From Confused to Convinced - Brad Jones

Jesus in his own words. We're gonna continue in the collection. And today we're going to one of the most famous statements Jesus ever made. Any guesses on that? On the verse, the chapter and verse. Give you a hint from John, anybody? Okay, Jay, John 14, six, but don't take the punchline immediately from me because you were also at the 9.30, okay? Teacher's pet, star student. I was hoping somebody would say, but I still love you, Jay. I was hoping somebody would say John 3, 16, which yes, is a statement inspired by the Holy Spirit through the apostle John, but it was actually not, you know, the statement for God so loved the world, gave his one and only son. It's not in red letters. So it wasn't spoken by Jesus when he was on earth. But John 14, six, thank you, Jay, is one of his most well-known statements. And we're gonna look at that together by way of the iPad, people, I'm gonna give it a shot. Watch out, Pastor Louie, I'm going for it. We're gonna find out if it's easier than we think, or if it's as hard as he makes it look. But please don't tell him I said that. And actually, I should take this moment to officially apologize. I'm gonna look at the red light on this camera.

Apologize to the production team because at the 9.30, I blamed them for a slide that was missing. And based on their conversation with me right after the gathering, they let me know it was my fault, not their fault. I receive your feedback, your criticism, I apologize. I forgot to send you a certain slide. I hope we can move forward in peace. Thank you. Is that what you wanted me to say? It was from the heart. No. John 14, six. One of the most well-known statements of Jesus. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. This is a powerful statement. This is a bold statement. This is a weighty statement. It's a statement most of us know. A lot of us can recite. Maybe we've memorized. It's one that we hold on to. I want you to think today about the significance of it. I want you to be able to wrestle with the ramifications of it. I want us to dig into it a little bit because if this is true, then there's a lot of things that should be different

about the way that we live our life. I love this statement. I'm grateful that Jesus is the, I believe this statement. He is the way and the truth and the life. You know who else believes this statement? Jesus. He said it because he was clear and convinced about who he was, who he is, and what he came to earth to do. He knew exactly who he was, who he is, and he knew exactly why he came to earth. He was not confused. He was convinced. He was clear. He is clear. But my question for you and me is, are you convinced of who Jesus is? Are you more confused? Because a statement like this, it might make some of us go, well, I like some of Jesus, but not all of Jesus. I like some of what he said, but not all of what he said. I would much rather just kind of create my own version of Jesus. That's not for us to do. Jesus knew who he was, and as his followers, do we know who he is and are we convinced of that? Are we living confused or trying to create our own version? And to pull a statement out like this, it's one thing to just look at it.

I think it's more helpful if we consider the context. It's like jumping in a movie halfway through, somebody jumping in a conversation when you're in the middle of the story, and you're like, I don't know what you're talking about. And you're like, I don't really want to start all this over again. Well, we need to look at the context. And yes, the context of this is the whole counsel of God, the whole story of God. And then more specifically, the time that Jesus was on earth, the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And then it'd just be helpful to look at all of the book of John and figure out what John was trying to communicate about Jesus through his story, through his accounts. But for us, we can just start at John chapter 13, verse one. Here we go on the iPad. Let's see how it goes. Wish me luck. Pray for me. I need a refresh after the 9.30. John chapter 13, verse one. It was just before the Passover festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Things are about to get real chaotic

and this is about to be a real powerful moment that we end up talking about for the rest of creation. But I want you to see a couple of words in here. Let's see if I get this right. Jesus, well, nope, nevermind. Sorry about that. Please give me some grace. I'm sorry, Louie, that I... Okay, now here we go. Got this back down. Jesus, there it is. Can I get a congratulations? Can I get something? Woo, it's harder than it looks. Come on, that's the first come on I got. Yeah, you can... Jesus, he knew things were about to get real chaotic. He was hours away from the cross. He was about to do the very thing he was sent to do, but he was in full control. He knew what was going on and he still moved forward. That's important, but then also he was moving and motivated by love for his disciples. All that he was doing, all that he was saying, all the reason he was on earth was about love. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the very end. God is moving and working on your behalf in love. He wants the very best for you. He's not holding out on you.

