All right, the Acts of the Apostles. Now this is one of the toughest books in the Bible. And in the New Testament, probably the only one that’s any tougher is the Book of Hebrews. And it’s good, it’s good in studying this Book to remember that the King James Bible makes no mistakes, and the King James Bible title of a book will save you a lot of sweat and a lot of tears, if you remember the title of the book. And the title of the book is “The Acts of the Apostles.” That’s the title of the book.

Now, the book is not just “The Acts,” and it’s not “The Acts of the Holy Spirit,” and “The Acts of the Christians.” It’s “The Acts of the Apostles.” That’s what it’s about.

Now, I emphasize that because there’s always somebody trying to say, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever,” and trying to convince you that since what went on in the days of the apostles and the days of Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it’s the same now. And that thing won’t come to pass, because an apostle had peculiar gifts that nobody else has.

Now, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 12, and notice that this book is going to be about the acts of the Apostles. Second Corinthians 12:12. It’s going to be concerned with apostolic signs.. And in 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul claims apostolic authority because of his signs.

Now, we know who those signs are given to and why. For example, turn to Mark chapter 15 for a minute. Mark chapter 15, look at verse 17. Mark 16, excuse me. Mark 16:17. And notice those apostles are given a ministry, and then they’re told that the apostolic signs will follow their ministry. Mark 16:17: “These signs shall follow them that believe.” But notice that’s given to apostles. Notice in verse 19, “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them” — the apostles! Verse 20: “And they went forth” — the apostles — “...and preached every where, the Lord working with [them],...” the apostles “...and confirming the word with signs following.”

All right, now come to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and notice the signs follow a Jewish apostle, because the Jews seek for a sign. First Corinthians chapter 1. First Corinthians 1:22. You may notice too that baptism is not a sign. It didn’t go out with the apostles. All right, 1 Corinthians 1:22: “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.”

So in the Book of Acts the apostles are going to manifest signs, and their converts are going to have signs, because the converts are saved out of the ministry of an apostle.

All right, now the “Acts of the Apostles” has, first of all, statistics. It has 28 chapters. Twenty-eight chapters. It has 1,067 verses. One thousand and sixty-seven verses. It has 24,250 words. Twenty-four thousand, two hundred and fifty words. A good date for the writing is —

Question: You said that Paul was not sent by Mark 16:16, but he was the only apostle to fulfill that commission. Didn’t Peter and the rest of the apostles fulfill all of it?

Answer: There’s no record of Peter and the rest of them ever picking up a snake and it not hurting them. Paul is the only one.

In other words, when Stam tries to tell you that Paul had a different commission than Peter, James and John had, he’s really pulling your leg.

For example, first commission: Matthew chapter 28: “Go into all the world, and teach all nations, baptizing them.” Paul baptized some converts, like you just said in your test paper. Luke chapter 24: “That the remission of sins should be preached in his name.” Paul does it in Acts chapter 13. Mark chapter 16; they pick up a serpent and it won’t hurt him. Paul does it in Acts chapter 28. That commission in Acts chapter 1, “You should be my witnesses to the ends of the earth”—Paul does it! Paul is going about every commission given to the twelve. So, Stam’s kind of pulling your leg on that stuff.

Question: You said that the converts of the apostles had the signs following them?

Answer: Yes. For example, 1 Corinthians. Tongues are for a sign. The Corinthian converts had tongues, and some of them had the gifts of healings, and some had the gifts of miracles.

Question: So when the apostles died out, so did the signs, and what about their converts?

Answer: They can’t pass them on. When the apostles are gone, it’s all gone.

Question: Did they need an interpreter? Even the apostles?

Answer: Well, no, an apostle wouldn’t speak in tongues, unless an interpreter was present.

Now, let’s turn to the passage. First Corinthians 14:27,28: “If any man...” there’s an apostle or anybody “...speak in an [unknown] tongue, [let it be] by two, or at the most [by] three, and [that] by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence.” What did you have in mind, brother?

Audience member: Well, you just stumped me good then!

{ Laughter.}

No, I didn’t stump you! I didn’t tough you, man!

Question: But what about an unknown tongue?

Ah, yes, but that’s where the Pentecostal’s trying to pull your leg. There’s no such thing as an unknown tongue. There’s such a thing as — well, an unknown tongue is a tongue nobody knows. It didn’t say “not known on earth.” It just said the fellow hearing it doesn’t know it.

Go back and look at it again. First Corinthians 14. That’s where they get you, see? First Corinthians 14. They’re always trying to convince you if it says “unknown,” then nobody down here could get it! But that isn’t the context of the statement. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14:2: “I Corinthians 14:2 For he that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God.” All right, for example: { speaking Greek.} Now, don’t tell me that is an unknown tongue, because anybody here knows it. Right? You know why it’s unknown? Because nobody knows it. For “no man understandeth [him]; howbeit in the spirit...” not the Holy Spirit, the spirit of man “...he speaketh mysteries.” What I just said is a mystery to you. But it isn’t to God, right? Doesn’t He know all the languages? But I’m speaking to God, not to men.

Now, all right, now, we’re going to take three questions, then gentlemen, we’re going to study the Bible. Yes?

Question: So there’s only one type of tongues in the Bible.

Answer: Yes sir. Foreign languages. But if nobody knows it, it’s an unknown tongue.

Question: Does that mean that in the Acts of the Apostles, there are no more apostles?

Answer: No, there are no more apostles. Yeah, it’s a good question, though. In Revelation chapter 2, it says, “You tried those that said they’re apostles, and have found them to be liars.”

One more here, and then we’ve got to close.

Question: It says, “Howbeit in the spirit, he speaketh mysteries.” A man who’s speaking, he should know what he’s saying, right?

Answer: Yeah, “the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” Paul says, “What then? I will pray with the spirit; I will pray with the understanding.”

All right, something over here.

Question: I was going to ask you about the tongues and an interpreter. What about Acts 2, when they spoke, and everybody understood them in their own native language?”

Answer: Didn’t have to have one. The Holy Spirit did it. But that thing don’t happen again like that anywhere in the Bible. That won’t work, because they’re all given as foreign languages in Acts chapter 2. There isn’t an “unknown” tongue anywhere in the chapter that somebody doesn’t know. Each guy knows his own language and his tongue.

All right, Acts chapter 1. All right, I’ve got to go. I mean, I’m not trying to put you down. I know how the Holiness do. They try to sneak up on you.

All right, the Acts of the Apostles now. Now, these things will deal primarily with the ministry of the apostles. And the main apostle in this Book will be Simon Peter to Acts 12. You should know that. Simon Peter to Acts 12. And then from Acts 13 to Acts 28, it’s Paul.

The Roman Catholic Church says, “Robbing Peter to pay Paul.” That’s the old deal. And they got that from the fact that when St. Paul was built in London, Henry VIII put her up, they quit sending tithes to Rome. And all the tithes stayed in England. So they began to say, “You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” see?

But the Bible does that.

All right, the Acts of the Apostles. Now, the author is Luke. The author is Luke the physician. We know that from a number of things. And the first main thing is the way he begins. Notice in chapter 1, verse 1: “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus.” The former treatise! Then whoever wrote the Book of Acts wrote something before they wrote the Book of Acts. All right, he says, “The former treatise...O Theophilus.”

Let’s turn to Luke for just a minute and look at Luke 1, and notice this same man is mentioned. Luke 1:3. Question?

Question: Can you give the date?

Answer: I was going to. 65 A.D. Now, there may be variations on that.

Question: Scofield says 33.

Answer: On the Acts of the Apostles. Oh, no, that’s just the marginal note on when the Acts 1 took place. Yeah, he doesn’t have that on the date of the writing. On the date of the writing, look up his material at the heading of the chapter.

All right, Luke chapter 1, verse 3, now look at this: “It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus.” So he wrote the gospel, and then he said in Acts, “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus.” So it’s plainly Luke.

