No More Rejection

Romans 8:31 | April 26, 2020

Have you ever had to use a password?

Have you ever had to change a password?

I am currently in a thumb war with Instagram. 

One of the recent upgrades kept me logged into the church account but somehow kicked me out of my personal account and it keeps telling me that it has sent me a password reset e-mail, but it has not.

It is not in my inbox or my spam box or my trash box or my promotions box or my box of dark chocolate coconut granola bars.

I have found in several forums online that this is not a new problem and I have contacted tech support and after complying with their requests it seems that I am now waiting for an algorithm to confirm that my face is really my face before they will give me a reset code.

Changing a password can be frustrating.

One of the most frustrating things is the instructions that go along with certain passwords. 

Your password must include a capital letter and a lowercase letter and a number and a symbol and a punctuation mark and the name of your kickball captain on April 3, 1983, and the paw print of a wooly mammoth. 

I came across an online security blog that listed more than 500 funny passwords that people have actually used – and naturally and seriously since these have been posted on the old world-wide-interweb you don’t want to use them.

Let’s start at number 500 and work our way back – just kidding. 

Here are just a few passwords people have used:

Miriam Cihodariu, heimdalsecurity.com

• password
• ineedapassword
• newpassword
• nothing
• nothingagain
• iforgot
• whydoialwaysforget
• YouCantHandleThePassword
• NobodyPutsBabyInACorner
• NeverGonnaGiveUUp

Why do we need passwords?

• They are designed to protect us from fraud
• They are designed to protect our identity

Those sound like two pretty good things to protect.

Interestingly, there is one password that is safer than any other password on the planet.

It has a guaranteed 100% success rate at protecting you from fraud and identity theft. 

In fact, it has a guaranteed 100% success rate at protecting you from anything and everything that might come your way. 

And this password is not hard to remember, but you can forget it – which is odd because this password is only two letters. 

What is that password?

Let’s find out. 

Listen to Romans 8, verse 31:

31 What then shall we say to these things?

What things?

Well, Paul was writing a letter to folks who were living in Rome and in the previous sentences he has been talking about suffering, weakness, and sin.

Suffering, weakness, and sin – the things in our lives that trigger the greatest amounts of stress and anxiety and frustration and anger and fear.

Anybody have any of that kind of stuff set off or triggered in your life this past week?

And now Paul’s asking a fair question:

• What should we say about these things?
• What should we think about these things?
• What should we do about these things?
• What is our response to these things?

So, let’s chew on that for a minute.

How are you responding to life right now?

• What are you changing in how you think?
• What are you changing in how you behave?
• What are you doing different?

Are you, in the words of philosopher Samuel T. McGraw, living like you are dying?

• Or are you just working in the yard more?
• Or just vegging out more?
• Or just watching TV or playing video games more?

Or have we become so obsessed with getting things back to normal that we are ignoring that things will never be normal again?

Why will things never be normal again?

Because pandemic or no pandemic, there is one thing you count on every single day of your life and that’s this – change.

• Whether you like it or not
• Whether you ignore it or not
• Whether you cooperate with it or not

Change is happening all day every day in your life. 

• It might be drastic like stay-at-home orders
• It might be doable like half and half instead of cream
• It might be major like a sickness or a virus
• It might be minor like having hair a little longer than you like

Change is constant and “normal” changes every day.

So, in the middle of a constantly changing world and a “new normal” that starts over every day, what is the most important tool we need for how to think and talk and behave?

Well, that question can only be answered with a question and that question is this:

How have you responded to God?

You are either with him or without him. 

Jesus is either a dead, religious maniac or the risen Messiah. 

Jesus is either a mystical charlatan or the resurrected Christ.

So, how have you responded to God’s gospel about Jesus?

Many people that think that is a pointless, useless, unnecessary question for silly, immature people who need a spiritual lucky charm or an institutional religious crutch.

Other people say things like, “Most of the people going to church are just a bunch of hypocrites.”

Geoff Thomas

I don’t know most people going to church, but I know you. What is your verdict on Jesus – not on his followers. What is he? A crook, a psychotic, a fanatic, a hypocrite?

How have you responded to God’s gospel about Jesus?

