Certainly a joy once more to be with you in the Word of God. Would you turn in your Bibles tonight to the Book of Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five. The walk of the believer seems to be foremost in the beginning of the chapter. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love. As Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet, smelling savor. But for on occasion, an all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become a saint, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, but you are not convenient. rather giving a thanks. For this you know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no men deceive you with vain words, for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Notice, Walk in Love, verse two. Walk as children of light, verse eight. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. or whatsoever does make manifest is light." I think it's interesting to note that the psalm is so beautifully recorded for us. The entrance of thy words giveth light, giveth understanding, unto the simple. It's a nice clue there. Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not his fools, but his wise redeeming the time, because the days are evil. We're living in an evil day. Much more evil than we really suspect. I believe the world has plunged far deeper than we feel it's gone. And I personally see no recover from the state in which it's been plunged and is plunging. I'm not looking for things to get better. I'm absolutely looking for things to get worse. I'm convinced they will. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. God says it, I believe it, to me that settles it. But I'm thankful that there is a covert in the storm, a refuge for those who know the Lord. And one area of that refuge includes sweet Christian fellowship. Isn't it good to be in the Lord? Isn't it good to come and sing with the saints of God and to hear their voices ring? I was listening while ago, and boy, I could hear some tenor voices, and I thought I could hear some bass a little bit, and Here's some ladies singing their parts, and it just was going together and harmonizing and ascending up, and I'm sure the Lord must have been very pleased. So often we think that it's the quality of voice that's so very important. But it's not the quality of voice so much that's important, it's the quality of heart. You see, some don't have very much voice. Mine sounds kind of gravely, and I'm glad that it just depends on the quality of voice. I'm out. You know, I've just been voted out. But it's the quality of heart that really sets the joy bells ringing. And I think that we can all agree to that. I remember a sister in the Lord years ago who delighted to sing so much. Oh, she loved to sing the hymns. But it was so seldom that she was ever on the right note. It just would be by accident. If she was going up, we had to be going down and crossed in the middle, we hit the same note together. But she was a sweetheart. Oh, she was really... happy in the Lord and love to sing those old hymns. Now, admittedly, the old flesh a few times would think, now, Nola, I sure wished you'd either tone down or not sing on this one, you know, the flesh. But I'll tell you, when she'd sing out and burst out and you'd see her face, somehow another flesh got lost. You know, praise God for what a wonderful face that is. And that heart was sending up those beautiful notes to heaven. Now, you say beautiful, yes, they were beautiful to God, I'm sure, because if her heart was right, God was accepting it. It is an evil time. But you know, it's a time in which we're going to need extreme power. And I want us tonight to turn in the time that we have. And I've noticed I went about four or five minutes over last night. I'll try to be right on time tonight. I've got plenty of time and I should be able to do it. I'm a poor steward of time. I guess you've noticed that already. But tonight I want us to go to the commissions that are spoken of in what we call the Gospels and note what the Lord has to say. We're in a day that we're going to need extreme power. the power of humanity is not going to be able to cope with the supernatural forces that we're facing in our time. Matthew twenty eight please. Sometimes this passage in Matthew twenty eight is called the Great Commission. I don't know that it necessarily deserves that particular title, but It's been given that by many Christians and used by many Christians in that light or in that sense. And I would say that it certainly is a great one, all right. A very great commission it is. I don't know that I'd say it's the great commission, but it is a great commission. But I want to remind us it's not the last commission, but it's in mind, please. Verse sixteen. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And the word power here in verse eighteen is the word exusia, meaning authority. All authority has been given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, or therefore as you're going, disciple all nations, baptizing them unto the name of the Father. and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you all way even unto the end of the age. In, in verse nineteen, right in the center of the verse, in the name of, is the same little preposition that's found in Matthew chapter three, verse eleven, where there John the prophet, not the Baptist, but the baptizer. No Baptist in the Bible. Challenge anyone to prove that. It really isn't. I'm not being ugly. I'm just saying this. It just isn't. He's John the one who baptizes. He's a baptizer, really. I don't realize that our translation says that, and we can say it, but let's really try to get the meaning of it. In verse eleven of Matthew chapter three, he said, I indeed immerse you in water unto repentance. Same word right here, unto. Same word. Go ye therefore, or therefore ye are gone. Disciple all nations. baptizing them unto. Now the little preposition rendered unto has the basic or subsequent idea of with a view to. So with a view to the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you baptize them, he says, and then teach them. So the commission is, once more, make them, mark them, mold them. Make them disciples, mark them with water, mold them with the Word. And don't forget that the molding comes after the baptizing, according to the commission that the Lord Jesus gave. And he said, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Notice the go is in verse nineteen, and the low is in verse twenty. It's implied that we're going to go as you're going. It's an absolute that we'll go. And some may sit down, but God knows some are going to be going. And lo, I'm with you all the way even unto the end of the age. Amen. Now, Mark chapter sixteen, please. Mark sixteen. Mark sixteen, I feel kind of funny way up here. I just wished I was right down there with you somehow another... I remember what they did to Naboth, the Jesuit. They set him on high and then stoned him. Ooh. See if there's any other doors up here. Mark sixteen, verse fourteen. Afterward, Jesus appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meet or as they were together. and upgraded them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them who had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes in his baptized shall be saved. But he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them to believe. In my name they shall cast out demons. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. And you'll notice in the book of Acts all three of those things took place. All three of them. Each one of those statements is future intense and indicative in mood. The indicative mood in the Greek language is the absolute mood. Jesus said, if I go away, I will come again. That's indicative. Is there any question in your mind about his coming back? Not in mine. He said, I will come again. That's indicative. It's absolute. There can be nothing else. He must come. He has to come. Now, he said... In my name, notice now, they shall cast out demons, did they? Obviously. They shall speak with new tongues, did they? Acts two. Acts ten, Acts nineteen. They shall take up serpents, Paul did. Acts twenty-eight. Leads twenty-seven. And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. Notice if they do, that's subjunctive in mood. And you know what? We don't have any record at all that they ever did. But the Lord says, I'm building in a comfortable, safe margin for my servant. In the event that you do, he says, I've already taken care of it. Already taken care of it. Those who think that they have the gifts of tongues today, all they've got to do is take the acid test. I tried one in Texas one time. I used to preach on a street corner every other Saturday morning. And on the opposite Saturday morning, back to back, he would take the street corner. He was with a certain group that would be called Pentecostal. That's not the name. I'm not going to name the name of the group. You want to know later I can tell you, but I don't like to use denominational names publicly like this. But he would come to me and say, you know, Brother Don, all you need now is the baptism. I said, that's very interesting, Brother Logan. What do you mean I need the baptism? Well, he said, you preach a good, clear gospel message, and you seem to be enthused about the message, and people seem to be attracted to the preaching, and But all you need now is the baptism. I said, well, now tell me about this baptism. What about? He said, the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I said, Brother Logan, I want you to show me that in the Bible. Show me one place where you find baptism of the Holy Ghost. Oh, he says right there in the Bible. I said, okay, right here. Use mine. I got big print. He spent about fifteen minutes, and finally he gave up. It ain't there. Would you pardon my grammar, just for emphasis? There ain't no such thing as baptism of the Holy Ghost in all the Bible. There is baptism in the Spirit, but not all of the Spirit. There's baptism of John, but not in John. Let's let the Bible speak as God gave it, and then we'll be clear. If we use Bible words and Bible ways that will tend to unity and blessing, if we use something else, it'll get us all. I said, now, you know, Mr. Logan, you've been trying to get me to get something not in the Bible. I said, that's an interesting thing. Well, he said, at least you need to, there's the evidence of speaking in tongues. I said, oh, that's interesting. You really think that you speak with tongues of the Spirit of God? Oh, yes, it's of God. I said, well, let's notice in the passage where the Lord promised this, and so we turn to Mark XVI. I said, it tells me here that they shall, in my name, cast out demons. That's the first one. Where it says devils in our English Bible here, it's the word de-Mionos, not de-Avalos. De-Avalos is singular. De-Mionos is plural. In my name they shall cast out demons. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. I said now, Brother Logan, would you be willing to handle a rattlesnake? He said, I have a friend over in Booy, Texas. He's a welding contractor. He makes these long steel tongs. And they reach up in the rattlesnake dens of those tongs and get those rattlers, bring them out and put them in a tow sack, and take them over to the rodeo. I said, would you be willing to handle one of them? Well, he said, I said, no, no. You said you do speak with tongues. And this Bible here says they shall take up serpents. The moment that you take up the serpents, then I believe you speak with the tongues. And I said, besides that, the Lord says a very interesting thing here. He says, in case they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. And I said, I got a little strychnine at home, and I'll mix up a potion and let you have a little. You know what? He backed down. But he was still advocating his tongue. Now let you let you know something from this old fellow right here that God is not inconsistent. Men are, but God isn't. And you can find everything that God said would happen. You can find it in the book of Acts. And the last one is they shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover. And no excuses about someone's lack of faith. No excuses. Where was Lazarus' faith when Jesus raised him from the dead? Think on that one a while. My beloved friends, I'm sick of all this religious junk. The devil has bootlegged a bunch of poison in among professing Christians, and the Word of God will chase it out. Remember what we read a while ago? Light makes manifest. Whatever makes manifest is light. They're mutually composite. When you turn the lights off, the darkness comes. When you turn the lights on, the darkness goes. They're not bed partners. They shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover. You know, you couldn't take a pair of Spanish mules and drag some of them healers into the lepidoreum in Louisiana to save your neck. You couldn't do it. They won't go. And there's plenty of those rheumatoid arthritics we used to try to get them to go to, and you couldn't get them within hollering distance. They knew better. They pray on the people, not P-R-A-Y. I wish they did. It's P-R-E-Y. And after their money, you know, they don't fit in with Peter and John. They go up to the temple at the hour of prayer, and a man says, Ah, and Peter says, look on him. Man looks up, supposing to get something. And Peter says, and here's where he distinguishes himself from themselves. He says, silver and gold, have I none? Let me tell you, some of those characters are rich, filthy rich. One of them got arrested. on a traffic violation, they found out he was drunk, they searched the car, and the trunk was full of greenbacks, just literally stuffed full. Pardon me, I see, when I think about some of these characters, they're religious, shasters, rascals. It just gets me stirred up. Well, here's the acid test. Give them the acid test. All right, Luke chapter twenty-four. I'm sorry, if I offended you, I hope I didn't. But I just couldn't resist sharing a few things about there. He said, Would you tell that to them? Give me their address. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'll tell you, we should speak the truth in life. We want them to see the truth. Luke twenty-four. Verse forty-four, and he said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. There you have a threefold presentation of Christ in the Old Testament. Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it be of Christ. to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance, O beloved, listen to it once more, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. What was the message? Repent. And any time we preach and don't preach repentance, we're halting short of this commission. Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. But carry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endured with power from on high. Now, if you will, look at John chapter twenty. I guess I'm getting too close this night, maybe. I'll back off a little. John chapter twenty. The Lord Jesus has appeared to the disciples in the upper room, verse nineteen, and this is the day of his resurrection, as best I can determine in Scripture, then the same day at evening being the first day of the week. Now this is a very parallel passage to what we have in Luke twenty-four that we didn't take the time to read. Luke speaks of the Lord Jesus as the unique man. And, of course, John speaks of him as the unique and only true God. And here, John, speaking of Jesus as God, lets us know that the doors were closed where the disciples were assembled. Luke didn't let us know that, because that wasn't God's message through Luke. But God's message through John was that the doors were closed. Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, Where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them, Again, peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. Here's the commission. When he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive you the Holy Spirit, whose ever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them. And whose ever sins you retain, they are retained. Acts chapter one. The former treatise, verse one. The former treatise of I made, old Theopolis. This is a friend of God, one who has an affection for God. Elos. Is the word there. Theos is God, and Philos would befriend or fond affection. The former treatise or former letter have I made, O Theopolis, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, unto the day in which he was taken up, after that he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion, by many infallible proof. Being seen of them, forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but... wait for the promise of the Father, which says, He, you've heard of me, for John truly immersed in water. You're immersed with water, you're immersed in water. Every preposition that's used of the Spirit of God, connection with baptism, in this sense, is always epsilon new or in, in is the word, or it's the case, the dative, locative, instrumental case. So, John truly immersed in water, but you shall be immersed in the Holy Spirit, not many days hence. Therefore, when they come together, they ask him, saying, Lord, will thou at this time again restore the kingdom to Israel? And he says unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own power or authority. This is the word authority. Same word in Matthew chapter twenty-eight, verse eighteen. Same word. Which the Father has put in his own authority. But you shall receive, and here's what we're coming to. power. This is the Greek word dynamist from which we get our English word dynamite. Our English word dynamite is a pure Greek word. It means power that's explosive. You shall receive power, dynamite power, after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Now, the last commission is given in Acts chapter one and Luke chapter twenty four. Whatever commission we may call it, in Matthew twenty eight it is not the last commission. You say, why? Very simple. He was in Galilee. Don't forget he was in Galilee when he gave that. Here we find him in Acts chapter one and Luke twenty four giving the last commission. If we're going to call the one the great, we'll call these the last. You say, are they in beautiful parallel? Yes, but there are some differences. And what we need to note is this. They all fit together beautifully to make up one grand and glorious commission. And we can see in this that the Lord had purpose that you and I would have power in our life. I've been so encouraged to be listening in, sort of tuning in on what's going on in the lives of some of you Christians, how you've been witnessing them, what's been happening. It's very encouraging to me, because to me there's no assembly, no local church on earth that's really alive that's not witnessing. And anytime a local assembly begins to decline in their witness, they'll decline in other ways, too. They're just a real parallel there. Any local church, any local assembly that's not really fervently, faithfully witnessing will soon go down in other areas. The big question is, how can I have this power? The Lord Jesus said, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. I want to quickly point out that everyone who's saved in this dispensation of the grace of God has the Holy Spirit. Romans eight, nine, you're not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you're not saved. Everyone has received the baptism. Jesus spoke of it here in verse five. John truly, or John indeed, immersed in water. That is in parallel and beautiful harmony with Matthew three, eleven, Mark one eight, Luke three sixteen, John one thirty-three. And of course, here in Acts chapter one, verse five, it was rehearsed at Jerusalem after it had taken place at Caesarea. That's Acts ten and eleven. And the last mention of the expression baptism connected with spirit is found in First Corinthians chapter twelve and verse thirteen. Now back to our imaginary chalkboard. If you were going to name the four entities that are connected with any baptism, what would they be? Well, we need a baptizer, don't we? Somebody's got to do the baptizer. We need someone to be baptized, right? So the baptizer and the baptizer. Thirdly, We need to know what they're going to be baptized in, the element in which they're baptized in, or the person. Fourthly, the purpose for which they're baptized. All of that is brought out in Matthew three, eleven. John says, I, John, indeed immerse you, the repentant one, in water, the element, unto repentance, showing the purpose for which he baptized. His baptism was viewing their repentance. Now to believe some people. Those who teach you have to be baptized in water to be saved, one of their sugar-stick texts is Acts II. And the word for there to them has the sense of, in order to obtain. For that verse reads like this, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the word for to them has the sense of, the idea of, in order to get the remission of sins. Now, if you follow the consistency of that and bring it back to Matthew three-eleven, here's what you'd have. John says, I, indeed, immerse you in water in order to get you to repent. Can't you just see John out there now? He grabbed some Jewish convert or some Jewish would-be convert, gets him by the throat, shoved him out of the Jordan River and says, Are you going to repent? He brings him up and the fellow says, Not yet, John. And he sows him down one more