He's trying to give the very best to you. I don't know if you believe that or not, but it's true. Verse two, the evening meal was in progress and the devil had already prompted Judas. We're gonna just go through this quite a bit, but this evening meal was not your ordinary meal. It was the last supper. So the picture that we have on the back wall right here at 515, that depicts the last supper, that looks fairly calm. I don't know if you've ever noticed that, but it's beautiful for all of us that are leading from stage to be able to look at the last supper. Most of us know the last supper because that's when Jesus instituted the new covenant. Celebrate communion, the bread and the cup. But there was a lot going on at this meal. He was talking about Judas being prompted by the devil to betray him. Jesus stands up and he takes his outer garments off and he begins to wash the disciples' feet. And they're like, what is happening? That's only for servants and slaves. And here Jesus is washing our feet. Then he tells all the guys that Judas is gonna be the one to betray him. And they're all flipping out, unsure what's going on. Then he says, I'm gonna give you a new commandment. And then eventually he tells Peter, hey Peter, you're gonna deny me three times

before the rooster crows. And then he ends up getting to John chapter 14. And then he keeps teaching and he keeps talking. It was action-packed. There was a lot going on. You thought your Christmas dinner had a lot of drama? This had a lot of drama. I got a clap from somebody that knows their Christmas dinner has a lot of drama. Praying for you, sir or madam, as you get closer to Christmas. Verse three, back to what I was saying. Jesus wasn't confused about who he is. Verse three, Jesus, he knew that the father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and he was returning to God. He knew exactly what was going on. He knew where he had come from. He knew where he was going. He knew why he was on earth. He was not confused. He was convinced. That's when he gets up. He takes off his outer garment, begins washing the disciples' feet. I want us to skip ahead to verse 31. Let's see how I do this. We're gonna continue to go in the context before we get to the statement. All right, this, a bunch of red letters.

See all those red letters? Let's see some more red letters. More red letters. Yeah, I'm just having fun at this point. Okay, I'll get back to it. Lots of red letters. Verse 31 is the beginning of what commentators call the farewell discourse. I want you to put yourself in their position. These are disciples who have spent the last three years with Jesus going everywhere he went, seeing everything he did, seeing the big grand moments, but also being in the quiet spaces, the miracles, the teachings, the chaos, the crowds. They were with him for almost all of it. And then Jesus is getting down to his last hours on earth, and he's having a meal with him, and he's wanting. to communicate his heart. He's wanting to tell them the things that are important. He's wanting to make sure they're prepared because things are about to get flipped upside down. And he begins speaking in love, like here's what you need to know. This is the setting, this is the context, and it's helpful for us to understand. It says in verse 31, when he was gone, Jesus said, now the son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.

If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the son in himself and will glorify him at once. I'm sure they were like you, and they're like me, like what exactly does this mean? What is he talking about? God's being glorified in the son and himself, and he's gonna happen at once. He keeps going, my children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now, where I am going, you cannot come. Imagine, we've been everywhere with you, and now he's just like, hey, you can't come with me anymore. A new command I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. This is another sermon in and of itself, but it kind of preaches itself. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another, amen? But here we go, instead of just looking at the red letters, I'm really grateful for this right here. Simon Peter asked him, Lord, where are you going? What is it? Let's talk grammar, let's go back, what is that? Tough question, it is actually a question. So I gave you the answer. How awesome is this? Simon Peter had a question. He's heard so much from Jesus.

He's been told so much by Jesus. He's getting some final instructions, and it did not all make sense. And sometimes you can read the Gospels, I don't know about you, and I can look at the disciples, and I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, come on, fellas. Like, surely you could figure this out by now, but it's actually not that way for me. I look at them, and I'm like, instead of disgusted or surprised, I'm actually encouraged that they're people just like we're people. They're human just like we're human. And I don't know about you, but I would imagine all of you, because you're human, have or will wrestle, struggle with doubt occasionally. It's hard to get your head around sometimes. Faith doesn't always make perfect sense, right? And you see Peter, like, he's wrestling with it. He's asking questions. I just wanna stop here for a minute and tell you, don't be afraid to investigate. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If it doesn't all make sense, you don't fully believe it, then ask God some questions. Dig into the scripture. Get people around you that know God is not afraid of your questions.

