 But let's begin reading here in Acts chapter 1 at verse 1. I'll read to verse 8 and we'll get into our study. The former account I made, O theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. To whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said, you have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in Al-Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And so I'm going to give to you some information, some basic information concerning the Book of Acts. Then we're going to move into verses one through eight and we're going to be looking at the introduction to our study of the Book of Acts. Now when you look at the Book of Acts, I want you to notice how it says, the former in verse one, the former account I made Otheophilus of all that Jesus began to do and teach. The Book of Acts is the second book that was written by the writer Luke. Luke wrote the Book of Luke or the Gospel according to Luke as well as the Book of Acts. We know that when we study scripture that this man Luke was a friend and traveling companion of the apostle Paul. That will be noted when we get into chapter 16 verse 10. From some of the things that you can glean from Acts and all and the things that are set of him, we know that Luke was a Gentile. It's probable that he came from Antioch in Syria. So as such, Luke is the only Gentile writer contributing to the Bible. Now we know that he served with Paul because Philemon verse 24 speaks of Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke and he's referred to there as a fellow laborer. We know according to Colossians chapter four verse 14 that he is a beloved physician. So as a physician or a doctor, he highlighted many of the healings in his Gospel and you're gonna see that he highlights healings also in the Book of Acts. Now, when he was writing the Book of Acts, Luke relied on various sources for his information. We know that he pulled from written sources as we will see when we get into chapters 15 and 23 and we also know that he interviewed eyewitnesses in the same way that he did when he wrote his Gospel because you see that in Luke chapter one verses one through four. Now, Paul's subsequent ministry, a second imprisonment that we see in 2 Timothy four and his death are not recorded. He doesn't mention the death of James. He doesn't speak of Nero's persecution and he doesn't speak of the fall of Jerusalem. So we know that the Book of Acts is in reality a documentation of the life of the early church. It provides a backdrop of how things began and it also gives us information concerning how the Lord moved when the church was new. This book has been the book that has actually been the model for many ministries, including our own. When you look at what is called the distinctives that make us a Calvary ministry, you'll see that according to the distinctives, the Book of Acts is really a blueprint for us and there's a reason why. It's when you begin to look at the history of the church, when you begin to see the history of the church, much of the early history of the church up to today is really tragic. You see, by the end of the first century, the church was already in very poor shape. How do we know that? Well, when you read the Book of Revelation, which was written in the 90, 90, 96 AD, when you look at the Book of Revelation, there are seven churches that are mentioned in Revelation chapters two and three and of these seven churches that are mentioned there by Jesus himself, five of the churches are already receiving condemnation by the Lord. And so the church's birth in around 33 AD, 32 33 AD, but within 60 years, it's already going down the tubes. It's already having problems. And so by the time you read Revelation, you see that the Lord is speaking concerning some things that he's not pleased with. You can see how Jesus speaks of how they left their first love, how they had begun to accept compromise, greed and undisciplined living, how they had set up a priesthood over the believer and how they had allowed false doctrine to enter into the church. That all took place within the first 60 years or so of the history of the church. And so when you read Revelation, you see that Jesus declares that he's ready to remove his presence from them. He's ready to resist them, to abandon them to tribulation, to come upon them like a thief. He said that they were dead, lukewarm, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked and that he was ready to spew them out of his mouth. This all took place within the first 60 years or so of the history of the church. The interesting thing about it, and we'll be looking at that in the book of Acts, is when you see the origin of the church, it was a work that was birthed by and sustained by the Spirit of God. The book of Acts gives us insight into how to be led as well as empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so as we go through this particular book, one of the things I'm gonna be encouraging us to is to learn how to walk in the Spirit. You see, its purpose was to document church history, showing how the church began, in order that it might fulfill what has been called the Great Commission. You've heard the term the Great Commission. The Great Commission is the marching orders that the church received from Jesus Christ. The Great Commission is his command for the church to enter into the world with the intention of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are people today, though, who will say, well, why do you wanna even continue preaching this gospel? Why do you think it's necessary? Don't all roads lead to God? And the answer is all roads in a sense do lead to God because every man will stand before God to give an account of himself. But not every religion leads you to heaven. And so the message of the gospel is a message that gives to us clarity concerning how you can arrive in heaven. And Jesus Christ gave to us this gospel and he said, take it to the whole world and proclaim this message. This is a message that we have, a message of freedom that you have in Jesus Christ. In the book of Luke in chapter four, verses 18 and 19, we read, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And so Jesus' mission was to do this, to bring people to faith in him so that they might enter into the kingdom of God. And so the word of Christ gives life to those who are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. In John 5, 24 and 25, Jesus said, most assuredly I say unto you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life, shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. And so the spiritually dead are made alive as they invest their faith in Christ, receive his life and those who are at one time dead in their trespasses and sins are made alive through Jesus Christ by his message in faith in him. So is the message of the gospel important and the answer biblically is absolutely. Of course it's important. You see the church received marching orders and those orders again are called the Great Commission. This commission was given various times. You actually see it in John 20 verses 21 through 23. You see Mark 16 verses 14 through 18 and you also see it in Luke 24 verses 46 through 49. But what we associate with this great commission most readily is what is found in Matthew 28. All of you are familiar with this because in Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20 it says Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you and law I'm with you always even to the end of the age. That's the Great Commission. Go out and make disciples teach them to observe all things that I've commanded you and the mark or the demonstration that they are my disciples is that you will baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Your Great Commission. To go out and proclaim this message. And so what we have here is once again Jesus giving another facet and aspect of this Great Commission. Again, it's been said that the Great Commission was given in Matthew 28, but I just alluded to the fact that it's actually given in various ways in the other gospels as well as here in the Book of Acts because when we get to verse eight, he says you shall receive power after that you have after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria into the other most parts of the earth. So once again, the four gospels as well as the Book of Acts, you have a commission. You have Jesus saying I'll be with you always to the end of the age. In the Book of Acts chapter one verse eight, he's telling us it's the power of the Holy Spirit that is combining with the gospel message that transforms people's lives. We'll be seeing that as we go through the Book of Acts. Now he begins in verse one and I'm gonna continue giving a little bit of introductory comments and then I'm gonna move into some things that I hope are practical for us as believers. But again, I'll begin slowly and move on to our really slow. The former account I made Otheophilus of all that Jesus began, both to do and teach. Luke begins by referring to the former account. The former account I made Otheophilus. The former account would be the gospel of Luke. He's speaking of something that he had written earlier. So he says this former account would be the gospel but he also is writing notice with me to a man by the name of Theophilus. Theophilus literally can be translated friend of God. That's what it literally means. Now there are those who would say is this a real person or is this simply a title? Is this a real person or is this speaking of the church in general because we through Christ have become friends of God? But more than likely he's speaking to an individual by the name of Theophilus. A man who would be called, what would have been called during that time, a patron. Somebody who was supplying funds to him in order that he might be able to give the account of the life of Jesus Christ. And so it would be as if Luke had been hired to accumulate all this information, which is what he did. And so he refers to the former account which would be the gospel and now a continuation of that account which is the book of Acts. And so this is written to a man by the name of Theophilus who more than likely was the individual who had hired him to go out and collect these things and then give the information to him. Now I want you to notice something. I want you to see how it says the former account I made O Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Began both to do and to teach. That tells us that God's work is intended to continue. He began to do these things but he continues to work amongst men. He intends this work to continue until his return in power and glory. Now remember in Matthew in chapter 16 verse 18 how Jesus said to the apostle Peter, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. The church is intended to continue influencing people for God until Jesus returns. And Jesus's influence is to continue after he died, was buried and resurrected. But how could this influence continue if he's physically gone? It's gonna continue through the power and the presence of the spirit in the body of Christ. Notice how he says in verse two until the day in which he was taken up after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. And so through the Holy Spirit he had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. Now we know that the Holy Spirit is the source of Jesus's power while Jesus was walking on the face of the earth. Matthew 12 18 says, here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love in whom I delight, I will put my spirit on him and he will proclaim justice to the nation. So Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and it's the same Holy Spirit that continues to work after Jesus as ascended. Now in John 14 verses 16 and 17 Jesus said, I will pray the Father he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you, with you and in you. So it's the Holy Spirit who empowers believers to be witnesses of Jesus to the world. What is it that we testify? And we're gonna see this and I'm getting a little ahead of myself in my notes but we're gonna see this. He says, you shall be my witnesses. What is it that we testify? What are we witnessing? We're witnessing the reality of the fact that Jesus Christ died, was buried but he rose again from the dead. Listen, people don't have a problem. Many people don't have a problem saying, well, I'll give you that. Jesus Christ may have lived on the face of the earth. Yes, there may have been a teacher. There may have been a prophet of the nation of Israel. There may have been a good man by the name of Jesus. I'll give you that. And so you can speak to them concerning Jesus and you can speak to them concerning how good he was and how kind he was, how loving he was, how gentle he was. As a matter of fact, you and I, those of us who share our faith or speak to people concerning Christ, we know that there are many people who are out there in the world today who will grant to you that there was someone like Jesus but the problem is, is they only agree with Jesus insofar as he agrees with them. And so what happens is when you say something like, but Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by me, that's where they have a problem. They'll say, listen, I think Christmas is fine. You know, it's a nice time to think of family and to give presents and receive presents. All you gotta do is watch some of the programs today where they have ban on the street interviews and just the other day I was watching a program where somebody is saying to these people on the street, he's saying to them, what is Christmas? And they'll tell you, oh, it's a time for family. It's a time for meals. It's a time for us to get together and exchange gifts. But what does it celebrate? It celebrates family. It celebrates goodness. It celebrates love. It celebrates peace. What's it celebrate? See, an older generation would say, I know exactly what it celebrates because the older generation had Christmas carols in classrooms. The first time I ever sang in a choir was not in a church. The first time I ever sang in a choir was at William W. Orr School in Norwalk, California. It was an elementary school. We had a Christmas play every year and the kids would get together and we would sing Silent Night way in the manger. We would sing traditional Christmas carols that would celebrate the reality of the birth of the savior. There were stores that were all closed on Christmas day. You didn't go to any stores on Christmas day because they were all closed. The nation basically was shut down on Christmas to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. And that's why older people know that. You speak to an older person, speak to somebody 60 years old. What does Christmas, they'll say, well, they celebrate the birth of Christ. If they can remember who they are, they'll remember that. But they'll say that to you. And a lot of people know exactly what I'm saying by experience because it was a slow turn, but it finally did occur where you stopped saying Merry Christmas and you started saying Happy Holidays. That was a slow turn, but it took place. And to me again, when this is not trying to celebrate the good old days, I'm just trying to make a point how things can change when you reject the person Christ. I can still remember watching Christmas specials with Jewish men like Jack Benny and others who had people singing away in the manger, giving gospel messages. They weren't upset. They weren't offended. They didn't say Happy Holidays. That did not exist. That has recently existed within the last several years. That has made people like you feel like, oh gosh, well, they're trying to make you feel like you're harsh and unloving and not caring when in fact, what it is, it's a rejection of who Jesus Christ is. And listen, the gospel of Jesus Christ influenced the church, influenced the society, influenced television, influenced movies. I was sharing just today with somebody, I was saying, you realize that when the motion, what are called motion pictures, when movies were first beginning to be presented, you realize that the original movies, many of the original movies were actually gospel presentations so that people would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. That even in the 40s, the most popular radio program that was played on Sunday nights, I think it was called something like, I can't remember, I wanna call it back to the Bible, but it was, or the old-time gospel hour, or something like that. It was the number one listen-to radio program on Sunday nights, the nation would listen to gospel messages as a nation on Sunday nights for years and years and years. See, the things that we're seeing today in our society are really just outward rejections of who Jesus Christ is. And the church has got to be careful that we don't hide Jesus somewhere and that he may not be found. He has to be openly presented. And so what makes the church powerful has not simply been the ability to present a message. The message in and of itself, of course, is God's powerful message. I'm not denigrating that, but it is the power of the Holy Spirit within the body of Christ that takes this powerful message, presents it through the anointing of Christ and sees transformation. And that's what God would have for the church, all through its ages, all through the lifetime of the church. And so Jesus had said to his men, the Holy Spirit will be with you and the Holy Spirit will be in you. And he was given to them a promise of the Holy Spirit who in the Old Testament would rest upon but depart. You see King David, as he says, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. You see, Samson who knew not that the Spirit had departed from him. You see, King Saul, the Spirit had departed from him because in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would rest upon, empower, but would also leave. In the New Testament, Jesus says, no, he will be with you and he will be in you. And that's how you become a Christian. See, a lot of people think they're Christians because they go to church. They think they're Christian. Well, we're gonna have a whole lot of people visiting us on Christmas because Christians go to church. And then I'll see them next year. Or in Easter, because you go at least twice, right? And then you go to funerals and you go to weddings. So yeah, I'm