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In Acts chapter 1, he starts out by saying, the former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. So the book here is made out to a man named Theophilus, same as the book of Luke. I'm not going to turn there for sake of time, but right at the beginning of Luke, he basically spells out that he's writing the book of Luke to a specific man named Theophilus. This is basically a follow-up to the book of Luke. It's also written by Luke, who refers to himself in the first person toward the end of the book, in chapters 25, 26, 27, around that area. He starts saying, I this, and we this, because that's where he comes into the story. But Acts basically picks up where the four gospels leave off, where Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John leave off. Acts continues the story. It says, the former treatise have I made, talking about the book of Luke, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up, after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. I like what it says there at the end of verse one. Of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, and this should be a pattern for our lives and a motto for our lives, that we would both do and teach. Those who teach and do not do are hypocrites. The Bible said that the Pharisees were hypocrites because they say and do not. Those who do and don't teach, well, maybe they're not a hypocrite, but they're failing the next generation. They're failing others. There are many who live a godly and righteous life, but they fail to teach that to others. They fail to open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Many are saved, but they don't tell anybody else how to be saved. Many live a godly life, but then they don't train their children to live godly lives. You see so many parents that are living for God, that serve God, that win souls to Christ, that read the Bible, but the children grow up and have no interest because they haven't been taught, they haven't been trained, they haven't been guided. And there are many pastors, unfortunately, who do, but they don't teach. If you talk to them in private, they believe all the right things. If you look at their lifestyle, they're living the right life, but they don't get up behind the pulpit and teach what we ought to be doing. You know, they teach very little. They teach a watered down message. Their life is right, they're living the life. We ought to both walk the walk and talk the talk. Both are important. We need to both do and teach in our lives. You should do the right things and you should also be teaching others to do the right things. And that's what Jesus did. He both did and taught. It says in verse two, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments of the apostles whom he had chosen, verse three, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many, and what's the next word? Infallible. Infallible proofs. Now, infallible means that it cannot be denied, it cannot be disproved. He said he showed himself alive by many infallible proofs. Now, he did not show himself to all the people. Later on, we'll see this in the book of Acts. He only showed himself to the apostles whom he had chosen. Why? Because of the fact, in order to be saved, you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't always show everyone every miracle. He didn't always show everyone everything because he wanted them to have faith in his word. You notice that there are places in the gospels where he went to a certain town and it says he didn't really do many miracles there because of their unbelief. It's those who already believe on Jesus Christ because we usually get to see the most miracles. And he showed himself alive to the apostles whom he had chosen. He showed himself alive to above 500 brethren at once. So he showed himself to those that were already saved. And then the rest had to believe that he rose from the dead. And so obviously he did a lot of miracles in front of unsaved people, but he did the majority of his miracles in front of those who believed on him because he requires faith without evidence because the Bible says faith is the evidence. And so he showed himself alive by many infallible proofs being seen of them, talk about the apostles, 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Now it says that he was seen of them 40 days. Now of course, Jesus died on the cross at the time of the Passover, okay? Basically three days and three nights. He was in the heart of the earth. He rose again from the dead. If you add 40 days to that, you have 43 days. Well, that would leave about a week from the time that Jesus ascended up to heaven to the time of the day of Pentecost because Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover, okay? That's why it's called Pentecost, but the root word pentade there means 50. And so basically he's with them 40 days before this ascension that we're about to read at, read about in chapter one here of Acts. It says in verse four, He assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, he have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. Jump down to verse eight. It says, but ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Let me show you why this is important. Keep your finger here. Just go back one or two pages to John 20. You're in Acts one, just a couple of pages to John 20. You see, he's telling them to wait in Jerusalem until they be a dude with power from on high, he said another place. Wait for the promise of the Father. John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. Now look what's interesting here. It says in John 20, verse 22, And when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Go back to John seven. Keep your finger there in John 20. Go back to John seven. So in John 20, we saw the disciples in the upper room with Jesus, after he had risen from the dead, and he breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. So they were already indwelt by the Holy Spirit at that point. In John 20, they received the indwelt of the Holy Spirit. Let me prove that to you further by going to John chapter seven. In John chapter seven, he refers to this in verse number, find my place here, verse number, somebody help me out. 39. 