Now, another way we know it’s Luke is by the first person plural that’s used when Paul goes sailing. When Paul goes sailing in a ship, the author is going with him. Look at chapter 21 verse 1. Twenty-one:1. Whoever wrote the book is sailing with Paul. Acts 21:1: “And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them...” Verse 3: “Now when we had discovered...” Verse 5: “And when we had accomplished...” Verse 6: “And when we had taken...” Verse 7: “And when we had finished...” Verse 17: “And when we were come to Jerusalem,...” The person who wrote that book is traveling with Paul. And when Paul died in 2 Timothy 4, he said, “Only Luke is with me.” The last friend he had stuck with him all the way. In Colossians he writes about “Luke, the beloved physician.” So, there’s not much doubt about the authorship. The authorship is really called Lukan. That is, Luke wrote it.

Now, Dr. A.T. Robertson said that Luke was a Gentile. So, all the, you know, Simon says, “Clap your hands,” Simon says, “Blow your nose,” Simon says, “Jump over the, you know, sky.” So everybody says Luke was a Gentile because Robertson said it.

There’s no evidence anywhere in the Bible or out of the Bible that Luke was a Gentile. Absolutely none!

Question: Somebody in our church spoke from Louisville, and he said Luke was a Gentile. That’s where he got it from?

Answer: That’s where he got it from. That’s where all of them get it from. And that’s the nice Roman Catholic superstition, but there’s nothing to show for it.

Let me ask you this. Why would he be? Why would God have one Gentile writer in 66 books? The Bible said the oracles are given to the Jew in Romans chapter 3. What’s the idea of having one Gentile in there?

All right, the Acts of the Apostles now, in chapter 1 verse 1. Now, the next thing you have to remember about this Book, which people forget all the time is, when you start Acts chapter 1, there is no New Testament! Now, when you pick up your Bible, you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. And, no matter what you do, when you get to the Book of Acts, you keep thinking of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Because in the New Testament books, they occur before Acts. The reason they occur before Acts is, the events in Acts take place after the resurrection, so the Lord has rightly put Matthew, Mark, Luke and John there first to show you about the birth and life and death of Christ.

But at the time these events take place in Acts chapter 1, Matthew wrote nothing, Mark wrote nothing, Luke wrote nothing, and John wrote nothing. There’s nothing there. Nothing there. Now, do you understand that?

All right, if you don’t understand it, look here in Acts chapter 1, verse 3. Forty days. Forty days after what? Forty days after what? After the Resurrection. All right, He dies, He comes down, He comes up, goes back up — John 20 — comes back down, John 20 — and then He’s on the earth 40 days and 40 nights before He goes up in Acts chapter 1.

Now, when those events take place, it’s 33 A.D. What’s Matthew written? Nothing. What’s Mark written? Nothing. What’s John written. Nothing. There is no New Testament.

So people are always taking the Book of Acts and trying to read the New Testament into it. You can’t read the New Testament in it; there is no New Testament!

Same way when you get over into Acts chapter 2. When you get to Acts chapter 2 and Simon Peter gets up and gets to preaching and says, “Ye men of Jerusalem and Judea, the promises to you and to your children, as many as are near and far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call...” That dumb Pentecostal will come in there and run that thing to Ephesians. “He preached peace to you that were near, and peace to you that were afar off.” That Pentecostal will say, “You see there? The Pentecostal promise of the Holy Spirit is for everybody! Those near and far off!” The Gentiles. Trying to read Ephesians 2 into Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2, not only is Ephesians chapter 2 not written, the author of Ephesians chapter 2 is an unsaved sinner on his way to hell. Paul doesn’t get saved till Acts 9, so you cannot read the promises to you that are near and far off to a Gentile believer. There are no Gentile believers, and there’s no Ephesians, and there’s no Paul.

The Book was written many, many years later, but the events that it records, the time those events took place, nothing was written. Now, do you understand that? If you’re having trouble with it, do you remember Moses writing Genesis? Moses wrote Genesis 1800 B.C. When the events took place in Genesis 1, 2, 3, and 4, it wasn’t 1800 B.C., it was 4000 B.C. You see? You see that fool get in a mess? Let me show you. I mean, they that are unlearned and unstable can get themselves in the biggest mess here. Here’s Genesis 2: “keep the Sabbath.” So a Seventh-day Adventist will put you right down in Genesis 2 and say, “You see there? That’s the beginning of the Bible.”

Wait a minute, man! Moses got the revelation of the Sabbath in 1800, and Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Sabbath wasn’t revealed till there, and when Moses wrote about it, he wrote about what took place back there. Nobody back there knew about it, because nobody kept it! You never read about Adam and Eve keeping the Sabbath, you never read about Noah keeping the Sabbath, you never read about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob keeping the Sabbath. Nobody knows about it. Now, it’s revealed up here, and he writes about it back there.

All right, it’s the same way up here. It’s revealed to Luke, and Luke in 65 A.D. writes this history. But these folks here — they don’t know nothing Luke knows in 65 A.D. It’s not 65 A.D. It’s 33 A.D. Yes?

Question: Do the events in Acts catch up with the actual writing of it?

Answer: No, in that case he’d be writing through a period of 20 or 30 years.

Question: So all the events happened before the writing of that?

Answer: Probably. At least according to all the information we can get.

1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

2 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:

3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

4 And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.

5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11 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 go into heaven.

12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.

13 And when they were come in, 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.

14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

All right, Acts chapter 1, verse 1: “The former treatise...” that would be Luke “...have I made, O Theophilus,...” a friend of his “...of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up,” Up is the direction. In the Bible, Heaven is up. The New Scofield Bible talks about “first century cosmology,” and you can’t really tell up from down, you know, and Albert Einstein, and all that gas. Anybody who would trade places with Albert Einstein right now is a fool. Albert Einstein’s in hell. He was a practical atheist and said he couldn’t believe in a God unless He was a mathematical formula.

What I’m trying to say is, “up” is not relative. “Up” is there. You know where “up” is? Where my finger’s pointing. It’s north. That’s down, that’s up.

All right, “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: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion...” Notice how the word is used; it’s degenerated. The surest proof that men degenerate is that the vocabulary degenerates. “Passion” meant a strong feeling toward anything. “Passion” now is confined to lust and sex, see? When we talk about the Passion Week, we’re talking about Christ going through His agony in Gethsemane and loving people enough to die for them. That’s the passion.

“To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion...” underline it now: “...by many infallible proofs.” That’s been changed in every Bible on the market. Every version on the market has taken that out. “Infallible proofs.”

Question: It says here, “After that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.” When did that happen?

Answer: All right, He was taken up after He talked with them, and gave them commandments. And the time was given in verse 3—forty days. So I drew you that thing right up here. He was taken up after those forty days. He was on this earth forty days and forty nights, eating and talking with those apostles before He went back to glory. That’s why it’s called “infallible proofs.”

Paul said He was seen of how many people? Five hundred. Did you know that will stand up in a law court? Did you know when 500 eyewitnesses say they’ve seen a man, talked with a man, eaten with a man, you can’t do nothing to refute that testimony. I mean, two eyewitnesses and three is conclusive. You’ve got 500 of them!

Did you ever stop to think about what that means to you? I mean, you believe Christ died and rose from the dead, all that stuff up in your head, you know. But then you get to the graveyard and bury a loved one, and buried yourself, you know, and end it all, and you think, “It’s all over,” and this and that, you begin to kind of forget, you know, what the Bible says in places. But, do you realize, when He came up there, He came out of that hole, and then walked around and talked and ate with folks for over a month, man! Over a month! I mean, He really came out of the hole. And, if He came out, you’re going to come out!

All right, “to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs.” All the new bibles don’t like the word “infallible.” So they say, “Many proofs.” “Convincing proofs.”

It’s infallible!

“Being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” All right, then they have a revelation of the kingdom of God, but in some way they don’t have the revelation of the kingdom of God like Paul does. Let’s see about Paul’s kingdom of God. Let’s come to Romans chapter 14 and look at his definition of the kingdom of God. Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14, verse 17; in this age, “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

Entirely spiritual!

Now, when He comes up from the dead, you don’t know yet whether the Jews are going to receive Him or not. Paul hadn’t been saved. The revelation of the church hasn’t been given. And when Christ talks about the kingdom of God to those apostles, let’s see what kingdom He’s talking about. Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter 9. He’s talking about the millennial kingdom. Now, of course, He’s talking about the spiritual part of it instead of the physical part of it. The physical part’s the kingdom of heaven. But when Christ is on earth, they’re both present. Luke 9:2: “And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” There’s that healing commission that accompanied the kingdom of Heaven. It also accompanies the kingdom of God.

