I. Time Of The Early Rain Acts 6:1-7 In Palestine, the early rain came just before seeding time.  A. A need became apparent. The widows were not being taken care of.  B. Distribution of responsibilities. Apostles and deacons had different areas of responsibility. II. Essential Qualities Acts 6:3  A. Of honest report - daily lives should testify of this.   1. Religion should be practical. "True religion is observed always in our words and deportment and in every act of our lives." T4:190.

  2. Ellen White - she helped widows and orphans - giving them clothes etc. She made new clothes and give them to widows - keeping the old clothes for herself.
  3. What is the opinion that others have of you?
  4. "The religion of Christ, exemplified in the daily lives of His followers will exercise 10 times more influence than the most eloquent sermons." T4:547.

 B. Full of the Holy Spirit.
  1. Many speak of the descent of the Holy Spirit as a future event. "The promise of the Holy Spirit is not limited to any age or race. Christ declared that the divine influence of the Spirit was to accompany His followers until the end. From the day of Pentecost until now, the Comforter has been sent to those who have given themselves completely to the Lord and His service." AA:49.
  2. "If all would submit, all would be filled with the Spirit." COL:419.
  3. "In the great gift of the Holy Spirit, which cannot be measured, are contained all the resources of heaven." COL:419.
  4. We can be filled with the Spirit as were the disciples in the first century.
   a. "There are many who profess to believe and claim the promises of the Lord; they talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit, but they don't receive any benefit because they haven't surrendered their souls to the guidance of divine agents." OE:302.
   b. "We can't employ the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is to employ us. But many don't want to be guided. They want to guide themselves. This is the reason they don't receive the heavenly gift." OE:302.
Many want to "employ" the Holy Spirit. You see it on TV where they command the Holy Spirit to do something.

 C. "And Wisdom"
  1. Christ is the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:30; Proverbs 8
  2. "The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ." OE:302.
What a change would come about us and our church if we were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let me give you an illustration. In my hand is a glass filled with water. I decide I want milk. Can I put milk in it? No. It is already full of water. If I pour out half of the water and put milk in it, it will not taste right. It is diluted. In need to empty the glass first, then it can be filled with milk.
  .3 "If we would humble ourselves before God, and were kind and courteous and tender-hearted and pitiful, there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where there is now only one." T9:189.
"But, though professing to be converted, we carry around with us a bundle of self that we regard as all too precious to be given up." T9:189.
  .4. "When one has been completely emptied of self, the vacuum is filled with the Holy Spirit." GW:304.

III. The Result!

 A. Acts 7:55; Acts 6:15.
Stephen was emptied of self. He was full of the Holy Spirit. When people looked at him they thought they were looking at an angel.
 B. Do you want to be filled with the Spirit? Remember that you must be emptied of self.
 C. Remember the soft rains often repeated are those that water effectively.
  1. Puerto Rico - There is a pronounced wet and dry season. If you get off the plane you can tell immediately which season it is. It is either green and lush, or dry and dead.
As we yield up our lives to God, the Holy Spirit will fill us.