39, thank you. It says in, well let's look at verse 38. He that believeth on me, and goes to church, and lives a good life, and gets baptized, no. It said he that believeth on me, as the scripture had said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spakey of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, why? Because that Jesus was not yet glorified. Now in John 20, Jesus had been glorified. He had been risen from the dead, he appeared unto them in his glorified state, and he said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. But there was still something that they were waiting for in Acts chapter one, wasn't there? Something different than the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. What did John seven say was the prerequisite for having the Holy Ghost in sight? Believing on him, right? He said if you believe on him, you'll receive the Holy Ghost. And that's when he breathed on them, and said receive ye the Holy Ghost. It says in other places throughout the New Testament, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. Christ in you, the hope of glory, were sealed with the Holy Spirit on the day of redemption. John 14 says, it's expedient to you that I should go away. He said, I'm gonna go away, but I'll send the comforter to be with you, and he will aid the Spirit of truth, will guide you into all truth. But in Acts chapter one, something different here. When he says, John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. This is at the day of Pentecost, where they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, okay? And you say, what is that? Well, look if you would at Acts chapter two. We'll jump forward a little bit here. It says in verse one, and 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 tongues, like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them unto us. So here we see the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What does baptism mean? Immersion, okay? Now, at this point in Acts chapter two, notice that it filled all the house where they were sitting, and notice that they had cloven tongues of fire sitting and resting upon them. This was their baptism of the Holy Ghost and a fire, okay? Look at Acts 4, 31, just a few pages to the right, because this happens throughout the book of Acts. Look at Acts chapter four and verse number 31. It says, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spayed the word of God with boldness. Now look, these are the same people. Same people in Acts four, same people in Acts six. This wasn't a one-time thing. This is the Spirit of the Lord coming upon them in great power, all throughout the Old Testament. You have the Holy Spirit coming upon men like Saul, Samson, Oded the prophet, King David. All these men of God in the Old Testament had the Holy Spirit come upon them. They would allow them to preach with boldness. They would allow them to be a mighty warrior for God, and we see it over and over again. That was not replaced in the New Testament with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is something that is added in the New Testament after Jesus was glorified. Basically, he left behind the Spirit of truth to indwell and to live inside the believers, but there is still the concept in the New Testament that we see in the Old Testament of the fullness of the Spirit, or having the Holy Spirit resting upon you in mighty power. That's what we see in Acts chapter one. That's what they were waiting for. The power of God through the Holy Spirit that they might preach the word of God with boldness. God also performed a miracle in Acts chapter two where they were able to speak foreign languages that they didn't know to people from all over the world that needed to hear the gospel who didn't speak their language, and so God did a miracle with that, and he basically baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now, a lot of people will teach this doctrine. You know, the moment you get saved, you know, you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. Is that true? Is that a scriptural concept? No. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was this event that took place in Acts chapter two. Okay, this is the Holy Ghost upon you in mighty power. This is not just the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the moment that you got saved. Two different things. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent. Okay, if Christ is not in you, he said if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he's none of his. He said if you believe on him, you've got the Holy Spirit living inside you. That's a permanent thing. That's an unconditional thing to all believers, but the Holy Ghost upon you is based upon, you know, a lot of different other elements. They prayed, they fasted, they were reading the Bible, they did all these things, and you know, that's a whole other sermon of itself that I've preached many times. But that's what they're waiting for in Acts chapter one, not the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And people have tried to teach them throughout the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit was given in phases. Now, once Jesus was glorified, once he said, received the Holy Ghost, from that point on, every believer was indwelled by the Holy Spirit from that point on. This in Acts two is something different. This is the power of God that was temporary, that they had to pray again in Acts chapter four to have the power of God again. And so don't mix up those two things, two very different things. And it's very easy to see when you read John 20 and then two chapters later, Acts one, you can see they're waiting for something different, something other than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But look, you know, and this has nothing to do with tongue talking or rolling in the aisles and barking like a dog and all this garbage that goes on in the charismatic movement. We were out soul winning the other day and this guy's trying to tell us that he believes it's speaking in tongues, he's telling us about his charismatic experiences. And I told the guy, I said, well, I've never met anybody ever who believed in so-called Pentecostal tongue speaking who was even, who was saved, because they all believed that you could lose your salvation. They all thought it was by works. And this guy said, well, you've met one now, because he said, I believe you cannot lose your salvation and I believe it's all through faith. Of course, a couple minutes later, he told us that he did not believe hell existed and that a loving God would not send anyone to hell. So, you know, basically, my record is still unbroken. I've never met a saved person who believes in tongue talking. This guy, yeah, he had eternal security, right? But he doesn't even believe in heaven and hell, okay? So there you go. And so that should right there just prove to you that all this phony Pentecostal tongue speaking is not real because everybody who believes in it isn't saved. And everybody you've ever met in your life who is saved doesn't believe in it. Let me think, see what I mean? The Holy Spirit power, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost upon you is for the purpose of preaching the word of God and getting people saved. That's what it was for in Acts 2. That's what it resulted in in Acts 4. That's what it was in Acts chapter 10. That's what it always is. It's not some kind of a freak show of snake handling and rolling in the aisles that we see across America today the so-called charismatic movement. But look if you would at verse number six. It says, when they therefore