1 Timothy 3, verse 16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Last week we looked at that first portion of that, God was manifest in the flesh, and we went through a series of verses that were spanning about 4,000 years where God told in His Scripture that the Christ would be manifested in the flesh. We looked at a lot of the different timings and information and things that Jesus filled perfectly from being human and a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of Jacob and of Judah and of the house of David, whose goings have been from everlasting, right? Some we discovered it could not just be a man who could fulfill all those things. And so we looked at that in great detail. And so what I'd like to look at next is the clause justified in the spirit. Normally when we're talking about justification, we're talking about men. Now we need to be justified from our sin to be made innocent or to be shown to be innocent. That's not what we're talking about here. What is the subject of the justified in the Spirit? It's God. God was manifest in the flesh and we spent that whole time last week establishing who that was. Well, that's Jesus Christ. And so this sentence can read, Jesus, God, justified in the Spirit. Alright, so go into our OED, our Oxford English Dictionary. Let's get a definition. Justify. Now there's like eight definitions, so when you're reading dictionaries, you gotta find the one that makes sense. So here's the one. The showing of something to be just, right, and proper. That word showing, you could also substitute that with to corroborate. It's a fun legal word. To prove. To defend. These are legal terms. You are establishing something to be right, just, or proper. Word that you probably would use in more common day, to verify. To verify something to be just, right, or proper. So, God was manifest in the flesh, right? Jesus came, took on human flesh. We spent the whole week looking at it, right? We're talking about great is the mystery of godliness, right? This thing that was secret and is now being hidden. It's not even a controversy how big of a deal this is, alright? It's huge! God was manifest in the flesh, and he was justified in the Spirit, alright? So he was verified by the Spirit. He was confirmed by the Spirit. He was corroborated to be just, right, and proper. Well, what was He establishing that He was? Well, that Jesus was God! That He was the Christ! That He was the Anointed, the Son of God. That He was true. Right? The things that He spoke that they were true. The Spirit is verifying. It was confirming it. It was an additional witness of what He was saying was true. This is important, right? Because for one to merely claim that, well, this is God in the flesh, well, if it's just your word saying it and there's nothing else outside of that to back it up, that's not a very convincing case. But when the Spirit is verifying it, when He's confirming it, He's defending it, He's proving it over and over and over again, that's That's really solid, okay? So, let's go back to the Old Testament, and let's see, well, let me give away the farm, right? Don't ever go to classes and teachers like hide the ball. Here's the ball, all right? What are four ways that the Spirit confirmed that Jesus was who he said he was? One, at his baptism. Two, by his character and his capabilities. So during his ministry, so at the start of his ministry, during his ministry, at the end of his ministry, by the resurrection, and then post-public bodily ministry, after his resurrection and ascension, there was additional confirmations, proof, verification that who he was was true. The beginning, the middle, the end of the bodily service here, his ministry, a three, three and a half year period, and then afterward, all right? There's the ball, all right? So, go to the Old Testament. Go to Isaiah. Isaiah, go to chapter 42. Remember from last week, Isaiah is about 700 years before God would be manifest in the flesh. Isaiah 42, starting in verse We'll just stick with verse 1 for right now. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Alright, God's speaking here. He says, My servant, one who served me, whom I uphold, right? Father, God is actively involved in this. Mine elect, right? You know the movie, the TV show, The Chosen, right? They use that word and they're just referring to Jesus, right? We know that that word elect applies to his people too. It's not a different concept, but here, mine elect, my chosen, the one that I specifically appointed to a task, in whom my soul delighteth." God is pleased in Christ. I have put my Spirit upon Him. Alright? Now, 700 years before Christ, now go to Matthew chapter 3 and listen to how it describes Jesus' baptism, which we recognize is the beginning of His public ministry, right? His time had come to go into to serve and to speak and to teach. He had to tell John the Baptist, you know, suffer it to be so. Matthew 3, 15 and 16. Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, which means you know He was dunked, right? He had to go down into the water. He came out of the water. So there He is. He's out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened unto Him. You know, I just kind of imagine that being just the clouds parting. It doesn't say the clouds moved. Says the heavens were open unto him. Now what does that guy look like? I don't know. But if it wanted to just say clouds, it probably would just say clouds. The heavens were open unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. Another gospel writer would use the expression of in a bodily shape, like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Behold my servant, my chosen, mine elect, right? Whom I uphold and whom my soul delighteth. God the Father is quoting his own scripture and saying, here he is. He also said, I have put my spirit upon him, whom? In a bodily form like a dove, the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity, is coming down and it is resting upon the second. The Spirit is verifying that He is true. Not only that, the Father is verifying it at the same time. This is a great scene. The Father is verbally, and here the Spirit in a visible form is saying, this one is mine, behold my servant. So you've got a message for 700 years saying, when the Christ comes, I'll say behold. I delight in him, my son, my servant, here he is. And the Spirit is resting upon him in this outward manifestation where it could be seen by those that were there beside the River Jordan that day. All right. Go back to Isaiah again, and I want you to go to chapter 11 this time. Just kind of keep your fingers on Isaiah. We're going to stay there a lot. Isaiah 11, verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 11, verses 1 and 2. and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." All right, this goes back to... we could have talked about this last week, about God being manifest in the flesh. He was going to be the house of David. What was David's father's name? Jesse. All right, so what else did he call the Christ? He called them the branch. So here we're talking about the Christ. We're identifying the Christ of a descendant of Jesse of the household of David. I will cause him to grow out of his roots in verse 2. and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." Now, this expression of resting upon someone is not like, alright, you ever seen the queen knight somebody? You take the sword, hit their head, hit their shoulders, right? Does the sword stay there? No, it's just a tap, right? That's not the idea here of resting, alright? It's like coming and remaining and abiding, alright? This expression was used at least twice before in connection with the Spirit. And one was in Numbers chapter 11. You don't have to flip there. Go read the whole chapter if you want to later this week. Numbers 11, Moses is complaining. People are upset about the grub. They want some meats, right? And God's told them... He's complaining. The guy said, God, these people are too many for me. I'm just one guy. If it don't get any better, just kill me. Moses was a guy, alright? He had been fed up to here. You ever been fed up with here? You've got something in common with Moses, alright? Just kill me! And God was telling him, my arm's not short. I'm gonna feed him. I'm gonna feed him meat, not only for a day or a week, but a whole month, alright? It's coming. But in addition to that, he knew that Moses couldn't handle it by himself, and so he said, I'm going to take of the Spirit that's upon you, because God had put the Spirit upon Moses, and I'm going to put it upon these 70 elders. Well, 68 show up for the appointment, and the Spirit goes upon them, and they start prophesying. There's an outward manifestation that the Spirit's resting upon them, because they are now prophesying. Two didn't show up, and they're out in the camp. They didn't want to be, you know, tapped for that duty, apparently. Well, the Spirit put upon them two out in the camp, and Joshua came and told Moses, hey man, they didn't come, and you need to tell them to not prophesy. And Moses basically says, I would that all of God's people had the Spirit resting upon them. Resting upon them. Alright, so they took from Moses, God took from Moses, that His Spirit that was resting upon him, and put it upon the 70. You think it was just for that day, the 70? As long as the Lord allowed it to stay. Sometimes he would take his spirit off of somebody. Saul, Samson, right? Another time when you use this expression of the spirit resting is Elijah and Elisha. Time for Elijah to go. Elisha's following along. He says, I want to see you go. I want to have a double portion of your spirit. He says, well, if you are able to see me, it'll happen. Chariots of fire come down, swoop up. The older, the mentor, Elijah and his mantle falls. Elisha picks it up and he's walking back towards the Jordan River and he tries to do the same thing that Elijah did on the way, which was whack it with his mantle and the water's parted. And so he did, and the sons of the prophets see that, and they say, whoa, the spirit of Elijah now rests on Elijah. All right, so that's 2 Kings 2, verse 15, if you want to go read about that. So, God hears saying, there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his root. So we're talking about the Christ, talking about manifest in the flesh, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. Go to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. John the Baptist's role as a forerunner for the Christ was paving the way, preparing a people for him, right? The valleys need to be filled in, the mountains need to be lowered like you're blowing a highway through the country, right? It's going to be straight shot. So, Verse 29, John seeth Jesus coming and says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. How is Christ better than John? Well, in all ways. He's eternal. He is God. And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore I might come baptize him in water." Why did I come baptize him? That he should be revealed. That's the whole purpose of John the Baptist's ministry is that Christ would be manifest or revealed to Israel. John, bear record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove. So we're still describing the baptism. This is after it's already occurred. So he's seeing him about afterwards. He's saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him, rested upon him. I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, who sent John the Baptist to baptize, God, right? He's a prophet, he was sent by God. God the Father sent him the same said unto me, upon whom thou see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and I bear record that this is the Son of God. Alright, so you've got not only the fact that the Spirit came down and rested upon him, God told John, here's the sign so you will be able to identify the Christ. The Spirit will come down, rest, abide on him." So the dove didn't just come and do a shoulder hop, you know, touch and go with a helicopter, right? It came and rested upon him, alright? And the idea is it was a visual for what was going to abide there permanently, right? The Spirit was not given to Christ in measure. The rest of us have it in measure. He had the unlimited, the full access, alright? So we've got two Old Testament prophecies of the Spirit confirming the Christ by the Spirit coming and literally being put upon Him. And the way God fulfilled that was putting it in the bodily form and putting it there so that those at the baptism could see. From the very beginning of His public ministry, the Spirit was verifying, yes, this is true. This is the Christ, right? So, how about in the middle of His ministry? Things are going. Isaiah, chapter 11. You're gonna get the next two verses. Isaiah 11, the Spirit of the Lord, so verse two, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." Alright. During his ministry, Jesus's character was displayed by the spirit of fulfilling all of these attributes. Okay? Spirit of wisdom. When the Jews sent the captains to go arrest Jesus at one point, and they came back empty-handed, what did the captains say? They said, never man spake like this man. They were blown away with the wisdom that was constantly coming out of his mouth. How about his understanding? And, not judging by eyes in John 2, it talked about, he didn't need any man to testify of other men. He already knew what was within him. He had an understanding that was beyond human comprehension. The spirit of understanding was upon him. How about counsel? The way that he taught, the way that he gave instructions, they're like, this is different. They heard that. This is not like the scribes and the Pharisees. This is one who's teaching with authority, right? You have the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel. How about the spirit of might? I mean, did we do any miracles here? Did we demonstrate the power by calming the sea? Right? We had a little bit of a rainstorm this morning. And yet, the one that we serve could have spoken a word and it would have shut off immediately. No more effort than you turning the noz on the hose, right? The faucet on the hose, right? Off. He demonstrated his might and his power over and over and over again. We won't enumerate all of those today. You know them, right? A spirit of wisdom, a spirit of understanding, a spirit of counsel and instruction, a spirit of knowledge. How about some knowledge that no one else can have? Hey, Peter, you think we need to pay taxes? Go down there, go fish. One time, the first fish that you catch is going to have money in its mouth. It'll be the exact right amount, and go pay that temple tax for us. Anybody else got that knowledge? No, right? He's got a spirit of knowledge. How about the spirit of the fear of the Lord, right? A reverence for the Father. Is there anyone who's ever existed who has had a greater love and devotion for the Father, right? Spent great amounts of time in prayer, arising early, obedient even unto his death, right? He came to do the Father's will. He came to give the Father's words. He was obedient. He feared the Lord, and that's reverence. That's honor, love, and respect, right? Spirit of fear of the Lord. He was quick of understanding. He knew when people were trying to deceive him. He was discerning, right? He could read their hearts, he knew their thoughts, but he knew when they were trying to entrap him, perceiving their wickedness. There was no getting around this. I mean, we know Solomon was a smart guy, right? The Lord gave him a spirit of wisdom. Jesus far surpassed him, okay? Again, not judging by sight, right? How about when he was in the Pharisee's house and a woman came up and was washing his feet and crying, and the Pharisee's getting all bent out of shape. He's like, if this man were really a prophet, he'd know what kind of person's touching him. She's a sinner. Eww, right? But Jesus, he didn't say that out loud. Jesus knew. He was judging righteously. He said, this one loves much because much has been forgiven. But you, to much has little been forgiven, you love very little. He knew. He's not judging after the appearance of what somebody looks like or even the sins that they've been engaging in. He knows perfectly. All right? Same thing for not judging by the ears. All right. He knows their thoughts. He knows their hearts. These are all attributes that are described here in Isaiah 11 as being spirit. Okay? So if God, in His Scripture, is saying that Christ will have all of these, They're described as being a spirit. And then Christ has all of these, then you have an additional verification, additional confirmation, additional corroboration that Jesus is true, that He is God in the flesh, that He is the Christ, He is the Son of God. Let's get some additional characteristics that we're seeing throughout His public ministry. Go back to Isaiah 42. I don't know if we've been there yet enough. Yeah, we have. Isaiah 42, We started with 1, we'll get to verse 2. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. What did Jonah do when he went to Nineveh? He's going through the street. He's crying out. He's saying, repent, you have 40 days and God's going to destroy this place. That was not Jesus' ministry. He was quiet. He was publicly teaching. His voice was loud enough for those who were interested in listening and around would hear, but He was not wandering through the streets like a crazy man just hollering at the top of his lungs, right? He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break. The smoking flax shall He not quench. Is it difficult to break a reed that's already been bruised? It's already been damaged, right? You've been walking through by a pond or whatever, you've got a cattail or whatever, it's already kind of lumping over. A fresh one may take a little bit more effort, but the idea is it's very little effort. He says he's not even going to do that, right? He's not coming to fix all the issues in that society. He's not going to Breda, he's not going to cause a civil war. He's not going to cause this rebellion, this revolt. I mean, people were kind of expecting a military leader, right? There's other verses that talk about him being victorious. They're like, all right, time to kick some Roman butt. We're going to be free. Nope. The smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he hath set judgment on the earth, and the isles shall wait for him." It's probably... No, let's go down. Let's go down to verse 6. I the Lord call thee in righteousness, I will hold thine hand, I will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people." He is the covenant. He is the embodiment of the covenant, the promise. Giving Jesus is a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles. Why? To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison. and then that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." Alright. If he's the Lord and that's his name, and he's not going to give his glory to another, who has to be fulfilling all this? God! Right? The Christ! That's right! So part of what he's going to be doing is the softness of how he's speaking, And that not crying out, that's actually quoted by Matthew. And given the reason for why Jesus did or didn't do Matthew 12, 16 through 20, you say that it would be fulfilled, these passages here. And you can go read that on your own time. But how about this, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from the darkness, go to John chapter 9. We've talked about his power in general terms in miracles, but here's one that's very specific. In John chapter 9, there was a man who had been blind from birth. And his disciples, you know, you remember this, they're asking, why was this guy born blind? Was it for his sins? Or was it his parents? And Jesus said it was neither, but that the works of God should be manifest in him. The works of God may be manifest in him. Who was about to do a miracle on him? Jesus. Who is Jesus? God. Manifest is revealed. He's about to demonstrate something God was going to demonstrate by healing this man. And so he did. And the Pharisees and everybody got really upset. And they're trying to find a way where it's not true. Right. They call on his parents. They want to know what happened. Right. And so, the healed guy, the one who's now able to see, he's been interrogated and back and forth, and finally, he says, you know, this is a marvelous thing. This is verse 30, 9 and 30. The marvelous thing that you know not from whence he is, this is referring to the guy that healed him, yet he hath opened my eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Verse 32, this is what I want. Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? If this man were not of God, he could do nothing." Alright, this is an ignorant blind man, but he's speaking the truth. This has never been heard of in the existence of the world, going back to the creation. We've never heard of someone who was born blind suddenly being able to see. I guess there's been injuries to the eye and those clear up. Heal? Okay, we've heard about that. But, what was promised back in Isaiah 42 about the Christ? Right? That He would open the eyes of the blind. So here He is fulfilling. It's additional stamp. It's additional verification. It's additional confirmation and proof by the miracle of the Spirit that God is manifesting. This is my Son! If you don't believe my words, believe the miracles. Right? He was confirmed to be who He said He was. Also, when John the Baptist was in prison and he was discouraged and he sent some messengers unto Jesus and he wanted some additional confirmation, are you the one? Are you the one that we've been waiting for? How did Jesus respond to him? He said, the blind see, the lame walk. and the poor have the gospel preached unto them." He is quoting back attributes that were given in Isaiah multiple times, saying, the Christ would do these things. He's saying, I'm doing those things. So the answer is, yes, I am the one, and I put it in a way that you, as an understander of scripture, will definitively know it. Not just, yes, believe me, but yes, here's the promises, here's where they're being fulfilled. Okay? And he waited for those