Good morning, Veritas. How is everybody? Good. Good. It's officially the first day of fall. If you didn't know that, you know, if you were to like, go on Google and type when does fall 2024 start, it would tell you today's date. One way you can know that is because it is freezing in here. Anybody? I'm like, okay, I had already planned to talk about the start of fall before I even stepped foot in this building. And I'm like, I should have packed a sweatshirt. It's hoodie season, right? But what it also is with fall is football season. And one thing you should know about me is I love football. Okay? I know not everybody in this room loves football, so I will try on a consistent basis in my preaching not to make every analogy or illustration sport based, because everybody that doesn't like sports is just going to roll their eyes and tune out. But if you don't like sports today, today is not your lucky day because I'm going to start by talking about football. All right. Around the Howell household, we love football, primarily because I do. But my kids have learned that if they ever want to watch a screen, all they have to do is say, daddy, can I watch football with you? And odds are I'm probably going to say, yes, you can. Let's go do it. So Fridays and Saturdays, college football. Sundays and Mondays, NFL. Any other day of the week, you can just turn on a sports channel and you're probably going to watch football highlights. Whether it's like looking back at the games that just happened or looking ahead and you have broadcasters that are talking about the upcoming game, there's almost always highlights rolling on the screen of the football season. And one particular highlight that I like to go back and watch each fall, and this is not what you expect might expect me to say, I like to go back and watch one of my friend's high school highlight videos. Now, I don't go back and watch it because it's phenomenal. All right? He actually made it as a joke when he was in his late high school years. He made a highlight reel from his freshman year of football season, and then he tweeted it out to Nick Saban, Alabama's head coach Dabo Sweeney at Clemson, and more or less said, hey, you should take a look at my film. But if you watch this video, it's actually hilarious. So oftentimes in these recruiting videos, you know, there's a lot of players on the field, so they'll draw a circle around or highlight the player that the video is featuring. So my friend made this video, and in almost every cut of the play, play, it's a highlight or a circle on him. And he is sheepishly involved in every play, right? If he's on defense, there's a tackle that happens on the other side of the field, and then he kind of just runs over and pretends like he was a part of the play. Embarrassing, but what I found to be the funniest, there were two different kick returns that were returned all the way from return to the end zone. We're talking like 70, 80 yards. But in both of these kickoff returns, where he is highlighted or featured is standing on the sideline. And you can actually, in one of the videos, see him kind of like jumping up and down, cheering. And I'm like, this is hilarious. He made it as a highlight video. And so I watch it every year just to get a good laugh and remember that he was a terrible football player. Now, we can laugh about that, and I do. But the more I've thought about his highlight video, I think it can be a familiar story for us when it comes to engaging in the mission of God. And though many of us have our jersey on, we might be, like, suited up. If we're honest with ourselves when it comes to engaging in the mission of God, we can feel sheepish, if not completely sidelined, when it comes to how we are engaging in what God is calling us to. We struggle to get in the game. And even when we do get in the game, we lack confidence. I mean, you would think, even for myself, as someone who gets to preach on a consistent basis, that this just comes really easy for me. But I remember getting my hair cut in cedar rapids several years ago. I was sitting in a chair and a barber's like, so what do you do for work? And I'm like, oh, no, here we go. Right? And I'm like, I work for Veritas, downtown cedar rapids. And he goes, how'd you get into that? And I was like, it's a long story. He's like, I'm going to be cutting your hair for 40 minutes. You might as well just start telling me, right? But I found myself, like, sheepish in that moment. And the question is, why? Like, why was I so sheepish? Why are we so intimidated? Or why do we sideline ourselves missionally? Because statistics tell me. Here's one that is concerning, okay? 90% of self expressed evangelical christians have never shared their faith with anyone outside of their family. 90%. Keep in mind the word evangelical assumes that you are doing what? Evangelizing or sharing the gospel. Yet 90% of evangelical christians have never shared their faith with anybody outside of their family. And when polled, two thirds of american christians state that they do not know how to share their faith. Two thirds. Now, I think there's a lot of reasons we can feel sheepish or that we can sideline ourselves missionally. But I think two primary reasons that we do not engage in the mission of God. The first is fear. We're afraid. We fear rejection. We fear losing friends. We fear being weird, the weirdo being mocked, if not being persecuted. But the second reason is we often lack confidence. Maybe we feel like we don't know what to say or in the moment. We don't feel like we can say it right. We're afraid of getting it wrong. And as we jump into two corinthians this