Acts 19:2-7 He said to them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said to him… 1. These disciples were Christians, but separated from the common body, and ignorant of the common doctrine. Paul soon perceives the secret of their isolation, and makes them feel their defect by his abrupt question. They explain their case, receive fuller instruction, are baptized into Jesus, and the signs of a little Pentecost accompany their full admission into the Church. 2. There were three lesser Pentecosts after the great one, continuing with lessening demonstration the original signs — when Peter threw open the gate to the Gentiles, when Samaria was added to the fold, and now when the Spirit set His seal on the dispensation of the Baptist. After this there are no more renewals of the Pentecostal tokens — the extraordinary signs melt into the ordinary. This question — I. FINDS OUT THE WEAKNESS OF A VAGUE KIND OF FAITH WHICH DOES NOT PAY DUE HONOUR TO THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 1. The Ephesians were in ignorance of the full revelation of the Trinity. Of the Personality of the Spirit, as also of the Person of Christ, into whose name they were not yet baptized, they had only an indistinct knowledge, and hence the supreme revelation of the Son had not unfolded the Father. 2. The holders of this scanty creed today cannot evade the test by asserting that they hold all that is vitally necessary, in that they believe God, that they accept the teaching of Christ, and that they acknowledge a supernatural power resting on the mind, whether called the influence of the Holy Ghost or not. The Spirit is God in the unity of the Father and the Son. As there is no Redeemer but a Divine Redeemer, so there is no Holy Ghost but the third Person of the Trinity. II. DISCOVERS DEFICIENCY IN THOSE WHO IN THEIR VIEWS OF PERSONAL RELIGION PRACTICALLY LEAVE OUT THE HOLY GHOST. 1. No truth is more deeply stamped on the New Testament than the necessity of the Spirit's illumination to an experimental acquaintance with Christ and His salvation. As none know the Father save through the Son, so none can "call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost." He makes the Word effectual in conviction of sin, in the energy of faith, in the revelation of mercy, and in renewal and sanctification. 2. But it is equally true that there may be correct theological belief and ceremonial exactness without conscious enjoyment of the Spirit. (1) How many, forgetting that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink," etc., make Christianity a reproduction of Judaism, as if they were "baptized into Moses," hide the Saviour under ritualised sacraments, and forget, in their symbolical worship, that "God is a Spirit," etc. (2) But there is a formal unceremonial Christianity, a round of decent prescribed observances which is equally void of the Spirit, and which embraces everything about religion but that which is the result of earnest prayer on the part of man and a direct gift on the part of the Spirit. III. SEARCHES THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE SPIRIT IN HIS PREPARATORY INFLUENCES, BUT NOT YET IN FULNESS OF HIS GRACE. 1. These Ephesians were disciples of John, whose ministry had its value in this, that it prepared for Christ and His baptism of the Spirit. They were penitents waiting for mercy, and while the Saviour had come they knew Him not. (1) Among those who are in earnest about their religion a large number fall short of the full light and grace provided in Christ. Their sins have been revealed to them, but not their Saviour. They are on the way from the Baptist to Christ, but only on the way. They are lingering at Jordan while there is elsewhere a voice crying, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour," etc. (2) Others take the view that the gospel only provides for a lifelong penitence, the hope of being accepted at last, and that it has nothing better for this life than a discipline of sorrow — an altogether morbid estimate of Christianity; utterly untrue to the gospel, which is "glad tidings." To such the Spirit asks, as if grieved, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost? If He be a Comforter, where is your strength? If He be a Spirit of joy, where is your rejoicing?"(3) Others miss the "comfort of the Holy Ghost" because their repentance is not sufficiently deep. The revelation of mercy by the Spirit cannot be extorted before the set time, and that is deferred till penitence has had its perfect work. There can be no peace where the exceeding sinfulness of sin is not deeply felt. Such must go back to John, and abide under the preliminary leading of the Spirit of conviction, who waits to afford consolation, but His time is not yet. (4) Others misapprehend the simplicity of that faith which the Spirit seals. The apostle wrote to these same men, "When ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit." That sealing is not always accompanied by the demonstrations which many require. Many doubting Christians hesitating to answer the question, if they would examine themselves they might find that the Lord the Spirit is in their hearts, "and they knew it not." They have a humble trust in Christ, a filial spirit of appeal to Him, a relish for prayer, a secret joy in the name of Jesus, a hearty abhorrence of sin. What is all this but a token of the indwelling Spirit? 2. With regard to this great class there is in our question an abundant promise. It detects a deficiency only that it may be supplied; for there is nothing more remarkable than the sudden way in which these men were translated out of their partial darkness into perfect light. IV. DETECTS IN THE REGENERATE WHATEVER IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE HIGH PRIVILEGE CONTAINED IN SUCH A GIFT. 1. They have received the Holy Ghost, but they have forgotten the conditions on which His presence is suspended, and have fallen into the habit of grieving that Spirit by whom they are sealed. Hence the question serves only to remind them of better days, and gives birth to other questions. Having received the Spirit, why have you not been one with Him in temper, desire, and act? 2. But if the question awakens regret, in that sorrow there is hope. The Spirit is not easily driven from the soul He has once inhabited. The duty of such a troubled Christian is plain. There is occasion now for a fresh repentance; and if with all our heart we ask for the tokens of reconciliation, He will give them as richly as at the first. V. APPLIES TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT FIXING THEIR MINDS STEADILY ON THE SPIRIT'S SUPREME DESIGN IN THEIR SANCTIFICATION. Some undervalue this sanctifying power as received by the believer on his first union with Christ. They read the question as if it ran, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost at some epoch of transcendent consecration, raising the regenerate life into a higher sphere?" But Paul actually said, "Did ye receive?" etc. There is no distinction between a state of regeneration and a state of higher religious life. The same Spirit whom we receive in the new birth is given for our entire consecration. Then do not undervalue the grace you inherit as having the Holy Ghost. There is no limit to His present willingness to fill, rule, and consecrate the soul. (W. B. Pope, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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