Our scripture text today is Ephesians 5, 18 through 20. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Basically going to concentrate today largely on verse 18 as we're going down through this chapter We're dealing verse by verse and Ephesians We're seeing yet another example of what it means To walk worthy of God over against what is not walking worthy of God. We are not to get drunk we are to stay away from immorality impurity and greed and Such sins are not even to be named amongst us as Christians. Filthiness, silly talk, coarse bantering are not fitting for us. We're not to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. We are to walk as children of light, not as children of darkness. We are to walk as wise men, not as fools. We are to redeem the time because the days are evil. Those are all the things we've been covering, and we are to be sober, not drunk. Drunkenness is one of the unfruitful deeds of darkness. It's not an aspect of light. It's characteristic behavior for non-Christians, not for Christians. Romans 13, 13 through 14 says, let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Drunkenness is one of those things. First Peter 4 through 5 says, for the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles. And what is that desire? Having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation, and they malign you. but they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. And Paul warns in Galatians 5, 19 through 21, that those who practice drunkenness will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will not be received into heaven. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So in light of that, it would be appropriate for us to ask, why is it that we refer to drunkards as alcoholics in our culture? The Bible calls them drunkards. We call them alcoholics. The Bible calls it a sin. Our medical and psychological experts refer to it as a disease. And there's a big difference. If it's a sin, then you should repent of it, and you need to be saved from it. If it's a disease, then there's no moral component, really. You're a victim of the disease, and you just need pills or therapy or counseling or sympathy or something. If it's a sin, then to be a Christian is to be saved from the sin of drunkenness. If it's a disease, then I suppose you could be a Christian alcoholic. But actually, there's no such thing. To accept the medical establishment's ideology here is to think of drunkenness as a genetic disease that you cannot change. All you can do is try to stay sober, but you will always be an alcoholic, in their view. Kind of like a diabetic who's got to manage their sugar, but they'll always be a diabetic. This is one of the core tenets of AA, Alcoholics Anonymous. AA keeps people in bondage by teaching them that once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. It's part of your identity. You'll never escape it. This seems like wisdom to them. If you keep people always fearful that they will fall back into the drunken dysfunctionality for which their genetics predispose them, then they will always need the AA meetings to keep them sober. But the truth is that drunkenness is a sin, and God sent Jesus as a Savior to save His people from their sin. And Christ sets you free from drunkenness, or any sin. And once you are free, you are free indeed. The NAS refers to drunkenness as dissipation. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation. The ESV has, for that is debauchery. And the KJV has, wherein is excess. And the word asatia is an abandoned, dissolute life, profligacy, prodigality. Dissipation is an English word that has the idea of wastefulness. Luke 21, 34 through 35 says, be on guard so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life. And that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the earth. And following up on that idea of redeeming the time, that we looked at last week or two weeks ago, drunkenness is not conducive, of course, to redeeming the time, to rescuing the time from loss. It's another way of wasting your time in dissipation. When a man gets drunk, he's certainly wasting his time. He's wasting his mind. He's wasting his energy, his usefulness, his opportunities. And a drunkard is one who wastes himself to such a degree that he becomes untrustworthy, At the workplace, you can't count on him. He's untrustworthy in his own house. If he's married, his wife can't trust him and depend on him, and neither can his children. If he's single, he's not a good bet, ladies. He also wastes his money and leads himself and his family into poverty. A drunkard is essentially a useless person. Proverbs 23, 20 through 21 says, do not be with heavy drinkers of wine or with the gluttonous eaters of meat, for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags. To be drunk is really just to check out of reality and to enter a world of fantasy. It's a world where you think you're so funny, and you're just not. Drunks think they're very brave and very tough and very manly, and so they get in fights with other people they would never fight with while sober. Drunks tend to wake up from their brawls with black eyes and bruises and sore muscles and terrible headaches. Proverbs 21, 20, verse 1 says, wine is a mocker and strong drink a brawler. And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise. The drunk man imagines himself to be quite the fetching ladies man. So with great courage and boldness, he makes advances toward women that he would never make while sober. Drunks run their mouths and say all kinds of things they would never say when sober. They reveal things that should be left unspoken. They're