a good Christian. And so a lot of people think that way. America, by and large, has moved in that direction. But it's the Holy Spirit, and we'll look at this. I'm just giving you a little bit of an introduction. I'll get there in a moment. It's the Holy Spirit who empowers believers to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. What is it that we are witnessing? I will be your witness concerning your resurrection. Now in verse three, he presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs being seen by them. So we testify that Jesus has been resurrected from the dead. It's not just that he was a good man. It's not that he was just a good teacher. It's not even that he was a prophet. It's that he was resurrected from the dead. That's what we speak about. And when we get to Acts chapter two, verse 32, it says that this Jesus, God has raised up of which we are all witnesses. So Jesus was with them over a 40 day period. He instructed them concerning the work of God as he rules in the lives of believers. And we'll see that in again when we get into chapter two. It says in verse four and five, being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you have heard from me for John, truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And so what we have first is a promise. Jesus often spoke with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has spoken up here as notice the promise of the Father. So in order to successfully accomplish the task of being witnesses, power is required. In the Old Testament book of Joel in chapter two, verses 28 and 29, it says afterward, I will pour out my spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days. That's the promise of the Father. In Luke 24.49, Jesus said, I'm going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. So one, we have a promise and the promise is the promise of the Father. And so one, he has stated, I will fulfill that promise that you have in the Old Testament and that I reiterated in the new. This promise that the Holy Spirit will come upon you. He moves into verse five and I'll just touch it lightly where he says, John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. John's baptism, John's baptism was of water. He was preparing people to meet Messiah. Later on in the book of Acts in chapter 19 verse four, we see John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is Jesus. So you have John's baptism, but Jesus's baptism is called the baptism of the spirit. It's going to take place on Pentecost. In Matthew three, verse 11, he said, John said, I baptize you with water for repentance. After me will come one who is more powerful than I, who sandals I'm not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. I'm going to look at that when we get to verse eight and verse six, therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, shut up. Always asking dumb questions. He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. Remember, those of you who've been with me in the book of Matthew, remember in chapter 19, how Jesus had said to his men, you shall be seated on thrones judging. Well, in the minds of the apostles, they really didn't have yet the revelation of what is called the church age. So when Messiah died was buried and resurrected as they understood it through the rabbinic teachings many had been saturated with, their belief eschatologically would have been that Messiah would instantly become the ruler. And that's why they wanted to know whether his promise that he had made in Matthew in chapter 19, verse 28, if that promise was being fulfilled. And so Jesus immediately says to them, this isn't something that you need to know about. You see, they knew that Jesus would establish a literal earthly kingdom because he had taught that he would. In the Old Testament in Psalm 2, verse 6, it says, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill. But the exact moment of the reign is not to be revealed to them. You see, in Mark 12, rather Mark 13, verse 32, he said no one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the sun, only the Father. So he said, this is not something for you to be asking questions about because I have something else for you. And then he speaks in verse eight. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the end of the earth. I wanna spend some time looking at this. Again, Jesus had spoken about the Holy Spirit being with you and in you. With the Holy Spirit working within you and having fellowship with him, you have the capacity to be led by the spirit and you become the temple of the Spirit of God. And thus, you're no longer a religious person, but you are now made into a genuine Christian. When Jesus was speaking of the works of the Spirit, he said he'll be with you, he'll be in you. But he also speaks, and I wanna look at this for a moment with you, of how the Holy Spirit will be upon you, how the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the Holy Spirit will come upon you with power. The Holy Spirit, when he comes upon you with power, is gonna also fill you with the fruit of the Spirit. You will also have the ability to exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit and you're gonna evidence that you have a relationship with God through the transformation that takes place by the Holy Spirit. You're gonna be born again. You're gonna have a relationship with God that is going to be overt. People are gonna know there's something different about you because the Spirit of God is gonna dwell within you, but he's also going to empower you. And this is one of the areas that I really believe there's so much confusion about that there are a lot of people who've actually become a bit afraid of opening themselves up to the Holy Spirit. There have been people who have said, I don't know if I want all that God has for me because what if he sends me to some place I don't wanna go? Or what if he has me give up something that I wanna keep? What if he wants me to do something that I don't want to do? Whenever God guides for you he always provides for you. Whenever the Lord moves you it's because he has placed in