Zechariah was filled with the Spirit after silent humble Bible study and prayer for over nine months. Every prophesy comes from the Holy Spirit. Peter wrote, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Tozer wrote, “Most Christians are not joyful persons because they are not holy persons, and they are not holy persons because they are not filled with the Holy Spirit, and they are not filled with the Holy Spirit because they are not separated persons. The Spirit cannot fill whom He cannot separate, and whom He cannot fill, He cannot make holy, and whom He cannot make holy, He cannot make happy! (The Tozer Quotable II: More Wise Words with a Prophetic Edge)
J. Vernin McGee wrote, “The filling of the Holy Spirit is for service. The experience of the Day of Pentecost (and after) came from the filling of the Holy Spirit (not the baptism of the Holy Spirit). It is still the same today. The filling of the Holy Spirit is for service. This is the only work of the Holy Spirit that we are to do anything about-we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18).
Notice that before Pentecost, the believers wanted this filling of the Spirit. “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…” (Acts 1:14). What would their supplication be about? About the promise of the Lord Jesus that He would send His Holy Spirit to them.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a command given to us. It is not an experience. It is an act of God whereby the believer in Jesus Christ is indwelt by the Spirit of God, sealed unto the day of redemption, and placed into the church, the body of Christ, by the baptism of the Spirit. The filling of the Spirit of God is the ennoblement for service. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. (End of Venin’s quote.)
