While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus and found certain disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said to him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
He said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke with other languages and prophesied. They were about twelve men in all. He entered into the synagogue and spoke boldly for a period of three months, reasoning and persuading about the things concerning God’s Kingdom.
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. This continued for two years, so that all those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out. But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.
The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds. Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted their price, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.
Now after these things had ended, Paul determined 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.”
Having sent into Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen, whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth. You see and hear that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods that are made with hands. Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships.”
When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel. When Paul wanted to enter in to the people, the disciples didn’t allow him. Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn’t know why they had come together. They brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made a defense to the people. But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, “You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? Seeing then that these things can’t be denied, you ought to be quiet and to do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them press charges against one another. But if you seek anything about other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly. For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning today’s riot, there being no cause. Concerning it, we wouldn’t be able to give an account of this commotion.” When he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 37 1. Luke showeth here that the Church of Ephesus…
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.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27, 31, 34, 35, 38, 39 Paul being nothing offended at the rudeness of the…
Paul being nothing offended at the rudeness of the Ephesians, planted a Church among them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–41 1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos…
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.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–41 The upper coasts; the north parts, in which were…
The upper coasts; the north parts, in which were Pontus, Bithynia, Phrygia, and Galatia, Act 18:23.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 13, 21, 30, 35 The latter end of the foregoing chapter informed us…
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.
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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.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 13, 21 Ephesus was a city of great note in Asia,…
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 (Act 19:1); 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 (Co1 1:12), 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 (Act 19:7); they were much of the standing that Apollos was of when he came to Ephesus (for he knew only the baptism of John, Act 18:25), 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.
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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, Co2 1:22; Co2 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 (Luk 11:13); 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 Iōannou 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, Joh 3:26. 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, Act 19:5. As for Apollos, of whom it was said (Act 18:25) 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 (Co1 1:13); 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, Act 19:6. 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 48:14. 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 44:3. 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, Act 10:44. 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.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–37 He said unto them, have ye received the Holy…
He said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost,.... Meaning, not the special regenerating and sanctifying grace of the Holy Ghost, for that is supposed in their being disciples and believers, but the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, for it follows,
since ye believed? that is, in Christ; which is taking it for granted, that they had received the special grace of the Spirit of God; for this believing is to be understood of true, spiritual, special faith in Christ:
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and they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost; by which they could not mean the person of the Holy Ghost: for they must have known that there was such a divine person as the Holy Ghost, from the writings of the Old Testament, with which they were conversant: and from the ministry of John, into whose baptism they were baptized; who saw the Spirit of God descend on Jesus, and bore witness of it; and declared, that Christ who was to come after him, would baptize with the Holy Ghost: nor could they mean the special grace of the Spirit, which they themselves had received; but the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit of God, which they at present knew nothing of, and which were afterwards bestowed upon them: they knew that there were prophecies in the Old Testament, concerning the effusion of the Spirit in the last days, in the days of the Messiah; but they had not heard that these had had their accomplishment; they had heard nothing of the day of Pentecost, and of the pouring out of the Spirit upon the apostles then, nor of any instance of this kind since; they did not know that the Holy Ghost was yet, Joh 7:39 they knew he was promised, but not that he was given; the Ethiopic version, to avoid the difficulty of the text, renders it, "we have only heard that there was an Holy Ghost".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40 Having passed through - Galatia and Phrygia, which were…
Having passed through - Galatia and Phrygia, which were termed the upper parts of Asia Minor. Certain disciples - Who had been formerly baptized by John the Baptist, and since imperfectly instructed in Christianity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 Paul, coming to Ephesus, finds certain disciples who had…
CHAPTER XIX.
Paul, coming to Ephesus, finds certain disciples who had not
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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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 8, 11, 13, 17, 21, 23, 28, 30, 33, 35 Act 19:1. While Apollos was at Corinth — Preaching…
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 Εφεσια γραμματα, 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.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–41 While Apollos was at Corinth - It is probable…
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.
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Came to Ephesus - Agreeably to his promise, Act 18:21.
And finding certain disciples - Certain persons who had been baptized into John’s baptism, and who had embraced John’s 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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 12, 13, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 31, 35, 37 Disciples. These were apparently disciples of St. John the…
Disciples. These were apparently disciples of St. John the Baptist, who believed in Christ from his testimony, and had received no farther instruction, nor any baptism but John’s. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
John Nelson Darby 1862 · Public Domain On v1 Acts Chapter 19
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.
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In that which follows we find, on another side, the progress of the divine revelation in union with Paul’s 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 John’s 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 Christ’s coming. But it was a baptism unto repentance for man on the earth, and not Christ’s death and resurrection. Grace acted in a remnant, but of whom Jesus was a companion on earth. Now Christianity (for man’s 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 John’s 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 Christ’s 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 enemy’s 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 enemy’s 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 men’s 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 elect’s sake, that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory,” words which would not be improper in the Lord’s 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 body’s 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 Paul’s 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 Ghost’s 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 apostle’s history, and throws light upon his labours.
30: The reader must distinguish between the Lord’s 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.
John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 21 § III. Arrival of the apostle Paul at Ephesus.…
§ 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
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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 John’s baptism. 4Then said Paul [But Paul said], John verily [indeed, μὲν] 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, ἐπιθέντος] 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 ἀνωτερικὰ μέρη 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 μαθητάς, 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 πιστεύσαντες [“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 ἀλλά, with which their answer begins, implies that it is given in the negative, as if it began with “No !” [The negative is absorbed by ἀλλά; 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 heard—but: 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: εἰς τὸν Ἰωάννην; 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 John’s 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 imported—he says—only a change of mind; it was simply a baptism of repentance, combined with the obligation to believe on Him who should come after John. Ἵνα 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 ἵνα πιστεύσωσι, 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 (λέγων) of John referred. [See this point—that the writers of the N. T. sometimes employed ἵνα, where according to the rules of Greek prose writers, a simple infinitive (pres. or aor. but not perf.) might have been expected—established, 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. (Εἰς τὸ ὄνομα, 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 μαθηταἰ, 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 (Mandæans) 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. Mendäer. [Vol. IX. 318–324.—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 Baptism—a 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 Paul’s 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 appeared—a 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 John’s 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 Father—then, ye have received the adoption as sons of God; II. Unto God the Son—then, ye have redemption in him through his blood; III. Unto God the Holy Ghost—then, 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 μέρη, 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. ευριν], some minuscules, and Vulg. adopt the reading (in Act_19:1) εὑρεῖν, and in Act_19:2, ἐ͂ιπέν τε [found in A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin.], whereas the reading εὑρὼν—εῖ̓πε [of text. rec. from E. G. H.] is evidently a conjectural emendation.