Everything in your life hinges on your answer to that question.

Why?

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…

Life and death, hope and horror, trust and terror, perfection and perishing are all wrapped up in the story of Jesus and his cross and his empty tomb and his resurrected life and his return. 

As I saw earlier this week all of us are doing our best to serve in our roles as infectious disease experts and constitutional scholars, but when you breathe your last it won’t be a virus or a job or a degree or a graduation ceremony or the stock market or the economy or a cancelled little league baseball season that will be on your mind.

In that moment the only thing that will matter is how you responded to Jesus. 

And why does that response matter so much?

Because your response to Jesus determines whether or not you have the password of all passwords. 

What is that password?

Paul gives it to us next.

He asks this question:

What then shall we say to these things?

 

And this is how he answers that question:

 

31 If…

That’s the password – two letters – “if”,

I realize that sounds a little iffy but stay with me.

“If” is a word of condition. 

If you eat 7 cake batter doughnuts you might feel mentally better but in time you will not feel physiologically better.

If you cut your quarantine hair with the fish scaler on your Swiss Army Knife you will probably feel mentally better but when you look in the mirror you will not feel cosmetically better.

This “if” is not accidental. 

If you have the condition connected to this “if” then you have a password that can give you access to deep peace and deep joy and deep hope no matter what circumstance you are in. 

So, what is the condition connected to this “if”.

Paul tells us…

31 If God is for us…

If God is for you. 

Well, how do you know if God is for you?

Well, in one sense, God is for you because:

• Jobs exist
• Schools exist
• Money exists
• Medicine exists
• Laws exist
• Lawnmowers exist
• Sports exist
• Haircuts exist
• Cake batter doughnuts exist

In other words, in one sense God is for you because the world exists, and you exist. 

God in his kindness purposed that we would have life and be able to see and enjoy the beauty of our existence in and through creation – even when our enjoyment of life and creation and haircuts are on hold because of a pandemic.

But in a more strategic sense God was for you before you existed and before the world existed.

Jesus was teaching his disciples one day about what is going to happen when the final economy is instituted, and every person’s account is closed, and they are held accountable for what was in their account.

Meaning, was their account filled with the righteousness of Jesus or was their account only filled with their education and their accomplishments and their retirement and their hobbies and their political party and their memorabilia collection?

And this is how Jesus described that moment: 

Matthew 25:34

Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

God was for you in the sense that before the foundations of the world he made a way for you to be right with him. 

He made a way for you to be ultimately rescued from sin and stress and anxiety and fear and worry and anger and pride and frustration and laziness and hypocrisy and ignorance and death. 

He made a way for us to be saved.

And what was that way?

Paul said it like this to the folks in Galatia:

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us…

How many of you have been perfect this week?

You have not said anything or thought anything or done anything that wasn’t perfectly innocent and perfectly good and perfectly filled with love and thanksgiving?

Nobody should be raising your virtual hand to that question. 

Failure to perfectly and continually keep God’s law puts a person under the curse.

And that curse is everlasting death and separation from God.

Without Christ, there is nothing in your account but the curse.

But there is a way for there to be a glorious transfer of funds. 

The curse can be deleted from your account and the righteousness of Christ can be credited to your account. 

You can’t earn that credit to your account. 

You don’t make the deposit to your account. 

The change to your account can only come by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. 

Christ redeems us from the curse of the law.

And “if” that has happened then God is uniquely and eternally and intensely for you.

God is for you in a common grace way because you exist, but if you have repented and made Jesus your greatest treasure and cling to him as the only perfect substitute for sin, then God is for you and he is for you forever and ever.

So, again we ask, how have you responded to God’s gospel about Jesus?

And why does it matter?

What does the “if” password get you access to?

Listen to what Paul says next:

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

 

Who is against us?

Now the folks that were reading this letter in Rome would have an answer for that question:

• “Well, the government is against us.”
• “The politicians are against us.”
• “The economy is against us.”
• “Our neighbors are against us.”
• “Other countries are against us in war.”
• “Sickness and cancer and unknown diseases are against us.”

Sound familiar?

The people reading this letter might have thought the same kind of thing that we might think:

“When I look at all that is happening in my life, it sure feels like God is against me.”