He's not looking at you like, oh my gosh, I can't believe they've got doubt. He's like, I know you do, but I wanna continue to reveal myself to you so that you won't be confused, that you could live convinced. Peter is confused right now. Even though he'd been around so much, he still, he couldn't make sense of it all. He's like, what do you mean, Jesus? What do you mean you're going somewhere that we can't go? Like, are you tired of me? Like, do you have another group that you would rather spend time with? Like, do you just need some space? He's asking questions. And Jesus replies, and it's still in verse 36. Where I'm going, you can't follow, key word, now, but you will follow later. What is he saying there? Like, I'm going somewhere that you're not coming immediately because the work that I need to do to get you there hasn't been done. Can I get an amen on that? But he's trying to help him make sense of it all. It doesn't always make sense. And the real root of what the situation is right now for the disciples is they had expectations of Jesus that he was not living up to in their minds. Or what they thought Jesus was gonna do

was not what he was doing. Anybody wrestle with that? What you think God should do for you is not what he's doing. And so you get frustrated with him, but the whole time he has something better in store. We're trying to fit Jesus in the box that we want him to be in to do what we want him to do. And he's like, no, I got something different. And by the way. It's better, that's what's happening here. We end up getting frustrated, we get disappointed, we get anxious, we get mad at God because he's not doing what we want him to do. He's like, just trust me, just trust me. So he's trying to tell Peter and these disciples. Peter asked another question. Why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Peter thought he had what it takes to follow Jesus, but the whole time Jesus is saying, it's not you that's laying down your life for me, it's me who's gonna lay down your life for you. You won't even last 24 hours, Peter. Then Jesus said, will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. God's not afraid of your questions. Don't be afraid to ask, wrestle. It reminds me of my friend who's gone to be with Jesus.

He wrote a book based on his experience, but he and his wife had moved to Atlanta to actually be close to Passion City Church and lived just right across the way here from 515. His name's Nabil. He wrote a powerful book called Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. And it's a story of how he wrestled and he investigated. He didn't believe in Jesus. He didn't believe who Jesus claimed to be, but the more he dug into it, the more God used his word and people to bring it to life. And it became a very powerful evangelist. So don't give up if it doesn't all make sense. What's God tell us to do? What's Jesus say? He says, ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. He's inviting you. He's not afraid. Like, oh, they'll figure something out. Like, you know, figure something out that I didn't want them to see. No, he's like, just come. Ask more, wrestle more. You'll receive a blessing. You'll understand. I'll reveal myself to you. That's some of the context.

Then we get to John chapter 14. Here we go. Again, thinking about the mindset of the disciples. Don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My father's house has many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and I'll take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am. You know the place to where I'm going. Start hearing the language, right? Of why Jesus made that big, bold statement. But I really can't talk about John 14, verse two. My father's house has many rooms without mentioning the song. I apologize. But anybody grow up in youth group? Grow up singing the song? Is it in your head yet? No? It's a big, big house with lots and lots of rooms. A big, no, a few people? Oh, you got the motions gone over here. Okay, like taking it to another level. Playing football, right? Yeah, like some of you are like, man, Christians are weird, you know? And we are.

We grew up singing this song about the big, big house of Jesus, where we play football and a big, big table with lots and lots of food. It's a fun song and it's a memorable song. But if I actually think more about it, the focus, the way I focus on this verse is often misplaced. And even some of the old translations would use the word mansion and not prepare a place. Some translations use dwelling place or rooms. Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place, a dwelling place, a room for you in my father's house. But if we're not careful, we just start thinking about what size of room we're going to get in heaven. Anybody? How big is my spot going to be? And is my spot going to be near your spot? Because maybe I would like my spot to be in heaven. I want you in heaven. I just don't want us to live on the same block. And I definitely would like for us to have a little bit bigger house than you. And if I'm honest, I deserve it, you know, maybe a bigger house than some of you, or you deserve a bigger house than me. We start thinking about just ourselves in that place called heaven. But we miss the focus.

