God For Us In Jesus

So it's just a real joy to be here this morning.

And if you have your Bible, if you want to turn to Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Romans is in the back third of the Bible, right after Acts and all the Gospels.

And we're going to be looking at chapter 8.

And this morning, I really hope that the Word this morning will encourage you.

You know, it doesn't take much to just look around our lives and our community

and our state and our nation, the world,

and to see that there's a lot of things that could make you discouraged.

There's a lot of things you could be thinking about that would leave you discouraged

and discontent and sad and wondering whether there's hope for the future.

And I just so appreciate some of the songs we sang this morning

that pointed us away from that to what we're going to be focusing on this morning.

Because I want to encourage you with this one key truth that Paul has for us in Romans 8,

which is God is for us in Jesus.

And I know that if you've been to church for any amount of time,

if you've read your Bible at all, that sounds familiar and you know it.

But when I was in seminary, there was a counseling professor

who pulled a hundred students aside.

These are students who want to go on and do counseling

and be pastors and be missionaries.

And she asked them one simple question.

Do you believe that on your best day or your worst day

that God is a hundred percent for you only because of Jesus?

Do you believe that with a hundred percent certainty?

And only three out of a hundred said yes.

What about you this morning?

If I asked you, do you believe that on your good day or even on the bad days

that God is a hundred percent for you because of Jesus?

And so I hope this morning that maybe if it's the truth that you just know up here,

that God will work it into our hearts this morning

so that we will leave encouraged and strengthened

because there's many trials around us

and yet we have a God who is for us in Jesus.

And so this morning I just want to remind us of this truth

and remind us that the picture that Paul is going to paint for us

is that we are not spiritual orphans trying to earn the love of someone,

but we are adopted children beloved by God the Father.

And so let me pray and then we'll read Romans 8.

Father, I'm so grateful this morning that

that even though what our sins deserve

is to be cast out into the darkness,

that because of Jesus,

that you actually call us children

and welcome us into a home

and you say that you will be our God

and we will dwell with you one day face to face.

So I pray this morning

that as you speak through your word

that we would hear,

that we would have our eyes opened

and that we would be encouraged

that you are for us in Christ

so we might then live for you.

Amen.

Let me read Romans 8,

starting in verse 28.

And we know that for those who love God,

all things work together for good

for those who are called according to His purpose.

For those whom He foreknew,

He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son

in order that He might be the firstborn

amongst many brothers and sisters.

And those whom He predestined, He also called.

And those whom He called, He also justified.

And those whom He justified, He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

He who did not spare His own Son

but gave Him up for us all,

how will He not also with Him

graciously give us all things?

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies.

Who is to condemn?

Again, Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that, who was raised.

Who is at the right hand of God.

Who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation?

Or distress?

Or persecution?

Or famine?

Or nakedness?

Or danger?

Or sword?

As it is written,

for your sake we are being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

No.

In all these things we are more than conquerors

through Him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life,

nor angels nor rulers,

nor things present nor things to come,

nor powers, nor height, nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation

will be able to separate us

from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Well, this morning I just want to look at

the three things that Paul's going to talk to us about.

The reason God is for us,

the reality of Him being for us,

and the results of God being for us.

And so first, the reason why He's for us.

Verse 31 is this key verse in the passage, right?

He says, if God is for us, who can be against us?

But let's not just slide past that,

because maybe this morning you're thinking,

well, of course God is for us.

I mean, that's who God is.

He's a loving God.

He just loves us.

Or maybe you're thinking,

well, of course God's for me.

I'm a good person.

Why would He be against me?

But if you're reading the whole Bible,

and if you read the first seven and a half chapters of Romans,

you would see there's actually a lot of good reasons

for God to be against us.

Mostly because we have all set ourselves up against Him.

He made us to live for Him,

and we rejected that and went our own way.

We're rebels.

We're traitors.

We deserve eternal darkness and judgment and death.

Because God is holy.

He's perfect.

And the only people who are allowed to be in relationship with Him

are perfect people.

Not good people.

Perfect people.

And I don't know about you,

but I don't fall in that category.

And so there's no reason for me to hope

that God would be for me or God would be for you.

And yet, God is for many, many sinners.

