Whitmore, Stephen: The Filling Of The Spirit

Our subject this evening is the filling of the Spirit. So can we turn first of all, please, to Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five verse eighteen. I think this is the only reference in the epistles to this subject, although, as we trust to see through the evening, there's some fourteen references in the writings of Luke, in his gospel, and in the Acts of the Apostles to this. Ephesians chapter five verse eighteen: And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. We know that the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word now. We're going to look at other passages this evening, but really just to start from here and to see what we have before us in the context here in Ephesians four, it's the, in Ephesians five, it's the believer's walk that is in view. Really from chapter four, is being the walk of the believer in the light of our calling. The walk of the believer set in contrast to the world in which we are living. In chapter five, we then come to see it's a walk in love. Verse two: as Christ also has loved us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice for us to God for a sweet smelling savor. It's a walk as children of light in verse eight. And it's a walk in wisdom, verse uh fifteen. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. And how is this achieved? If we come there, that's where we come to the context in verse eighteen. It will only be achieved when our lives are under the control of the Spirit of God. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. I take it the picture there of wine is drawn because this would be something which can so easily take control of a person. If someone drinks too much, the effect of the drink is seen in the way that they conduct themselves, and such a conduct would be the conduct of the world that's been set in contrast to the things that we have highlighted in the earlier verses of this chapter and the previous chapter. But in contrast to that, the life that is under the control of the Spirit of God is a life of joy. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. It's a life of thanksgiving. Verse nineteen— speak- verse twenty rather, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just giving thanks for those things that we find convenient. The life that is under the control of the Spirit of God, and we trust we'll see this as we look at examples of that going through the writings of Luke. The life that is under the control of the Spirit of God is a life that will recognize that in every circumstance we are directed and is planned by a God who knows what is best for us. And though we may not see the reason for the circumstance as we pass through it, I know it will be, and I'm sure we've all had experience of times that are stressful, where we've seen perhaps darkness all around and wonder if there, if there's ever any light. And yet, I'm sure we've too all had that experience when we've come through the, through that time, and the result has been that we can look back and we can see, yes, the Lord was with us. The Lord was watching over us. The Lord was working out his purpose in our lives. But you see, the, the idea here is that the person filled with the Spirit of God will have that confidence to give thanks, whatever the circumstances, because of the assurance, maybe an assurance that's based on our own experience, maybe an assurance that's based on the experience of others, but an assurance that we have primarily from the Word of God that would tell us that whatever our circumstances, in the words of Romans chapter eight, all things work together for good to them that love God, who are called according to his purpose. And then in verse twenty one, it will be a life of submission, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. And that really is where the verses would lead us on to the following sections that deal with the different circumstances, husband and wife, parents and children, masters and servants, circumstances where there's an order, a divine order to be recognized, and where there's a call for submission. But very much in the context there, while there's a, while there's a need for submission, there's also a need for love on the part of those perhaps who may be in a position of authority in such a relationship. So I think, as we look at this, the life that is filled with the Spirit, it's a life of joy. It's a life of thankfulness. It's a life of submission. Now, as well, we, as we think of this too, the words we've read here in Ephesians uh five verses eighteen and nineteen, a very similar expression is found in Colossians chapter three and verse sixteen, but in that instance, it's not now the Spirit, it's not now be filled with the Spirit, rather there, the exhortation is let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And I judge here the point, the point of that is, Ephesians five, be filled with the Spirit. It's the Spirit of God who is guiding and directing our lives. Colossians three, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. It's the word of God that directs our lives. And the point would be that the Spirit of God will never direct us in a way that is not consistent with the word of God. And so, a very simple test, when we hear a claim, well, the Spirit has directed me to do, and some claim of some, sometimes some very outrageous claims can be made in that context. If someone is claiming to be directed by the Spirit of God. What they are directed to do will be, will stand the test of the Word of God, and if it is not consistent with the Word of God, then it is not the Spirit of God who has directed them in that way. A life that is filled with the Spirit is a life that will be consistent with the Word of God, and that, that really brings us to the first examples that we have of being filled with the Spirit. In Luke chapter one, In Luke chapter one, we read at the beginning of the chapter of a family of three. There's only the mother and father at the beginning of the chapter, Zacharias and Elizabeth. And then their son John is to be born. All three of these are spoken of in this chapter at different times as being filled with the Spirit of God. And what was