[3]Act_19:2. εῖ̓πον [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 πρὸς αὐτούς [of text. rec. from G. H.] is also spurious. [Omitted in A. B. D. E., Vulg., and by recent editors.—Cod. Sin. reads: ὁ δὲ ὲῖ̓πεν̇ Eἱς τί.—Tr.]
[5]Act_19:4. Xριστόν before Ἰησοῦν 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 τὸν Xρ.—Mὲν, after Ἰωάννης 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 δέ occurs in the words which Paul pronounced. But those interpreters who regard Act_19:5, as the continuation of Paul’s address, find the correlative δὲ in that verse.—Tr.]
[6]Act_19:7. [For the Hebraistic δεκαδύο of text. rec. from G. H., and found also in some minuscules, fathers, etc., Lach., Tisch., and Born, read δώδεκα, from A. B. D. E. Cod. Sin., minuscules, etc. Alf. retains the less usual form of the text. rec.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?--rather,…
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?--rather, "Received ye the Holy Ghost when ye believed?" implying, certainly, that the one did not of necessity carry the other along with it (see on Act 8:14-17). Why this question was asked, we cannot tell; but it was probably in consequence of something that passed between them from which the apostle was led to suspect the imperfection of their light.
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost--This cannot be the meaning, since the personality and office of the Holy Ghost, in connection with Christ, formed an especial subject of the Baptist's teaching. Literally, the words are, "We did not even hear whether the Holy Ghost was (given)"; meaning, at the time of their baptism. That the word "given" is the right supplement, as in Joh 7:39, seems plain from the nature of the case.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41 PAUL AT EPHESUS, Act_19:1-41.
PAUL AT EPHESUS, Act_19:1-41.
Rebaptism of the Twelve. John’s Disciples, Act_19:1-7.
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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.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–41 Act_19:1-7. Paul returning to Ephesus finds there some 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.
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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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–40 (1) Paul having passed through the upper coasts.—This implies…
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.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40 Country for coasts, A.V.; found for finding, A.V. and…
Country for coasts, A.V.; found for finding, A.V. and T.R. The upper country (ta ajnwterikarh); 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.
Vers. 1-20. The advance.
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The founding of a Church at Ephesus, the capital city of Proconsular Asia
-a 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 games is 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 (A.D. 107) carries on the tradition; and we learn from later ecclesiastical history how important a position Ephesus held, being styled hJ prwth kaisth mhtropoliv thv Asiav. 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)
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON. Vers. 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. (Vers. 1-5.) At Ephesus Paul met with disciples who had been baptized "unto John"s baptism" (ver. 3), but who had not learnt to exercise faith in Jesus Christ, nor even heard that there was a Holy Ghost (ver. 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. (Ver. 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 C. (Gal_5:22; Eph_5:9)
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 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.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 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.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 8, 9, 13, 15, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 29, 32 Act_18:1-28; Act_19:1-7
Act_18:1-28; Act_19:1-7
And he went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches.
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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.)
.
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.)
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.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v23 Chapter 15
Chapter 15
THE EPHESIAN RIOT AND A PRUDENT TOWN CLERK.
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Act_19:23-28
ST. PAULS labours at Ephesus covered, as he informs us himself, when addressing the elders of that city, a space of three years. The greater portion of that period had now expired, and had been spent in peaceful labours so far as the heathen world and the Roman authorities were concerned. The Jews, indeed, had been very troublesome at times. It is in all probability to them and their plots St. Paul refers when in 1Co_15:32 he says, "If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me?" as the unbelieving Gentiles do not seem to have raised any insurrection against his teaching till he felt his work was done, and he was, in fact, preparing to leave Ephesus. Before, however, we proceed to discuss the startling events which finally decided his immediate departure, we must consider a brief passage which connects the story of Scevas sons and their impious temerity with that of the silversmith Demetrius and the Ephesian riot.
The incident connected with Scevas sons led to the triumph over the workers in magic, when the secret professors of that art came and publicly acknowledged their hidden sins, proving their reality by burning the instruments of their wickedness. Here, then, St. Luke inserts a notice which has proved to be of the very greatest importance in the history of the Christian Church. Let us insert it in full that we may see its bearing: "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. And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while." This passage tells us that St. Paul, after his triumph over the practices of magic, and feeling too that the Church had been effectually cleansed, so far as human foresight and care could effect it, from the corroding effects of the prevalent Ephesian vice, now determined to transfer the scene of his labours to Macedonia and Achaia, wishing to visit those Churches which five years before he had founded.. It was full five years, at least, since he had seen the Philippian, Thessalonian, and Beroean congregations. Better than three years had elapsed since he had left Corinth, the scene of more prolonged work than he had ever bestowed on any other city except Ephesus. He had heard again and again from all these places, and some of the reports, especially those from Corinth, had been very disquieting. The Apostle wished, therefore, to go and see for himself how the Churches of Christ in Macedonia and Achaia were faring. He next wished to pay a visit to Jerusalem to consult with his brethren, and then felt his destiny pushing him still westwards, desiring to see Rome, the worlds capital, and the Church which had sprung up there, of which his friends Priscilla and Aquila must have told him much. Such seem to have been his intentions in the spring of the year 57, to which his three years sojourn in Ephesus seems now to have brought him.
The interval of time covered by the two verses which I have quoted above is specially interesting, because it was just then that the First Epistle to the Corinthians was written. All the circumstances and all the indications of time which the Epistle itself offers conspire to fix the writing of it to this special date and place. The Epistle, for instance, refers to Timothy as having been already sent into Macedonia and Greece: "For this cause I have sent unto you Timothy, who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which be in Christ." {1Co_4:17} In Act_19:22 we have it stated, "Having sent into Macedonia Timothy and Erastus." The Epistle again plainly tells us the very season of the year in which it was written. The references to the Passover season-"For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ; wherefore let us keep the feast"-are words which naturally were suggested by the actual celebration of the Jewish feast, to a mind like St. Pauls, which readily grasped at every passing allusion or chance incident to illustrate his present teaching. Timothy and Erastus had been despatched in the early spring, as soon as the passes and roads were thoroughly open and navigation established. The Passover in A.D. 57 happened on April 7, and the Apostle fixes the exact date of the First Epistle to Corinth, when in the sixteenth chapter and eighth verse he says to the Corinthians, "I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost." I merely refer now to this point to illustrate the vastness of the Apostles labours, and to call attention to the necessity for comparing together the Acts and the Epistles in the minute manner exemplified by Paley in the "Horae Paulinae," if we wish to gain a complete view of a life like St. Pauls, so completely consecrated to one great purpose.