Look at Luke 9:27. Luke 9:27: “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.” What happens? Twenty-eight, 29, 30, 31, and 32 are a picture of the Second Advent.

So, we have this in coming up from the dead. When Christ comes up from the dead and talks about the kingdom of God to those apostles, we know now He spoke to them about this period here—the thousand-year reign. In this period here, Christ is on earth as God the Son, spiritual, moral, righteous, a physical, literal, visible kingdom on David’s throne—kingdom of Heaven. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of Heaven are on earth when Christ is on earth. When Christ was on earth back here, John the Baptist said, “The kingdom of God’s at hand.” John the Baptist said, “The kingdom of Heaven’s at hand.” They’re both right there! Because He’s a dual being—He’s the Son of man—Mary—kingdom of Heaven. He’s the Son of God—the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Now, when He leaves and goes back to Heaven, then you have on this earth only a spiritual kingdom, until He comes again. When He comes again, you’ll have the kingdom of Heaven. But this kingdom of God you have in this age goes right into there—like that. So, when He comes up to those forty days and talks about the kingdom of God, technically He’s not talking about the Pauline revelation, the mystery of the Body of Christ, and the information in Romans. Technically, He’s talking about the spiritual kingdom that will come when He returns.

Now, do you understand that? That’s something that Stam and Baker and Bullinger never found, and never will find, and couldn’t find if they stayed up all night. That kingdom of God right there turns into the kingdom of God you’re in now, but the time He gives it to them, it doesn’t include the information you have now, because He could have come back at any time.

Do you remember from last week, all that discussion about He could have come back? OK. Yes?

Question: Who or what controls the kingdom of God?

Answer: The Lord.

Question: The Holy Spirit?

Answer: Yeah.

Question: It leaves when the Antichrist comes down, don’t it?

Answer: Yep. Yeah, if you want the rest of it, when we go out, the only kingdom that’s on this earth is the kingdom of death and hell. There’s no kingdom of Heaven, and there’s no kingdom of God. The kingdom of death and hell is on this earth.

Question: So during those 40 days, He didn’t talk about Gentiles or the church, or...?

Answer: Nope. Not, except in the Millennium. Now, He talked to them about that. “Go and baptize all nations.” We know in the Millennium the Gentiles come to Jerusalem and become proselytes and join in, see. He talked about that. But He did not give them the revelation of the Church. That revelation was given to Paul. Another question.

“There should be some standing here that shall not taste of death until they see the kingdom of God.” “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Question: The kingdom of God and the kingdom of Heaven are both the same when Christ was here?

Answer: They’re both present when He’s present. They’re never the same. Even when they’re visible, they’re not the same. For example, when Christ comes back, will you be like Christ? Will there be people on earth in regular human ordinary flesh-and-blood bodies? They’re not the same. But they’re both present.

The Bible doesn’t say, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.” It says, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now, let me ask you brethren something. You’re having such a tough time with it. When Christ rose from the dead, did He have an ordinary human body? { No.} Did He eat with the disciples? Did they have ordinary human bodies? { Yes.} There it is.

That’s right. That’s all there is to it!

All right, 1:4. 1:4: “And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.” Now, the promise of the Father can only be a reference to Luke 24. And here the promise is mentioned. Luke 24. Luke 24, verse 49. Luke 24:49: “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

Now, the reason why Acts chapter 2 is such a terrible stumbling block is because it’s a number of things. The coming of the Holy Spirit, first of all, is spoken of as the promise. Now, you just read a passage where it said it was an “enduement of power.” And you’re about to read a passage where it said it’s a baptism, and you’re about to read a passage that says it was a filling.

So, if you want to go to hell, Acts 2 is about as good as you can get. In Acts chapter 2, it’s all for those things, and it never is again anywhere in the word of God. Every heretic in this country who goes to hell goes to hell in Acts chapter 2. FLAP! Like that! You can’t beat you through that thing with a battle ax.

Now, let me show you, before the question, let me give them time to give them the verse, cause they’re taking my word for it, and that’s bad; check it! Acts chapter 1, verse 5: “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.” See the baptism? All right, watch the filling. Chapter 2, verse 4. Acts 2, verse 4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” See that thing? That’s the filling of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, the promise, and the enduement of power. And in Acts chapter 2, they’re all identical, and they’re never identical again.

So, if you want to break your neck, Acts 2 is where to go.

Now, there’s one other thing. In Acts chapter 2, the local church, in Acts chapter 2, is the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ is the local church. So, if you want to get screwed up in the local church, go to Acts chapter 2, and you’ll get screwed up good.

In Acts chapter 2, every member of that local church is saved, and when the Holy Spirit comes down there and cements that bunch into a body, they are a local assembly.

So, if you want to confuse the Body and the local assembly, Acts 2.

If you want to confuse the filling with the baptism, Acts 2.

There’s no place any better than Acts 2 to go straight to hell in that Bible.

And, brother, all over this country. They’re all over this country. Now, question: Mr. DeMichele.

There isn’t one case in the word of God where anybody was ever saved according to Acts 2:38, except in Acts 2:38 and 39. Nobody. If you repented right now and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, you’d go straight to hell. Cause that isn’t how you’re saved.

Question: How is the Body the same as the local church in Acts 2?

Answer: Well, because the saved people are all there in one group together, and when the Holy Spirit descends there and cements them into one body, the Holy Spirit comes on a local church.

Question: All the members of the Body are there?

Answer: All the members of the Body the Holy Spirit comes on. You don’t read about Pentecost in Rome. Don’t you remember those fellows who got saved in the Old Testament sent in Acts chapter 19, and weren’t at Pentecost? You know what happened to them? They didn’t hear whether there was any Holy Ghost or not. Paul had to lay hands on them!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Question: Do you think the people here in Acts 2 couldn’t be saved unless they were baptized?

Answer: They couldn’t get the Holy Spirit if they weren’t baptized. The verse says, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” If you don’t get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, you do not get the gift of the Holy Ghost. Amen?

Now, I know the Baptists don’t teach it that way. But we’re after the Bible, not the Baptists. In that passage, he said, “Repent...” { Questions being asked.} We’re going to have to hang it up here somewhere, brother. We’re not even to Acts 2 yet, and we’re not even through Acts 1. “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Right? That’s accepting the Holy Ghost on condition of water baptism. That’s where every Church of Christ preacher lives and dies and goes to hell in Acts 2:38. He thinks if you’re not baptized according to Acts 2:38, you don’t have the Holy Spirit.

He’s right!—if Acts 2:38 is the plan of salvation. He’s right.

But it’s not the plan of salvation!

Galatians chapter 3 says — turn to it! — we’re never going to make it tonight. Now, you all want to know too much too quick! And in knowing too much too quick, you’re going to miss what you ought to know and come back and have to get it later. Galatians 3:14. We’re not even to Acts 2 yet. But, before all these questions, my dearly beloved brethren, have you yet grasped the fact that that’s four operations in one? Have you got that down? I gave you the Scripture! How did you miss it? I gave you the verses. Did you write down the verses? You’re gonna need ‘em! You’re gonna need the verses on Acts 2 being four things at one time. You’re gonna need ‘em. You’re gonna need that worse than any question you’ve asked in the last fifteen minutes. It’s a promise, Luke 24. It’s an enduement of power, Luke 24. It’s a baptism, Acts chapter 1. And, it’s a filling, Acts chapter 2. Now, you’re gonna need that. You’re gonna need that like a drowning man needs water, because they’re telling you, “Well, if you don’t talk in tongues, you’re not filled with the Spirit.”

All right, Galatians chapter 3, now, verse 14. Now let’s see how you receive the Holy Ghost. Galatians 3:14: “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit” by being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Right? WRONG! “We might receive the promise of the Spirit through” what? “...faith.”

That’s not Acts 2:38! That’s Galatians 3:14.

Question: Acts 2:38 almost is like John’s baptism, isn’t it?

Answer: Yes sir. It’s so close to that, that actually Simon Peter’s Pentecostal water baptism is almost just a continuation of John’s baptism. It’s for Israel.

