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Paul in Ephesus

Acts 19.1-7

Good News Translation (GNT)

1  While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul travelled
   through the interior of the province and arrived
   in Ephesus. There he found some disciples
2  and asked them, "Did you receive the
   Holy Spirit when you became believers?"
   "We have not even heard that there is a
   Holy Spirit," they answered.
3  "Well, then, what kind of baptism did you
   receive?" Paul asked.
   "The baptism of John," they answered.
4  Paul said, "The baptism of John was for those
   who turned from their sins; and he told the
   people of Israel to believe in the one who was
   coming after him - that is, in Jesus."
5    When they heard this, they were baptised
   in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6  Paul placed his hands on them, and the
   Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in
   strange tongues and also proclaimed God's
   message.
7  They were about twelve men in all.

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)

Paul in Ephesus

After he had met with the disciples in Galatia and Phrygia, Paul then came to Ephesus.

There he met some disciples who had believed in Jesus, but who had not yet received the Holy Spirit.

Whenever Luke uses the word "disciple," he usually means a Christian disciple.

Paul's understanding was that being baptised and receiving the Holy Spirit always went together, or at least within a short time of each other.

Sometimes the baptism came first; sometimes the Holy Spirit came first. But, in whatever order it happened, to be a true Christian it was necessary both to be baptised and to receive the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, Paul asked them, "Then what baptism did you receive?" They answered, "John's baptism."

Then Paul taught them that John's baptism was given only to prepare men for the coming of Jesus.
Now, having believed, they must be baptised in Jesus' name. This is the only time in the New Testament where we read about someone having been baptised twice.

The reason, of course, was because these disciples had not been baptised in Jesus' name the first time.

Once someone has been baptised in Jesus' name - no matter by what method - he never needs to be baptised again.

This is the third place in the book of Acts where Luke explicitly states that believers spoke in tongues when they received the Holy Spirit.

In a fourth place, it is probable that believers spoke in tongues when they received the Holy Spirit, but it is not explicitly stated.

From these examples we can understand that, in the New Testament, speaking in tongues was a common manifestation of being filled or "baptised" with the Holy Spirit.

However, nowhere in the New Testament does it say that all people who are filled with the Spirit must be able to speak in tongues.

The three times in the book of Acts where we read about believers speaking in tongues were all very important occasions.

The first occasion was on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples received the filling of the Holy Spirit for the first time.

The second occasion was on the day that the first Gentiles became Christians.

And here, on this third occasion, Paul was in Ephesus, a new centre for the spread of the Gospel, and twelve new disciples were needed.

And so God prepared and anointed these twelve men in a special way by pouring out His Spirit upon them.

These men spoke in tongues and prophesied. Speaking in tongues and prophesying are both gifts of the Holy Spirit.

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