morning, you could probably understand how Paul, who's writing this letter to the church in Corinth, could get himself here to begin to feel sheepish or to sideline himself missionally. I mean, this guy has been living for Christ, but his life has been marked by suffering. This church that he's writing to has downright mocked him, if not rejected him. We know that he's not an eloquent speaker. And then at the tail end of last week's text, when Matthew talked to us, we get this idea of, there is a spiritual enemy that we are at war against. His name is Satan. And in verse eleven, it talked about how we're not to be outwitted or ignorant of his designs, because we know that Satan, our spiritual enemy, is deceitful and destructive. And so when you combine all of these elements to be like, okay, I'm following Jesus, I'm suffering. The people I'm trying to lead are mocking me, if not downright rejecting me. I am a terrible public speaker. And, oh, by the way, the devil, Satan is against me. Like you would think. Paul would say, I'm done. I'm just going to throw in the towel. I'm going to fit in with the culture. I'm going to be quiet and stop talking about Jesus. But as we'll find out today, that's not what Paul does. His mission is not slowed down. He is not silenced. And in fact, he continues to engage confidently in the mission of Goddesse. And that must make us lean in and say, what does Paul know that we don't? And maybe it's not necessarily something that you don't know, but it's something that you have forgotten. And as we open up to two Corinthians, chapter two. I want to ask the question, what do we need to know or remember in order for us to get in the game missionally, in order for us to engage in the mission of God with confidence? What are we missing that Paul understands? So open up with me. Second Corinthians, chapter two. I'm going to read through the first several verses of our text this morning, and then we're going to walk through them together, make a few observations together. So, two Corinthians, chapter two. Beginning in verse twelve. Here's what the word of God says. When I came to troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing. To one, a fragrance from death to death, to the other, a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God. In the sight of God, we speak in Christ. So you guys may remember from a couple weeks ago, Paul is writing to this church in Corinthe, who is kind of questioning or undercutting his apostolic leadership. And one of the reasons that they did that is they thought that he was insincere, he had changed his travel plans, and they thought maybe he is just flaky, maybe he's not who he says he is. And so in these first two verses, two corinthians 212 13, we see Paul actually kind of back up his sincerity by telling them about one of the reasons for changes in travel plans. This is kind of the last we see of him speaking to this change in travel plans. He circles back to it. He was like, hey, I came to Troas, this region, to preach the gospel. Oh, and by the way, there seemed to be a ton of opportunity for gospel mission to take place. But I noticed one thing. Titus wasn't there. And you might look at that and be like, is this dude really going to sideline the mission of God for one friend? Like, okay, what's the big deal with Titus here? Well, what you should know is Paul's concern was not just about Titus, though Titus was a dear friend. And companion to him. Titus was supposed to be reporting back to Paul how they. How the church in Corinth received this letter that he had written to them in tears, this painful letter. And so Pauldin is telling the church in Corinth, hey, in fact, part of the reason I changed my travel plans, part of the reason that I sidelined some great gospel ministry opportunities is because I was so concerned about you. I cared about how you would respond to this painful letter. I wrote, like to leave behind a wide open door for the gospel, because he wanted to hear how the corinthian church was. Now, again, if I'm Paul here, I'm like, dude just left a great gospel opportunity. Because his heart breaks for the people of Corinth. His heart is so stirred with compassion for how they would respond to this letter. And yet when he hears back from Titus, eventually connects with Titus, he hears two things. Yes, some people have repented. They want you restored. But there's still this sect of the church that is undercutting him and saying, we don't think you're legit. And it is insane to me that second corinthians is even here, because if I was Paul, I would be done. I'd be fed up, right? We already talked about this. This is likely his fourth letter. He's visited them. He's written through tears. And yet there's still this group within the church in Corinth who is trying to cut him down. It's like, why are you wasting ink? This is a precious commodity. What are you doing? But that's not what Paul does. He's written this letter purposefully, and he's written it with confidence. And we see why, as you look at this middle section of the text, verses 14 through the front end of 16, he says, but thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession. Now, this is not language we're really familiar with, but to the original audience, they would have had a very clear picture of this roman parade known as a triumph. It was a victory parade, and it was reserved for a conquering general, one who may only get one triumph in his lifetime, because it would require immense victory, like total victory. And so he paints this picture of a triumph parade. Now, what you should know about this triumph parade is it wasn't just