How?

Well, Paul gives us two answers here.

First, he says in verse 29,

For those whom God foreknew,

He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Do you know what it's saying?

He's saying,

Do you know why God's for you?

Because He chose to be.

He just chose to be for you.

He looked at you,

a spiritual orphan,

lost and alone,

and said,

I'm going to adopt you.

Just because of who I am.

Just because I'm a God that loves to adopt orphans and to save sinners.

Before you were thinking of me,

before you were thinking about being adopted,

I just came and adopted you.

And I adopted you to be in my family, right?

Because that's the last half of verse 29.

In order that He, that's Jesus,

might be the firstborn amongst many brothers and sisters.

He's adopted us into a family.

He just said,

I'm going to adopt you.

I'm just going to love you.

Just because of me.

Not you.

Because of me.

And even that word foreknow in verse 29

is this beautiful relational word.

It's not foreknowing like,

I know what you're going to do,

what you're going to think about.

It's the kind of knowing we talk about

when I ask you a question.

Do you know Mike Salvati?

I don't mean, do you know about him?

I mean, do you know him?

Do you have a relationship with him?

And God's saying,

I foreknew you.

I knew you relationally before you ever knew me.

And I chose you before you ever knew me.

Just because I'm for you.

Because I love you.

And what's beautiful about this is,

if God being for us was primarily dependent on us,

then we'd be in trouble.

Because if God said,

well, I'm only for you if you have enough faith,

well, then what if tomorrow you don't have enough faith?

Then that foundation gets shaky.

Or what if God was just for you

because you were good enough?

You did enough good things.

Well, maybe today you feel confident,

but next week,

I don't know if I've done enough good this week,

maybe God's not for me.

But if God is for you because He chose to be,

and He doesn't change,

then you've got a stable foundation.

You've got a bed you can lay your head on.

And that's God's choice to love you.

God's choice to love those who are in Christ.

And not only that,

but I think it's really important to see this

because not only does it give you a stable foundation,

but if you think about this human relationship

that we always have,

if you were the only one doing

all of the pursuing of a relationship,

you know,

hey, let's hang out,

and the other person never returned your calls,

never initiated anything with you,

you might wonder if they liked you back,

if you're doing all the pursuing.

But since God did the pursuing of us,

just like in a human relationship,

we know that person must love me

if they did all the pursuing of me

even before I had any thought of loving them.

That's God loving us.

And not only did He choose to adopt us,

but maybe some of you know this,

adoption has a cost, right?

If you've adopted,

you know there's a cost to adopting.

And so Paul tells us in verse 32,

let me tell you what the cost was of your adoption.

He who did not spare His own Son,

but gave Him up for us all.

And saying,

do you want to know why I'm for you?

Because not only did I choose to adopt you,

but I sent my only Son

to die to make you family.

That's how much I loved.

And it really hit me

when I was talking to a non-Christian friend recently

about why Jesus had to die.

And it just hit me.

And I told him, I said,

do you think that if I could save you

any other way than sacrificing my child,

that I would sacrifice my child?

He was like, well, probably not.

I said, yet God sent His Son for us.

How can you doubt that He is for you

when He sent His Son to die?

That's the proof to go back to

when you're wondering,

is God for me?

He sent His Son.

And this really struck me several years ago,

back in 2010.

I'm a big hockey fan being from Canada.

And Roberto Luongo is a goaltender

who always got the rap of being a good goalie

but never able to win the big games.

But in 2010,

he helped Canada win the gold medal.

And right after the game,

he was being interviewed.

And he held up his gold medal and said,

from now on,

no matter what anyone says,

I can point to this gold medal

and tell them,

I am a winner.

And he's right.

He's got the evidence right there.

He can point back to it.

He can hang it up on his wall

and when people come over and say,

you see that medal right there?

That proves I'm a winner.

And Paul's saying,

that's how the cross works.

When you're wondering,

is God for me?

He says,

look back there

on that wood

where you see God's Son crucified for you

and then ask again,

does God love me?

Is God for me?

And guess what the answer's gonna be?

Yes.

That's the proof to go back to.

So when you're doubting,

which we all have doubts at points,

when you're wrestling with questions,

don't look inward

to see if there's anything inward

that God would love.