But if you are in Christ, the curse has been lifted, therefore, it is not possible for God to be against you.

• If your child is rebellious, God is not against you
• If your spouse is difficult, God is not against you
• If your dishwasher quits working, God is not against you
• If your check engine light comes on, God is not against you
• If your job is eliminated, God is not against you
• If your health gets bad, God is not against you

How do we know that is true?

Because that one “if” is bigger than all of those if’s. 

If God is for you, then he can’t be against you. 

If you are in Christ, just take a second to mentally make that connection. 

The curse has been lifted, so, because of Jesus and because you have yielded your life to him, you can always fill in that blank:

God is for Dow.

Can you put your name in that sentence?

If you can’t, then consider the reality of these words from Charles Spurgeon:

C.H. Spurgeon

If God is against you, who can be for you?

Spurgeon’s advice?

Take a half an hour this afternoon to think about that reality. 

• If God is against you, what then?
• How will you face death?
• What will happen after you die?

The catchphrase of the last few weeks almost everywhere you turn is:

“We will get through this together.”

But what if you don’t?

What if you aren’t together with God?

If you aren’t, then in a very real sense it really doesn’t matter who else you are together with.

But if you are together with God everything changes because God is for you and it is impossible for him to be against you.

I saw an article the other day about a Sunday school teacher who asked the kids in her class if anyone could quote Psalm 23. 

One little girl raised her hand – she was 4 years old – and she said, “The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I want.”

Nailed it!

Vaneetha Risner (Rise-nur) is a wife and mom and author who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

As an infant she got polio. 

As an adult her infant son Paul died when he was just two-months old.

Six years after Paul’s death she was diagnosed with a medical condition that before she reaches old age will require her to have full-time care.

Six years after that devastating diagnosis, her husband left her and their children and later filed for divorce.

This is what she said:

Vaneetha Risner

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I was convinced that a good God couldn’t love me and watch me suffer. So, I had concluded that God wasn’t good, didn’t exist, or didn’t care.

Vaneetha Risner

After my son died, I felt abandoned by God. If God loved me, why didn’t he spare Paul’s life? And after my husband left me, I would scream into the darkness, “God, if you love me, why are you letting this happen to me?”

Ever felt that way?

So, how did she survive screaming into the darkness at God?

Vaneetha Risner

All of Scripture assures us that God is with us and that he loves us. Many of us have known this truth from childhood: “Jesus loves me – this I know. For the Bible tells me so.”

Because of the Bible she learned a different approach:

Vaneetha Risner

…we must reframe our question, instead asking, “Because God loves me, then why did this happen?” Because God loves me. This phrase changes everything.

Ultimately no one can successfully be against you and reject you when you have been accepted by God.

Vaneetha Risner

God doesn’t love your suffering. He loves you.

Dear Christian, he is for you.

Because of Christ, he can’t be anything else.

• God is for you!
• God is for you!
• God is for you!

Message by Dow Welsh |

April 26, 2020 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

 

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Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/if-god-is-with-me-why-did-this-happen

