and feelings for a common object. On such union depends the outcome of sympathy, of enthusiasm, of those mysterious powers which have such effect on our moral and intellectual nature. Great movements must be urged by the energy, the impulse, which comes of human spirits acting in union.

II. But, as we must act and move in union, we must think and judge as individuals. We must act in crowds; but we must stand think alone. We may not merge our individuality in any crowd, however respectable. We must try, however hard the task, to think alone and withstand the pressure of the crowd, for crowds are of all classes of society, of all professions, of all parties. The crowd at Ephesus repeats itself in many ways. There is always selfishness, prejudice, ignorance, suspicion, fear of doing right lest evil should come of it, in every crowd; because all are men of like affections, organs, passions, and temptations. We are all members of a crowd-a crowd of our own-and are therefore liable to have our perception of truth affected by selfish fears and hopes, not flowing from the pure desire to see “reason and the will of God” prevail. We must labour to separate ourselves from the crowd of those who shout with us, and try our principles by other standards. Like ships about to proceed on a long voyage, we need to withdraw for a time from the attractions of a crowded harbour, and correct our compasses before setting sail.

A. Ainger, Sermons, p. 142.

References: Act 20:7.-G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 254; Act 20:9.-J. Thain Davidson, Forewarned-Forearmed, p. 93. Act 20:19.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii., No. 365. Act 20:21.-J. Natt, Posthumous Sermons, p. 113; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 300. Act 20:22.-J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Christian Year, vol. i., p. 71. Act 20:22-24.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 563.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 19

1. The second visit of Paul to Ephesus. The twelve disciples of John (Act 19:1-7).

2. The Apostles continued labors. The separation of the disciples. The Province Asia evangelized (Act 19:8-10).

3. The Power of God and the Power of Satan (Act 19:11-20).

4. Paul plans to go to Jerusalem and to visit Rome (Act 19:21-22).

5. The opposition and riot at Ephesus (Act 19:23-41).

The disciples whom Paul found at Ephesus were disciples of John. The question the Apostle asked them has often been made the foundation of wrong teaching concerning the Holy Spirit. It is claimed that the Holy Spirit must be received in a special manner after conversion. The little word since in Pauls question must be changed into when, for it is mistranslated. Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?

Paul makes the gift of the Spirit a test of true discipleship. If they were true believers they received the Holy Spirit when they believed, that is when they accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. If they did not receive the Holy Spirit then it is an evidence that they did not believe. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Rom 8:9).

They heard next the full truth of the Gospel and believed, therefore they received the gift of the Spirit. Ephesus was the stronghold of Satan. When the power of God was manifested in the special miracles of Paul and the demons were driven out, then Satan also began to work. A great victory over the power of darkness followed.

Then Paul purposed in the spirit (Act 19:21) to go to Jerusalem. This verse marks an important change, which introduces us to the last stage of the recorded acts of Paul in this historical account. Rome is the goal which looms up before him. I must also see Rome. And he saw Rome, but not in the way as he purposed in his spirit, but as the prisoner of the Lord. His journey begins now towards that great city, and at the close of the book we find him there a prisoner. The story of his journey to Jerusalem, a journey in which he perseveres though repeatedly warned by the Spirit of God, his arrest in Jerusalem, his trials and addresses before the Jews, before Felix, Festus and King Agrippa, his voyage to Rome and shipwreck and arrival in Rome, are the contents of the remaining part of our book.

The question has often been raised how the purposing of Paul in the spirit to go again to Jerusalem is to be understood. Is the word spirit to be written with a capital S or not? In other words, did he purpose in the Spirit of God, after prolonged prayer, to go up to Jerusalem? Did the Holy Spirit guide him to take up to the city of his fathers the contributions from Achaia and Macedonia for the poor saints? (Rom 15:25-26). It could not have been the Spirit of God who prompted him to go once more to Jerusalem, for we find that during the journey the Holy Spirit warned him a number of times not to go to Jerusalem.

He was called to evangelize; to continue to preach the glorious Gospel, and it was a turning aside from the great ministry committed unto him. But behind his burning desire to go up to Jerusalem stood the mighty constraint of love for his own beloved brethren. How he did love them and how his heart, filled with the love of God, yearned over them! This love is so fully expressed in his epistle to the Romans. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed (or separated) from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom 9:1-2). Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved (Rom 10:1). This holy love and courage prompted him to say, when once more his brethren had besought him by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem, What mean ye to weep and break my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus (Act 21:13).

In the close of this chapter we read of the great opposition and riot in Ephesus and the Apostles persecution.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

55. “COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM”

Act 19:1-12

In this chapter we follow Paul back to Ephesus where he had left Aquila and Priscilla (Act 18:19-21). While he was away Apollos had come and spent some time there preaching “the baptism of John” in the synagogue. Aquila and Priscilla befriended him and instructed him more fully in the gospel of the grace of God. Apollos then went to Corinth to preach to the church Paul had established there. When the Apostle Paul came back to Ephesus he found “certain disciples” there who, like Apollos, were disciples of John the Baptist. These disciples of the Baptist had come in among and identified themselves with the brethren who were still worshipping with the Jews in the synagogue. Acts 19 opens with Paul meeting these brethren.

A TIME OF TRANSITION – If we are to interpret any portion of the Book of Acts properly, it must be remembered that the history of the church recorded in Acts was a period of transitional development, much like that which we find in the four gospels. During those early years Christianity was still looked upon as a sect of Judaism. Believers continued to worship with the Jews in their synagogues. Those at Jerusalem continued for sometime to worship in the Jewish temple. Many genuine believers remained ignorant of many important gospel truths, some for years, until God sent them a gospel preacher to instruct them in the faith of Christ. We have already seen two examples of this fact. CORNELIUS (Act 10:1-2) was a true believer. That cannot be disputed. The Word of God describes him as a just and devout man who feared and worshipped God (Act 10:2; Act 10:4; Act 10:22). But he worshipped God only in the light of the Old Testament scriptures until Peter came and told him that the Savior for whom he looked had already come, redeemed his people, and ascended back into heaven. What he believed before was true. He trusted the Son of God as he was revealed in the types, promises, and prophesies of the Old Testament, walking in the light God had given him. APOLLOS had more light than Cornelius (Act 18:24-28); but he too was greatly lacking. He was not misinformed, but uninformed. He knew only the teachings of John the Baptist until Aquila and Priscilla explained the doctrine of Christ to him more fully.

Neither Cornelius nor Apollos were heretics. They did not embrace a false gospel. They believed the truth as fully as they knew it. They trusted Christ according to the light they had. When God gave them more light they gladly received it, submitted to it, and obeyed it. In the opening verses of Acts 19 Paul met another group of twelve men like Apollos. They were true believers who knew only the baptism of John.

“HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST?” (Act 19:1-3). These men were disciples of Christ. They followed the teachings of his servant, John the Baptist. They trusted the Lord Jesus, professed faith in his name, and were baptized in his name, either by John or his disciples. After some discussion with them, Paul asked, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost” (our translation reads) “since ye believed?” That is a very poor translation. The question is more accurately translated, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (N.A.S.V, N.I.V., The Amplified Bible). Their response, “We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost,” really amounts to, “Do you mean the Holy Spirit has come?” Certainly, being John’s disciples, they knew that the Holy Spirit existed and knew the promise of his descent (Mat 3:11; Mar 1:8; Luk 3:16). John’s disciples were well instructed in the Old Testament prophecies relating to the coming of Christ, the outpouring of and baptism in the Spirit by him, and the extraordinary signs that would accompany it (Eze 36:21-28; Joe 2:28-32; Zec 12:10; Joh 7:39). But these men were totally ignorant of the fact that the Holy Spirit had been given. They knew he had been promised, but did not know that he had come. It is a mistake to make more out of the text than this, a mistake that leads to serious error.

“Unto what then were ye baptized?” Paul assumed that since they claimed to be believers they had been baptized (Mar 16:16; Rom 6:3-6). His question to these men was, “If you were not baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in what name were you baptized?” They answered, “Unto John’s baptism.” Believing the message of John concerning the coming of Christ, they were baptized. Two things need to be clearly understood. (1). All who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ have received the Holy Spirit. This is the glaring difference between the true believer and the carnal professor (Joh 3:3-8; Rom 8:9-14; Gal 5:22-23). (2). It is the responsibility of every believer to follow the command and example of Christ in believer’s baptism (Rom 6:3-6). By baptism, being immersed in the watery grave and rising up out of it, we publicly confess our faith in Christ and identify ourselves with him.

JOHN’S BAPTISM (Act 19:4-5) – Many teach that John’s baptism was not christian baptism. Dividing Act 19:4-5, they insist that Paul rebaptized these disciples. But the text teaches exactly the opposite. Read the two verses together. Put them in quotation marks. Both verses are to be understood as Paul’s explanation of John’s baptism. He is stating that John’s baptism is exactly the same as we practice today, the immersion of professed believers in the name of the Lord Jesus. NOTE: In support of this interpretation, it should be observed that there is no indication anywhere in the New Testament that any of John’s disciples were rebaptized by our Lord or his apostles, though the opportunity clearly presented itself (Joh 3:22-36); and there is no indication that Apollos was rebaptized after being instructed in the way of God more perfectly (Act 18:26). Moreover, if Act 19:5 contained Luke’s words describing what Paul had done, it seems most reasonable that he would have specified that Paul baptized them, as he specified that Paul laid hands upon them in Act 19:6. In Act 19:4-5 Luke tells us what Paul said. In Act 19:6 he tells what Paul did.

THE COMMUNICATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Act 19:6-7) – Just as Peter and John laid their hands on the believing Samaritans who had been baptized by Philip (Act 8:14-17), Paul laid his hands upon these twelve men who had been baptized by John the Baptist and they received the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. Once more Paul was evidently confirmed as an apostle of Christ (Heb 2:3-4). In the apostolic era many received those gifts, but only an apostle could communicate them to others. Remember, Philip who possessed the gifts could not communicate them to the Samaritans, but had to wait for the Apostles to do so. Therefore, these extraordinary, outward signs necessarily ceased when the apostles were gone, not because God has changed, but because they are no longer needed. We now have the perfect, complete Revelation of God in Holy Scripture (1Co 13:10; 2Pe 1:16-21).

