As we've seen, the case of the United States versus Angela Smith was resolved without trial, when Smith entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. But the case against Smith's co-defendant, Michael Jones, is still pending. And Jones' case differs from Smith's case in several important ways. As we know, Smith had no prior criminal record. But Jones has prior convictions for grand theft and assault with a dangerous weapon. In addition, the charges against Jones are even more serious than those against Smith. Like Smith, Jones was indicted on two felony counts arising from the alleged distribution of 540 grams of cocaine to Agent Brown. Unlike Smith, however, Jones has also been indicted on a third felony count, the one charging him with possession, with intent to distribute the two kilograms of cocaine found in the apartment he shared with Lawrence Green. Indeed, from the government's perspective, we'll say that Jones is considered a very serious criminal offender. Such factors as the amount of drugs involved in his charges, the leading role he appears to have played in the sale of drugs to Brown and his criminal history indicate to the government that Jones is heavily involved in the distribution of illegal drugs. The government views him as an habitual criminal offender who is predisposed to support himself by selling illegal drugs. It hopes that he will be convicted of the charges pending against him, and that upon conviction he will be incarcerated for a lengthy period of time. With these considerations in mind, the government decides that a plea agreement with Jones is unlikely. On the other hand, Jones continues to deny his guilt and wants to go to trial. Sure, I was in the van when the undercover came over, and I heard him ask Angela about selling them some coke. But I told Angela, if you want to be selling drugs, then you get out of this van. And that's what she did. Now, I don't know what she did after she left, but if it was selling drugs, I don't know nothing about that. I see what you're saying. See, the problem is that Smith says that you were in on it, that you gave Smith the cocaine in your apartment, and then you went out in the van together hoping to make a sale. Angela, I never did trust her. She's lying. Tell them what they want to get her. Save her own skin trying to get herself probation or something. Right. I just wanted you to know that she will be testifying for the government to try. Ain't that something? She's lying, and they believe her. They want to believe her just because I got two prior convictions. They think I'm big time or something, but I'm not. OK. Now, what about the two kilos of cocaine they found in the apartment when you were arrested? Now, look. All I do is sublet from Lawrence Green. And I was Lawrence's cocaine. You see, about a half an hour before the police got there, I saw Lawrence with that cookie tin. Now, I didn't know there was cocaine in it at the time. Now, I can tell the jury that, can I? You can if you want to. The problem with that is then the jury would learn about your two prior convictions. Was there anyone in the apartment that morning who could serve as a witness? Sure. My friend Sharon was there when Lawrence was fussing around with that cookie tin. We both was there. So Sharon can tell them that she saw Lawrence with the package. Yes, sir, we can go to trial in this case. As you can see, the case of United States versus Michael Jones will go to trial. But where will the Jones trial be held? Criminal rule 18 requires that, with certain limited exceptions, the prosecution and trial of criminal defendants must take place in the federal judicial district where the offense was allegedly committed. Michael Jones will therefore be tried in the judicial district, which includes the Centerville section of our hypothetical town. The case of United States versus Jones will also be tried before a jury rather than a judge. Why is that? Well, the Sixth Amendment to our Constitution guarantees that, in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. Rule 23 of the federal rules of criminal procedure embodies the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury. It states that cases required to be tried by a jury shall be so tried unless the defendant waves a jury trial in writing with the approval of the court and the consent of the government. If the waiver requirements of rule 23 are satisfied in a given case, that case is tried by a judge instead of a jury. While the great majority of criminal cases which go to trial are decided by juries, many of them are decided by judges or magistrates sitting without a jury. Rule 23 also provides for a jury of 12 people unless the parties agree that the case shall be tried to a jury of less than 12. At this point, you may be asking, what does the right to trial by jury mean as a practical matter? It means that after hearing the evidence, a jury of 12 citizens, laypersons from the defendant's community, decides whether the defendant is guilty or not. The proceeding at which the jury hears the evidence receives instruction on the law and decides the case is, of course, the trial. In order to serve on a jury, each juror must be impartial, that is, capable of reviewing the evidence presented by both sides fairly and with an open mind. The jurors return their verdict after deliberating in secret. The jury's verdict must also be unanimous and based solely upon the evidence in the case. How, then, is the jury selected in a criminal case? Like grand jurors, potential trial jurors are selected at random from a fair cross-section of the community in the district where the trial is held. When a case is ready for trial, the courtroom clerk calls the jury room and asks that a group or panel of these prospective jurors be sent to the courtroom. The jurors actually selected to try the case will be chosen from this panel. After the panel members arrive, either the judge or the lawyers in the case will begin asking them questions. The questioning of the potential jurors is called the voir dire. voir dire is a French term meaning to speak the truth. Most of the questioning takes place in open court, but questioning on more sensitive matters may take place at the bench. The questions asked during voir dire are designed to gather information about the prospective jurors. The court then evaluates this information and decides whether or not each prospective juror can decide the case fairly and impartially. Either lawyer can seek to prevent a potential juror from sitting on the case if the juror's answers indicate he cannot approach the case impartially. This is called challenging the juror for cause. If the judge agrees with the lawyer, he or she will then strike the prospective juror for cause. This means the prospective juror cannot sit on the jury. In addition to challenges for cause, both the prosecutor and the defense attorney have the right to strike a certain number of jurors from the panel without stating any reason whatsoever. The lawyers do this by making peremptory challenges. The lawyers exercise their peremptory challenges after the first 12 potential jurors are seated in the jury box. If a lawyer challenges a juror for cause, he or she must tell the judge the basis for the challenge. But a lawyer does not have to tell the judge the basis for a peremptory challenge. Whenever a lawyer believes that a particular juror will not respond favorably to his or her case, the lawyer can use a peremptory challenge to strike the juror from the panel. In other words, peremptory challenges can be made for a variety of reasons and are often made simply because a lawyer has a hunch or gut feeling that a prospective juror won't respond to his or her case. Notice that attorneys Johnson and Harrison take turns exercising their peremptory challenges. In addition, the judge announces the challenges to at a time so that the potential jurors cannot tell which lawyer has challenged a particular juror. Notice also that the challenged jurors are replaced by other prospective jurors. So that there are always 12 prospective jurors in the jury box while the lawyers are exercising their peremptory challenges. As you can see, the parties select the jury by making challenges for cause and peremptory challenges. In other words, they use the challenges available to them to remove panel members they do not want on the jury. The actual trial jurors will be the first 12 panel members who are not removed from the case by the exercise of challenges. Federal rule of criminal procedure 24 governs selection of trial jurors in federal court. This rule gives the court discretion to ask voir dire questions of the prospective jurors itself or to allow the lawyers in the case to handle the questioning. Most magistrates and district court judges elect to ask the questions themselves. When they do so, rule 24 requires that they consider asking any additional questions suggested by counsel. Rule 24 also sets limits on the number of peremptory challenges allowed each side in felony and misdemeanor cases. Finally, rule 24 provides for the selection of as many as six alternate jurors in each case. Alternate jurors are selected in the same manner as regular jurors. They hear the evidence in the case along with the rest of the jury members. But they do not help decide the case unless they are called upon to replace a regular juror. This may happen if a regular juror becomes ill or for some other reason cannot continue to serve as a juror in the case. After the jury is selected and sworn, each side makes an opening statement. The opening statement is the attorney's opportunity to explain to the jury what they intend to present as evidence during the course of the trial. The defense has three options available to it with respect to opening statements. It can make its opening statement immediately after the government's opening, reserve its opening statement until after the government has presented its case, or elect not to make any opening statement at all. Let's say that attorney Harrison decides to make an opening statement on behalf of her client, Michael Jones, right after the government's opening. And I'll ask you again to pay particular attention to the testimony of Angela Smith on this matter. Angela Smith was going to take that witness stand and tell you, yes, I sold drugs to Agent Brown, and so did the defendant in this case, Michael Jones. And after you've heard all of the evidence, ladies and gentlemen, including the testimony of Agent Brown, the testimony of the chemist, and the testimony of Angela Smith, the government is going to ask you to return a verdict of guilty on all three of the charges in this indictment. Thank you. Ms. Harrison, do you wish to give an opening statement at this time? Yes, thank you, Your Honor. Ms. Johnson, Mr. Jones, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the evidence in this case will show that Michael Jones had nothing to do with the sale of any cocaine to Agent Brown. The evidence will also show that the cocaine that was recovered from the apartment belonged to Lawrence Green, not to Michael Jones. You'll also learn that it was Ms. Smith who made a deal to sell cocaine to Agent Brown in that park in Centerville, and Ms. Smith alone. And that's not the only deal Angela Smith cut for herself in this case, ladies and gentlemen. The evidence will show that once she was arrested, Ms. Smith made another kind of deal with the government. You'll learn that under the terms of this second deal. After the opening statements, the presentation of evidence begins. Throughout the trial, the law presumes that the defendant is innocent. It is the government's job to try to overcome this presumption and convince the jury by proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. Since the government carries the burden of proof, it presents its evidence first. It does so by calling its witnesses to the stand and asking them questions. The testimony of these witnesses, given in answer to the prosecutor's questions, becomes the government's evidence. The initial questioning of any witness by the attorney who calls the witness to the stand is called direct examination. Let's take a look at some of AUSA Johnson's direct examination of Agent Brown. Notice that on direct examination, the attorney asking the questions is not allowed to lead the witness. That is, the attorney may not ask questions that by their very wording suggest how the attorney would like the witness to answer the question. And did there come a time when you learned the name of the individual who handed you the drugs in return for the marked money? Yes. I later learned that her name was Angela Smith. Was Ms. Smith the passenger in the van you told us about? Yes, she was. Now, Ms. Smith had a conversation with the driver of the van before she got out of the van, didn't she? Objection, Your Honor. Counsel was leading the witness. Objection is sustained. Please, rephrase your question, Ms. Johnson. When a judge thinks that a lawyer's objection is valid, he or she will sustain the objection. If there's no basis for the objection, the judge will overrule it. Very well, Your Honor. At any time before Ms. Smith got out of the van, did she have a conversation with the driver of that van? Well, Ms. Smith looked over, Ms. Smith looked over at the driver and said something to him, but I couldn't hear what it was. What, if anything, did Ms. Smith do at that point? Right after she said something to the driver, she got out of the van and walked away with me. We went to a clearing in the woods. At that point, we made the... The defendant has the right to confront witnesses like Brown who testify against him. The right to confrontation is guaranteed to the defendant by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. The Sixth Amendment allows the defendant to confront and cross-examine each government witness after the prosecutor is done asking the witness questions on direct examination. The defense attorney's questions on cross-examination are usually designed to highlight evidence favorable to the defendant, or to show that the testimony the witness gave for the government is not true. Let's watch a portion of Attorney Harrison's cross-examination of Agent Brown. Agent Brown, you didn't see Michael Jones hand any drugs to Ms. Smith before she got out of the van, did you? No, I did not. And from the time you first approached the van until the time Ms. Smith got out of the van, you didn't see Mr. Jones with any drugs, did you? No. Your conversation at the van was with Smith, correct? That's correct. You never spoke with Jones, then? No. About drugs or anything else? No, I did not. And of course it was Smith who got out of the van and went into the clearing with you, right? That's right. Because you had negotiated the deal with Smith, right? Well... You and Smith did all the talking at the van, right? Yes, that's right. And she, excuse me, Smith was wearing this purse around her waist when you spoke with her at the van, right? That's right. And it was zipped closed at that point, wasn't it? I believe it was. Well, Agent Brown, was it zipped closed or wasn't it? Yes, it was. And the first time you saw any cocaine was when Smith unzipped her purse in the clearing. That's correct. And when Smith sold you the cocaine, you were what, more than a hundred feet from the van at that point? About that far. And Mr. Jones at that point wasn't present, was he? No, he was not. He stayed in the van. He stayed in the van the whole time, didn't he? Yeah, he stayed in the van. Under the rules of evidence, both the government and the defense are allowed to cross-examine witnesses after the witnesses complete their direct testimony. After the government presents all of its witnesses and introduces any physical or documentary evidence it may have, the defendant can ask the court to enter a judgment of acquittal on the charges in the indictment. Rule 29 of the federal rules of criminal procedure permits the defense to make such a motion. The rule permits the court to grant a motion for judgment of acquittal if it finds the evidence presented by the government is legally insufficient to permit a conviction on the charge at issue. As mentioned earlier, the government has the burden of proving the charges in the indictment by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, in order to grant a motion for judgment of acquittal, the court must conclude that based upon the evidence presented by the government, no reasonable juror could find that the charges had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Rule 29 allows the defense to renew its motion for judgment of acquittal after its own case has been presented and even after the trial is over. Of course, if the court denies a defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal at the end of the government's case, the trial continues. At that point, it becomes the defense's turn to present evidence. However, the defense has no obligation to present any evidence whatsoever. The defendant doesn't have to testify, a point which attorney Harrison stresses to her client in the Jones case.  Now I wanna get up there and tell my side of the story. I know you do. But my concern is that if you do testify, the prosecutor will be allowed to question you about your prior convictions. I'm not so sure we want the jury to hear about your felony theft and assault convictions. I know, you told me that before, but I gotta write to testify, don't I? Absolutely. But if you do, here's what will happen. You may cross examine, Ms. Johnson. Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Jones, are you the same Michael Jones who was convicted of grand theft in this state in case number F1443? I don't remember. Would it refresh your recollection to take a look at a certified copy of the judgment of conviction in that case? No, that's all right. I remember now, yeah, that was me. And are you also the same Michael Jones who was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in this state in case number F8989? Yeah, that was me too. That's what would happen. If you testify, the law would allow the jury to know that you had two prior felony convictions. The jury would be entitled to weigh that information deciding whether to believe your trial testimony. The jury hears that stuff. They won't believe a word I say. That's why I keep reminding you that you also have a right not to testify because your Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applies at trial. That means that your privilege to remain silent in the face of the government's accusations. But won't the jury think I'm trying to hide something if I don't testify? The jury will be instructed that you're not required to testify and the jury will be told that it cannot assume that you're guilty because you choose not to testify. The judge will tell them that. But then my friend Sharon will be our only witness. That's true. But Sharon will be a good witness and you'll argue that they ain't proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt, right? Right. All right, I see what you're saying. That I won't testify then. Attorney Harrison has raised an important point. Even in cases where the defendant does not testify and no other defense evidence is presented, the defense may still argue to the jury that it must acquit because the government has not met its burden of proof. So Jones decides not to testify. But his friend, Sharon Booth, is called as a defense witness. Ms. Booth testifies that she had seen Jones's roommate, Lawrence Green, with the cookie tin in his possession when she visited Jones in the apartment. And is this the cookie tin you saw Mr. Green holding? Yeah, that's it. What was he doing with it? He was just holding it in his hands. I didn't get to it. It was in the package, though. Because when I walked over to Lawrence, he seemed all nervous and everything and he just covered it up with his hands. And at approximately what time did you see Mr. Green holding this? I don't remember what time it was, but it was about the time that Michael Jones was taking a shower. I got tired of waiting for him, so I went down to the lobby of the building to buy a pack of cigarettes. And that's when I noticed the time. On cross-examination, the prosecutor's questioning reveals that Ms. Booth has known Defendant Jones for several years and considers him to be a close friend. Now, Ms. Booth, you said on direct examination that you're friends with Michael Jones, is it correct? Yeah. In fact, you're pretty good friends with Michael Jones. Isn't that fair to say? Well, yes. You've known him for about four years. About that long. You're good enough friends with Mr. Jones that you see him at least once or twice a week. Isn't that fair to say? Not every week, but about that much. And you wouldn't want Mr. Jones to get into any trouble, would you? Well, no, I mean, I don't... After all of the evidence in the case has been presented, but before the jury begins its deliberations, the judge must instruct the jury on the principles of law which govern the case. The government and the defense may disagree about which principles of law apply, however. So before instructing the jury, the judge must resolve any disagreements and decide which instructions are appropriate. Rule 30 of the federal rules of criminal procedure governs jury instructions. Rule 30 allows the attorneys for each side to file written requests for specific jury instructions with the court. In addition, under the rule, the court must tell the attorneys which instructions it intends to give the jury prior to closing argument. Rule 29.1 governs closing arguments to the jury. In its closing argument, each side summarizes the evidence and attempts to convince the jury that its interpretation of the evidence is correct. Rule 29.1 requires that the prosecution give its argument first. Next, the defense gives its closing argument. After the defense argument, the prosecution is permitted to give a final argument in rebuttal. In her closing argument for Mr. Jones, Attorney Harrison contends that the government has not met its burden of proof on any of the charges against Jones. Isn't it clear what happened that day in Centerville, ladies and gentlemen? If my client had really been involved in that drug deal, would Angela Smith have had to leave that van and go into the woods to sell Agent Brown the drugs? Of course not. If all three of those people that wanted to do a drug deal, the deal would have taken place right there at the van. But it didn't. It didn't because one of those three people didn't want anything to do with dealing drugs, and that one person was my client, Michael Jones. Doesn't the evidence show that Mr. Jones shook his head as if to say no when Smith turned to him? And isn't that why Smith and Brown had to leave that van and go into a clearing in the woods in order to make a deal of their own? And then Angela Smith comes in here and tells you about the second deal she made in this case. A deal that says the government will recommend that she serve as little as 15 months in prison. Attorney Harrison also argues that the two kilograms of cocaine found in the apartment belonged to Jones's roommate, Laurence Green. And how do you know that that cocaine belonged to Laurence Green? Well, first of all, Sharon Booth told you that she saw Laurence Green, not Michael Jones, with a container that morning. What kind of container? A cookie tin, ladies and gentlemen. The same cookie tin in which the drugs were later found. Government exhibit number nine. And when Ms. Booth came over to Laurence Green, you remember her testimony? He became all nervous. And you know why he was nervous, ladies and gentlemen. Because he had cocaine in his possession and he didn't want anyone else to know about it. So now you know who had possession of the two kilograms of cocaine. Laurence Green, not Michael Jones. And if you had any doubt about that, who took off after the DEA showed up? Not my client. Michael Jones didn't skip town after being charged in this case. He's here in Porto Bay fighting these charges. And then Angela Smith tells you, oh, Michael Jones and I got the cocaine we sold to Agent Brown from Michael's apartment. But can you believe Ms. Smith's testimony? Can you believe it when you know she's in here doing the best she can to earn herself a 15 month sentence? After closing arguments are completed, the judge instructs the jury on the principles of law which they must apply to the case. The jury then retires to a private room and begins its deliberations. The jury's deliberations may take minutes, hours, or days, depending on the complexity of the case. When the jury agrees upon a verdict, all parties convene again in open court. The verdict is then read. In the next and final segment of this video program, we'll learn what the jury's verdict was in the case of United States versus Michael Jones.


