Of the character of these exorcists there can be no doubt Their deceiving and iniquitous profession was one for gain, and gain only was in their hearts. With less hesitation even than Simon Magus (Acts 8:18, 19), they propose to themselves to take their chance at least in using and abusing the "glorious and fearful Name." And they suffer for their blasphemous and profane attempt. Notice -

I. THE PRESUMPTION INVOLVED.

1. They dare to try the use of the name of Jesus without any authority. No doubt Paul was cognizant of the aprons and handkerchiefs taken from his body, and willingly authorized the proceeding. Nothing analogous, however, finds place now with the exorcists.

2. They use that Name to supersede and as an experimental substitute for the name, or odious deceptive practices, whatever they were, which they had been accustomed to use.

3. They do this for no high-minded ambitious (even if erroneous) adventure, but doubtless for the adventure of money gain alone.

4. Those who do it are Jews, and they are sons of one who was "chief of the priests," and they conspire, seven in number, to do it.

II. THE EXPOSURE.

1. It is the exposure, not of Paul (as in the case of Simon Magus it was of Peter), nor of the horror of true disciples, nor of Heaven's intervention by lightning or thunderbolt.

2. A more humiliating exposure is reserved for these. Even the evil spirit cannot bear the presumptuous and intolerably conceived iniquity. And in the keen satire of truth, which perhaps none know better to accentuate than evil spirits, this ill spirit resents the puny challenge and scathes the hollow deception by a question following upon an honest enough confession, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?"

3. The mournfully afflicted man himself joins to make patent the exposure. No doubt already by the usurped organs of his speech it was that the ill spirit had uttered forth his trenchant rebuff, but now the record gives us to understand that the man himself (from whatever source he gained his inspiration) joined hand and limb, and suited the action to the word. The exposure surely needed no more to make it complete.

III. THE PUNISHMENT.

1. It was summary. Naked and wounded, the seven fled out of that house.

2. It was retributive. The man on whom they had experimented, and perhaps not now for the first time, had doubtless (like he of the tombs) often been "naked and wounded;" but now it is they who are in this plight.

3. It was essentially humiliating. "Seven flee before one" (Deuteronomy 28:7, 25), and him the despised or pitied one of long time!

4. It was humiliating in its circumstances. For it was not only patent at the time, but it became notorious. "It was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus." So sometimes even now iniquity reaches its height, the cup is filled to the full, the bold daring face that sin sets to heaven is overwhelmed with confusion, and the hour of judgment is arrived.

IV. THE EFFECTS. Whatever may be said too often, too inconsiderately in modern days, to the disparagement of faith in miracles and faith in prayer, and among other things faith in providence and the veritable nearness of the Divine hand, "strong to save" or "swift to smite," there is no doubt that these things were all heartily believed in by the early Church. They were also believed in by many who were not "disciples." Nor is this evidence traveling down from those who were on the spot in the alleged age and place of miracles unimportant. In the present history, just as true as anything else recorded, must this be held, when we read that the great effect was that "fear fell on them all, and that the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." If we are open to learn, we may receive help in the firm persuasion that there was such a thing as the possession by alien and evil spirits of the organs of the human body; that there was such a thing as miracle, special Divine interposition to the suspension of the ordinary course of things; and, dread suggestion that by whomsoever else, evil spirits are not to be overmastered by, but rather overmaster, evil men. - B.

A great spiritual revolution had taken place in Ephesus. At first Paul found the twelve disciples without Christian knowledge beyond the baptism of John. Under Paul's ministry the Holy Ghost had been poured out, and from that time great interest was felt in the whole subject of spiritual influence. From time immemorial superstition has grown in Ephesus, and to add one superstition to another came quite easy. Christianity was another department of magic, and the men who had practised exorcism were willing to try it. We must not dismiss the men as impostors. They wanted to do a good work, and so far we must credit them with a good motive. A wonderful testimony — the more wonderful because unconscious is here borne to the power of Christianity. If Paul had failed, the Ephesians never would have tried the new art. Much is expected of Christians today, as much was expected of Paul in his time. Necromancers may fail in their momentary trick, but Christians must be kept up to the mark. This is the sublimest tribute which can be borne to the Christian faith.

