Ep. 285. Acts 19-20 | Trip Number 3

EPISODE 285

TRIP NUMBER 3: ACTS 19-20

On Paul's third journey, he spends about three years in Asia with Ephesus as his home base. Previously, the Spirit had kept him out of Asia, but now it was time for them to hear the message of salvation as well. In this chapter, we see a third example of a group of people receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. This has happened in three strategic places.

First, the gift of speaking in tongues was given to the Apostles and disciples on the day of Pentecost.

Second, the believers in Samaria speak in tongues, having received the Holy Spirit.

Finally, the people of Asia, at least these twelve, speak in tongues.

It seems to me that, rather than being a formula for all who receive Christ by faith, the gift of tongues here is meant to confirm what God had established in Acts 2. Think about it this way: in Acts 2, the Jews received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues to fulfill what the prophet Joel declared. The Samaritan people were not full-blooded Jews, and they spoke in tongues to show that the good news of the Gospel was for them as well. Now, in Ephesus, the Greeks are speaking in tongues to show that the Gospel is also for them. I think that what the Holy Spirit is showing is that they are all beneficiaries of the same good news of Jesus. I can not believe that every believer for all time speaks in tongues. That does not seem to be the model here, and Paul directly contradicts that idea in First Corinthians, as we will see in a week or so.

I also find it fascinating that the demons in verse 15 say, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" I'll admit that growing up in a very conservative church probably poorly shaped my perspective of this text. We know that the demons know who Jesus is, as evidenced by the miracles of Jesus himself when the demons spoke, "We know who you are, the son of God." But it is peculiar, or at least interesting, that the demons know about Paul as well as though the demons have heard of him from their peers and counterparts. We need to remember that we fight a spiritual battle that rages all around us in the unseen realms of creation. Paul was not a stranger to the spirits. They were familiar with him. I wonder if we have had such an impact upon the world for the Kingdom of Heaven and the glory of God that we are known in the spiritual realm. I can't imagine that I've become that much of a threat, but one thing I will do is continue to press more fully into the heart of God.

ADDITIONAL READING: 1 Corinthians 1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 15:32