Hi, my name's Leon Roe currency trader and trading coach at trading 180 comm welcome to this week's supply and demand For its and gold fundamental and technical analysis if you're new a very warm welcome to you And if you're returning an equally warm welcome to you, and please don't forget to like subscribe and Share with your fellow trading colleagues The quality content that I give if you think it's quality content, of course As it helps the YouTube algorithm and is a free way to support the channel so Our trading 180 process is just to really apply Fundamental analysis and technical analysis to really establish the best trading opportunities in the forex and gold markets so moving on to the week ahead and Trading economics, let me just zoom in a little bit It says so it will be a busy week in the US with labor report Taking the central stage followed by ISM manufacturing and services PMI also investors will be closely watching first-quarter GDP growth releases from Switzerland Canada Australia right those are the three that we're looking out of the three currencies Countries currencies we're looking at and inflation rates for for several European countries including Germany and France Those are the two big European countries, especially Germany also speeches by several Fed officials and Bank of Canada interest rate decisions that's going to be a potential market mover Should provide some update on monetary policy settings and fundamentals Analysis is all is all about you know, monetary policy and currency exchange rate value, right? You know and divergences and convergences and we're getting to that, you know a little bit later in this video and Then there is the I guess a more of a deep dive into the The week ahead if you want to go through it Yeah, just go to trading economics Click on trading economics comm and it should be in the week ahead tab right here They used to put it actually on the on the top bit But for some reason they don't do it anymore, but the week ahead and you can kind of read through what is pretty much coming up In the week ahead, so let's get into the the charts and some some deeper fundamental analysis on the specific pairs and Looking at the DXY the dollar index and the dollar index is just a measure of dollar strength against various currencies like the euro the yen the pound and Over the past couple of weeks. We have really just pulled back. I think I Don't think it's anything to really kind of worry about the dollar really technically was due for a pullback Anyway, there wasn't you know, obviously there were you know supply and demand zones demand zones I'm generally long on the dollar Although I recognize it's important to recognize when an area really is Expensive right because if you consider where you know just taking the the year-to-date price What's happened if this is was an absolute bargain for the dollar and this is considered now an expensive area You consider that the you're really buying at you know overall highs, right? So if that's The bargain area that is the expensive area. I've got a Fibonacci tool in here But you can use Fibonacci is just really a way of to measure certain types of discounts 50% of that is what was known as fair value, right? So you got expensive and we know that's proven to be expensive because prices didn't go higher than that, right? Buyers weren't willing to pay any more or value the dollar at any any higher than you know 105s And we know that you know at the beginning of the year. It was an absolute bargain down here, right? It's just proven facts. It's not you know open for debate now If we're looking at if that's you know considered the bargain at the beginning of the year And this is considered an expensive area 50% is considered fair value, right? So At this point a few weeks ago The the dollar was The dollar now is proven to be expensive right so you're looking for pullbacks now None of us know which area the market is going to decide that is going to be the dollars going to be a bargain again, right? so the but the lower it comes is the more of a Bargain it becomes right more towards the fair value area or what the market will establish is potential fair value As far as technical analysis is concerned what we do is we look for areas That are potential bargains. This was a bargain at some point because it made higher highs Is this going to be a bargain again? Nobody knows but if there is a potential trade setup obviously not on the dollar index don't really trade a dollar index But that would this would apply to any of the dollar crosses or any, you know currency crosses Then potentially you want to get involved in that if fundamentally or risk sentiment wise You know things aren't necessarily looking great for the dollar then you're going to see this start to You know potentially happen, but the point is is that We're always looking for potential bargains, right? That's that's the key and if you if you if you're buying a bargain or this happens to be a bargain prices come down You know, you've got lots of upside potential Then you've got you know, maybe five ten fifteen twenty to one type trades because you're buying more towards fair value If you're buying at highs you're more likely to get caught out You know Where the market is like well in fact we've made a lot of money from here to here So it's time to now start to sell and you know liquidate the buy positions get traders to go long And they can sell into that liquidity and then reload Deeper down right because that's really what fun. This is what Fibonacci is about and fundamental analysis is about but going into Maybe the some of the reasons why the dollar is You know coming off the boil a bit is this was an interesting article in Bloomberg where The headline is here's how the Fed might adopt Bostick's rate pause in September Yeah, so there's clear and convincing evidence of slowing inflation is a must slow down in growth in jobs also conditions to halting rates, so This is a great article. I might put it up on the on the channel Maybe a bit later on or tomorrow for you guys to to read or actually in fact Many of you have been you know Watching some of the fundamental analysis videos that I've posted recently So this might be I'll just basically play this and you can follow along but The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Raphael Bostick has cracked open the door for discussing September pause in the central banks aggressive rate hikes a move that will only Be on the table if inflation falls more than expected over the summer now for those of you who you know might not necessarily understand In the relationship between inflation and interest rates and GDP I do have a webinar that you can that you can watch And that really kind of breaks this down As to you know why price generally moves in the medium to long term but what this is basically saying is that The The Federal Reserve or there's a member of the Federal Reserve not a voting member a matter of fact is the federal president of the bank of Bank of Atlanta president is basically saying that the Federal Reserve should Or could potentially pause Hiking rates, right? So in if we go back to price You had You know when when the federal literally look into high crates Which generally should appreciate a currency? This is what you saw now that they're getting to a point where they don't necessarily have to high crates as much You know come September towards the end of the year the dollar has to now be repriced Yeah, it has to be repriced because this was like, you know peak Interest rate hikes. Yeah, or the valuation of potential interest rate hikes. That's what you know pricing in means but now Um, you know the fundamentals have slightly changed. So this is just um, you know the pullback and the market potentially pricing in less rate hikes So there's obviously, you know profit taking going on around around a dollar, right? So Uh, yeah, so so pretty much the dollar for me is still a buy but it's just you know a pullback I think um, you know going on with the with the dollar and um And there are signs of obviously slowing inflation, which is going to be good potentially for the economy because High inflation as we'll get on to the the pound in a little bit is that there's a cost of living crisis going on in in the UK Uh, and that is due to high inflation and all central banks have a mandate to try and get inflation to 2% whereas Um, you know inflation at the moment in several countries is way above that. So, um, you know, there is A potential pause coming With the federal reserve monetary policy, which is pushing prices, you know to the downside Doesn't mean necessarily it's going to go down all the way This means that you know if you do want to be a buyer of a dollar you can buy it for you know for for cheaper, right? Because ultimately it's still the best who is the best of the worst, right? So the dollar is still, you know in a better position than for example, you know the Japanese yet, right? Give it out for sure. Um, so with that being said Let's delete all of this And go into technically where areas are likely prices may want to you know reverse Or become a potential bargain And really the first area is for prices to come down to the one-on-ones before turning around of course You want to use the dollar index as just confluence with for example, the dollar Yen dollar Swiss if you're looking to buy the dollar that is and if it starts to turn up on the There's some demand here at the one-on-ones and you start to see demand on the um on the For example, the dollar yet if you're trading that pair of the dollar Swiss um, then That you can use as confluence of course prices may not even get down there, right? This might be considered the bargain right here. Of course. Nobody knows just using this as confluence But um for me the overall direction I still think for the dollar is to the upside but the further it comes down is that is the more of a bargain It becomes and towards fair value uh prices. So moving on to the uh dollar index And the dollar index i'm sorry dollar index the uh the dollar yen apologies the dollar yen We've come down into this area of demand which has been you know user's area of demand once twice the more times the level is touched uh the um The less of a bargain it becomes because it becomes a bit more obvious Manus to get involved in in a stock hunt trade just below this area here Made a little bit on on there At least just about um above profitable uh trade now Um on a lower time frame now just waiting for hopefully prices to start to turn up so we can You know make uh some more money on on the on the remaining positions on this But um with the yen with the yen and all central banks really what they're doing is uh due to inflation prices and pressures What is happening is is that the uh Bank of japan koruda says that u.s rate uh u.s rate hikes won't necessarily mean a weaker yen and so the bank of japan um governor Said that interest rate uh increases by the federal reserve won't necessarily cause the end to weaken saying various factors affect the currency market And he goes into you know certain things why right so the fed rate uh may affect the value of the u.s government bonds and Stock prices uh koruda said in response to parliament So I think it's not necessarily the case that japan's capital flow into u.s continuously causing the yen uh to weaken and um And so again central bankers understand the uh the nuances between um, you know rising inflation and um rising rate hikes right and um Again if you are you know a bit confused on this I have several videos right on on on my youtube channel that you can look towards Which really kind of it breaks down and I'll put it in just the most simplest terms Um and understanding um, you know inflation interest rates And this is the interest rates and inflation diagram relationship if you have rising inflation Yeah, then right inflation goes from two to three to four to five central banks are generally Pressured to raise and hike interest rates, which is what you're seeing right inflation starts to come down Yeah from three to two to one then they are less likely to hike rates or they don't hike as much right and if they obviously I say obviously, but if it's if it's below their central bank two percent target, then they end up cutting rates So understanding this and understanding the nuances of um, you know the currency strength between uh two two currencies Right and exchange rates is what is really important. And if you know, um, you're a forex Trader, right then it's imperative that you understand this to make the best decisions and so Central bankers talk about this all the time. So why As as a retail trader wouldn't you want to understand this stuff, you know to its You know full degree so that you can make the best decisions because the central bankers are the ones that are moving the markets in the medium to long term It's not, you know Elliott wave or any kind of technical analysis. Yes technical analysis, you know People time and you know the market as far as you know liquidity and stuff like that But if you want to understand and capture, you know, the big trends or if you want to understand when Currency is more likely to range or auction as it's really should be known. Um, then you have to understand You know the the the relationship Inflation and interest rate relationship diagram of why, you know central banks Do what they do to have the effect of currencies that they should want to have right where they're appreciating or devaluing their currency and you can find all that out on The 6th of june between the 6th and 10th of june when enrollment opens, right? So I am opening my um, uh, mentoring program Not only supply and demand but fundamental analysis And really in depth fundamental analysis and you get access to the fundamental analysis spreadsheet, which really determines Our bias on certain currency pairs Strength divergences and certain things that we look at And also understanding the currency value cycle So not every single currency that is ranked one two or three is going to be for example A strong currency we need to determine whether there's a strong currency that is Potentially going to devalue right due to monetary policy or economic A business cycle where they are in an economic business cycle And I help you with all of that right and this is the rules to the game This is not going anywhere. This is the economic model. This is what? Determines currency valuations over the medium to long term and even in the short term So um, you know, I literally produce videos on a daily or every other day and these the private videos that members in a discord group get and um I've recorded for those of you who are watching this as well apologies. I haven't actually set this out But I did record a an in-depth fundamental analysis video. So just log into the The trading videos channel In the discord group and you'll get the uh, the analysis the fundamental analysis plus We've got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of videos All here In the uh, the members area plus the courses plus So much more. So if you do want to be a A trading 180 member Again, the enrollment opens on the 6th and closes on the 10th of june and again I'll probably be closed for a good few months after that. So if you've been waiting to join Now is your opportunity you all say now, but within the next Seven to eight days. So Guys, you will definitely once going through that you will understand exactly How to read these articles and really determine Where, you know, the trends are the big trends if there are any what, you know, the best pairs to trade, etc So going back to really You know this chart here On the dollar yen. I do think for me again You know the dollar should be the stronger out of the two but if prices don't necessarily Hold here and it could start to fall a bit further Um, you could even see prices actually go down to the one two twos And then you have a lot more upside potential because I do think the dollar would be definitely a bargain down here Or you could see prices come down and then actually could create demand Right could create demand here and if it does create demand then it's just a pullback into that zone before getting long but my bias really For the dollar at least in for now is still to look to buy the dollar But I do recognize that this is on the higher side on the um on the valuation valuation end if we're taking potentially the uh the last major I guess Swing from that low to that high. I think we've come down to probably some sort of a fair value Yeah, so we're just touching fair value there. So it was a decent area to look for, you know, some long trades and um Again, I actually break down that trade Um In the members group area. I think it was in the uh in our group call, which was on the What was it now? Yeah, it was our group call here, which is the 25th of May. Um, you can see group call Talk about less fundamental divergences profit target expectations using fundamental Euro by pound a sell and more so I'll break it down there And also as well, there is a member's uh technical analysis where I go into Weekly analysis where I go into the strategy as well. I think I broke it down there that trade that stock hunt trade anyways getting back to the The dollar yen and uh really those the options If you are looking to short the uh the the dollar and buy the yen then really the the closest area I would say is going to be the one two nines Would be the best area to look for any kind of uh short trades divided the yen maybe based off of some sort of risk off sentiment The dollar dollar swiss Dollar swiss is an interesting one. Um, the swiss franc Um, and the swiss national bank are actually now looking to uh potentially hike rates In december so, um with that being said the Swiss the swiss the swiss franc has appreciated right against the dollar This was caused this price action was when the swiss national bank We're not looking to hike rates and the uh the the federal reserve were hiking rates, right? So you had a divergence between the two currencies and between two central bank policies yet the fed hiking rates and the um the swiss national bank snb We're not looking to hike rates, right now They've come out and they've pretty much indicated that they might start to hike rates, right? So now the valuation of the um this the dollar swiss can't be up here because Uh, the swiss national bank is now looking to strengthen their currency. So you're seeing now a pullback Like this and I do think though that the Fed is still ahead of the swiss national bank And I do believe That this would be a decent zone to look for long trades. I'm still looking for long trades on this Surf prices do pull back into that 95 area to 94 I do think that's a decent area to look for any kind of long trades or that's what i'm looking for again It's not financial advice. Um But if you do want to be a buyer of the swiss franc, uh looking for probably pullbacks I would probably say this area the 97 area would be decent for a potential short if you believe That the swiss national bank and the swiss franc should appreciate even more against the uh, the us dollar dollar CAD dollar CAD is strengthening again because of the dollar Pullback and uh, again, we do have the the canadian dollar and the bank of canada Hiking rates this week again, nothing's for certain But it looks like they you know chances are pretty much that they will And uh, you can start to see that that's having again an effect on the uh, the dollar CAD So the canadian dollar is strengthening if you want to get long on this currency pair Against can go against really the the canadian dollar and the central banks hiking rates Then I think that's a decent area, but I don't you know personally like it In fact, I don't think it's a decent area because this area has been kind of touched A couple of times I do like the hard in hard out movement But I would probably more prefer maybe a stop hunt below that Or you're looking at um, you know the the tops of this one to six area to look for a potential By trade But uh, this is not a pair. I'm really interested in in any more in trading So, uh, let's see what happens. I'm trying to put it from around there Um, I see what happens here if you're looking to short and get short on this currency pair Then you've got a level of Supply above there and um, I know it's a wide zone and people might think well Where can I you know get involved in that one of the ways is to really kind of break down the zones and look for support and resistance Um within those supply and demand areas both on a daily and an intra day, right? So If we know that there's strong supply potentially here that's driven price to the downside Um look for areas of support and resistance go down to maybe the four hour or the two hour or the one hour And you can start to see if there's any levels of uh, obvious support and resistance Which I don't think there really is until you get to really like the highs Um, so for me, I really wouldn't want to get involved in that mess anywhere. Yes From a daily perspective, there is supply there because you can look to see that there was supply around here Which drove prices down, but overall you want to kind of trade around um, again Support and resistance zones within that area. I think there's might be one right here If you really want to get involved in that and that's probably where you First area you'd want to probably look for uh, any kind of sell trades from an intra day perspective. So that one Uh, two eight round number or just above it would be the area to look for potential Short trades if you want to be a buyer of the canadian dollar, but it's not a pair that I'm interested in trading anymore It made some money from up top here on a nice Stop hunt and took profit. Anyways, uh, moving on to the new zealand dollar u.s Dollar and this is again not really a pair. I'm