self-destructive. It's not uncommon for a drunk to lose his money. Lose his virginity? Lose his car? Lose his keys? Lose his driver's license? Lose his freedom? Lose his life? Or rob someone else of their life? To be a drunk is to be self-destructive. Proverbs 23, 29 through 35 says, who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes, those who linger long over wine, those who go to taste mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things and your mind will utter perverse things and you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. They struck me, but I did not become ill. They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink." Of course, we know oftentimes also that drunkenness is an escape from misery or despair. People get drunk to forget reality. They want to check out of this world because of the pain that they are experiencing and lose themselves in the delirium of drunkenness. Those who are doing so are turning to booze as a god. When you are depressed, you should turn to God. Why so downcast, O my soul? Why disquieted within me? Put your hope in God, not in the bottle. I hope everyone understands that when the verse says, do not get drunk with wine, it is not suggesting that we can with whiskey or beer. Wine is not the point. Drunkenness is the point. Drunkenness is the sin. And therefore, anything that can make you drunk should be taken in moderation. And I hope it's obvious that drunkenness is a state of intoxication that is sinful because of all the aforementioned reasons. It is the word that we use for intoxication by means of alcoholic drinks, but there's a variety of other ways to be intoxicated. This text then has application to all the ways that we might be intoxicated. through drugs like cocaine, heroin, LSD, meth, and, yes, marijuana. All of these substances and many more can have the same effect on the mind and body that wine has. And many of them can have far more severe effects. You know what the root word for drunkenness is? Meth. The verb get drunk in Ephesians 5.18 is methusko. And the word for drunkenness is methe. We have to think in terms of why. Why does the Bible prohibit drunkenness? And the reasons that have been given that you find in the Bible are the same reasons, then, that you should avoid stimulating yourself with other drugs. It's dissipation. It's debauchery. It's escapism. It's a fantasy world. And it's self-destructive. And I think this is a word in season in our country right now as it glamorizes marijuana and legalizes it state by state. And many professing Christians have bought into the lie regarding that. Libertarians and others are always making false equivalency arguments between alcohol and marijuana. We should legalize marijuana for the same reason that alcohol is legal. But this one consideration in our text should put that to rest. Namely, people can and do drink alcoholic drinks, wine, beer, et cetera, for purposes other than getting drunk. Maybe they like the taste of it and drink it for the same reason people drink soda, or tea, or milk, or whatever. But how many people smoke marijuana in moderation? What reason do people smoke it other than to get high? And if drunkenness is wrong, so is getting high. Why do people snort cocaine? Why do they take heroin or meth or any other recreational drug so-called? Because they want to be intoxicated. That's the only reason. So if you're looking for a biblical basis for the prohibition of drugs like marijuana, this is it. Intoxication is sin. And there's no other reason why people take these drugs except intoxication. Yes, I am aware of the Trojan horse argument for medical marijuana. That is the biggest sham sales job I have ever seen. And that has been well documented, that the push the lobby, it's a lobbying effort to get states to legalize marijuana and they get it in the door through medical marijuana because the purpose is recreational marijuana. And people will buy the medical marijuana argument. But if it's pain relief you need, there's plenty of options out there besides marijuana. Marijuana is sold to the public as good medicine so that states legalize it. The purpose then quickly becomes apparent. It's a moneymaker, multi-billion dollar industry, and people get it to get high. With respect to wine, wine is not the problem. Excess is. Drunkenness is gluttony. It's gluttony of wine or beer or strong drink. Wine is good, like food is good. but gluttony of food is bad. Honey is good, but gluttony of honey is bad. Proverbs 24, 13, my son, eat honey, for it is good. And I would like to think that justifies ice cream as well. My son, eat honey, for that is good. There's a verse for memorization. Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Proverbs 25.16, have you found honey? Eat only what you need, that you not have it in excess, and vomit it. You see the principle of moderation there. There's no verse that says all things in moderation, but there are verses which teach that principle. Proverbs 25.27, it is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glory to search out one's own glory. Some people misguided have supposed that prohibition of alcohol is the answer. Our country experimented with that. If we ban anything that has alcohol in it, then the problems associated with drunkenness will be solved. But that experiment in our country did not solve the problem of drunkenness, did it? And more importantly, God did not ban alcohol in the Old Testament law. God established a legal code and a body of legislation, and he did not ban alcohol in that legislation. Did God know that men would get drunk by drinking wine to excess? I think he did. He warned