1: And it
came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth Paul having passed through the
upper coasts came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples 2: He said to
them Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed[1]
And they said to him We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit
3: And he said to them Unto what then were you baptized And they said
Unto John's baptism 4: Then said Paul John verily baptized with the
baptism of repentance saying to the people that they should believe on him
which should come after him that is on Christ Jesus 5: When they heard
this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus 6: And when Paul
had laid his hands upon them the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke with
tongues and prophesied 7: And all the men were about twelve 8:
And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for the space of three months
disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God 9: But
when various ones were hardened and believed not but spoke evil of that way
before the multitude he departed from them and separated the disciples disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus 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 11: And God worked
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 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 preaches 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 you 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 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 19: Many of them also which used mysterious arts
brought their books together and burned them before all and they counted the
price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver 20: So
mightily grew the word of God and prevailed 21: After these things were
ended Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and
Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying After I have been there I must also see Rome 22:
So he sent into Macedonia two that served him Timotheus and Erastus but he
himself stayed in Asia for a season 23: And the same time there arose no
small stir about that way 24: For a certain man named Demetrius a
silversmith who made silver shrines for Diana brought no small gain to the
craftsmen 25: Whom he called together with the workmen of like
occupation and said Sirs you know that by this craft we have our wealth 26:
Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all
Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away much people saying that they be no
gods which are made with hands 27: So that not only this our craft is in
danger of coming to nothing but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana
should be despised and her magnificence should be destroyed whom all Asia and
the world worships 28: And when they heard these sayings they were full
of wrath and cried out saying Great is Diana of the Ephesians 29: And
the whole city was filled with confusion and having caught Gaius and
Aristarchus men of Macedonia Paul's companions in travel they rushed with one
accord into the theatre 30: And when Paul would have entered in to the
people the disciples permitted him not 31: And certain of the chiefs of
Asia who were his friends sent to him desiring him that he would not adventure
himself into the theatre 32: Some therefore cried one thing and some
another for the assembly was confused and the majority knew not why they were
come together 33: And they drew Alexander out of the multitude the Jews
putting him forward And Alexander beckoned with the hand and would have made
his defense to the people 34: But when they knew that he was a Jew all
with one voice about the space of two hours cried out Great is Diana of the
Ephesians 35: And when the town clerk had appeased the people he said You
people of Ephesus what one is there who knows not how that the city of the
Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana and of the image which
fell down from Jupiter 36: Seeing then that these things cannot be
spoken against, you ought to be quiet and to do nothing rashly 37: For you
have brought here these men which are neither robbers of churches nor yet
blasphemers of your goddess 38: Surely then if Demetrius and the
craftsmen which are with him have a matter against any the law is open and
there are deputies let them bring accusation themselves 39: But if you seek
anything concerning other matters it shall be determined in a lawful assembly 40:
For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's insurrection there
being no cause whereby we may give an account of this uproar 41: And
when he had thus spoken he dismissed the assembly
[1] There can be no doubt, from passages
such as these, that the early Church did teach a spiritual experience that
sometimes occurred separately and subsequent to being born again, and that they
believed this experience was absolutely necessary to the Christian. Pentecostal
Churches, today, call this the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of
speaking in tongues. Certain Pentecostal sects claim the experience is
necessary for salvation. They base this belief on the verse that says “For by
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:13
This, they say, is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore (according to
their reasoning) the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking
in tongues is actually the evidence of salvation.
Additional commentary pending for this
chapter. Questions and comments are welcome.
