Acts 19

CHAPTER 19

Paul in Ephesus (19:1-12)

1-2 After he had met with the disciples in Galatia and Phrygia (Acts 18:23), Paul then came to Ephesus. There he met some disciples⁸² who had believed in Christ, but who had not yet received the Holy Spirit.

3 Paul’s understanding was that being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit always went together, or at least within a short time of each other. Sometimes the baptism came first (Acts 2:38; 8:15-17); sometimes the Holy Spirit came first (Acts 10:44,47-48). But, in whatever order it happened, to be a true Christian it was necessary both to be baptized and to receive the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, when Paul found out that these disciples had not received the Holy Spirit, he asked them, “Then what baptism did you receive?” They answered, “John’s baptism.”

4-5 Then Paul taught them that John’s baptism was given only to prepare men for the coming of Christ (Mark 1:2-4; Acts 18:25). Now, having believed in Jesus, they must be baptized in Jesus’ name. Therefore, they were all baptized in Jesus’ name. This is the only time in the New Testament where we read about someone having been baptized twice. The reason, of course, was because these disciples had not been baptized in Jesus’ name the first time. Once someone has been baptized in Jesus’ name—no matter by what method—he never needs to be baptized again (see General Article: Water Baptism).

6-7 This is the third place in the book of Acts where Luke explicitly states that believers spoke in tongues when they received the Holy Spirit⁸³ (see Acts 2:4; 10:44-46). From these examples we can understand that in the New Testament speaking in tongues was a common manifestation of being filled or “baptized” with the Holy Spirit. However, nowhere in the New Testament does it say that all people who are filled with the Spirit must be able to speak in tongues (see General Article: Holy Spirit Baptism).

The three times in the book of Acts where we read about believers speaking in tongues were all very important occasions. The first occasion was on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples received the filling of the Holy Spirit for the first time. The second occasion was on the day that the first Gentiles became Christians. And here, on this third occasion, Paul was in Ephesus, a new center for the spread of the Gospel, and twelve new disciples were needed (verse 7). And so God prepared and anointed these twelve men in a special way by pouring out His Spirit upon them.

These men spoke in tongues and prophesied. Speaking in tongues and prophesying are both gifts of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:10: 14:5,13 and comments).

8-10 For three months Paul taught every Saturday in the Jewish synagogue in Eph-esus. However, because of increasing opposition from the Jews, Paul and his disciples moved to the lecture hall of a teacher named Tyrannus, where Paul continued to teach for the next two years. In this way Paul got to preach not only on Saturdays but every day of the week. Furthermore, not only Jews but all the Gentiles of Eph-esus could come and hear him as well.

It is likely that Tyrannus taught only in the mornings, since most people in Eph-esus slept in the afternoon because of the heat. Thus Paul probably made tents in the mornings to earn his living; and then in the afternoons, instead of sleeping, he would go to Tyrannus’ lecture hall and teach his disciples and any other people who came. Within two and half years all the people living in the province of Asia had heard the Gospel of Christ. Also during that time, the churches at Colosse and Laodicea were established by Paul’s disciples (see Colossians 2:1; 4:13). Perhaps all seven of the churches mentioned in the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation were founded at this same time (Revelation 1:10-11).

11-12 God (by His Holy Spirit) did extraordinary miracles through Paul. Many people were healed simply by touching Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons⁸⁴ in faith (see Mark 5:27-29; 6:56; Acts 5:15). Even though Paul had stopped using these articles, there was still healing power associated with them.

The Sons of Sceva (19:13-22)

13-16 In New Testament times there were numerous sorcerers, many of whom were Jews. When they saw Paul driving out demons in Jesus’ name, some of these sorcerers tried to imitate him (see Acts 8:913,18-19). Seven sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva once tried, following Paul’s example, to drive an evil spirit out of a certain man. But the evil spirit did not recognize these seven brothers. And that demon-possessed man, through the power of the evil spirit within him, overcame those seven brothers and severely beat them.

Christ’s name and power are indeed great. But only those whom Christ appoints have the authority to use His name and His power. Sorcerers and magicians have no authority to use Christ’s name. Only true and obedient servants of Christ have the authority to act in His name.

17-18 When people saw that demons fled whenever Paul spoke Christ’s name, they were filled with awe and fear. They realized that in opposing Christ they had, in fact, been serving Satan. They saw that no magic or demon could protect them from the power of Christ’s name. Therefore, many people repented and believed in Christ.