us about it in the Bible, about drinking it to excess and about drunkenness. And he made wine anyway. Wine is actually described multiple places as a blessing in scripture, and not infrequently. In a section in Deuteronomy 14, where God gives instructions on bringing the tithe, says if it's too far away, then you can sell things to get money, and then when you arrive at the place of God's appointed place of worship, You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, for sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires. And there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household." So it's presenting a picture of someone could buy wine or strong drink and drink that in the presence of the Lord in a way of thanksgiving. In Psalm 104, 14-15, it says, He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine, which makes man's heart glad, so that he may make his face glisten with oil, and food, which sustains man's heart. Proverbs 3, 9 through 10 says, honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. It's a blessing. It's used metaphorically for spiritual blessing. Proverbs 9, 1 through 6, good things of wisdom are described as food and wine. Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn out her seven pillars. She has prepared her food. She has mixed her wine. She also has set her table. She has sent out her maidens. She calls from the tops of the heights of the city. Whoever is naive, let him turn in here. To him who lacks understanding, she says, come, eat of my food and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake your folly and live and proceed in the way of understanding. When God is describing the blessedness of the new heavens and the new earth to come in Isaiah 25, 6 through 8, he says, the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all the peoples on this mountain, a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined aged wine. And on this mountain, he will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces and he will remove the reproach of his people from all the earth for the Lord has spoken. In Isaiah 55, 1 through 2, gospel blessings are described as wine and milk. Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what do not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in abundance. And one more, Joel 3, 17 through 18. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will pass through it no more. And in that day, the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will go out from the house of the Lord to water the valley of Shittim. Many people view anything alcoholic as if it were the equivalent of poison, as though it should have skull and crossbones on it. But how could that be God's view if he's constantly using wine as a metaphor for spiritual blessing? As if God was saying, come, buy poison and milk without money and without cost. Surely that's not what he meant when he said, come buy wine and milk. At the wedding of Cana, of course, Jesus turned the water into wine, quite a lot of it, actually, 120 to 180 gallons of wine. I don't think he would have done that if it was a sin to drink wine. Jesus himself drank wine. The Pharisees accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard, which was pure slander. But it's unlikely they would have called him that if he was a teetotaler. It's very obvious that wine was used in the Passover and also in the Lord's Supper, and there are even apparent medical benefits to it. 1 Timothy 5.23, Paul tells Timothy, no longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. Wine was created by God. and is therefore good. It's one of his blessings. And so consequently, 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 5 is pertinent. There we are warned, the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, Men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." So, let's consider some objections. Some may object to that text in particular and say, it says God created all foods, not all drinks. I'll answer, in a passage in which God is warning us about those who demonically advocate for abstinence from foods that God has created for us to enjoy, are we really stretching it to think that the drinks are also implied in the issue of food? Isn't the point of the text, is that it is dangerous to teach men that they ought to abstain from the good things God has created. And aren't the scriptures I've just read sufficient to show that God created wine as well as water and milk and all foods? Second objection, well, God didn't create wine. He created grapes. OK. Well, then God didn't create bread either. He created grain. And yet he is over and over credited with giving men bread. The fact that men are involved in the processing of certain foods or drinks doesn't negate God's claim to be the author of those things and the giver of it. God created grapes and all fruit with a fermentation mechanism that would happen as the fruit ages. And he created it so that when that fermentation process was accomplished, He would have an alcoholic drink. And the alcohol preserves the drink from spoiling. But that same alcohol will induce drunkenness in those who reject self-control. God made it that way. Another objection. Well, it's different today. We have problems with drunkenness that Old Testament Israel didn't have. Answer, wrong. Remember the verses that I read about the sin of drunkenness at the first part of the sermon. Drunkenness was not invented by America. It was a problem then. It's a problem now. And God didn't ban wine or other strong drinks to solve the sin of drunkenness. God also doesn't ban food to solve the problem of gluttony, which