time. Are you going to repent? You know, that's the ridiculousness of it. If you make that to me in order to obtain, that's what you run into. Same thing's given in Matthew chapter twelve. And verse forty-one, the Lord Jesus said that the men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. The word at AT. Same Greek word behind that as far in Acts two thirty-eight and unto in Matthew three eleven. Question. Did the people of Nineveh repent in order to get Jonah to come preach? Absurd. Rather, they repented because of the preaching of Jonah. He said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Wasn't an ounce of gospel in it, just judgment. And the whole town repented, the whole city, the king of that great capital and country said not even the cattle are to eat or drink. we're going to fast and see if God perhaps will change his mind. So we can see that everyone who has had the baptism for the Apostle Paul as the Spirit of God inspires him, says in First Corinthians twelve, thirteen, in one spirit, not by, in one spirit, were we all with a view to one body baptized? Every believer in this age of the grace of God who has received Christ as Lord has been immersed in One spirit forming one spiritual body, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone that's saved in this age is in the church. You can't join it. Men can't add you. You're born into the family of God, and the Lord Jesus is the one who does the baptizing. He baptized all of us in His Holy Spirit, forming one spiritual body, which is the church where everyone's had the baptism. Well, what about the power, though? You mean because that I have been saved and the Holy Spirit now is in me? Is the Holy Spirit in us? Obviously, First Corinthians chapter three and verse, I believe, sixteen. And then, of course, First Corinthians six, nineteen and second Corinthians six, sixteen. We can see very clearly there that the Spirit of God is in all Christians. The Spirit of God is in you. We saw that in Romans eight and nine. But where's the power? My beloved friends, we can have the Holy Spirit in us and exercise no spiritual power for God. I can go out and witness and have no power in my life. Well, then are you talking about a second experience, a second work of grace, or some kind of a crash experience? No, I'm not. I'm not at all. But I am saying that Jesus promised dynamite, explosive, dynamous power for all believers. And we need to be exercising that kind of power. The demon forces of hell are working against the gospel. And my beloved friend, you and I going out in our own strength is not going to get the job done. We're going to have to have the power of the Spirit of God if we're going to get the job done. Oh, you can go and witness. Imagine you can stir up a lot of religious dust. People can say, hey, look at Brother so-and-so go. My, he's really knocking on lots of doors. He's telling a lot of people. But he's doing it in the power of the Spirit of God. Look at a little passage real quickly now. We're going to have to hasten along. Verse Corinthians chapter two, verse one, and following. Paul writing to the Christians at Corinth says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speaking, my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in, notice, get the word, demonstration of the spirit and of power. The Apostle Paul exercised this power in his life. And he said his ministry at Corinth was in demonstration of the spirit of God and power. Oh, beloved friends, we need this power without it. We're not going to get accomplished what God had purposed for us to accomplish in our Christian lives. Let us take a little running commentary quickly. I stopped very, very determinedly a moment ago in Ephesians five. I did not read what I had purpose to read later on, and so at this time we'll read it now in Ephesians chapter five. I stopped at verse sixteen. I want to read verse seventeen and following. Ephesians five. Wherefore be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is, and be not drunk with wine where any success, but be filled with the spirits. speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart 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. Notice the Lord's word, be not drunk with wine, we're in his excess, but be filled with the Spirit. What are some evidences that seem to crop out of a drunk man's life? I want to talk about the drunks tonight. I'm not Billy Sunday, and I'm not on the war path against liquor. I just want to use a little illustration. I have been around a lot of drunks in my life, and I have found most of them are willing to speak. You take a man that's almost amused, and you get him drunk on liquor, and I guarantee you he'll blabber. He'll talk. A great majority will. You may find an exception now and then, but let me tell you, a big majority of them start talking, and you'd be amazed at the things they'll tell you. Well, maybe you won't be too amazed, but anyway, some of those things will make you blink a little. They'll talk. They'll open up their mouth. Number two thing about a drunk man, he's very liberal with what he has. You ever notice that? Come on, Henry, here I'll buy you a drink. And boy, there, they're willing. And he may be the chinchiest guy in town when he's sober. You know what I mean? He may be so tight that he squeaks every step he takes. But you'll get him drunk, and let me