Look outward to the cross

and see there

that God is for sinners.

That God loves people

who don't deserve to be loved.

And if you've trusted in Christ,

he's for you

because of Jesus.

He chose in eternity past

to adopt you

and he paid the price

at Calvary

to make you family.

That's why God is for you.

Because of him,

not you.

But what is the reality

of living in his family

then look like?

Well, Paul doesn't leave us hanging.

He says,

I'm not just gonna tell you

that God's for you.

I'm gonna tell you

what that means

to encourage you.

So he says in verse 31,

what shall we say

to these things?

Well, first he says,

if God is for us,

who can be against us?

So that's the first reality

of God being for us

is no one can ultimately

be against you.

Now that doesn't mean

you're never gonna face opposition.

That doesn't mean

you're never gonna face

trials or difficulty.

But what it does mean

is that you have

the all-powerful

creator God

behind you.

And anything he wants

to do in your life,

no one and nothing

will stop him

from doing that

for good in your life.

Man,

that's the guy

I want on my team.

And Paul's saying,

if you are in Christ,

you have this

all-powerful God

behind you,

strengthening you.

No one can stand

against him.

But the second reality

he says in verse 32,

God will provide

what you need.

He who did not spare

his own son

but gave him up

for us all,

how will he not

also with him

graciously

give us all things.

You see what Paul's doing?

He's arguing

from the greater

to the lesser.

He's saying,

if God provided

for your greatest need,

you were on your way

to eternal judgment

and Jesus paid

that amazing price,

then don't you think

he'll take care

of the little things

you need?

It would be like

if, say,

a billionaire

found a homeless person,

built in this

amazing mansion,

and then one day

the light bulb

over the front door

burns out

and the person

that's now living

in the house

is like,

man,

I don't know

if the billionaire

is going to want

to pay

to replace

this light bulb.

It's like,

Paul's like,

what are you talking about?

He built you

a huge house,

of course he'll

replace the light bulb

and that's what

Paul's saying.

He's saying,

it's so easy

to think of God

as this miser

that he doesn't

really want to give us

all that we need

and Paul's saying,

what are you talking about?

He gave you more

than you needed

in Jesus.

Of course he'll give you

what you need.

Of course he's eager

to be there

and graciously,

that is,

undeservedly give it to you.

You don't need to keep

earning anything from him.

He just wants

to give it to you.

Now it's good to remember

that he'll provide

for your needs,

not your wants.

He's not going to provide

everything you want

and even what you think

you need,

you might not actually need.

But even in those

moments when you're

feeling like God's

not providing

what you need,

don't think of him

as a miser holding back.

No.

Because of Jesus,

he is for you,

eager,

gracious to give you

what you need.

He proved that

on the cross.

And I love this quote

from Hudson Taylor.

He was a missionary

that went to Africa

and he went

without asking anyone

to give him money.

He just said,

God will take care

of my money.

And he had a couple

of kids.

And people are saying,

don't do that.

That's foolish.

Don't do it.

And Hudson Taylor

looked at them

and said,

I am a father

and I know my kids

need three meals a day.

Don't you think

my heavenly father

will care more for me

than I do for my children?

And he was pulling back

this idea

that we can trust

our father

who loves us

to care for us.

Not always in the ways

we'd expect,

but he really does

care for us.

And the third reality

he mentions

is in verse 33.

He says,

who shall bring

any charge

against God's elect?

So he's saying,

look,

the scene he's painting

is imagine

it's God's courtroom

at the end of time.

And he's saying,

who can stand

before God

and say,

see that person

right over there,

God?

Did you know

the terrible things

they did?

Let me pull out

their file.

They don't deserve

to be here.

And God says,

it is God

who justifies.

That's what Paul says.

It's God who justifies.

And what Paul's saying

is, look,

if that were to happen,

if someone was to come

into God's courtroom

and say,

you don't deserve

to be there,

God would say,

I know that.

But I also know

that Jesus died

for them

and they've trusted

in Him.

And their file

is now Jesus' file.

And I am the judge

and I have declared

them innocent

and guiltless,

worthy to be here.

Who are you

to challenge my ruling?

