A.C. Valdez Sr. emphasizes the enduring significance of the Holy Spirit in the church, drawing parallels between the past and present experiences of believers. He recounts the historical misunderstandings faced by early Pentecostals, who were often labeled as fanatics, and contrasts this with the current acceptance of the charismatic movement. Valdez highlights the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, illustrating how it empowers individuals for service and witness, and encourages believers to seek a fervent relationship with God. He also addresses the importance of understanding biblical terminology regarding the Holy Spirit and the necessity of being filled with the Spirit for effective ministry.

I just want to tell you that I look upon this as a great privilege to make some kind of a contribution, such as I'm able, after having ministered all these years in the keeping with the times, charismatic movement, because there's no difference today in this move of the spirit than there was 69 years ago, or even before that. It's the same people, and they received the same experience. There's differences in what we went through by virtue of the fact that we were misunderstood in those early days. And for that reason, we were branded as fanatics. I was called a fanatic before I knew what the word meant. I had quite a time with one fellow one day, and he said, along towards three o'clock in the afternoon, he said, by the way, are you a fanatic? And I thought, that sounds pretty good. I said, yes, I guess I am. So, we were misunderstood, and that, I think, is the big difference. We were branded as fanatics because we were persecuted for what they didn't understand at all. See, now that's the only difference. We got the rotten eggs and tomatoes and vegetables, and you folks today, after 69 years, are looked upon as just way up at the top, with churches valued at $250,000 all the way across the country, and up to $3 million. And that's the difference, my friends. But it's a blessing to me, in particular. See, after all these years, to stand before you with all of this background, experience, and to be able to give you some of the history. Now, I'm not going to give you any history today, I don't think, but I just want to give you some guidelines, and you might say a skeleton of truth on the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and then later on, you that have written out your questions, we'll endeavor to answer as many as we can, up to about 4 o'clock, and it's 20 minutes past 2 now, so you see, we haven't got an awful lot of time. Now, speaking of the Blessed Holy Spirit, we call God the Holy Spirit, because we believe that God was manifest in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and it's one God manifest in three persons, we all believe that, say Amen. Amen. And we find right from the very beginning, the Spirit of the Lord resting upon the face of the waters. That's the first reference in the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis. Now, there's the first reference to the Holy Spirit, resting upon the face of the waters. I remember my dear friend, John Davidson, Dr. John Davidson of Australia, over 50 years ago, when I was there, he said that he went into that word, moved upon the face of the waters, and that it was brooding. So, I gathered from that the brooding presence of the Holy Spirit. The brooding presence of the Holy Spirit, I thought that was a good expression. Then, all through the Old Testament, we find God, the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself through special characters. Now, no different than today, excepting for the fact that He manifested Himself through special characters, under the Old Testament economy. Like, take for instance, Bezalel, in the days of Moses, when they were constructing the tabernacle in the wilderness. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, filled him to give him wisdom and knowledge in the construction of things made of stone, and wood, and brass, and silver, and gold. And He seemed to be at the head of all of the construction work. But isn't it a marvelous thing that the Holy Spirit, God gave the Holy Spirit to Bezalel for that purpose, for construction work. I thought that was marvelous. And then I thought of New Guinea, across from Brisbane, Australia. There, they not only need missionaries to work from village to village, and preach the Gospel to them, in a very simple form, but they need constructors. They need men that know how to work on jeeps, and body building. Because, you know, the missionaries, they went into the canyons, and they found a lot of jeeps that our soldiers left there during World War II. They were rusted, they were just frozen. And they took them apart, soaked them in oil, rasped the rust off, put them back together again, and they're using about 10 of those jeeps now. That our boys had to leave in the canyons there. And so, the Spirit of the Lord came upon an elderly man, 72 years of age, a bad case of heart disease, but he begged to go to New Guinea to work on these bodies, because you could see right through the bodies, they were all rusted through, you could look right through them. And Pastor Greenwood, who was the pastor of Richmond Temple at the time, he said, Brother, we can't let you go. He said, to start with, you have heart trouble. And he said, you're 72 years of age. Well, he said, look, Brother Greenwood, I'm a bodybuilder, and I can go over there and I can put new bodies on those jeeps. And he said, whether you consent to me going or not, he said, I've got to die somewhere, why not die there? I'm going. So he went. He went. I believe the Spirit of the Lord came upon him to do this work. He went over there and he rebuilt those bodies. I want to tell you, they look like new jeeps. So you see, it's amazing how the Holy Spirit can give us wisdom and knowledge to do things like that in construction, in fine inlay work such as they had in the tabernacle in the wilderness. Isn't that a marvelous thing? Then, all the way through the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon prophets, priests, kings, special characters like Samson. Now, you know, there's a lot of folk that believe that Samson was a great big fella. Strong, muscular, rippling muscles. And it's very disappointing to the ladies that like to visit the art galleries and see that great muscular giant that the artists make of him lying down in the lap of Delilah. It's a beautiful picture. I've seen it all over the world. Every time I go to a new country, a large city, I head for the art gallery. I'm not an artist, but I love to look at pictures like that, fine paintings. But you know, I have no indication in the Scriptures that Samson was a great big muscular fella. Whoever told you that he was a great big giant with a lot of muscle? You never gathered that from the Word of God, did you? Of course you never. For that reason, I believe that I have more right to believe that he was a little skinny, frail, maybe sallow complexion, willowy looking, his legs rippled as he walked. See what I mean? Yes. Well, you say, Brother Val, yes. Remember, he killed a lion with his hands. He tore him to pieces just like it was a little tender kid. Remember that he ran down 300 fox. He killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. He'd have to be a giant. Oh, no. The Bible says the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. That's right. According to the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, he chose the weak things of the earth. The things that were not to bring to nothing that are that no flesh should glory in its presence. So I have more right to believe that he was a little skinny guy than you have to believe that he was a great big giant. Because it didn't take his muscle. Whoever could dream of a man fighting with a lion? Impossible. The king of the beasts. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he grabbed that lion, I believe by the tail, and gave him a little jerk and that was the end of him. And maybe he threw him into space and he could be in orbit right now. Who knows? That's right. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. That's what makes the difference, folks. Can you say amen? Praise the Lord. Oh, how I rejoice in this glorious baptism of the Holy Ghost in fire. What is it for? After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, you shall receive power to be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the world. That's what it's for. Every minister of the Gospel should have the baptism of the Holy Ghost to keep people from going to sleep. Amen. Bless the Lord. I've never seen anybody sleeping in a real, honest to God, Holy Ghost meeting where the Spirit of the Lord is moving. Their minds are quickened. We're alert. And we sing these beautiful songs. He love-lifted me. And hallelujah, hallelujah. And so on. And we just revel and enjoy the comfort of the Holy Ghost. No idea, no desire to sleep, I tell you, at a Pentecostal meeting where God is pouring out His Spirit. So all the way through the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was manifested on prophets and priests and kings and special characters. Now under the New Testament economy, it's different. All flesh, the Bible says. Pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. That doesn't mean the ungodly and all, but everyone that has a disposition towards God. Everyone of his own free will that accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. The Holy Ghost manifests Himself to him. It doesn't make any difference about his race, creed, or color. If he has a disposition towards God, if he's hungry and thirsty after the righteousness of Jesus Christ, Jesus said, He shall be filled. Hallelujah. And that's exactly what it takes. It takes a fervent spirit. A fervent spirit to receive the Holy Spirit. That's right. Now this word fervent has its root in the Latin which means boiling hot. It's the effectual boiling hot prayer of a righteous man that availeth much. And boiling hot is 212 degrees. Amen. Don't you ever let anybody tell you that these charismatics are a bunch of ignorant people. To start with, we've got to have 212 degrees. Amen. That's just getting started. Glory to God. We just keep going up from there. Can you say amen? Hallelujah to Jesus. Now the first reference of the speaking in tongues is found in Isaiah. The 28th chapter and the 11th and 12th verse. For with stammering lips and other tongues, for will He speak? And for all that they will not hear Me saith the Lord. Just think of it. He speaks there of opposition to the reception of this wonderful experience. Will I speak? The Holy Spirit speaking through His people. And there's over 750 years between that prophecy and the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians where it refers to this same experience. Which proves Isaiah 28, 11 and 12 is the same as the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians experience. Praise the Lord. Now, the first thing I want to do now is establish the name of this experience. And my reason for that is this. I believe in sticking to Bible names and Bible terms and the language of the Bible. Oh brother, sister, if you just jot down every one of those things, you wouldn't make any mistakes. Where people get into trouble is departing from the language of the Bible. You see? I remember a precious holiness people that used to teach sanctification as a second work of grace which became a substitute for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Now you see, sanctification is a Scripture term. A wonderful Scripture term. And it's a wonderful experience. Sanctification is a progressive work of grace. It starts at conviction and winds up according to God's Word the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. He gave some prophets and teachers and apostles for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry until we come into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. That's sanctification. We start as babes in Christ that desire the sincere milk of the Word and we begin to grow into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. And that's why the apostle says we are His workmanship. Aren't you glad? That you're His workmanship? We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus under good works. We are His workmanship. That means this is the picture. You're the rough stone. Created in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the model. See? The Holy Spirit is the sculptor. And He has His chisel in one hand and His mallet in the other. And He doesn't look at some other preacher. He looks at Jesus the model. Can you say amen? And then He looks at you brother and then look out. The chips begin to fly. Amen. As He begins to shape us and make us look more like Jesus all the time. So sanctification is a progressive work of grace. We walk in the light. In other words, as He is in the light we have fellowship one with the other and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleanses from all sin. So we keep walking in the light. Growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. That's sanctification my friends. But these people called it the second work of grace. You can't find that term in the Bible. But you see how they went astray? See how they went astray? They made that a substitute for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Therefore they never sought the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now sanctification merely means this. Separation for a holy purpose or use. Right? And as we get light on God's Word we are continually being separated from those things that are not for us. That Jesus don't want us to partake of. That He doesn't want us to touch or handle. Amen. Or experience. Hallelujah. And we keep walking in the light and growing in grace. Now sanctification in that light is proper, beautiful, wonderful teaching. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is different. It's an endowment of power for service. And experience subsequent to our conversion. Regeneration. The born again experience. Praise the Lord. And that we need. Whom He justified then He also sanctified. And whom He sanctified then He seals unto the day of redemption. And the seal unto the day of redemption my friends, is the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Now, let's go from there to Matthew 3.11. If you want to jot it down, Matthew 3.11 Mark 1.8 Luke 3.16 Acts 1.4.5 And then Acts 11. Read the whole chapter. That was where Peter was called on the carpet by the brethren at Jerusalem. And he was answering their accusation because he had preached to the Gentiles. He said, while I was yet speaking the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. Then it continued, seeing that God gave unto them the like gift as He gave unto us at the beginning. Who was I that I should withstand God? It amuses me with some Catholics and some Protestants. How can the Lord give that particular organization that's always believed this and that the baptism of the Holy Ghost? I'm not going to argue with the Lord. I take the same position that St. Peter did. Seeing that God gave unto them the like gift as He gave unto us at the beginning. Who am I? A.C. Baldass that I should withstand God. I think the Lord knows what He's doing. Hallelujah! And as far as I'm concerned it's most amusing to hear Catholics their viewpoint about some of the Protestants in this charismatic movement among the Protestants about the Catholics. Some don't think the Catholics are going on fast enough. And others don't think the Catholics don't think that some of the Protestants are going on fast enough. But I want to tell you folks if you're going to look for that kind of trouble you can find it in both. That's right. I know because all of my people are Catholics. See? And I know what my poor old daddy had to go through. That's right. He read in the Bible that there was only one mediator between God and man and that was the man Christ Jesus. Only one! And he began to cry like a baby. You know why? You know why? Yes, sir. Because I want to tell you right now he loved the Virgin Mary and he still, as long as he lived loved the Virgin Mary and why not? And she was honored for the position that God gave her because she was the mother of Jesus. Amen. Conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Virgin Mary. Amen. And so, he got leveled out along that line. But he finally wound up with just one mediator and that was the Lord Jesus Christ, you see. But what a tussle he had. He cried like a baby. This may make you laugh. You shouldn't, but it may. But, you know, he used to cry and say I can't give up that woman as a mediator. I can't do it. And he used to cry like a baby. See what I mean? Now, let me tell you something. Don't you point your finger at the Catholics for being slow. I've been watching the Protestants too and remember, I've taken the position as interdenominational. And I tell you, my position is unique. I can look at the whole picture, see. You'd be surprised what a tough time I've had getting a lot of these Lutherans and Presbyterians under the water. Oh, brother. I remember the head of the youth movement on the Pacific Coast among the Lutherans. It took six months of praying with that man before he decided that the word baptism meant submerged, immersed, dipped. And he used to bring scholarly men, lettered men to me to prove that it could be the other way. See, sprinkling. One time, a great big fellow, very hefty man, lettered gentleman of the ministry, he came to me and he said, Brother Valdes, now you said dipped. Couldn't that have reference to a dipper? I said, my brother, I'd have an awful time getting you in a dipper. And I think he weighed about 350 pounds. Well, so much for that. But you know, he was finally convinced after about six months. Talk about slow going among the Protestants. I want to tell you, they've been plenty of slow giving up their traditions. So let's all be patient with each other. And I remember when he finally came to me and said, Brother Valdes, I'm convinced. I want to be baptized in water. Good. I'm going to have a baptismal service. It was in the Redwood Empire, Eureka. I had a great big Redwood tank. And I said, I'm having a baptismal service tonight. Oh, but he said, Brother Valdes, it's got to be running water. Running water, brother? Well, I said, I have to do something about that then. And then all of a sudden, Eureka, an idea struck me. I said, I'll tell you what we'll do, brother. It's got to be running water. If it's running water, is that all right? He said, yes. I said, I'm going to baptize you last and then I'm going to pull the plug. I said, is that all right, brother? And he looked at me for about a whole minute until I began to get embarrassed. And then finally I said, is it all right? Yes, I guess that'll be all right. As long as it's running water. So I got him under the water, praise the Lord. Symbolic of his death, burial, and resurrection. Identification in his death, burial, and resurrection. A real testimony to the world that we've been planted together with him in the likeness of his death and now we're going to be in the likeness of his resurrection. But how slow. How slow to get that man moving. So let's not be critical with each other. Look, we begin to take on all of this extra thing that we call tradition since we were youngsters. It's been instilled right in us. See what I mean? And I want to tell you, it takes holy ghost conviction, divine revelation, to get it out. Blessed is a man that don't know anything about religion at all and finds the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and receives the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire and a clear vision of walking in the light of God's Word and into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ because it's that plain and simple. That's what it's all about. Now, the name of the experience, Matthew 3.11, Mark 1.8, Luke 3.16, Acts 1.4.5, being assembled together with them, Jesus, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, John indeed baptized you with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. So not many days hence on the day of Pentecost. They received that wonderful Pentecostal experience. Pentecost is not a church. It's an experience. Let everybody say Amen. Amen. And so when you see on a front door a Pentecostal church, that just means that they have accepted this particular truth, the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. And they preach it in that particular place. That's what they mean by that. But it's not a church. It's an experience. Praise the Lord. And a marvelous experience that's supposed to help us to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ as never before. Hallelujah. The Holy Spirit always exalts Jesus. He doesn't speak of Himself. He always speaks about Jesus. So when I hear people that claim to be full of the Holy Ghost and they begin to speak about me, me, me, and I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, done this and I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I know, brother, that they need another dip if they ever did receive something. That's right. Because when the Holy Ghost comes, He comes to exalt Jesus. Can you say Amen? Oh, hallelujah. Jesus is the central attraction. Let everybody say Amen. So the name of the experience is baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. That's the name. And it's everything that the name implies. Baptized, immersed, right there. It's a marvelous experience with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Praise the Lord. And my friends, everything that the name implies was received in the way of experience on the day of Pentecost. And you just listen to it, word for word. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all in one accord. Now that's very necessary. They were all in one accord. Nobody wanted to leave. Nobody was looking at their watches and insulting the preacher by, oh brother, I can't think of anything worse than to look down the congregation when you're about two-thirds through and you see people like this yawning and looking at their watches. I can't feature anything like that on the day of Pentecost or before the day of Pentecost. They were all in one accord. Oh brother, that means that they were there for no other purpose waiting for the descent. This was to be the greatest historical event, my brother, of the church. All in one accord in one place when suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. Now before I go any further, we have preachers today that are lettered men that have only been in the way a short time that's trying to explain scientifically how to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You can't do that. Because when you're explaining scientifically, you're applying your thoughts to the law of the mind. And this experience has nothing to do with the law of the mind, brother. No, sir. I agree with the scientific explanation of the law of the mind when you say that we never say one word unless our mind first suggests it. Then we bring into play our lips, our tongue, our vocal cords, and our breath to bring that word out and to make it intelligible. You see what I mean? Now that's a scientific explanation of how this physical body works and the law of the mind. See? The law of the mind, the physical body cooperating, working together with the law of the mind, you see. That's all right, but that's only applicable to the law of the mind. This physical anatomy, my brother, has nothing to do with the power of God or this experience. Now then, keep that in mind. Keep that in mind. They were all in one accord and in one place when suddenly there came a sound from heaven. Now you try and scientifically explain that sound from heaven. Huh? Try and do that. Sound from heaven is a rushing mighty wind. Try and explain that scientifically. There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. Explain that scientifically. And it sat upon each of them. Now here's the best part of all. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Amen? It doesn't say this drug talking in tongues right away. No, sir. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. I wouldn't give two cents for an experience of stammering lips if you weren't first filled with the Holy Ghost. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as their mentality began to suggest words. Is that it? They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave us. To say that you've got to give a scientific explanation to help poor God do His work makes me feel that the God you're serving is very impotent. He's not my God at all. Hallelujah. My God is sovereign God. Can you say amen? My God is all-powerful. Can you say amen? My God doesn't need your help. Can you say amen? Don't you be discouraged if you just stammered a little bit when you got blessed and somebody said you had the vaccine. Don't you be discouraged because you can't lose anything that God's already given you. But you can add an awful lot to it. See what I mean? God's reservoir of potential along this line, my brother. It's inexhaustible. And it's the high privilege of every Spirit-filled Christian to get a fresh infilling every new day of your life. There's only one baptism, the Bible says. But there's many infillings. After the day of Pentecost, they met together at Jerusalem and they lifted their voices together in supplication. The house shook and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost again. Every new day of your life, my brother, you can have a fresh infilling. And you can keep these rivers of water because that's what it is. St. John 7, 37-39. In that last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me as the Scripture has said, not as some man has said, he that believeth in Me as the Scripture has said, out of his innermost being, shall flow rivers of living water. But thus spake He of the Spirit which they should receive. The Holy Spirit is what He's referring to. Hallelujah. So my brother, it's a river experience. Can you say amen? Hallelujah. It's not a dry experience. And nobody has to tell you when you've received it, Oh, I've seen some of the most pathetic cases. You received, brother, you received. I heard you stammer. I heard. I heard. Oh, did I? I did, did I? Brother, that's really... That's tragic. When God's reservoir is so full. Do you know what's the matter? There's a brother came to me last January at the convention. He said, Brother Valdes, you was up in the state of Washington. And he said, for years I haven't received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I was seeking the Lord. And he said, you came along and you said, do you know why a lot of you folk that have been saved for years and haven't received the baptism, do you want to know what's wrong? And a lot of hands went up. I said, you're too lazy. Of course, you've got to be careful what you say because some people are hypersensitive. He said, Brother, you said I was lazy. And he said, that made me so disgusted. I went home, am I lazy? That's the reason why I don't receive the baptism. I'm lazy? He was lazy spiritually. And he was, there's no question about it. And he said, he made up his mind that he was going to pray through. I don't believe in caring for the baptism of the Holy Ghost to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Do you know what I believe in caring for? To give God a chance to prepare the vessel so that the Holy Ghost can come in. See? That's what you're caring for, Brother. When you're ready. We have the type in the Old Testament why the priest, he had to go to the labor and bathe himself and make himself clean. Physically. Then he had to kill the sacrifice. Then he went into the temple where the blood of this sacrifice, this spotless sacrifice which symbolized the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he began to sprinkle the corners of the altar and the Holies of Holies before the cherubs. And after everything was sanctified and cleaned, then God spoke to the high priest. There was no question about it. He wore a robe. And on the borders of this robe a pomegranate and a bell alternately all the way around the border of his robe. And when God received the sacrifice and everything, the temple was cleansed, sanctified, set apart for a holy purpose or use. Then God Almighty began to settle down upon the priest in the temple. And he began to shake under the power of God just like Pentecostal people do today. That's right. And what happened? The pomegranates and the bells began to ring. And the Israelites were listening on the outside to see if their sacrifice had been accepted. And when they heard the bells ringing, brother, there was a big shout in the camp of Israel. Likewise, my friends, today the temple must be clean. God does not live in temples made with hands. I don't care how beautiful the building is, brother. God's not going to make that His temple. That was under the Old Testament economy. But under the New Covenant, ye are the temples of the living God. As God has said, I will walk in them. Isn't that marvelous? I will dwell in them. They shall be My people. I shall be their God. Come out from among them therefore, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. And I will receive you. And I will be unto you a Father. And you shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Isn't that beautiful? Whoo! I'm about to have a spell, and I'm teaching this afternoon. Glory be to God. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, let's get our hands up and praise Him. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, glory to God. Glory to God. Wonderful to be in Your presence, Lord. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Amen, Jesus. Glory to God. Now, I just want to say one more thing. And then I'm going to ask one of the ushers to pick up the questions, and I'll endeavor to answer the questions. But I want to speak to you for a few moments on the emotional side of this experience. One of the things that we've been accused of, and it's so ridiculous, it'll make you laugh, and I hope you do. I hope you laugh. I hope you laugh hard to laugh when I tell you about it. One of the accusations is that we're just ignorant people, uneducated, we don't know any better, and we're extremely emotional. We're emotional. And that's what makes us fanatics, you see. We're emotional. That's why we make a lot of noise. That's why we praise the Lord out loud. Emotional. Now listen, from the beginning of this outpouring in 1906, 69 years ago, that was the main charge, they're just a bunch of emotional people. I want you to watch this. You know what? A lot of folk ought to do, that go to church, they ought to make a lot of word study. Just take out your dictionary and get the definition of words. What's wrong with emotion? What is emotion? Listen to the definition. Any strong movement. Well, I hope this is a strong movement. They call it the third world power movement, today. So it's got to be pretty strong to call it that. Think of it. Any strong movement, perturbation of the conscious mind. Now watch. The power of feeling. You want to do away with that? Power of feeling so you can't feel nothing at all? Listen to this. Sentiment is the next one. Do you want to do away with sentiment? You take sentiment out of a football game rather than nobody would go. They wouldn't go to watch a boxing bout if there wasn't a lot of sentiment. No, sir. You picked your man and possibly you're betting on that man and there you are and you want to see him win. Sentiment. Sensibility. Do you want to do away with sensibility? Not unless you want to be a 100% nut. Sentiment. I like that definition. Because that's emotion. Now look, brother. When you come to church, don't have any sentiment. Sit there like a dodo. Yes. Sit there like a marble stature and don't you dare even smile because you're a real good Christian, see? You're not supposed to have any sentiment at all. The only time you have sentiment is possibly when you're in the dining room and you want to be sure that everything is just exactly the way you want it. Isn't that right? How many times have you sent the hotcakes back when they were almost white on one side? That's right. You have sentiment there, don't you? Oh, yes. On the outside of the church, brother. Football games, baseball games, boxing matches, anything like that. Swinging some other man's wife around in the ballroom with your arms around her. That's alright. You can be plenty emotional, sentimental about that. You take sentiment out of any of those things and do you think you'd be hopping around in a dance hall without any sentiment? You're getting started. Start laughing. That's good. That's what I want you to do. A preacher over in Australia when the great revival broke out there 51 years ago. That was in 1924. He said, the trouble with these people, they're emotional people. Wasn't that smart? And he was a lettered man. Lettered man! And one of the members that got acquainted with us at Richmond Temple in Melbourne, Australia. He had been to the races. They're great for horse racing over there. And there was this preacher. And he had his horse picked. And this horse's name was Windbag, he said. And Windbag was coming around on that last lap and was just a nose short of being ahead of the other one. You know, catching up to the other one. And he began to go this way. Come on, Windbag, old girl! Come on, Windbag! And the first thing you know, he said, he began to jump about that high. Windbag lost. And then next Sunday, he got up in his church and he said, I warn you, my friends, against this emotional religion. I knew you'd laugh. I hope you laugh on your way home about this and I hope you wake up at nighttime and laugh about it. And I hope when you wake up in the morning you laugh some more about it because it's downright ignorance from lettered people. When the day of Pentecost fully came, the Spirit of the Lord came on His disciples. There was noise abroad. The multitudes came together. And when they saw the 120, they were going like this and talking in tongues. Whee! Woohoo! And you know what happened? They said, they're drunk with new wine. That was the accusation. Peter stood up and he said, these are not drunken, as you suppose. See, it is but the third hour of the day. The wine that they drank, they could start in at 6 o'clock in the morning and drink till 9. It wouldn't hurt them. And that was his argument, you see. They're not drunk, as you suppose. See, it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which is spoken of by the prophet Joel. It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old man shall dream dreams. Your young man shall see visions. And upon my handmaids and handservants will I pour out of my Spirit in those days and they shall prophesy. Hallelujah. That was the answer that Peter gave. Hallelujah. I'd like to see everybody from the President of the United States, the whole Senate chamber, and all of the House of Representatives, every judge from the highest court in America to the justice courts drunk in the Spirit. Wouldn't you? Amen. We'd have efficient law enforcement then. Amen. We wouldn't fear man or devil. And instead of it being like it is today, the police are scared of the people. Instead of the people being scared of the police. And there's no respect, no reverence at all. Oh, brother. Thank God for reality. Let everybody say amen. God bless your dear hearts. Now I've just given you a few guidelines. There's questions possibly that I haven't answered. But if the brethren will pick up those questions, we'll pick up at random one at a time and endeavor to answer these questions. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Amen. I don't know of any more important business than this. I want to tell you, God wants us all to be filled with the Holy Spirit nowadays because the big storms are just ahead of us. And according to my Bible, your Bible, we're going to be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. If ever we needed the power of God, it is now. This one is if one has been sprinkled for baptism on a small child. Is this the baptism in water the Bible speaks of? No. No. Because it's called believer's baptism. A baby can't believe. Now that should be a clear answer. A clear answer to you. A baby cannot believe. It's believer's baptism. You see. And so, when that child reaches the years of accountability and is responsible for the mistakes he makes, he's got to answer for himself. He's got to believe for himself. So, baptizing a baby can't be called believer's baptism because that child, that infant, hasn't got the capacity, the mental capacity to believe. Or should one be, this brother says, dunked in water for baptism. Well, yes, you should be dunked. Amen. All the way under. Because if you don't go all the way under, and incidentally, since I believe that it's symbolic of his death and burial, if I baptized you, and just the end of your nose was sticking out, you go down the second time. Is it possible to have the Holy Spirit after water baptism and not be able to speak the tongue? I don't quite understand this, but it's possible to receive the baptism after water baptism. Sure. Some have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost before water baptism. Now, you notice that in the Scripture. While Peter was yet speaking to the Italian group, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. They hadn't been baptized yet. And so, Peter said, Can these forbid water that have already received the Holy Ghost now? And he commanded them to be baptized in water. So, whether you're baptized with the Holy Ghost before water baptism, you must be, in any event, be immersed in water. Because the Scripture says, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Now, it's not the water that saves you, but it's the act of obedience. You see, if we walk in the light, the blood cleanses. Can you say, Amen? That's the whole point, you see. The blood stops cleansing the moment you stop walking in the light of God's Word. Isn't that marvelous? You see, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the blood of Jesus are inseparably working together to save us and to keep us saved. Get that now. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And, as we walk in the light of God's Word, John says, The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth. That word, cleanseth, is in the present tense in the Greek. And literally means, as you walk in the light, there's a continuous flow of the precious blood of Jesus upon your soul. If you believe the Word. Praise the Lord. Please explain, slain in the Spirit. Well, did you get that out of the Bible? Slain in the Spirit. It's a common expression that's being used by a lot of folk. They were slain under the power of God. So, don't give it a Biblical position. I don't know of any place in the Scripture where it says they were slain in the Spirit. Saint Paul, on his way to Damascus, to persecute God's people. A light shone around about him above the brightness of the sun, and he heard the voice of Jesus saying, Paul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It's hard for you to kick against the bricks. And he fell off of his horse, onto the ground. Now, a lot of people would say, he was slain under the power of God. But since it's not a Biblical expression, what do you say, let's pass it on. If you are touched, and tears just start to flow down your face, is this a feeling of the Holy Spirit? Especially, in song. It could be, if you're singing hymns, it could be. On the other hand, there's no way to know, excepting, you, your own self. You know what your attitude is towards God, you see. But, I know of a lot of folk that cry because, they feel sorry for themselves. See what I mean? So, the fact that you shed tears, doesn't mean that you're under Holy Ghost conviction, or that it's a work of the Spirit. On the other hand, if you're a normal, Christian walking in the light of God's Word, and you're singing hymns, I cry an awful lot. I don't care brother, I'm not ashamed of these tears. I feel so much better when I cry. It makes me feel real good. And I tell you, it's so unlike me. Remember, I had to start making my own living, when I was six years old. My father was invalid. I was supporting my mother and father when I was 11. That's right. When I was 12, I weighed 172 pounds, I was able to work, and so I was very independent, and I didn't cry because, it didn't do me any good to go to my mother and cry, she couldn't help me out. I was helping myself. Helping them too. So I guess I was pretty hard, you see. What I mean? But look brother, when Christ came into my life, He took out the heart of stone, and gave me a heart of flesh. Hallelujah. And my sentiments began to run in that direction, don't you see? The love of Christ. How good He was, when I was hateful, when I was full of bitterness, and wrath, and evil speaking. Anything but good. But it was then, that He saved my soul, and the more I thought about it, the more I loved Him, and the more I sang about it, the more I wept about it, and felt good about it. So under normal conditions, if you know that you have a conscience, void of offense towards God and towards your fellow man, and you're walking in the light of God's Word, it's perfectly normal, for you to feel deeply sentimental about this, and don't never be ashamed of tears. We need more tears today. Do you believe that? Will our families be saved, through our prayers, or will it pass from our mind, and we won't be unhappy about them? No, I don't think the time will ever come, when we'll just let it pass from our minds, and not feel bad about our unsaved loved ones, not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. However, I do believe this, that when you pray for your loved ones, you should put them on the altar. You don't have to pray a dozen times about the same thing. Say, pray for that son of yours, or daughter as the case may be, put them on the altar, give them to Jesus, and say, Lord now they're in your hands, I'm not going to take them off of the altar, I've turned them over to you. Please God, deal with them, save their soul. Because remember, I don't care how much of a Christian you are, you still must of necessity, exercise your own personal free will, if you ever get saved. He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Draw nigh unto God, He'll draw nigh unto you. But God never forced anybody, to give their heart to Him. Nobody will ever be forced to be saved. You of your own accord, you of necessity, must surrender your will to God, and say, Lord I want to live for you, I want to serve you. And if you do that, He'll save you. But I say, put your child on the altar. A lot of people put their child on the altar, and then take him off again. And they begin to get concerned again. See? They make a mistake by doing that. Put him on the altar, put her on the altar, and leave them there and say, Jesus, they're in your hands. Do you know what I've been doing, about two of my sons? They went to church regular, before they went to war. Four of my children, one was in the Air Force, two in the Navy, one a foot soldier. Two of them had a terrible rough time. They came back with something in their blood stream, I don't know what it was. They'd die for Jesus today, that's a strange thing. They know the truth, and they'd fight for the truth. See? But they're not going to church. And so this is the attitude that I take. Lord, I've given them to you, I've turned them over to you, they're in your hands. I'm expecting, Lord, for you to deal with them. I believe that you will. But they're in your hands now, Jesus. Send somebody, Lord, to their door, to knock at their door, that has influence over them. Sometimes