Chapter 19

So, to set the scene...Paul met Aquila and Priscilla at Corinth.  When he leaves there for Antioch in Syria, they go with him.  They get to Ephesus.  Paul leaves Aquila and Priscilla there in Ephesus and he goes on to Syria.  While Paul is gone, Apollos shows up in Ephesus and meets Aquila and Priscilla.  Aquila and Priscilla perfect Apollos' understanding of scripture, and send him off as a missionary from Ephesus - not Corinth - to Achaia, where there is already a church, and he greatly helps them along in their understanding.  Now 19 starts with "While Apollos was at Corinth..."  But we didn't know that he was there, and we don't know when exactly he was there.  Was it before or after Achaia?  Paul arrives in Ephesus...and it almost seems as if Priscilla and Aquila have left that place also. 

Paul meets some believers who had not received the Holy Spirit.  They didn't even know there was one.  They had been baptized into John's baptism.  Paul explains things to them this way:

4 And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." [Act 19:4 ESV]

So John's baptism was a forward looking baptism, and if that's where you are, then you have missed that the one to come after has already come.  You are still looking for the one who has already arrived.  As the Jews still do to this day.  These, who had been prepared for the one coming, upon learning that he had come, are baptized again, this time in the name of the Lord Jesus.  A rearward looking baptism.  After this baptism, Paul lays his hands on them, and they prophesy and speak in tongues.  So the Holy Spirit comes, and does so in an externally demonstrable way.  When we have seen this before, it was associated with a precedent.  In the house of Cornelius, it was to show that the Gentiles were able to be saved.  What is the precedent set by these twelve men?  MSB notes say it was to show their inclusion in the church.  Those who had already followed John were believers in God, but not in Jesus, because they hadn't been told the One had come.  Upon hearing about Jesus - the gospel - they believed in Jesus and so were saved.  Followers of John the Baptist were not "complete" but also needed to join the baptism of Jesus, as part of the church, and at that time, they received the Holy Spirit.  This is a good argument that you are not part of the church until you receive the Holy Spirit, and once you receive the Holy Spirit, you are part of the church.  Necessary and sufficient in both directions.

2023 - But how are these Ephesians different from say the OT saints?  Those could only believe in a Messiah who had not yet arrived, just as those John baptized believed.  The difference must be that these Ephesians were in that transition time.  They were saved by faith, in the measure of the working of the OT Holy Spirit - which fell on but did not indwell the regenerated.  But by the time Paul meets these men, the Holy Spirit had  come in NT power.  So maybe...in each case where the Holy Spirit is so visibly manifest...the real point is that the "state of salvation" of the receivers was insufficient.  Where they were was not "complete", not up to the New Covenant standard.  Does that work? 

Start with the Day of Pentecost.  The disciples, all 120 of them, we can assume had been regenerated.  They mostly  had believed in God before Jesus came along in their lives, but some had not - we have to wonder about the zealot, about Matthew.  But by the time of Pentecost they all had believed in God, and not only in a coming Messiah, but they also believed that Jesus WAS that Messiah.  They believed that the physical person Jesus  was the long awaited Christ.  They were already there on all this.  So WHEN the Holy Spirit came that day, and indwelled them all simultaneously, there were signs that said here is the promised Comforter, given to you, for all to see, that all may know the much increased extent of the power of God that MAY be given you in the world under the New Covenant.  I think it is important to note that NO ONE ANYWHERE had ever received the Holy Spirit as the indwelling earnest of salvation prior to this single day. AND, so far as we know, ONLY the 120 received it that day.  But isn't it reasonable to assume that ALL the truly faithful regenerate Jews - in Samaria, in Galilee, and Judea - received the Spirit that day, AS PROMISED TO ALL who believed?  Didn't that have to happen, even if Luke's interviews all over that part of the world at the time didn't reveal the indwelling of those who didn't speak in tongues, who weren't in big groups, and so on.  Just because Luke doesn't write it doesn't mean it didn't happen.  And remember, we are just exploring a possibility here...

