What experiences have you had with religious counterfeits (relics, forgeries, hoaxes, cults and the like)? Any that have really scared you?
Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. The third missionary journey of Paul was chiefly devoted to an extended ministry at Ephesus, the city he apparently hoped to reach at the start of his second journey. On his brief visit there less than a year before, it had shown a real response to the Gospel (Acts 18:19-21). Luke's account of the ministry at Ephesus is abbreviated, with a short summary of only five verses (Acts 19:8-12) sandwiched between two marked pieces of a different immature kind of faith (Acts 19:1-7, 13-19).
Paul's Ephesian ministry lasted about three years, from A.D. 53 through 56. The first episode was an encounter with some followers of John the Baptist. John’s fame had evidently spread far beyond Palestine. The term some disciples usually refers to Christians, but since these people had not received the Holy Spirit, it is more likely that they are to be regarded as disciples of John the Baptist, on ‘the Way’ but not very far along. Without inspired written teachings, sometimes interpretation of oral traditions can drift from the truth.
Since the Holy Spirit formed an important part of John’s own teaching, the reply of these men that they had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit probably means that they had heard a version of John’s message rather than John himself, and the reports that they had heard concentrated on his ethical teaching rather than his role as preparing the way (for an example of his teaching see Luke 3:7–14).
These people had received a baptism of repentance, which was in itself a good thing, but unlike Apollos (Acts 19:18–25), they did not seem to know anything about Jesus. The probable difference was that Apollos knew about and trusted in the Messiah (having accurate, if incomplete knowledge about him, 18:25–26) and saw his baptism in connection with that faith, whereas for these disciples, the baptism was merely a pledge of good behavior without a connection to Jesus. They still needed to be baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Think about it!
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The Holy Spirit's Relationship to Belief and Baptism
Based
on Acts 19:1–7
By
Mark Moore
This is an odd paragraph that raises several important
theological questions for us: (1) What
is the nature or manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives? (2) What is the connection between the Holy
Spirit, belief and baptism? (3) What is
the function of tongues and prophecy?
And how do you get it?
Here we encounter twelve "disciples," not of
Jesus, but of John the Baptist. They were baptized in John's baptism and likely
had been taught by that eloquent Alexandrian, Apollos (18:24).
I.
What did
Paul mean, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit . . .?"
Paul obviously saw something lacking in the lives of these
twelve men. But just what was it? The Pentecostal position on this text is that
they lacked the baptism of the Holy Spirit which would obviously manifest
itself in tongues (2:4; 10:45–46). And
this does align with verse 6 which says that these twelve spoke in tongues and
prophesied. However, this glossolalia
was not a result of the baptism but of the laying on of hands (Acts 6:6 [cf. 6:8;
8:6]; 8:17–19; 19:6; Rom 1:11; 2 Tim 1:6).
And the baptism of the Holy Spirit in both Acts 2 and 10 happened
without immersion in water.
Paul may have noticed a lack of spiritual gifts in the
believer's lives. This would include
tongues and prophecy (v. 6) but would not be limited to these. However, the manifestations of Spiritual
gifts are rather obvious. One wonders if
Paul would have had to ask if they possessed Spiritual gifts when he could just
look and see—did they speak in tongues, prophesy, etc. Furthermore, this passage describes the
conversion of these twelve men. Nowhere
are the gifts of the Spirit or the baptism of the Holy Spirit connected with
conversion. What Paul is looking for is
evidence that these men are Christians, not that they are adept at exercising
their spiritual gifts.
This might lead us to the conclusion, therefore, that Paul
was looking for evidence that these men were indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Acts
2:38–39; Rom 8:9, etc.). This, of
course, would manifest itself in the Spiritual fruit (Gal 5:22–23). These are often less tangible and visible
than the gifts. Hence, Paul might wonder
why these disciples, who would know the right vocabulary and liturgy, seemed to
lack Christian character and behavior.
I.
What are the
connections between the Holy Spirit, Belief and Baptism?
We note first of all, that the Holy Spirit is granted to
those who believe. Ephesians 1:13 says,
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a
seal, the promised Holy Spirit‖ (cf. John 7:38–39; Gal 3:3). Thus Paul's question of verse 2, "Did
you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Of course "belief" to Paul extended
beyond the mind. It is not that they
thought there was a Holy Spirit and thus received his presence. They entrusted their lives to the Holy Spirit
and the Spirit, in turn, took control.
Second, we
know that belief is connected with baptism.
This was true of John's baptism
(Mt
21:25) as well as Christian baptism (Mk 16:16; Acts 8:12–13; 18:8; 19:4; Col
2:12). Again, this "belief" is
not a theological stance on a point of Christian doctrine. Baptism was a visible response of faith. The candidate believed what Jesus (or John)
said and thus obeyed by submitting to this liquid rite. In Acts 8:12 "When they believed Philip
as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." The same is said of Simon Magus (Acts 8:13),
Crispus (18:9), and these twelve disciples (19:4–5). Paul puts it this way: "Having been
buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power
of God, who raised him from the dead" (Col 2:12).