is a major problem today as well. He doesn't ban work to solve the problem of workaholics. He doesn't ban rest to solve the problem of laziness. Rather, what God does is he gives good gifts to men, which they abuse. He commands self-control and moderation, which men ignore to their peril. And by the way, this also answers the objection that some have made that God is OK with new wine which they say is just grape juice, it's not something that you can get drunk on. But that cannot be sustained. In Acts 2, when the disciples spoke in tongues, people accused them of being drunk on new wine or sweet wine. Obviously, they thought you could get drunk on new wine. Isaiah 49, 26 also connects drunkenness or the possibility of it with new wine. Another objection, well, I just don't think we need to drink alcohol. It's not necessary, it's dangerous, and so why take the risk? Answer, that's correct. That's just fine. You're right, we don't need to drink alcohol. We don't need to drink tea or coffee or soda or lemonade to survive. We don't need to drink any of those things. There is no moral obligation to drink an alcoholic drink. You're not doing anything wrong if you abstain. If you feel that it's risky personally, a temptation or whatever, you don't have to. Just don't make a rule for others where God has not made such a rule. What about wine and communion? Well, I don't have any problem with wine and communion. Jesus and the disciples drank wine at the first communion and in Passover as well. But on the other hand, I see no necessity in using it. The point is the fruit of the vine, not whether it's alcoholic or not. And since many churches have Christians who prefer to abstain from wine, I see no need to start an unnecessary controversy. We have enough as it is, don't we? Or to cause unnecessary stumbling blocks. What about abstaining from alcohol so as not to be a stumbling block to those who think it's wrong? Answer, it is good to love your neighbor as yourself and to treat your neighbor with respect and to take care so as not to put any stumbling blocks before his way. And if drinking of wine in the presence of someone who feels that it is a doubtful experience, to do that is inconsiderate. In Romans 14, Paul deals with the example of eating meat, which might be sacrifice to idols, and some were worrying about the possibility that it might be, and therefore believe that you just shouldn't eat meat at all, you should just be a vegetarian. And he brings up the example of drinking wine in the same context. And he says, starting in verse 13, let us therefore not judge one another anymore, But rather determine this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean. but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself and what he approves." So we have a liberty to take something, but if we're in the presence of others who stumble over that, whose conscience doubts the lawfulness of it, we are better to love our neighbor and keep our liberty to ourselves in private, not in their presence. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. While the ungodly fill themselves with wine, the godlier to be filled with the Spirit. When the ungodly become filled, with wine and inebriated, they run their mouths in vile speech, in lewdness, in blasphemy, and in singing godless, contemptible songs. Yet when Christians are filled with the Spirit, their mouths become instruments of righteousness and praise, and they speak to one another out of that filling in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and they give thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father." Albert Barnes makes this comment on the passage, a danger, referring to drunkenness, a danger to which they were exposed and a vice to which those around them were much addicted. It is not improbable that in this verse there is an allusion to the orgies of Bacchus or to the festivals celebrated in honor of that pagan god. He was the god of wine and during those festivals men and women regarded it as an acceptable act of worship to become intoxicated and with wild songs and cries to run through the streets and fields and vineyards. To these things, the apostle opposes. In opposition to that, he suggests psalms and hymns and spiritual songs as much more appropriate modes of devotion and would have the Christian worship stand out in strong contrast with the wild and dissolute habits of the pagan. Plato says that while those abominable ceremonies and the worship of Bacchus continued, it was difficult to find in all Attica a single sober man. We'll come back to this text next week, Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, and look at the controversial question of whether these are three different kinds of songs or are they three different headings for psalms. We'll consider the regulative principle of worship and the position that is held by some of our friends that psalms are the only appropriate music to be sung in church and that without instruments. We'll consider the issue of instruments, we'll address the broad range of questions that come up when trying to work out a theology of music and worship. But I want to close today's sermon with a consideration of this phrase, be filled with the Spirit. Can you be filled with the Spirit after you've already been filled with the Spirit at your regeneration, your rebirth? Part of the difficulty in answering this question is the debate and controversy with charismatics. Charismatics believe that we should be speaking in tongues. And since they think that speaking in tongues is something that happens after you are filled with the spirit, they argue that we should be constantly seeking to be filled with the spirit so that we can speak in tongues. And you see the connection in a number of places. Acts 2, 4, which is the Pentecost there, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. In Acts 10, when Peter is speaking to Cornelius and his household, the Spirit fell on them and they spoke in tongues. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God." It doesn't say they were filled, but similar, the Holy Spirit fell on them. And in Acts 19, 1 through 6, it happened while Paulus was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. He said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him, no, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said, into what then were you baptized? And they said, into John's baptism. Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who was coming after them, that is, in Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. So the issue is that charismatics view these passages as normative for the Christian experience and throughout the Christian age, not as something unique to the establishment of the church and the foundation-laying stage of the church. Therefore, their expectation is that these things will happen over and over again. They're looking for a second blessing experience, which they call the baptism of the Holy Spirit, upon which one would then begin to speak in tongues. Cessationists argue that such things are not normative, but are unique to that foundation-laying period of the Church, and that is also my belief. But just because I'm a cessationist doesn't mean that I think you can't be filled with the Spirit after your conversion. There are three scriptures which talk about believers being filled with the Holy Spirit and then prophesying upon that filling. One is the case of Elizabeth in Luke 1.41 and following. The second is Elizabeth's husband Zacharias in Luke 1.67 and following. And the third is Acts 2, which is that Pentecost passage which I just referenced. And in each case, here we have people who are already believers being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, some would argue and say, that's pre-Pentecost. And in the third instance, Pentecost itself, you can't argue for an ongoing experience of being filled with the Spirit after Pentecost. It was sort of a one-time deal. Well, what about Acts 4, 7 through 12? Peter had already been filled with the Spirit in Acts 2. But in Acts 4, 7 and following, we read, when they had placed them in the center, Peter and the apostles, this is the religious leaders interrogating them, placing them in the center, they began to inquire, by what power or in what name have you done this? That is, heal the lame man. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands here before you in good health. Now that's not irrefutable. You could argue that Peter was just still filled with the Spirit from Acts 2. Possibly. I don't think so. I'm not sure why that would be reiterated right here, if that was the case. But the clincher for me is Acts 4.31, just a little further down. The religious leaders had threatened Peter and the others. They told them, stop speaking in the name of Christ. Stop teaching people about the resurrection. But they gathered together with the other disciples and had a prayer meeting. They committed this matter to prayer. They asked the Lord for boldness to speak his word. And in verse 31 it says, and when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. Presumably these are people who already had the Holy Spirit, people who were already believers, and it's post-Pentecost. And yet they were filled with the Holy Spirit in answer to their prayer to be able to speak the word of God boldly. So let me ask you this, is there ever anything that you need from God after your salvation? Or did you just get everything you need there and it just came in one lump package and after that there's just no more real need for prayer, no more need for new supplies, no more instances in which you say, help me Lord, because you received everything at the moment of your conversion. Such as boldness to speak the word. Courage to do the difficult thing that you need to do. Help forgiving someone for an awful thing that they did to you. Love for someone you find unlovable. Patience. Joy. Any number of things. Those things come from the Spirit of God. You cannot separate the fruit of the Spirit from the Spirit. You can't separate the gifts of the Spirit from the Spirit. There's no way to get what you need from the Lord to walk this difficult Christian life in this world, going upstream as it is, without continuous fresh supplies from God. And those are connected with the Spirit of God. You may not be realizing that you're asking for the Spirit when you ask for those things, but you are. And when you are given what you need, an extraordinary measure, it is called being filled with all the Spirit. Others may not see the need to be filled with the Spirit anew, but I certainly do, and I pray for it. Let's close in a word of prayer. Father, we need you. We are weak and needy children and we look up with our eyes on you and our hands open and we Know that all good things, Lord, come from you, and they are not distinct, separate things from you. They are connected with your Spirit. When you want to bless us and give us any good thing, you do it through the Holy Spirit. So we pray, Lord, that you would fill us. We need to be filled up. We need you in a thousand ways. Now we pray that you would help us to walk in a manner worthy of you, to walk as children of light, as wise, not as fools, sober, and not drunk. In Jesus' name we pray.