In yesterday's study Paul was not able to remain at Ephesus as long as its citizens wanted, but he promised to return if the Lord allowed. Today he returns and the Lord does many amazing miracles through him.
"While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus." (Acts 19:1a) Paul trusts Apollos to continue the work he began in Corinth, so instead of revisiting Corinth at this time he goes back to Ephesus.
"There he found some disciples and asked them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' They answered, 'No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 19:1a-2) This is an odd question for Paul to ask. Apparently these particular disciples are lacking the gifts of the Holy Spirit that were granted to the early church: the gifts of healing, of exorcism, and of speaking in tongues they had not been taught. I don't think Luke is telling us that these disciples are not saved by their faith in Christ and that the Holy Spirit has not sanctified them; otherwise they would not be disciples. But we will see that their understanding of the grace available through Christ is incomplete. And they are unaware of what happened on the Day of Pentecost or what has been happening everywhere the gospel is being preached. They don't know about the signs and wonders God is granting to believers in the first century. They haven't heard that the Lord backs up the message of the gospel by providing these signs and wonders in order to prove that the message is true.
We need to keep in mind that these signs and wonders were given for a particular season of time. When I came to faith in Christ I didn't receive the ability to lay my hands on a sick person and heal them. I can't share the gospel in a language I haven't been taught. I can't command a dead person to rise up or compel a demon to come out. It is my personal opinion that the reason we don't see many such miracles today is not because we lack the faith. These signs and wonders were provided in a time when the gospels had not yet been written down and when the words of Christ were not widely available for personal study. They were provided to a superstitious generation who sought signs and wonders. (Matthew 12:39 Matthew 16:4) They were provided in an era when no other proof would have been sufficient to persuade them.
The signs of the apostles were already dying out during their lifetime, as evidenced by the Apostle Paul's inability to heal the stomach problems of his friend Timothy. (1 Timothy 5:23) Would Paul have told Timothy, perhaps on the advice of Dr. Luke, to use a little wine to aid his digestion if he were still able to heal the sick? In today's passage we find Paul able to heal from a distance, so the fact that he was not present with Timothy should have been no hindrance to healing. But by that time the gospel of Mark had likely been written and was being circulated, along with the letters of Paul and Peter, so we find the power of the Holy Spirit being demonstrated in His chief duties of convicting men and women of sin, leading them to faith, sanctifying them, instructing them about the Lord Jesus Christ, and guiding their lives.
"So Paul asked, 'Then what baptism did you receive?' 'John's baptism,' they replied. Paul said, 'John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.' On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all." (Acts 19:3-7) These men believe Jesus is the Messiah because John said He was, but they know little else about Him. They repented at the preaching of John and were baptized either by him or by one of his disciples. They accepted his testimony regarding the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. But until Paul explained the gospel more fully to them they didn't understand the message of grace and hadn't received the gifts of the Spirit. As proof that they now fully understand and accept the gospel, the Spirit endows them with the gifts granted to first century believers.
"Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord." (Acts 19:8-10) Tyrannus is believed to have been a Greek philosopher. Paul has left the synagogue and is teaching in a Gentile lecture hall, but according to Luke both Jews and Gentiles gather to hear him. The Jews who rejected his message in the synagogue are probably not flocking to hear him, but other Jews in the community are. During the two years he lectures in the hall Luke tells us all the Jews and Greeks in the province heard the gospel. This doesn't mean they all believed it, but they did hear it. Just as in our own day, not everyone who hears the gospel believes it.
"God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them." (Acts 19:11-12) Luke tells us that these miracles are extraordinary. Some translations call these miracles "unusual". God still performs miracles of healing. He still does exorcisms. But He does not usually do them in this manner. If He did we would be in danger of putting too much faith in the one to whom the handkerchief belongs instead of putting our faith in the power of Christ. For a particular season of time and in particular places the Lord did mighty works by this method, as we find Him doing in Ephesus.
We all probably know at least one person who has been healed after the doctors have said their case was hopeless. We know people who have been delivered from addictions, from a life of crime, or from an attitude of blasphemy and rejection toward the name of Jesus Christ. We know marriages that have been put back together. We know of wayward children who have returned to the faith. We know of impossible circumstances being turned around by a God for whom nothing is impossible. The power of God is just as mighty as it ever was. He still performs miracles every day and we should still pray for and expect our God to do great things.
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