THE SEPARATION OF THE BELIEVERS (Act 19:8-12). As stated before, the saints of God at this time met with the Jews in their synagogues. They earnestly sought the salvation of the Jewish people. But there comes a time when those who follow Christ must separate themselves from those who despise him. Light and darkness cannot abide together. So after three months of faithful instruction, Paul led the saints of God to separate themselves from those who hated the gospel of Christ (2Co 6:14 to 2Co 7:1; Rev 18:4). Paul and his little band were despised by everyone in town. Meeting in a little borrowed room, they were mocked, ridiculed, and scorned by the rich, prosperous, and powerful religionists of Corinth. But God was with them. He confirmed his gospel, his messenger, and his people, clearly demonstrating his pleasure in them. He always does! (See 1Sa 2:30).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

that Jesus

Apollos’ ministry seems to have gone no further; Jesus was the long expected Messiah. Of Paul’s doctrine of justification through the blood, and sanctification through the Spirit, he seems at that time to have known nothing. See Act 19:3-6.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

that: Act 18:24-28, 1Co 1:12, 1Co 3:4-7, 1Co 16:12

Paul: Act 18:23

came: Act 18:19-21

Reciprocal: Mat 11:2 – he Act 20:18 – from Act 21:4 – finding Act 28:14 – we found Rom 15:19 – so that 1Co 3:6 – Apollos 1Co 15:32 – Ephesus 2Co 11:26 – journeyings Eph 1:1 – faithful 1Ti 1:3 – at 2Ti 1:18 – Ephesus Rev 1:11 – Ephesus

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

AS WE OPEN this chapter, we find Paul arriving at Ephesus after Apollos had left, and there finding certain disciples, who were in a similar state of ignorance as to the full gospel message. They were truly disciples, and they had believed as much of the facts concerning Christ as they had heard. The Holy Ghost is given to those who believe the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation (Eph 1:13). They had not believed it, because they had not heard it, and consequently they had not received the Spirit. Like Apollos, they had only heard the earliest beginnings of things, connected with John the Baptist, and had been baptised with his baptism. When Paul had instructed them further, and they had been baptised as owning the Lordship of Jesus, and Paul had laid his hands on them, the Spirit came on them and they both spoke with tongues and prophesied. Thus impressive evidence was granted that they had now entered into the full Christian state.

Paul did not in any way blame these twelve men. The transition to the full light of the Gospel was gradual in those days of slow communications. In the beginning of Heb 6:1-20, we do get things said which imply reproach. There were those amongst the Jewish believers who were blameworthy for not leaving the word of the beginning of Christ (margin), and going on to the perfection of the full Gospel. Johns ministry had a great deal to say as to repentance from dead works, and of baptisms, and of eternal judgment, but by the time that Epistle was written the full truth of Christ had been sounded abroad, and they ought to have embraced it, even if it cut across many of their Jewish thoughts. There is no excuse for us, if we do not go on to perfection.

These men being blessed, Paul turned his attention to the synagogue, where he had briefly testified on his earlier visit, and for three months he reasoned with the Jews, persuading them of the Gospel. At the end of that time he perceived that his work there was finished. The remnant according to the election of grace was manifest, and the rest were hardened, so he made the cleavage complete by leaving the synagogue and carrying the disciples with him, to continue his service in the school of Tyrannus-just as at Corinth he had left the synagogue for the house of Justus. Thereby it was made quite manifest that what God was establishing was not a fresh group of enlightened believers amongst the Jews, but a new thing altogether, embracing both Jews and Gentiles.

So distinct and powerful a work was wrought there that Paul spent two years of labour in that city. God supported him by miraculous manifestations of a special nature, and the whole province was evangelised. As is ever the case, a powerful working of God unmasks the working of Satan, and excites his opposition. The rest of this chapter shows how this came about at Ephesus.

The first move was to oppose by way of imitation. The seven sons of Sceva thought that they too might cast out demons by using the name of the Lord Jesus. But they did not know Him. He was not really Lord to them, and so they could only speak of Him as Jesus whom Paul preacheth, omitting His title as Lord. The demon at once showed that he did not know them, and he was not deceived by their second-hand use of the name of Jesus. The seven men were utterly discomfited, and their disgrace was known to all. In result the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

This led to a great and public triumph over Satan and the dark arts, by which men sought to maintain contact with him. Many that had believed were moved to confess how formerly they had been entangled, and the evil things they had done. Many others moved away from this dreadful evil and publicly burned the books that dealt with these things, in spite of their monetary value. The Word of God grew and prevailed, and this Satanic evil grew less and suffered defeat. It is a sorrowful reflection for us that in our day less attention than formerly is being paid to the Word, and spiritist practices are on the increase.

In these practices Satan approaches men with all the wiles of the serpent. Defeated thus, on this occasion, he had recourse to action in which he revealed himself as the roaring lion. He worked through the cupidity of men. The success of the Gospel had imperilled the trade of the silversmiths, and it was not difficult to attempt to revive their trade under cover of zeal for the reputation of their goddess Diana. Was her greatness to be despised and her magnificence to be destroyed? Here was excellent camouflage for their real concern as to their own money-making prospects!

Their cry of Great is Diana of the Ephesians! was a spark that set the whole city alight, for Satan had been at work manufacturing the inflammable material. There ensued the alarming riot, to which the Apostle alludes in his second Epistle to the Corinthians, when he and his friends were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life (2Co 1:8). The excited Ephesians were ready to put the sentence of death upon Paul, but as he goes on to tell us, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. God did deliver him from so great a death, but evidently the danger was so overwhelming that Paul likens his deliverance to a resurrection from the dead.

From the account in Acts we can see how God made use of one and another in working the deliverance-certain of the chiefs of Asia; Alexander, who distracted attention from Paul; the town clerk with his diplomatic talk. The majority of the wild demonstrators had no idea exactly why they were demonstrating, and the town clerk reminded them that the Roman authorities might turn the tables on them and accuse them of sedition. It is worthy of note that he was able to say of Paul and his companions, they are neither temple-plunderers, nor speak injuriously of your goddess (New Trans.); which shows that they had carefully avoided all that might have given offence. They went in for the positive preaching of the Gospel rather than the negative work of exposing the follies of idolatry.

This great uproar ended Pauls service in Ephesus, and he departed for Macedonia, as the first verse of Act 20:1-38 records. It is of interest at this point to turn again to 2 Corinthians, and read 2Co 2:12, 2Co 2:13, and then 2Co 7:5-7. From these verses we gather that Paul made a short stay at Troas on his outward journey to Macedonia, but owing to his anxiety to meet Titus and hear news of the Corinthian saints, he left for Macedonia, in spite of the open door for service. Arrived in Macedonia, he was still in great disquietude and trouble, yet there Titus did appear and he was comforted. So, evidently the trouble in Ephesus was followed by further trouble both at Troas and in Macedonia. Yet all this side of things is passed over in silence as far as Acts is concerned. Luke could hardly put on record these more intimate details of the Apostles experiences: we learn of them from his own pen.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Act 19:1. Paul came to Ephesus after Apollos had left that city and gone to Corinth in Greece. (See chapter 18:27, 28.) The disciples he found at Ephesus were evidently the persons whom Apollos had baptized (chapter 18:25).

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Act 19:1. Paul having passed through the upper coasts. The eastern districts of Asia Minor were known by the appellation of the upper districts or country. The English word coasts is liable to mislead. So Herodotus speaks of the neighbourhood of Sardis as the upper (districts) of Asia. In this term, however, were included, as in the present instance, many of the districts lying far inland. The term naturally sprang from a comparison of the more elevated regions of the interior with the low-lying country round the capital city, Ephesus.

Came to Ephesus. Ephesus was one of the great commercial cities of the world, singularly adapted both for inland and maritime commerce; it lay on the main road of traffic between the east and west. It possessed a capacious harbour called Panormus, formed by the river Cayster, known in Homeric story. It was built by Androclus the Athenian, and rapidly increased in wealth and magnificence. In the Alexandrian age it took a fresh departure, and became gradually a chief emporium of the world. The Romans made it the capital of the rich province of Asia, and history speaks of it as the metropolis of five hundred cities. It was the residence of a Roman proconsul, but ranked as one of the free cities of the Empire, enjoying its own peculiar form of government. Its theatre, which, notwithstanding the desolation of the once proud city, may still be traced, is the largest which has yet been discovered, and is said to have been capable of containing some 30,000 persons; still a building capable of containing even 20,000 must have been of colossal dimensions. But the glory of the city was the stately temple of Artemis of the Ephesians (Diana), for an account of which see the note on Act 19:24 in this chapter. The grandeur of Ephesus received its death-blow in the third century in the reign of the Emperor Gallianus, when it was sacked and laid waste by the Goths who came from beyond the Danube. From that time it sank gradually into decay, its commerce being eventually diverted to Constantinople. In Christian story it was famous not only for the long residence of Paul and Timothy, but subsequently it was known as the abode of the Virgin Mary, and the home of the old age of the Apostle John. The graves of Mary and of John were here. The site of the once splendid Asian metropolis is now utterly desolate. Shapeless piles of ruined edifices occupy the ground where once the great city stood; and the harbour, once the resort of the ships of all nations, is now a confused morass. Not one stone of the celebrated temple remains above another. The few remaining inhabitants are lodged in a miserable Turkish village called Ayasaluch or Asalook, said to be a corruption of Hagios-Theologus ( ), the name by which St. John was known.

And finding certain disciples. See the remarks on this strange incident in the note on Act 19:24 of the preceding chapter. It is clear that in a sense these disciples of John the Baptist were Christians, for St. Pauls question to them respecting the Holy Ghost relates to the period since they believed (). But there is no question that their knowledge was imperfect even concerning the doctrine of Jesus Christ, while they knew nothing at all relating to the Holy Spirit.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

The latter end of the foregoing chapter informed us how Apollos was employed at Corinth: the beginning of this acquaints us how St. Paul spent his time at Ephesus. He finds there twelve disciples, he catechizes them, lays his hand upon them, and God confers the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Here observe, 1. The question put by St. Paul to the twelve disciples: Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? He doth not mean in its sanctifying operations, but in its miraculous gifts; as speaking with tongues, the gift of prophecy, and the gift of healing.

Observe, 2. The disciples answer, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost; not that they were ignorant of the essence or person of the Holy Ghost; but had not heard of the effusion of the extra-ordinary and miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost; for it was a received opinion among the Jews, that after the death of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Holy Ghost, or the spirit of prophecy, departed from Israel. And they never heard that he was returned, or of his being given anew with his miraculous gifts.

Observe, 3. How the apostle sets them right; they tell him they were baptized unto John’s baptism. The apostle tells them, that John’s baptism and Christ’s were the same for substance, and had both the same end, though they differed in some circumstances. The disciples of John believed in Christ to come, the disciples of Jesus believed in Christ as already come, and were baptized in that faith; and the ordinance sealed unto both the remission of sins. Yet it being essential to Christian Baptism, to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, which is the essence of Christian baptism.

Observe, 4. How the apostle lays his hands upon these disciples, to confirm them in the faith they were baptized into; where-upon the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were immediately conferred on them, and they spake divers tongues, which before they understood not, and were endued with the gift of prophesying; that is, of declaring things to come, and interpreting the writings of the prophets, that they maybe fit to teach and instruct others.

Hence learn, That at the first planting and propagating of the gospel, the wisdom of God thought fit to furnish the preachers and dispensers of it with extraordinary gifts and miraculous powers, to qualify them for, and to give them assurance of, the success of their ministry; and also to assure those whom they preached unto, that their doctrine was from heaven. Almighty God never setting the seal of his omnipotence to a lie. Such miraculous gifts are long since ceased in the church, the cause of them, and the occasion for them, being long since ceased.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Some Disciples Who Were Reimmersed

From Corinth, Paul went on to Ephesus. He met a group of disciples and asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit. Apparently they were some of those who had been taught by Apollos prior to the time he had been taught the way of the Lord more perfectly. They were disciples of Christ, because Apollos “taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John” ( Act 19:1-2 ; Act 18:24-25 ). They answered Paul’s question about receipt of the Holy Spirit by saying they did not even know there was a Holy Spirit. McGarvey thinks the word “given” ought to be supplied after “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” He points out that a similar understanding is needed in reading Joh 7:39 or else the Lord could be understood to be saying the Holy Spirit did not yet exist.