Man may propose, but even an apostle cannot dispose of his fate as he will, or foretell under ordinary circumstances how the course of events will affect him. St. Paul intended to stay at Ephesus till Pentecost, which that year happened on May 28. Circumstances, however, hastened his departure. We have been considering the story of St. Pauls residence in Ephesus, but hitherto we have not heard one word about the great Ephesian deity, Diana, as the Romans called her, or Artemis, as St. Luke, according to the ordinary local use, correctly calls her in the Greek text of the Acts, or Anaitis, as her ancient name had been from early times at Ephesus and throughout Asia Minor. If this riot had not happened, if our attention had not been thus called to Diana and her worship, there might have been a total blank in St. Lukes narrative concerning this famous deity, and her equally famous temple, which was at the time one of the wonders of the world. And then some scoffers reading in ancient history concerning the wonders of this temple, and finding the records of modern discoveries confirming the statements of antiquity, might have triumphantly pointed to St. Lukes silence about Diana and the Ephesian temple as a proof of his ignorance. A mere passing riot alone has saved us from this difficulty. Now this case well illustrates the danger of arguing from silence. Silence concerning any special point is sometimes used as a proof that a particular writer knew nothing about it. But this is not the sound conclusion. Silence proves in itself nothing more than that the person who is silent either had no occasion to speak upon that point or else thought it wiser or more expedient to hold his tongue. Josephus, for instance, is silent about Christianity; but that is no proof that Christianity did not exist in his time, or that he knew nothing about it. His silence may simply have arisen because he found Christianity an awkward fact, and not knowing how to deal with it he left it alone. It is well to bear this simple law of historical evidence in mind, for a great many of the popular objections to the sacred narratives, both of the Old and New Testaments, are based upon the very dangerous ground of silence alone. Let us, however, return to Diana of the Ephesians. The worship of the goddess Artemis dominated the whole city of Ephesus, and helped to shape the destinies of St. Paul at this season, for while intending to stay at Ephesus till Pentecost at the end of May, the annual celebration of Artemisia, the feast of the patron deity of the city, happened, of which celebration Demetrius took advantage to raise a disturbance which hastened St. Pauls departure into Macedonia.
We have now cleared the way for the consideration of the narrative of the riot, which is full of the most interesting information concerning the progress of the gospel, and offers us the most wonderful instances of the minute accuracy of St. Luke, which again have been illustrated and confirmed in the fullest manner by the researches so abundantly bestowed upon Ephesus within the lifetime of the present generation. Let us take the narrative in the exact order given us by St. Luke: "About that time there arose no small stir about the Way." But why about that special time? We have already said that here we find an indication of the date of the riot. It must have happened during the latter part of April, A.D. 57, and we know that at Ephesus almost the whole month of April, or Artemisius, was dedicated to the honour and worship of Artemis. But here it may be asked, How did it come to pass that Artemis or Diana occupied such a large share in the public worship of Ephesus and the province of Asia? Has modern research confirmed the impression which this chapter leaves upon the mind, that the Ephesian people were above all else devoted to the worship of the deity? The answers to both these queries are not hard to give, and serve to confirm our belief in the honesty and accuracy of the sacred penman. The worship of Artemis, or of Anaitis rather, prevailed in the peninsula of Asia Minor from the time of Cyrus, who introduced it six or seven centuries before. Anaitis was the Asiatic deity of fruitfulness, the same as Ashtoreth of the Bible, whom the Greeks soon identified with their own goddess Artemis. Her worship quickly spread, specially through that portion of the country which afterwards became the province of Asia, and through the adjacent districts; showing how rapidly an evil taint introduced into a nations spiritual life-blood spreads throughout its whole organisation, and when once introduced how persistently it holds its ground; a lesson taught here in New Testament times, as in Old Testament days it was proclaimed in Israels case by the oft-repeated statement concerning her kings, "Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam [king after king] departed not." The spiritual life and tone of a nation is a very precious thing, and because it is so the Church of England does well to bestow so much of her public supplication upon those who have power, like Cyrus and Jeroboam, to taint it at the very foundation and origin thereof. When, for instance, St. Paul landed at Perga in Pamphylia, on the first occasion when he visited Asia Minor as a Christian missionary, his eye was saluted with the splendid temple of Diana on the side of the hill beneath which the city was built, and all over the country at every important town similar temples were erected in her honour, where their ruins have been traced by modern travellers. The cult or worship introduced by Cyrus exactly suited the morals and disposition of these Oriental Greeks, and flourished accordingly.
Artemis was esteemed the protectress of the cities where her temples were built, which, as in the case of Ephesus and of Perga, were placed outside the gates like the temple of Jupiter at Lystra, in order that their presence might cast a halo of protection over the adjacent communities. The temple of Diana at Ephesus was a splendid building. It had been several times destroyed by fire notwithstanding its revered character and the presence of the sacred image, and had been as often rebuilt with greater splendour than before, till the temple was erected existing in St. Pauls day, which justly excited the wonder of mankind, as its splendid ruins have shown, which Mr. Wood has excavated in our own time at the expense of the English Government. The devotion of the Ephesians to this ancient Asiatic deity had even been increasing of late years when St. Paul visited Ephesus, as a decree still exists in its original shape graven in stone, exactly as St. Paul must have seen it, enacting extended honours to the deity. As this decree bears directly upon the famous riot which Demetrius raised, we insert it here in full, as an interesting confirmation and illustration of the sacred narrative: "To the Ephesian Diana. Forasmuch as it is notorious that not only among the Ephesians, but also everywhere among the Greek nations, temples are consecrated to her, and sacred precincts, and that she hath images and altars dedicated to her on account of her plain manifestations of herself, and that, besides, the greatest token of veneration paid to her, a month is called after her name, by us Artemision, by the Macedonians and other Greek nations and their cities, Artemisius, in which month general gatherings and festivals are celebrated, and more especially in our own city, the nurse of its own, the Ephesian goddess. Now the people of Ephesus deeming it proper that the whole month called by her name should be sacred and set apart to the goddess, have resolved by this decree, that the observation of it by them be altered. Therefore it is enacted, that the whole month Artemision in all the days of it shall be holy, and that throughout the month there shall be a continued celebration of feasts and the Artemisian festivals and the holy days, seeing that the entire month is sacred to the goddess; for from this improvement in her worship our city shall receive additional lustre and enjoy perpetual prosperity." Now this decree, which preceded St. Pauls labours perhaps by twenty years or more, has an important bearing on our subject. St. Luke tells us that "about this time there arose no small stir about the Way"; and it was only quite natural and quite in accord with what we know of other pagan persecutions, and of human nature in general, that the precise time at which the Apostle had then arrived should have been marked by this riot. The whole city of Ephesus was then given up to the celebration of the festival held in honour of what we may call the national religion and the national deity. That festival lasted the whole month, and was accompanied, as all human festivals are apt to be accompanied, with a vast deal of drunkenness and vice, as we are expressly told in an ancient Greek romance, written by a Greek of whom little is known, named Achilles Tatius. The people of Ephesus were, in fact, mad with excitement, and it did not require any great skill to stir them up to excesses in defence of the endangered deity whose worship was the glory of their city. We know from one or two similar cases that the attack made upon St. Paul at this pagan festival had exact parallels in these early ages.