the characteristic of Zacharias and Elizabeth? Verse five: there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth, and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the law, blameless. So here we have a couple, older in years. We're told that in verse seven they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren, and they were both now well stricken in years. So we've got here a couple who are older in years, a couple who have never had a child. And yet it's evident, verse thirteen: the angel said unto him, fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John, and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. Here's a couple who have given their lives over to obedience to the word of God. They lived their lives before God, with a desire to do what he pleased, and in order to do that, their lives were controlled by the word of God. Outwardly, as men looked at them, their life appeared to be barren. They had no children, and to the Jewish mind, to have no child would have been an evidence, would often have been judged to be an evidence of displeasure of God, the curse of God upon them. And they prayed about this, and they prayed about this until, apparently, they'd come to an age where it would appear to be impossible to have, for them to have a child. Humanly speaking, they've got past the time of hope. Their prayer was consistent, and their prayer was heard. And the result of their prayer was, yes, there would be joy. They would have a son, they would have joy and gladness. Many shall rejoice at his birth. And this son, John, was going to be filled with the Spirit, with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And we know the record of John, and we know the witness that John bore to such an extent that when the Lord was challenged by the rulers in that last week before his crucifixion, by what authority doest thou these things? He answered them with the question, I will ask thee a question. The baptism of John, was it from God or from men? And the rulers of the Jews, who wanted to decry the Lord, who wanted to denounce him, they dare not answer because such was the authority, such was the witness of John in his life, that they knew to say the baptism of John was anything but from God would have caused an outcry amongst the people. Their authority would have been totally undermined. And so here was a man, a man who was in a desert place, a man who never openly challenged the authorities of his day, because his life was filled with the Spirit of God from his mother's womb, and the result was that without ever challenging, without ever raising a voice against the authorities of his day, he could, he could silence them even after his death, and the Lord could use him. The power of a life, the impact of a life. You know, it's, it's Zacharias who will tell us. Verse, in verse sixty seven, his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his, his holy prophets. And Zacharias, by the Spirit of God, is led to see the work that John would do. He would be the prophet of the highest. He would go, he would prepare the way. The result of John's witness, as Zacharias recognized by the Spirit of God, the result was that many would be turned to the Lord. And Mary too, we passed over the verse to go back to that verse. Sorry, not Mary, Elizabeth rather. Verse forty one, as Mary came to visit Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord shall come, should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is he she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. Here is a lovely picture of a life under the control of the Spirit of God. We saw at the beginning of the chapter, Zacharias and Elizabeth had been marked by prayer for a son. They've waited, they've pleaded, we don't know how long, but it would appear they'd waited for many years. And they'd lived, they'd lived their life for all those years in a way that was consistent. Into that home, about six months after the birth had been announced of John, into that home comes Mary of Nazareth, who had just been told by the angel that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah, the Son of the Highest. That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest. How easily Elizabeth could have looked down, could have said, well, why? Why after all these years of faithfulness, of devotion, of living according to the word of God? Why after all those years of faithfulness does the Lord choose Mary and not me? But there's no hint of jealousy. With her life under the control of the Spirit of God, Elizabeth is happy. She is just so delighted that she has the privilege of bearing the child who would announce the coming of the Lord's anointed. She's not interested in the fact that Mary perhaps had a greater privilege. She's not interested, she's not concerned about the fact that maybe Mary is going to be the one that's remembered, and, you know, if you go out in the street, how many people could tell you who Elizabeth was in the Bible? Yet there's hardly a person who wouldn't know who Mary was. And even as Mary, as Elizabeth spoke these words, she would have been able to anticipate that that was exactly how it would be. But you see, Mary had the same spirit controlling her as John would later, when we read the words in John chapter three. As they come to John and they say to him, Master, he to whom thou bear witness beyond Jordan is baptized, is preaching many follow him, and that he baptizes more. What does, what does John say? He must increase, but I must decrease. And whether it's Mary the mother, whether it's Elizabeth rather the mother, or whether it's John the son, both lives filled by the Spirit of God, both lives show the same character. Pleased just to do the work that the Lord has given them to do. Not asking for anything more, not looking to do, not not jealous of someone else who has been given a greater privilege, but ready just to acknowledge, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And such is her humility that here's this older lady, and she sees this young, this young girl coming to her, and she says, whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? She doesn't see herself as worthy that Mary should come. Isn't that an echo of how John