A failure to know about any gift of the Holy Spirit whatsoever would truly point out a flaw in the instructions they had received, so Paul asked, “Into what then were you baptized?” Their having been baptized in John’s baptism would not have presented a problem when that baptism was valid prior to the death of the Lord. However, Paul said John told people to repent, be baptized and believe on the Christ who would follow him. For those who would be Christians, belief in Jesus would precede one’s repentance and baptism under the authority of his name for the remission of sins ( Act 19:3-4 ; Mar 16:16 ; Act 2:38 ).

Having heard further about John’s directions, those disciples were baptized under the authority of Christ. The apostle then laid his hands on them and they received miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit which enabled them to speak in languages they had never studied and proclaim God’s will. Luke told Theophilus there were twelve men in the group ( Act 19:5-7 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Act 19:1. While Apollos was at Corinth Preaching with considerable success, Act 18:27-28; Paul, having passed through the upper coasts Of the Lesser Asia, namely, Galatia and Phrygia; came to Ephesus According to his promise, Act 18:19; Act 18:21, with a purpose of making some stay there. Ephesus, at this time, was the metropolis of the province of Asia, and an exceedingly populous city. For, not to speak of its native inhabitants, who were very numerous, a great concourse of strangers always resorted to it, some to worship the goddess Diana, whose rites were celebrated with great magnificence, in a temple erected to her there at the expense of all Asia; others to learn the arts of sorcery and magic, which were taught and practised at Ephesus with such reputation, that the magical words, or sentences, used in the practice of these arts, had their names from Ephesus; being called , Ephesian letters: others came to prosecute law-suits, or to solicit offices from the Roman governor of the province, who had his residence there; others took Ephesus in their way to and from Europe; and others, after the manner of the easterns, abode there occasionally for the sake of commerce. Ephesus, therefore, being a place of such general resort, and the very throne of idolatry, superstition, and magic, the apostle, when he formerly left that city, resolved, as we have seen, to return and attack these impieties in their strongest hold. Wherefore, having discharged his vow in Jerusalem, he made no stay there, nor even at Antioch, but travelled through Syria and Cilicia, and the countries above mentioned, as expeditiously as was consistent with his purpose in visiting them, and then came to Ephesus, where he abode three years, and gathered a very numerous church; the members of which were peculiarly dear to him, as is manifest from his epistle to them, and the discourse addressed to their elders, Act 20:17, &c.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

XIX: 1-7. Having sketched briefly the visit of Apollos to Ephesus, and thus prepared the way for an account of Paul’s labors in the same city, the historian now reaches the point for which he had so hurriedly passed over the apostle’s journey from Antioch through Galatia and Phrygia and around to Ephesus. The appointment which he left in Ephesus, as he passed through on his way to Jerusalem, is now to be fulfilled. (1) Now while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper districts, came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples, (2) said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? But they said to him, We have not so much as heard that the Holy Spirit is given. (3) He said to them, Into what, then, were you immersed? They said, Into John’s immersion. (4) Then Paul said, John indeed immersed with the immersion of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is, on the Christ Jesus. (5) And when they heard this they were immersed into the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. (7) All the men were about twelve.

This passage is valuable chiefly because it shows how the apostles dealt with parties who, at that time, were immersed with John’s immersion. This, no doubt, was Luke’s object in introducing it. In order to understand the case, it is necessary to keep distinctly in view the facts stated of the parties previous to and subsequent to their immersion by Paul. They are called disciples, and were known as such when Paul found them; for it is said he found certain disciples. They were disciples, not of John, but of Jesus; for the uniform currency of the term disciple, throughout Acts, requires us to so understand it. This is further evident from Paul’s question, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? The term believed evidently refers to Jesus as its object. They were known, then, as disciples of Jesus, and were so recognized by Paul.

Up to the moment of his conversation with them, Paul knew nothing of any irregularity in their obedience; for this was made known, to his surprise, during the conversation. When, therefore, he asked the question, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? he could not have referred to that gift of the Spirit which all disciples receive; for he would take this for granted, from the fact that they were disciples. He must, then, have had reference to the miraculous gift, which some disciples did not receive.

It is inconceivable that these disciples were ignorant of the existence of the Holy Spirit, hence a literal rendering of their reply, We have not so much as heard that there is a Holy Spirit, would convey a false idea. The supplement given is necessary to complete the sense, as it is in John 7:39 , where it is said, The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet risen. The term given must be supplied, in the latter case, in order to avoid the denial of the existence of the Spirit previous to the resurrection; and, in the former, to avoid the declaration of an ignorance on the part of these men inconsistent with the fact that they were disciples.

This answer at once revealed to Paul that there was some irregularity in their religious history; for no one could be properly discipled without learning that the Holy Spirit was to be given. He at once perceived, too, that the irregularity must have been connected with their immersion; for he inquires, Into what, then, were you immersed? If the gift of the Spirit had no connection with immersion, this inquiry would have been inapposite, and Paul would not have propounded it. But the apostles taught as Peter did on the day of Pentecost, when he said, Repent and be immersed, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is only on the supposition that Paul knew this to be the universal teaching of rightly-informed brethren, that he inferred something wrong about their immersion, from their ignorance of the gift of the Holy Spirit. This supposition, however, which is a necessary, not an optional one, makes the whole matter very plain. Paul’s first question had reference to the miraculous gift of the Spirit; but when they said they knew not that the Holy Spirit was given, he saw that they were ignorant of even the ordinary gift, which is promised to all who repent and are immersed, and that they were immersed without proper instruction.

Their reply, that they were immersed into John’s immersion, relieved the case of all obscurity, and Paul then understood it perfectly. He explained, that John’s immersion was one of repentance, to be followed by faith in the Messiah when he should come. Those immersed by him believed that the Messiah was coming; but they did not, until after their immersion, believe that Jesus was the Messiah, nor did they have a promise of the Holy Spirit. They were not, therefore, immersed into the name of Jesus or that of the Holy Spirit. This is further evident from the fact that Paul commanded these twelve to be immersed into the name of the Lord Jesus, which the authority of the commission requires us to understand as equivalent to the expression, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. These points of defect, however, were not peculiar to the immersion of the twelve, but attached also to that of the twelve apostles, the hundred and twenty disciples, and the five hundred who saw Jesus together in Galilee after the resurrection, none of whom were reimmersed. What, then, led to the immersion of these parties? If their immersion had taken place, like that of all the others just named, while John’s immersion was still an existing institution, no reason could be given for their reimmersion. This, then, forces us to the conclusion that they had been immersed with John’s immersion after it had ceased to be administered by divine authority. Apollos had been recently preaching this obsolete immersion in Ephesus, and these persons may have been immersed by him. If so, they submitted to an institution which had been abrogated more than twenty years, and this was the defect that led to their reimmersion. The general conclusion, from all the premises, is this: that persons who were immersed with John’s immersion, while it was in lawful existence, were received into the Church of Christ without reimmersion. But persons who were thus immersed, after the introduction of apostolic immersion, were reimmersed. The reason why Apollos was not reimmersed as well as the twelve, was, doubtless, because, like the apostles and the other original disciples, he was immersed during the ministry of John.

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Acts Chapter 19

From verse 24 of chapter 18 (Act 18:24)to verse 7 of chapter 19 (Act 19:7) we have a kind of summary of the progress made by the doctrine of Christ, and of the power that accompanied it. Apollos knew only of the teaching of John; but, upright in heart, he publicly confessed and preached that which he knew. It was the faith of a regenerate soul. Aquila and Priscilla enlighten him fully with regard to the facts of the gospel, and the doctrine of a dead and glorified Christ. At Corinth he becomes a powerful teacher of the gospel, of the Lord among the Jews, thus confirming the faith of the disciples. The energy of the Holy Ghost manifests itself in him without any intervention of the apostle or of the twelve. He acts independently; that is, the Spirit acts independently in him. People could say, I am of Apollos. It is interesting to see these different manifestations of the power and liberty of the Spirit, and to remember that the Lord is above all, and that, if He acts greatly by a Paul, He acts also in whom He will.

In that which follows we find, on another side, the progress of the divine revelation in union with Pauls apostolic power made very prominent by the capability of communicating the Holy Ghost. Twelve persons had believed, but with no other instruction than that of John: their baptism had been in reference to it. It was a Christ to come, and a Holy Ghost whom He would communicate, that they looked for. Now Johns baptism required repentance, but in no way came out of the Jewish pale; although it opened a perspective of something different, according to the sovereignty of God, and as the effect of Christs coming. But it was a baptism unto repentance for man on the earth, and not Christs death and resurrection. Grace acted in a remnant, but of whom Jesus was a companion on earth. Now Christianity (for mans sin has been fully manifested) is founded on death and resurrection; first, that of Christ, thus accomplishing redemption, and then on our death and resurrection with Him so as to place us in Him and as Him before God in sinless life, life of His life, and washed in His blood from all our sins. But Johns baptism, in fact, only taught repentance here below in order to receive Christ; Christianity taught the efficacy of the death and resurrection of a rejected Christ, in virtue of which the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete come down from heaven, should be received.

These twelve men (although John had announced that the baptism of the Holy Ghost should be the result of Christs intervention) did not know whether there was yet any Holy Ghost [25] a plain proof that they had not come into the house of God in which He dwelt. Paul explains this to them, and they are baptised in the name of Jesus. Paul, in his apostolic capacity, lays his hands on them; and they receive the Holy Ghost. They speak with tongues, and they prophesy.

This power, and he who was its instrument, were now to be brought out into distinct relief. The capital city of Asia (that is, of the Roman province so named) is the theatre in which this was to be effected. We shall see a power displayed in this locality, which acts independently of all traditional forms, and which governs all that surrounds it, whether man, conscience, or the enemy-an organising power, which forms of itself and for itself the institutions and the body that suit it, and which governs the whole position. The power of active grace has been displayed in the work of Paul, beginning with Antioch; and had shewn itself in different ways. Here we have some details of its formal establishment in a great centre.

During three months of patience he preaches Christ in the synagogue, and reasons with the Jews, conscious of divine strength and of the truth. He grants precedence, as the sphere of testimony, to that which had been the instrument and the people of God: To the Jews first. It is no longer said, Salvation is of the Jews, but it is preached to them first.