tell you, he'll offer you a drink. He'll set him up to you. He'll offer you the shirt off his back. Let me tell you, he'll dig into his pocket, and he'll give the money to you. Years ago, I was driving a tractor-trailer rig with a friend who were hauling antiques out of Chicago, hauling them into Texas. The boss of the company had given him the money, the traveling expense money. And he's one of those fellows that had to visit these bars, you know, just about every other door up there in Sheridan and Clark Street in Chicago, seemed to me like them, was a bar. And along with the bars went to be girls. And they were shrewd, smart as it could be, just like a whiff. So we'd go in there and Arlis would have that roll of money. And they'd come hanging around him. First thing, you know, he was doling that money out, and we'd nearly always have to wire back home for money to get back. Why? He's giving it away. He is very liberal with his money. Another thing about a drunk man, he's willing to take the blame for something. You'll find one coming out of a door and maybe someone mistakenly bumps into him and says, oh, pardon me, I didn't mean to. And they're very quick to take the low place. Very quick. Not all, but a big majority. There's just something about it. Now, please don't anyone misunderstand. I'm not for drunkenness. It's one of the worst things that can happen. I don't want anyone leaving thinking that I'm advocating drunkenness. But I'm saying there are some characteristics about drunkenness that we can get some insights into what the Word of God is teaching. God indicates if we're going to have power in our life, we're going to have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I want to throw two things in real quick while my time is getting on. Number one, you'll never find anywhere from the book of Acts on where any man said of himself, I am filled with the Holy Spirit. Look if you will. Search, but it'll be in vain. You won't find it. If you come walking up to me and tell me you're filled with the Holy Spirit, I know good and well you're not. I know you're not. I know some organizations are teaching you do one, two, and three, and go through a mathematical equation, and you can say, I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. I don't believe that. Not at all. I do believe there is a way. And I do believe it's not optional in the Christian life, beloved. I believe it's one of those grand and wonderful and glorious privileges that we have to be filled with the Spirit. But more than that, I believe it's the command of God. Be not drunk with wine when it is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. The verb filled is the word play ra'o, and in this particular case, it is the word play rooste, second person, plural, it's present tense, it's imperative movement, meaning, or command, and it's passive and voice. You don't do the filling. That's the word. What do you mean present tense? All present tense Greek verbs have a linear or continuous action. God is saying to you and I, be not drunk with wine, we're in a success, but be filled and continue to be filled. Keep on being filled with the Spirit. It's passive in voice indicating the subject is acted upon. The subject does not do the acting. You be filled. You doesn't do the filling. God has to do that. And it's second person, plural. It's all of us. Oh, beloved, it's not just for brother so-and-so and brother so-and-so. It's for every Christian, every child of God. Every one of us who've been born again are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Quickly we'll take our Bibles and run through a little commentary on being filled with the Spirit. Luke chapter one. First mention of the subject in the New Testament is Luke chapter one. Speaking of John the baptizer. the prophet of God, and from the earthly standpoint, from the human point of view, a cousin to the Lord Jesus. Their mothers were cousins. Looking now at Luke chapter one, speaking of John, he says in verse fifteen, 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 Spirit, even from his mother's womb. Oh, and that are tremendous things. And what did John do? He got on the banks of the Jordan and said, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And you'll notice almost every situation that we find ourselves in the context of this being filled with the Spirit, someone's going to be talking. Luke chapter one and verse forty-one came to pass that when Elizabeth had heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she spake out with a loud voice saying, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. She spoke. Verse sixty-seven of the same chapter, and his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. Notice these people who are filled are people that are speaking for God. Notice, if you will, in Luke chapter four. Verse one. And Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tested of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing. When they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, literally you can translate this sense and view of the fact that you are the Son of God. Command that this stone, this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, and saying, It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And so we can see that he's speaking out the word of God, not just speaking, but speaking the word of