like Vinton Schellsberg's homecoming parade. I was there. Anybody else with me? Okay. A lot of fire trucks, a lot of kids throwing candy. I love it. I'm all there for it. Give me more fruities. Right? But this parade was more than just like kids throwing candy. It was a huge celebration, paraded through the city. So many different elements. They talked about, like, seven, eight, nine different elements in many of these roman triumphs. But some of the key components were the captives, the group, or the nation that was conquered kind of out in front. And they were out in front because they were being marched to their execution. This was, like, to their shame, right? Rome was marching them through the city so that they could be publicly humiliated and led to death. And then behind them, another important element was the musicians and priests who were waving incense. The whole goal of this entire experience was for it to engage all of your senses, not just to see or hear, but to even smell a smell of victory, right. Or perhaps a smell of defeat, depending on which side you're on. And then right behind the musicians and the incense bearers was the conquering general, who was propped up on his seat. He was on the throne, robed in purple, essentially like a God. And then behind him, behind the conquering general, was his army, who was, you know, shouting with victory, chanting. They are elated because they got to participate in this great war where their general led them to victory. And so Paul is nothing sidelined or silenced because of this response from the church in Corinth. But rather, he is stirred with a sense of victory. He doesn't feel defeated. He feels victorious. Now, the question we have to ask is, who's who in this victory parade? Okay? This is a question that the kids can help me with. Who would be the conquering general in the victory parade? Any guesses? Any adults want to help him out starts with a jesus. Okay? When in doubt, if you get asked that question in the church, say, Jesus. You're probably right. Okay. The conquering general, Jesus, right. Christ, is leading us in triumphal procession. He is the victor. Paul looks at Christ, and he knows we serve conquering king. We look back, we look at Jesus perfect life, more than 30 years of sinless perfection. We look at his gruesome, substitutionary death, where he went to a criminal's cross, died in the sinner's place, took the wrath of God on his head, and did not stay dead, but threw. Three days later, he rose again. What? Victorious. Victorious. That end, Jesus resurrection. He declared victory over sin. He declared victory over Satan. He declared victory over death itself. And Paul is saying, we have a victorious king. I am not afraid. I don't lack confidence. I am not sheepish. No. I follow a conquering king. Now the question is, who are we in the victory parade? Now, if you think you're right, I would just tell you to pause, because theologians have actually argued over this for quite some time about who does Paul see himself as in this text? If you have a NiV Bible, you actually might read a translation that talks about Paul listing himself as one of the captives. And that's one vantage point that people would look at this text and they'd say, hey, in this victory parade, perhaps Paul, or we as christians, are to be the captives. And what Paul is trying to say is, hey, as someone who has been captured by Christ, I'm a slave of Christ. I understand that in many ways, I'm being led to a life of suffering. But this suffering doesn't end in, like, my ultimate defeat. In a strange and upside down way, this suffering is actually giving off this fragrant aroma of victory. Like it's through my suffering that I am putting the knowledge of God on display. And so maybe Paul is a captive. He's out on the front end, and he's saying, hey, I am not my own. I belong in mind, body, and soul to Christ. And even if he leads me into suffering, it is so that he would be put on perfect display. That is one vantage point, and I think there is a decent case for that. The second option is perhaps Paul is saying, hey, I am simply an incense bearer. I am someone who stands in between these two groups of people, both the captives who are being led to death and the victors who are being led to life behind me. I stand in between as someone who can simply just spread the aroma of Christ. And here you might say, oh, maybe this is less about Paul's suffering and more about his sharing of the gospel. Now, if I had to pick a side, I would probably pick the second. I would probably say, hey, when you look at the text and he talks about this aroma, I mean, I think if I was the original audience, I would be thinking Paul sees himself as the incense bearer. He's right in between these two groups. And if he was one of the captives, isn't it strange that he would be executed by the one whom the parade was honoring? So there's some wrestle in there, and I hope you can wrestle with it, but I think the heart of both can actually be honored. As you look at this text, it's like, okay, when you consider Paul's gospel witness, is Paul's gospel witness done through his suffering or through his sharing of the gospel? The answer is yes, right? He puts Christ on display in a very tangible, sensed, real way through the way he suffers. Faithfully and through the way, he continues to share faithfully. And so I think the heart of both of those can be honored. But when you think about the outcome here, what's the outcome of this fragrant aroma? There seem to be two outcomes if you look at the text, because, again, there's two groups in the parade. There's those who are being led