But this work having had its development, and many taking the place of adversaries, Paul acts as the founder of that which was according to God and on the part of God. He separates the disciples, and discourses upon Christianity in the hall of a Greek who had a public class. This went on for two years: so that the doctrine was spread through all the country among both the Jews and the Greeks. God did not fail to bear testimony to the word of His grace, and His power was displayed in a remarkable manner in connection with the person of the apostle who bore the testimony. The manifestations of the enemys power disappear before the action of this liberative power of the Lord, and the name of Jesus was glorified. Now the reality of this action was demonstrated in a striking way, that is, its source in the personal, positive, and real action of the Lord on the one side, and on the other, the mission of Paul, and faith as the instrument by which this supernatural power wrought. Certain Jews desired to avail themselves of it for their own self-interest; and devoid of faith, they use the name of Jesus whom Paul preached as though it had been a kind of charm. But the evil spirit, whose power was as true and real in its way as that of the Lord which he was forced to acknowledge when it was in exercise, knew very well that here it was not so, that there was neither faith nor power. Jesus I know, said he, and who Paul is I know; but who are ye? And the man who was possessed attacked and wounded them. Striking testimony to the action of the enemy, but at the same time to that superior force. to the reality of that intervention of God. which was carried into effect by means of Paul. Now, when God shews Himself, conscience always shews itself; and the power of the enemy over it is manifested and ceases. The Jews and Greeks are filled with fear, and many who became Christians brought the proofs of their sorceries.

The mighty action of the Spirit shewed itself by the decision it produced, by the immediate and unhesitating acting out of the thoughts and resolutions produced in the heart. There were no long inward arguments; the presence and the power of God produced their natural effects.

The enemys resources were, however, not exhausted. The work of God was done, in the sense of the establishment of the testimony through apostolic labour; and God was sending His servant elsewhere. The enemy, as usual, excites a tumult, stirring up the passions of men against the instruments of the testimony of God. Paul had already intended to go away, but a little later; he had therefore sent Timothy and Erastus before him into Macedonia, purposing to visit Macedonia, Achaia, and Jerusalem, and afterwards to go to Rome; and he still remains some time in Asia. But after the departure of these two brethren, Demetrius excites the people against the Christians. Inveterate against the gospel, which shook the whole system in connection wi th which he made his fortune, and which was linked with all that gave him importance, this agent of the enemy knew how to act on the passions of the workmen who had the same occupation as himself; for he made little portable shrines to Diana, in silver. His employment was connected with that which all the world admired, with that which had possession of mens minds-a great comfort to man who feels the need of something sure-with that which had long given its hue to their religious habits. A great part of the influence exercised was, not Great is Diana! but Great is Diana of the Ephesians! It was, in short, the power of the enemy among the Gentiles. The Jews apparently sought to avail themselves of this by putting one Alexander forward-the same possibly who had withstood Paul, and who they supposed would therefore be listened to by the people. But it was the evil spirit of idolatry that agitated them; and the Jews were foiled in their hope. Paul was prevented, both by the brethren and by some of the Asiarchs,(26) from shewing himself in the theatre. The assembly was dissolved by the town authorities; and Paul, when he had seen the disciples, went away in peace. [27] His work there was finished, and the gospel planted in the capital of the province of Asia, and even in the whole province: Greece and Macedonia had already received it.

There was yet Rome. In what manner should he go thither? This is now the remaining question. His free and active life ended with the events which now occupy us, as far as it is given us by the Holy Ghost. A life blessed with an almost unequalled faith, with an energy that surpassed anything that has been seen in men, and which, through the divine power that wrought in it, produced its effects in spite of obstacles apparently insurmountable, in spite of every kind of opposition, in contempt and destitution, and which stamped its character on the assembly by giving it, instrumentally, its existence; and that, not only in spite of two hostile religions which divided the civilised world between them, but in spite of a religious system which possessed the truth, but which ever sought to confine it within the boundary of traditions that granted some place to the flesh-a system that had the plea of priority, and was sanctioned by the habits of those apostles who were nominated by the Lord Himself.

The assembly indeed, as Paul foresaw, soon returned to its Judaic ways, when the energy of the apostle was absent. It requires the power of the Holy Ghost to rise above the religiousness of the flesh. Piety does not necessarily do this; and power is never a tradition-it is itself, and thereby independent of men and of their traditions, even when bearing with them in love. The flesh therefore always returns to the path of traditions and forms; because it is never power in the things of God, although it can recognise duty. It does not therefore rise to heaven; it does not understand grace; it can see what man ought to be for God (without however perceiving the consequences of this, if God is revealed), but it cannot see what God in His sovereign grace is for man. It will perhaps retain it as orthodoxy, where the Spirit has wrought; but it will never bring the soul into it. This it was, more than the violence of the pagans or the hatred of the Jews, which wrung the heart and caused the anguish of the faithful and blessed apostle, who by grace had a character, or rather a position, more like that of Christ than any other on earth.

These conflicts will be unfolded to us in the Epistles, as well as that ardent heart which-while embracing in its thoughts all the revealed counsels of God, and putting each part in its place, and embracing in its affections the whole of the work and of the assembly of God-could equally concentrate its whole energy of thought on a single important point, and of affection on a poor slave whom grace had given to him in his chains. The vessel of the Spirit, Paul shines with a heavenly light throughout the whole work of the gospel. He condescends at Jerusalem, thunders in Galatia when souls were being perverted, leads the apostles to decide for the liberty of the Gentiles, and uses all liberty himself to be as a Jew to the Jews, and as without law to those that had no law, as not under law, but always subject to Christ. Yet how difficult to maintain the height of life and of spiritual revelation, in the midst of so many opposing tendencies! He was also void of offence. Nothing within hindered his communion with God, whence he drew his strength to be faithful among men. He could say, and none but he, Be ye imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Thus also he could say, I endure all things for the elects sake, that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory, words which would not be improper in the Lords mouth-in a more exalted sense doubtless, because He endured for Paul himself the wrath that would have been his eternal condemnation-yet words which bring out the remarkable position of this man of God, as the vessel of the Holy Ghost by whom he was used. I fill up, said he, that which is lacking [30] of the sufferings of Christ for his bodys sake, which is the assembly; whereof I am made a minister to complete the word of God.

John (through his intimate knowledge of the Person of Christ, born on earth and Son of God) was able to maintain this essential and individually vital truth, in the same field in which Paul laboured; but it was Pauls part to be the active instrument for propagating the truth which saves the soul, and brings ruined man into connection with God by faith, by communicating all His counsels of grace.

Still Paul was a man, although a man wonderfully blest. The intrinsic power of Judaism in connection with its relationship to the flesh is marvellous. As to the result indeed, if man takes his place below grace, that is, below God, it is better in a certain sense that he should be man under law than man without law. He will be the one or the other; but in taking up the exclusive idea of duty he forgets God as He is-for He is love; and too often forgets also man as he is-for he is sin. If he unites the idea of duty and of sin, it is continual bondage, and this is what Christianity in general is reduced to; with the addition of ordinances to ease the burdened conscience, of forms to create piety where communion is absent; clothing it all with the name of Christ, and with the authority of the church, so named, the very existence of which in its reality is identified with the principle of sovereign grace, and characterised by subjection. [31]

Footnotes for Acts Chapter 19

25: Literally whether the Holy Ghost was. The expression, which is the same as in Joh 7:1-53, is a very striking testimony to the distinctness and importance of the Holy Ghosts presence down here on earth. It is called the Holy Ghost, though we all know He had ever been. But what is called the Holy Ghost, that is, His presence down here-this had never been.

27: It may perhaps interest the reader and help him to understand this part of the New Testament history, if I point out the time at which Paul wrote some of his epistles. He wrote the First to the Corinthians from Ephesus, and sent it by Titus. Timothy he sent by way of Macedonia. The latter might perhaps go into Greece; If he come, the apostle says to the Corinthians. Then came the tumult, and just at this moment, or about the same time, his life was endangered; he did not even suppose that he should save it. He had purposed going by Greece into Macedonia, and then returning to Greece; but the state Corinth was in prevented it, and he went first into Macedonia. On his way he goes to Troas, but does not stay there; in Macedonia he is much exercised in mind, and has no rest, because Titus had not brought him tidings of the Corinthians. There, however, Titus found him, and the apostle was comforted in his trouble by the good news of the return of the Corinthians to a right mind. Upon this he writes the second letter to them, and, after having visited the assemblies, he pursues his journey to Corinth, whence he wrote his epistle to the Romans. I only speak here of that which relates to thus part of the apostles history, and throws light upon his labours.

30: The reader must distinguish between the Lords sufferings for sin from God in righteousness, and those which He endured from sinful men for righteousness sake. We partake in the latter, while Christ has saved us from the former, in which there is no question at all of participation, but of His substitution for us when we have deserved the condemnation due to sin.

31: See Eph 5:24.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

SANCTIFICATION OF THE EPHESIAN CHURCH

1-7. Apollos remains preaching in the great church at Corinth, the largest and most gifted of the age, the result of an eighteen months protracted meeting held by Paul, Timothy, Silas and Luke. Happily, in the good providence of God, the great Apollos, now bright and fresh in his Beulah- land experience, arriving soon after Paul went away on that great tour visiting all of his Asiatic churches, confirming them, i. e., getting them sanctified and establishing them in the experience and life of holiness. After this long tour, Paul having come through the upper parts [i. e., those countries east of the river Hollys], arrives at Ephesus and finds some disciples. This little band of twelve disciples had been converted under the preaching of Apollos before he was sanctified, and while he was still fervently proclaiming the gospel of Jesus the Christ in the Johanic dispensation, as he lived away in Africa where he had not come in contact with the stirring history of the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and Pentecost at Jerusalem, as you must remember they had no mails nor newspapers.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Act 19:1. Paul came to Ephesus, a city of Ionia, built by the Amezones. Its temple of Diana was one of the seven wonders of the world; but Pompey plundered it of all its riches. This city is now in ruins, with few inhabitants. Smyrna, forty five miles north-west, having a fine port, has taken away its ancient glory. In the time of St. Paul, it was reckoned the glory of all Asia.

Act 19:2. Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? The rabbins were grossly dark and deficient in understanding the prophets concerning the glory of Christ, and the Spirit of God; and these disciples had not been perfectly instructed, for John had promised the baptism of the Holy Ghost. John had enjoined the baptism of repentance, as a preparation for the Messiah about to appear: therefore they must now be rebaptized in the name of the Triune God. By St. Pauls prayer and imposition of hands, the Holy Ghost inspired their hearts with the love of God, and opened their mouths in effusions of discourse and song, as in the house of Cornelius: Act 10:46.

Act 19:10. This [work of daily disputation and preaching] continued for the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia, not Asia minor or Consular Asia, but the province of Asia, which contained the seven churches, heard the word. Poole says, properly speaking, the towns adjacent to Ephesus; qu circa Ephesum. To localize Paul, and shut him up in one city for two years was impossible. He must go, and wrestle with the rulers of the darkness of this world.

Act 19:11. God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. This power did not forsake him to the end of life. So it was also with the spirit of prophecy; he foretold the circumstances of his own shipwreck with historic accuracy. But while Paul, the great rabbi, shines; what must we think of the humility, the modesty, and piety of St. Luke? While his pen immortalizes others, he keeps himself out of sight. Who can doubt of his inspiration from the meek and lowly Redeemer? He believed in the perfect record, the doomsday book of heaven.

Act 19:13. Vagabond jews, exorcists; who affected to heal demoniacs, by invoking the name of the devil. Other jews, more decently invoked the name of Jehovah. Our Saviour seems to allow that those invocations sometimes produced effects, by asking, If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Those invocations contained the essence of diabolical wickedness, and are utterly condemned in the law of Moses.