were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own power. Now let me stop and explain this here. The disciples here are a little bit mixed up, okay? They basically are assuming that now that Jesus has risen from the dead, he's gonna set up his earthly kingdom right then and there, okay? Now a lot of people are mixed up on this subject, so we're gonna quickly go to Galatians chapter four. There's more that I wanna get into, but I just have to touch on this. In Galatians chapter four, he explains the difference in chapters three and four, the difference between physical Israel and spiritual Israel, okay? Physical Israel will be defined as those who are the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, right? That will be the physical seed of Abraham, his children. Spiritual Israel are those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore have been grafted in the wild branches into the olive tree, and he explains in Galatians three, you can just glance at it if you like, it says in verse 29 of Galatians three, if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So you will inherit the promises of Abraham if you are in Christ, that's what it says. A little bit further up, it says that the blessings of Abraham, let me find my place, if the blessings of Abraham might come, verse 14, on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith, but look at Galatians chapter four. In Galatians four, he's explaining the difference between the one who's born out of the flesh, the physical Jew, and the spiritual Jew, the one who's born again, the one who's a child of God. It says in verse number 22, for it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by Abbot made, the other by a free woman, but he who was of the free woman was born out of the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise, which things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gendered the bondage, which is Agar, for this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and what do the next words say? And answer it to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children. So we see here that the physical seed of Abraham, that's represented by Jerusalem, which now is, okay, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. And then he says in verse number 28, now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. Who is he talking to, Jews or Gentiles? Galatians, they're Gentiles. He's talking to the Gentiles, I mean, Galatians is written to Gentile believers. And he says, we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born out of the flesh persecuted him that was born out of the spirit, even so it is now. Who persecuted the believers all throughout the book of Acts? One group, the Jews. That's the only person that's ever recorded in the book of Acts as persecuting believers as the Jews. And anyone else who he talks about, like when the Ephesians persecuted him, it was because it says the Jews came and stirred up the Ephesians against them. And that's why they persecuted them. It says in 1 Thessalonians 2, when you, brethren, he said, you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have with the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and persecuted us, and on and on. I mean, we see over and over that the physical seed of Abraham persecutes the spiritual seed. That's what's going on all throughout the book of Acts. That was the Pharisees and the Sadducees persecuting Jesus and his disciples also. Continues all through the book of Acts. But watch what he says here. Verse 29, but as then he that was born out of the flesh persecuted him that was born out of the spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the scripture? Cast out the bond woman and her son, for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free. But what about the physical seed of Abraham who doesn't believe on Jesus Christ? Are they the son of the bond woman or the son of the free? They're the son of the bond woman. Are they having God's blessing resting upon them? Oh, he'll bless us if we bless them, and he'll curse us if we curse them. They are under the wrath of God. That's what the Bible says. He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 2 of the Jews that the wrath has come upon them to the edibles. And so they're not under God's blessing. They're under his wrath. So let me ask this. Will they inherit the kingdom of God someday with the believers? Will it be like the believers and the Jews and we'll all inherit? No. The children of the free woman will not inherit with the children of the bond woman. He said no, the children of the bond woman will be what? Cast out. Does that remind you of a verse when Jesus Christ was preaching, and he said, I say unto you that many shall come from east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom, talking about the kingdom of Israel, shall be cast out into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. He said right there, he said you're gonna weep, in another place, I believe in the book of Luke, it says it this way, you will weep. He said when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when you see all these people coming and sitting down with them from all over the world, and you yourselves cast out, he said you'll weep. And there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, my friend. And many today think that the coming kingdom of Christ is some kind of a Jewish kingdom, it's not. It's a kingdom of believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. Will it include Jews? Sure, if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, period. And it won't include them because they're Jews, it'll include them because they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they be Jew or Gentile, whether they be bond of free. And so that's clear. Galatians four, the children, he said, the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free one. They will not inherit with the believers. Only the believers will inherit the kingdom of God, according to the Bible. Only Christians, and the only Jew that will be there is a Jew who is converted to Christianity, period. End of story. And back to Acts chapter one. So they say when they therefore come together, they ask them saying, Lord, without this time, restore again, the kingdom to Israel. Will there ever be a kingdom in Israel? Sure there will, but it'll be of believers in Jesus Christ. It won't be the courage, it'll be the new Jerusalem. It'll be the heavenly Jerusalem. It'll be a Jerusalem where Jesus Christ rules the range with those who believe on him, period. And so that's what I was talking about there. They're a little mixed up. Did they fully realize that at that point? They probably didn't fully realize yet that Israel was gonna completely reject Christ. Because they knew that they rejected him so far, okay? They knew that they hung him on the cross and said crucify him. But if you notice in the early