interested in trading, but Um, I can see definitely potential for a sell technically. It looks really nice Come to a really nice area It's a potential um for a short trade You'd have to believe that the dollar is definitely a bargain against the new zealand dollar New zealand dollar just hiked rates um last week. So, um, they are You know two central banks are hiking rates This is a hard much harder trade to try to predict where prices will go The dollar does have a bit of an edge simply because it does act as a risk of currency So in in any kind of risk of environment, um The the dollar the u.s. Dollar should should be the one to strengthen and commodity currencies generally You know don't strengthen in a risk-off environment or typically don't Um, so if you didn't want to get involved in this trade, uh to the uh Downside, I think technically it's nice. Just don't like it fundamentally and it's not a pair that is on my list of Currencies to trade Pound dollar is though. So pound dollar I'm involved in this trade right now and um Let's see how it goes. I've gotten a couple of uh times on here Made a little bit on here, but hopefully prices should want to reverse around Here if it doesn't I think this 130 level is going to be an absolute Brilliant area but a very cheap area for the for the pound dollar to get short on this And why would I be short on the the british pound and the british pound? at the moment Again, just like the u.s. Dollar You have a situation where the pound Earlier in the week it had pound tumbles as rate hike Bets cut on fresh recession fears. So sterling tops volatility table this week as haven Guilts rally an s&p global index of uk private sector growth slid in may And the pound tumbled and investors rushed to safety of government bonds after the index of uk private sector growth was unexpected Sorry, uh, uk private sector growth unexpectedly slid in may to weak reawakened fears of a recession So that led traders That led traders to rein in bets on further interest rate hikes from the bank of england given the risks that higher Borrowing costs will halt growth The pound nearly fell one percent against the dollar reversing monday's gains and making the most volatile group of den currency this week so ultimately You know the the the uk isn't doing too well. Yes, we've got the queens jubilee coming lots of retail And spending and consumer spending But i don't think it's going to be enough to potentially have downturn in the economy and that doesn't mean necessarily a recession but obviously the The smart money is is is thinking that the The bank of england rate hike rate hikes Of the amount of rate hikes that they do Is or they were talking about basically have been cut or taken off the table because To try and hike in a recession and we just compound The recession because again of rising borrowing costs rising lending and borrowing costs rise a higher borrowing costs right will halt growth so Or may halt growth so Again if that is a fear Of the market, I do believe that prices should want to come down at some point again Do I know exactly where does anyone know exactly where no no one knows exactly where prices will turn That's the reason why we manage risk and if you if if I if I did know exactly where prices We're going to turn or if anyone knew where prices were exactly go exactly going to turn Then um, you know the best thing to do for them would be to put everything they own on that one trade Right because it's like betting on the sun coming up in the morning. Um, if you're that sure so Um But again, nobody really knows so you just manage your risk and And see what happens what prices turn around here Hopefully if it does then there's a lot of risk of war to the downside that I have right so if you know I'm right about this trade Or the fundamentals at least and so one two six all the way down to What's that potentially we could have down to one two one So that's maybe about 500 pips to the downside potentially So that's worth, you know the risk reward, right? I think my stop loss is somewhere about 40 pips above here Something like that. So, you know risking about maybe 70 80 pips depending Um For a good maybe 300 400 pips. That's good risk reward for me Again, not telling you to get involved in this trade. You don't know how I've entered Um, and the reasons, you know as far as the technical reasons why I've entered But just understand that for me, I do think that the British pound is a sell at some point Will this be profitable? Yes. No, who knows if it's not it is what it is. You move on to the next one Um, if it is then brilliant, but if you are buying the pound, right, there is in fact a The demand zone here if you feel like you want to buy the pound um And that's where it is. So you've got higher highs higher lows being made and then a potential Um, you know pull back into this zone could push prices, you know a bit higher Yeah And if it does again all all this means is that we're taking a uh, you know price from this area to here then We are at fair value and anything above fair value for me Is probably seen as a as a potential bargain. So prices do come up to that 130 area I think that downside is going to be very very nice. But let's see what happens on this trade come next week Um, and then we've got actually in fact Yeah, I'll leave it at that Moving on to the euro dollar and the euro is looking like strengthening, right? So, um There was a last week. There was a supply zone here This obviously wasn't seen as a bargain for the dollar to go short and we've had prices move, you know a lot higher and there was Uh, and there is I guess a lot of fundamental analysis surrounding Um the uh, the euro and the fact that the European central bank Christine Lagarde prepares for ECB liftoff with yet more record inflation. So again Because inflation is is going high it's going higher and rising it forces, you know, remember this remember this diagram it forces central bankers To do what the higher inflation goes, right is the more you have to hike interest rates So whatever this number is, I think it was like maybe seven points five percent or something like that inflation Yeah, it moves towards the interest rate hiking Area, right? So that's two percent. If that was two percent, it'd be three percent four percent five percent That's how they have to hike their high crates, right? So um, Europe is still for me anyway, um Not necessarily the greatest buy, um against other currencies, but um the market has to revalue what the exchange rate Of the euro will be if they do high crates. Hence the reason why you're seeing if you go back to the euro dollar Like you're seeing, um, you know the the market move a bit higher and this and together with you know, the the I guess the dollar sorry, uh, not being as uh, uh Strong or there's rumors that they may potential potentially stop hiking around the uh towards the end of the year You're seeing, you know, maybe Move up to the 108 to 109 and even maybe the potentially the 110s and 111s Around here, but when you zoom out it's probably to be expected because If you're looking at, you know, what's happened over the past Um, you know year or so look how look at this look at this move You know, I mean, it's just been literally, you know one way So in the perspective of it is that, you know, you was due some sort of pullback at some point Um, and also as well, there's reasons why this is putting back this You know was happening when again the fed were hiking rates or looking to hike rates and europe were not only Not hiking rates, but the war in ukraine was going on And there was problems with the economy regardless. So So now those things have been probably priced in especially the war in ukraine doesn't seem to be a factor That or that much of a factor anymore Um, I think the change really is just that europe are now looking to appreciate their currency So, um any investors that are buying the euro or holding the euro now rather than going from, you know, negative rates or zero rates They're going to try and get maybe a return for holding the euro. So that has to be, you know Priced in right this 109 108 and 107 price exchange rates are not there just to You know, just for for the sake of it being there, you know, it has to be there because that's what the value is What potential the price is and uh and potentially the value so Um euro is it a buy? Um for me potentially I'm not buying it against the dollar It's a harder trade to take at the moment. I do think the dollar is still the buy of this but I do think that Prices in the short term for the euro, especially in the lead up to a potential rate hike You know, the euro should want to price in that hike and it may be a bit higher around this 108 to 109 areas Looking for that. There is I think a technical area A bit of confluence in that in that area there the 108 Um, and then you also have Decent area. I think probably somewhere around here. So Um, yeah between that 108 and 109 I think is decent for a short If you're looking for a long trade, I think any pullbacks into maybe the 105s might be good as well If you were looking to buy the euro Um dollar or say Aussie dollar and uh Aussie dollar again I think most currencies this week and for the past couple of weeks, you know, I've been I've been really kind of putting back And again, we've seen that on the uh on the dollar index. So Looking at where demand is I've got quite a lot of demand lots and lots of demand I'm gonna just draw this as one zone because you've got several zones in here. Um And you've got I think I'll just draw it right there um So again Fundamentally, do you want to be a buyer of the Australian dollar? Um against the u.s. Dollar. I'm a buyer of the Australian dollar, but not particularly against the u.s. Dollar Um, but if you were then you're looking at, you know pullbacks into That area there. I think probably the uh this zone here looks decent for The the 70 50 area somewhere around there might be decent for a potential buy Um, if you're looking to buy the Australian dollar if you're looking to sell then I think anywhere right now up into that two 0.7 to five area would be decent for a potential Short trade to buy the u.s. Dollar and the u.s. Dollar should want to strengthen In a risk-off environment But again, you'd probably want more maybe a bit more confluence of the dollar index looking to Strengthen before looking to get uh short on this currency pair, but for me, it's not really a pair that i'm interested in ozzy yen this pair I have been interested in and um Looking for prices to really kind of pull back before getting Long maybe into that 88 area before looking at getting long. Yes, we are in a risk-off environment But the Australian dollar did I think a hiked rates Recently so pull back into You know that 88 area I think is going to be very nice for a potential buy I think there's a flaw now in that In that price If you're looking to buy the japanese yen then again a pullback into the 93s The yen may strengthen if you know the bank of japan Do come out and start to get a bit more hawkish on the On the japanese yen So you could see That and if that is the case then maybe this may not hold as much But this I think the 85 area is definitely going to be one for that but Either way, I think the Australian dollar is a buy against the japanese yen And finally gold and gold again has been a very uh very tricky to trade There was you know prices did come down into the 118 areas I'm talking about this a few weeks ago a couple weeks ago and prices have gone up from there So any pullbacks think there was definitely a flaw there Especially if inflation starts to Still go higher I think there is definitely a potential Buy within this zone if you are looking to you know sell the sell gold And still buy the dollar then literally just looking for that pullback up to that 1880s level and then look for a potential Sell trade again gold very tricky to trade at the moment. It really typically wasn't reacting To to to fundamentals, um, whether it's being suppressed manipulated Who knows but um when you think about how high inflation is and gold hasn't Really, you know gone through the roof. It's uh, you know a big question mark there So, uh, let's see what happens with gold, but uh guys That's it for this week again. Thank you for watching and making it this far Don't forget to check out the website and I look forward to working with you If I haven't got back to your messages by the way I definitely will just been a bit busy and I will get back to each and every one of you Thank you for watching and I'll speak to you soon. Have a great week