2023 Continuing - Who's next then?  Acts 8 is next, where the preaching of Philip the Evangelist has been going on.  What state were these in?  Well...some of them believed in God, though they did not offer sacrifices in Jerusalem.  Some were not Jews, many were only partly Jews, and I suppose some old families had survived intact since the Assyrians.  Philip preached Jesus to these.  So let's talk about the ones among them who already had faith in God, had heard of Jesus since he had preached among them, but who did not understand that Jesus was THE Messiah until Philip told them so.  So these were regenerate believers who knew Jesus only as man before, but were now convinced by Philip that he was physically the Messiah of God.  It seems to me that upon believing this, they would have been indwelled with the Holy Spirit.  Apparently not in the visibly spectacular way the 120 were indwelled, but upon believing in Jesus, they received the earnest of salvation.  So Peter and John go to Samaria after hearing a report of what Philip is doing.  They see saved Samaritan believers there.  They recognized that these were saved, and that the Holy Spirit was already in them.  BUT, to confirm this for all to see, during this critical time, Peter and John "impart" power to them via the working of the Holy Spirit.  The two apostles who had been there on the Day of Pentecost "pass on" some of the outward manifestations of the New Covenant Holy Spirit.  What was their reason for doing this?  They can apparently do this when they want, but they do not have to do it, and I think it is important here that Philip could not do it.  Could any of the 120 besides the apostles "pass on" the power at this volume?  We don't have ANY example of that. 

2023 - Still working on it - Next is Cornelius.  This man was saved under the Old Covenant most likely.  But we cannot be sure.  What we know for sure is that Cornelius was NOT a Jew.  But like Rahab, like the slaves of the Jews who adopted their beliefs, his faith saved him.  It is also likely that he had heard of Jesus and his miracles.  It is reasonable to assume that EVERYONE in JUDEA AND SAMARIA AND GALILEE at this time had heard of Jesus.  But they did not all understand who he was.  As Cornelius did not.  Peter goes to see him.  Peter preaches Jesus to him, Peter "perfects" Cornelius' knowledge, and what happens?  Upon hearing about Jesus and coming to believe in Jesus, Cornelius is indwelled by the completing presence of the earnest of his salvation, the Comforter indwells him, and his family who all believe at the same time.  And they speak in tongues.  So no laying on hands this time.  The Holy Spirit indwells and power is manifested upon full understanding of who Jesus is by Cornelius and his household.  Now this seems to be the same sort of completing knowledge the Samaritans received when Philip preached Jesus to them.  The difference, the one and only glaring difference, is that no apostle was present in Samaria - until Peter and John came there.  The gifts, the tongues and the prophecies, only show up - so far - when an apostle is present, even though in Samaria, many were New Covenant saved by grace as a result of Philip's preaching.  So...we seem to be onto something here....

2023 - Keep going...Next is Paul at Ephesus in Acts 19 - today's reading.  These were believers in God.  We can safely say they were saved by faith, as much as any OT saint was saved by faith.  PLUS, they were expecting the Messiah.  Perhaps they had left Israel and gone "home" to Ephesus in the past, or maybe they were Jews who moved to Ephesus for other reasons.  The point is that they were a long way from where the crucifixion and resurrection took place, and so had not figured out, nor been told, that Jesus was the Messiah in the flesh.  They were saved, but Old Covenant saved.  Paul fills them in on who Jesus was.  Once they understand and believe, they would receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit, as all New Covenant believers receive him.  Following their belief, they are re-baptized in WATER first, as that was "required" for those who believed in Christ.  THEN AND ONLY THEN, Paul - an apostle - lays hands on them, and "passes on" the more intense power of the Holy Spirit to them and they speak in tongues and prophesy.

2023 - Summary of the above discussion.  Four events.  The original Spirit with power and tongues of fire, talking in tongues, and prophecy.  No healing, no knowledge, no wisdom....no other gifts beyond these two...the two spoken of by Joel.  Both apostles and non-apostles affected together at the same time.  This is the only instance where the tongues of fire and a rushing wind are mentioned.  In two places, the message of John the Baptist was that the one coming after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  I think we can safely say that John was only talking about the Day of Pentecost.  Exclusively.  This was a unique, one time event, not a "pattern" to be repeated forever.  The fire is the confirmation of that.  Now...in two of the remaining three, an apostle lays hands on people before the tongues and prophecy are manifest.  It was not a spontaneous thing.  Either Paul or Peter and John, DID something to "impart" a more powerful manifestation of the Holy Spirit.  They could do that BECAUSE the Apostles, the original 12, were unique and have never been "renewed".  So these incidents are not "patterns" for us to repeat either.  The power to convey the tongues and prophecy died with the apostles.  Then there is Cornelius.  I note that it says in Acts 10:44 that the Holy Spirit "fell" on them.  In vs 45 the Spirit was "poured out" on them.  There were no tongues of fire, no rushing wind, no laying on of hands. Since no fire and wind, this is NOT baptism in the Holy Spirit as foretold by John and it is not power passed on by the apostles.  BUT - when Peter reports on this back in Jerusalem, he characterizes what happened this way:  15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. [Act 11:15 ESV].  So from that, we have to conclude that this was a heaven sent annointing of the Holy Spirit - this was also baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Peter tells us it was the same.  But there are differences.  This was not the receipt of the Holy Spirit indwelling after salvation, but an outpouring from heaven on the Gentiles in this household.  BUT EVEN SO, no tongues of fire and no wind...this was NOT as powerfully manifest as what happened on the Day of Pentecost.  I think I will choose to understand this as confirmation from God that the Gentiles also are able to, and WILL receive miraculous power direct from God when and as he chooses to give it.  So...two of the incidents are "power in mission" incidents, and two are at what we might call apostolic discretion.  In the latter cases, the gospel message had been "perfected" by preaching, and we can make a good case that water baptism had occurred in both cases.  These only spoke in tongues after the laying on of hands by an apostle.