part of the book of Acts, they're still constantly trying to win the Jews to Christ. They're constantly trying to give him the gospel, which is great. But as you go into the book of Acts, pretty soon they start shaking the dust off their feet saying we're going to the Gentiles. You know, you have counted yourselves unworthy of the kingdom of God. He said we have to bring it to you first, but we've done that and you're rejecting it, we're going to the Gentiles. They probably expected more Jews to be saved than what actually got saved. And so they're thinking, oh great, the whole nation of Israel's gonna turn to God and we're gonna restore the kingdom to Israel. But he said unto them, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father had put in his own power, but he shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon him. You can talk about that. And he shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and in Samaria and under the uttermost part of the earth. Now Matthew chapter 10 when Jesus Christ sent out his disciples two by two to preach the gospel, he said go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of Samaria enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and as you go preach saying the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus said in Matthew 10 that they should just go to the Jews, just go to Israel. And that's what they did for three and a half years. They preached to all of the villages and towns of Jerusalem, Judea, all the different parts of the world where the Jews lived there. But now he's changing that and saying now I want you to be witnesses of me, both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and under the uttermost part of the earth. But he said wait in Jerusalem until you be a dude with power from on high. Then you're gonna go out and reach basically the world, go out to the uttermost part of the earth. He says in verse nine, when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, which means while they looked on, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him going at. So here they are, they're standing there with Jesus. He's preaching that, he's giving them these final words of being witnesses all over the world. And while they beheld, as soon as he spoke of these things, he basically begins to ascend up into heaven. And as he's ascending up into heaven, obviously they start to look up, because they're kind of following him with their eyes and they just keep watching, he keeps getting smaller and smaller and they're just looking up and just staring straight up. Well, they don't even notice that these two other guys walk up in white apparel, because they're just looking up like that. Well, the two guys walk up and they say, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? Well, you know, what are you doing? They say, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him going to heaven. Because it says in verse nine at the end there, what does it say? A cloud received him out of their sight. But they keep staring, so he goes up and then pretty soon he's gone, but they're just like, you know, is he gonna come back? No, he's not coming back that soon, you know what I mean? They have a little bit of time, like where we are 2,000 years later, you know? But anyway, here's the thing. He said he shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven. So, he's coming back the same way that he left. Isn't that what it says? Like, in like manner as you saw him leave, that's how he's gonna come back. Now, he has not come back yet, has he? Look at 1 Thessalonians 4, keep your finger here in Acts chapter one. It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter four, this pretty famous passage about the second coming of Christ. And it's funny because so many people all the time, probably not a week goes by that somebody doesn't say to me, now 1 Thessalonians 4 is not the second coming. Don't confuse the rapture and the second coming. You know, literally, I don't think a week in my life goes by that somebody doesn't say it. Now, let me just help you with that real quick. Look at verse 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, all right? Everybody got that? So, is this the second coming or is this like coming 1.5? I mean, he did come once already, didn't he? So wouldn't that make this the second coming? So it says we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep, meaning go before them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the troubled God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the what? In the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Look at Revelation 1.8, quickly. Revelation chapter one, verse eight. Revelation 1.8. So let's think about some of the things about him leaving. What was a really major thing about when he went up? What was everybody doing? They were all watching, weren't they? Yeah. They watched him until he disappeared into a what? A cloud. A cloud, right? Well, look at Revelation 1.8. I'm sorry, verse seven. Behold, he cometh with what? Clouds. Do you have to keep mentioning that? I mentioned in 1 Thessalonians four. Behold, he cometh with clouds, but it's going to be a secret. Only Christians will see him. Is that what it says? No. It will happen at twinkle of an eye. So she's going to be like, pew. She's going to be gone. Now is that what it says? No, it says, behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him. Pastor Anderson, right here, this is every saved person. Okay? You know, when it says every eye, it means every eye of those who are. Okay, well, it says, every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall lail because of him. Even so, amen. So, is everybody going to be happy when they see him coming with clouds? It says all kindreds will wail because, and that is not a good sound. Somebody, can you please demonstrate a wail? But anyway, you know, wailing, that's like wailing and gnashing of teeth. That's why it says in Matthew 24, he'll come in the clouds of power. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. You know, they're going to be wailing. They're going to be weeping. But they say, no, no, no, it's a secret. You know, it's just, he's going to come in the clouds, but he's only going to come for a twinkling of an eye. No, we'll be changed in a twinkling of an eye. That's what it actually says. The change in us will take place in a twinkling of an eye. Just like salvation when we got saved, it took place in a twinkling of an eye. The resurrection will take place in a twinkling of an eye, but Jesus Christ will be coming in the clouds and every eye shall see him. And you know, of course, those who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture, they have like five raptures, the sun and moon are darkened three times, you know. There's, you know, what I don't even want to go into. It makes me mad, but it's a false doctrine. But go back to Acts one. So we see here when they look up and they see Jesus going up into the clouds, okay, they basically say to him, well, that's how he's going to come back in the same way. You know, you'll be able to see him not going up into the clouds, but they'll see him coming down into the clouds. And then we'll be caught up together with him in the clouds and then he'll take us on to heaven and we shall ever be with the Lord. You know, and then after he's done pouring out his wrath on this earth, then he'll bring us back on white horses and set up his earthly kingdom and so forth. But that's another sermon. So just get from this passage though, the same way he left is the same way he's coming back. That's what he's explaining clearly here. So once they heard that, then they decided to go home. So in verse 12, it says, Then returned they unto Jerusalem, from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were command, they went up into an upper room where abode both Peter and James and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes and Judas the brother of James. So there are 11 apostles mentioned there. Everybody except Judas Iscariot basically is up in this upper room. And it says, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brother. So basically we've got the 11 apostles, right? We've got the women, you know, basically Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, just various women followers of Christ. We've got Mary, the mother of Jesus. And then we've got Jesus' four brothers that are named in Matthew 13. It says, and in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names together were about 120. So basically you've got the 11 apostles, you've got Mary, you've got his four brethren. So that's up to what, 16 people? And then there are women and then just other disciples of the Lord. I mean, just other believers in Christ. How many people were there assembled with them? 120. These are the same 120 people that in verse number one of chapter two it says, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. The they is referring to that group from Acts chapter one. When the whole group assembled together and there were 120 people in that early church, Peter stood up and said, men and brethren, this scripture must need some bit of a fulfillity, begins to speak to the group. And they have some important business because they want to replace Judas Iscariot so that they will have 12 apostles. So they go through that and that's what we're about to get into. But notice here, notice that there are 120 people. Now, how many people did John the Baptist baptize? Thousands and that, multitudes, multitudes of both the men and women. And then you know who baptized more than John the Baptist? Jesus and his disciples, though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples. Jesus' disciples in John three had already, and that was early in his ministry, because this is before it records the second miracle. Very early in his ministry, Jesus and his disciples had already baptized more than John the Baptist. And it says that John the Baptist then went out to him, all Jerusalem and Judea, I mean, people from the regions beyond Jordan. He said there were multitudes being baptized. Jesus Christ preached to thousands and thousands of people. I mean, there was an innumerable multitude gathered in my belief in Luke chapter 12 when he began to preach. An innumerable multitude. That's a pretty big multitude if it cannot be counted, because the Bible counts other multitudes where he preached unto 5,000, which did not include women and children, just 5,000 men plus women and children. He preached unto thousands and thousands and thousands of people. They went two by two into every town and village and preached the gospel. Got many, many people saved, baptized many, many people. But how many people were in their church three and a half years later that had stayed with it, that had stayed through the hard times and were still with it? 120. And yet, fools will say to you, oh, where are all these people that you went to Christ? I'm sorry that I'm not, you know, you say, well, there's not 120 people in this church. Well, I'm sorry that I'm not John the Baptist and Jesus Christ rolled into one and all the 12 disciples. You know what I mean? And these guys had thousands saved and they had 120 in that church, okay? So you can't just sit there and say, well, everybody who gets saved is gonna get baptized. Everybody who gets baptized is gonna come to church and live with God for the rest of their life. Look, a lot of the people that they preached to got baptized, but then they all stayed in church, then they all stayed with it. When Jesus preached, many people turned back and didn't follow him anymore. And don't tell me that all of them weren't saved. So when Jesus in John 6 is preaching and pretty much everybody walks away except the 12 disciples, they're the only ones who were saved? I don't believe that for one second. That's not true. Because you think that Jesus and his disciples and John the Baptist were just baptizing thousands of unsaved people and they all just turned out to not have been saved. And we get criticized like, oh man, you baptized people that aren't really saved. Well, you think I baptized people that aren't really saved. Look at John the Baptist. The guy baptized everybody, you know, except the Pharisees and Sadducees and then only 120 of them were really saved because they endured to the end. Only 120 saved at this time. See, but you see how foolish this is? It doesn't line up with scripture. It's one thing to be saved by believing in Christ. It's another thing to follow Christ. I mean, Jesus said, you better count the cause before you be my disciple. He said, you're gonna have to forsake everything you have. You're gonna have to give up a lot to be my disciple. And so no, every single person who gets it, I was happy because on Tuesday night, you know, remember I just preached on Sunday night about I was hitting on Mormonism. So last night I was out soul-willing. I got to win a devout Mormon to Christ. You know, and I was really excited about that. This is the most devout Mormon. Because I've won a lot of Jack Mormons. This is the most devout Mormon I've ever won to Christ. And you know, I'd say, man, this is great. And I'd put it on the internet. Hey, you know, praise the Lord, I won this Mormon to Christ, a soul-willing. And some idiot comes on there. Oh, let us know how he liked the Wednesday night service. And these servants sent us pictures of him being baptized this Sunday. Well, I'll have you know, moron, that the Mormon that I won to Christ was an 82-year-old woman who can't leave the house. But you're gonna let her rot in hell because you're too busy criticizing soul-willing. And because you're a Church of Christ pastor, not a Baptist pastor, because you believe that baptism is part of salvation. And you know, all these Baptists, they need to change their sign and put up a sign that says Church of Christ. Because that's what they really believe. Because they literally don't think somebody got saved unless they got baptized. And they say, well, if they didn't get baptized, they're not really saved. They don't come to church. What are you, seven steps to salvation? Are you the Church of Christ? I'm an independent, fundamental Baptist. I believe that salvation is by faith, not of works, thus any man shall bow. And the Bible says, but to him that worketh not. That's right. And by the way, that's a verse that I showed that Mormon lady last night. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justified the ungodly his faith is kind of Christ's. See, I knocked on this lady's door, and the reason she got saved is because I asked her, do you know for sure if you died today, you go to heaven? And she basically said that she didn't know. And she was very, she said, I've actually been really worried about that lately, because she said at many points in my life, I have felt like I was going to heaven, because she said, you know, I felt like I was doing good. I felt like I was, you know, following Christ, but then a lot of other things, I felt like I was not doing well enough. And she said, I really hope I'm going, but she said, I don't know if I've measured up or not. And she said, this actually really been bothering me lately. And I don't know. And so I basically took the Bible and showed her how to be saved. She's 82 years old, she's been a Mormon for 50 years. She joined the Mormon religion in her 30s, and been going, you know, 50 years. Just recently, she hadn't been able to go to church anymore because of health problems that stopped her from being able to go to church. And so basically I was able to open the Bible, as God just worked this out perfectly, to where she was wondering about that, she was worried about that, and he took her out of the Mormon church for a little while because of health, get her out of the brainwashing for a little while, and then I was able to come along just at that right time, right, and open the Bible at 82 years old, show her how to be saved. First, I spent a long time showing her it wasn't of works, because that's a big thing with them. I spent a long time showing her that by faith, I spent a long time showing that you can't lose it, that it's eternal life. And then I went into just the deity of Christ, and I showed her that Mormonism is teaching that there's other gods, and she said she had heard them say that and everything like that, and that she said, yes, they do teach that. There are other planets with other gods and everything. And I went through and showed her all that in the Bible, showed her and showed her and showed her, and at the end of it all, she believed on Christ, she asked Christ to save her, she prayed unto Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, and prayed unto him and asked him to save her. And she thanked me over and over again and said, now I know for sure, now I know I'm going, and was very happy, but ow, if she doesn't get baptized, she's not really, I'm so sick of that garbage. Next time I hear that, I want to throw up. I'm sick of it. You say, oh, I can't believe you'd say that. Well, you know what? I can't believe that someone would actually pretend to be a preacher of the gospel and criticize soul winning. And if you want to criticize soul winning, get out of here. You don't belong in this church. Everybody wants to throw a wet blanket on our soul winning. It's because they don't love people or it's because they're worshiping Satan. They're following Satan, and Satan wants to come in and mess with soul winning. That's what he wants to do. I just met a guy a couple weeks ago who said, oh, I'm a product of door-to-door soul winning. He said, I was a young person, 19 or 20, and somebody came to my door from an independent Baptist church, knocked my door, and led me to Christ. And here I am, now I'm a solar, now I'm a preacher. My parents were one of the Lord by door-to-door soul winners and they wanted me to Christ. Don't tell me that soul winning doesn't work. Get thee behind me, Satan. I'll say to you, like Jesus told Peter, when Peter was saying a bunch of garbage, he said, get behind me, Satan, and get behind me every Satan that wants to say soul winning is phony and soul winning doesn't work. And unless they get baptized and get circumcised and keep the law of Moses, they cannot be saved. You're a liar. There's nothing new under the sun. Back then, they were trying to circumcise them. Now they're trying to baptize them. What next, they'll be tannicizing them. They're gonna try to do something to try to say that it's not just believe on Christ. And you don't have to come to church to be saved. You can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God has raised better, thou shalt be saved, whether you get baptized or not, whether you go to church or not. And hey, I'm all for getting baptized. I've been baptized. I go to church three times a week. I read my Bible every day, but that's not why I'm going to heaven. I'm going to heaven the same reason that that lady's going to heaven, who will probably never set foot in this church, but will see her in heaven, praise God, and if you don't like it, I'll help you find another church by putting a blindfold around your eyes, spinning you around 10 times, and then just shoving you in any direction. You'll bump into one within an hour because there's one in every direction that teaches this kind of garbage. Now back to our regular schedule program. Where are we in the chapters? Men and brethren. Oh man, this is my favorite part. Verse 16, men and brethren, this scripture must need to have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. Now there's a lot in this verse. This verse is packed with doctrine. First of all, I like what he says there. This scripture must need to have been fulfilled. See, every word that God has spoken will surely be fulfilled. It has to be fulfilled. It cannot come back void. I mean, anything God has said will happen. We know that the events in the book of Revelation will happen. It must need to be fulfilled. And that's what this is teaching here. It says, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas. Now this right here tells us where we get the Bible from. We get it from the mouth of God, right? You say, well, man wrote the Bible. Well, David wrote the Bible, right? But David spoke the word. No, it was the Holy Ghost who spoke the word using David's mouth. So when David was speaking God's word, it was actually God who was speaking. Isn't that right? If anyone, it doesn't matter whether it's David or anybody, if anybody is speaking God's word, it's God's people. It's God talking. So he uses human instruments. And in this book right here, if anyone in this congregation came up here and just read the word of God verbatim from the Bible, it would really be God talking to us. Because it's his word. It's not