God. Turning to the book of Acts chapter two. We'll have to go quickly. Acts chapter two. First one, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven sons lighted the fire, and it set upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak. And that's something filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak. Chapter four. Chapter four. Peter and John have been used of God to heal a man. It had been kind of called in question about this matter. They were put in jail overnight. It says in verse eight, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, If we be examined this day of the good deed done unto this impotent man, by what means he has made whole, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. And then, of course, he gave that marvelous verse in verse twelve. Neither is there salvation in any other. Thank God for that. Now, chapter four and verse thirty-one. Interesting to note that in verse twenty-nine and verse thirty, those two verses, their request was, and now, Lord, behold, they're threatening. In other words, they say, Now, Lord, take a look at those people. Look what they're doing. Notice what they're saying. And grant unto thy service that with all boldness they may speak thy word. Let's go on to verse thirty-one. They made their request. Look at the answer. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the Word of God with boldness. They prayed for boldness. They got boldness. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Chapter six, if you will. Several had arisen among the Christians in the first century. Widows were being neglected in the daily service. The local church at Jerusalem was having to feed thousands of people. Hundreds were... just influxing from various places. They'd been there for the day of Pentecost. Thousands were saved, and so the local Christians were having to bear some of that responsibility of taking care of them. And in verse three it says, Wherefore, brothers, look to you out among you, seven men of honor and support, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this need. It's the word crying. Translated need most other places. Then it says in verse five, And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. and Philip, and so on. Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Look at chapter seven. Stephen began to speak in chapter six, and they began to reason with him. So he gives his last message, and it's given in chapter seven. Now notice, if you will, in verse fifty, fifty-one. At the conclusion of his message, he tells that nation of Israel's representatives there and those leaders, he says, You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do ye. Let me tell you, being filled with the Holy Spirit, this is Acts chapter seven and verse fifty-one. Let me say this. Stephen was no compromiser. He was no backslapper. He was no Casper milk toast. Let me tell you, that man gave a message and you won't read many like it. Can't you see him now? You stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hard in the earth. You do always resist the Holy Spirit as your father did. So do you. You just like him, he says, just like him. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted, and they have slain them that show before the coming of the just one, of whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers? And they charge them with the death of Christ. who have received the law but the disposition of angels and have not kept it. When they heard these things they were cut to heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he being full of the Holy Spirit. Now watch this. Looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God in Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Here is a man that saw the Lord standing in heaven and said, Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord, Jesus, receive my Spirit. Now watch one of the attributes of one who's filled with the Spirit. Watch. Look closely. And he kneeled down and cried out with a loud voice. I'm going to read this contrary to the word of God. Now watch me. He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice. Lord, rain, fire, and brimstone on him. No. Didn't do that, did he? Lord, lay not descend to the charge. Was it remind you of? Why, it reminds you of his master. I'll tell you, beloved, when you get a glimpse of the Lord Jesus, you start acting like him. That's what we were looking at last night. We all, with unveiled face, beholding him in a glass of glory. The glory of the Lord are transformed, are metamorphosed, are changed into the same image from glory to glory. The more we look like at him, the more we'll look like him and act like him. He got a glimpse of Jesus. He's filled with the Holy Spirit. What do you do? He said, Lord, don't lay this sin at a charge. He loved those men that stoned him. Do you love your enemies? Might be a real test if you're filled with the Spirit. Quickly now, just move along. Acts chapter nine, Saul of Tarsus is converted. We see that Ananias is sent down to a straight street. And down a straight street is the house of Judas. Saul of Tartarus is in there praying. Ananias walks in. Verse seventeen. Ananias went his way, entered into the house, putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou came of it, has sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scaled and received