2. Add to that thought the one which arises out of the endeavour of the seven sons of Sceva to cast out evil spirits. Wherein did they fail? At every point. They came into the ministry in a wrong way; and that is always an explanation of failure of the worst kind. "They took upon them" — that is the explanation. This ministry is not something which a man may elect in preference to something else. The ministry is nothing if it is not a burden, a necessity.

3. The sons of Sceva knew nothing about the Name with which they conjured. Instead of saying, "We adjure you by Jesus Christ whom we love," they said, "We adjure you by Jesus Christ whom Paul preacheth." The sacred influence will not pass through such negative or nonconducting connections. That is one of the noblest tributes that can be paid to the dignity of Christianity. There are many persons who would be glad to amalgamate Christianity with something else. But Christianity will not be amalgamated. Christianity wants the world to itself. How much modern meaning there is in "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth." There was no doubt about the subject of Paul's preaching. This is a tribute to the honesty and consistency of Paul. We are urged today to preach the Christ whom the Puritans preached. That exhortation is not without deep meaning; but a man may say to his hearers "I adjure you to serve the Christ whom the Puritans preached," and they will return the answer of indifference or mockery. A minister may go further and say, "I adjure you by the Christ whom the apostles preached," and the Word would have no power. A man might go even further and say, "I adjure you by the Christ of the New Testament," and the nineteenth century would know nothing about such a Christ. How is the Christian to suit his age and arrest it? By preaching the Christ whom his own heart knows and loves. Paul uses an expression which some persons cannot think is in the New Testament. He uses the expression, "my gospel." Every man has his own hold of the gospel, and he must preach that. If I have to preach a Christ whom another man preached I have to commit a lesson to memory and to be very careful lest I stumble in the verbal recitation; but if I preach a Christ born in my own heart, the hope of glory, living with me day by day, then my whole life must break into eloquence, and men must be constrained to say, "He has been with Jesus and learned of Him."

4. The answer returned by the evil spirit is the answer which every age will return to professional necromancers and moralists (vers. 15, 16). These seven sons of Sceva are living today. Here is one of them. A man who indulges himself in some way and then seeks to exorcise the spirit of intemperance in others. The seven sons of Sceva have seven sisters, and the whole fourteen of them are living today. They are living, for example, in that person who reproves worldliness and practises religious vanity. There is a religious worldliness as well as a worldliness that does not debase the name of religion by calling it in as a qualification. Shall we who have a beam in our eyes be preaching about the mote that is in the eyes of other men? You will hurl the ten commandments at the head without effect if you do not go along with them. The world can laugh even at Christian theology when marked out in abstract propositions, but when theology is incarnated in personal godliness the age will begin to wonder, and may end in prayer.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

Note at the outset —

1. Man's craving for the supernatural. Under the shadow of Diana superstitions were rife, and priests and miracle workers abounded. Man feels that he has a relation to something deeper than the earth beneath and higher than the sky above him.

2. Accommodation in the work of Christian propagandism. The apostle, on entering Ephesus, meets the tendency of the inhabitants by performing miracles. As Moses met the magicians of Egypt on their own ground, confounding them by the supernatural, so Paul now confronts and confounds the deluded supernaturalists of Ephesus. This extraordinary narrative presents to us a spurious Christianity.

I. As in IMPIOUS MIMICRY OF THE DIVINE (ver. 13, 14). These "exorcists" witnessed the marvels that the apostle had wrought, and they impiously tried their hands at the same. The work they imitated was Divine —

1. In its object. Paul had expelled evil spirits; and this was the grand work of Christianity. Christ came to "destroy the works of the devil."

2. In its method. Paul accomplished his work in the "name of Jesus Christ." He never attempted it in his own power. As in the case of these exorcists, a spurious Christianity is ever a mimicry of the Divine. It has two distinctive forms in Christendom — the naturalistic and the ritualistic. Now, a spurious Christianity imitates the Divine both in the object and the method.

II. AS THE INDIGNANT SCORN OF HELL (ver. 15). The evil spirit is here spoken of as a person distinct from the man. We may infer, therefore —

1. That hell knows and respects Christ and His true followers. "Jesus I know" (Mark 1:23). He encountered and conquered our leader in the wilderness, and bruised his head upon the Cress. And "Paul I know." I know he is an earnest and successful preacher of the faith he once endeavoured to destroy. Not a word does this evil spirit say either against Jesus or Paul.