Isn't that beautiful?

It reminds me of

the scene

in A Knight's Tale.

It's in a little

older movie,

but if you've seen it,

Heath Ledger's character

plays this peasant

who pretends

to be a noble

so he can joust

and make money

so he can eat.

And he gets caught

and so he gets

put in the stocks

and people are mocking him

and throwing tomatoes

at him.

But Prince Edward

of England

comes up

from the crowd

and he says,

my royal historians

have discovered

that actually

he is from

an ancient

royal line.

And this is

my word

and as such

it is beyond

contestation.

No one's going

to challenge

the word

of Prince Edward

on that.

How much more

when the King

of Kings

declares

you are not

guilty.

That is my word

and it is beyond

contestation.

And then fourth,

just he keeps

piling up the goodness

here.

It says in verse 34,

who is to condemn?

Who can come

and again in this

courtroom

bring more accusations

and bring condemnation?

And what does Paul say?

He says,

Christ Jesus

is the one who died.

More than that,

who is raised,

who is at the right

hand of God,

who indeed

is interceding

for us.

See what Paul's saying?

Is he saying,

look,

Jesus already

took the condemnation.

He already

took the condemnation

so you don't have

to bear it.

And more than that,

he was raised,

showing that

the check

to save you

cleared.

And even now,

he stands

as your great

defense attorney.

See,

if anyone had the right

to charge you in court,

it would be Jesus.

He's God.

You've sinned against him.

And not only that,

but your sin

put him up on the cross.

If anyone has the right

to bring a condemnation

against you,

it's Jesus.

And yet,

instead,

he acts

as your

defense attorney.

the only one

who has a right

to charge you

instead

defends you,

though you don't

deserve it.

And these two

truths together,

I think,

really touch on

one of these

deep things

in our hearts.

As human beings,

we want

to be loved

by others

and to be

deeply known.

And yet,

we're afraid

that if people

really knew us

all the way down,

they would

condemn us.

they would judge us

instead of loving us.

And yet,

here,

Paul says,

look,

the only person

that knows you

all the way down

to the bottom

that could condemn you,

that could judge you,

instead,

has chosen

to love you

in Jesus.

You don't need

to be afraid.

In Jesus,

God is for you.

And so,

fifth,

the last reality

he talks about here

is that nothing

can separate us

from God's love.

All right,

verse 35,

who shall separate us

from the love

of Christ?

And then Paul says,

shall tribulation

or distress

or persecution

or famine

or nakedness

or danger

or sword?

Because Paul

wants to do something

really careful here.

He wants to say,

I'm not just throwing out

some slogan.

I'm not just putting up

some random Facebook meme

to help you feel good.

Nothing can separate us

from the love of Jesus.

Well,

I don't know,

Paul.

There's a lot of hard

things in my life.

Paul says,

okay,

let's tackle that.

We're not just

going to throw this

out as some random

phrase to feel good.

Let's talk about this.

Can nothing actually

separate you

from the love of Jesus?

What about hard things?

And everything

Paul names

in verse 35,

he went through.

Paul's the guy

that got beaten

several times

for being a believer

of Jesus.

Stoned,

nearly to death

or maybe to death.

Shipwrecked several times,

often in want of food.

He said,

I've been there.

I've been there.

I can testify.

These things

don't separate you

from the love of Jesus.

And so then he says

in verse 36,

he says,

okay,

let me even remind you

that this is not

a question that's new.

I'm going to quote

from the Old Testament

from Psalm 44.

For your sake,

we are being killed

all the day long.

We are regarded

as sheep to be slaughtered.

And Paul's saying,

look,

God's people

have often felt this way.

You're not alone.

If you're sitting there

thinking,

I know it sounds good

that God's for me,

but it sure doesn't feel

that way right now.

Paul's saying,

it's okay.

I've been there.

God's people of Israel

back in Psalm 44

were there.

They were wondering,

it sure,

what it feels like,

God,

is that we're being killed

for you.

That we're like sheep

just being led out

to be slaughtered.

Where's our Father

caring for us?

Where's our Father

protecting us?

Where's your love, God?

It just feels hard.

And Paul says,

verse 37,

no.