All right, we’ve got to close here. We’ll take Acts chapter 1, and get down here to verse 5. And it says this: “For John...” see how close those are connected? “John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” So it is a baptism of the Holy Ghost in Acts chapter 2.

Now, there’s something missing from Luke’s statement there in verse 5. When John—you remember what he said there? “John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost”? What did that original statement say in Matthew 3? It said “with the Holy Ghost and fire.”

Go back to Matthew chapter 3:11. And notice some of that thing has been missing out of there. So the Holiness people will tell you, “I’ve got the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. The Holy Ghost and fire.” He’s gonna get the fire. And the symbol for a Pentecostal church is a little ol’ red flame. You ever see that down in front of that Pentecostal church? And the United Methodist Church? Where the homos are? That’s that Glide Memorial they’ve got out in San Francisco.

All right, Matthew 3:11: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost,...” comma “...and [with] fire.” See that? Now, when that’s quoted in Acts chapter 1, verse 5, it just says, “Holy Ghost” — no fire.

Which shows you the fire baptism is what you do NOT want!

In Matthew 3, verse 12, the fire is unquenchable, burning up unsaved men, and in Matthew 3 verse 10, the fire is where bad trees are hewn down and burned.

So, if there’s anything you don’t want, it’s the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire! That’s just what you don’t need!

The eternal flame — it’s a hell flame is what it is!

All right, we’ll close here now in verse 5: “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” OK, we’ll stop there for tonight.

That coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 is unlike His coming any other place at any other time in the history of the world. The Corinthians are baptized with one Spirit into one Body, and they certainly were not filled with the Spirit. The Ephesians weren’t filled with the Spirit; Paul said, “Be ye filled with the Spirit.” You can be baptized with the Holy Spirit and not filled with the Spirit. You can be saved and need an enduement of power and not have an enduement of power. And you can get an enduement of power, but it’s not the baptism of the Holy Spirit! See? Now, you’ve got to get that thing. In Acts chapter 2, they’re all together, and after that, they’re never the same again.

All right, now, two things before we go tonight. I need somebody to help make those slides. Brother Bayer, you gonna help us on that? And Brother Alvarez, you’ve got some equipment you can help out on that? Well, if you guys get together and see Brother Mitchell about how much the Institute will pay, I need to get that started right away, and I’ve got 400 pictures for you to begin to work on, and I’ll have 400 more for you later.

And, now the next thing is, is there a plumber in the house? I have a leak in my bathtub that’s running hot water where the thing all the way in cannot stop it. Who’s the plumber? Brother Bayer again. All right. Have you got class on until 10 o’clock tonight? You do. Well, is there any time you can get some time off tomorrow? We’re losing about 20 gallons a day, I guess. Have you got time tonight? Could you come down there tonight and look at it? OK, tomorrow. When you get time. That lefthand handle of that hot water comes clear across and shuts tight and keeps right on running. And doesn’t drip at the handle. It drips at the spout. So there’s no warm water for shaving, and none for dishes. It all runs out of the hot water heater about ten gallons a day. And I haven’t got the time, and haven’t got the know-how, but would be glad to pay somebody that does.

All right, anything else? Now, you all are up for a pretty rough start here for Acts. You want to jump here and gobble the whole thing up at one time. You’re not going to be able to do it. And it’s a rough Book! Have you got that settled in your mind yet? It’s a rough Book! And we’re going to take Acts chapter 1, one verse at a time. You got to get in there and move in there slow, see. Move in there slow.

Question: Will we get through the whole Book this year?

Answer: Yeah we will, but in the commentary I just wrote on Acts, I got it out now, they gave me a copy down there in Palache, and the commentary on Acts is 600 pages. And the first 250 are on Acts 1 and 2. So there’s 250 pages on Acts 1 and 2, and there are 350 pages on Acts 3 to 28. Now, that’s how much is in there, brother!

Question: What’s the difference in the church of God in the Bible, and today’s “Church of God”?

Answer: Well, the difference is the church of God where Paul uses it is a reference to the Body of Christ. A local church can be any assembly of saints anywhere.

All right, we’ll close for now.

For forty days, and He’s been teaching about the kingdom of God, pertaining to the kingdom of God, but specifically the kingdom of God that will appear when the kingdom of Heaven appears. That is, the kingdom of God will show up at the Advent. Now, he says in verse 6, “When they therefore were come together,...” the disciples “...they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Now, notice all that talk of “kingdom” back there in verse 3 leads them to expect that Israel’s going to get the kingdom back. Now, Israel lost the kingdom way back in the Old Testament. And the last king they had was in Jeremiah 22.

In Jeremiah 22 God took the kingdom from the Jews. And in Jeremiah 22, at verse 30, the Lord tells them that Jeconiah is the last king that Israel is ever going to have. Jeremiah 22, verse 30: “Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man [that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” That means that if Jesus Christ had a human father, the Lord lied. Did God promise to give Jesus Christ David’s throne? Sure He did! But Jeremiah 22 verse 30 says no man that descends from the kings of Judah can get on that throne. Jeconiah was a king from Judah, Jeremiah 22:28, called “Coniah.” And if Jesus Christ had a human father, the Lord lied, because the Lord said that from after Jeconiah, no man from that fellow’s line is going to get on the throne.

But Christ is going to get it!

Therefore that’s one of the greatest proofs of the virgin birth in the Bible is Jeremiah 22 verse 30.

All right, back to Acts chapter 1, verse 6: “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Now when Jeconiah’s back there, that’s ‘way back there somewhere around 606 B.C. And this time you’re reading here is 33 A.D. So, from 606 B.C. to 33 A.D., Israel did not have the kingdom. It was gone. And they want to know if, at this time, are you going to give the kingdom back to us?

And He says this: “And he said unto them,...” No, I’m not! Is that what He said? Is that what He said? That isn’t what He said. Now, if you pick up 35 commentaries, you’ll see that. You pick up 35 commentaries, and they’ll all say, “The Jews did not understand the spiritual nature of the kingdom. In their carnal unbelief, they were looking forward to the earthly, literal, physical reign, and too bad the great truths of the spiritual kingdom were not revealed in these dumb, stupid Jews asking this stupid question.”

They’re not asking a stupid question!

Turn to Daniel. God promised them He would give them the kingdom! Daniel. They had every right to expect the kingdom to come. And they had every right to expect the kingdom to come with Christ. Daniel 2. Daniel 2:44. Daniel 2:44. That’s a perfectly legitimate question. Daniel 2:44: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people.” See that thing? God will set up a kingdom, and it won’t be left to other people; it will be given to the Jews.

Look at Daniel 7. Daniel 7, verse 18. Every Jew there has a perfect right to ask, “Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Daniel 7:18: “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” See that business?

So it is the kingdom! Verse 27. Daniel 7:27: “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom.”

So these Jews believed the Bible literally, and they were right. And they had a right to expect a literal kingdom, because it’s prophesied.

All right, back to verse 6, Acts 1:6. It’s not a stupid question; it’s an intelligent question. “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Now, notice the answer. The answer isn’t, “No.” The answer isn’t, “Never.” The answer isn’t, “Why, you stupid meatheads, don’t you understand it’s a spiritual kingdom?” That isn’t the answer. The answer is, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

It’s postponed!

He doesn’t tell them it’s going to come then or come later. And the reason why He doesn’t is, up until Acts chapter 7, it could have come at any time—right then, like I’ve taught you. John the Baptist said the kingdom of Heaven’s at hand. It’s at hand, it’s at hand, it’s at hand, it’s at hand. He wasn’t lying.

And so I’ve taught up until Acts chapter 7, that any time the Lord can come back and set up the kingdom, and the kingdom is only postponed after Acts 7.

At the time this thing takes place here, there’s no postponement. So He just said, “That’s not for you to know. I’m not going to tell you.”

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:...” then it’s an enduement of power, as I’ve taught you “...and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” All right, that’s what we call the Great Commission, or it’s at least like Matthew 28. And the idea is, you start here at home base, and then you spread out. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And that’s the order in which the commission goes out.

All right, application. For a Christian, you should be a witness to the Lord, you’re to be the Lord’s witness both to Jerusalem—that’s your home town—and all Judea—that’s your county and your whole neighborhood—and in Samaria—that’s the state you live in—and to the uttermost parts of the earth—that’s anywhere the Lord sends you.