2. That hell despises and avenges religious pretenders. "Who are ye? What right have you to use that wonderful name at which we tremble?" Hell has no respect for its own emissaries. Not only does the evil spirit express its indignation and contempt, but wreaks vengeance on the head of the pretenders (ver. 16). This incidents suggests —(1) That the efforts of a spurious Christianity only increase the force of evil. The evil spirit in the man seemed to get new strength from the efforts of the exorcists. That which is not the genuine gospel gives strength to the devil. "He that is not with Me is against Me."(2) That heaven employs evil to punish evil. The sinner is the tormentor of the sinner everywhere, and forever.

III. AS DIVINELY OVERRULED FOR GOOD (ver. 20). The narrative shows three useful results.

1. A popular excitement in favour of the true. "And fear fell on them all." Much is done for truth when the general mind of the community is excited towards it. There is a sad tendency to run in old ruts, or sleep on the stagnant thoughts of ancestors. Sometimes, as in the case before us, the abominations of a spurious Christianity have so broken forth upon the public mind as to startle it from its slumbers, and to excite it into earnest inquiry after the truth. Witness Popery in the days of Luther.

2. An open profession of Christian faith (ver. 18). Like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, they were secret disciples. They had not sufficient moral courage to declare convictions repugnant to popular belief. This event, however, brought them to a crisis.

3. A Conscientious renunciation of evil practices. The force of conscience is seen —(1) In the sacrifice of secular interest. Let England's conscience be Divinely touched, and many of her trades, crafts, and callings will go off in flame.(2) In the outrage on historic feeling. They were associated with many a tender name, and with many a thrilling event in life, Notwithstanding that, conscience would have them go. Conclusion: This subject urges several important facts upon our attention —

1. That evil spirits are amongst men. Are not men possessed when they live the irrational, immoral, and ungodly?

2. That evil spirits must be expelled. Whoever does it is the philanthropist, the saviour.

3. That evil spirits can only be expelled by genuine faith in the name of Christ. The exorcists failed because they pronounced that name and had no faith in it.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

I. THERE ARE POWERS OF DEMON EVIL WIDELY DIFFUSED AND CEASELESSLY ACTIVE. Look at —

1. Idolatry.

2. Superstition.

3. Infidelity.

4. Dissipation.

II. THERE ARE EXPEDIENTS FORMED TO COUNTERACT AND DEPOSE THEM, WHICH ONLY PROVOKE THEIR CONTEMPT.

1. Education.

2. Legislation.

3. Art.

4. Science.

III. NEVERTHELESS, MEANS OF RESISTING THEM EXIST WHICH THEY COMPREHEND AND DREAD.

(R. W. Hamilton, D. D.)

We are taught here —

I. THE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES, GOOD AND BAD.

1. It was believed in Ephesus, and all through the ancient world, and there must have been some foundation for this belief.

2. This fact is demonstrated by the miracles of Christ and His apostles.

II. THERE IS MANIFEST DELIVERANCE FROM THE EVIL POWER IN THE NAME OF CHRIST.

1. Men have tried various expedients in vain.

2. The name of Jesus has never been known to fail.

3. We shall have deliverance as we put ourselves under its protection.

(Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

The wandering Jews wished to work wonders by the name without being disciples of the person of Jesus, which circumstance furnishes a rebuke —

I. TO ALL WHO USE RELIGION AT SECOND HAND.

1. How much of mere hearsay there is in the greatest concerns. Jesus is "Jesus whom Mr. So-and-so preaches," or of whom men have learned in childhood.

2. How much of religion is a matter of proxy.

II. TO ALL WHO USE RELIGION FOR SELFISH ENDS.

1. The politician who makes religion the stalking-horse behind which he aims at other things.

2. The theologian anxious to carry his point.

3. The bigoted sectarian, who will do anything for his religion but live it.

III. TO ALL WHO TRY TO INFLUENCE OTHERS BY A RELIGION WHICH DOES NOT INFLUENCE THEMSELVES.

1. Worldly statesmen who use Christianity as a sort of moral police to hold a fretful realm in awe.

2. Ungodly parents who are wishful to keep their children from bad ways.

3. Preachers and teachers from whom the evil spirit is not exorcised.

IV. TO ALL WHO TRY TO CONJURE WITH RELIGION AS IF IT WERE A SORT OF MAGIC.

1. People who use the Divine book as though it were a divining book.

2. Mere ritualists and sacramentarians.

(H. Osborne.)