So have you ever had to use a password? I try to use a password. Ever had to change a password? I'm in a little square dance right now with with Instagram. It seems that a few weeks ago when when the upgrade happened, one of those upgrades on my app happened. It kept the church account fine. But for some reason, it kicked me out of my personal account. So, you know, I sent an email, you know, trying to get a reset password and and it just hasn't worked out because I'm not getting the email. It says I'm getting the mail, But I'm not getting email. And I've checked every folder I've checked my inbox. I've checked my spam box. I've checked my my junk box. I've checked the what is the just my promotions box. I've even checks my check my box of dark chocolate coconut granola bars. It's not in there. I can't know. Box is having my email. So I've contacted customer support and I'm in the middle right now of kind of waiting. It seems what I had to do was to use a picture and send it to them. And now some algorithm is trying to figure out if my face is actually really my face. And if so, then they'll send me a password reset. So we'll see how it goes. It's interesting. Changing a password can be pretty frustrating, you know? Especially when the frustration is centered on what you have to do to change your password. Right? The instructions that come with it. You know, you've seen this before. You know, it has to include a capital letter in a lower case letter and a number and a symbol in a punctuation mark. And whoever was the captain of your kickball team on April 5th, 1983. And then, of course, the Paul print of a woolly mammoth. You need all of these things is part of your password change in order to move forward. Yeah, you've been there. I came across a security blogged about online help, and on this block, it had a list of passwords. More than 500 passwords that have actually been used. And they said they're all dangerous. So So don't ever use these again. They were dangerous to begin with, But But by all means, don't Don't use these things. I'm just going to share. Someone will start at 500 work our way down. Now, I'm just going to If you hear the arcane, here's here's some actual passwords. Password. That was some ice password. I need a password. New password? Nothing. Nothing. Again, I forgot. Why do I always forget then? Some cultural ones here. You can't handle the password. Nobody puts baby in a corner. And then one mawr never going to give you up. Yeah, technically, you did not just get rick rolled, OK? Because I think you have to actually show a clip of the videos. So I was I was a little kind of there. So why do we have to have a password? What was the point in having a password? Well, primarily, it is to protect us from financial and practical fraud, but also to protect our identity as a couple of good things, right. To protect us from financial and practical fraud and to protect our identity. Those air to really, really good things. There is a password. One password, though that is the best password anywhere on the planet. It has a 100% success rate guaranteed when it comes to ultimately protecting you from fraud and ultimately protecting your identity. Matter of fact, this password has a 100% guaranteed success rate no matter what you face in life. And the interesting thing is, this password is not hard to remember. But we forget it all the time, which is strange because it is super short. So what's this password? Well, let's see if we can find out. Listen, as we look together at Romans Chapter eight, Verse 31 the Apostle Paul writes, What then shall we say to these things? What shall we say to what things? Well, Paul is writing a letter here to some folks in ancient Rome, and he has been writing to them in the previous sentences about sin, suffering and weakness, sin, suffering and weakness. The three things that create the greatest amounts of stress and anxiety and worry and fear and frustration and confusion in our lives sin, suffering and weakness. And Paul ask a pretty fair question. He says. So what do we do about these things? You know? What are we going to say to thes things? What are we going to think about these things? What are we going to do with these things? How are we going to respond to these things now? I just want you to chew on that just for a minute. How are you responding? Toe life right now? How are you responding? Toe life. How are you thinking? How are you talking? How are you behaving? What are you changing in the way you talk? What are you changing in the way you think? What do you changing in the way you do? What are you doing? Different. How are you responding Toe life right now. Are you, in the words of philosopher Samuel T. McGraw living like you're dying? Or are you just working in the art a little more? Or are you vegging out a little more? A little more TV? A little more video games? Or are you so overwhelmed with the notion of things getting back to normal again that you are completely ignoring that things will never be back to normal again? Why? Why are things never going to be back to normal again? Here's why Pandemic are no pandemic. There is one thing you can count on every single day of your life. And that's this change change. You can like it or not like it. You can ignore it or or not ignoring. You can cooperate with it or not cooperate with it. But change is constant and normal changes every day. So what do we do? What do we do when we consider the change in our life will change? Maybe drastic, like a stay at home order or change maybe doable, like using 1/2 and half instead of cream. Change could be major like sickness, like a virus or change could be minor like your hair's a little longer than you want it to be. But change is constant and normal changes every day. So so what do we do? How do we respond when our whole world is in a state of constant change? When the new normal changes every single