What's the focus of heaven all about? It's not about a destination. It's about a person. It's about who's there. It's the father's house. And there is a place for you and me in the father's house. And Jesus starts using wedding imagery. You may have heard this before, but in these biblical times, the way weddings went down is when there was an engagement, the wedding didn't happen until the room was built on the parent's house. So if you want to get married as a son, you know, when you find the wife, first, you then got to go add the addition to your parent's house. Some of you parents would be like, sweet, my whole family in a compound forever. Some of you are like, oh, please, God, no. Let them leave and cleave, you know? But this way it went down. It's like, I got to go build a room on my parent's house. And when the room's done, then I will go back and I will get my bride. We will get married and I'll take her to live in my hometown with my family. Brittany has told me she's never moving back to Canyon, Texas, but you know, maybe one day. Sorry, mom, who is in the house right now. But that's the way it went down.

It's what Jesus is saying, that you can't come now. It's not that heaven's not perfect right now, but the work hasn't been done. I haven't died on a cross yet. And for me to accomplish the mission for which I've been sent, for me to fulfill the requirement of your salvation, for me to pay the price as the perfect sacrifice of God, then I've got to go to the cross. So Peter and all the disciples, you will come, but you can't come now because you can't come until I die on the cross and rise from the grave. Anybody else excited about this? He says, you can't come, but you will. But I just love that. He says, believe in God, believe also in me. And I don't know, I don't want to pull this fully out of context, but even that first part, don't let your hearts be troubled. Believe. So some of you are so, not just confused, but you're anxious, you're so stressed. You're trying to control everything. You don't know how it's going to work out or things are not going your way. And Jesus wanted to tell you, he's like, quit trusting in yourself. Quit trying to hold it all together on your own. He said, believe in God and believe in me. I don't know what is stressing you out,

but I do know what is stressing you out is not stressing God out. I don't know what's keeping you up at night, but I do know what's keeping you up at night is not keeping God up at night. He's on a throne. He's in control. He's got a plan and it might not all make sense, but you can trust him way more than you can trust yourself. He said, believe in me, trust me. And again, I just keep thinking about these disciples, even though they had heard so much, this is all just like confusing. Can I get an amen that sometimes the things of God can be confusing? Anybody willing to admit that? And what he's trying to tell them is like what Pastor Louie was saying last week. He's trying to say like, I'm God in the flesh. So we believe in God, believe in me. I love the way John says it in John chapter one in NIV, it says that Jesus has made God known. Because sometimes we're like, ah, I just wish, I wish I could see God. I wish I could be like Moses in that burning bush. I wish I could be like Moses in that cleft of the rock where they just get a little glimpse. I would follow him much more. I would doubt a whole lot less if I could just see God. And then Jesus shows up and he makes God known.

And I love the NASV version. No one has seen God at any time, but God, the only son who is in the arms of the father, has explained him. You wanna know God? Then look at Jesus. You wanna know what God's like? Then look at Jesus, study Jesus, because he describes him, he explains him. He makes him known. And that's what he's trying to tell you and me. You don't have to be confused. I'm not confused. You don't have to be confused. You can be convinced. So we're gonna keep going. Last question. Disciples are still wrestling. Thomas said to him in verse five, Lord, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way? What a big question. That is a big question. And the world is asking this question. A lot of people believe in a higher power. A lot of people believe in a place after death. And I would encourage you to wrestle with this question with people that you know, because they all think about it. What happens after you die?

Is there a God and how do you get to him? These are just good questions for people to process through. And Thomas is like, Jesus, we don't even know where you're going, so how do we even get there? If you are going somewhere we can't go, then you want us to go, just tell us how. Will you give us the, and a lot of you are like this. You're like, give us the process. Give us the steps. Tell us what we need to do. So you're kind of like viewing it like a golf swing. Like, you know, like give us the exact form. How do I keep my feet? Do I keep, I just need to know the step by step by step, the checklist. If you give me the checklist, I'll get it done. You give me the shopping list, I'll make it happen. And Jesus is like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You want to know how to get there? You know. He's trying to tell them, you know. This is back to the statement. This is where he gets to, I am the way. It's not a process, it's a person. You want to know, Thomas? I am, and this is some big words in here, the way. He doesn't say a way, one of the ways. He says, I'm the only way, the way.