1. In all that marvellous history of the conflict between the powers of this world and the world to come contained in the Acts, there is no more striking or instructive passage than this.

2. Rich and luxurious Ephesus was the stronghold of evil; the prince of this world held it as the very centre of his kingdom, and against him God set forth, by the hand of St. Paul, the special might of the Holy Spirit. Here, as upon some conspicuous theatre, the mighty contest raged.

3. Whether the powers of evil knew that in Christ, as the champion of humanity, the great battle must be fought, or whether the instincts of their nature were roused into a trembling energy by His appearance, we know not; but it is clear that about the time of the Advent they exerted an unusual amount of power over the bodies and spirits of men.

4. Against these powers a remedy had been found among the Jews in the use of the name of Jehovah; and so there had sprung up a class of men who professed (and sometimes, it would seem, with success, from our Lord's words, "By whom do your sons cast them out?") to counteract the workings of the evil one. And just as Simon Magus perceived the wonderful effect of the laying on of the apostle's hands, and was led to strive to possess the same power, so was it with these men. Their own employment of the name of Jehovah would make them readily perceive that St. Paul drew his strength from the name of Christ; while their feeble and uncertain success would contrast strongly, in their own eyes, with the surpassing might with which he wrought. And so they were led to look at Christianity mainly as a system of powers against outward evils, and to use it as a means of effecting these wonders to obtain either influence or gain.

5. Now this was the very opposite to the whole course of St. Paul. The essence of Christianity to him was to know Christ and to find peace in Him, and not the power of working miracles. But knowing Christ, he had found power to heal others, as Christ had healed him: he had found Christ first for his own salvation, and then he spoke of what he had found himself; and these powers had come out of themselves.

6. Now look at the contrast. The sons of Sceva, not knowing Christ for their own salvation, His name, in their mouths, only stirred up to a higher flood tide of wrath these spirits of darkness. Instead of being able to curb it through the name of Christ, they were hurried helplessly along by it. The man, in the paroxysm of their working, leapt upon them, so that they "fled out of that house naked and wounded."

7. This irreverent attempt, with its frightful issue, produced its natural effect upon all those who heard or saw it. These powers could not thus be trifled with. They were not merely matters of wonder, things to use for earthly purposes; they were not the fantastic tricks of a marvel monger, but they were indications of the nearness of the Almighty, with whom it was very fearful to have really to do. And so a searching self-examination sprung up among those upon whom this fear fell, and many became real seekers after Christ.

8. Now these events were no accidental peculiarities of that time; they point to a deep and an abiding evil inclination of men's hearts. Let us, therefore, ask ourselves this question, Are we free from this evil typified in these sons of Sceva, the essence of whose sin was using the name of Christ as a means of obtaining power, instead of seeking to know Christ for themselves as the Healer and portion of their own souls?

I. Take its plainest exhibition: HOW DO THEY DIFFER FROM THEM WHO IN THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST'S CHURCH SEEK, WITHOUT KNOWING CHRIST FOR THEMSELVES, TO WIELD AS TO OTHERS THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM OF HIS GRACE? Surely in those who seek to minister that gospel, of which they do not partake, the fearful character of the sons of Sceva is plain enough to everyone amongst us.

II. LOOK AT THE BROAD FEATURES OF OUR OWN NATIONAL AND POLITICAL LIFE AND SEE IF WE MAY NOT SEE THE WORKING OF THIS EVIL. Are there not whole bodies of men manifestly without any governing principles of religion for themselves, yet believe Christianity so far as to think it an excellent thing for governing a nation, and preserving it in social order and in political quiet? And what is written, in broad characters, as the result of this but the same discomfiture? — for what more certainly tends to spread a universal infidelity than this unreal spirit of Christianity? — as if it were something good for others, but something which has no internal reality for ourselves.