This festival in honour of Diana was generally utilised as the meeting-time of the local diet or parliament of the province of Asia, where deputies from all the cities of the province met together to consult on their common wants and transmit their decisions to the proconsul, a point to which we shall later on have occasion to refer. Just ninety years later one of the most celebrated of the primitive martyrs suffered upon the same occasion at Smyrna. Polycarp, the disciple of St. John, lived to a very advanced period, and helped to hand down the tradition of apostolic life and doctrine to another generation. Polycarp is, in fact, through Ireaeus, one of the chief historic links uniting the Church of later times with the apostles. Polycarp suffered martyrdom amid the excitement raised during the meeting of the same diet of Asia held, not at Ephesus, but at Smyrna, and attended by the same religions ceremonies and observances. Or let us again turn towards the West, and we shall find it the same. The martyrdoms of Vienne and Lyons described by Eusebius in the fifth book of his history are among the most celebrated in the whole history of the Church, and as such have been already referred to and used in this commentary. These martyrdoms are an illustration of the same fact that the Christians were always exposed to peculiar danger at the annual pagan celebrations. The Gallic tribes, the seven nations of the Gauls, as they were called, were holding their annual diet or assembly, and celebrating the worship of the national deities when their zeal was excited to red-hot pitch against the Christians of Vienne and Lyons, resulting in the terrible outbreak of which Eusebius in his fifth book tells us. As it was in Gaul about 177 A.D. and in Smyrna about 155 A.D., So was it in Ephesus in the year 57; the months festival, celebrated in honour of Diana, accompanied with eating and drinking and idleness in abundance, told upon the populace, and made them ready for any excess, so that it is no wonder we should read, "About that time there arose no small stir about the Way." Then too there is another circumstance which may have stirred up Demetrius to special violence. His trade was probably falling off owing to St. Pauls labours, and this may have been brought home to him with special force by the results of the festival which was then in process of celebration or perhaps almost finished. All the circumstances fit this hypothesis. The shrine-makers were, we know, a very important element in the population of Ephesus. and the trade of shrine-making and the manufacture Of other silver ornaments conduced in no small degree to the commercial prosperity of the city of Ephesus. This is plainly stated upon the face of our narrative: "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 turned away much people." Facts which could not have been more forcibly brought home to them than by the decreasing call they were experiencing for the particular articles which they produced.
Now the question may be proposed, Was this the fact? Was Ephesus celebrated for its shrine-makers, and were shrines and silver ornaments a favourite manufacture in that city? Here modern research comes in to testify to the marked truthfulness, the minute accuracy of St. Luke. We do not now need to appeal to ancient authors, as "Lives of St. Paul" like those written by Mr. Lewin or by Messrs. Conybeare and Howson do. The excavations which have taken place at Ephesus since the publication of these valuable works have amply vindicated the historic character of our narrative on this point. Mr. Wood in the course of his excavations at Ephesus discovered a vast number of inscriptions and sculptures which had once adorned the temple of Ephesus, but upon its destruction had been removed to the theatre, which continued in full operation long after the pagan temple had disappeared. Among these inscriptions there was one enormous one brought to light. It was erected some forty years or so after St. Pauls time, but it serves in the minuteness of its details to illustrate the story of Demetrius, the speech he made, and the riot he raised. This inscription was raised in honour of a wealthy Roman named Gaius Vibius Salutarius, who had dedicated to Artemis a large number of silver images weighing from three to seven pounds each, and had even provided a competent endowment for keeping up a public festival in her honour, which was to be celebrated on the birthday of the goddess, which happened in the month of April or May. The inscription, which contains the particulars of the offering made by this Roman, would take up quite too much space if we desired to insert it. We can only now refer our readers to Mr. Woods book on Ephesus, where they will find it given at full length. A few lines may, however, be quoted to illustrate the extent to which the manufacture of silver shrines and silver ornaments in honour of Artemis must have flourished in Ephesus. This inscription enumerates the images dedicated to the goddess which Salutarius had provided by his endowments, entering into the most minute details as to their treatment and care. The following passage gives a vivid picture of Ephesian idolatry as the Apostle saw it: "Let two statues of Artemis of the weight of three pounds three ounces be religiously kept in the custody of Salutarius, who himself consecrated them, and after the death of Salutarius, let the aforesaid statues be restored to the town-clerk of the Ephesians, and let it be made a rule that they be placed in the public meetings above the seat of the council in the theatre before the golden statue of Artemis and the other statues. And a golden Artemis weighing three pounds and two silver deer attending her, and the rest of the images of the weight of two pounds ten ounces and five grammes, and a silver statue of the Sacred Senate of the weight of four pounds two ounces, and a silver statue of the council of the Ephesians. Likewise a silver Artemis bearing a torch of the weight of six pounds, and a silver statue of the Roman people." And so the inscription proceeds to name and devote silver and golden statues literally by dozens, which Salutarius intended to be borne in solemn procession on the feast-day of Diana. It is quite evident that did we possess but this inscription alone, we have here amply sufficient evidence showing us that one of the staple trades of Ephesus, one upon which the prosperity and welfare of a large section of its inhabitants depended, was this manufacture of silver and gold ornaments directly connected with the worship of the goddess. For it must be remembered that the guild of shrine-makers did not depend alone upon the chance liberality of a stray wealthy Roman or Greek like Salutarius, who might feel moved to create a special endowment or bestow special gifts upon the temple. The guild of shrine-makers depended upon the large and regular demand of a vast population who required a supply of cheap and handy shrines to satisfy their religious cravings. The population of the surrounding districts and towns poured into Ephesus at this annual festival of Diana and paid their devotions in her temple. But even the pagans required some kind of social and family religion. They could not live as too many nominal Christians are contented to live, without any family or personal acknowledgment of their dependence upon a higher power. There was no provision for public worship in the rural districts answering to our parochial system, and so they supplied the want by purchasing on occasions like this feast of Diana, shrines, little silver images, or likenesses of the central cell of the great temple where the sacred image rested, and which served as central points to fix their thoughts and excite the gratitude due to the goddess whom they adored. Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen depended upon the demand created by a vast population of devout believers in Artemis, and when this demand began to fall off Demetrius traced the bad trade which he and his fellows were experiencing to the true source. He recognised the Christian teaching imparted by St. Paul as the deadly enemy of his unrighteous gains, and naturally directed the rage of the mob against the preacher of truth and righteousness. The actual words of Demetrius are deserving of the most careful study, for they too have been illustrated by modern discovery in the most striking manner. Having spoken of the results of St. Pauls teaching in Asia of which they all had had personal experience, he then proceeds to expatiate on its dangerous character, not only as regards their own personal interests, but as regards the goddess and her sacred dignity as well: "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 be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worshippeth." Demetrius cleverly but lightly touches upon the self-interest of the workmen. He does not dwell on that topic too long, because it is never well for an orator who wishes to rouse his hearers to enthusiasm to dwell too long or too deeply or too openly upon merely selfish considerations. Man is indeed intensely selfish by nature, but then he does not like to be told so too openly, or to have his own selfishness paraded too frequently before his face. He likes to be flattered as if he cherished a belief in higher things, and to have his low ends and baser motives clothed in a similitude of noble enthusiasm. Demetrius hints therefore at their own impoverishment as the results of Pauls teaching, but expatiates on the certain destruction which awaits the glory of their time-honoured and world-renowned deity if free course be any longer permitted to such doctrine. This speech is a skilful composition all through. It shows that the ancient rhetorical skill of the Greeks still flourished in Ephesus, and not the least skilful, and at the same time not the least true touch in speech was that wherein Demetrius reminded his hearers that the world were onlookers and watchers of their conduct, noting whether or not they would vindicate Dianas assailed dignity. It was a true touch, I say, for modern research has shown that the worship of the Ephesian Artemis was world-wide in its extent; it had come from the distant east, and had travelled to the farthest west. We have already noted the testimony of modern travellers showing that her worship extended over Asia Minor in every direction. This fact Demetrius long ago told the Ephesians, and ancient authors have repeated his testimony, and modern travellers have merely corroborated them. But we were not aware how accurate was Demetrius about the whole world worshipping Artemis, till in our own time the statues and temples of the Ephesian goddess were found existing so far west as Southern Gaul, Marseilles, and the coast of Spain, proving that wherever Asiatic sailors and Asiatic merchants came thither they brought with them the worship of their favourite deity.
Let us pass on, however, and see whether the remainder of this narrative will not afford us subject-matter for abundant illustrations. The mob drank in the speech of Demetrius, and responded with the national shout, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," a cry which has been found inscribed on altars and tablets all over the province of Asia, showing that it was a kind of watchword among the inhabitants of that district. The crowd of workmen whom Demetrius had been addressing then rushed into the theatre, the usual place of assembly for the people of Ephesus, dragging with them "Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Pauls companions in travel." The Jews too followed the mob, eager to make the unexpected tumult serve their own hostile purposes against St. Paul. News of the riot was soon carried to the Apostle, who learning of the danger to which his friends were exposed desired to enter that theatre the magnificent proportions and ornamentation of which have been for the first time displayed to modern eyes by the labours of Mr. Wood. But the local Christians knew the Ephesian mob and their state of excitement better than St. Paul did, and so they would not allow him to risk his life amid the infuriated crowd. The Apostles teaching too had reached the very highest ranks of Ephesian and Asiatic society. The very Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and requested him not to enter the theatre. Here again we come across one of those incidental references which display St. Lukes acquaintance with the local peculiarities of the Ephesian constitution, and which have been only really appreciated in the light of modern discoveries. In the time of King James I, when the Authorised Version was made, the translators knew nothing of the proof of the sacred writers accuracy which lay under their hands in the words, "Certain of the Asiarchs or chief officers of Asia," and so they translated them very literally but very incorrectly, "Certain of the chief of Asia," ignoring completely the official rank and title which these men possessed. A few words must suffice to give a brief explanation of the office these men held. The province of Asia from ancient times had celebrated this feast of Artemis at an assembly of all the cities of Asia. This we have already explained. The Romans united with the worship of Artemis the worship of the Emperor of the City of Rome; so that loyalty to the Emperor and loyalty to the national religion went hand in hand. They appointed certain officials to preside at these games, they made them presidents of the local diets or parliaments which assembled to discuss local matters at these national assemblies, they gave them the highest positions in the province next to the proconsul, they surrounded them with great pomp, and endued them with considerable power so long as the festival lasted, and then, being intent on uniting economy with their generosity, they made these Asiarchs, as they were called, responsible for all the expenses incurred in the celebration of the games and diets. It was a clever policy, as it secured the maximum of contentment on the peoples part with the minimum of expense to the imperial government. This arrangement clearly limited the position of the Asiarchate to rich men, as they alone could afford the enormous expenses involved. The Greeks, specially those of Asia, as we have already pointed out, were very flashy in their disposition. They loved titles and decorations; so much so that one of their own orators of St. Pauls day, Dion Chrysostom, tells us that, provided they got a title, they would suffer any indignity. There were therefore crowds of rich men always ready to take the office of Asiarch, which by degrees was turned into a kind of life peerage, a man once an Asiarch always retaining the title, while his wife was called the Asiarchess, as we find from the inscriptions. The Asiarchs were, in fact, the official aristocracy of the province of Asia. They had assembled on this occasion for the purpose of sitting in the local parliament and presiding over the annual games in honour of Diana. Their interests and their honour were all bound up with the worship of the goddess, and yet the preaching of St. Paul had told so powerfully upon the whole province, that even among the very officials of the State religion St. Paul had friends and supporters anxious to preserve his life, and therefore sent him a message not to adventure himself into the theatre. It is no wonder that Demetrius the silversmith roused his fellow-craftsmen into activity and fanned the flame of their wrath, for the worship of Diana of the Ephesians was indeed in danger when the very men whose office bound them to its support were in league with such an uncompromising opponent as this Paul of Tarsus. St. Luke thus gives a glimpse of the constitution of Ephesus and of the province of Asia in his time. He shows us the peculiar institution of the Asiarchate, and then when we turn to the inscriptions which Mr. Wood and other modern discoverers have unearthed, we find that the Asiarchs occupy a most prominent position in them, vindicating in the amplest manner the introduction of them by St. Luke as assembled at Ephesus at this special season, and there interesting themselves in the welfare of the great Apostle.