your heart this sense that he will meet you. Many years ago when I was a new believer I was going to Biola and I had a friend of mine who was placed in student ministries and he was overseeing outreaches and there were two particular outreaches he was overseeing. One was to Watts and the other was to a place called Ramona Gardens. So he asked one of the African American kids, friends will you oversee the work in Watts? And this young African American brother said, yeah of course and he began to do ministry in Watts. At that time Watts was heavily African American and this brother had ministry there and he felt that it would be good because they'd be able to work together well there and on then my friend approaches me and says, will you go to Ramona Gardens? I said, no, you kidding me? You're looking at an ex hippie I was never a cholo what are you talking about? You see I know this could be offensive if I don't say it right. It can be offensive if I say it right. Know my heart as I say it and you'll understand what I'm trying to say. When I first got saved I said, Lord I'll do anything but Lord I know that I'm Mexican American we used to refer to ourselves as Chicano I know that that's what I am. But Lord I didn't grow up in the projects I didn't grow up in a barrio I didn't grow up in that. That's just not who I am. You know when the hippie movement came I was in heaven because I was anti-violence you know I didn't like you just kind of mellow and let's just be cool and smoke dope and you know just enjoy life you know drink wine you know so Lord I'll go anywhere except the gangs. Here's my friend Jimmy David will you go to Ramona Gardens? Charlie no I said I said no I said no I said what? He said will you go to Ramona Gardens? Some of you know Ramona it's still a tough place still a tough place. Will you go to Ramona Gardens? And I have to be real with you I went home and I said Lord I want to serve you and I have told you whatever you want for me to do I will do but you know that I had that restriction on the contract long story I made short I began to minister in Ramona Gardens. I don't know why I was nervous I still to this day don't know why I just was. The first day we came we pulled up in a bus and you know little yellow bus with all of these oh people climb in on out we're from Biola you know and this guy I guess I guess he thought he was the neighborhood bad guy walks up to me well he walks up to all this he just comes walking up and he says who's in charge here? I looked around and I walked up to him and I said well I am I'm leading this group what are you doing here? First thing challenge what are you doing here? I said I don't know you want us to leave? No I said get on the bus we're out of here let's go to the beach what are you doing here? I said we're here to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to this community we're here to minister to your children we're coming with a team of people that can give them crafts can sing with them we're gonna play games with them we're committing our lives to them so that we can communicate to them especially the life-changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that's what we're doing here and he looks at me and he gives me that look like are you real? and he says if anybody asks you you tell them so and so says you're okay and I said great of course see I already knew a guy named Chewy also known as Jesus was we're okay I already knew that I already knew that but the bottom line and I'm trying to I'm enjoying myself I shouldn't I should be real serious but listen when God moves you someplace he's with you all the way and you can't you cannot walk into you cannot walk into areas that you're uncomfortable with without the peace of God that passes all understanding and you can't be effective in areas that you're feeling unequipped for without the power of the Holy Spirit who gives you and gives you the words to speak and you need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit we are saved and we receive the Holy Spirit seal in our life but Jesus said you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you so I want all that the Lord has for me I want to walk in the fullness of his spirit I want to sense his presence in my life I want to live by the spirit in order that as he says in Galatians 516 I will not gratify the sinful desires of my flesh you see Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will come upon you with power and he's going to fill you with love he's going to fill you with his goodness you will be his witnesses so the baptism of the Holy Spirit is what made the church a powerful witness throughout its history the most powerful witness has always been the transformed lives that occur because of the gospel being received and the power of the Holy Spirit transforming a person and being present in the way that they live you see today if you don't mind I think I can speak with some authority on this I've been around for a while today my concern and it is a great concern a great concern for the church because I love the church not just this fellowship I love the church, the body of Christ and my great concern is that many today are confusing the work of the Holy Spirit with the efforts of human flesh and so we say that we're going to church and while we're there we're in this visible location and we'll say God is really moving because we have a new building or God is present because we have a great band or God is really reaching people because we have good programs or God is really moving on my pastor because he's got such a personality how did God move before without you know without fog machines without lights without the net how did he move how did these people they had the reputation that they were turning the world upside down how did that happen without the winning personalities listen, Paul is the greatest mind that the church ever had but when he preached a guy named Uticus fell asleep and fell out of the window and died when the Corinthians spoke about Paul they said oh he's a paper tiger and he writes weighty letters but his presence is weak his speech