Act 19:15. The evil spirit answered, Jesus I know, , I acknowledge; and . I know who Paul is, but who are ye? They escaped naked and wounded, and happy for hypocrites to escape at all. We cannot overcome evil spirits with an arm of flesh.

Act 19:19. Many of them used curious arts; magic, sorcery, necromancy, and astrology, Simon Magus practised these things in Samaria. The former of those arts were diabolical; and on judicial astrology, Reflections will be found on Jeremiah 10.

They counted the price. The triumph of the name of Jesus rendered their arts openly detestable, and made their books of no value. Those books were very expensive, being written on parchment, and often emblazoned with figures, exhibiting conversations with the dead, &c. When their hearts became touched with grace, they durst not sell those expensive works, for that were to corrupt others. A French bookseller having allowed me to look at his books, I found behind a shelf a manuscript in a beautiful text. He saw me reading it, and came with haste, and took it out of my hands, but with a blush on his cheek. The subject was necromancy. The example of those Ephesians should teach christians to abandon all trades connected with fraud, or intemperance, or profanation of the sabbath day. The children of our heavenly Father must not beg their bread of the wicked one.

Act 19:24. Demetrius made silver shrines for Diana. According to Beza these were medals, exhibiting the goddess enthroned in her temple; but some read, little temples, or models. These could be suspended to the neck, or hung up in their chambers. This man excited against Paul a dreadful storm of popular fury, in which figuratively he fought with beasts at Ephesus.

Act 19:34. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. The Greek mythology disguises the origin of their gods, and makes both gods and men the descendants of Jupiter. Our Saxon kings were all descended from Odin. Strabo, book 12., collects from fabulous history, that Diana was daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and sister of Apollo, born in the island of Delos. In youth, she made a vow of perpetual virginity, and shunned the company of men. Addicting herself to pleasures of the chase, she was surnamed huntress, and the guardian of forests and mountains. She is represented as a nymph, with a bow and a quiver of arrows at her side, and accompanied by young nymphs. Sometimes they represent her in a car, drawn by white stags, holding a torch in her left hand. She is called in heaven Lucina, on earth Diana, in hell Proserpine, or Hecata. Her attributes were much varied by different nations. Sometimes she is represented as a woman with three heads; the right a horse, the middle a boar, and the left a dog. The Sabeans, Job 1:15, in their celestial worship, regard her as the moon, justifying the words of Christ, Ye worship ye know not what. Diana of Ephesus was the goddess of nature, whose symbols were the sun and moon; and whom, in one form or another, Asia and the [gentile] world worshipped.

Act 19:35. The town clerk: , the registrar, or clerk of the peace, a man who knew how to seize on the assembled multitude. He joined their tumultuous voices, that the goddess was great, and was worshipped in all Asia; if that would please them, he gave it in full; but he acquitted the apostles, that they were not robbers of churches, [temples] nor yet blasphemers of the great goddess. To Demetrius, if he had any wrongs, he promised redress in a legal way, and dismissed the assembly, lest the Roman legion should be called in. Truly wisdom is better than might.

REFLECTIONS.

Still following the ambassadors and ministers of Christ from Asia to Greece, and from Greece to Asia again, we find the disciples separated from the world, and a church left behind in every place. God was with his servants, truth carried conviction to the heart, and signs and wonders demonstrated the mysteries of the christian faith. But miracles may be regarded as an excess of grace, granted while the nations had not time to examine christianity, and while their prejudices were strong. And if God had not clothed his servants with divine powers, how could they have subsisted? His ways are diversified. The race of Shem in the islands of the South seas have been converted without miracles. A calm reading of the bible, with much prayer to know the truth, will afford conviction equal to any miracle.

We must also remark the superior glory of the christian religion. The twelve disciples of John had not heard of the Holy Ghost; yet the old testament abounds with promises of his sacred influence. Christianity therefore brought to light the mysteries hid in ages past, and called believers to all the glorious liberties and high privileges of the children of God.

We must next remark the powers and virtues of Jesus name. When we view his person and worth, and call upon his name by faith and prayer, God will glorify it in granting us what we ask according to his will. Yes, and all the demons of evil tempers shall be expelled by the virtue of Christ. Oh the other hand they who mock at his name, shall, like the sons of Sceva, be put to confusion.

The apostles preached Christ in a noble spirit. There, was neither weakness nor fear in their ministry. It was so godlike as to make the heathen tremble for their craft and interest. The banner of the cross was exalted above all temples; and hoary idolatry trembled to her foundation. Demetrius, injured in his trade of making models of Diana and her shrine, roused the populace to shout for the safety of the goddess. Ah, shout on, shout on. The softer whispers of truth and grace, the mild and heaven born mien of christianity will shortly demolish all the proud temples of Ephesus.

We admire the good sense of the recorder of the city; and in him, the care of providence over the apostles and their mission. The talent of seizing on an assembled populace, and persuading them to quietness and duty is enviable and happy in a magistrate. A mob may be diverted when it can not be opposed. To fire on a misguided mass of men is often the sudden effect of misguided passion; and the magistrate is never forgiven by his neighbours. Argument and gentle force should first be tried. But in regard to the first planting of christianity, the malice of the priests, the sneers of philosophy, and the fury of the mob, were everywhere the threefold enemies with which the apostles had to wrestle. Lord, make us thankful for ecclesiastical peace, and the quiet of religious worship.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Act 19:1-7. Other Followers of John the Baptist at Ephesus.Pauls return to Ephesus, promised in Act 18:21, is made a part of this anecdote. His movements were not fully known, as we saw in Act 18:21-23.[101] The story is, like that of Apollos, obscure; it exhibits a bizarre form of early Christianity (cf. Act 8:14 ff.). For into Johns baptism we should expect into Johns name. Speaking with tongues indicates (as in Act 10:45 f.) the descent of the Spirit. The whole story is primitive.

[101] D reads here: When Paul wished to follow his own plan and to travel to Jerusalem, the Spirit said to him to return to Asia, and he went through the upper parts and came to Ephesus.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Paul returned to Ephesus, as he had promised. Of course there was an assembly there already, as chapter 18:27 intimates; but he found certain disciples who, at his questioning, tell him they had not even heard that the Holy Spirit had come. They had been baptized, but only with John’s baptism. Therefore they were Jewish, of course. No doubt they had believed John’s message that announced the Messiah as coming after him, but they had not been baptized to the name of the Lord Jesus. This shows clearly that Christian baptism is totally distinct from that of John. We have seen in Act 2:36-38 that Jews were required to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ before they would receive the Holy Spirit.

Here now are Jews outside their own land. The Old Testament had never intimated that Jews would be blessed anywhere but in the land of promise. Could these then be publicly received as Christians by the gift of the Spirit? God gives the answer plainly when Paul baptizes them and lays his hands on them as an indication of fellowship. This is the fourth occasion of a public bestowing of the Spirit of God with such signs as speaking with tongues. Each of these occasions involves a different class of people; first Jews at Jerusalem (Ch.2); secondly Samaritans (Ch.8); thirdly Gentiles (Ch.10); and in this case Jews outside their own land.

There were about twelve men here: the number of women is not mentioned, for it is the public side of things emphasized. This reminds us that whenever we are told of the public giving of the Spirit, this was always to a number of people, never to an individual. Also, there was always an apostle present, for the work must be maintained in unity with other assemblies: there must be no independency of assemblies. Certainly these would then be found in the fellowship of the assembly at Ephesus, though at this time the Jewish disciples were apparently also continuing to attend the synagogue (v.9).

For three months Paul continued to speak in the synagogue, so long as there was any willingness on the part of the Jews to listen to his message. This comes to an end, however, when a number became hardened in opposition. Then it became necessary for the disciples to be separated from the synagogue. Paul himself, however, was evidently welcomed to a school operated by a man named Tyrannus, where he continued disputing daily with others who attended there. For two years this was maintained, the school evidently being so well known as to attract the attention of all the people, particularly when a message so marvellous was being declared. From this center the Word went out to all Asia, at that time a Roman province in present day Turkey.

At this time in Ephesus God backed His Word by working special miracles through Paul, with napkins and aprons which had touched him being brought to the sick, who were healed only by this contact, some also having evil spirits dismissed from them. This is so unusual as to be the only case of this kind recorded in scripture, though many were healed before this in only touching the hem of the garment of the Lord Jesus (Mat 14:36). Certain would-be healers have attempted to imitate this, but this is not faith.

Of course this could not but attract attention, and we are told of itinerant Jewish exorcists, men evidently claiming the ability to expel evil spirits, who recognized greater power than their own in the name of Jesus. Seven sons of one man attempted then to merely imitate Paul, adjuring evil spirits “by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” This brings opposite results from what they expected. The evil spirit acknowledges Jesus and Paul, but despises the exorcists, causing the possessed man to assault them severely, tearing off their clothes and injuring them. Let no-one dare to use the name of Jesus in this way without having a true knowledge of Him.

These things were soon made known to both Jews and Greeks who lived at Ephesus, awakening a serious fear of God in recognizing the holiness of the name of the Lord Jesus. Believers were made to realize that faith in Christ was no light matter. Ephesus was a renowned center of magic arts, this no doubt having attracted the sons of Sceva. But believers now confess their unholy association with these things, with many bringing their books and publicly burning them. Their cost had been fifty thousand pieces of silver, but they rightly suffered the loss of this rather than selling the books to others. Such was the precious power of the Word of God.

The Word having achieved such results, Paul purposed in his spirit (not by the Spirit of God) to go to Jerusalem after seeing Macedonia and Achaia. After that he desired to visit Rome also. (This did take place, but not in the way he expected.) Yet he delayed his going to Macedonia and Achaia, evidently because he feared what he might find at Corinth (2Co 1:15-23). He did however send Timothy and Erastus before him (1Co 4:17), probably hoping that their ministry would help to correct wrong practices there before he himself came.

However, Satan could not stand by and see one of his great strongholds attacked and weakened by the power of the Spirit of God. He succeeds in working upon the greed of Demetrius, a silversmith, to suggest to him that Paul’s doctrine was robbing him of customers for his idolatrous silver shrines. Calling together other such silversmiths, he impresses them with the need of protecting their financial interests. This is his first consideration, though he adds that Paul’s teaching was also endangering the magnificence of their great goddess Diana. He knew well that this latter accusation would likely have more weight with the people. His fellow-tradesmen recognized this too, and being angry at the prospect of losing any trade, began an uproar by crying out in the streets, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”

Men’s protest demonstrations have often since that time occasioned the same senseless confusion. Some were able to catch two of Paul’s traveling companions, rushing with many others into the city theatre, the place teeming with a milling, noisy crowd. Such a crowd being gathered together, Paul saw this as an opportunity to speak to them, and intended to go in. The disciples, however, wisely dissuaded him from this. In fact, he was further urged not to go in by certain “Asiarchs” who were his friends. These were elected officials, who, at their own expense, furnished festivals in honor of the gods. The fact of their being Paul’s friends indicates clearly that, though Paul faithfully declared that gods made by hands are not gods at all, yet he was not offensive in contesting against such idolatry.