Now, the order of witnessing for a Christian is, start where you are. Witness to your family. Your wife, your husband, your children, your mother and your father, your kinfolk, and if they don’t take it, nextdoor neighbors. If they don’t take it, go down two blocks. If they don’t take it, go down five blocks. If they don’t take it, go out the city limits. If they don’t take it, go to the next town. If they don’t take it, go on to the next one.

The missionary call, the missionary commission, is the imperative for every Christian. The Lord will stop you where He wants you stopped. You begin to witness, you just keep witnessing, and the Lord stops you. And where He stops you, that’s where your work’s going to be.

My attitude toward it is, every Christian out to start preaching like he is going to preach to the North Pole. And just start where you are, and just keep going and keep going and keep going until the Lord stops you. And if He wants you in a foreign field, He won’t stop you until you get to the foreign field.

Question: If things are going really well where you are, is that proof that you’re right where the Lord wants you to be?

Answer: Well, you can’t be too sure of that. Turn to Acts chapter 8, and notice sometimes the Lord will call you away right in the middle of a revival. Acts chapter 8, verse 25: “And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.” They’re having a revival up here, great joy in that city, verse 12, verse 14. Then he says, verse 26: “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.”

But, of course, that wasn’t a permanent thing. He probably went right back to Samaria.

Now, I can’t tell you how to know when the Lord stops you. I can’t tell you how you know it. I haven’t been stopped yet. I’m still going. I know where home base is, now. Now. I didn’t know till I was 40 years old. So don’t be in too big of a hurry.

Question: This commission in Acts 1 is not the same thing as the Great Commission, though, right?

Answer: Well, most Baptist preachers, when they refer to the Great Commission, they’re referring to Matthew 28:19-20. As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t any such thing as the “Great” Commission. As far as I’m concerned, what we’re supposed to do is do what the Lord said to do, and what He said do is found in about ten different places.

In plainer words, I believe in preaching the gospel and baptizing, Mark 16. I believe in teaching all nations, Matthew 28. And I believe in preaching the remission of sins, Luke 24. And I believe in witness to Christ, Acts chapter 1. And I believe in reconciling folks, 2 Corinthians 5. So, I’ve got five commissions. I wouldn’t pin it down just to one.

All right, Acts chapter 1, verse 9: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” Now, that would shake up your day, wouldn’t it? I mean, suppose you’re talking to somebody, see? And just, He’s just, “Ah, so and so,” and you say, “mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm,” you look up in the air, and He’s going right up, you know.

And so, these new books have a flying saucer coming down and picking Him up, you know, and God drives the flying saucer and all that jazz. There’s nothing to that. There’s nothing to that.

Now, when people talk to you that way, ask them why none of these occupants of the flying saucers talk the way these people talk here.

I read a book where, you know, Ezekiel 1 was a flying saucer? Well, that astronaut in that flying saucer was sure a peculiar character, wasn’t he? That one, that flying saucer occupant in Ezekiel 1, 2, and 3 told Ezekiel to preach to a stubborn, rebellious people, and told ‘em to repent and get right, and after He finished judging them, He’d bring them back to Israel and put them in the land of Palestine. I don’t recall any astronaut talking that way!

I don’t recall any astronaut saying, “You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?”

These little ol’ gods and these little ol’ carts are real quiet about hell, did you notice that? They’re real quiet about the Second Coming of Christ, too!

These guys down in Pascagoula get in this UFO down here, and, you know, they talked about aluminum and electricity, you know, and magnesium and sulphur deposits and power plants. Well, that’s kind of an unimportant matters. How about the Second Coming of Christ? Whatever them things are that fly them things, they’re not very Biblical.

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven...” There’s your first Heaven, see? Clouds! “...as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel.” Now, these are probably two angels. Angels are young men, and there are two young men at the head and foot of Jesus where He was buried in Luke 24.

Some people think it was Moses and Elijah, because they were two men who stood on the mount of transfiguration with Christ when He was transfigured.

Well, I’m inclined to say angels, because Moses and Elijah were identified, but these angels aren’t identified.

“Behold, two men.” Notice, angels are men. They’re not sexless. And notice they don’t have wings.

“Behold, two men stood by them in white apparel.” Now, compare this with Luke 24. And remember that Luke wrote both of these. Luke 24, and in Luke 24, look at verse 4. Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke, and he also wrote Acts. All right, Luke 24, verse 4: “And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.” Acts: “two men...in white apparel.” So, my guess is they’re probably angels.

All right, the Book of Acts chapter 1, verse 11: “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?” Heaven’s up.

“This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” All right, “this same Jesus taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as.” And whenever God says “like” or “as,” then that fixes it. That settles it. There are no similitudes in the Bible that aren’t scientifically accurate. Whenever God says “as” or “like,” it’s going to come in right on the money.

The Lord says, “Hell is like a city dump.” So they are right similitude.

An unsaved woman is like a pig — correct similitude. An unsaved man is like a dog — correct similitude. Unsaved religious leaders are like snakes — correct similitude. Unsaved people after the flock are like wolves — it’s a correct similitude. If the Lord ever says “as” or “like,” it’s always right on the money.

So, He says He’ll go up, “he was taken up,” He’ll come “like”, “as” you saw Him go up.

All right, if that’s true, when Jesus Christ comes to this earth, He will come from outer space. He’ll be the man from outer space. And He will come back. And when He comes back, He’ll come down out of the air, and when He comes down out of the air, He will land on the Mount of Olives, Zechariah chapter 14. Zechariah 14. He will come back in like manner as you saw Him go. Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14, verse 3. Zechariah 14, verse 3: “Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east.” So He’ll come back in the same place.

Question: Will He get off a horse?

Answer: He’ll have to get off a horse. Yep. He comes on a horse, He’ll have to get off the horse. When He gets off the horse, and His feet hit that ground, that ground will split open.

Question: Can you tell the difference between an Assyrian and a Galilean?

Answer: I’m sure an angel could.

Question: But we couldn’t?

Answer: Not unless you lived over there. If you lived over there very long, you could tell the difference. You’d have to live there a long time. By the time I lived in the Orient three years, I could tell you the difference in sight between a Chinese, a Korean, a Japanese and a Filipino — in just one look. But I couldn’t now. I couldn’t now. It’s been, oh, nearly 30 years since I’ve been over there, and I couldn’t tell you now. But, if you stay over there with them, you can tell. And it’s the same way with the Near East. If you lived in the Near East, you could tell the difference between a Turk and a Lebanese and a Syrian and a Jew and an Egyptian and an Arabian. But, boy, if you didn’t live over there, you couldn’t tell.

Same way in the States. I’m getting it back now. I lost it a couple of years. I didn’t go out as much as I’ve been going out. But when I was a full-time evangelist for twelve years, I could tell you the difference between somebody from Pennsylvania and Indiana and Michigan. Those three states, see, are right up there together. But the people — they do not talk the same in those three states.

And there’s a difference between folks from Virginia and Carolina and Alabama. And I’m getting, right now, I’m beginning now to pick up the difference between the ones in Texas and Louisiana and Mississippi. And they’re different, but you have to be a long time to get the distinctions. Uh, the Texans have a very peculiar brogue. I can’t imitate it, but I know it when I hear it. And, from keeping the kips pursed like this when they talk. And Westerners from Kansas, and in through there, they’re easy to spot — they talk out of the corner of their mouth, right out here. “And the board walk, and he’s been a long ways,” right out here. And in Norfolk, in Virginia, it’s English: “It’s the bawd, the bawd walk.” And it’s “boot.” How boot that? And “oot.” “I’m going oot.” “Oot.” “Oot.” That’s that English blood in through there, see?

And those folks up in New England, man, that’s a ghastly accent. “Going don to Cincinnahttti.” Through Connecticut and Massachusetts, you know, the Kennedy — that is the most nauseating accent.

In New York, you hear ‘em, man. “Ahhh, sheddd ep!” You know! “Ahh, what’re ya doin’ around here! Get out, yer crying in the soup, man! Ahh, shet yer mouth, shet yer yap!” you know!