would speak when the Lord comes to be baptized of him? He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. There cometh one after me who is mightier than I, the latches of whose shoes I'm not worthy to unloose. A life controlled by the Spirit of God is a life of obedience to the Word of God. A life of waiting on God, accepting his time, his will. Thankful to God for what they're able to do. And with no, no desire to go beyond, even when it might appear that someone has received a far greater privilege than they have. So in Luke chapter one we have this family. What a family. Zacharias, a priest of God who prophesied. Mary Elizabeth, the mother. And John the son. Filled by the Spirit of God, showing us the character of a life that is under the control of the Spirit of God. When we come to John, to Luke chapter four, we have the next example, and I suppose this is the one that we would all immediately think of. A person controlled by the Spirit of God, Luke chapter four verse one: and Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. What a picture we have here. The last thing that had happened before these words was the voice from heaven. In verse twenty two of the previous chapter, the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and the voice came from heaven which said, Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased. And there, by the banks of Jordan, had been the acclamation of heaven to the one who had lived for the pleasure of God in those thirty years in Nazareth. Here was a life in which God could take complete pleasure. Had he been acclaimed from heaven? And we might have thought, and it's certainly the attitude that his brethren took in John chapter seven, that from such an acclamation, he would go out into a public ministry. You know, John would take the back seat, John would step down out of sight. He would go out into his public ministry, with the voice from heaven ringing in the ears of the people. It's not at all that. Being full of the Holy Ghost, he returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. You know, we were saying when we spoke, when we looked at chapter of Ephesians five, giving thanks unto the Father in all things. Here is our Lord. And you know, if we put ourselves in his position, if we just had an acclamation from heaven, that would be great. We would certainly be ready to give thanks for that. But would we be as ready to go straight into the wilderness? To go into the wilderness and to be tempted by the devil for forty days. And you know, that's the force of what we have at the beginning of verse two of Luke chapter four. We think of three temptations, and often as we speak of the temptations of our Lord, we would say there were three temptations. No, there were forty days of testing. And our Lord went out into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil for forty days, knowing full well what lay before him. But he went out guided by the Spirit of God. He went out submissive to the Spirit of God. And he went out, and it's evident when we come to the end to consider those three temptations that are recorded. It's evident he went out in a thankful spirit for those circumstances. And when we come to the temptations, those three temptations, that is what came at the end of forty days of testing. Forty days of testing, forty days without food. He afterward hungered, and the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command his stone that it be made bread. He had the power. And in the context here, thinking of the question of being filled with the Spirit, there's a sense in which we can say that we have the power in such circumstances, because we have the indwelling Spirit of God, and we have the power of the indwelling Spirit of God within us, who is able to do for us what the Lord, as the Son of God, could have done. The Spirit of God is as much a divine person as the Son of God. We've considered that already in this series. And there's going to be times when the devil will come to us, when we've been through a barren spell, when we've been through difficulties, and we've been through testings, and he will say to us, look, if you're a child of God, if the Spirit of God is indwelling you, if you have really have the Spirit of God, why are you going through this circumstance? Why don't you turn these stones into bread? Maybe there's some other similar situation that we might face. Why? Because our Lord was cast upon God, cast upon God from his mother's womb, and he was always dependent and always submissive to the will of Of God. God. And that is where we need to be. Waiting God's time. Here he would not turn stones into bread. A little later on, as we go through the gospel narratives, he's going to see five thousand people who have gone one day without food. He won't turn stones into bread after forty days, but he sees five thousand men beside women and children, they've they've just gone a day listening to him without food. And he'll take those five loaves and those two small fishes, and he'll feed that multitude with such abundance that everybody's filled and there's twelve baskets left over. Philippians two Give the exhortation, look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others. A life that's under the control of the Spirit of God is a life that submits, seeks nothing for self, but always seeks the good of others. Again, in Philippians two, Paul's going to say of Timothy, I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your sake. Why? It's not said of Timothy directly that he's full of the Spirit, but that's the opposite being due here. And so we could go through those references, those temptations of our Lord. The principle that controlled him was the fact that he was control- his life was under the control of the Spirit of God, and no one else would tell him what to do or when to do anything. That's a picture, and that's the perfect example of the life that we have to live. We come over now really to Acts. If we can think about individuals, first of all, the first one in Acts is Acts chapter four and verse eight, the first individual who's spoken of as being filled with the Spirit. The background here is that Peter and John have gone up into the temple at the