It is good to see that God took care of the matter without the help of Paul. The Jews, however, sought to take advantage of the situation by advancing one of their number, Alexander, to take the platform. Paul later wrote of him to Timothy, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil” (2Ti 4:14). His intention to antagonize the people against Paul was defeated when the people realized he was a Jew, and for two hours the senseless uproar continued.

After two hours of riotous confusion, the town clerk of Ephesus was eventually able to gain the attention of the people and to quieten them. At least he was a reasonable man, and appealed to the fact that everyone knew that Ephesus worshiped Diana and the image that (they claimed) fell down from Jupiter. The image was manifestly a man-made thing, symbolizing the generative and nutritive powers of nature, and for this reason having many breasts. Its base was a block covered with mystical inscriptions and animals. But idolatrous men will accept any kind of superstitious deception.

He calls for calmness and refraining from any rash action, telling them that the men they had caught (Gaius and Aristarchus) were neither temple plunderers nor blasphemers of their goddess. He knew that these men were not agitators, but that Demetrius was causing the agitation. He tells them therefore that if Demetrius and the other craftsmen want to lay a civil charge against anyone, the courts were fully available, and attorneys also. If there were other matters (political for instance), these would require a duly arranged assembly in subjection to proper government. For, as he says, the Roman authorities would likely closely question the reason for such an uproar, and they could give them no satisfactory answer. It was certainly the Lord’s mercy that the matter ended in this way.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1

Coasts; regions. The more interior provinces were so designated.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

19:1 And {1} it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

(1) Paul, not being offended at the rudeness of the Ephesians, plants a church amongst them.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Paul’s ministry in Ephesus 19:1-20

Luke’s account of Paul’s third missionary journey is essentially a record of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, the city he probably tried to reach at the beginning of his second journey (cf. Act 16:6).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The disciples of John the Baptist 19:1-7

This is the first of two incidents taken from Paul’s ministry in Ephesus that bracket Luke’s description of his general ministry there. The second is Paul’s encounter with the seven sons of Sceva (Act 19:13-20).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Two roads led into Ephesus from the east, and Paul travelled the northern, more direct route (cf. Act 18:23). [Note: Cf. Ramsay, St. Paul . . ., p. 265.] Ephesus, like Athens, had reached its heyday and was in decline when Paul visited it. Its claim to fame was twofold. Its location on the west coast of Asia Minor near the mouth of the Cayster River made it an important commercial center. As commerce declined due to the silting up of the port at Ephesus, its religious influence continued to draw worshippers to the Temple of Artemis (Greek) or Diana (Roman). This magnificent temple was four times the size of the Parthenon at Athens and was renowned as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Alexander the Great had contributed much money for its construction in the fourth century B.C., and it lasted until A.D. 263 when the Goths destroyed it.

"It was 425 feet long by 220 feet wide by 60 feet high. There were 127 pillars, each of them the gift of a king. They were all of glittering Parian marble and 36 of them were marvelously gilt and inlaid. The great altar had been carved by Praxiteles, the greatest of all Greek sculptors. The image of Artemis was not beautiful. It was a black, squat, many-breasted figure, to signify fertility; it was so old that no one knew where it had come from or even of what material it was made. The story was that it had fallen from heaven. The greatest glory of Ephesus was that she was the guardian of the most famous pagan temple in the world." [Note: Barclay, p. 153.]

Emperor Justinian of Byzantium later used some of the pilars for the construction of the Hagia Sophia, where they still stand, in modern Istanbul. Ephesus was a hotbed of religious superstition and occult practices.

"Ephesus, for all her past splendour, was a dying city, pre-occupied with parasite pursuits, living, like Athens, on a reputation, and a curious meeting-place of old and new religions, of superstition and philosophy, of East and West." [Note: Blaiklock, pp. 154-55.]

It is difficult to determine whether the "disciples" whom Paul found in Ephesus were Christians or not. They seem quite similar to Apollos (Act 18:25-26), and some students of Acts believe they were either Old Testament saints or untaught Christians. [Note: E.g., Kent, p. 150.] Another possibility is that they were not believers at all but only seekers after the truth. [Note: E.g., Longenecker, pp. 492-93; McGee, 4:597; and Morgan, p. 346.] The second alternative seems more probable to me. Elsewhere Luke used the word "disciple" to describe John’s followers (Luk 5:33; Luk 7:18-19). Clearly these men were disciples of John the Baptist, not Jesus. This is the fifth reference in Acts to John the Baptist’s role as precursor of Jesus (cf. Act 1:5; Act 11:16; Act 13:25; Act 18:25). Clearly John’s influence had been far reaching.

Paul asked these men about their possession of the Holy Spirit, probably because he saw some incongruity in their claim to be admirers of John and their evident lack of the Spirit. The correct translation is "when you believed" rather than "since you believed" (AV, cf. Act 1:8). The Greek text implies no second work of grace. [Note: See The New Scofield . . ., p. 1192.] Paul’s question assumed two things: they were genuine Christians, since they professed to believe John the Baptist, and everyone who believes in Jesus possesses the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:9; 1Co 12:13).

John had predicted the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:11; Mar 1:8; Luk 3:16; cf. Joh 1:32-33). Their response to Paul’s question probably indicates that they did not know that the Lord had given the Holy Spirit as John had predicted. This enabled Paul to see that his first assumption about these disciples was incorrect; they were probably not Christians.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

9-21

Chapter 14

THE EPHESIAN CHURCH AND ITS FOUNDATION.

Act 18:19-21; Act 18:24-26; Act 19:1

EPHESUS has been from very ancient times a distinguished city. It was famous in the religious history of Asia Minor in times long prior to the Christian Era. It was celebrated at the time of the Roman Empire as the chief seat of the worship of Diana and of the magical practices associated with that worship; and Ephesus became more celebrated still in Christian times as the city where one of the great cumenical Councils was held which served to determine the expression of the Churchs faith in her Divine Lord and Master. It must then be of great interest to the Christian student to note the first beginnings of such a vast transformation as that whereby a chief seat of pagan idolatry was turned into a special stronghold of Christian orthodoxy. Let us then devote this chapter to tracing the upgrowth of the Ephesian Church, and to noting the lessons the modern Church may derive therefrom.

St. Paul terminated his work in Corinth some time about the middle or towards the close of the year 53 A.D. In the early summer of that year Gallio came as proconsul to Achaia, and the Jewish riot was raised. After a due interval, to show that he was not driven out by Jewish machinations, St. Paul determined to return once more to Jerusalem and Antioch, which he had left some four years at least before. He went down therefore to Cenchreae, the port of departure for passengers going from Corinth to Ephesus, Asia Minor, and Syria. A Christian Church had been established there by the exertions of St. Paul or some of his Corinthian disciples. As soon as an early Christian was turned from sin to righteousness, from the adoration of idols to the worship of the true God, he began to try and do something for Him whose love and grace he had experienced. It was no wonder that the Church then spread rapidly when all its individual members were instinct with life, and every one considered himself personally responsible to labour diligently for God. The Church of Cenchreae was elaborately organised. It had not only its deacons, it had also its deaconesses, one of whom, Phoebe, was specially kind and useful to St. Paul upon his visits to that busy seaport, and is by him commended to the help and care of the Roman Church. {Rom 16:1-2}

From Cenchreae St. Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla sailed for Ephesus, where, as we have already hinted, it is most likely the latter pair had some special business avocations which led them to stay at that city. They may have been large manufacturers of tents, and have had a branch establishment at Ephesus, which was then a great mercantile emporium for that part of Asia Minor.

An incidental remark of the sacred writer “having shorn his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow,” has raised a controverted question. Some refer this expression to Aquila, and I think with much the greater probability. It was customary with the Jews at that time when in any special danger to take a temporary Nazarite vow, binding themselves to abstain from wine and from cutting their hair till a certain definite period had elapsed. Then when the fixed date had arrived, the hair was cut off and preserved till it could be burned in the fire of a sacrifice offered up at Jerusalem upon the individuals next visit to the Holy City. The grammatical order of the words naturally refer to Aquila as the maker of this vow; but I cannot agree in one reason urged for this latter theory. Some have argued that it was impossible for Paul to have made this vow; that it would, in fact, have been a return to the bondage of Judaism, which would have been utterly inconsistent on his part. People who argue thus do not understand St. Pauls position with respect to Jewish rites as being things utterly unimportant, and, as such, things which a wise born Jew would do well to observe in order to please his countrymen. If St. Paul made a vow at Corinth it would have been simply an illustration of his own. principle, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order that I might gain the Jews.” But further, I must say that the taking of a vow, though derived from Judaism, need not have necessarily appeared to St. Paul and the men of his time a purely Jewish ceremony. Vows, in fact, naturally passed over from Judaism to Christianity. Vows, indeed, of this peculiar character, and with this peculiar external sign of long hair, are no longer customary amongst Christians; but surely special vows cannot be said to have gone out of fashion, when we consider the wide spread of the teetotal movement, with its vows identical in one important element with that of the Nazarites! But viewing the matter from a still wider standpoint, people, when contending thus, forget what a large part the tradition of ancient customs must have played in the life, manners, and customs of St. Paul. All his early life he was a strict Pharisaic Jew, and down to the end of life his early training must have largely modified his habits. To take but one instance, pork was the common and favourite food of the Romans at this period. Now I am sure that St. Paul would have vigorously resisted all attempts to prevent the Gentile Christians eating bacon or ham; but I should not be in the least surprised if St. Paul, trained in Pharisaic habits, never once touched a food he had been taught to abhor from his earliest youth. Life is a continuous thing, and the memories of the past are very powerful. We can to this day trace among ourselves many customs and traditions dating back to the times antecedent to the Reformation, and much farther. The fires still lighted on St. Johns Eve throughout Ireland, and once customary in Scotland, are survivals of the times of Druidical paganism in these islands. The ceremonies and social customs of Shrove Tuesday and Hallow Een are survivals of the rude mirth of our pre-Reformation forefathers, on the nights before a celebrated fast, Ash Wednesday, in one case, before a celebrated feast, All Saints Day, in the other. Or perhaps I may take another instance more closely analogous still which every reader can verify for himself. The use of the Church of England has to this day a curious instance of the power of tradition as opposed to written law. There is a general rubric placed in the Book of Common Prayer before the first Lords Prayer. It runs as follows: “Then the minister shall kneel and say the Lords Prayer with an audible voice; the people also kneeling and repeating it with him, both here, and wheresoever else it is used in Divine Service.” This rubric plainly prescribes that clergy and people shall always say the Lords Prayer conjointly. And yet, let my readers go into any church of the Anglican Communion on Sunday next, I care not what the tone of its theological thought, and observe the first Lords Prayer used at the beginning of the Communion Service. They will find that this general rubric is universally neglected, and the celebrating priest says the opening Lords Prayer by himself with no voice of the people raised to accompany him. Now whence comes this universal fact? It is simply an illustration of the strength of tradition. It is a survival of the practice before the Reformation handed down by tradition to the present time, and overriding a positive and written law. In the days before the Reformation, as in the Roman Catholic Church of the present day, the opening Dominical or Lords Prayer in the Mass was said by the priest alone. When the service was translated into English the old custom still prevailed, and has lasted to the present day. This was only human nature, which abhors unnecessary changes, and is intensely conservative of every practice which is linked with the fond memories of the past. This human nature was found strong in St. Paul, as in other men, and it would have argued no moral or spiritual weakness, no desire to play fast and loose with gospel liberties, had he, instead of Aquila, resorted to the old Jewish practice and bound himself by a vow in connection with some special blessing which he had received, or some special danger he had incurred. When we are studying the Acts we must never forget that Judaism gave the tone and form, the whole outer framework to Christianity, even as England gave the outward shape and form to the constitutions of the United States and her own numberless colonies throughout the world. St. Paul did not invent a brand-new religion, as some people think; he changed as little as possible, so that his own practice and worship must have been to mere pagan eyes exactly the same as that of the Jews, as indeed we might conclude beforehand from the fact that the Roman authorities seem to have viewed the Christians as a mere Jewish sect down to the close of the second century.

