Atos 19
John Phillips · Citado em PreceptAustin
Atos 19
Phillips has an interesting way to explain Paul's question - These dozen Ephesian converts of John knew little or nothing about the gift of the Holy Spirit, about His baptism and indwelling, or about His sealing ministry or the fact that He is the earnest of our inheritance. They had not been made partakers of the sovereign acts of God that are all part of a genuine Christian experience. Consequently they knew nothing, either, of the Holy Spirit's filling and anointing, subsequent acts of God that depend upon the believer's cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Thus these men were believers in Christ, to the best of their knowledge of Him, but they were not yet Christians. (Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary) Bruce Barton - Paul’s question to this group of Ephesian men underlines the truth that apart from the Holy Spirit, there is no salvation (Romans 8:9, 16; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13). The Spirit is the one who imparts life (John 3:5). The reply of these men is difficult to interpret. John the Baptist had talked plainly about the coming of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:32–33). Perhaps this answer implies that they were unaware that the time of the Spirit’s outpouring had come at last. Whatever the case, like Apollos (18:24–26), these men needed further instruction on the message and ministry of Jesus Christ. They believed in Jesus as the Messiah, but they did not understand the significance of his death and resurrection or the role of the Holy Spirit in the birth and life of the church. Since becoming a Christian involves turning from sin (repentance) and turning to Christ (faith), these “believers” were incomplete. They had repented but had not yet trusted in Christ. In truth, they were believers only in the sense that they were seeking to believe. (LABC-Acts) Polhill - Paul’s interrogation of the disciples revealed that at no point had they advanced beyond John the Baptist’s initial preaching of repentance in preparation for the coming Messiah. The NIV translation of their reply to Paul’s question “Did you receive the Holy Spirit?” (v. 2) is literal, “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” John’s disciples would surely have been acquainted with the Spirit and especially with his teaching that with the coming of the Messiah the Spirit would be poured out (cf. Luke 3:16). What they would not be aware of, if they had not heard of Jesus’ death and resurrection and of the event at Pentecost, was that this proclamation of John had been fulfilled in Christ. Evidently that was the case with this group. They had not heard that the Spirit had been poured out. They were unaware of Pentecost. (NAC-Acts) John MacArthur interprets the response of John's disciples as confirming "to the apostle that they were not yet Christians. That they were unacquainted with the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost showed that they were in fact Old Testament saints." (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Acts) John Stott comments "In a word, they were still living in the Old Testament which culminated with John the Baptist. They understood neither that the new age had been ushered in by Jesus, nor that those who believe in him and are baptized into him receive the distinctive blessing of the new age, the indwelling Spirit." David Williams says that Paul's "criterion for what distinguished the Christian is significant. So, too, is the way in which his question is framed. It implies that the Holy Spirit is received at a definite point in time and that that time is the moment of initial belief (the aorist participle, pisteusantes, being construed here as coincidental with the verb, elabete = "receive"). The same thought is expressed, for example, in Eph 1:13: "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit" (cf. Acts 11:17). No space of time is envisaged between the two events; nor is the possibility entertained of believing without also receiving the "seal of the Spirit." (New International Biblical Commentary: Acts) Warren
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Phillips comments on how some have misapplied this passage - The popular but false teaching in some quarters is that believers must ask God to give them the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is one of the benefits sovereignly and eternally bestowed upon a believer at the moment of conversion. Romans 8:9 says, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Either one has the Holy Spirit, in which case he belongs to Christ and is saved, or else one does not have the Holy Spirit, in which case he is not saved. It is wrong to ask God to give us something He has already given to us. The baptism of the Spirit and the gift of the Spirit are interrelated. The baptism puts me in Christ (cf 1 Cor 12:13); the gift puts Christ in me. The one makes me a member of His mystical Body; the other makes my material body the Holy Spirit's Temple. It is equally wrong to ask God to give me more of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and one cannot receive a person by installments. When you accepted Christ as Savior, God gave you the gift of His Holy Spirit. You received that