day? What do we do? What is the tool that we need more than any other tool to help in how we think and how we talk and how we behave? Well, the only wayto answer that question is with a question. And so the way we answer that question is with this question, How have you responded to God? How have you responded to God? When it comes to God, you're either with him or your without him. When it comes to Jesus, he is either a dead religious maniac or he is the Risen Messiah. When comes to Jesus, he's either a a mystical Charlotte or he is the resurrected Christ. So So what have you done with Jesus? How have you responded to God's gospel about Jesus? Now some people will say that question. It's pointless and useless. It's unnecessary. It's It's the kind of question that only a silly, immature person who needs a religious lucky charm would even ask. Other people would say, Well, all the people I know going to church There's a bunch of hypocrites anyway like how one pastor responded to that. He said, I don't know most people going to church, but I know you. What is your verdict? Own Jesus. Not on his followers. What is he? A crook? A psychotic, A fanatic, A hypocrite? What is Jesus? What have you done with Jesus? How have you responded to God's gospel about Jesus? And so what? I mean, why does it matter? Here's what matters. Apostle Paul writing to the folks in court says this for the word of the cross. The word about Jesus The gospel about Jesus is foolishness to those who are perishing life and death, hope and horror, trust and terror, perfection and perishing. All of those things are wrapped up in the Gospel, The Truth About Jesus and His Cross and his empty tomb and his resurrected life and his return. Everything is wrapped up in Jesus now. I realize that this past week is I've read about this week. All of us are having to function at our best and the two things that we are our best at the two things there, the two roles in our life that we're best at. We're having to play those roles almost 24 hours a day. And, of course, those roles are infectious disease experts and constitutional scholars, right? I mean, we were all that. That is our expert roles, right way, maybe function a lot of different roles where they have a ton of different ideas. We may be confused or frustrated. We may be a little depressed. We may be demanding, but at the end of the day, when you breathe your last whenever that may be you will not be thinking about a virus or a job or a lost job. You won't be thinking about an executive order. You won't be thinking about long hair. You won't be thinking about a graduation ceremony. You won't be thinking about the stock market. You won't be thinking about a cancelled Little League baseball season when we breathe our last. What we will think about the most is what we have done with Jesus. How have you responded to God's gospel about Jesus? That's what will be on our mind. And why does that response matter? So much was what's the big deal? Well, your response to Jesus. Your response with Jesus matters because it allows you access to the password of all passwords. What is that password? Well, so Paul asked the question. He says, What what then shall we say to these things? And then he answers it with the password. Here's the password ready If it says that the password short two letters. If now I know. At first glance, this sounds a little iffy, but stay with okay. If is a word of condition. If you eat seven cake batter doughnuts you probably are going to feel mentally better, but in time you will not feel physiologically better. Okay, if you cut your quarantine hair with the fish scaler on your Swiss Army knife, you might feel mentally better for a moment. But when you go look in the mirror, you will not feel caused medically. Bet if is a conditional word. And this, if here is not accidental. If you have the condition connected to this, if then you have the password that brings you deep joy. Deep love, Deep hope, deep peace. No matter what situation you may find yourself. So what's the condition with the If what's the condition with this simple password? Paul tells us. Equity REITs necks. If God is for us, If God is for us, how do you know? How do you know if God is for you? Well, in a sense, God is for you because jobs exist and because school exist and because houses existed because cars existed because money exists and because medicine exists because laws exist because Long Moore's exists because sports exist because haircuts exists because cake batter donuts exist, in other words, part of the way that God is for you is because the world exists and you exist. God in his kindness has purpose that you would be alive and that you would be able to enjoy life, understand life, live a fulfilled life in creation even when that fulfilled life, the beauty of life is own hold to some degree or are curtailed by a pandemic. God in his kindness, has given you common grace because you exist. But God is also for you in a sense and a unique sense in a strategic sense. He was for you before you existed. He was for you before the foundations of the world existed. How well, one day Jesus was teaching his disciples and he was talking to them about the final economy, the final economy. When the when the final economy is instituted, everyone's account will be closed and everyone will be held accountable on what's in their account. Meaning is the righteousness of Jesus in your account, or is the only thing that's in your account your education in your accomplishments, in your money, your retirement, your hobbies, your political part of your memorabilia collection, what's in your account? Jesus was teaching them about the final economy in the moment when everyone's account will be closed. And this is part of how he described it. Matthew. Chapter 25 Verse 34. Then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world. God was for you in the sense that