his sight and arose and was immediately baptized. As you can see also in chapter, evidence is of it in chapter ten. You can see it brought out clearly in chapter eleven concerning Barnabas. Christians had been persecuted. Saul of Tarsus had been on the rampage. They'd gone as far as Antioch and Syria. They'd get up that far. They preached the gospel to the Jews. People are being saved. Word comes back to the Christians in Jerusalem. They send Bionis. Verse twenty-two, the tidings of these things came to the ears of the church that was in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch. Now, Acts eleven, twenty-three, who, when he came, that's Barnabas, when he came to Antioch, 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 Spirit and faith. Now watch, and much people was added unto the Lord. Oh, beloved, can't you see it? If we're filled with the Holy Spirit, there are going to be people added to the Lord. God, working in our lives. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It is the word play ra'o. There are three or four different forms of that used by the Holy Spirit to speak of full and filled. And in some occasions it has the idea of fill to the brim. That same word is used, fill to the brim. What does it mean? The basic idea of that root word, that Greek word, is to control. You will never have more of the Holy Spirit than you have the night if you're saved. The idea is that He would control you totally. Be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit. It's to allow you to be possessed so fully, controlled so intimately, and so overtly even, that God the Holy Spirit is absolutely the controlling factor of your life. Now, it does not annihilate your identity, nor does it do away with your actual mind. but it's God using your faculties. You see, that's the difference between a drunk man. When a man gets drunk, it's different than being filled with the Spirit in some ways because, really, he loses his abilities. And a man doesn't lose his abilities when he's filled with the Spirit. He's enhanced in his abilities. The Holy Spirit does not want to annihilate the you. He wants to enhance you. and make you more heavenly. And beloved, to be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by Him. And certainly I. It's something that all of us are to have to take place in our life. Our time has come and gone. I want to point out just real quickly now, in closing, just very quickly, how to be filled with the Spirit. The first thing I said a moment ago was, in connection with this matter, is that no one ever said of himself that he was filled with the Spirit. Secondly, number two, if you can jot this down in your mental tab, we have no records. no record of anyone asking to be filled. To me what the Bible says is very important, but to me what the Bible does not say is very important. I'm not telling you not to ask. I'm just saying we have no record of it. This is what I believe real quickly. How can I be filled with the Spirit? Here it is. Number one, deal with a sin question. deal with the sins question. Make sure, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me, he says. Psalm sixty-eight. Or sixty-six. Another one, Scripture says, he that turned away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayers should be abomination. If I'm not listening to God, not willing to listen to God or one of his precepts or one of his verses in the Bible, God says, my prayers abomination. Therefore, I've got to deal with the sins question. Are there sins in my life? I'm going to confess them. And if in genuine repentance I confess them and name them to the Lord, He's faithful in justice, forgive me my sins, and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. And I'm hoping you take that up this week sometimes. All right. Deal with the sins question. Number two. Deal with the principle. God says that we were crucified with Christ. That's Galatians two. God says our old man was, once for all, crucified with Christ. Romans six, six. So number two, agree with God that you did die with Christ. And number three, just simply yield yourself according to Romans six. We'll read that verse and I'll close. Romans chapter six. Remember, be filled with the Spirit. The verb in Ephesians five eighteen is passive in voice. We do not do it. It's something God must do himself. And I would like to submit that when the conditions are right, God always does it. Romans chapter six. We learned that our old man was once for all crucified with him. That's verse six. We learned that we're to agree with God. Verse eleven. Likewise consider you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. But alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we learned in verse thirteen. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. but yield yourselves, who too, unto God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness, unto God. If we'll do the yielding, God will do the filling. Sin's question, agree with God that it's true, we're dead with Christ, and just present yourself. The word yield is the same as present in Romans twelve in verse one. Same word. Give yourself over to the Lord. Lord, here I am. I'm waiting on you to fill me, and God will do it. When the vessel is right, you can count on the filling every time. And when we're filled, there will be the power for every measure of Christian service.