to death, and there are those who are being led in victory. And what Paul seems to be able to sense in the church of Corinth is there's two different groups who are responding to, number one, the way he suffered, and number two, his gospel message. And they're responding in two different ways. There's one group of people who looks at him as a sufferer, and they say, you can't be trusted. If you're going to suffer like that, why would we follow you? And here's the problem. He's saying, if you're going to reject me based on my suffering, you're ultimately rejecting Christ, who is our suffering king. And so this fragrance does not smell good to you right now. Imagine you are the captive that's being led to your execution. And you smell the incense. You're not thinking, wow, this smells really good. Even if it did smell good, you would know that the incense was the sign of your impending death. And he's saying, whether it's you rejecting the way I live my life or you rejecting my gospel message, either way, your rejection of me is your rejection of Christ. And that is not just your physical death that is going to lead to an eternal death. There is a hard reality that we have to wrestle with in America in 2024. Not everybody dies and goes to heaven, okay? I have heard it one too many times that the broad, sweeping statement, he or she is in a better place is just overused. I hope and pray every time I hear that that statement is true. But when I look at Jesus words and he says, you know, narrow is the path, right? Like small is the gate. Very few will enter. I wrestle with that right when Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. I believe there is only one way that you can guarantee that you are led into eternal life. And it is if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and your savior that you have stopped trying to climb your way to God, but have understood that God in Christ has condescended and has come to you, that he lived perfectly because you couldn't, that he took the wrath of God that you deserved and that his resurrection actually is your resurrection. And here's what's true, christian God is inviting you into this lifestyle that follows him into suffering. Right, like we talked about week one, that you're brought into this upside down life where it's not just follow Jesus and everything gets better, it may get much worse, but you get to embrace the ministry and the message of Christ and, yes, suffer with him, and you are commissioned to speak for him. We're going to get to second corinthians five, where we get to talk about us being ambassadors for Christ, for us to speak on behalf of our king. And when we as christians hear this, if our reaction is not, no, thank you. Our reaction is, sign me up. If I have to suffer with Christ to gain him, I am in this message of, I can't measure up to God, but God came to me in the person of Christ. That sounds like good news. Okay. This fragrant aroma for you is a beautiful smell. It is a smell of life, eternal life, one that's not just propped up in building your kingdom here and now in urbana, Iowa, right? That says, no, the greatest life, eternal life, is not just here and now, though I can experience fullness of life here. Now I am living for the life that is to come, eternity with Christ, my king. And so this gospel message, whether it be through a suffering lifestyle that's faithful to Jesus and through the bold proclamation of the gospel, means there's two different responses. People will either reject it leading to their death, or they will accept it leading to life. But it's the same message right in between the two. I was thinking about this earlier. I was like, man, can't this be said of, like, love songs? Like, if you turn on the radio and it's a love song, there could be two people sitting in a car, and you could hear a love song. Come on. And one of you could be like, oh, my gosh, I love this song. It reminds me of my spouse or my significant other. And the other one might hear it and think, oh, my gosh, this reminds me of my ex. This reminds me of a breakup. I never want to listen to this love song again. It's the same song, but it receives two different responses. And it's not just, like, an acquired smell for the gospel, right? It's like, man, you look at the gospel and it's tied to your understanding and your experience. You either say, jesus is who he says he is, or I don't want him to. And the results are drastic, either life or death. But it's incredible here that Paul says, man, in this matter of life and death, this gospel ministry, whether it be through suffering or sharing, I get to be the aroma of Christ. Not just to share the aroma, but to actually, in verse 15, we are the aroma of Christ, to actually be used by God to make Jesus real to a watching world. That begs him to ask this question at the end of verse 16. Who is sufficient for this? It seems like a daunting task, right? To make Christ real to a desperate and needy world. Who is sufficient for this? Verse 17 he says, for we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God. In the sight of God, we speak in Christ. Now, he is drawing a contrast here between these men, these opponents of the gospel who have come into Corinth and have tried to undercut him. He uses a strong word. He calls these Mendez peddlers of God's word. Peddling was a common practice of their day of taking wine and watering it down and selling it at an increased price for selfish gain. He's saying, this is what these other teachers are doing. They're watering down the teaching of Jesus. Oh, by the way, they're charging you for it, and they're getting rich. That