Acts Chapter 19 Verses 1-7

Acts 19:1 “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 unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? 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 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 Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7 And all the men were about twelve.” 

In the above passage we make the following observations: 

1.  The 12 men when asked by Paul unto what they had been baptized, answered unto John’s baptism.  From this it is obvious that it was not John who baptized them but someone who baptized unto John’s baptism.  Generally the speculation is that Apollos had baptized them before he met with Aquila and Priscilla.  It would have been a time when Apollos was not qualified to baptize into the Lord’s church. 

2.  Since they had not heard of the Holy Ghost we gather also that John did not baptize them and that they were baptized without the knowledge of the Godhead or of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

3.  After Paul spoke with them they willingly submitted unto being baptized again.  This is an example of baptizing people who had previously been baptized by someone who did not have the authority to baptize and being previously baptized into an erroneous belief system. 

Verses 8-10

Acts 19:8 “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 But when divers were 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. 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.”

“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.”  We see the same pattern for the Apostle Paul as he went into the synagogue.  Moreover, we see that he was persistent in his efforts to preach the gospel of the grace of Christ and to attempt to persuade the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.  He spent three whole months disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. 

“But when divers were 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.”  Often times when preaching the gospel the preacher of grace comes across people whose hearts are hardened and do not believe and speak evil of the way before the multitudes.  When this continued to happen, Paul separated the disciples from the synagogue and continued to dispute daily in the school of Tyrannus.  Paul was using every opportunity that opened to him to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

“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.”  We note that Paul’s efforts were such that all which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.  This is a wonder when you compare to the great lack of knowledge of the grace of Christ that is present in the United States.  We preachers of the gospel need to do a much better job of getting the word out to the masses of the people. 

Verses 11-17

Acts 19:11 “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. 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. 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. 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.” 

“And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 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.”  We note that these were special miracles that God wrought.  No room for the apostle to boast here.  It was God that wrought the miracles at his hand.  Moreover, Paul wrote later about “signs of an apostle:” 2 Cor. 12:12 “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”  Thus these miracles were the result of God giving special gifts of healing to the apostles. 

“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.  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?  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.”  Thus there were vagabond Jews who traveled around and were exorcists or ones who used spells to fool people and they tried to do what Paul had done.  These exorcists were sons of a chief of the priests who were practicing what was forbidden in the Old Testament.  This is a prime example of how far the Jewish people had gone astray from the Old Testament teachings in their practices.  The evil spirit leaped upon them and they fled out of the house naked and wounded.  Thus, we see that trying to emulate God’s gifts is not a wise course of action. 

“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.”  On the one hand Paul actions were under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, whereas the actions of the seven sons of Sceva were wicked actions and devil led actions.  Of course, those seeing this would have known and this would have brought fear on them and they would have magnified the name of the Lord Jesus.