Southerners, they’ve got a dialogue. But they’ve got one up there too, boy! I’ll tell you, them folks in Chicago got one too, man. Don’t think they don’t.

All right, 1:11. I got a friend here in town named Wells, and he has never been up North before. And he went up North one time after he was full grown, about 35, and came out of Grand Central Station. He was a typical Southerner, you know, raised in the Carolinas, and right down here in Pensacola, and first time he had ever been up there. And he came out of that train through Grand Central Station, everybody talking loud, you couldn’t get much dialect worked. But, stepping out there on the street, he just happened to see some guy kicking a guy out of a store. And the first words he heard in New York was, the guy getting kicked out was saying, “Well, gee whiz, Charley, I didn’t mean to have you take it that way!”

And the guy said, “Ahhhhh, shed upppp!”

And that was his introduction to Yankees. “Ahhh, shut up!!”

That’s Yankee for “hush up,” you know. “Shut up!” And they say it a little bit different down in Carolina.

All right, 11: “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 go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.” That Sabbath’s day journey is not given here; it’s about one-and-a-half miles, and it had to do with a regulation in the Old Testament the rabbis cooked up about how far a fellow can travel on the Sabbath day.

Which reminds me. We hit a passage in, what were we studying? Matthew? About the disciples going through the corn eating. And I made some remark about the rabbis had invented something about a fellow not being able to move from his place on the Sabbath. Well, I found that thing the other day in Exodus, and it was a regulation. It was a regulation out in the wilderness. Go back to Exodus for just a minute, and I marked that thing when I saw it. All right, around Exodus 22 or 23, someplace. Somebody find there some place that says something about; it isn’t 23, it’s 12. A verse like that. 23:12. Well, rats! What is it? That sounds like it. It had to do with the manna. Yeah, that’s it right there. Exodus 16:29: “See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” That’s what those rabbis are putting on Christ in Matthew about the disciples going to the corn fields. But you can see that that regulation there in Exodus 16:29, number one, had to do with the wilderness, and, number two, had to go out with collecting the manna. And they had no manna after they entered the promised land. The manna ceased the day they crossed Jordan. So, putting that regulation on a fellow, see, is improper.

All right, back to Acts chapter 1, verse 13: “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room,...” they’re always trying to locate it, but nobody knows exactly where it is “...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.” That’s the other Judas, not Iscariot. And that’s probably the Jude that wrote your Epistle at the end of your Book.

“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women,...” Women were in the prayer meeting too.

“And Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” Now, that’s the last mention of Mary in the Bible. “And Mary the mother of Jesus.” That’s the last time she shows up, right there. The last time you find Mary, nobody’s praying to her, she’s praying with the other people. The last time you find Mary, nobody’s asking her nothing. Nobody in the Bible ever asks Mary’s opinion about anything. If they’ve got a problem, she’s the last one in the world that they ask to get any help on it. All this business about, you know, consulting Mary and finding out what Mary wants — nobody asks her for the time of day. And Mary, the last time you read of her, she’s just a woman up there with a bunch of women in a prayer meeting.

1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

16 Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.

18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

19 And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

22 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.

23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all [men], shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

25 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said,...” for emphasis: “(the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,).” That indicates they had some way of keeping the roll call; it doesn’t say how they did it. But it indicates they had some way of taking care of the membership.

And then notice it’s general: “(The number of names together were about...” It isn’t just, you know, just one, two, three, four — it’s about. “About an hundred and twenty.”

And Peter says this: “Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.” Quoting Psalm 41:9.

“For he was numbered with us.” He wasn’t one of them, but he was numbered with them.

“For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity.” Well, he didn’t purchase it directly. What happened was, he sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, and those priests took the thirty pieces of silver and bought the field when they found out they couldn’t put the money in the treasury. But, you might say, he bought it by proxy, so Peter says he purchased the field.

“Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity” — for thirty pieces of silver — “and falling headlong,...” that is, into the field “...he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”

All right, then, when Judas died, he fell, and split open in the middle, and all his insides came out.

Come to Matthew 27, and notice this had to happen after he hung himself. Matthew 27 verse 5. Matthew 27 verse 5. Watching the expositors trying to figure that thing out is the funniest thing you ever saw in your life. I finished that commentary on the Book of Acts and picked up seventeen commentators — and, boy, you talk about confusion! Someone had him tripping on the way to hanging himself, some guy betrayed him and the rope broke, and he fell down, you know, six feet, and busted open. Crazy stuff. One of them had him hanging himself and then leaning forward and fell down with the rope tied around his neck.

But it’s much simpler than that. Twenty-seven, verse 5: “He...departed, and went and hanged himself.” And, when he was hanging out there on that tree, look what happens in 27 verse 51. The same day. Twenty-seven:51. He’s shaken down! An earthquake! He’s pitched off that thing, and pitched down in the valley of Gehenna, and breaks and busts open down at the bottom of the valley.

All right, Acts chapter 1, verse 18: “And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.” Notice how the word “bowels” is used; anything inside you. The inside of a thing. Which is the correct usage.

“And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field” — it’s south of Jerusalem — “is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.” That’s a Hebrew word. “Dama” — “blood.” It’s a plural word. “Bloods.” “Acaldama” — “the field of blood.”

“For it is written in the book of Psalms,...” Psalm 109, verses 6-8. Psalm 109:6-8. “Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.” An Old English word for a diocese that a bishop has control of. His diocese, his parish.

“Wherefore of these men which have companied 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.” All right, the problem is, get a replacement for Judas. The replacement has to be somebody that’s with the Apostles from Matthew 3 up till then. And he had to be a witness; he had to be somebody that saw Jesus Christ to take Judas’s place.

Now, let’s go back to Psalm 109 for a minute, and look at Judas a little more closely. In the Old Testament, Judas is revealed as the Antichrist. Psalm 109, verse 6. Psalm 109, verse 6. Everything from verse 6 to verse 19 is on the Antichrist. Psalm 109, verse 6: “Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; [and] let another take his office.” So Matthias is getting ready to take his office right now. “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek [their bread] also out of their desolate places.” Boy, what a prayer! Twelve: “Let there be none to extend mercy unto him.” Thirteen: “Let his...generation...be blotted out.” Verse 17: “As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him.” Verse 18: Let cursing clothe him, “come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.” Look at that thing!

That’s a very peculiar expression: “like oil into his bones.” If this guy had bones like iron, I guess he would need oil to lubricate them.

Come to Job chapter 40. Ohhhh, you got the wildest book in print! Job 40, verse 18, on the Antichrist. Look at these bones! Job 40, verse 18: “His bones [are] like bars of iron.”

All right, Zechariah. The Bible is still the wildest thing in print.

Question: What about the “XXXXXX” that people sign their letters with?

Answer: Sure. It’s a double-cross. And when Judas sold Jesus Christ out he kissed Him. So people sign their letters “love and kisses” — XXXX. Right down the line!

All right, Zechariah chapter 11, verse 12. Zechariah 11, verse 12. You still got the Book. There’s plenty in here that hasn’t got out yet. Zechariah 11:13, begin at verse 12: “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give [me] my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty [pieces] of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter.” There’s the potter’s field. “A goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty [pieces] of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” But look at the context! Verse 15: “And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, [which] shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still.” Verse 17; he’s the idol shepherd — I-D-O-L. A reference to the Antichrist — with a bad right arm, and a bad right eye. And the context is Judas.

All right, back to Acts chapter 1, verse 23.

Question: Is there any significance to how he fell?

Answer: Well, I just couldn’t connect it right offhand, except it said he fell headlong; he landed on his head. Now, that’s significant. Because, Goliath is a type of the Antichrist, and he gets a rock in the head. And Sisera is a type of the Antichrist, and he gets a stake in the head. And the Antichrist is said to have his bruised, but then heal.

If I was going to guess, I’d say it’s going to be a double operation. I’m just guessing. If I was going to guess, I’d say when the Antichrist shows up, he’ll come down out of the air, and run three-and-a-half years, and then get killed, and lie in state, and while he is lying in state, that thing will come up from the pit and go into him and he’ll get up from the slab and take over.