It makes me think of Apple Maps. And you're going to go somewhere after church and you're not sure how to get there. You're going to plug in the address and it's going to give you three options. And I don't know if you always go the same route, if you are willing to go in the back roads, if it saves you two minutes, if you're one that's going to go on the highway, no matter what. Or you might be somebody that never looks at maps because you're too prideful and you think you know exactly where you're going at all times. The way I work is if I do put it in there, because a lot of times I'd like to think I know exactly where I'm going, but if I do put it in there, whatever route I choose, immediately I am in a competition with that map. Anybody like that? Like I have one objective on this road trip and it's to beat the time that Apple or Google says I'm going to get there. I don't care about how many fights I get in with my wife and my kids. We are on a mission to win. And what prize do I get when I win? Satisfaction. And to being able to tell you that I won one time.

This isn't the way to salvation. This isn't the way eternal life works where there's a few different options. Just choose one you're feeling at the time. That's maybe what we wish we, what we think could be true or should be true, but that is not what Jesus said. He said, so if you're a believer in Jesus, you got to believe in what Jesus said about himself. That's why we're calling it Jesus in his own words. And I understand this is weighty. I understand this is heavy. I understand the ramifications for all of those that don't put their faith in Jesus. I'm not trying to look over that, but Jesus in his own words says he is the way. Not just the way 2000 years ago, not just the option for 2025, not just something that feels good in the moment, not just one of many routes that gets to the top of the mountain. He says there's one route and he is the route. I am the way. And then he keeps going and he says, I am the truth. And this also gets hard because it confronts a lot of people that believe differently. How do we deal with that? Do we just say, well, then there's no such thing as truth or let's just kind of create our own truth. That's not what Jesus is saying.

He says that anything that disagrees with him is not true because he's the truth. He also calls the devil, the father of lies. So it's a good worldview for you and me because according to Jesus who came full of grace and truth, John 1 14 is in a war and a battle with the devil, the father of lies. So what? What is the devil gonna do? He's gonna assault truth. He's gonna try to get people to believe there's no such thing as truth. But Jesus is saying there is. He is the way and he is the truth. So he's not saying a little bit of this, a little bit of that, not just saying mostly, partly, sometimes, he is always true. He also says that he's the life. All right, let's calm down a little bit, Brad, but let's have just a quick little question right here. Jake, a quick question for you. You're amazing, by the way, amazing door holder. Shout out to the door holder Christmas party next Sunday night. I know you'll be there, but I would like to give you a gift, Jake. And you get to choose. I would like to give you $100 or $1,000. Pretty easy for you to decide you want the $1,000.

Are you sure? You're sure, you're sure, you're sure, you're sure you want the $1,000. Okay, here's the thing. I don't have $1,000 to give you, but I do have $100. So if you would have chosen the $100, you would have gotten this $100 cause I have it, but I don't have it out. So I'm so sorry. I'm gonna keep my $100. Y'all give it up for Jake. Do you see what I'm saying? I know with gifting, some of you are stressed about Christmas, different viewpoint. Some of you are re-gifters by the way. So maybe some of you get gifts and take them back and get what you really want, calling you out as well. But for a gift to be given, check this out. It has to be received first. Like I have to possess it. So I can't give Jake something that I don't already have. So I would like to have given him $1,000, but I didn't have it. But I did have $100 and I could have given him that. Jesus is saying, I want to give you life, eternal life. Anyone who would trust in me would have eternal life that would never end, that starts right now, knowing God, the Holy Spirit of God in us,

a forever home in heaven. He wants to give that to you. And guess what? He can, because he is the life. He exists in and of himself. He's always existed. The alpha and the omega, the beginning of the end. All things are by him, for him, through him. He is life. And so he can give it. All these other things that are promising life, that are offering life, that are saying, if you live this way, if you have this stuff, if you follow this path, if you do this thing, then you'll have the life that you really want. It's not gonna be enough. It's not where you were created for. Check this out, John chapter five, the words of Jesus. Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed over from death to life. That's what we talk about here a lot. Putting your faith in Jesus, is it going from bad to good? It's crossing over from death to life. It's like when I was in my pastor's office as a 10 year old and he explained the gospel to me and it's a cliff on one side with me and my stick figure body and a cliff over here with God, with Jesus.