But now there comes on the scene another official, whose title and office have been the subject of many an illustration furnished by modern research. The Jews who followed the mob into the theatre, when they did not see St. Paul there, put forward one Alexander as their spokesman. This man has been by some identified with Alexander the coppersmith, to whom St. Paul refers {2Ti_4:14} when writing to Timothy, then resident at Ephesus, as a man who had done much injury to the Christian cause. He may have been well known as a brother-tradesman by the Ephesian silversmiths, and he seems to have been regarded by the Jews as a kind of leader who might be useful in directing the rage of the mob against the Christians whom they hated. The rioters, however, did not distinguish as clearly as the Jews would have wished between the Christians and the Jews. They made the same mistake as the Romans did for more than a century later, and confounded Jews and Christians together. They were all, in any case, opponents of idol worship and chiefly of their favourite goddess, and therefore the sight of Alexander merely intensified their rage, so much that for the space of two hours they continued to vociferate their favourite cry, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians."
Now, however, there appeared another official, whose title and character have become famous through his action on this occasion: "When the town-clerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is the temple-keeper (or Neocoros) of the great Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?" Here we have several terms which have been illustrated and confirmed by the excavations of Mr. Wood. The town-clerk or recorder is introduced, because he was the chief executive officer of the city of Ephesus, and, as such, responsible to the Roman authorities for the peace and order of the city. The city of Ephesus was a free city, retaining its ancient laws and customs like Athens and Thessalonica, but only on the condition that these laws were effective and peace duly kept. Otherwise the Roman authorities and their police would step in. These town-clerks or recorders of Ephesus are known from this one passage in the Acts of the Apostles, but they are still better known from the inscriptions which have been brought to light at Ephesus. I have mentioned, for instance, the immense inscription which Mr. Wood discovered in the theatre commemorating the gift to the temple of Diana of a vast number of gold and silver images made by one Vibius Salutarius. This inscription lays down that the images should be kept in the custody of the town-clerk or recorder when not required for use in the solemn religious processions made through the city. The names of a great many town-clerks have been recovered from the ruins of Ephesus, some of them coming from the reign of Nero, the very period when this riot took place. It is not impossible that we may yet recover the very name of the town-clerk who gave the riotous mob this very prudent advice, "Ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash," which has made him immortal. Then, again, a title for the city of Ephesus is used in this pacific oration which is strictly historical, and such as would naturally have been used by a man in the town-clerks position. He calls Ephesus the "temple-keeper,"or "Neocoros," as the word literally is, of the goddess Diana, and this is one of the most usual and common titles in the lately discovered inscriptions. Ephesus and the Ephesians were indeed so devoted to the worship of that deity and so affected by the honour she conferred upon them that they delighted to call themselves the temple-sweepers, or sextons, of the great Dianas temple. In fact, their devotion to the worship of the goddess so far surpassed that of ordinary cities that the Ephesians were accustomed to subordinate their reverence for the Emperors to, their reverence for their religion, and thus in the decree passed by them honouring Vibius Salutarius, who endowed their temple with many splendid gifts, to which we have already referred, they begin by describing themselves thus: "In the presidency of Tiberius Claudius Antipater Julianus, on the sixth day of the first decade of the month Poseideon, it was resolved by the Council and the Public Assembly of the Neocori (of Artemis) and lovers of Augustus." The Ephesians must have been profoundly devoted to Dianas worship when in that age of gross materialism they would dare to place any deity higher than that of the reigning emperor, the only god in whom a true Roman really believed; for unregenerate human nature at that time looked at the things alone which are seen and believed in nothing else.
The rest of the town-clerks speech is equally deserving of study from every point of view. He gives us a glimpse of the Apostles method of controversy: it was wise, courteous, conciliatory. It did not hurt the feelings nor outrage the sentiments of natural reverence, which ought ever to be treated with the greatest respect, for natural reverence is a delicate plant, and even when directed towards a wrong object ought to be most gently handled. "Ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 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." Modern research has thrown additional light upon these words. The Roman system of provincial government anticipated the English system of assize courts, moving from place to place, introduced by Henry II for the purpose of bringing justice home to every mans door. It was quite natural for the proconsul of Asia to hold his court at the same time as the annual assembly of the province of Asia and the great festival of Diana. The great concourse of people rendered such a course specially convenient, while the presence of the proconsul helped to keep the peace, as, to take a well-known instance, the presence of Pontius Pilate at the great annual Paschal feast at Jerusalem secured the Romans against any sudden rebellion, and also enabled him to dispense justice after the manner of an assize judge, to which fact we would find an allusion in the words of St. Mark, {Mar_15:6} "Now at the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner, whom they asked of him."
It has been said, indeed, that St. Luke here puts into the town-clerks mouth words which he could never have used, representing him as saying "there are proconsuls" when, in fact, there was never more than one proconsul in the province of Asia. Such criticism is of the weakest character. Surely every man that ever speaks in public knows that one of the commonest usages is to say there are judges or magistrates, using the plural when one judge or magistrate may alone be exercising jurisdiction! But there is another explanation, which completely solves the difficulty and vindicates St. Lukes minute accuracy. Three hundred years ago John Calvin, in his commentary, noted the difficulty, and explained it by the supposition that the proconsul had appointed deputies or assessors who held the courts in his name. There is, however, a more satisfactory explanation. It was the reign of Nero, and his brutal example had begun to debauch the officials through the provinces. Silanus, the proconsul of Asia, was disliked by Nero and by his mother as a possible candidate for the imperial crown, being of the family of Augustus. Two of his subordinates, Celer and Ælius, the collectors of the imperial revenue in Asia, poisoned him, and as a reward were permitted to govern the province, enjoying perhaps in common the title of proconsul and exercising the jurisdiction of the office. Finally, the tone of the town-clerks words as he ends his address is thoroughly that of a Roman official. He feels himself responsible for the riot, and knows that he may be called upon to account for it. Peace was what the Roman authorities sought and desired at all hazards, and every measure which threatened the peace, or every organisation, no matter how desirable, a fire brigade even, which might conceivably be turned to purposes of political agitation, was strictly discouraged.