is contemptible this guy is boring beyond words this guy doesn't entertain us and they read 2 Corinthians and when you read 2 Corinthians you will find no less than 21 accusations lodged against the apostle Paul no less than 21 accusations he and 2 Corinthians had to answer and they said he's just boring they said he's ugly they said everything that you can imagine about this man and yet he was the greatest apostle taking the gospel of Jesus throughout the world he said I have made it my aim to proclaim the name of Christ where his name has never been preached lest I should build on another man's foundation this man, the apostle Paul was breathing out threat means for those who were followers of Christ was radically transformed to a man who went everywhere for Jesus Christ how did that happen? and can that happen today? and should that happen today? and has the church been deceived into thinking that we need certain things like the building, like the music like the lights, like the entertainment like the personality and I have to say absolutely, you know what we need? we need the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the word of God that's what we need I'm 20 years old once I was talking to my wife about this just today 20 years old I know times have changed and no I'm not trying to match sin for sin forgive me if it sounds that way when I grew up there just wasn't that much dope use there just wasn't there weren't that many people who drank radically and smoked pot and dropped acid that just wasn't happening it was just beginning California was never going to legalize marijuana are you kidding me? no because a Californian was a conservative at that time they actually loved God, Apple Pie and the American flag we didn't have athletes who said I'm not going to stand for the National Lent we didn't have any of that we didn't have marches in the street the way we do now it's changed in a way that some of you wouldn't understand you wouldn't understand so when I was growing up I was one of the radical kids I was one of those I was the kid who stumbled down the street in the middle class neighborhood loaded or drunk all the time I was a thief I was a liar I was everything that that that went along with the drugs and the alcohol I didn't care about I stole from stores I would go to stores and I would walk out with armful of goods I didn't even hide it I just would walk between the clerks I did that I stole, I'd sell it and I'd buy dope with it I was a Catholic kid and I thought I was a Christian because I'd been baptized as an infant I was a Catholic kid I was a Christian don't tell me about Jesus Christ I can tell you about Jesus Christ that's how I was but I wasn't unlike a lot of people there were a lot of people like me all my friends were like me in one form or another that's just the truth and I'm having people say you need Jesus and I'd say I already got Jesus I'm a Catholic I'm a member of the very first church Peter's the first pope I knew my catechism that's the fact and I would argue and so my friend invites me to go to this church called Calvary and I walk in and it's a church that was built to seat about 300 and there's about four or five hundred people in that building and I sit down I can tell you where I was I was sitting in the back and I had the long hair and I had smoked some pot and I had drank some beer and I walked in barefooted and I went in rebellious and angry and I walked in there thinking these hypocrites will kick me out in a moment just like they would at my church because if I'd have walked into St. Pius X Church in Santa Fe Springs like that they would have escorted me out the door that's a fact we all know that and you know that when I went in there I sat down and I looked at all these hippie kids and they're singing about God's love and I'm looking around and I'm thinking this is weird because I actually like it I actually like this I didn't know what it was that I was feeling but I do now I was feeling conviction because I wasn't like these people and I was feeling lonely because I didn't have God and I was feeling the presence of an other that I only had heard about but didn't know personally and that was the spirit of God and I experienced something that we used to sing about we used to say all you need is love and I was in the midst of hundreds of kids and it hit me I'm feeling in a church for the first time in my life love love it was not a I'll let you do whatever you want because I love you man it was God's love it was a sense that it was a sense that I'm unworthy to be amongst these people I'm not like these people they have something I don't have I didn't know exactly what it was then but when I got saved the light bulb went off and I said that's what it was Jesus said you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you and when the Holy Spirit comes upon you He transforms you unrecognizable to those who know you best have you been changed like that or do people still think you're the same guy haven't changed at all if you haven't changed you haven't connected yet you haven't I always say this dumb some of you have heard it all of you probably have but for the one or two who hasn't we had a project we were working on a building and I'm no construction worker but they handed me a hammer and I walked up and started hammering on a wall and then they gave me a screwdriver and I unscrewed a light switch I pulled the box off and one of my boys walked up to me they were little at the time and I leaned my hand against the wall and I was talking to them when I I felt something and I looked and I the wires had made connection on this finger here so one of the wires was on one side of my fingernail and the other was on the other side and I connected and I pulled my hand out and my fingernail was on fire and I was a hippie so I started going that's a fact I really look at that and I discovered something when you make contact with power you will know it you will know it there are a number of Christians today who are walking around with no power you're constantly hurting constantly sad constantly remembering hey get over it look to Jesus he transforms lives that's Christianity he forgives you of your sins he makes you a new creation he gives you the power to overcome and you can overcome I don't say that I am a recovering alcoholic I've been recovered by Jesus man, you know I am an entirely new creation because old things are passed away see I don't identify with the sin the old sin I identify with the new man that I became in Jesus Christ and I know that because of the power of the Holy Spirit and a lot of us today want to remain where we were and we want people to give us permission to continue where we were but Jesus doesn't he says you need to leave that behind and follow me that's what God has called us to do without that without the power of the Spirit you can't some of you are frustrated because you've tried I don't think there are very many people in this room who are more messed up than I was and I don't say that than anything other than I don't think there are you don't know my real testimony but I'll tell you this God is able God transforms God gives God empowers that's Christianity we do not hold to a philosophy we hold to a savior Jesus Christ and when he is presented people get saved they get saved and they're transformed you shall receive power you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem Judea, Samaria I will be with you I will be in you and my Spirit will come upon you you will be baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit witnesses of the Holy Spirit the Spirit changing our life there's an instant we'll see this in chapter 4 how that the apostles performed a mighty work and people began to question them how this took place in Acts 4 verse 13 it says when they saw the boldness of Peter and John perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus you know the history of the Calvary movement is that we in the eyes of many are uneducated and untrained but the one thing they can't say about us and they can't say they're uneducated and they can't say they're untrained they can't but another thing they can say is we've been with Jesus and that's what the testimony is they looked at them they said they haven't gone through our rabbinic schools and these are individuals who haven't been trained in our ways but there's one thing that we know about them they've been with Jesus and guess what they had been and they still were the Holy Spirit wants to come upon you tonight Jesus said you will receive power and the Holy Spirit comes upon you the Holy Spirit wants to baptize you in order that you might walk in His power and He wants to fill you and we'll see this as we go through the book of Acts He wants to fill you so this presence might be there His gifts and graces will be there and what happens is when you're baptizing the Spirit you begin to walk and you begin to witness you said Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the end of the earth you begin in your Jerusalem I began with my family I brought them to Christ I began to share with my neighbors I began to have Bible studies and then I began to go to other cities even when my ministry began here we met in Ontario we met in Montclair we met in Clermont we went back to Ontario came to Chino we reached out of Chino we trained disciples and we reached other cities we have churches that have come out of this church in Ohio in Ontario and Southgate, Upland, Fontana, Montclair Weirica we have churches in Lake Havasu in Great Falls, Montana Corpus Christi, Texas, San Antonio Madison, Wisconsin and Clialum, Washington we are wanting to reach people our studies are seen via the internet we are beginning a podcast ministry to take this gospel out we are on radio stations throughout the United States I didn't even know this I looked it up today we are on radio stations in Arizona California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii Indiana, Maine Missouri, North Carolina North Dakota, New Jersey New York, Nevada Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania South Carolina, South Dakota Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Hawaii we are on in a variety of places we have internet radio through many states we are on various things right now we have prison ministries we have church in Mexico God is doing neat things and it's all through the Holy Spirit it's all through Jesus' teaching it's through the power of the Spirit and that's what happens when you are obedient you can do a great work because God is with you you know I was taught first by the Bible and then by the example of my pastor if you strive to attain you will strive to maintain but walking in God's Spirit is a way of life seeking His presence hungry for His help we need His Spirit we need His Spirit today guys because the church in the United States is ashamed of the gospel ashamed ashamed you know there's a guy who influences me his name is A.W. Tozer and A.W. Tozer said this he said if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today 95% of what we what we do would go on and no one would know the difference if the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church 95% of what they did would stop and everybody would know the difference be careful be careful what you allow to influence you into believing that the Spirit of God is moving because sometimes it's all light and no fire sometimes it's just all noise but not a message seek God seek God walk in His power every day Father in Jesus' name fill me with your Spirit every day God use me for your glory every day God change me God transform me God make me different every day that's what I do every day every day God make me a better Christian God make me a better husband God make me a better father God make me a better grandfather God make me a better man God help me to be a pastor God help me to care for people God fill me with your Spirit pray that way and watch what God will do you'll never think you arrive by the way you'll always discover that you need Him more you'll always discover that but what a place to be depending on the Lord you shall receive power after the Spirit has come upon you oh God may we have your power