my word. It's not your word. It's his word. It wasn't David's word. It's God's word. And so the Bible says, well spake the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David, another place. But here it says, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. Now what did the Holy Ghost say? It's down in verse number 20. It says, for it is written in the book of Psalms. So what did the Holy Ghost say by the mouth of David? Whatever's written in the book of Psalms. For it is written in the book of Psalms, let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein and his bishopric let another take. Now that's two different quotations. Let's look at them very quickly. Go back to Psalm 69. Psalm 69 is where the first quotation is taken from. And many will attack the book of Psalms and you'll quote things out of the book of Psalms. And you know, Jesus quoted more out of the book of Psalms than anything. He's constantly quoting the book of Psalms. The New Testament quotes the book of Psalms more than any other Old Testament book. So constantly the New Testament is quoting Psalms, quoting Psalms. And yet when you try to show people scriptures from Psalms, they'll say, oh, that's just David talking. Oh, he did a lot of wrong things. I mean, he did commit adultery. So anything that he said, taken with a grain of salt. Now that is false doctrine. David was just a human instrument by which God delivered his word. Just as Moses was his instrument. David said in, I believe Psalm 45, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Basically, God used David's mouth and his tongue to preach his word. In Psalm 69, we'll see a part of the quote here. Let me turn the page here. In verse number 24, look at verse 24 of Psalm 69. It says, pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. So does this sound like he's praying for God to bless these people? And give them a good day. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold, and give them wisdom, Lord, and bless them. No, this is a bad thing when he's praying on them. And then the next thing is bad too. Look at verse 25. Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. Okay, that's what he's quoting. Let this habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein. Now notice the difference between the quoted Acts and Psalms. In Psalms, is it singular or plural? Is it singular or plural? Plural. Is it singular or plural in Acts? Singular. Singular, because he's referring it to one person. He's referring it about Judas, okay? Because you'll notice a lot of times, for example, in Psalms chapter 22, it says, why do the heathen rage? That's the same, that's present tense, right? Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Well, in the book of Acts, when they quote that, they say, why did the heathen rage? Because it already happened, so they're just putting it in the past tense. So here, in Psalm 69, is this just about Judas only? No, because if it was just about Judas, it would be in singular. It's in plural, because it can refer to a certain group of people, a certain type of people, and it's quoted about Judas Iscariot in Acts chapter one. Is this just David just throwing a fit again? David's bad attitude is coming out again. His hateful attitude, like when he said in Psalm 139, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? I count them mine enemies, I hate them with a perfect hatred. Oh, but that was just David, you know? That was the Holy Ghost speaking by the mouth of David the prophet in Psalm 69, when he said, let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their tents. Let's keep going. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Of course, that could apply to Jesus. Read Isaiah 53, please the Lord to bruise him. We esteemed him, smitten of God and afflicted. Verse 27, add iniquity unto their iniquity. And let them not come into thy righteousness. Does this sound like he's praying for them to get saved? We ought to pray for everybody to be saved. Is that what it says? He said, let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous. Is David saying, man, I want these people to get saved? Because Judas could not be saved, because it was too late for him. It would have been better for him if he'd just never been born. He started out, he could have been saved, but when he rejected Christ over and over again, it came to a point where it was too late for him. You say, well, if you just would have repented of his, he did repent. Read Matthew 27, three, he repented of his sins. But that's not how you'd be saved. You have to believe on Christ. And the Bible says in John 12, 39, they could not believe because God darkened their heart and blind their eyes. So it can become too late for certain people. And that's a whole other sermon of itself. But here he's saying, let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous. These are the type of passages that people will say are not inspired by God. Or that this is just showing us David's humanity. This is just showing us how David makes mistakes too and has a bad attitude. No, because who was speaking? The Holy Ghost. And then he gives us a specific example here where it was the Holy Ghost talking. Look at Psalm 109 and we'll get the rest of the book. Because if you remember in Psalm, or I'm sorry, Acts 1, it said, let us have a taste to be desolate. Let no man dwell there in. We saw that in Psalm 69. But now we're gonna see the other part of the quote. His bishopric let another take. That's found in Psalm 109, verse number eight. It says in Psalm 109, eight. Let his days be few and let another take his office. You know, office basically meaning bishopric. Same thing, his position. That's what bishopric means. His office, his position, his bishopric is what it's saying. Let his days be, no, this is not a prophecy of Barack Obama. Let his days be few and let another take his office. Actually, I think I will pray for our president because that's a pretty good prayer right there. So I believe in praying for those who are in authority. So that's a good prayer right there. Psalm 109, verse eight. And verse nine will work too. Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds and vague. Let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath because that's all the government is anyway, a big extortioner. So let the extortioner take what they have for a while and let the stranger spoil his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him. I'm sorry, is this bothering you? I'm just reading the Bible a little bit. I got kind of into the chapter. Neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off and in their generation following, let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth because that he remembered not to show mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him. As he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garments so let it come into his bowels like water and like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth them and for a girdle wherewith ye be is girded continually. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord and of them that speak evil against my soul. That's the Bible, my friend, okay? Go back to Acts chapter one. Who wrote that passage that we just read? The Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost by the mouth of David the prophet, right? All right, so back to Acts one here. We gotta hurry up and blow through this. It says in verse 18, now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity and falling headlong he burst a sucker in the midst and all his bowels sketched out. Here's what happened. Judas Iscariot took the 30 pieces of silver that he'd gotten for betraying Jesus. He repented it said in Matthew 27 three. He went back and brought it unto the the chief priests and said I've betrayed, he said I've sinned and I've betrayed the innocent blood. And they said what is that to us? See that with that. And basically he just, just threw it. He just didn't really know what to do. So he basically just cast it. Because they wouldn't take it and he didn't want it so he just threw it all over the place. Ran out and he went out and hanged himself. And apparently when he hanged himself, apparently according to this, you know, the rope must have braked or something because it says that he fell headlong and burst a sucker in the midst and all his bowels sketched out. And it was known unto all the dwellers of Jerusalem and so much as that field is called in their proper tongue as Seldama, that is to say the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, let us have a taste and be desolate and let no man dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take. Wherefore of these men which accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. Oh and the reason that it says he purchased the field is because then they picked up all the money that he spilled and they bought the field where he killed himself and they used it as a place to bury strangers, to bury people who couldn't afford a graveyard. And so they donated it to charity, you know, basically. The money that was, the blood money of Jesus, you know. They donated it to charity, they donated it to a good cause. But it says wherefore of these men which accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two. Joseph called Barcivus, who was surname justice, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, thou Lord which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou has chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. So what does that mean when it says, which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place? That he might go to? Well, I think about it, and basically Jesus called him the son of perdition, which perdition means damnation. So basically he went, I guess where he belonged. I mean he went where he deserved to go. He went to hell. Some people try to say that maybe Judas got saved. I don't believe that. The Bible calls him the son of perdition. The Bible says it would have been better for him if he hadn't been born. The Bible says that he went to his own place. And so I believe that he went to hell. Now Judas Iscariot, what was his cause of death? Suicide, right? So Judas Iscariot committed suicide, went to hell. Does that mean that everybody who commits suicide goes to hell? No, and this is what a lot of people will teach, right? They'll say, well if you commit suicide, it's unforgivable sin, you're going to hell. Now I've thought this through, and I've thought about all the people who committed suicide in the Bible, right? Think about it in your mind. Samson, he committed suicide. Let me die with the Philistines. King Saul fell on the sword, took his own life. Saul's armor bearer, when he saw that Saul had committed suicide, he committed suicide. So how many of you have used your bar? Judas, Samson, Saul, Saul's armor bearer, four, right? What about Ahithophel? Ahithophel, David's counselor, who was a man who basically spoke God's word to where if you inquired of Ahithophel, it was like inquiring at the oracles of God. He always had the right answer. He's a very wise counselor. He committed suicide. Now out of those five people that we just named, and I might be missing something, but the five that I just came up with off the top of my head, you know, Judas went to hell. We know for a fact that Samson and Saul went to heaven, the Bible tells us clearly. Saul's armor bearer, we don't know. I think he probably was saved. I mean, you'd think, but we don't really know. It's just anybody's guess on that one. And Ahithophel, I'd say there's a real, pretty much assured thing that he was saved. You know, possibly he wasn't, just because the Bible doesn't explicitly tell us. But out of the five, two for sure went to heaven. So what's the moral of the story? Whether or not you committed suicide has nothing to do with whether or not you went to heaven. Some of them went to heaven, some went to hell. What was the common Irish? It's whether they believed on Christ. If they believe on Christ, they're saved. If they don't believe on Christ, they're not. Jesus Christ died for all our sins. Once you're saved, there's nothing you can do to lose your salvation. You commit suicide, okay, if you're not saved, you'll go to hell. If you're saved, you'll go to heaven. You say, well, why don't we all just commit suicide and go to heaven? You know, but that's a bizarre thought. This isn't, you know, this isn't a Jim Jones Kool-Aid, you know, we're gonna pass the Kool-Aid. The bottom line is that God has us here on this earth for a reason, to serve him. Now, we wanna be here as long as we can because we can do the most for God, give the most people saved possible. That's our reason for being here. So no, we don't wanna just commit suicide. Now, those who commit suicide, when they get to heaven, I'm sure they regretted it because they missed out on the chance to serve God, to earn rewards, to do everything, and they had that basically hanging over their head that they could have done more and they wasted their life. Other people waste their life in other ways. We oughta do as much for Jesus Christ as we can, stay here on this earth as long as we can, do as much as we can, and then go to heaven. Let's pray his name with prayer. Father, please just bless these words to our ears. Help us to learn this chapter to God, and as we go through the book of Acts, help it to motivate us because it's a book about people who were winning souls and preaching the gospel. Just a fairly small church, there are 120 people, but yet they turned the world upside down in the coming pages of the book of Acts. And help us to be the same way you're taught. Help us to go out and be filled with the Holy Spirit, preach the word of God with oldness, and see many, many multitudes saved and baptized like that small group did. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.