III. If this evil is plainly to be read in the features of our public life, IS OUR PRIVATE LIFE MUCH MORE FREE FROM IT? Are there not heads of families who think Christianity an excellent thing because it will keep their families respectable? Are there not masters who wish their servants to be religious enough to be good servants, but who know nothing themselves of Christ and of His salvation? And must not the effect of all this be a very shameful discomfiture now, just as it was of old? You only stir up evil that you cannot deal with. Servants, children, they see through all this. How do the rebellious appetites and sinful vanities of your children, as they grow up, laugh to scorn this ineffective and unmeaning resistance to their sway! And then this unreality brings a deadly wound upon themselves. We get so used to all the wonders of redemption, that nothing affects us. To such everything is a trick to play, and not a verity to be realised.

IV. And there is a form of this evil still more subtle, WHEN A MAN CALLS ALL THESE POWERS OVER HIMSELF, and not upon other people — when he seeks to heal certain great evils in his own character. How many a man is seeking for the self-command, the courtesy, the intellectual power, or the power of influencing others, which Christianity bestows, for themselves; not seeking to know that his name is written in the book of life, and then knowing that the evil spirit will be subject to him, but seeking to have the evil spirit subject to him for itself, instead of seeking that he may know Christ. What is this but a man calling over his own spirit the name of a Saviour that he does not know? And so this man, too, becomes the sport of the enemy. Sometimes through mighty moral storms, which break in upon him, just when he thinks that he has become decent, some old temptation breaks out upon him, and hurries him away into open iniquity Sometimes there is a mysterious spiritual working in the man, and he becomes a mere empty formalist; or perhaps he sinks into the depths of despair, because he gets a perception that there is no reality, after all, in this work that he thought was going on within him. Conclusion: Now if these dangers are so common, what is the cure of them? Rest contented with nothing short of knowing Christ for yourself, as Him who is working salvation for you and in you. And then seek to use the powers which He thus gives you, as one who has his mission from Christ. And then, lastly, spend yourselves in working for Him.

(Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

Alexander, Apollos, Aristarchus, Demetrius, Diana, Ephesians, Erastus, Gaius, John, Jupiter, Macedonians, Paul, Sceva, Timotheus, Timothy, TyrannusAchaia, Asia, Corinth, Ephesus, Jerusalem, Macedonia, RomeChief, Family, High-priestly, Jew, Jewish, Named, Priest, Priests, Sceva, Seven, Sons1. The Holy Spirit is given by Paul's hands.
8. The Jews blaspheme his doctrine, which is confirmed by miracles.
13. The Jewish exorcists,
16. are beaten by a man who had an evil spirit.
19. Conjuring books are burnt.
21. Demetrius, for love of gain, raises an uproar against Paul;
35. which is appeased by the town clerk.

Acts 19:12-16

     4135   demons, Christ's authority over

Acts 19:13-16

     4133   demons, possession by
     8786   opposition, to sin and evil
     8831   syncretism

Acts 19:13-17

     8444   honouring God

Would-Be Exorcists
'...Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?' --ACTS xix. 15. These exorcists had no personal union with Jesus. To them He was only 'Jesus whom Paul preached.' They spoke His name tentatively, as an experiment, and imitatively. To command 'in the name of Jesus' was an appeal to Jesus to glorify His name and exert His power, and so when the speaker had no real faith in the name or the power, there was no answer, because there was really no appeal. I. The only power which can cast out the evil …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Two Fruitful Years
'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 …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Fight with Wild Beasts at Ephesus
'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 of them that ministered unto 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, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Whitsunday.
Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? It appears, by what follows these words, that the question here related especially to those gifts of the Holy Ghost which were given, in the first age of the church, as a sign of God's power, and a witness that the work of the gospel was from God. Yet although this be so, and therefore the words, in this particular sense, cannot to any good purpose be asked now; yet there is another sense, and that not a lower but a far higher one, in which we …
Thomas Arnold—The Christian Life

On the Study of the Evidences of Christianity.
THE investigation of that important and extensive subject which includes what have been usually designated as The Evidences of Revelation,' has prescriptively occupied a considerable space in the field of theological literature, especially as cultivated in England. There is scarcely one, perhaps, of our more eminent divines who has not in a greater or less degree distinguished himself in this department, and scarcely an aspirant for theological distinction who has not thought it one of the surest …
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World