hour of prayer. They saw the man who'd been lying there, who'd been lying there lame from his mother's womb. They'd healed the man, and now they've been brought before the council to answer. At the end of verse seven, by what power or by what name have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers and people, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we be, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you. Just think about the circumstances here. Here's Peter in front of a council that at the very least had the power to imprison. As we see with Stephen a little later, had the power even to stone him to death. The Roman authorities, although technically they had no power, the Roman authorities would not have objected, would not have argued if they stoned someone to death. And what does Peter do? He stands up to this council, and he answers them in a way that does nothing to hide what has been done. He doesn't turn round to them and say, well, yes, but it was, yes, we were followers of Jesus Christ, and it was in his name that we healed this man, but he says, no, he says, it's in the name, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who ye crucified. And that word ye is emphatic. Ye, you crucified this man. God raised him from the dead, and that is the power that has healed this lame man. That's what Peter's saying. He's laying the sin, he's laying the charge at their door that they crucified someone who God was pleased to raise again from the dead. You know, if you ever want, humanly speaking, to stir up an argument, if you ever want to upset the person you're speaking to, you couldn't have chosen better words to do it. But you see, Peter was full of the Holy Spirit. And because of that, he spoke the words that the Spirit of God gave him to speak, with the authority of God behind those words. He spoke them boldly, and because he knew the power that directed his words, he could speak them without any fear of what those men would do, because the one who had raised up Jesus Christ from the dead was the one that would deliver him from that council that day. And because his life was under the control of the Spirit of God, he could use words that, humanly speaking, anyone would have shied away from using for fear of inflaming an already precarious situation, but he used those words with the authority of God, knowing that God was in control. Have we got the courage? Have we got the assurance in our heart when we take the word of God, when we speak to people, that we have the authority of God behind us? Am I so in touch with this God that when I speak, I can speak with the assurance that what I am saying is exactly what the Lord would have to be said on that occasion. The person who's full of the Spirit of God will do that. It's not just that you quote the Word of God. It's not just that you say what is true to the Word of God. We should be doing that, but we it's something more. It's what we, it is the fact that what we are saying is exactly what the Lord would have us to say on that occasion, and by his spirit he gives the words to say. That's the difference between someone who knows the word of God and someone who's full of the spirit of God. Acts chapter six and verse five tells us of Stephen that he was full of the Holy Spirit. Chapter seven verse fifty five, again of Stephen, we read, here's Stephen. He started out serving tables. He's challenged, he's spoken to the people, he's been brought before the council. When we come to verse fifty five of chapter seven, his sentence has in effect been passed. Verse fifty four, that when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Sa- Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. But notice too, verse stoned and they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. A man full of the spirit of God. Why was there this, this reaction to him? Why did they run on him and mash on him with their teeth? Because they didn't have a word to speak against him. As we said of Peter, so with Stephen in Acts chapter seven. He brought the word of God to the people in the power of the Spirit of God, such that they could not argue with his words. But in Stephen's case, they were not restrained, and they stoned him. And having silenced them with his words, and having seen their bitter hatred, their hatred of God, their hatred of the law poured out against him as they stoned him. He kneels down and prays, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And here's a man who remembers the words of the Lord Jesus from Matthew chapter five: Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. Pray for them that despitefully use you. As we said, the filling of the Spirit of God and the Word of God, the life under the control of the Word of God, will always go hand in hand. Because the Spirit of God is directing Peter, is directing Stephen here. He can pray in exactly the way that the Word of God had indicated, and the Lord himself had indicated he should. The next person spoken of as filled of the Spirit is in chapter nine. it's a direct result, I judge, of what we've just considered. Verse seventeen of chapter nine. Saul, having had his experience on the Damascus road, he's gone to the street that is called straight. Blinded for three days. Verse uh seventeen: and Ananias went his way and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appears unto thee to in the way as thou camest, has sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Saul, who'd been filled with such hatred, at the end of chapter seven, he was one of them who stood. He, he stood there with their coats as they stoned Stephen. His hatred had overflowed to such an extent at the beginning of chapter nine that he had letters to go to Damascus to bring those who na- who followed the way, to hail them to prison and to death. No doubt they'd been encouraged by the fact that Stephen had been stoned and nobody had raised a finger against them, and they were ready to go on and to wipe out. A man who was filled with hatred is going to be a man who's filled with the Holy Spirit. And we know the life of Saul or Paul as he became. When he set out on his public ministry in Acts chapter thirteen, on his first missionary journey, we have a