19-20 The sorcerers and magicians in New Testament times used to recite various mantras, which consisted of strings of meaningless words written on scrolls. Great value was placed on such scrolls, because it was widely believed that by reading these mantras one could gain great power. But even some of the sorcerers repented and believed in Christ; they piled their scrolls together and burned them. The value of the scrolls burned that day came to fifty thousand drachmas⁸⁵

21-22 Paul remained in Ephesus for two and a half years. His ministry there bore much fruit. During that period in Ephesus Paul faced many dangers, which Luke does not tell us about (see Acts 20:19; 1 Corinthians 15:30-32; 2 Corinthians 1:8-10). Also during his stay in Ephesus, Paul wrote the first and second New Testament letters to the Corinthians.

Paul decided to go to Jerusalem in order to take to the poor Christians there the collection that had been raised by the churches in Macedonia and Achaia⁸⁶ (see Romans 15:25-26; 1 Corinthians 16:3-5). After that Paul hoped to go to Spain by way of Rome (Romans 15:23-24). Spain was the westernmost region of the Roman Empire.

Timothy was also in Ephesus with Paul at that time, so Paul sent Timothy and Erastus on to Macedonia ahead of him. On a previous occasion Paul had sent Timothy from Ephesus to Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17).

The Riot in Ephesus (19:23-41)

23 Toward the end of Paul’s stay in Eph-esus a great disturbance arose in connection with the Way—that is, the Christian religion (see Acts 9:2 and comment).

24 The Ephesians had built a huge temple in honor of the goddess Artemis, which measured 130 by 60 meters. Throughout the province of Asia,⁸⁷ people considered Artemis to be the greatest goddess of all. She was thought to be the mother of all other gods, and the mother of all men as well. Inside the temple was an image of Artemis, which actually was a meteorite that had fallen from the sky (verse 35). The surface of the meteorite was covered with bumps resembling breasts. Therefore, the Ephesians believed that this image of Artemis represented a many-breasted woman.

The silversmiths made little silver images of Artemis and sold them for a big prof it. But when increasing numbers of people stopped worshiping Artemis and began turning to Christ, the sale of these images fell of f and the income of the silversmiths dropped. Therefore, the silversmiths had two reasons for being angry with Paul: the first was religious, and the second was financial. Thus their opposition to Paul was doubly great.

25-27 The silversmiths made their living by making man-made gods (verse 26). But Paul was teaching everyone that these gods weren’t gods at all; they were worthless. Naturally the silversmiths were angry at Paul!

28-29 The theater at Ephesus could seat twenty-five thousand people. The ruins of that theater still remain today. Public assemblies to settle legal matters were held regularly in the theater (verse 39).

Gaius and Aristarchus were from Macedonia. Aristarchus was a Thessalonian (Acts 20:4; 27:2; Colossians 4:21). Gaius could be the same person as the Gaius from Derbe mentioned in Acts 20:4; but it is not likely, because the city of Derbe was not in Macedonia but in Galatia. Gaius and Aristarchus, having been dragged into the theater, were probably the ones who later gave Luke a firsthand account of what happened.

30-31 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd. Paul never feared men. He was always ready to defend the Gospel of Christ at every opportunity. On this occasion, however, Paul’s colleagues did not think it advisable for him to speak before such an angry mob. It was too great a risk. Christians may be called to lay down their lives, but they are never called to throw them away.

32-34 Although the crowd was angry mainly with Paul and the Christians, they were also mad at the Jews, who didn’t worship Artemis either. Thus when the Jews saw this riot, they began to get worried. They forced Alexander,⁸⁸ one of their fellow Jews, to go forward and tell the crowd that the Jews had no connection with Christians and that therefore the people didn’t need to blame the Jews for what the Christians were doing. But since Alexander was a Jew himself, no one listened to him.

35-37 Ephesus was a free city within the Roman Empire, and it had its own government. The chief official of the city was called the city clerk (verse 35). But even though Ephesus itself was a free city, the surrounding province of Asia was under the control of the Roman Empire, and the Roman governor of the province had his residence in Ephesus. If news of such a riot came to his ears, he would surely punish the people of Ephesus, and possibly take away their freedom. Therefore, the city clerk tried very hard to persuade the crowd to quiet down.

38-41 The city clerk reminded the people that if anyone had a complaint against someone else, the matter should be brought up in a court. Or if a dispute arose involving the laws of the city, that should be settled in one of the legal assemblies, which met regularly. But a riot like this was totally unsuitable, and must be ended at once.