Let's get into our study, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, beginning at verse 19, and I'll read to verse 22, and we'll get into our study. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, beginning at verse 19, and reading to verse 22, do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, test all things, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. And so let me give you, as I normally do, a bit of a recap and a direction so we can establish a context here in this particular installment of our study of 1 Thessalonians. We know that in chapter 5, the apostle Paul has been giving final exhortations to the church there in Thessalonica, and as we've seen, he's been giving them commands. He says, do not retaliate. He commands, pursue what is good. Rejoice always, pray continually and be thankful. Now those are great and very powerful commands, very important commands, but the question is, how is this kind of life going to be made possible? How can you, how can I resist retaliating? How can I pursue what is good? How can I learn to rejoice, pray? How can I learn to be thankful? You see, this is not something that we seem to be able to do consistently. So what is it that can make it possible for these things to be the core of our lives? Now as I was preparing the study, I began to consider the fact that when I read my Bible, there are many commands that are given to Christians. A lot of times people will say, well, you have commands in the Old Testament, but you really don't have commands in the New Testament, but that's simply not true. Then recorded something like 1,050 commands that are found in the New Testament, 1,050 New Testament commands. There are commands to abstain from certain things, commands to avoid certain things, or to ask for certain things. There are commands to be something, to not be something, to consider something, to continue in something, or to do something. The list of commands seems endless. I see so many commands, but at the same time, I have so little ability to obey them. The desire is there, but often there's a resistance, and that resistance to these commands comes from within me. This reminds me of something that the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7, 18 and 19, when he said, I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature, for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do, no. The evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing. And so there's a struggle within. So how is it possible for us to do what the Bible so clearly instructs us to do? What do we need to make obedience possible? You know, Jesus did say this, if you love me, keep my commandments, and the bottom line is that I do love him, but what do I need in order to be able to keep his commandments? Well, we need to be filled by God's Holy Spirit. We need his power in our lives. We need to remember that the simple truth is that the Christian life is a supernatural life. It's not simply a system of thought or a philosophy. It's not just positive thinking or principles of success. The Christian life is a life that is made possible by the Spirit of God living inside of us and empowering us. Now Jesus spoke of this when he was teaching his disciples about being one of his followers. We know that on the last night he was with his disciples that he was celebrating the Passover with them. And as they were together, he was teaching them many things. You see it in chapter 13, 14, 15. You see it in chapter 16 of the Gospel of John. And as he was speaking to them, he was teaching them that he was going to depart. In John 13, verse 36, he said, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. Well, when he's saying these things, Peter and the other apostles became upset, they became concerned. And so that prompted Jesus to give them a word of comfort. In John 14, verse 1, he said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. And so he made it clear through that promise that he would sustain them. He wanted to encourage them. And he made it clear that he wasn't going to abandon them. He wasn't going to leave them without support. In John 16, 7, he continued by saying, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. So he's telling them, listen, I'm leaving, but I'm not leaving you orphans, I will come again to you. I will send the Holy Spirit and he will dwell with you and he will be in you. So we need to be reminded of the promises that Jesus gave and the promise that he gave, one of them is that he would send his Holy Spirit to dwell with us, to be in us. You see, the Bible says that when we are born again, we become God's temple. The spirit of God himself comes into our lives and he lives within us. In 1 Corinthians 3 16, the question is asked. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? In 2 Corinthians 6 verse 16, what agreement is there between the temple of God and idols for we are the temple of the living God? As God has said, I will live with them and walk among them. I will be their God. They will be my people. Christianity isn't just a logical system of systematic theology. Christianity is a relationship with God. It's God with us dwelling in us. It isn't simply reading the Bible. It's living through the Bible and the Bible living through us. It's us taking God's word, him imprinted it in our heart and us by faith because we have the power by the spirit to do these things, obeying him. So it's, you know, there are people who say, I don't know. Christianity is too hard. It's impossible. It's not too hard. It's impossible. It's impossible without the power of the Spirit of God. And so Jesus Christ gave the Holy Spirit to us that we might be able to be obedient to the things he commanded. Now, the church is by creation spiritual. It was birthed by God's spirit on the day of Pentecost. On Jesus's after Jesus's resurrection, Jesus told the apostles to go to Jerusalem. In the book of Luke, chapter 24, verse 40, 90 said, I'm going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. So he said, stay in the city to receive the promise. In Acts, chapter one, verse eight, he said, you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And so he said, you need to tarry and you're going to receive this promise. And so the promise that he would that he was keeping was that he would fill them with the Holy Spirit. It's a promise that you find in the old as well as the New Testament. In the Old Testament in Joel, chapter two, verses 28 and 29, it says afterwards, I will pour out my spirit on all people.  Your old men will dream dreams, which I've been doing a lot of lately. Your young men will see visions even on my servants, both men and women. I will pour out my spirit in those days. And so the promise was to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, tarry in Jerusalem till you receive power. And so in the book of Acts in chapter two, verses one through four, we see that the apostles were waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. And it was on the day of Pentecost in chapter two, one through four. The book of Acts, when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven. Filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. That is what is called the birthday of the church. The followers of the Lord Jesus Christ were baptized by the Holy Spirit and the church was born. Question is, have you been baptized with the power of the Holy Spirit?  Is he filling every aspect of your life? Are you walking in the power of the Holy Spirit? Because that's what is required if I'm going to be able to live a life that is pleasing to him. You see, the birthday of the church came on Pentecost, and when the Holy Spirit came and rested on them and empowered them, it reveals that the church is not just a group of people that meet in a certain location. It reveals that the church is a divine institution. It's a family of believers in Jesus Christ. The church is a group of believers who have become the temple of the Spirit of God. Now, you would think that being God's temple would make us just flow through life. God dwells in us. What could keep us from praying, from rejoicing, from being thankful? Well, though we're the temple of the Spirit, it's possible to resist him in our lives. The fact is, we can quench the Holy Spirit. And that's what what Paul is addressing at this point. And that's why he had just said, look at verse 16, rejoice always. He had said, pray without ceasing. In verse 18, in everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And then he went on to say, and do not quench the spirit. Do not quench the spirit. So at this point. He's commanding them to not quench the spirit. The word quench means to suppress. It means to stifle. He's saying, do not suppress or stifle the spirit's influence and power in your life. See, this is what empowers me to resist retaliating. This is what gives me the strength to pursue good or to prayer, to rejoice or to be thankful. The influence, the presence and the power of the spirit of God. And when we're walking in the spirit, these are the fruits of his work in our lives. But these things can be quenched. These things can be quenched when the fire is not kindled. This this can happen when the fire is neglected, when it's extinguished. Because fire can be smothered. Fire can go out when it's drenched in water. It can be it can cease being alive, a flame when there's nothing there that's inflammable when the materials are withdrawn. The the Holy Spirit in my life can be suppressed. He can be stifled. How can I do that? How can that happen that I that I stifle the Holy Spirit? Because notice again, he's saying to us, do not quench the spirit. But there's a lot of quenching of the Holy Spirit today. There are a lot of people who are quenching what God has told us in his word to do, who are not moving and flowing according to the spirit. How can that happen? How can I quench the spirit? Well, let me give you a few ways that it does happen. One, we can quench the Holy Spirit by taking a theological stance that denies the spirit of freedom to move. We can adapt beliefs that that belong to our favorite teachers, but they may not be scriptually correct. There are teachers who believe that spiritual gifts are no longer inexistent. And what they'll do is they actually exalt natural gifts. I heard somebody teaching on, for example, the gift of tongues. And they said, well, the gift of tongues is the ability to learn many languages. And that's not true. They'll say the gift of knowledge is is the ability to go to college and gain great understanding, great knowledge. That's not true. They took a natural gift and made it into a spiritual gift. And you can quench the Holy Spirit by simply making the natural gifts equal to the gifts of the spirit. And that's not how it works. A.W. Tozer said, if Christians are forbidden to enjoy the wine of the spirit, they will turn to the wine of the flesh. Christ died for our hearts and the Holy Spirit wants to come and satisfy them. You see, you can go to your Bible studies expecting information, but not expecting transformation. And in reading the word, we can fail to fellowship with and become acquainted with the works of the Holy Spirit, because we're called to have communion with the spirit. And so we can fail to realize that spiritual truth is revealed by the Holy Spirit. It isn't simply by going to a Bible study. The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. Spiritual truth is imparted by the Spirit himself. And when a person doesn't have a relationship with God, this book here makes no sense.  