Paul's Journeys Acts 13:1-38:31
On this third journey he was already planning to go to Rome (Acts 19:21) and wrote an epistle to the Romans announcing his coming (Rom. 1:7, 15). +The Chief City+, in which Paul spent most of his time (Acts 19:1, 8, 10), between two and three years upon this journey, was Ephesus in Asia Minor. This city situated midway between the extreme points of his former missionary journeys was a place where Ephesus has been thus described: "It had been one of the early Greek colonies, later the capital …
Henry T. Sell—Bible Studies in the Life of Paul

The Pastoral Epistles.
Comp. § 33, pp. 327-329. Contents. The three Pastoral Epistles, two to Timothy and one to Titus, form a group by themselves, and represent the last stage of the apostle's life and labors, with his parting counsels to his beloved disciples and fellow-workers. They show us the transition of the apostolic church from primitive simplicity to a more definite system of doctrine and form of government. This is just what we might expect from the probable time of their composition after the first Roman …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Whether Baptism May be Reiterated?
Objection 1: It seems that Baptism may be reiterated. For Baptism was instituted, seemingly, in order to wash away sins. But sins are reiterated. Therefore much more should Baptism be reiterated: because Christ's mercy surpasses man's guilt. Objection 2: Further, John the Baptist received special commendation from Christ, Who said of him (Mat. 11:11): "There hath not risen among them that are born of women, a greater than John the Baptist." But those whom John had baptized were baptized again, according …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Pastor in Parish (ii. ).
Work on in hope; the plough, the sickle wield; Thy Master is the harvest's Master too; He gives the golden seed, He owns the field, And does Himself what His true servants do. I take up again the all-important subject of Pastoral Visitation, for the same sort of informal and fragmentary treatment as that attempted in the last chapter, and with the same feeling that the subject is practically inexhaustible. LET THE VISITOR BE A TEACHER, WATCHING FOR OPPORTUNITIES. One object which the visitor will …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

The Scriptures
Q-II: WHAT RULE HAS GOD GIVEN TO DIRECT US HOW WE MAY GLORIFY AND ENJOY HIM? A: The Word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. 2 Tim 3:16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,' By Scripture is understood the sacred Book of God. It is given by divine inspiration; that is, the Scripture is not the contrivance of man's brain, but is divine in its origin. The image of Diana was had in veneration …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Christ's Exaltation
'Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, &c.' Phil 2:2. We have before spoken of Christ's humiliation; we shall now speak of his exaltation. Before you saw the Sun of Righteousness in the eclipse; now you shall see it coming out of the eclipse, and shining in its full glory. Wherefore God has highly exalted him;' super exaltavit, Ambrose. Above all exaltation.' Q-28: WHEREIN CONSISTS CHRIST'S EXALTATION? A: In his rising from the dead, his ascending into …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Old Faiths and the New
SECOND GROUP OF EPISTLES GALATIANS. FIRST AND SECOND CORINTHIANS. ROMANS. PROBLEMS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY The new faith in Christ made large claims for itself. It marked an advance upon Judaism and maintained that in Christ was fulfilled all the promises made by the prophets of the coming of the Jewish Messiah. It radically antagonized the heathen religions. It had a double task to win men out of Judaism and heathenism. Only by a careful study of these great doctrinal Epistles, and the …
Henry T. Sell—Bible Studies in the Life of Paul

The Supremacy of Christ
THIRD GROUP OF EPISTLES COLOSSIANS. PHILEMON. EPHESIANS. PHILIPPIANS. THE QUESTION AT ISSUE +The Supremacy of Christ.+--These Epistles mark a new stage in the writings of Paul. The great question discussed in the second group of Epistles was in regard to the terms of salvation. The question now at issue (in Colossians, Ephesians, Philippian+The Reason for the Raising of this Question+ was the development of certain false religious beliefs among which were, "asceticism, the worship of angels, …
Henry T. Sell—Bible Studies in the Life of Paul