In all these things,

not just the good times,

in these things,

in the days when you're being

like a lamb

being led out to slaughter,

in those very things,

the good things,

the hard things,

the day when you find out

that someone you love

has cancer,

the day you lose your job,

the day you have

relational breaks,

in those things,

we are more than conquerors

through Him

who loved us.

See,

we often think,

well,

we're going to be conquerors

if we conquer over suffering.

But Paul doesn't say that.

Paul says,

no,

we are conquerors

in these things.

You're not conquerors

when Jesus takes you

out of the suffering.

You're conquerors in Jesus

in the day of suffering.

Just like Jesus was.

What day did He

win the victory for us?

Was it not the day of suffering?

The day when He was whipped

and a crown of thorns

was placed on His head

and He carried a cross

and He hung on Calvary

and He experienced

the wrath of God.

in that thing,

on that day of suffering

is when Jesus

was the conqueror.

And so,

Paul says,

yes,

even in those things

we're conquerors.

And it's through Him.

Paul's saying,

look,

I know it's going to be hard.

I know it's going to be hard things.

Adoption to God's family

does not fix everything.

It doesn't just get rid

of all the hard things.

But,

through Him,

through Him,

through Him walking with you

and also

through our older brother Jesus

who on the cross

actually was

cut off

from God's love

so that

anyone who trusts in Him

would never

have to be cut off.

That's how you can be

conquerors in suffering

because there was

one man,

the God-man Jesus,

who really did suffer

and who really did

get cut off

from God's love.

Father,

why have you forsaken me?

So that

I would never have to forsake

your other brothers and sisters.

That's why.

Yes,

He's for us.

And that's why

Paul can go on to say,

death can't separate you

from God's love.

Jesus already died

and He defeated death.

So death can't separate you

from God's love anymore.

Nothing in this life

can separate you.

Not angels

or powers

or principalities

because Jesus

conquered all of them

at the cross.

He showed His power

over all the political powers

in Rome,

the spiritual forces.

He showed Himself

to be the victor.

And if your connection

to God

is through Jesus,

then you have

a firm,

stable connection.

nothing can separate you

from the love of God

in Jesus.

If you're not in Jesus,

you don't have that connection.

But if you're in Jesus,

you will never be separated

from God's love.

So what's then the result

of God being for us?

Well, it's verse 28.

We skipped it earlier,

but let's come back to it.

We know,

this is the results

of God being for us,

we know

that for those

who love God,

all things

work together

for good.

For those who are called

according to His purpose.

All things.

All the hard things

we just talked about.

All those things

work together

for good.

That's the end result.

And this isn't

some general promise.

You know,

sometimes I hang out

with people at work,

and you're like,

yeah, don't worry,

life will work out

for good.

No, it doesn't always

work out for good.

If you just look

at this life,

things do not always

work out for good.

This is not a general proverb

that applies to all people

all over the world.

This is a promise

from God the Father

to His children.

For those,

what does He say?

For those who love God.

For those who love God,

all things work together

for good.

If you're His child,

you can claim this promise

that all things

will work together

for good.

And it's a good

defined by God.

It's not the good

you want.

It's the good

defined by God,

which in verse 29

He explains.

It's to be conformed

to the image

of His Son.

That's what God wants.

God wants you

to become more

like Jesus.

And He will work

everything else

out for that purpose.

Now do you see

why God can actually

love us in the midst

of suffering?

Because what if

suffering is His chisel

on you,

the block of marble?

What if suffering

is the chisel

He is using

to sharpen away

and create in you

the likeness of Jesus?

Suddenly suffering

isn't the evidence

of a lack of God's love.

But what if suffering

might be the very evidence

He does love you?

That He loves you enough

to chisel away

at all the junk

in your life

and make you more

like Jesus.

To keep working on you.

To keep refining you.

So you will be more

like Jesus.

And that's why Paul

can say

that not only

will you be conformed

to His image,

but verse 30,

that those whom

He predestined,

He calls.

And those He calls,

He justifies.

And those He justifies,

He glorifies.

What Paul's saying is

He doesn't just call you

on the phone

and say,

I'm adopting you.

He doesn't just justify you,

which is declaring

that you're innocent

and worthy to be

in His family.