In John 16, verses 13 and 14, Jesus said, however, when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority. But whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. So we can theologically remove him from even our Bible studies, if we're not careful. Second, we can quench the spirit by going beyond what Scripture teaches about him. And that occurs very often by adding our personal experiences to what the Lord's word has already declared. And there was a time, and I think it may still be happening today in some places where people were claiming that they were drunk in the spirit. Maybe some of you have been around for a while long enough to remember when that was on TV, there would be people were saying that I am drunk in the Holy Spirit. There was one guy who used to call himself the Holy Spirit bartender. Seriously, that's what he called himself, the Holy Spirit bartender. And then you would see people kind of staggering around in church services. There were there are other extremes going on that were not scriptural whatsoever. There were there was one church that had this revivalist there. And they were they were barking. Some some people were barking. And then some others were meowing like cats. True, I'm not making that up. They were meowing like cats and barking. So they fought like cats and dogs in that church. But they actually they actually were doing that. They actually were doing that. And they were saying that the Holy Spirit makes me do that. Anything that is claimed to be provoked by God should always be tested by the word. We'll see that in a moment. Charismatic excess has caused people to avoid seeking his power. You see, denying the work of the spirit will quench him. But going too far will grieve him. Third, we quench the spirit by trusting in our own strength and intellect. We think that through our own efforts, ideas or whatever we can do, the work of God. But it's the spirit who energizes and inspires us as we serve the Lord. We're not to attempt to live the Christian life and the resources of our own flesh. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit. We need to trust the Holy Spirit. We need to be seeking God's Holy Spirit to work in our lives. We don't want to quench the Holy Spirit. We want him to be present and fruitful. If the Holy Spirit, someone said, was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. But if the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop and everybody, everybody would know the difference. I remember before my pastor, Chuck Smith, went to be with the Lord. We would have our meetings and all. And I remember one of the last meetings that we ever had where Chuck was asked the question, Chuck, what are you concerned? What are you concerned about? What is it that you're concerned about with the Calvary Chapel Ministries and the movement? What is it that you're concerned the most about? And he said what he always said. He quoted Galatians chapter three versus two and three. He said, this only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?  Are you now being made perfect by the flesh? When you begin to make manmade ordinances and rules and regulations preeminent, when you begin to say my ideas that I'm gathering by reading all these books and by reading all these magazines and going to these seminars and all of that, that's going to help me to build up a large body, a good sized church and all of that. That is operating in the flesh. We need to remember that it's the spirit who energizes and inspires as we serve the Lord. Then a fourth thing, we can quench the spirit by the way that we live. We can compromise, live unholy lives. We can neglect prayer, reading the Bible. We can avoid fellowship, neglect our walks, yield to pride. We can yield to our culture and we end up quenching the Holy Spirit. We can indulge our desires to the point that our hearts get calloused. It can come to the point that we no longer hear or care to hear what the spirit is saying. We need to be careful never to become attached to anything that quenches the spirit of God. And then a fifth thing, we can resist his promptings because we doubt or because we're filled with pride and in doing so, we quench his leading. We can fear stepping out in faith. We can resist what he's prompting us to do. And as Christians, it's our desire to know the Lord in a deeply personal way. So we should cultivate a desire to to know him every day. We want to learn to hear his voice like it says in Psalm 63, verse one. Oh, God, you are my God, early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there's no water. God, I want to hear your voice. I want to know what you want from me. And I want to I want to respond in obedience to your promptings. It's easy to quench the Holy Spirit. It's easy to neglect that. But our souls will be satisfied by spending time with them in his word in prayer. You see, even the midst of noise, even in the midst of a commotion in life, you can learn to hear the voice of the one that you love the most. If I'm in a room and there's several people talking and then it gets loud. I still hear my my wife's voice when she walks in. I can still hear it in the midst of 20, 30, 40 voices. I can hear her voice because I can hear the voice of the person that I'm in love with. And Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse four, when the shepherd brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. So you spend time in prayer, you spend time meditating on the word of God and you learn his voice. We need to remember that a fire can be put out by simply withdrawing the fuel and neglecting the things of the Lord will give place to the flesh and quench the Holy Spirit. So instead, instead of quenching the Holy Spirit, we need to spend time with them. And in second Timothy one, verse six, it reads, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the lane on of my hands. What we need to do is we need to continue to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us, to know him through the word in prayer and to be quick to return to the first love when we begin to walk away from him. Do not quench the spirit. Then he says in verse 20, do not despise prophecies. The word despise means a holding contempt. It means devalue. We need to remember that the church is a spiritual body with various gifts of the Holy Ghost. In first Corinthians 12, verse seven, it says the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all. And in the church, there are members who have the spiritual gift of prophecy. That's found in first Corinthians chapter 12, verse 10. Now, when you see the gift of prophecy and all, there are two applications to it. One is when someone has a prophetic mantle or capacity, they can speak forth things that will occur in the future. And you see that in both the old as well as the New Testament, an example of speaking concerning what will take place in the future is found in Acts 20, verses 22 through 24, where Paul said, see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. So he's being forewarned that this is going to take place. When the gift of prophecy is exercised, according to first Corinthians 14.3, the gift of prophecy is a gift that edifies it, it exhorts, it comforts the church. It very often is exercised in Bible studies. The prophetic gift can be used when an illustration is given or something is said that cuts to the heart speaks to the soul in a way that awakens them because not only is prophecy the foretelling of future events, it's also been referred to as the foretelling of the mind of God. And so when prophecy comes, especially as the word is being divided and illustration is being used given or whatever and people will hear something that specifically is applying to them. The spirit of God is moving in that way. We are not to disregard it when we know the Holy Spirit is speaking. You see examples of how the gift of prophecy was exercised in the ministry of Paul by looking at Acts 13, 2, where it says, as they, certain prophets and teachers ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Undoubtedly, that word separate I have a work for them came through those who were exercised on prophetic gift. In Acts 16, verses six and seven, when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia after they had come to Missia. They tried to go into Bethany, but the spirit said, no, go into Chino. No, I'm sorry, that's that was a note I gave myself. They tried to go into Bethany, but the spirit did not permit them. Now, the gift is intended to guide and strengthen believers as they serve the Lord. It may very well be used to prepare for future events. I remember when the church was less than a year old, we were meeting in a small fellowship in Ontario. And I was wrestling with what to teach next because for the first several months of the church's history, I had been doing topical studies and I felt that the Lord was saying, I need to go into a book study. And so I started praying and saying, Lord, what do you want me to teach the church? And I kept getting the impression that I should begin teaching the Gospel of Mark. And I remember arguing with the Lord. I still remember arguing, saying, no, I the God. And I sense the Gospel of Mark. And I sense, well, why I if I start the Gospel of Mark and somebody joins us in the fourth, fifth chapter, there's already five chapters I've done and they don't have any information on. And I was actually wrestling with the Lord. And I was praying because I was coming to the end of a Bible study and I was about to begin the new one. And so I was finishing off the study and I went down at the end of the service and I was standing talking to people and a lady I've never seen since and I'd never seen before walks up to me. I'll never forget it because she walks up and she looks at me and she was waiting, people filed away and now it's her. She walks up to me and she says, teach the Gospel of Mark like that. And I looked at her and I go, who? This is God because it was like she said the way she said it was like, are you going to fight with him? Teach the God. It was one of those things. Teach the Gospel of Mark. So we began Mark the next week, you know. There are times the Holy Spirit speaks in ways like that. And that's exactly what I needed to do. And so we're not to quench the Holy Spirit because he wants to move. We're not to despise prophecies because he directs to this day as long as it lines up with Scripture. But then you have to test all things and hold fast to what is good. So when someone speaks a word of prophecy, the word must be tested. The thing declared as being from God must line up with God's declared word. In 1 Corinthians 14, 29, following two or three prophets should speak and the other should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop for you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. So two or three prophets could speak, but the others should