it takes somebody besides a parent, to do that. And Lord, I know that there's a spark, there's a smoking flax there. And I just know, Jesus, that you're going to send somebody to that door, that's going to fan that smoking flax. And they're going to get up aflame again. And those two boys are going to come back to Father's house. And they're going to be restored, I believe it with all of my heart. I believe it. For what it's worth. Will our families be saved through our prayers, or will it pass from our minds, and we won't be happy about them? That is my answer. Leave them on the altar. When was the church born? Well, the church was born when the first three followers of the Lord Jesus, two or three followers of the Lord Jesus, got together. That's one way of putting it. Because the Bible says where two or three are gathered together in His name, there I am in the midst. See? And that's the church, brother. Don't let anybody tell you anything different. That's the church. Church is ecclesia. That's the membership. It's not the building at all. It's the membership, the ecclesia. See? And it's where two or three meet together in His name. Praise the Lord. God-ordained ministers. Elders. Elder means overseer. Bishop means overseer. There's only one Archbishop, and it's mentioned one time in the Scripture. And He is the Archbishop of our soul. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. The word elder and bishop, which means identically the same, is used interchangeably. In one breath He says elder. In the next breath He uses the word bishop, which means overseer. An elder has the oversight of a church. So there's the pastor of the church. There's the deacons that have been appointed to take care of the material things of the church. And there's the lay membership of the church. That's a church. Even if there's only two or three. That's the church, brother. It could be under a tree, out in the open. It could be in a barn somewhere. In the back end of a cornfield. Back of a stump. Amen. But it's where those two or three people meet to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the church. Amen. Aren't you glad you belong to the church? Doesn't it sound important? Huh? Brother Valens, I'm afraid you don't make it sound important enough. I know what you want. I'm not going to mention that. When was the church born? Well, remember this. That the law and the prophets came by Moses. Grace and truth by Jesus Christ. Jesus insisted on the keeping of the law while he walked on this earth. You remember he said to the young rich ruler when the young rich ruler wanted to know the way of salvation. He said, keep the commandments. He said, Lord, all of this have I done from my youth up. See? But he insisted on him keeping the commandments. It wasn't until Jesus died on Calvary's cross and shed his blood for the sins of the whole world that you could become a New Testament Christian. You see? Amen. Then on the day of Pentecost, he sealed the church with the Holy Spirit of promise to give us power to be witnesses. It's just that simple. Praise the Lord. What does it mean to be anointed by the Holy Spirit? Walking in the Spirit. Being baptized in the Spirit. Now, that may help me to explain the word charisma. I wonder how that got started. I wonder how that got started. Huh? I'll tell you what it's done. What it does, it adds a little sophistication. It does. It adds a little sophistication. See? Because it's a Greek word. Charisma. See? Once it's translated anointing, two times unction, and fifteen times the gift of God in the New Testament. See? But why do we have to explain it in Greek? And the funny part of it is, the Pope says to the priests today, speak in a language that they can understand from now on. And us believers in this Pentecostal experience, all of a sudden we start talking Greek. Huh? Maybe we want the feeling for a while of sophistication. Huh? I don't know. Use it all you want. It's not going to hurt you. It won't poison your system. But it's always seemed to me that we're trying to sell the gifts of the Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Ghost doctrine on a gold platter that's studded with diamonds. And I like just the plain explanation right here. When the day of Pentecost is fully caught. I can jump around and shout and tell about it. Amen. That's charisma. But if you want to use the word charisma, alright. What does it mean to be anointed by the Holy Spirit? The anointing, you see, the Holy Spirit, oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. See? And so when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, it's the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Oil is a type of the Spirit, you see. And it's the same as oil being poured upon your head only. This is the Holy Spirit. I know in our church, the Catholic church, everything was assembled before this charismatic experience. A candle was the church. Oil was the Holy Spirit. Water was the Word. And it was just a symbolic message that was given out to the people. Now all of a sudden, Pope John, he opens the door ajar just a little bit. And I want to tell you, when he put that door ajar, all of a sudden it kicked open almost wide. My Lord and my God. And today here we have over two million Catholics that are Pentecostal in experience. And the end is not yet, brother. It's just starting. Just starting. Think of it. Six hundred million constituents. And already all over the world, millions almost overnight, have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. And Pope Paul says it's what we need. Why, he even had Sister Catherine Kuhlman up there interviewing her. And he says, I've been following your work closely. He said, it's wonderful. Whoo! Glory be to God. What is this going to mean, brother? And the Baptists are all getting stirred up and receiving the baptism. Methodists are getting stirred up and receiving the baptism. The Episcopalians, a long time ago they got started and they are receiving the baptism of the thousands. This thing is gaining in momentum. And one of these days you're going to hear an explosion that's going to reach right into the Rockies here. And we'll hear it. Hallelujah. Look, brother, Pope John has a brother that's baptized with the Holy Ghost. Amen. And they have relatives. Pope Paul has relatives that have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And he's open. He's giving it the green light. This is what we need, he says. Walking in the Spirit, my friends. Here's walking in the Spirit. You study your Bible. And all of a sudden you say, Ooh, I didn't know that was there. Thank you, Jesus. And so you walk in the light. See? And as you walk in the light, now suppose you said, Ooh, do I have to do that? I don't know whether I want to or not. Look out. That's where people backslide. Just as quick as you get the light, he says, Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. And how great is that darkness, Jesus said. So our business is to walk in the light as it shines in your pathway. Now don't compare your experience with somebody else's. Don't make a criteria out of your personal experience for everybody else. You can't do that. We're all on different levels for the simple reason that sanctification is progressive, you see. Some of us started last week. Some of us this week. Some of us a month ago. Some six months ago. Some a year ago. Some fifty years ago. And if you've been going on with God normally, the one that's been on the way the longest should look more like Jesus all the time. Believe in that? We're being fashioned in His likeness more and more all the time. Walking in the Spirit. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit, of course. We've covered that, I think, pretty well. Will the church go through any of the tribulation? Well, I'll tell you. That's a very controversial subject. We have a lot of schools. In the Assemblies of God, I know I have friends. I've done more organizing and working for the Assemblies of God than possibly any other organization. But there's five schools that I know of in the one church. And so, I never deal with anything controversial. Because there's no use. The main thing, brother, is to be ready for the coming of Jesus. If we're ready, it doesn't make any difference. If the resurrection... I never said rapture. I don't use that word. It's not in the Bible. But it doesn't make any difference if the resurrection is any moment now, which we would call imminent coming. Or, if it's the beginning of the week, the middle of the week, the middle of the great tribulation, or immediately after. If you're ready, prayed up, paid up, and ready to go up, it doesn't make any difference if you happen to be a little wrong in what you believe concerning the resurrection. The period. The period, you see, of the resurrection. So, don't let that bother you. I'm confirmed in what I believe along that line. But it's not worthwhile arguing about. I found that. Not worth it. We expect tongues at the time of infilling of the Holy Ghost. Why not the sound of rushing wind and the cloven tongues like as a fire? Why not? I'm sure it's here. Whether you see it or not, doesn't make any difference. The fire of tongues is there. And the rushing wind is there. In New Zealand. Now, you'll notice in this advertising here, it says, was ministering in Wellington, New Zealand, when 500 in the audience were baptized in the Holy Spirit. This was in the Masonic Temple. It seats about 1,400 to 1,600 people. And we rented the Masonic Temple because it was such a unique place to put on that kind of a meeting. It was packed to suffocation. We had Catholic priests. We had Anglican priests. We had ministers from every denomination there. And the place was packed to suffocation. This space here was packed. And they were sitting around everywhere. On the platform, they were standing behind me and I was up against the pulpit this way trying to preach. That's right. And while I was speaking, while I was yet speaking, I heard a crack in the dome. That I heard. And I thought that we were about to have a disaster. I thought possibly the balcony was cracking and there was going to be a disaster of some kind. And when I raised my head to look up into the dome, I noticed practically everybody in the balcony as they were falling over under the power of God. And then when I looked down in the audience, no less than four-fifths of the entire audience was either on the floor under the power or else leaning up against each other or leaning backwards. And they were talking in tongues all over the place. It was one of the most beautiful sights I ever beheld. Now, this is what happened. Some of the priests, Anglican priests and Catholic priests, Methodist ministers, Baptist, Presbyterian ministers, that were seated way in the back, they began to edge their way to come forward. They were all eyes. Their eyes were just bugged out. And they came forward, came up on the platform and said, Brother Valdez, look down there. Look. And they said, now you can see the tongues of fire on the heads of all of those people down there. And what we wanted to ask you was this. Do you have those tongues of fire hanging over the heads of the people in all of your meetings like this? And I said, yes. Yes. I heard the rushing mighty wind. God let me hear that. See? I didn't see the tongues of fire. But any amount of those people saw the tongues of fire. I've noticed in my own personal experience that God lets us see what He wants us to see. Sometimes He'll let somebody see something that He doesn't let you see. I don't know why. I know this, that in the early days of our ministry when we were so terribly persecuted and we needed the grace of God and we needed inspiration from God, there was more visions. We saw angels coming to our rescue. Angels encouraging us with our eyes wide open. The most beautiful sight you ever beheld in all of your life. Do you know why? Because we needed it. My God, we needed it. We needed the encouragement. And I'm going to indulge right now in just this experience. When they took my car all apart, filled the gas tank with sand, busted the windows of the church in, were planting dynamite under the platform, and if they wouldn't have been turned in and arrested, hundreds would have been killed. Sinners shaking under the power of God. The ungodly screaming out, if you go to that altar, we'll drag you out of here! See? And sinners shaking. And they'd get up and try to run outside and go home. And they'd fall under the power in the aisles trying to get out. Because they were afraid that they would be persecuted if they went to the altar. I go home sad in my heart. And there I stand next to my bed. And I say, Jesus, Jesus, are you going to permit the ungodly to keep people from getting saved when they want to get saved? And God who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, He has great compassion for His little children. As a matter of fact, brother, sister, whether you realize it or not, you are even as the apple of His eye. He loves you. He's concerned about you. And all of a sudden, the Spirit of the Lord picked me up bodily and set me down on the bed. Just picked me up bodily and set me on the bed. My body began to jump on the bed just like a powerful electric line was attached to my physical body. The power was so strong that every pore in my body seemed to be the size of a silver dollar. I felt like I was going to explode, just blow and turn into dust. I sensed the presence of an angel between the top of the bed and the ceiling. I knew the angel was there and I was scared to death. I didn't want to turn and look. I was afraid. But finally, I began to cry out to God and say, Oh, God, I can't stand this. Give me strength. Help me, Lord. In those days, brother, we needed strength. We needed help. We were persecuted. We were beaten up. We were stoned. And all of a sudden, I felt the heat of the Holy Ghost come down upon my hair. And you could feel the power of God going through my hair. And when it touched my scalp, I felt it. And right down through my head and right over my shoulders and right down to the bottom of my feet. And I felt relaxed and comfortable. I felt so comfortable. And I knew that I could look at the angel. And I turned my head slowly. I shouldn't have told you this. Silence. God's angel. Remember what Jesus said. He said it would be better for you to tie a millstone around about your neck and to be cast in the midst of the sea than to offend one of My little ones. For He said their angel is continually beholding the face of our Father in Heaven. You've got an angel. You've got an angel, brother. Sister, you've got an angel.