is not who I am. That is not what makes somebody a sincere messenger of the gospel. Because Paul understood that his sufficiency was not in his own strength. It was rooted in God himself. You see that in the text, he says, I am commissioned by God. Oh, and by the way, when I speak, I don't speak in my own authority. I speak in Christ. So on the front end of the message I talked about, one of the reasons we struggle to share our faith is because we are so quick to try and find our sufficiency in ourself. We think about what people will think about us, not what people will think about him. We think about will I get the words right? I'm not a very good public speaker. What if I get the answer wrong? I'm not. Fill in the blank. And what Paul is trying to do here is to help us get our eyes off of ourselves and say, who is sufficient to put Christ in front of a watching world? The answer is none of us. None of us apart from the grace of God. But if you are in Christ, you have been meth by the grace of God. And like Taylor talked about with the middle school retreat, Ephesians 210, and now we are God's workmanship. We're created in Christ for good works which God has prepared beforehand. That we should walk in them. Now. If you're someone who's sitting here today and you're like, Jordan, you have no idea how much I am terrible with people. I would say maybe I don't. But I know a guy who can resonate with you. His name is Moses in Exodus four, right? This is a guy who was really quick when God called Moses and said, hey, Moses, you're my guide. You're going to stand up in front of the Israelites. You're going to stand before pharaoh. You're going to lead the people of God out of slavery. Go. And Moses is like, absolutely not. He's way too quick to cry foul and say, God, do you really know who you're calling? Right. Exodus four. Moses said to the Lord, o my lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and of tongue. And I know there's people in here who would say that, too. They're like, I'm not the guy. But the Lord said to Moses, who has made man's mouth, who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak. Isn't that an encouraging word? Who made your mouth? God. Who is commissioning you? God. Who's going to give you the words to say God, right? This gets repeated in many ways as you look at Jesus words to his disciples in Matthew 28. Oftentimes we know those middle verses, right? Go, therefore, and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And we look at those, and we're like me, like God. Are you sure that I'm supposed to be the one to go, to share the gospel, to teach other people who Jesus is like? I don't know if you understand who you're dealing with, but what we often forget are the promises on both sides of the great commission. He doesn't just say, go and make disciples and baptize and teach. What does he say before that? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore. So we don't go in our own authority. We go in God's authority, as commissioned by God. Oh, and by the way, we don't speak by ourselves and for ourselves, because what's the promise on the back end of the commission? Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. So we're commissioned by God. And when we speak, we're not left to speak in our own authority, but we are called to speak with Christ's authority. And so, Paul, tail end of two corinthians two, where he could just be silenced, or he could just, you know, become a peddler of God's word. He could water it down. He could give them an easier message to stomach so that they could like him. He says, that's not what I'm going to do. I'm going to keep telling you the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and I'm not going to stop suffering, because you need to see what following Jesus really looks like. But his confidence ultimately is rooted in the fact that he knows who his conquering king is, right? The centerpiece of this passage, thanks be to God, a word of worship. Who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession? So we ask the question, what does Paul know that we are missing, that we forget when it comes to missional living? And the simple answer is Christ's victory. Christ's victory, big idea for today, is, confidence in Christ's victory fuels missional living. Confidence in Christ's victory fuels missional living. It's both something we can look back to and say, yes, Jesus really lived, really died, really rose again, and we can look forward and say, Jesus is really coming back. And every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He will rule and reign. And we can look in the here and now at people who are repenting and believing God is actively pushing back the gates of hell through his church. People displaying and proclaiming the gospel, and their friends and family members actually saying, I am a sinner. Jesus is a savior. I want to follow him forever. That is actively happening to this day. There is victory everywhere. But oftentimes, we are just too quick to forget. We're too wrapped up in ourselves. We feel too defeated to understand the actual reality of the promises of scripture. And so I want to give you three application points today, three things to know. And if you already know them, I would say three things to remember, okay. To really engage in missional living the way we're called to. The first is know the outcome. Know the outcome. Jesus wins. He's leading us in triumphal procession. Like I said, Philippians two. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess, Jesus Christ is Lord. That will happen one day, so go and share the gospel accordingly. Jesus wins. And if people haven't repented and believed yet, just believe they will eventually, right? I hope that they believe on this side of death, but one day they will believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. And if you're sitting here this morning and you're wrestling with this, you're like, who is Jesus? To me? I would say you need to understand the outcome this morning. Life is far too short for you to bank on finding out the answer someday. This gospel message has two responses, either eternal life or eternal death. And I would beg you, I would plead with you, understand the outcome that Christ is going to win, and let that lead to your repentance and faith and trust in him where you can experience fullness of life in him now and forever. Number one, know the outcome. Number two, know your leader. Know your leader. Who's the general here? Jesus. I think we miss this so often today that we are so quick to hang our hat on Jesus as savior, but we miss Jesus as Lord, that he is the commanding general. Right? In verse 14, he always leads us. He is the leader. We are the follower. In verse 17, we are commissioned by God. This is not an optional add on. If Jesus is your savior, he is also your lord. So understand, you answer to him. You don't answer to your friend group. You don't answer to your own personal comfort. You answer to your lord, who has commissioned you to be the very aroma of Christ to a watching and dying world. Know your leader. And lastly, I would say, know your role. Know your role. I think I've talked about this with, with you guys before, but I am just as guilty as you as confusing what my role is when it comes to other people's salvation. Especially when you go to seminary and you become a pastor, you can get so in your head that it's like, oh, what if they stay? What if they ask me a question? I don't know. And it's like, what did Jesus call his followers to be? He said, hey, go be my defense attorneys for the glory of God. No, he said, go and be my. Anybody guess? Witnesses. Acts one eight. You will receive power when the Holy spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. What does a witness do? They testify to that which they have seen and heard. That's what you're called to do. What does an incense bearer do? They wave it around. That's all they do. An incense bearer is not a super, like, skill oriented task. All you do is wave around incense. That's what we're called to do. Church. Go. Proclaim Christ, suffer with Christ. And yes, when people ask you for the hope that is in you share Jesus. And if you say, man, I don't know how to share the gospel, come talk to me afterwards. I would love to help you. There's so many tools out there. Whether you consider the bridge diagram, the three Circles diagram. I think one of my favorites, just a simple formula called your story. My story, God's story. It's super relational in nature, where you can just talk to someone and say, hey, we've been friends for a long time. I don't know if I've ever heard your story. What is your story? And they share their story. They ask you, what's your story? You share a gospel centered testimony of how Jesus changed your life. And you use that as a segue to share the gospel with them. God's story. There's so many simple ways to share your faith. But if we would understand this, I mean, you have no idea the impact that could be had. I mean, we are only here in this room today because the disciples understood this. In acts four, Peter and John, two disciples, in the face of persecution and imprisonment, are being told, stop talking about Jesus. If you will just stop talking, we'll let you go. And what do they say back? No. Whether it's right in your sight for us to be disobedient to God, you can decide. But we are unable to stop speaking about that which we, we have seen and heard. Wouldn't it be incredible if that was said of our church, that our gospel witness would not be sidelined, that we would not be sheepish when it comes to engaging our world, our friends, our neighbors, with the gospel? Because we are so enamored with the victory of Christ that we say, I cannot help but speak of that which I have seen and heard. And if that can span 2000 years, it can certainly span a generation to your kids, it can change a neighborhood, it can change a community, it can change the world. But the question is, will we be commissioned by God? I pray that we would be. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word this morning, which is just made so abundantly clear that you are the victor. Thank you for the victory that we can take heart in as we behold the mystery and the wonder and the beauty of the gospel. When Christ, who knew no sin, became sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And I thank you for each heart in this room that has stopped trying to measure up, that has stopped trying to find sufficiency in themselves, and has just said, Jesus, you are a sufficient savior for those in the room wrestling with who you are. Jesus this morning. God, give them ears to hear. I pray that the aroma of the gospel would lead to life for them this morning. And God, as recipients of this gospel message, I pray that we would not keep this victory to ourselves, but that we would be witnesses, incense bearers, people who feel so compelled and commissioned by you that we cannot help but speak of that which we have seen and heard. And God, we trust that though you call us to speak, you will do the work of changing their hearts. That is not our job. It is your job. And you are a God that is mighty to save. We trust you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.