weigh and consider that simply means that you test it. Just because somebody says something doesn't mean that's God speaking. You test it by the word of God. Does it line up with Scripture? I had, again, another lady, different lady approached me one time. We were here on this campus. We were meeting in the chapel at that time before we built this building here. And we had three services. They were very, very full and the Lord was doing some great things. And a lady walks up to me after the service and she says, this is my first time here. And I said, well, it's nice to have you with us. She says, thank you. I have a word from the Lord for you, she said to me. So I said, what is it? She said, the Lord is saying that he is blessing you here on Sundays. But if you move your services to Saturday, he will bless it even more. And I said, no, I said, no, he's not. You're saying that because God didn't command us to meet on Saturday. And what you want us to do is simply meet on Saturday, because that's what you think churches should meet. You tested the word of God doesn't teach that we're supposed to meet on a Saturday. The early church met on the first day of the week, the resurrection of Christ, the first day of the week. The church has always met on the first day of the week. And why would I meet on a Saturday and hold the Sabbath because the Sabbath was not given for the church. The Sabbath was given as an everlasting ordinance for the nation of Israel. It isn't even given to the church. So why would I begin to meet on a Saturday when just because a woman is saying so what you need to do is study and look at the scriptures and have the answer because you need to not quench the Holy Spirit. But at the same time, you need to test and hold fast what is good. See, I know how to quench the spirit. I've done that more than once. I do it as a habit, to be honest with you. It's something I have to learn not to do. And I still remember many years ago now I was in a church service and and the pastor was giving a an invitation in. And I had a cousin who was who lived in Corcoran and he was actually living with my mom and dad. I had just gotten out of the military. I was 23 years old and we were going to church and we took our cousin, my cousin Ray, and we went to church and and I was seated next to him in the church service and an invitation to come and give your heart to Christ came in and the Spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart and said, tell him you'll go up with him. And I remember saying, no, that can't be the Holy Spirit. That's got to be my own. I'm just talking to myself and and I heard it again. Tell him you'll go up with him. And I said, no, no, I'm already saved.  And my goodness, I've already been saved almost three years. Why would I do that? And I argued with the small voice in my heart and the invitation came. The invitation went. We went home and while we were home, he was seated across the table from me and Ray looks at me and he says, you know, when that pastor gave the invitation today, I said, yeah, he said, I was waiting for you to ask me to go forward to give my heart to Christ.  No, I said, oh. I said, Ray, to be honest with you, I said, forgive me. The Holy Spirit was telling me to turn to you. And I didn't. So I know how to quench the Holy Spirit.  I know how to do it. And that's why I can preach the way that I do. So warning when the Holy Spirit's prompting you, don't quench him and don't despise prophecies when someone speaks, listen, test it to see, is this of the Lord? Does it line up with scripture? You test all things, then you hold fast what is good. And then finally, he says in verse 22, abstain from every form of evil, abstain from every form. The word form speaks of an appearance or a manifestation. He's saying avoid or keep at a distance all moral evil of every kind and any kind. This calls for spiritual discernment. So if a supposed prophetic utterance does not lead you to Jesus, demonstrating love and purity of lifestyle and a hunger for things that glorify God, it is to be avoided at all costs. Do not go in a direction that does not honor the Lord. Hold fast what is good. When I got saved, there were, not only was the Holy Spirit moving, but the enemy through a counterfeit spirit began to move. This is a long time ago. Most of you, not almost all of you, won't know this or remember this. But there was a movement that started in almost a counteracting of the Jesus movement. And there were people in it. They were in cults, the children of God being one. And what they were doing is they were prophesying and saying things that they said that the Holy Spirit was telling them to say. And they began to invade churches and began to draw away young people after themselves. One of my friends was actually not kidnapped because he went voluntarily, but he was convinced to go into this cult called the children of God. And there were things like that that was taking place. And in the children of God, they had a leader named Moses David. And what he ended up doing is he ended up printing tracks that were red letter edition tracks as if God was speaking through them. And he started telling people to be prepared for the great comet Kahutek and various other things. And he ended up inspiring young women in the movement to become what they called flirty fishes.  It was that perverse. And so when you see, test all things whole fast, what is good, there's some reality to that because had these young kids had proper Bible teaching, they wouldn't have followed a man like that. He ended up destroying so many lives. And his followers continue, by the way, to exist to this day. The children of God, they changed it to a different name, the family of love, but they may have changed it from then. But that's how it, that's what was going on. So we don't want to quench the spirit. We don't want to despise prophecies, but we will test all things and we will hold fast what is good. And we will abstain from every form of evil. And then finally he says this, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I tried you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. And now he closes. This is his closing blessing. May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May God completely set you apart for his service. May every element of your entire being be made ready to see Jesus Christ when he comes for us. In verse 24, he who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Only God can answer this kind of request and God is faithful and God will do it. Keep that in mind. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. There are times that you may wake up in the morning and you may feel I'm not even a safe person. I think that I'm not a good person. I'm not a good husband. I can say that to myself. I'm not a good husband. I'm not a good father. I'm not a good grandfather. I'm not a good pastor. I wasn't a good son and I'm not a good brother to my brother and my sister. I can tell myself, my heart condemns me quite frequently. I can wake up and I can say within my own heart, I can say, you know, you're not a good person. You're just not good. But you know, the Bible teaches me otherwise. The Bible teaches me that my God is faithful and my God will do it. The Bible teaches me that in Christ I can do all things. The Bible tells me that I'm an overcomer. I'm a new creation in Christ. All things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses you from all sin and God will work in your life. The enemy will whisper into your ear and He does it and you know this, He does it. He will say, you're nothing. You're no good. You have no gifts. You have no talents. You have no value. If you didn't go to church, nobody would even notice. You're not needed. You aren't necessary. You might as well give up. That is a lie. Every person in the body of Christ means something to God. So much so, He sent His Son, Jesus, to dine across for you so that you could have eternal life with Him. He loves you. He hasn't given up on you. He will work in you. He will have His way because our God is faithful and He will do it. Don't forget that. We're living in a tough time when you can believe that evil is working. No, in the darkness, the light shines brighter. There are people desiring to know truth. Don't hold back. Open your heart. Share the truth. Love people. Now there are people that we come into contact with. Let's face it. They're difficult, but they're not necessarily your enemy.  They're just, they're, oh, you have a cubicle you work in.  You put on earphones or earplugs. You can't handle it anymore.  They're my enemy. They're doing that to irritate me. Maybe they are. You never know. But remember, you know, you do have an enemy and it's not necessarily that person you work with. It's not necessarily that neighbor who keeps sign cleaning up their yard and throwing the dog mess into your backyard. It's not necessarily that person. It's the enemy. The enemy of your soul. He wants to seal your joy. He wants to undermine your testimony.    You need to begin to identify yourself for who you really are. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I once was blind, but now I see. I once was deaf, but now I hear. I once was filled with hate, but God has given me His love. I once was useless, but now I'm a tool in the hands of God to be used to win the loss. I'm a brand new person in Jesus Christ. And I identify with the work of Christ every day of my life. People ask me, how have you made it? Almost 48 years walking with the Lord. How every day I wake up, I remember who I am. You know, there's this old saying that the devil will remind you of your past. All you need to do is remind him of his future because in Jesus Christ we win. He loses, we have what God would have us to have. We need to understand that. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. In other words, I need your prayers just as much as you need mine. Please pray for us. Then he says, greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I must confess when I was first saved, I was only 20. When I heard you could kiss Christians, ooh, ha ha, to come to single girls, the little hippies with those granny dresses. And I said, oh, you know, I wouldn't be a Christian if I wasn't kissing, but really it was kiss the brethren. So I decided to backslide, show one another love, show one another affection. When you greet one another with a holy kiss, it's something that reveals a relationship. Have a loving spirit towards one another. Greet the church. And then he's saying also, and give him my love. And then he says, verse 27, I charge you by the Lord that this epistle, this letter, be read to all the holy brethren. So somebody said the epistle was to be read to the whole church on some occasion when it was assembled together. It was not merely designed for the individual or individuals into whose hands it might happen to fall. But as it contained matters of common interest and was designed for the whole body of believers at Thessalonica. So this was to be read to the church, which incidentally we have done as we've gone through this study together even to this day. And then finally, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. This is his final blessing and his usual manner of closing the letter. May God's grace be with you. Somebody said, such grace is with us when it constantly attends us. When it forms the atmosphere, we breathe the light by which we see and the guiding and sustaining influence in our whole lives. May this grace be with you. May God's grace overflow your soul. May God pour his love and his goodness into you. And may his grace be the guiding principle of your life in the name of Jesus. Amen.