I. Let us now take a rapid survey of the extensive journey which our book disposes of in very concise fashion. St. Paul and his companions, Aquila and Priscilla, Timothy and Silas, sailed from Cenchreae to Ephesus, which city up to this seems to have been untouched by Christian influences. St. Paul, in the earlier portion of his second tour, had been prohibited by the Holy Spirit from preaching in Ephesus, or in any portion of the provinces of Asia or Bithynia. Important as the human eye of St. Paul may have viewed them, still the Divine Guide of the Church saw that neither Asia nor Bithynia, with all their magnificent cities, their accumulated wealth, and their political position, were half so important as the cities and provinces of Europe, viewed from the standpoint of the worlds conversion. But now the gospel has secured a substantial foothold in Europe, has taken a firm grasp of that imperial race which then ruled the world, and so the Apostle is permitted to visit Ephesus for the first time. He seems to have then paid a mere passing visit to it, lasting perhaps while the ship discharged the portion of her cargo destined for Ephesus. But St. Paul never allowed time to hang heavy on his hands for want of employment. He left Aquila and Priscilla engaged in their mercantile transactions, and, entering himself into the principal synagogue, proceeded to expound his views. These do not seem to have then aroused any opposition; nay, the Jews even went so far as to desire him to tarry longer and open out his doctrines at greater length. We may conclude from this that St. Paul did not remain during this first visit much beyond one Sabbath day. If he had bestowed a second Sabbath day upon the Ephesian synagogue, his ideas and doctrines would have been made so clear and manifest that the Jews would not have required much further exposition in order to see their drift. St. Paul, after promising a second visit to them, left his old friends and associates, Aquila and his wife, with whom he had lived for nearly two years, at Ephesus, and pushed on to Casarea, a town which he must have already well known, and with which he was subsequently destined to make a long and unpleasant acquaintanceship, arriving at Jerusalem in time probably for the Feast of Tabernacles, which was celebrated on September 16, A.D. 53. Concerning the details of that visit we know nothing. Four years at least must have elapsed since he had seen James and the other venerated heads of the Mother Church. We can imagine then how joyously he would have told them, how eagerly they would have heard the glad story of the wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through the power of Jesus Christ. After a short sojourn at Jerusalem St. Paul turned back to Caesarea, and thence went on to Antioch, the original seat of the Gentile mission for the propagation of the faith. After refreshing himself with the kindly offices of fraternal intercourse and conversation at this great Christian centre, where broad liberal sentiment and wide Christian culture, free from any narrow prejudices, must have infused a tone into society far more agreeable to St. Paul than the unprogressive Judaising views which flourished in Jerusalem, St. Paul then determined to set off upon his third great tour, which must have begun, at the earliest, some time in the spring of A.D. 54, as soon as the snows of winter had passed away and the passes through the Taurus Range into the central regions of Asia Minor had been opened. We know nothing more concerning the extended journey he took on this occasion. He seems to have avoided towns like Lystra and Derbe, and to have directed his march straight to Galatia, where he had sufficient work to engage all his thought. We have no mention of the names of the particular Churches where he laboured. Ancyra, as it was then called, Angora as it is now named, in all probability demanded St. Pauls attention. If he visited it, he looked as the traveller does still upon the temple dedicated to the deity of Augustus and of Rome, the ruins of which have attracted the notice of every modern antiquary. Glad, however, as we should have been to gratify our curiosity by details like these, we are obliged to content ourselves with the information which St. Luke gives us, that St. Paul “went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, stablishing all the disciples,” leaving us a speaking example of the energising power, the invigorating effects, of a visitation such as St. Paul now conducted, sustaining the weak, arousing the careless, restraining the rash, guiding the whole body of the Church with the counsels of sanctified wisdom and heavenly prudence. Then, after his Phrygian and Galatian work was finished, St. Paul betook himself to a field which he long since desired to occupy, and determined to fulfil the promise made a year previously at least to his Jewish friends of the Ephesian Synagogue.

II. Now we come to the foundation of the Ephesian Church some time in the latter part of the year 54 A.D. Here it may strike some reader as an extraordinary thing that more than twenty years after the Crucifixion Ephesus was as yet totally untouched by the gospel; so that the tidings of salvation were quite a novel sound in the great Asiatic capital. People sometimes think of the primitive Church as if, after the Day of Pentecost, every individual Christian rushed off to preach in the most distant parts of the world, and that the whole earth was evangelised straight off. They forget the teaching of Christ about the gospel leaven, and leaven never works all on a heap as it were; it is slow, regular, progressive in its operations. The tradition, too, that the apostles did not leave Jerusalem till twelve years after His ascension ought to be a sufficient corrective of this false notion; and though this tradition may not have any considerable historical basis, yet it shows that the primitive Church did not cherish the very modern idea that enormous and immediate successes followed upon the preaching of the gospel after Pentecost, and that the conversion of vast populations at once occurred. The case was exactly contrary. For many a long year nothing at all was done towards the conversion of the Gentile world, and then for many another long year the preaching of the gospel among the Gentiles entirely depended upon St. Paul alone. He was the one evangelist of the Gentiles, and therefore it is no wonder he should. have said in 1Co 1:7, “Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel.” He was the one man fitted to deal with the prejudices, the ignorance, the sensuality, the grossness with which the Gentile world was overspread, and therefore no other work, no matter how important, was to be allowed to interfere with that one task which he alone could perform. This seems to me the explanation of the question which might otherwise cause some difficulty, how was it that the Ephesians, Jews and Gentiles alike, inhabiting this distinguished city, were still in such dire ignorance of the gospel message twenty years after the Ascension? Now let us come to the story of the circumstances amid which Ephesian Christianity took its rise. St. Paul, as we have already said, paid a passing visit to Ephesus just a year before when going up to Jerusalem, when he seems to have made a considerable impression in the synagogue. He left behind him Aquila and Priscilla, who, with their household, formed a small Christian congregation, meeting doubtless for the celebration of the Lords Supper in their own house while yet frequenting the stated worship of the synagogue. This we conclude from the following circumstance, which is expressly mentioned in Act 18:26. Apollos, a Jew, born in Alexandria, and a learned man, as was natural coming from that great centre of Greek and Oriental culture, came to Ephesus. He had been baptised by some of Johns disciples, either at Alexandria or in Palestine. It may very possibly have been at Alexandria. St. Johns doctrines and followers may have spread to Alexandria by that time, as we are expressly informed they had been diffused as far as Ephesus. {Act 19:1-4} Apollos, when he came to Ephesus, entered, like St. Paul, into the synagogue, and “spake and taught carefully the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John.” He knew about Jesus Christ, but with an imperfect knowledge such merely as John himself possessed. This man began to speak boldly in the synagogue on the topic of the Messiah whom John had preached. Aquila and Priscilla were present in the synagogue, heard the disputant, recognised his earnestness and his defects, and then, having taken him, expounded to him the way of God more fully, initiating him into the full mysteries of the faith by baptism into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This incident has an important bearing upon the foundation and development of the Ephesian Church, but it bears more directly still upon the point on which we have been dwelling. Apollos disputed in the synagogues where Aquila and Priscilla heard him, so that they must have been regular worshippers there, notwithstanding their Christian profession and their close intercourse with St. Paul for more than eighteen months. After a little time further, Apollos desired to pass over to Greece. The little Christian Church which met at Aquilas house told him of the wonders they had seen and heard in Achaia and of the flourishing state of the Church in Corinth. They gave him letters commendatory to that Church, whither Apollos passed over, and rendered such valuable help that his name a year or two later became one of the watchwords of Corinthian party strife. The way was now prepared for St. Pauls great mission to Ephesus, exceeding in length any mission he had hitherto conducted, surpassing in its duration of three years the time spent even at Corinth itself. His own brief visit of the year before, the visit and work of the Alexandrian Jew, the quiet conversations, the holy lives, the sanctified examples of Aquila and Priscilla, these had done the preliminary work. They had roused expectation, provoked discussion, developed thought. Everything was ready for the great masterful teacher to step upon the ground and complete the work which he had already so auspiciously begun.

I do not propose to discuss the roads by which St. Paul may have travelled through the province of Asia on this eventful visit, nor to discuss the architectural features, or the geographical position of the city of Ephesus. These things I shall leave to the writers who have treated of St. Pauls life. I now confine myself to the notices inserted by St. Luke concerning the Apostles Ephesian work, and about it I note that upon his arrival St. Paul came in contact with a small congregation of the disciples of John the Baptist, who had hitherto escaped the notice of the small Church existing at Ephesus. This need not excite our wonder. We are apt to think that because Christianity is now such a dominant element in our own intellectual and religious atmosphere it must always have been the same. Ephesus, too, was then an immense city, with a large population of Jews, who may have had many synagogues. These few disciples of John the Baptist may have worshipped in a synagogue which never heard of the brief visit of a Cilician Jew, a teacher named Saul of Tarsus, much less of the quiet efforts of Aquila and Priscilla, the tentmakers, lately come from Corinth. St. Paul, on his second visit, soon came in contact with these men. He at once asked them a question which tested their position and attainments in the Divine life, and sheds for us a vivid light upon apostolic doctrine and practice. “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?” is plainly an inquiry whether they had enjoyed the blessing connected with the solemn imposition of hands, from which has been derived the rite of confirmation, as I showed in the previous Part. The disciples soon revealed the imperfect character of their religion by their reply: “Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was,” words which led St. Paul to demand what in that case was the nature of their baptism. “Into what then were ye baptised?” and they said, “Into Johns baptism.”

Now the simple explanation of the disciples ignorance was that they had been baptised with Johns baptism, which had no reference to or mention of the Holy Ghost. St. Paul, understanding them to be baptised disciples, could not understand their ignorance of the personal existence and present power of the Holy Ghost, till he learned from them the nature of their baptism, and then his surprise ceased. But then we must observe that the question of the Apostle astonished at their defective state – “Into what then were ye baptised?” – implies that, if baptised with Christian baptism, they would have known of the existence of the Holy Ghost, and therefore further implies that the baptismal formula into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, was of universal application among Christians; for surely if this formula were not universally used by the Church, many Christians might be in exactly the same position as these disciples of John, and never have heard of the Holy Ghost! St. Paul, having expounded the difference between the inchoate, imperfect, beginning knowledge, of the Baptist, and the richer, fuller teaching of Jesus Christ, then handed them over for further preparation to his assistants, by whom, after due fasting and prayer, they were baptised, and at once presented to the Apostle for the imposition of hands; when the Holy Ghost was vouchsafed in present effects, “they spake with tongues and prophesied,” as if to sanction in a special manner the decided action taken by the Apostle on this occasion.