before the foundations of the world, he made a way for things to be right between you and him. God was for you because of the plan he created. He created away for you and I to ultimately be rescued from sin and suffering and weakness and arrogance and ignorance and fear and frustration and confusion and anger on hypocrisy and stress and anxiety and everything else. God has made a way for us to be ultimately saved, ultimately rescued. And what is that way that he made Well, this is how Paul told the folks in a place called Malaysia Galatians 3 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Having become a curse for us, let me ask you a question. How many of you have been perfect this week? How many of you. Every thing that you have said our thoughts are done, has been perfectly innocent or has been perfectly full of love and thanks given. No one should be raising your virtual. And right now, okay, we we have not been perfect this week far from and because of the economy of history because of God's economy over all of history. The truth of the Bible tells us that failure to perfectly and continually keep God's law means that a person is put underneath the curse. And that curse is eternal death and eternal separation from God. That curse is in the account of any person who is without Christ. Oh, that sounds like super terrible, awful news. Except for this, there is a glorious way for there to be a transfer in the account. The curse can be deleted from your account, and the righteousness of Jesus can be put into your account. Now you can't earn that credit to your account. You can't make that deposit to your account. The only way you're account changes is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But clearly we have this amazing truth. The Christ redeems us from the curse that our account changes when we put our faith when we yield and surrender to Jesus. And that means our if changes that if that has happened then God is now uniquely an eternally and intensely four You because of Christ God is for you. Yes. Goddess is for you in the sense of of common grace that you exist. But if you have repented of your sin If you've turned to Jesus if you are looking at Jesus as the Onley Perfect substitute. If you're clinging to Jesus as the Onley perfect substitute for sin The God is now for you and he is for you forever and ever and ever. But still someone's heart mind might say Well, so what? What does it matter What does that if matter what does that if password get you access to? No look apostles. Next What been shall we say to these things? If God is for us who is against us, who is against us? Well, let me tell you that the folks who heard this letter the first time sometime around 60 80 when that question came up in the reading of the letter whose against us. You know what they would have thought immediately. What do you use against us? The government's against us politicians are against us. Our neighbors are against us. The economy is against us. We have wars with other countries because they're against us and we have sickness and we have famine and we have fire and we have disease. We have all kinds of things against us. That's what they would have been thinking. In other words, their thoughts would not be much different than the way some of us think. Right? Because we might think, man, When you look at all that's happening in my life, it sure feels like God is against me here. Felt that way. Maybe you're feeling that way today. Here's the thing that if you are in Christ, the curse has been lifted. Therefore, it is not possible for God to be against you. It's not possible. Just just think on that for a second. If you were child is rebellious. God is not against you. If your spouse is difficult, God is not against you. If your dishwasher breaks, God is not against you. If your check engine light comes on, God is not against you. If your job is eliminated, God is not against you. If your health goes south, God is not against you. That's not how it always feels. There isn't when those things happen, part of the first thing that goes through our minds got Why are you letting this happen? So how can we know that any of that is true? How could we know? It's because this if this password if if God is for us, it is bigger than all those other ifs, no matter what the if, maybe in life, the if of God being for us cancels out, crushes and presses down all those other ifs. That's why it's such a powerful password. If you were in Christ, I just I just want you to think on that for a second. If God is for you, then you can't be against you. If God is for you, he can't be against you if you're in Christ. If if you've yielded your life to Jesus, please understand. There is never a moment in your life that you can't fill in the blank. God is for down. There's never a moment in my life that I cannot whisper that to muscle. So here's the question. Can you put your name in that blank? I'm not talking about, You know, you bought a You know, a nice Pinterest idea of a Bible verse toe. Hang in your bathroom, or or that you've got a Bible calendar own your refrigerator or that you read a Bible app every morning or that you live stream church on Sundays. No, I'm talking about in any given moment of your life, no matter what's happening, whether it's a virus or health, whether it's great job or lost job, whether it's peace and happiness are, it is cycm frustration and confusion, whether it's arrogance, pride, ignorance, stress, anxiety, whatever it is at any given moment in your life because of Christ, can you put your name in that blank? Can you say guts for me? And nothing can change that if you can't and please consider the opposite of what Paul says. Charles Spurgeon put it this way. If God is against you, who can be for you? If God is against you, who can be for you? Spurgeon preached that sermon. Think about 157 years ago, and when he got through making that