similar expression again in verse nine. Then Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him. This was Elymas the sorcerer, as he was trying to turn the deputy away from the teaching that Paul and Barnabas were given. He set his eyes on him and said, O full of subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the Son who has seen him. In the power of the Spirit of God, Paul was able to withstand this man. The result there was that the deputy believed. The deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. An evidence of the power of God at work. And the last man that we read of being filled with the Spirit of God is in chapter eleven. it's Barnabas. In chapter eleven, verse twenty four, Barnabas has been sent down from the, by the disciples at Jerusalem, by the apostles, who's been sent down to Antioch, where a work has begun. Well, verse twenty three, when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, for he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch, and it came to pass that the whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people. Here was a man who was commissioned by the apostles, sent down to Antioch by the apostles to encourage the believers there. We hear today talk of apostolic authority. Here was clearly a case of a man with apostolic authority. And as a result, yes, he encouraged the people, but he realized that the work was too great for him alone. And a man full of the Holy Spirit was still a man who was ready to recognize his own limitations. And so he goes from Antioch to Tarsus to find Saul, and he brings Saul back. And they continue there at Antioch for the year, and then later on, as we saw in chapter thirteen, they go out and they begin that journey, those journeys which would bring the word of God across Asia, across Europe. And it all started because of a man. A man who recognized his limitations and who was prepared to go and to seek a mother to stand with him in the work. We said of John the Baptist, what we reminded ourselves of what he said regarding the Lord, he must increase, but I must decrease. Go through Acts, Barnabas was a man who was marked out. He was marked out for his devotion earlier in the book of chapter five. He was marked out, or chapter four rather. He's marked out here as a good man, full of the Holy Ghost. He joins with Paul on his public ministry, but his work comes to an end. Yet the result of what he could set in motion here will continue as Saul goes on and completes that work that the Lord gave him to do. Although Barnabas fades off the scene, he's responsible for bringing Saul to the place where the Lord wanted him to do the work that the Lord had for him to do. And a man full of the Holy Spirit will be just as ready to stand back and let another go on beyond where he has gone, as he will be to do the work. In the fearless way that we saw with Peter or with Stephen. In the obedient way that we saw with our Lord himself, ready to take the outside place. There's so many examples. Perhaps something we should have said earlier on when we were thinking of this subject. Just as we thought. What we've been thinking about tonight is the filling of the Spirit of God. There's three things that are often missed, are often confused. The baptism of the Spirit of God, or the baptism in the Spirit of God, strictly speaking, in the Greek language. That took place on the day of Pentecost, when the Lord poured out his spirit upon those believers, and we have all come into the good of that when we trusted Christ. In Romans eight and verse nine, if any man have not the Spirit of God, he is none of his. That's the second idea, the indwelling of the Spirit of God. That's again Romans eight and verse nine, just earlier in the verse. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you, and if any man have not the Spirit of God, he is none of his. The baptism in the Spirit of God, the indwelling of the Spirit of God, are things that every believer knows. Every believer is in the good life. The filling of the Spirit of God, as we've considered it tonight, is something, something I judge that few believers understand and know. Apart from our Lord himself, we've considered seven men in the New Testament who are spoken of as being filled with the Spirit of God. It wasn't something that was spoken of of all. Even John the Apostle is not spoken of as being filled with the Spirit of God, or James who gave his life, or so we could go on. We said already of Timothy, I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state, that he was not spoken of as filled with the Spirit of God. But having said that, if our lives are open to the Word of God, under the control of God's Word, and under the control of the Spirit of God, there's no reason why any of us should not be filled with the Spirit of God. If that were not the case, Paul could never have written as he did in the words we started with in Ephesians five and verse eighteen: Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit of God. Shall we pray? Gracious God our Father, again this evening, we just thank thee and praise thee indeed for thy Holy Spirit. Thank thee, our Father, for these men, the women that we've considered who were filled with the Spirit of God. Thank thee indeed, our Father, for the privilege that we know and enjoy of being indwelt by the Spirit of God. We pray that thou would help us to understand the desire of thy heart is not just that we be indwelt, as every believer, but that we might be filled with the Spirit of God. We pray indeed that thou would help us to open our lives to the control of the Spirit of God, to fill our lives with the Word of God, that we may know what it is to be filled with the Spirit of God, that we may be able to live lives, whether it be lives of testimony like a John or a Peter, whether it be sufferings like a Stephen, or whether it be just bringing on others like a Barnabas, that we may be those who will do what thou dost desire for thy pleasure. That when we stand before the Lord, when our life is called into account, we may be found as those who are well pleasing to the Lord. We just seek thy blessing then as we commend ourselves to thee now, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.