And it's my sin that makes me fall short and it's never able on my own efforts to cross over. It's only by the cross that we get to God. Amen. That's what he's saying, cross over from death to life. Very truly, I tell you, a time is coming and now has come when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live for this is the gift. For as the father has life in himself, he possesses it. So he has granted the son also to have life in himself. Their being is not based on anything or anyone. My being and your being. is all based on someone else. His is not, he is, he exists. And he can give that life. He's the way, the truth, and the life. Quickly, no one, we're going word by word, phrase by phrase, I dug around a little bit in the Greek and what no one meant. You know what it means? No one. I know, aren't you glad he came? You're welcome. No one comes, has access to, has a relationship with the Father. I don't want us to just think about heaven as a place we get when we die. But heaven is where the Father is,

where you get to spend forever in his presence. And until then, the Father's house is actually in me and you as believers because his spirit dwells within us. So it's not about getting to a destination. It's having a relationship and being in the presence of a person, the Father. And it says, it doesn't happen except through Jesus. What door are you trying to walk through to be made right with God? That's the question I want to ask every person. Not do you say you believe in Jesus, but like we're talking, I'm at the gates of heaven and I get asked a question, by which door do you think you can come through to be in God's presence? Is it, hey, I'm a good person, come on. I've done my very best. Did you not see me at church on December 14th and a few Sundays after that, like I'm there, I give, I serve. Like I grew up in the South, in America. I like, you know, went to church as a child or you're like, no man, like sure you're gonna let everybody else in. Why wouldn't you let me? Or you're like, you kind of peek through the window or the door will be like, you let them in? If you let them in, surely you should let me in. No, there's one door by which we can enter.

There's one way. His name is Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life and no one, no one comes to the Father except through Him. So what is our response? If this is true, if we believe this, if we take Jesus at His word, if we become convinced, no longer confused, but if we become convinced, there must be a response. Not just like, what do we do right now? But like, how should we live our lives? A different phrase for response. Because, forgive my writing, He is, we are. I would say, if He is the way, the truth and the life, we should be worshipful. Full of worship, living our lives just like the Magi who went to a great cost and crossed a distant land and they brought gifts and they laid them at the feet of Jesus and said, here's our offering. So if Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, we don't just show up on a Sunday to sing some songs then go do our own thing. No, we bring our very lives as an offering and say, God, I can't believe it. I don't deserve it. Couldn't never got there on my own. Didn't have what it takes, but you sent your son, Jesus, the way, the truth and the life and you've given me access to you, you've forgiven me,

you've set me free, you've given me brand new life. I want to intern, not just tip you every once in a while or nod my cap every now and then. I want to bring my entire life and I want to be a worshiper. I want to be worshipful where everything we do is in response to everything he's done. That's one, but if it's true that he is the way, the truth and the life, we better. are being missional. Can I get an amen? We're like the shepherds who heard the angels say, this is good news of great joy for all the people. And what did the shepherds do? They didn't just leave and say, okay, we're not telling anybody. No, they went and told everybody with it. They told them about Jesus. You'll never believe who we saw. You never believe who we met. You never believe the angels and what they said. We want the world to know. So yes, Jesus being the way the truth and life is waiting. Yes. That means a lot of people are going to die without knowing Jesus. And how do we make sense of it all? It's complicated. It's hard to wrestle with, but Jesus is saying to you and me that he is the way the truth and the life, but he's also giving you and me an assignment. And he's given us a commission, the great commission. He's given us his spirit and he's saying, don't just hold this to yourself. Move into the world. I'm going to raise up a church that is convinced, no longer confused, but convinced. And they're going to move into the world with a message. You want to see a picture of it? Check this out. Okay. Then we're really done. Verse eight of Acts chapter four. Then Peter, you remember Peter, the confused one, the question asker one. Well, now look what's happening. He's filled with the Holy spirit. He's witnessed the resurrection of the dead. He's witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. And now he, Jesus ascended to heaven, giving him the great commission, giving him his Holy spirit. And he starts preaching. Rulers and elders of the people. If we're being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who is lame and are being asked how he is healed, they obviously just healed a guy that they know this, you and all the people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised up

from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which is now become the cornerstone. And then here it is no longer confused, but convinced salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind, which men must be saved, bold, authoritative, preaching the gospel, not wrestling in doubt, but compelled by the love of Christ that he saw on the cross and in the empty tomb. And now convinced that he needed to tell the world about Jesus preaches sermons. People get saved. The church is born. The church expands. And this is what's God's call on our lives to be worshipful and to be missional because we have a message.