2023 - So what does this mean for us today.  First, don't expect any more Day of Pentecost events.  John gave us ONE of those, and I think Cornelius is a "God" thing, with the same visible results as Jewish Pentecost but showing that power is also given to the Gentiles.  Second, don't expect to speak in tongues after someone lays hands on you, because there are no apostles around to do that.  So to my thinking, none of these four incidents give us anything that we can reasonably say is a pattern for future believers. 

2023 - And that brings us to the original question.  What then is going on with the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements?  And is it valid to "require" speaking in tongues as a proof of baptism in the Spirit?  There is much in the NT about the gifts of the Spirit.  They come with indwelling.  We do not need to go to extravagant lengths to explain them in terms of the Day of Pentecost.  These are NOT that.  Therefore, no second experience is required of anyone, and most certainly speaking in tongues is not a "proof" of any second experience.    The Pentecosts, deliberately or not, exert great pressure on their members to display the gift of tongues.  They train their members in how to do it, in what it ought to sound like to be real, they are encouraged/pushed/coerced even, to just do it.  SOME, but I would say a low percentage, may be true spiritual gifts showing up...but I think most of it is more akin to "mass hypnosis".  As for the charismatics...yeah, I think they are along the same lines as those in the first century that were into "ecstatic" experiences - dervishes, chant induced trances, transcendental experiences and so on.  These are looking for the physical experience.  Some are surely saved.  But I distrust their "signs".  And the Vineyard?  I would want to know a lot more about it than I do, but I suspect that is about money.  that it is an experientially based mega-church that exists to make a few people very very rich.  And lastly...baptist don't do a lot of speaking in tongues because we don't seek after non-Biblical expectations of what God "ought" to do.  We are not the only ones that don't do much speaking in tongues.  A lot of denominations don't do it either.

COPYING THIS to the notes on Grudem Chapter 39.

It just seems very clear from all this that Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos had left very little in the way of a church in Ephesus.  Even Paul's teaching had not caught on enough for organic growth.  He gets back, and it is almost as if he had never been there.  He seems to just have to start over. 

Paul stays in Ephesus, where he met these twelve men, for two years.  Many are converted.  He is run out of the synagogue, and teaches instead in the Hall of Tyrannus.  Apparently a public building that served for a time as a church.  Paul taught them daily!  It says right here that from Ephesus, "...all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks."  What an epicenter - from which the word reached all that region, every person.  So we also see that Paul spent the most time - at least so far - with the church at Corinth and the church at Ephesus - where the apostle John is going to end up also.

Paul is doing miracles while he is in Ephesus.  This would be to confirm his teaching was from God.  We have not been told that Paul did these sorts of miracles at Corinth, but from the place that reached all of Asia, many extraordinary signs and wonders.  They rub handkerchiefs on him, and take the hankys to the sick, and they are healed of their diseases.  Testimony to Paul's legitimacy as an apostle. 

Some craftsmen who make a living creating statues of Artemis (Diana) are concerned that if everyone abandons idol worship, they will all go broke.  So for financial reasons, they conspire.  Ephesus was home to a large temple dedicated to Diana.  Likely it was an attraction that brought "pilgrims" to Ephesus and they spent their money on statues of Diana.  Naturally, they would have been more powerful if they came from the city where Diana's temple was.  Makes sense, right?  So they fleeced a lot of tourists this way and became wealthy.  Paul is so successful preaching the gospel here, and the miracles he's doing are so widely known, that these artisans consider it a real possibility that the demand for their hand made idols may drop to zero.  Worse, they may be looked down upon for having made these idols for their living.  This enrages these men and they stir up the whole city, likely with rioting and shouting in the streets and such.  They grab Gaius and Aristarchus, traveling companions of Paul's.  Guess they were just unlucky enough to be located.  There's a "mob" in the theater, all in an uproar with a lot of them not even knowing why they are there.  The town clerk finally gets everyone's attention and tells them if they have evidence of a crime, they can present it, the courts are open.  He reminds them that everyone knows the temple of Diana is in Ephesus.  And he tells them if they don't look out, they are the ones who will be charged with crimes this night. 

And they all calm down and go away...