But He also says,

I'm going to bring you home.

That's glorified.

And I'm going to bring you home

in the perfect image

of Jesus.

And I'm not going to stop

until that process is done.

I love you too much

to leave you where you're at.

And yes,

I might even use

all things

and some of the things

you don't want

to do just that.

Because if I've called you,

I will justify you.

And if I justify you,

I will glorify you.

You see that chain?

There's no break

in the chains.

If He calls you,

He will lead you

all the way

to glorification.

He's powerful enough

to do that.

And He's good enough.

He's good enough

that the good thing

He'll work in you

is actually really good.

And we can trust Him

with that.

And we know that

because when we look

at the pattern

of Jesus' life,

who we're supposed

to be modeled after,

His life was one

of suffering first

and glory later.

And that's the path

of the Christian.

Suffer first,

glory later.

And the suffering

is often God's

loving hand

to make you more

like Jesus.

It doesn't mean

the suffering

is good always,

but He uses it

for good.

He uses it

for good.

And He will keep

His promise

that He will glorify you

because a good Father

keeps His promises.

And that's why Paul

can say earlier

in verse 18,

I consider the sufferings

of this present time

not worth comparing

with the glory

that is to be revealed

to us.

It's not because

the sufferings

aren't real.

It's not because

they're not hard.

but the sufferings

compared to the glory

don't add up.

And when He can

keep His eyes on that,

Paul says,

I can rejoice

even in those moments

of suffering.

So this morning,

I want to close

by asking really

two questions.

Is God

your Father?

Do you know Him

as Father?

Because you're not

born a child of God.

You need to be

reborn a child of God.

But in the Gospel of John,

there's this wonderful promise.

Anyone who believes

that His trust in Jesus

is given the right

to be called

children of God.

So this morning,

have you recognized

that you don't deserve

to be a child?

Have you recognized

that you've only

been a rebel

and yet

Jesus died

to make it possible

for you to be adopted?

Have you trusted

in Jesus for that?

Have you given up

trying to pretend

that you could earn

your way into the family

and just said,

God, I want in,

but I know the only way

in is through Jesus.

So help me to believe.

Trust in Him.

If you do this morning,

you're in.

You're part of the family.

And all these wonderful things

we talk about this morning

are for you,

promises from your Father.

Maybe some of you

this morning,

you feel like,

no, I know God's my Father.

But maybe this morning,

you've come off a hard week

or a hard month

or a hard year.

Or maybe the hard week

is about to come

and you don't even know it yet.

Will you this morning

sit in this kind of truth

so you can remember,

no, God is for me.

All this suffering

is for my good

and His glory.

And if in those moments

when I'm really struggling

with doubting it,

Father, give me the eyes

to look to the cross

and see Your Son

hanging there for me

and remind me again

that You're for me.

Help me to trust You.

Not when You take me

out of suffering,

but exactly in the middle of it.

Give me the confidence

that You are for me.

And only when You know

that someone like God the Father

and Your older brother Jesus

has Your back

can You walk day by day

in often a very hard world

and still say

the sufferings are not worth comparing

to the glory that is to come.

Let me pray.

Father, thank You so much

that Your Word is just,

it's like honey,

sweeter than honey

from the honeycomb.

That in the midst of hard things,

we don't come to Your Word

and just find mere positive thinking,

but we find substance and truth

to sink our teeth into

that feeds our souls,

that strengthens our spiritual muscles

and builds us up

and encourages us

through sometimes the very long

and very hard and difficult journey

that can lie ahead.

And yet, You have promised

that for those who have trusted in Jesus,

You will never leave us.

You will never forsake us.

You are with us.

And You're with us, Father,

because Your Son, Jesus,

died and was abandoned by You

2,000 years ago

so that when He was raised again

from the dead,

He could offer the hope

that no one would ever have

to be abandoned again

who are in Jesus

and loved by the Father.

So I pray this morning

that You would,

by Your Holy Spirit,

help us to know

Your love

and to know

that You are with us

and to know

You're using all things for good

and that even this morning

maybe some here

would for the first time

believe in Jesus

and be welcomed in

to a family of love

for their good

and Your glory.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.