You talk about a horror show to watch on television, boy! You imagine the ol’ Pope lying there in state, you know, just stiff, you know, and that Telstar putting that thing all over the world, you know, and all these good, cultured, fine, sweet, nice people sitting down watching a dead man for two hours. Now that funeral, that Kennedy, that was the most obscene, vulgar thing that ever hit the television. Now, what person with any — now, I don’t profess to be a gentleman, but I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, Ia gentleman alongside a lot of folks. Who would sit around and watch a funeral for a dead man for two-and-a-half hours? And just stare at it, you know! What a vulgar thing, man! If I was the one, I’d want it over as soon as possible. I’d, for my loved ones, I’d want the thing opened thirty minutes, or an hour at the most. There were people sitting there watching that thing all afternoon — three hours! Just caskets and dead man’s march, and widows, bring the camera in, look at the tears! And the camera in, look at the suffering family! And the camera in, look at the corpse! That’s a bunch of jaded, perverted people watching that thing, you know that?

And you take that thing, when the Antichrist will be lying there on that slab, and, boy, about that time that spirit of Judas Iscariot will come up out of that bottomless pit, and go in that thing, and thing will just r-r-r-r-ise up off that slab like that, boy!

You talk about putting the terror of God in ‘em! You know what? There’s a great work that’s never been done, but what some guy ought to do is make a two-hour color cartoon movie on the Book of Revelation, like Disney. See? They put that whole thing in there and put music behind it. And you talk about something unique. I mean, out in the world they always want something new, you know. “Come to this movie, the blood, kill, terror, scream, murder, rape,” you know, that’s the name of the movie. Or, the horror of “Blood, Guts, Hell, Kill, Stab, Scream,” you know. They have to get the, you know, the word out there on the arcade to get you to come in. And, if you really want something new and shocking, put that thing on, man! I’ve seen movies advertised, saying, ’t come unless you have a good heart!” “Ambulance attendants will be waiting outside!” You know, yeah, they have that type of movies like that, yeah they do!

You know, if you want the thrill of your life, if you want to be horror-stricken, your scalp will crawl, come see the shocks, thrills, tingles, you know! I never see that without kind of smirking, you know. I think to myself, boy, if the Lord ever gave me the money and the time, I’d give you one with the tingles, man! You get the Book of Revelation, and put that thing in color cartoon with classical music behind it, boy! Show that Antichrist galloping up there on that white horse with his two fingers up, you know. And then death and hell coming up behind him. Show them things coming up out of the bottomless pit with that hair like women, you know. And they all look like Tiny Tim and Alice Cassidy, you know, coming around, “YAAAAA AHAAAAA AHHAAAA!” Put “The Ride of the Valkyries” behind it by Wagner, man!

COMMENT FROM THE CLASS: Right now they’re taking orders for that thing. { Some fair or something.}

ANSWER: That thing always gets us; we’re never prepared for that thing every year. You can’t get a booth, can you? Well, they usually take the orders last year for this year. When is it going to be? About a month? We never could get a booth eight months ahead of time; that would be nine or ten months ahead of them. We need somebody appointed to take care of that every year, because we ought to be in there every year passing out tracts. We did it, when I was down at Brent, we did it every year. We got rid of tracts just like you could — I don’t even know how many; I couldn’t even guess.

All rights, Acts chapter 1, we’ll finish it up. Acts chapter 1:23: “And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed.” Now this here “Joseph called Barsabas” was “surnamed Justus.” There’s a fellow with three names! Joseph; he’s called Barsabas; and his last name is Justus. Joseph Justus, called Barsabas. So you see, you find sometimes names in the Bible don’t match, like in Problem Texts. You ought to remember that a thing doesn’t have to have the same name every time. There’s a fellow in America called Robert Dick Wilson. Now, don’t you know what they call that fellow? Bobby. Robby. Robert. “Hey, Dick!” “Hey, Richard!” “Hey, Rick!” Dr. Wilson. “Willie!” “Bobby Dick.” “Robert Dick.” “Mr. Wilson.” I’ll be that guy has eight different names!

Twenty-four: “And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all [men], shew whether of these two thou hast chosen.” This is a legitimate lot they’re drawing.

“That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell,...” watch it! “...that he might go...” not to hell, but “...to his own place.” All right, then, Judas has a special place, and it’s not hell.

Get John chapter 6 in one hand. And it’s a good thing you have the King James Bible, or you wouldn’t be able to follow any of this stuff. Every verse I’m getting ready to show you is messed around with the new bibles, so you can’t find the cross references. Get John chapter 6 in one hand, and then get Revelation chapter 9 in the other. Now, Revelation 9 is the chapter that Charles Manson used to prove that he was the destroyer, that he was raised up to destroy people. Except Charlie Manson had a Roman Catholic Bible, like the fellow said, one of his buddies that squealed on him. And Charlie Manson’s bible said it wasn’t “Destroyer” in his book, it was something like “Eradicator” or something like that, I forget the name. But it was a different word. Revelation 9:11.

All right, now on Judas, 6:70: “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is...” what? “A devil.” Not the devil. Not filled with the devil. Not devil incarnate. A devil — singular. Then there’s more than one devil. So, when the King James Bible has translated “demons” as “devils,” it is translated correctly. And, when the Scofield board of editors and all the rest of these backslidden fellows found out the word “demonion” is translated “devils,” they said, “Oh, no! It couldn’t be devils, because there’s only one devil but many demons.” That’s a fairy story. They’re all kinds of devils.

Let me ask you this. Is there one Son of God? How many of you say “Yes”? Are you sons of God? Well, there isn’t only one, there’s a lot of them, right? Same way with the devil.

“I’ve chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil.” See that thing right there? When the King James Bible translated “demon” as “devil,” they did that to show you that a demon is always bad. And the reason why they did that is because the Greek philosophers taught that some demons were good and some were bad. As a matter of fact, Socrates and all those guys claimed to have a demon — which I’m sure they did! And they all claimed that demon gave them superior knowledge, and that’s what made them geniuses.

Well, the King James straightened that out. Whenever the King James found it said “demonion,” it said “devil.”

All right, Revelation chapter 9, verse 11: “And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.” Meaning “destroyer.” Now, there’s the king of the bottomless pit. Let’s turn to Revelation 17 and see who he is. He’s an angel, and he’s king of the bottomless pit. It’s his place. Revelation 17. Revelation 17, verse 8: “The beast —” and he told you the beast was a man, Revelation 13, verse 18. Revelation 17:18: The beast that thou sawest was,...” he was a man that was living; “and is not...;” not living when John wrote Revelation; “and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into...” where? “Perdition.” He’s the son of perdition. That’s your man.

So, when Judas died he didn’t go to hell, he went to the bottomless pit. And he went to the bottomless pit because it was his place. And it was his place because he is the king of it. He’s the angel of the bottomless pit.

So Christ said, “I’ve chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil.”

Which gets into all kinds of “Twilight Zone” and “Outer Limits” and “Alfred Hitchcock” and God knows what, because Judas Iscariot was the son of Simon, John chapter 6 verse 71. Which means he had a human birth. But he wasn’t a human being. So, you’ve been watching “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Omen” and the rest of the Hollywood stuff, and they’re getting you ready. And they’re getting you ready so you don’t believe the Bible account when you read the Bible account. The Bible account’s the right one, and their account’s the wrong one.

QUESTION: So Judas had to be the one, right? Now other apostle, but Judas?

Answer: Oh, you mean for selling him out? Well, anybody could have done it. He isn’t named in the Old Testament.

QUESTION: OK, so if one of the other apostles sold Jesus out, Judas still would have been the king of the bottomless pit?

Answer: Yeah, sure, he’d still be a devil, either way.

QUESTION: Is there anything in the Bible that says that Judas was virgin born?

Answer: No, no there isn’t. Although there are some men who are good types of Antichrist who profess to be virgin born. Alexander the Great professed to be virgin born. He was an epileptic and died at 33 years of age.

You can say the angel of the bottomless pit is a devil. But, nope, it’s not Satan. Satan is not the angel of the bottomless pit. Satan is the anointed cherub that covereth.

QUESTION: You say it had to be Judas that’ll be the Antichrist?

Answer: It’ll be his spirit.