statement, he went on to give some advice, and this was his advice. And it's the same advice I give to you. Take about 30 minutes this afternoon to deal with that question. To deal with the reality of this question. If God is against you, then what? How are you going to face death here on Earth and what will happen to you when you die? Where where is the if in your life? The catch phrase of the last few weeks, almost everywhere you look and about every 28 seconds of the NFL draft is Was this right? We've heard it. We will get through this together. But what if you don't? I know you're thinking cash. There's some or streams. Let's switch. Let's change guys depressing. Hit him with me. But if you don't in other words, what if you aren't together with God, that does it matter who else you are together with? If you're not together with God, that changes everything. And if you are together with God, that changes everything. The together really matters. I saw article this week about a Sunday school teacher, and she asked her class of kids. If anybody could recite some 23 little girl raised her hand. She was four years old. She said. I could do it. Teacher, she said, Okay, go ahead. The Lord is my shepherd. That's all I want mailed it because here's the thing. Ultimately, if God is for you, if you are together with God, ultimately no one and nothing can successfully reject you or be against you, that doesn't mean they can't reject you. That doesn't mean that they can't be against you, but they can't be successful in it because ultimately God is for you, and that changes everything, ultimately your together with God and that changes everything. Beneath your Eisner is a wife and a mom and author. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. I have quoted her many times because I just love her heart, and her mind beneath the story is that when she was an infant, she got polio. When she became an adult, her infant son, Paul, died when he was only two months old. Six years after Paul's death, she was diagnosed with a medical condition that at some point will require that she has full time care. And six years after she was diagnosed with that devastating medical condition, her husband left her and their Children, and then later he filed for divorce. Beneath a has It's not a walk. This is what she says. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I was convinced that a good God couldn't love me and watch me suffer. So I had concluded that God wasn't good, didn't exist or didn't care. Thank you there today. If you have that fault before, maybe you're having that fall today. Beneath it goes home. After my son died, I felt abandoned by God. If God loves me, why didn't he spare Paul's life? And after my husband left me, I would scream into the darkness. God, if you love me, why are you letting this happen to me? Ever been there? Ever felt that way ever had that going through your mind? Do you have it going through your mind today? So what did she do had how did she survive screaming into the darkness at God? How do you survive that? This is what she says. All of Scripture assures us that God is with us and that he loves us. Many of us have known this truth from childhood. Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. How does the Bible tell us that? Because the Bible says that the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But the Bible also tells us that in Christ we have been redeemed from the curse. Our account has changed. And so for the worst moments in her life, for the most devastating, heartbreaking moments in her life. Beneath A said, I turned to the truth about God. The truth of God's word and the truth set her free because the truth gave her a different approach. So all the things happening in her life and what is that approach? This is what she says. We must reframe our question, instead asking because God loves me. Then why did this happen, Cash that we say If God loves me, then why would he let this happen? But the question is because God loves me. Then why did this happen? Because God loves me, she says. This phrase changes everything, that everything it changes everything. It changes everything. Ultimately, no one can successfully be against you or reject you. If you have been accepted by God because God is for you. So what does that look like in your mind and in your heart right now how you get this? This idea from Scripture. And this this truth of how the Bible helps our Hartman. How does it impact right now? This is house two simple sentences outside of memorizing Romans 8 31 You can ignore the rest of the sermon if you get this, OK, This is what she says. God doesn't love your suffering. He loves Yeah, he loves you. See, the baby in the manger is proof God loves you. The teachings of Jesus over and over again about the Majesty and authority and power and salvation of God are proof and evidence. God loves you. The cruelty of the cross of Jesus is proof and evidence that God loves you. The burial of Jesus in the tomb is proof that God loves you and the in teen of that tomb. The resurrection of Jesus is proof that God loves you. The ascension of Jesus into heaven affirming his authority, His kingship over everything is evidence and proof that God loves you. And the promise guaranteed for ages before the foundations of the world. That Jesus is coming back for his own is proof and evidence that God loves. Yeah. Dear Christian, I am not an infectious disease expert. I am not a constitutional scholar. At least right now. I'm not a politician. Most of you know one day I want to do it. But we'll see. Here's where I am. I'm just some kid from North Augusta who was rescued by God. And all I have to offer you is the simple truth of the gospel and the truth of the gospel. Dear Christian, is this God iss four you because of Christ. It is not possible for him to be against you. God is for you. God is for you. God is for us.