The details concerning this affair, given to us by the sacred writer, are most important. They set forth at greater length and with larger fulness the methods ordinarily used by the Apostle than on other similar occasions. The Philippian jailor was converted and baptised, but we read nothing of the imposition of hands. Dionysius and Damaris, Aquila and Priscilla, and many others at Athens and Corinth were converted, but there is no mention of either baptism or any other holy rite. It might have been very possible to argue that the silence of the writer implied utter contempt of the sacraments of the gospel and the rite of confirmation on these occasions, were it not that we have this detailed account of the manner in which St. Paul dealt with half-instructed, unbaptised, and unconfirmed disciples of Christ Jesus. They were instructed, baptised, and confirmed, and thus introduced into the fulness of blessing required by the discipline of the Lord, as ministered by His faithful servant. If this were the routine observed with those who had been taught “carefully the things of Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John,” how much more would it have been the case of those rescued out of the pollutions of paganism and called into the kingdom of light!

III. After this favourable beginning, and seeing the borders of the infant Church extended by the union of these twelve disciples, St. Paul, after his usual fashion, flung himself into work amongst the Jews of Ephesus upon whom he had previously made a favourable impression. He was well received for a time. He continued for three months “reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God.” But, as it was elsewhere, so was it at Ephesus, the offence of the Cross told in the long run upon the worshippers of the synagogue. The original Christian Church was Jewish. Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos and Timothy, and the disciples of John the Baptist would have excited no resentment in the minds of the Jews; but when St. Paul began to open out the hope which lay for Gentiles as well as for Jews in the gospel which he preached, then the objections of the synagogue were multiplied, riots and disturbances became, as elsewhere, matters of daily occurrence, and the opposition became at last so bitter that as at Corinth, so here again at Ephesus, the Apostle was obliged to separate his own followers, and gather them into the school of one Tyrannus, a teacher of philosophy or rhetoric, whom perhaps he had converted, where the blasphemous denunciations against the Divine Way which he taught could no longer be heard. In this school or lecture-hall St. Paul continued labouring for more than two years, bestowing upon the city of Ephesus a longer period of continuous labour than he ever vouchsafed to any place else. We have St. Pauls own statement as to his method of life at this period in the address he subsequently delivered to the elders of Ephesus. The Apostle pursued at Ephesus the same course which he adopted at Corinth, in one important direction at least. He supported himself and his immediate companions, Timothy and Sosthenes, by his own labour, and that we may presume for precisely the same reason at Ephesus as at Corinth. He desired to cut off all occasion of accusation against himself. Ephesus was a city devoted to commerce and to magic. It was full of impostors too, many of them Jewish, who made gain out of the names of angels and magical formulae derived from the pretended wisdom of Solomon handed down to them by secret succession, or derived by them from contact with the lands of the far distant East. St. Paul determined, therefore, that he would give no opportunity of charging him with trading upon the credulity of his followers, or working with an eye to covetous or dishonest gains. “I coveted no mans silver or gold or apparel. Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me,” is the description he gave of the manner in which he discharged his apostolic office in Ephesus, when addressing the elders of that city. We can thus trace St. Paul labouring at his trade as a tentmaker for nearly a period of five years, combining the time spent at Ephesus with that spent at Corinth. Notwithstanding, however, the attention and energy which this exercise of his trade demanded, he found time for enormous evangelistic and pastoral work. In fact, we find St. Paul nowhere else so much occupied with pastoral work as at Ephesus. Elsewhere we see the devoted evangelist, rushing in with the pioneers, breaking down all hindrances, heading the stormers to whom were committed the fiercest struggle, the most deadly conflict, and then at once moving into fresh conflicts, leaving the spoils of victory and the calmer work of peaceful pastoral labours to others. But here in Ephesus we see St. Pauls marvellous power of adaptation. He is at one hour a clever artisan, capable of gaining support sufficient for others as well as for himself; then he is the skilful controversialist “reasoning daily in the school of one Tyrannus”; and then he is the indefatigable pastor of souls “teaching publicly, and from house to house,” and “ceasing not to admonish every one night and day with tears.”

But this was not all, or nearly all, the burden the apostle carried. He had to be perpetually on the alert against Jewish plots. We hear nothing directly of Jewish attempts on his life or liberty during the period of just three years which he spent on this prolonged visit. We might be sure, however, from our previous experience of the synagogues, that he must have run no small danger in this direction; but then when we turn to the same address we hear something of them. He is recalling to the minds of the Ephesian elders the circumstances of his life in their community from the beginning, and he therefore appeals thus: “Ye yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time, serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me with plots of the Jews.” Ephesus again was a great field wherein he personally worked; it was also a great centre for missionary operations which he superintended. It was the capital of the province of Asia, the richest and most important of all the Roman provinces, teeming with resources, abounding in highly civilised and populous cities, connected with one another by an elaborate network of admirably constructed roads. Ephesus was cut out by nature and by art alike as a missionary centre whence the gospel should radiate out into all the surrounding districts. And so it did. “All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks,” is the testimony of St. Luke with respect to the wondrous progress of the gospel, not in Ephesus alone, but also throughout all the province, a statement which we find corroborated a little lower down in the same nineteenth chapter by the independent testimony of Demetrius the silversmith, who, when he was endeavouring to stir up his fellow-craftsmen to active exertions in defence of their endangered trade, says, “Ye see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people.” St. Pauls disciples laboured, too, in the other cities of Asia, as Epaphras, for instance, in Colossae. And St. Paul himself, we may be certain, bestowed the Lifts and blessings of his apostolic office by visiting these local Churches, as far as he could consistently with the pressing character of his engagements in Ephesus. But even the superintendence of vast missions throughout the province of Asia did not exhaust the prodigious labours of St. Paul. He perpetually bore about in his bosom anxious thoughts for the welfare, trials, and sorrows of the numerous Churches he had established in Europe and Asia alike. He was constant in prayers for them, mentioning the individual members by name, and he was unwearied in keeping up communications with them, either by verbal messages or by written epistles, one specimen of which remains in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, written to them from Ephesus, and showing us the minute care, the comprehensive interest, the intense sympathy which dwelt within his breast with regard to his distant converts all the while that the work at Ephesus, controversial, evangelistic, and pastoral, to say nothing at all of his tent making, was making the most tremendous demands on body and soul alike, and apparently absorbing all his attention. It is only when we thus realise bit by bit what the weak, delicate, emaciated Apostle must have been doing, that we are able to grasp the full meaning of his own words to the Corinthians: “Besides those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the Churches.”

This lengthened period of intense activity of mind and body terminated in an incident which illustrates the peculiar character of St. Pauls Ephesian ministry. Ephesus was a town where the spiritual and moral atmosphere simply reeked with the fumes, ideas, and practices of Oriental paganism, of which the magical incantations formed the predominant feature. Magic prevailed all over the pagan world at this time. In Rome, however, magical practices were always more or less under the ban of public opinion, though at times resorted to by those whose office called upon them to suppress illegal actions. A couple of years before the very time at which we have arrived, workers in magic, among whom were included astrologers, or mathematicians, as the Roman law called them, were banished from Rome simultaneously with the Jews, who always enjoyed an unenviable notoriety for such occult practices. In Asia Minor and the East they flourished at this time under the patronage of religion, and continued to flourish in all the great cities down to Christian times. Christianity itself could not wholly banish magic, which retained its hold upon the half-converted Christians who flocked into the Church in crowds during the second half of the fourth century; and we learn from St. Chrysostom himself, that when a young man he had a narrow escape for his life owing to the continuance of magical practices in Antioch, more than three hundred years after St. Paul. It is no wonder that when Dianas worship reigned supreme at Ephesus magical practices should also flourish there. If, however, there existed a special development of the power of evil at Ephesus, God also bestowed a special manifestation of Divine power in the person and ministry of St. Paul, as St. Luke expressly declares: “God wrought special miracles by the hand of Paul, insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits departed from them.” This passage has often been found a stumbling-block by many persons. They have thought that it has a certain legendary air about it, as they in turn think there is a certain air of legend about the similar passage in Act 5:12-16, which makes much the same statement about St. Peter. When writing about this latter passage (Chap. XII above), I offered some suggestions which lessen, if they do not quite take away, the difficulty; to these I shall now only refer my readers. But I think we can see a local reason for the peculiar development or manifestation of miraculous power through St. Paul. The devils seat was just then specially at Ephesus, so far as the great province of Asia was concerned. The powers of evil had concentrated all their force and all their wealth of external grandeur, intellectual cleverness, and spiritual trickery in order to lead men captive; and there God, in order that He might secure a more striking victory for truth upon this magnificent stage, armed His faithful servant with an extraordinary development of the good powers of the world to come, enabling him to work special wonders in the sight of the heathen. Can we not read an echo of the fearful struggle just then waged in the metropolis of Asia in words addressed some years later to the members of the same Church, “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”? We make a great mistake when we think of the Apostles as working miracles when and as they liked. At times their evangelistic work seems to have been conducted without any extraordinary manifestations, and then at other times, when the power of Satan was specially put forth, God displayed His special strength, enabling His servants to work wonders and signs in His name. It was much the same as in the Old Testament. The Old Testament miracles will be found to cluster themselves round the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, and its Reformation at the hand of Elijah. So, too, the recorded miracles of the Apostles will be found to gather round St. Peters earlier work in Jerusalem, where Satan strove to counter-work Gods designs in one way, and St. Pauls ministry in Ephesus, where Satan strove to counter-work them in another way. One incident at Ephesus attracted special attention. There was a priestly family, consisting of seven sons, belonging to the Jews at Ephesus. Their father had occupied high position among the various courses which in turn served the Temple, even as Zacharias, the father of the Baptist, did. These men observed the power with which St. Paul dealt with human spirits disordered by the powers of evil, using for that purpose the sacred name of Jesus. They undertook to use the same sacred invocation; but it proved, like the censers of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, a strange fire kindled against their own souls. The man possessed by the evil spirit recognised not their presumptuous efforts, but attacked them, and did them serious bodily injury. This circumstance spread the fame of the man of God wider and wider. The power of magic and of the demons fell before him, even as the image of Dagon fell before the Ark. Many of the nominal believers in Christianity had still retained their magical practices as of yore, even as nominal Christians retained them in the days of St. Chrysostom. The reality of St. Pauls power, demonstrated by the awful example of Scevas sons, smote them in their inmost conscience. They came, confessed their deeds, brought their magical books together, and gave the greatest proof of their honest convictions; for they burned them in the sight of all, and counting the price thereof found it fifty thousand pieces of silver, or more than two thousand pounds of our money. “So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed” in the very chosen seat of the Ephesian Diana.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

Disfruta de miles de canciones cristianas en exclusiva sólo en Bibles