The Spirit and Power of Elias.
(LUKE I. 17.) "Oh, may I join the choir invisible Of those immortal dead who live again In minds made better by their presence: live In pulses stirred to generosity; In deeds of daring rectitude; in scorn For miserable aims that end with self; In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, And with their mild persistence urge man's search To vaster issues." The Old Covenant and the New--Elijah and the Baptist--A Parallel--The Servant inferior to the Lord--The Baptism of the Holy Ghost--The …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

Baptism unto Repentance
(MARK I. 4.) "The last and greatest herald of heaven's King, Girt with rough skins, hies to the desert wild; Among that savage brood the woods doth bring, Which he more harmless found than man, and mild. "His food was locusts and what there doth spring, With honey that from virgin hives distill'd, Parch'd body, hollow eyes, some uncouth thing Made him appear, long since from earth exiled." W. DRUMMOND, of Hawthornden. Repentance: its Nature--Repentance: how Produced--Repentance: its Evidences--Repentance: …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

Elucidation.
The argument (p. 673, note 6,) is conclusive, but not clear. The disciples of John must have been baptized by him, (Luke vii. 29-30) and "all the people," must have included those whom Jesus called. But, this was not Christ's baptism: See Acts xix. 2, 5. Compare note 8, p. 673. And see the American Editor's "Apollos." …
Tertullian—On Baptism

Whether those who had Been Baptized with John's Baptism had to be Baptized with the Baptism of Christ?
Objection 1: It would seem that those who had been baptized with John's baptism had not to be baptized with the baptism of Christ. For John was not less than the apostles, since of him is it written (Mat. 11:11): "There hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist." But those who were baptized by the apostles were not baptized again, but only received the imposition of hands; for it is written (Acts 8:16,17) that some were "only baptized" by Philip "in the name …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Wicked Can Work Miracles?
Objection 1: It would seem that the wicked cannot work miracles. For miracles are wrought through prayer, as stated above (A[1], ad 1). Now the prayer of a sinner is not granted, according to Jn. 9:31, "We know that God doth not hear sinners," and Prov. 28:9, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination." Therefore it would seem that the wicked cannot work miracles. Objection 2: Further, miracles are ascribed to faith, according to Mat. 17:19, "If you have …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

How Long Between?
It is often asked what time must elapse between the regenerating by the Spirit and the filling with the Spirit? for be it remembered the Filling is as real and distinct and definite a blessing as the regenerating. Many people know the moment of their new birth; they were conscious of the change; so also many know when they were "filled with the Holy Ghost;" it was a blessed, bright, conscious experience, and it is as impossible to argue them out of the one experience as out of the other. On the other …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

The Doctrine of the Church i. Definition; Distinctions.
1. OLD TESTAMENT. 2. NEW TESTAMENT. 3. THE CHURCH; CHRISTENDOM; KINGDOM. II. THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH. 1. IN PROPHECY AND PROMISE. 2. HISTORICALLY FOUNDED. III. MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH. Conditions of Entrance; Characteristics. 1. REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM. 2. FAITH IN THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 3. REGENERATION. 4. PUBLIC CONFESSION OF CHRIST--BAPTISM. 5. ADHERENCE TO THE APOSTLES' DOCTRINE. 6. CHARACTERISTICS. IV. FIGURES UNDER WHICH THE CHURCH IS PRESENTED. 1. THE BODY OF CHRIST. 2. THE TEMPLE OF …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

Gifts no Certain Evidence of Grace.
"In this rejoice not, that the Spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your Names are written in Heaven." Abundant notice of Christ's coming preceded that interesting' event. "To him gave all the prophets witness." Neither was his entrance here unattended. It was announced by an angelic choir; by a miraculous star; and by a band of eastern magi. The manger which contained him, was particularly pointed out to the shepherds, and his person designated by inspired Simon and Anna. Again, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Preventive against Backsliding.
It is most instructive to note how exceedingly anxious the early Christians were, that, as soon as a man was converted, he should be "filled with the Holy Ghost." They knew no reason why weary wastes of disappointing years should stretch between Bethel and Peniel, between the Cross and Pentecost. They knew it was not God's will that forty years of wilderness wanderings should lie between Egypt and the Promised Land (Deut. i. 2). When Peter and John came to the Samaritans, and found that they were …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

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