The correspondence of Pliny with the Emperor Trajan, some fifty years or so later than this riot, is the best commentary upon the town-clerks speech. We find, for instance, in Plinys "Letters," Book 10., No. 42, a letter telling about a fire which broke out in Nicomedia, the capital of Bithynia, of which province Pliny was proconsul. He wrote to the Emperor describing the damage done, and suggesting that a fire brigade numbering one hundred and fifty men might be instituted. The Emperor would not hear of it, however. Such clubs or societies he considered dangerous, and so he wrote back a letter which proves how continuous was Roman policy, how abhorrent to the imperial authorities were all voluntary organisations which might be used for the purposes of public agitation: "You are of opinion that it would be proper to establish a company of fire-men in Nicomedia, agreeably to what has been practised in several other cities. But it is to be remembered that societies of this sort have greatly disturbed the peace of the province in general and of those cities in particular. Whatever name we give them, and for whatever purposes they may be founded, they will not fail to form themselves into factious assemblies, however short their meetings will be"; and so Pliny was obliged to devise other measures for the security and welfare of the cities committed to his charge. The accidental burning of a city would not be attributed to him as a fault, while the occurrence of a street riot might be the beginning of a social war which would bring down ruin upon the Empire at large.
When the recorder of Ephesus had ended his speech he dismissed the assembly, leaving to us a precious record illustrative of the methods of Roman government, of the interior life of Ephesus in days long gone by, and, above all else, of the thorough honesty of the writer whom the Holy Spirit impelled to trace the earliest triumphs of the Cross amid the teeming fields of Gentile Paganism.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 23, 35, 37 1. Paul having passed through the upper coasts. The…
1. Paul having passed through the upper coasts. The mountain highlands of the interior of Asia Minor (see 18:23). Ephesus, on the coast, was near sea level. Finding certain disciples. These disciples had only been baptized with John's baptism (verse 3), and had but an imperfect knowledge of Christ. Their case presents some difficulties hard to explain, unless we had more of the facts. They had evidently been baptized by some of John's disciples, possibly in Asia, after the Great Commission was given, and were no doubt Jews. Some think that they were baptized by Apollos before he was “instructed in the way of the Lord more perfectly” (18:25, 26).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 13, 21, 23 Act_19:1. While Apollos was at Corinth.—A note of time…
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 districts—i.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.
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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 Paul’s 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. Paul’s return to Ephesus; or, the Re-Baptism of some of John’s Disciples
I. The Apostle’s 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 disciples—i.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 disciples—it is not certain that Apollos was baptised (but see “Critical Remarks,” Act_19:7)—but were totally unacquainted with the later facts of Christ’s 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 Paul’s 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 Baptist’s 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 John’s 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 Apostle’s 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) John’s 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 John’s 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 apostle’s teaching, but believed. This, though not stated, must be assumed.
III. The Apostle’s re-baptism of these disciples.—
1. The fact of it. The text cannot be read in this way—“When they (John’s 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 Paul’s 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 Paul’s 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 John’s 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 John’s 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 Christ’s 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 Ghost’s 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 believer’s 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 Christ’s 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 believer’s 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 Spirit’s 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).
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 38, 41 1-7. Apollos remains preaching in the great church at…
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.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. Why should not each of us put this…
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?
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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.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv1, 15, 21 Act 19:1 - Act 19:12.
Acts
TWO FRUITFUL YEARS
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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.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 1-41. Paul at Ephesus. Opposition of the manufacturers of…
Ephesus
1-41. Paul at Ephesus. Opposition of the manufacturers of idols. St. Paul, leaving Antioch in S. Galatia (see Act_18:23), approached Ephesus not by the usual level route leading through Colossæ and Laodicea (see Col_2:1), but through the northern and more mountainous route leading down the Cayster valley (see Act_19:1, 'the upper coasts,' RV 'the upper country'). He stayed at Ephesus over two years and three months, see Act_19:8, Act_19:10, Act_19:22 (in Act_20:31 the Apostle calls it three years), and making the city his centre, evangelised the whole of the province of Asia. According to D he did not originally intend to preach in Ephesus, but the Holy Spirit constrained him (contrast Act_16:6). We hear little here of opposition from the Jews. The craftsmen and the uneducated classes were hostile, but the magistrates of the city (Act_19:35) and of the province (Act_19:31) were not unfriendly.
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1. Ephesus] the capital of the Roman province of Asia, and the most important seaport of Asia Minor, was especially renowned for its great temple of Diana (Artemis), which was one of the wonders of the world. St. Paul chose it for a prolonged stay because (like Corinth) it was on the main line of communication between E. and W., and also because it was a great centre of religious pilgrimage: cp. Act_19:27.
Certain disciples] They must have arrived since Apollos's departure, otherwise Apollos would have instructed them more perfectly.
2. Have ye received] RV 'did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?' Of course they had heard of the Holy Ghost, but St. Paul means, had they experienced that new power of holiness, that peace and love and joy which the ascended Messiah had first given at Pentecost, and was still ready to bestow on all believers. Whether there be, etc.] RV 'whether the Holy Ghost was given.'
3. Unto (RV 'into') what then were ye baptized?] St. Paul assumes that if these men had received Christian baptism they must have heard of the Holy Ghost. It is probable, therefore, that the Trinitarian formula was used (see Mat_28:19).
4. John's baptism was only preparatory, and did not confer the special gift of the Spirit.
6. Laid his hands] As in Acts 8, the Holy Spirit was conferred, not at the actual immersion, but at the laying on of hands which followed. Spake with tongues] see on Act_2:4.; And prophesied] cp. Act_10:46. Inspired and fervent utterances of praise are meant.
9. That way] i.e. Christianity, see on Act_9:2.
The school] Tyrannus was probably a Gentile, who made his living by keeping a 'school' of philosophy. Paul no doubt appeared to the Ephesians as one of those wandering 'sophists' or professors of philosophy, who were so numerous under the early Empire. D adds that St. Paul disputed 'from the fifth hour to the tenth,' a probably authentic detail.
