2. He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed? "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?"

This question he asked, because he had not observed among them those miraculous powers which he had seen in other churches.

And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit.

We have not so much as heard whether there be those miraculous powers which are denominated the Holy Spirit, of which we may partake. To account for their ignorance on this subject, it must be supposed, either that these Jews left Judæa immediately after the preaching of John, and before Jesus had manifested the extraordinary powers with which he was endowed, or before they had been communicated to his followers; or that they were proselytes to Apollos, who, we are told, knew only the baptism of John. On either of these suppositions, their ignorance is easily accounted for.

It is plain from this answer, that by the term, Holy Spirit, we are not to understand a being; for had there been such a being, these Jews must have heard of his existence; but miraculous powers, such as the power of healing distempers, the gifts of tongues, and of knowledge. These gifts, which constituted the Holy Spirit, these disciples had not yet received, nor even heard of; but as soon as they received the Holy Spirit, by the laying on of the hands of Paul, as we read in the sixth verse of this chapter, they spake with tongues, and prophesied.*

3. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized?

Had they been baptized in the name of Jesus, they must necessarily have heard of those miraculous powers with which he was endowed, and which he likewise communicated to his followers; but their ignorance on this subject led the apostle to suppose, that they were not Christians, and their answer confirmed his apprehensions.

And they said, Unto John's baptism.

4. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him who should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus, "on Jesus," as it is found in some copies and versions.†

John the Baptist called upon the people to repent, and to prepare themselves for the kingdom of Heaven, which he declared to be at hand, and which was to be introduced by a prophet far superior to himself. He referred the people to Jesus, as a superior prophet; but he seemed to be doubtful whether he were the Messiah. To believe in John, therefore, and to be baptized by him, did not con

* Lardner, Vol. XII. pp. 154, 165.

↑ See Griesbach.

stitute men Christians; but it was necessary that such believers should profess faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and undergo the ceremony of baptism a second time, in order to be entitled to that honour. To this the apostle's present audience are willing to submit.

5. When they heard that, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

By submitting to this ceremony, they acknowledged their faith in Jesus as a divine messenger, and the promised Messiah; for it was in the character of a divine messenger, that he instituted this rite; they acknowledged, likewise, that they were brought from a less pure, to a more perfect dispensation of religion. When Jesus sent out his apostles to preach the gospel, his command was, "Go, and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ;" but these words seem to have been intended as a summary of Christian faith, rather than as a formulary to be used whenever the ordinance was administered; for we never find it so employed in any of the instances of baptism which are mentioned in the book of Acts. On these occasions, we see, that the believers were baptized, as in this verse, into the name of Jesus, or with words of a like import. These words, therefore, ought to be deemed sufficient in the administration of this ordinance at the present day.

6. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied, "taught."

To prophesy, here signifies teaching the Christian doctrine. This is what these disciples appear to have done. Being favoured with the gift of speaking different tongues, which they had never learnt, they employ it in teaching the Christian religion, like those who were thus favoured on the day of Pentecost.

7. And all the men were about twelve.

8. And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

9. And when divers were hardened, "continued hardened," and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

From the name of this person, which is Greek, and from his having a school, it has been supposed that he was a Greek rhetorician, who delivered lectures to his followers for hire. To this place Paul resorted when he found the Jews obstinate, and went no more to the synagogue, turning, as he had done before, to the Gentiles. He separated the disciples also from the Jews, because their continuauce with men of such a turbulent disposition was not safe, or because

he did not wish them to associate with men who were doomed for their obstinacy in error, to so many calamities.

10. And this continued by the space of two years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia, heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

By Asia is meant proconsular Asia, where Paul was forbidden to preach on his first journey. All the neighbouring inhabitants came to Ephesus, which was a principal city in this part of the country, either for business or pleasure, and, therefore, had an opportunity of hearing Paul preach.

11. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul :

12. So that from his body were brought unto the sick. handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

A miracle of a similar nature was performed by Christ, when he healed a woman who only touched the hem of his garment. In both cases the faith of the person benefitted, if in his sound mind and capable of exercising faith, was directed to the power of God, and not to any virtue in the things applied. The expulsion of the evil spirits, or the curing of madness and epilepsy, is mentioned separately, because the cure of these disorders was thought peculiarly difficult.

13. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

Exorcists pretended to expel evil spirits from those who were supposed to be possessed, by adjuring them in the name of God to depart from them. That this was practised among the Jews, we learn from the history of the evangelists, where we hear Jesus saying, in answer to an objection made to him by the Pharisees, "If I by Beelzebub, cast out dæmons, by whom do your children, i. e. your disciples, cast them out? wherefore they shall be your judges." That they did not succeed in these attempts is certain, although they might sometimes persuade the deluded multitude to believe that they did. Several of the Jewish exorcists travelled about the country, exercising their pretended art; and some of them, seeing dæmoniacs suddenly cured by Paul's calling over them the name of Jesus, imagined that by using the same name they should be alike successful; but they were miserably disappointed.

14.

And there were Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

15. And the evil spirit answered, and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

16. And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

The historian attributes that to the evil spirit which was, in reality, spoken and done by the mad man, who supposing himself to be an evil spirit, or possessed by one, addresses the exorcists in that character. As Paul had spent two whole years at Ephesus, and in that time ejected many dæmons in the name of Jesus, we are not to be surprised that this dæmoniac should be well acquainted with the names of Paul and Jesus. The extraordinary strength which he discovered in overcoming and driving away the exorcists, who were unattended, and did not expect resistance, is nothing more than what is common to persons afflicted with this unhappy disorder.

The disappointment and disgrace of these men served to vindicate the miracles of Paul from all suspicion of imposture; to create a high reverence for Jesus, in confirmation of whose divine authority they were wrought, and to prevent the name of Jesus from being any more used as a charm.*

17. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18. And many that believed, came and confessed, and showed their deeds, "their practices."

19. Many also of them which used curious arts, "magic arts," brought their books together, and burnt them before all men; and they counted the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.t

20. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

REFLECTIONS.

1. OBSERVE, first, how indefatigable is Paul in preaching the gospel. He travels from country to country, by land or by water, to communicate the important intelligence. From Ephesus he

* Farmer on Demoniacs, p. 276.

+ About £1600.

goes to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to Ephesus again. Wherever he goes he plants churches of Christians, and visits them repeatedly, to confirm and establish their faith. At some places he spends only a few days or weeks, but those days are well employed; if he continue a longer time, it is not wasted in sluggish ease, but wholly occupied in the same work. In the synagogue of the Jews he preaches every sabbath-day, while the synagogue is open to him, and there is any prospect of success; and when compelled to depart thence, he will preach every day in the week to the Gentiles. To him every day is a sabbath, and every place sanctified, whether it be the forum at Athens, the synagogue of the Jews, or the school of Tyrannus. How warm the zeal which produced such incessant efforts! How important the doctrine from which it originated! The consequence was, as might be expected, that the word of God mightily grew and prevailed.

2. Observe how inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, are all the arts of magic and every species of imposture. One of the first duties which the gospel inculcates is truth in our words and sincerity in our actions; the most illustrious example which it holds out to our view, is that of inviolable attachment to the truth, and an utter abhorrence of all falsehood and disguise; but magical arts consist of fair pretences to bestow benefits which can never be conferred; of contrivances to enrich the possessor at the expense of the ignorant and credulous multitude; with such arts Christianity can hold no communion. No sooner, therefore, do men believe the gospel, than they renounce this profession, and disclose the evil practices by which they had imposed upon the world and carried on a gainful trade; and that they might not be tempted to renew their evil deeds, or expose others to a like temptation, they commit to the flames the books which contained the principles and rules of their art; thus making a noble sacrifice to truth and integrity. This was the conduct of the first Christians; but I am sorry to add that many, who have pretended to that honourable name in modern times, have not shown a like temper; they have renewed these exploded practices, and attempted to conceal the fraud by sanctimonious pretences to religion: but let them know that the gospel of Christ disdains to acknowledge such disciples, and that it requires no further proof of their being ignorant of its nature and entirely hostile to its principles.