This third point is perhaps the most controversial, but the
Bible clearly states that the Holy Spirit is connected with water baptism. Now, no one would deny that the Holy Spirit
is involved with the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11; Acts 1:5; 2:1–4;
10:44–46; 11:16). But can the same be
said about water immersion?[1] There are a number of texts that describe the
Holy Spirit in terms of working through or like water both in the O.T. (Psa
46:4–5; Isa 32:15; 44:3; 55:1; 58:11; Eze 39:29; Joel 2:28) and in the NT (John
7:38–39). Even more specifically, several "New Birth" texts mention
both the water and Spirit as effective forces in the conversion process (John
3:3–7; 1 Cor 6:11; Titus 3:3–7). But is
this ―water" merely a metaphor, or does it signify immersion? There is no question that the Holy Spirit is
connected to immersion in Acts 2:38–39; 19:1–6 and probably 1 Corinthians
12:13. It seems fair, therefore, to
interpret the other "water" passages as baptism. The bottom line is that the Holy Spirit is
clearly connected with water baptism in the process of conversion.
So, belief, baptism and the Holy Spirit are all central to
Christian conversion. The Holy Spirit,
the true mark of a Christian (Rom 8:9; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13) is promised both
through belief (John 7:38–39) and immersion (Acts 2:38–39). Baptism is not a work by which we earn the
presence of the Holy Spirit. Rather it
is an expression of our faith which causes us to open our lives to the Spirit's
indwelling.
III. What is the
function of the tongues and prophecy of verse 7:
Generally, supernatural gifts are either a result of the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit or the laying on of hands. And never are they necessary for
salvation. Therefore, we have likely
moved from "conversion talk" in verses 1–5, to "ministry
talk" of verses 6–7. This is, after
all, the only time where the laying on of hands follows baptism. It likely serves to separate the two events
rather than to unite them. There are
three possible purposes for these gifts here.
First, since the church obviously does not yet have NT scriptures, these
prophets would serve a vital role in the daily teaching and edification of the
church. Second, these visible signs
would serve to validate their Christian baptism and mark the significant
difference between it and John's baptism.
This would dispel any doubt in or criticism of Paul's teaching. Third, Ephesus is a city full of magic
practices and exorcists. These gifts
would serve to edify, clarify and confront both pagans and Christians in this
new community of the faith.
Many, in fact,
equate water baptism with Spirit baptism (cf. Eph 4:5; 1 Cor. 12:13; Titus 3:5;
John 3:5).
========
Evangelism
in Corinth and Ephesus
Acts 18 and
19 Compared
1.
Paul first goes to the synagogue with serious minded
persuasion (18:4–6; 19:8).
2.
Rejected in the synagogue, Paul turned to the Gentiles by
moving the "Base of Operation" to the home of Titius Justus (18:6–7,
Corinth) and the School of Tyrannus (19:9, Ephesus).
3.
Many people believed (18:8; 19:10).
4.
Paul's work miraculously confirmed (18:9–10; 19:11–12).
5.
Roman authorities dismissed charges against Paul and the
Christians, Gallio in Corinth (18:12–17) and the Town Clerk in Ephesus
(19:35ff).
====
Taken from
John Stott, The Spirit the Church and the
World, Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1990, pp.294–295.
A Sketch of Ephesus by Mark Moore
1.
The fourth largest city of the Empire behind Rome,
Alexandria and Antioch.
2.
The Temple of Diana, destroyed by fire on the day of
Alexander the Great's birth, was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
Although there are no remains of it today, it was four times the size of the
Agora of Athens.
a.
The Platform=239' x 418'; with 10 steps leading up to the
temple
b.
The Temple = 180' x 377'
c.
The Temple was surrounded by a large colonnade which had
117, 60' columns, each 6' in diameter, which held up the roof.
d.
36 of these columns were sculptured at the base with
life-sized figures. White, blue, red and yellow marble were used, as well as
gold.
e.
Diana of Ephesus was the many-breasted fertility goddess.
3.
The Agora (market) was 370' square, surrounded by a double
petitioned gallery behind which were the shops.
a.
The Gallery was made of Doric columns, probably put there by
Nero.
b.
In the center of the agora was large sundial, statues of
many famous citizens and a water clock.
4.
The Theater was on the western side of Mt. Pion.
a.
The Orchestra pit was 80' x 20'
b.
There were 3 bands with 22 rows of seats each, and 12
stairways of bands.
c.
It seated more than 25,000 people
d.
It was a mile and a half from the Temple of Diana.
e.
It was 495' in Diameter.
5.
The Hydrion was a two-story public water fountain.
6.
The Hestria was the public source of fire.
7.
The Curatia was the most important street in Ephesus paved
with white Egyptian marble.
8.
The roads had covered walkways on either side of the
streets; Chariots and horses drove in the center.
9.
The streets were guttered and some show evidence of a sewage
system beneath.
10.
There were public, portable light poles along the streets,
which could be removed during the day.
11.
The city had public toilets with constantly running water.
In one location there were more than 30 seats.
12.
The city had roman baths with ceramic clay pipes bringing
hot, cold and warm water to them.
13.
There were many brothels to meet the demand for
"worship" of Diana.
14.
There were perhaps as many as 300,000 people in Ephesus in
Paul's day.
15.
The supposed tomb of the apostle John is in Ephesus.
16.
The gospel became so prominent in Ephesus that on top of the
four pillars at the major intersection of the city were placed statues of
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
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