marvelous Person into your life. The Christian life is largely the process of finding out more and more the vastness of the wisdom, the love and the power of the amazing Person who has come to share His life with those who trust Christ as Savior. (Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary) THOUGHT - We have all of the Holy Spirit we will ever receive the moment we are saved. For the rest of our sojourn on earth, it will be about the Holy Spirit having more and more of me, as I learn to die to self and rely more and more on the fullness of the Spirit. This will be our lifelong "project" and at its core is the essence of progressive sanctification or growth in Christ-likeness (cf 2 Cor 3:18+). And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." - Now this is an interesting statement because John the Baptist himself had taught "“As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Lk 3:16+, see also Mt 3:11+; Mk 1:8+; cf. John 1:32-33+) Clearly they had not been at the Feast of Pentecost and thus had not heard that the Spirit had been poured on the believers in Jerusalem! Steven
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Phillips has a vivid comment - The universal chant soon degenerated into indiscriminate shouting. Some would be shouting for Artemis. Some would be shouting anti-Semitic slogans. Some would have picked up the name of Paul and would be cursing him vehemently. Some would be shouting down Christianity, which was by now a well-known and powerful force in the city. Soon the arena was filled with a yelling, disorderly mob, each person picking up a line or two of the prevailing, deafening din. (Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary) Jack Andrews - This mob didn’t have a clue as to why they were there and what they were going to do while they were there. They didn’t know what to shout! They were not on the same page! Max Lemer in his book “The Unfinished Country” wrote, “Every mob, in its ignorance and blindness and bewilderment, is a League of Frightened Men that seeks reassurance in collective action.” That is a pretty good definition of a mob and that’s exactly what was happening in Ephesus! These folks were divided in their proclamation. They cried out in confusion. (Jack Andrews Expository Studies – Understanding Acts - Volume 5) So then, some were shouting one thing and some another - Were shouting is in the imperfect tense picturing one after another crying out - quite a scene! This is a typical reaction of a mob that is out of control. Shouting (2896)(krazo) refers to a loud cry or vociferation, expressing deep emotion. Krazo is one of those onomatopoeic words, the very pronunciation of which imitates the hoarse cry (or "croak") of the raven. (listen to the raven's cry out). For the assembly was in confusion - Luke explains (for - gar) the reason for the shouting. Was in confusion is in the perfect tense describing this as its "fixed" state or condition. These were the citizens of the city that had been swept into the frenzy as the craftsmen plotted Paul’s downfall.
Atos 19
Phillips has an interesting note on Alexander - When Paul was in prison in Rome, awaiting his execution by Nero, he mentioned in his last letter a man named Alexander the coppersmith who "did me much evil" and whom he handed over to the Lord for judgment (2 Tim. 4:14). This Alexander was evidently a dangerous and eloquent foe of Christianity, and Paul warned Timothy to beware of him. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul also mentions an Alexander who had "made shipwreck" of the faith, whom he had found it necessary to hand over to Satan for judgment (1 Tim. 1:19-20). One wonders, of course, if those are not one and the same individual, the man who here was put forward by the Jews to speak for them to the mob. (Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary)
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Phillips on Alexander - Evidently the Jews feared that the sentiments of the mob would soon degenerate into the old Gentile sport of Jew-baiting. Anti-Semitism was never far from the surface in the Gentile world, as the Jews knew only too well. Evidently this Alexander was a prominent member of the Jewish community and well known in the city. He seemed to think that by a wave of his hand he could gain the attention of the mob. He was mistaken. Word soon flashed around the arena that a Jew was trying to make himself heard. The response was instant and sustained. No detested Jew was going to speak to them. Again the original chant swelled until it could be heard all over the city: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!".(Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary)
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Phillips - A mob, after all, is a fickle monster. Its passions are easily aroused and can be dangerous in the extreme. It can be made to chant and shout, but it can just as easily be made to fear. At heart, a mob is a coward. Certainly Demetrius had no more desire to draw attention to himself. Probably the more thoughtful ones in that assembly were already slinking away, hoping that their presence and participation in the riot might not be remembered or even noticed by the officials. (Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary)