Acts 19:1-7 Receiving the Holy Spirit

This text finds us at the beginning of the  3^rd  missionary journey. The setting  of  Acts 19:1- 22  is located in Ephesus.

5 things happen in this section:

(i)               Paul's encounter with some of  John's disciples (19:1 - 7)

(ii)             Paul  preaches in the synagogue at Ephesus (19: 8 - 10)

(iii)           God does extra-ordinary miracles through Paul  (19:11,12) 

(iv)             Paul's "imitators" (the 7 sons of Sceva) come to grief (19:13 - 16).

(v)              The triumph of the  Gospel (19:17 - 20)

In this exposition we shall only focus on the first  7 verses.

In Ephesus the apostle Paul  found  some disciples of John  (12 of them  cf. 19:7) who were believers in the  Lord  Jesus Christ – the Messiah, but  we are told that they had not  yet  heard of  or received the Holy Spirit.  They, said they had received  the baptism of John only, but not the  baptism in or with the Holy Spirit.   

To understand this we need to turn to Matthew 3:11,12, where John the Baptist explains the difference between his ministry and that of  Jesus the Messiah: 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Paul explains the difference between John’s Baptism of repentance and Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  This is gripping stuff and so very important to understand.  All four Gospels refer to this event.  Mark and John speak of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but only Matthew and Luke mention the baptism with fire. The immediate context in Matthew and Luke is the coming judgment (Matt. 3:7-12; Lk. 3: 7-17).  

How are we to understand these two baptisms- the baptism of the Holy Spirit , and the baptism  with fire?  

We know that the Lord Jesus came to announce and to inaugurate the kingdom of God [Matt.  4:17,23]. He came to seek and save that which was lost. He came to gather in His sheep.  His sheep are marked by the baptism of the Holy Spirit (of which the water baptism signifies that reality). However that is not all which Jesus came to do. In separating His sheep for Himself, He excludes those who do not repent. That is the implication of Matt. 3:12. These will be baptized in the fire of His judgement. It is utterly important to understand that Jesus is not only the Saviour of His people. He is also the Judge of those that do not believe. They are destined for the fire of judgement (2 Thess.1:3-10;  Rev. 20:11-15).

So these  12 disciples in Ephesus had already  embraced the preparatory ministry of John, and in that sense they were OT believers, but  the fullness of the NT message  had not yet been revealed to them.   We may imagine then, that when Paul found these Ephesian disciples, that he sensed that something was lacking in their experience, and he began to probe them with questions.    What was the   baptism of John saying and what was it lacking? 

(i)               What  the baptism of John signified :  Remember that John was preaching to  ethnic Jews, God's covenant people, having the sign of the covenant, circumcision. Look at Matt. 3:6: "They were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins." This is why his baptism was called "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mk 1:4). He challenged the Jews to admit that they were sinners. He  told them that they  desperately  needed to get right with God. John was thus saying that being  a Jew was no guarantee of being  right with God.  This baptism  was  a way  by which they were   saying  that they needed more than to depend upon their ethnic Jewishness. Being a Jew could not save them  from the coming wrath  of God. They needed to repent from their sins  and turn to God. It was to  these  that  John,  the forerunner  of the Messiah  said: "Confess your sins, repent, and  seal this  with baptism, because God's wrath is hanging over you like  the axe that is  laid to the root of the trees.” (Matt 3:9)  

(ii)             What the baptism  of John was lacking :  Although John was pointing the repentant Jews to Christ, they still needed to come to  embrace Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the promised gift of the Father, by which Christ would  enter  into   each believer  in a way  which the prophets Jeremiah (33:31-34) and Ezekiel and Amos had spoken of . 

And so, when Paul  asks these 12 believers in Ephesus, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"  - they answer:  "No, we haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit" (which may simply mean that they haven’t heard  that  there is a Holy Spirit to be received,  and not necessarily that they haven't heard  of  'Holy Spirit' before).

Paul presses on: "But you were baptized?" "Yes!"  "Then what baptism did you receive?" John's baptism, of course". The penny drops. Paul understands what has happened, and therefore the rest of the narrative makes sense. There was an essential aspect missing. The Holy Spirit, the promised gift of the Father, had not yet descended on them.  In fact they were probably  in exactly the same category as Apollos   in 18:24-26.  They had received John's baptism - a baptism of repentance, which placed them in exactly the same category as the believers in Acts 1, prior to Pentecost. And so Paul lays his  hands on them, and they receive the Holy Spirit in the same manner as the believers did in Jerusalem, with signs following: speaking in other languages, and proclaiming  the truth of God as it is in Jesus - just as at Pentecost (Acts 2). They are now completely on par with the experience  of their brothers/sisters in Jerusalem. 

A   TWO TIER EXPERIENCE?

During the the 70’s  and  into the 90’s  of the last century  a text like this was a veritable battleground. The Pentecostal and charismatic movements saw texts like these as proof-texts for a two tier experience  of God.  This  teaching was originally found in the  holiness movement (popularized by  the early Keswick teaching of the 1800’s – the doctrine of entire sanctification), and this was largely absorbed by  the Pentecostal  movement  and some Charismatic groups. In  essence they said  that, subsequent  one’s salvation one needed to  experience the  baptism in or with  the Holy Spirit  in order to become a Spirit –filled Christian - a more complete Christian. Many   Christians  disagreed over this teaching and many more despaired over the fact that they had not experienced such a  thing  and that they did not speak in tongues or prophesied, thus feeling that they were ‘second class’ Christians.

The question is this:  Notwithstanding  such an indication, does the book of Acts teach  such a two tier Christian experience?

The struggle  which modern evangelical  Christians, committed to the inspiration of the  Word of God, have  has often been along the line  of  Hermeneutics - principles of interpretation.  Is  the book of Acts  meant to be literally applied to our situation today? Or are there unique  situations  described  here  which are related to a particular historical time frame (i.e.  such as  the historical coming of the Holy Spirit  at Pentecost), so that we must be careful to distinguish between issues that pertain to a particular historical situation,  and on the other hand  discerning issues that are of  timeless principle?

So we have this passage here in  19: 1 - 7 that seemingly  indicates  a 2 tier  Christian experience.  Should  we expect to be  baptized  in the Holy Spirit, subsequent to our  salvation  and  accompanied  by a speaking in tongues or prophesying? And from 19: 11 - 12  we  might ask  whether we should expect  that  happening today? Should these things be seen in  our services/ ministry of the church?

There are many  that would say "yes!” These things ought to be expected and they are normative. They are called 'Continuationists' .  Those that say that  Pentecost was a once off , unique  historical  experience, introducing the promised Holy Spirit into the  world  are called 'Cessassionists' . They  would question  whether  these early sign gifts are needed  today. They would also point to   the fact that  the  modern  miracles  claimed  by these  do not match up to the power  of   Pentecost.  They would say  that the book of Acts in general, and such a text in particular  is misapplied by our Pentecostal friends. They  would say  that  they have ignored the fact that the Book of Acts   is historical narrative  i.e.  that it reports on events in the historical development of the early church, and as such is descriptive of what happened . It does not attempt to be doctrinally prescriptive.   

What we see in the book of Acts is a progressive movement of the Holy Spirit, after the Ascension of the Lord Jesus.  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit  begins in Jerusalem,  and  continues into Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. It is like a ripple effect. The Holy Spirit moves out in concentric circles.  He begins in Jerusalem (Acts 2) and  Judea. In Chapter 8, following the death of Stephen  and scattering of the church, the gospel comes into Samaria, and there we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the same way  (8:14), and then on the gentiles  in Caesarea  (10:44-48)  and now lastly here in Ephesus  in  Acts  19:1-7. 

Just as Jesus said in Acts 1:8!

Ephesus  was  so to speak at the end of the world. The Holy Spirit had  now  been given to the gentiles at the end of the world,  and with this goal achieved  we hear nothing more  of this kind of activity .  The  Holy Spirit  had been outpoured. The  point was made.  The Holy Spirit was  given illustratively  to people who had been ignorant of the full work of God and   who have not heard  of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  They were still living in the O.T. which culminated with John the Baptist. They had not known or understood that the new times had been ushered in by Jesus. Though believing in  the Messiah, through their understanding of the OT prophecies,  they had not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit to understand the person and work of Christ fully.As soon as these dear people  had realized all this, Pentecost caught up  with them.

But the big point about Spirit baptism  is this : Jesus baptizes every true believer with or in the Holy Spirit. In fact, only the Holy Spirit can reveal Jesus and His finished work on the cross to us.  Only the  Holy Spirit can help us to believe in Jesus.  The Holy Spirit  enables  us  in this regard in  these three areas:

(i)               Repentance

(ii)              Faith in Jesus

(iii)            Spirit Baptism.

All this should be followed by water baptism  which is an identification of the true believer  with the Lord Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection from the dead. 

All these are  are indispensable aspects in Christian experience. They are normative! 

Are these signs found in your life? 

Is the name of the Lord Jesus held in high honour in your life? (19:17)  

Have a you followed Him in every way?

RECEIVING THE SPIRIT OR  SPIRIT BAPTISM:   A sign of Salvation

Here in this passage we are told \ that "the Spirit came on them" (19:6). It happened in response to the understanding they had received. It happened all in one go. There was never a two - stage initiation. These people became  converted  through the sovereign action of God by the Holy Spirit. Illustratively,  Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor.  3:16 ; 6:19  all teach that the Holy Spirit  fully dwells in us  at conversion. 

There are other operations of the Holy Spirit  in the life of the believer after we are converted, but they are the subject of another discussion, and these  often depend  upon our obedience  to Christ.