If it had been one of the other apostles that betrayed him, Judas would still have been the angel of the bottomless pit, well, that’s true, but you see, it’s a matter of free will. You can’t say a man is predestinated to be damned. Somebody had to sell Christ out — that’s predestinated, because it’s prophesied. But it would have to be the Antichrist. The Antichrist could still come along later and damn the whole world by himself. Didn’t have to be the same.

QUESTION: The person who’s going to be the Antichrist — it is a Jew, isn’t it?

Answer: Yes.

QUESTION: When will he come?

Answer: I don’t know that much about it. He might be here right now.

When the ten kings show up with the Antichrist, there’ll be some wild combination where they can have a human birth and yet they won’t be human beings. That’s it; that’s where we’re going, right down there. He’ll have a man whose body is the body of a pope, the man of sin. He’ll have a soul in him that’s the soul of the Devil. The Devil the father; he’ll have a spirit in him that’s the spirit of Judas Iscariot up from the bottomless pit. He’ll be a trinity. He’ll be the Devil incarnate.

QUESTION: A spirit? Would that be like the spirit of Elijah?

Answer: No, it would be like a real spirit. The Holy Spirit’s in you; that’s a real Spirit. That isn’t just a spirit like in the spirit of Christ in the sense of Christ’s attitude or ministry, but Christ Himself. It’ll be Judas himself in that man.

QUESTION: Will that happen in the Tribulation time, or pre-?

Answer: I sometimes wonder. I tell my students if it’s pre-, we’re in for trouble.

Now, we’ve got to close here in verse 26. It might be “pre-.” We might see some of it before the Tribulation starts. But if it does, our name is “Mudd” with a capital “M”. When I say “M”, I mean you folks sitting right here. Because the Body of Christ doesn’t have that much information; the Devil won’t have to worry too much them. But you folks go around messing around with that Bible, it’s bad!

QUESTION: Does that mean there was no angel of the bottomless pit before Judas?

Answer: No. It means there was an angel down there, and at the time of Christ he came up and became a man — and then went back down. I don’t know how it can happen; I just know it did.

Now, we’ve got to close here. Quickly now, we’ve got a test coming up. Yes?

QUESTION: When Jesus said to Peter that Satan desires to sift him like wheat, could it have happened to Peter?

Answer: I never thought about that, but the usual interpretation is, Satan just wanted Simon Peter to mess him up. And yet, still, there could be something to what you say. Peter might have been a second choice. He’s a leader.

Now, we’ve got to close here. In 26, “And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

QUESTION: On that “bottomless pit,” there’s no indication from Scripture or anything that there’s flames, or it’s like hell, or anything like that. It’s just a place with a name?

Answer: It’s probably hot. He doesn’t say “flames.” It doesn’t say “fire.” But it’s probably hot. Anything down there at the center is going to be pretty hot.

I believe there’s something down there. I’m not going down there to see.

QUESTION: I don’t know if there’s anything to this, but somebody said there are two things that babies are afraid of, and that’s a sudden noise or a fall.

Answer: Yeah, probably, but that’s a natural thing, though. I think the most natural thing it shows us is claustrophobia. Maybe you don’t have it. But I do. I don’t like to go underground for nothing. I wouldn’t be in the submarine corps for nothing, man. I read those things in the Army about those guys’ tunneling operations, tunneling underneath each other to blow each other up, you know, and setting dynamite down in the trenches, and then counter-tunneling, and meeting down there 50 feet below the ground. Man, Itell you, my skin just crawls reading that stuff. There’s something about going down there, I’m no kin to, man! I’m no kin to.

I went to that place, Cascade Caverns, out in, where was that place? Out in Burney, or San Antonio, or something. Went down in there. I had to pray, man, to keep from shaking, boy! I wanted to turn around and run! My little girl’s having a big time, you know, Rachel, “Look, Daddy, there they is, you know!” Yeah, kid, yeah, you know! That little stalagtites or stalagmites down in that wet, dripping water — man, that ain’t the place for me, boy! I get down there, and I peel things!

I wouldn’t take that trip to the moon. You couldn’t give me a million dollars to go to the moon. That’s right! I bet if I got out in that place — I’m an artist, you know, and people think I’m really insensitive, but I’m usually just about ten times as sensitive as anybody of them around. I’m sensitive to light and shadow — and that hum right over there, where that hum. And perspective, and balance, and things. I wish, if I got out in that moon, boy, if there was any spirit there wasn’t the Lord, you talk about feelin’ it, man! I’d get back in that capsule, man, and slam that door, man, and say, “Don’t come in unless you knock, man!”

That’s what an old colored fellow said. He said, “I ain’t goin’ up there.”

They said, “You afraid you’d find something if you got out?”

He said, “No.” He said, “Trouble is, I’s afraid somethin’ might get back in with me!”

All right, next time we’ll have an examination over Acts chapter 1, a brief exam, about a ten-minute exam. You should know all the knew bibles have messed with verse 3. They’ve all messed with verse 3. You should know that. You know where Christ was taken up, verse 12. And you should memorize verse 8. Memorize verse 8. You should know who the author of the Book of Acts is. That’ll be Luke. You should know the correct title for the Book is the Acts of the Apostles. The Acts of the Apostles. You should be able to explain Judas falling headlong and hanging at the same time. You should know the name of the two disciples who were chosen to take Judas’s place. And you should know which one got the place, Matthias.

All right. You should know the last mention of Mary in the Bible is Acts 1:14. The last mention of Mary in the Bible is Acts 1:14. What verse in chapter 1 do all of them change? They take the words “infallible proofs” out in verse 3, out of verse 3.

QUESTION: Could you say something about verse 26, about casting lots?

Answer: Well, casting lots is the Old Testament divinely-ordered way to doing things. The Bible said that casting lots into the lap is man, but the disposing thereof [is] of the LORD. In the Old Testament, when a matter would be settled, it would be settled by lot. When Joshua came in to divide up the land, they drew lots. When they tried to catch Achan, the troubler in Israel, they drew lots. When they wanted to find out who the traitor was on board the ship, they cast lots. And in the Old Testament the casting of lots was done to seek God’s will because it was recognize that there was no such thing as chance; therefore, when numbers or signs showed up, God was the Author of them.

And the reason why it’s no longer legitimate is because people now gamble. And back in these days, nobody’s taking a chance with nothing. They’re seeking God’s face.

And, by the way, that’s what’s wrong with gambling. If you want to know what’s wrong with gambling, it’s the fact that there is no such thing as chance for a Christian. Everything is planned. Therefore, if you just get to fooling around just for luck, to see if it’s good luck or bad luck, what you’re doing is tempting. So games of chance are not for the Christian.

Now, a game of skill, like volleyball, baseball, basketball, golf, chess, checkers — those games are games of skill.

But when you shuffle those cards, you’re depending on chance. And there’s no chance that God isn’t behind.

QUESTION: Weren’t they casting lots with Jesus’ garments when He was crucified?

Answer: Yep. Yep. But, of course, on that particular thing right there, they weren’t gambling. Of course, that’s unsaved fellows. They just were gonna see who was going to get them, that’s all.

Of course, that’s Romans, unsaved Romans. There’s nothing holy about that.

Casting lots is like throwing dice, throwing out colors. You do it in the ball field this day. The guy comes out there for the kickoff and flips that thing up and says “heads or tails.” And the Lord is the Author of how that thing comes out. You believe that, don’t you? There’s no power but the powers that be, and the powers that be are ordained of God. Can’t God make it go either way? Come on, brethren, can’t He? All right.

QUESTION: I was talking to a Pentecostal the other day, and he said that Mary was mentioned as being in the Upper Room, and he takes that thing and runs it down to Acts 2:1, and right there where it starts talking about, “They were all in one place with one accord, and were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues, and everything.” I wanted to take him to 1 Corinthians.

Answer: Don’t take him to 1 Corinthians. Just tell the fellow, “It’s too bad you can’t read, friend.” Look at the verse before 2:1. Say, “Too bad you can’t read your Bible. You fellows all have that trouble.” Look at 2:1. Mary is not there. It’s only eleven of them. The 120 did not speak with tongues. The only people who speak with tongues are twelve Jewish men. Tell your friend he needs glasses. A lot of Holiness people have that trouble.

All right, we’ll take a break.