messengers. He did all those things in their sight and then sent them back. Go tell them what they've seen, right? You don't have to take my word this is going on. The messengers that you sent, they've seen firsthand. All right, let's go back to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61, again, "...the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our Lord." We've got two different days being discussed there. The first one has been fulfilled. Want to know how I know? Jesus said so. He's in his hometown of Nazareth. They bring in the book of Isaiah. He opens up to the page and he starts reading that exact verse. And then when he's done, he says, this day are these things fulfilled in your ears? And they're all just like, what? How is he speaking these eloquent words? The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Jesus is saying, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Why? Because the Lord hath anointed me. What does Messiah mean? Anointed. Anointed with what? Holy Spirit. The Christ, the Messiah, same word, anointed me, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to do what? To preach good tidings unto the meek. And what was the vast majority of his public ministry noted for? Teaching good tidings! Right? To the smartest and the best and those who are cleaned up and they got their act together? To the meek. To the lowly. to the brokenhearted, to the captives, those who are bound up in the burden of their sins, He's coming and loosing them. To proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord. So that's Luke chapter 4, if you want to go read where He is announcing this day, this portion of the Scripture has been fulfilled. Now the day of vengeance of our Lord, that's to come. That's when he returns, there will be a great day of vengeance where he came the first day to deal with his people, to loose them from captivity. When he returns, he will gather his people to him and he will deal with his enemies. Alright, so we've got at the baptism, dove ascending, you've got during his ministry, all of his both character and the things that he, capabilities manifesting, the spirit was upon him. Resurrection. Alright, that's the third one. Resurrection. Alright, Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. Paul's the writer. He was separated under the gospel of God. Verse 2, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scripture. What did he promise? the gospel, the good news, right? Old Testament scripture had pointed to this good news of the Christ's coming, right? How do we know it's concerning that? Verse 3 says, "...concerning His Son Jesus Christ, Messiah, anointed, right? Our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh," right? Manifest in the flesh. and declared, revealed, verified to be the Son of God with power, how? According to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. Jesus is declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is verifying Him to be the Son of God with power. In what way did He do that? By the resurrection from the dead. If all that Jesus said during His ministry was not true, then there would not have been a resurrection. But because it is true, God raised Him. from the dead by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness. It is a stamp of approval. You are representing me. Right. The son representing the father gave the father's words, did his will all the way to death. Stamp of approval is his life. He's now the first fruits of all of his people. Right. That he would see his work and he would be satisfied by it, even though he went to death to accomplish it. All right. He was made the seed of David according to the flesh, declared, manifested, justified, revealed, confirmed to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. Go also to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3, verse 18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, our sins, the just for the unjust." Who's the just? Christ! Who's the unjust? All of His people. He suffered once for sins, not His own sins, but the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened, made alive by the Spirit. additional stamp, additional confirmation, additional verification that Jesus is true, Jesus is God, Jesus is the Christ, was by the Spirit's stamp of approval by the act of the resurrection. The Son is involved in the resurrection, the Father is involved in that, and all three at different points are associated with it, but that is one that's given as an additional verification, additional confirmation, showing this is true, this is just, this is proper. Proved to be God. All right. How about after his resurrection? He's alive, shows himself to his disciples for a 40-day period, off and on. Not to everybody large, but to his own. At one time, was it 500 people at one time? Big crowd, all right. And then after that 40-day period, he ascends up into heaven. What are additional verifications given by the Spirit that he is true, that he is proper? Well, Pentecost, right? God's sending the Holy Spirit. Now, how does this, how do we know this is going to happen? Well, in the near term, if you're just looking at John chapter 14, John chapter 15, John chapter 16, as Jesus is giving his kind of final discussion to his apostles, this is after the Lord's Supper, They're on their way to the garden. They haven't gotten there yet. And He's telling them that there's a Comforter that is going to come. The Father will send the Comforter. He has to go away first, but the Comforter will come. He'll be the Spirit of truth. He will leave them in all truth. He will point them to the things that Jesus said. He will remind them. He will teach them. The Comforter will come. The Comforter will come. The Comforter will come. Well, if you go back to the Old Testament, Isaiah 44, 1-4, we'll see here's an allusion to the Spirit coming and being poured out broader than just on the Christ, but also to the Christ's people. Isaiah 44, we'll start in verse 1, Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus saith the Lord, that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and thou, Jeshurun, or upright one, whom I have chosen. This is addressed to all of God's people. This is spiritual Israel. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon a dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessings upon thine offspring. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses." So you've got this pouring out of the Spirit upon the people at large. It's like they are springing up. like new grass and willows by the watercourses. They're refreshed. You know, Jesus talked about that living water, right? And that which was within, the sustainment. This is looking at an example of pouring out the Spirit upon His people. Go later to the book of Joel, and that will be the explicit passage that's going to be quoted by Peter at the day of Pentecost. Joel, chapter 2. Daniel, Hosea, Joel. Am I a prophet? When exactly is Joel written? I don't know. I don't think I've got enough information. If you know some references for Joel, let me know. Joel chapter 2, verses 28 and 29. Let's start in 27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and none else, and my people shall never be ashamed." Verse 28, "...and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I pour out my Spirit." Alright? Later it's going to talk about additional things that are going to happen at that day of vengeance. But here, the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is additionally confirming, Jesus is right, Jesus is true, Jesus is proper, because these people who are following Him and declaring to be witnesses of His resurrection are now doing something that no one else could do, right? They're suddenly speaking in languages they never learned, and they're being understood very clearly and distinctly by the people who grew up in those languages, their native tongue, and they're all manifesting and declaring the attributes and wonders of God in this glorified, wonderful way. Well, it's the Holy Spirit. There's a visible form. It looked like fire. It wasn't fire, right? It was a cloven tongue, like fire, that was descending upon them. There's a sound of a rushing, mighty wind. And suddenly, these followers who are teaching and believing in the name of Christ, there's an additional stamp that's put upon them, which is an additional confirmation upon whom they're serving. Alright? It's not the only time that happens. Go to Acts chapter 4 after the first period of persecution. Peter and John went to pray, right? They got thrown in jail for a day for their trouble. The next day they're going back with the disciples and they're saying, behold how everyone's raging against us and they're threatening us. They've told us never teach in Jesus' name again. Now they had some pretty bold responses, whether it's better to obey you or obey God, you judge, but we cannot help but to teach and speak the things that we know and that we've seen, like they were witnesses of the resurrection. They have to teach it. Well, they went home and they prayed, and all the disciples are praying together, and they're praying for boldness, that they will be able to continue to boldly teach and preach in the name of Jesus. And you know what happened? The Holy Spirit came upon them again, and they were all boldly teaching and preaching the name Christ all right again in Acts chapter 8 they're teaching to now the Samaritans you're going beyond just the the small epicenter of Jerusalem's relatively small city you're going out a little bit broader to the region of Samaria just to the north and they're starting to teach there And when the apostles come, the Holy Spirit then is upon those individuals as well. Later, when Peter eventually goes to see Cornelius in the city of Caesarea, that's like a Gentile city, port city. And he goes in and he's teaching Jesus Christ. And what comes upon these believers? They're not Jews, right? Everything about the Old Testament had this idea, at least from the Jewish perspective at that time, that it was only pertained to the Jews. But if you go through and read it, looking for references to Gentiles, there's a bunch. We can look at that another day. But suddenly, the Holy Spirit comes upon these individuals as well. They're not Jews, but they're believers in Christ. And so, you've got not only a confirmation that these believers are legit, that they are Jesus' children as well, but you've also got the additional confirmation that Jesus is legit, that He is real, right? God's not going to put His stamp of approval by sending His Spirit on a liar. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh and justified in the Spirit. He was shown proved, verified to be true, to be just, to be righteous, to be proper by the Holy Spirit, by the Spirit. All of these attributes of what, from the beginning of His ministry, during His ministry, at the end of His public ministry, and then beyond, throughout it, constantly verified, verified, verified, verified, reassured. God was not leaving any doubt that this is the one, that this is real.