10. To this period is to be referred the foundation of the Seven Churches of Asia, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Tyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea (Rev_1:11), and of Colossæ, Hierapolis, Troas.
11, 12. God condescended to work miracles through these handkerchiefs, having regard to the genuine faith of those who thus used them, and not to their superstition. It is not said that St. Paul approved the practice.
13. The exorcism of these vagabond Jews was simply the uttering of magical formulae. They thought that the mere words 'in the name of Jesus' would produce the required effect.
15, 16. There are two historical difficulties in this narrative: (1) It seems strange that sons of so distinguished a person as a Jewish chief priest should be strolling exorcists. The reading of D, 'Sceva, a [heathen?] priest,' removes this difficulty. (2) Seven sons are mentioned in Act_19:14, and only two in Act_19:16 ('mastered both of them,' RV). It may be supposed that only two took part in this particular incident.
18, 19. The incident led to a reformation within the Church. Many converts had continued their magical practices after their baptism. They now came forward and publicly renounced them, proving their sincerity by burning their books of spells. Fifty thousand pieces of silver] 50,000 drachmas=£1,700, or, in actual purchasing power, much more.
21. Rome] There is evidence that Paul planned the evangelisation of the Western Empire many years before he actually undertook it: cp. Rom_1:10, Rom_1:13; Rom_15:22-24.
22. Timothy and Erastus (not the Erastus of Rom_16:23) were sent, partly to remind the Churches of Europe of the teaching and example of St. Paul, and partly to collect money for the poor saints at Jerusalem (Act_24:17; 1Co_16:1, 1Co_16:10). Shortly after this 1 Corinthians was written.
23f. St. Luke mentions no persecutions or trials until the close of the Ephesian niinistry, yet we know that though 'a great door and effectual' was opened to the Apostle, yet there were 'many adversaries' (1Co_16:9); that he was in daily danger of death (Act_15:30-31); that Prisca and Aquila to save his life 'laid down their own necks' (Rom_16:3); and that he 'fought with beasts,' i.e. savage enemies (1Co_15:32).
23. That way] i.e. Christianity (Act_9:2, etc.).
24. Shrines] Many small terra-cotta and marble shrines of Artemis, containing a figure of the goddess, have been found near Ephesus. They were either dedicated in the Temple, or taken home by devout worshippers as memorials of their pilgrimage.
Diana] Really a native Asiatic deity, a personification of the reproductive and nutritive powers of nature. From certain quite superficial resemblances the Greeks identified her with their own Artemis, but her worship always remained Asian in type. The Temple had been burnt down 356 b.c., and rebuilt on a scale of sumptuous magnificence.
26. All Asia] The Temple had been built by contributions from the whole of Asia.
28. Were full of wrath] D adds, and 'running into the street' cried out, etc. Great is Diana] D has, 'Great Diana of the Ephesians!' an invocation of the goddess. This reading may be correct.
29. The theatre] would hold over 24,000 people.
31. The chief of Asia] Gk. the 'Asiarchs.' They were officials, not of the city of Ephesus, but of the province of Asia, and were specially connected with the worship of the Roman emperor.
33. Since Alexander was a Jew, it seems probable that the Jews put him forward to explain to the angry mob that they had no sympathy whatever with St. Paul's proceedings. The Jews' contempt for idols was well known, and therefore there was imminent danger that they would be involved in a massacre directed against enemies of idolatry.
And they drew Alexander, etc.] or, 'and some of the multitude instructed Alexander.' The reading is doubtful and the sense obscure.
35. The townclerk] This important official drafted the decrees of the senate and people, and sealed them when they were passed. He presided at the lawful assemblies of the people.
A worshipper] RV 'temple-keeper,' Gk. neokoros, lit. 'temple-sweeper.' A second-cent, inscription speaks of Ephesus as 'doubly temple-keeper of the Emperors, and temple-keeper of Artemis.' From Jupiter] or, 'from heaven.' The 'image' (the word is not expressed in the Gk.) was probably not an idol, but a meteoric stone, in which the goddess was supposed to dwell.
37. Blasphemers] It is clear that St. Paul had expressed his views with gentleness and moderation.
38. The law, etc.] rather, 'the courts are open,' or, 'court days are kept.'
Deputies] rather, 'proconsuls,' the correct title of the Roman governor in a senatorial province like Asia. There was, of course, only one proconsul in Asia. The plural is colloquial,' there are such things as law courts and proconsuls.' Implead] RV 'accuse.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv1–41 XIX: 1 7. Having sketched briefly the visit of…
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.
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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.
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 16, 21, 23, 27, 28 that Jesus
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.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. The second visit of Paul to Ephesus. The…
CHAPTER 19
1. The second visit of Paul to Ephesus. The twelve disciples of John (Act 19:1-7).
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2. The Apostle’s 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 Paul’s 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 heart’s 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 Apostle’s persecution.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 13, 18, 21, 23, 28, 35 Paul’s Work at Ephesus. Act 19:1-20
Paul’s Work at Ephesus. Act 19:1-20
Paul’s arrival at Ephesus:
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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.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 23, 26, 28, 30, 33, 35, 38 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Paul travels to Ephesus.
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General Information:
The "upper country" was an area of Asia which today is part of modern-day Turkey to the north of Ephesus. Paul must have traveled by land around the top of the Aegean sea in order to come to Ephesus (also in Turkey today) which is directly east of Corinth by sea.
It came about that
This phrase is used here to mark the beginning of a new part of the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.
passed through
"traveled through"
receive the Holy Spirit
This means to have the Holy Spirit come upon them.
we did not even hear about the Holy Spirit
"we have not even heard about the Holy Spirit"
translationWords
Apollos
Corinth
Paul
Ephesus
disciple
receive
Holy Spirit
believe
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 6, 10, 11, 13, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29, 31, 35 19:1-7 Paul traveled to Ephesus after Apollos had left.…
19:1-7 Paul traveled to Ephesus after Apollos had left. Subsequently, Apollos returned to Ephesus while Paul was still working there (1 Cor 16:12). The two men had different personalities, gifts, and roles, but God worked through both of them. • Some believers in Ephesus still had an inadequate understanding of the Christian faith (cp. Acts 18:26) and did not receive the Holy Spirit when they believed. They had accepted John’s baptism, which called for repentance from sin, but had not received Christian baptism, which included the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Paul had instructed them further, they were able to receive Christian baptism (19:5) and the Holy Spirit (19:6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.