Paul In Ephesus; Acts 19:1 – 22 Part 2

Church History: Date: A.D. 53–57

Paul was told, probably by Aquila and Priscilla, that they were believers, that they did accept Christ, and had given up their names to him. They did believe in the Son of God; but Paul enquires whether they had received the Holy Spirit, whether they believed in the spirit. He wanted to know if they understood who operates on the minds of men, for conviction, conversion, and comfort. He asked whether they had been acquainted with, and had accepted this revelation. This was not all; extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit 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 Spirit since you believed? Have you had that seal of the truth of Christ's doctrine in yourselves?"

We are not 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. There are graces of the Spirit given to all believers, which are as earnests to them, (2Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14). Now it concerns us all who profess the Christian faith seriously to enquire whether we have received the Holy Spirit or not. The Holy Spirit is promised to all believers, to all petitioners (Luke 11:13); but many are deceived in this matter, thinking they have received the Holy Spirit when really they have not. As there are pretenders to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so there are to his graces and comforts; we should therefore strictly examine ourselves, Have we received the Holy Spirit 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?

They confessed their ignorance in this matter: "Whether there is a Holy Spirit is more than we know. That there is a promise of the Holy Spirit we know from the scriptures of the Old Testament, and that this promise will be fulfilled in its season we don’t doubt; but we have not been informed in this matter and we have not heard whether the Holy Spirit has been 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 Spirit 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 why they did not hear of it, and were ready to welcome 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.