Good morning everyone across the world, welcome to The Church Ministries, and our open word assembly of believers and the chosen elect that the Father has drawn you all here today. Our home base is centrally located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The tallest rock mountain formations starting at depths ocean floor are part of the highest mountain ranges. We are on the Big Island of Hawaii which we share Mauna Kea which has a crystal clear atmosphere of 2.6 miles above sea level which makes it a near perfect viewing and studying area. We are centrally located telecommunications wise to Asia, Australia and the Orient and of course the United States. The Lord brought me here to this town of Hilo, which is one of the major places that would be hit by any Tsunami, which it already has been hit by one and that is why they have a Tsunami museum in Hilo Town and Hawaii was the first state to have a Tsunami alarm. We also have earthquakes and constant flowing lava from the live volcano on this Island, which brings many visitors each year to view from Helicopters.
As you all know my main course of action was to build a mission downtown, now we are spreading out and I feel we are doing more good as far as communications for world mission operations and sharing the word of God to so many. It is so amazing that we can pass along the word of God from a simple Church.
As you might not know that there are still 2 billion people that need to learn about Christ and the Gospel. Christianity in revenue makes 12.3 trillion dollars a year out of that piece of the pie 1.7% goes to Christian needed causes and (5.4% of that 1.7%) goes to foreign missions and (1% of that small bundle of this so little portion) goes to people to hear about Jesus .If you look at it overall, that is like a grain of sand.
So, 95% outside of the western hemisphere never hear the word. We still have 3,000 languages that do not have a word scripture. That is why we need to get out there, Jesus said Go Ye to all the world, and most of the missionaries which about 75% are working with groups which are already established Christian communications groups.
So, we are fortunate that we have communications to reach out to people that need the word that is why I put so much scripture in our sermons, this way these untouched villages can receive the word. If anyone needs permission to utilize the sermons or the archives, please email me and tell me a bit about yourself and where you are located and your story of how you are spreading the word.
Dear Loving Father, please help us to communicate your love and wisdom to the places that need to hear the message about the love of Jesus and how You loved us so much to send your Son to us so we could learn about You. Lord we need Your perfect faith to conquer all the evil attacks that have come upon us. Please help us to overcome any side stepping with unbelievers; we need to help them too. Please increase all our faith daily and teach us to do our parts to bring You glory. I am getting so weak lately and I need Your strength to go on to finish everything You want us as Christians to do, and participate with church to worship You, and praise You and give You complete thankfulness and to improve our relationships with You. We all love You with all we have from our inner selves to all parts of the Spirit that lay inside these failing bodies. Thank you for the opportunities to serve You and most of us that gather here it is our hearts desire to follow YOU. Father in Jesus Name please renew a wholehearted commitment to You for Your glory! Please open the doors we need to have open to spread the gospel, please give us the words and the bread of life to be better disciples.
Please forgive us our sins and let us start all over this day with the covering of the blood of Jesus to make us as white as the snow. Lord every Sunday I ask that The Holy Spirit anoint everyone, who reads, translates, writes, copies, or spreads these prayers, announcements, and our basic teachings. Lord we need that loving anointing so everyone will feel blessed inside and out so they can feel the power of God within us all. Lord we are not worthy, but we are your elect and we are still sinners, please Father grant us this request because it will travel to many new people and if they feel the joy of the Lord many will walk that extra mile or two to get their gathering to hear these words spoken this day and the next. I pass on all my prayers to requests to You Father; please bless them all in the Name Of Jesus, Amen.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8:31 KJV
Pleased open your bibles to the book of Romans Chapter 8, verse 31.
Paul here arrives at the mountain-height of Christian position! He sees that, so to speak, by way of experience. He does, indeed, in the word “us” bring all the saints with him. There was first our state of awful guilt of Christ’s work for us, and justification by the same means. Then comes the knowledge of indwelling sin, and the Spirit’s work within us, and deliverance from sin’s power that was in that way. Now he has arrived upon the immovable mountain-top of Divine sovereign election, and he sees God Himself for us! Not at all meaning, here, God is merely on our side in our struggles, but God’s uncategorized unalterable attitude gives respect to those in Christ. God is for them: nothing in time or in eternity to come has anything whatever to do with matters here. Our weak hearts, prone to legality and unbelief, with great difficulty receive these mighty words: God is for us. Place the emphasis here where God places it on this great word “for.” God is for His elect. They have failed, but He is for them. They are ignorant, but He is for them. They have not yet brought forth much fruit, but He is for them. If our hearts once surrender to the amazing fact that there are those whom God will eternally be for, that there is an electing act and attitude of God, in which He eternally commits Himself to His elect, without conditions, without requirements; whose lives do not at all affect the fact that God is for them then we shall be ready to magnify the God of all grace!
What then shall we say to these things? By “these things” Paul evidently indicates not only the whole process of our salvation by Christ, from Chapter Three onward, with that great deliverance by the help of the Holy Spirit set forth in this Eighth Chapter; but he also points most directly to what He has been telling us of the purpose of God: “Whom He knew ahead, ordained before hand, was called, justified, glorified!” Now it is a sad fact that many dear saints have said many poor, even regrettable things, to these things of Divine self-governing knowledge and election. Some, indeed, will not hear “these things,” as Paul sets them onward. Let us not be of this company! What shall we say to these things? To doubt them is to deny them: for God asserts them from the beginning of knowledge to glorification. To question whether they apply to us is to question not election, but the words “whosoever will,” of the gospel invitation. You can let God be absolutely sovereign in election, and yet, if you find the door opened by this sovereign God, and “whosoever will” written over it by that same sovereign God, by all means enter! Set your seal to this, that God is true, by receiving His witness (John 3:33). Do not allow any “system of theology” to disturb you for one moment! What will you say to these things? Say, with Paul: God is for me: He spared not His own Son for me! This question, What shall we say to these things? is a testing word, as well, as a triumphant word.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom 10:17) Well that is what I must do, that is what we all should be thinking and living. As I took a walk today praying and praising the Lord, deep down inside I am so broken that being I have to move the church office, the bible study area, and a whole library of bibles and Christian books and studies, and I am carrying this unknown affliction on top of everything else, I am in such a dilemma I am to weak to pack and yet I still have time 45 days, and I need to just depend on the Lord, I will get many people from the local church, but I have no where to go at the moment, and the places I picked out are gone, so I am a bit broken hearted, my love for God and Christ is abundant but we all need stronger faith, what we need is “God’s faith” in all of our situations, so as I was walking and praying I said God all I would need is an answer from You and then my mind would be set at ease about moving, the movers and people to pack up the house and all the electronics and I can continue with The Church Ministries in some other location, but then the Spirit reveled to me Paul you need to depend on God for everything, you have to rest in faith and trust, My feet are starting to swell and my whole mouth after 18 months has not gotten better it has gotten worse. And it gets harder and harder to eat. And I weigh about 125, so I am slowly getting rid of my earthly flesh in more ways then one. But scripture tells us that we walk by faith not by sight (2Cor.5:17) and I should give everything to the Lord and not even think twice, faith is believing God and what He has said, it is not a positive attitude, that is something else entirely, that is something of what we can do, we must rely on our Lord. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” (1John 5:14-15) I know the Lord hears me, and the joy I receive praying for others can not be replaced by anything. I look forward at the end of the night, when I send out many emails all over the world with answers to all different prayer requests. I feel I haven’t wasted anytime and that I have helped many and did what God wants me to do with His time. We all want to do the will of God, not just sit and watch TV, we want to help our brothers and sisters. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16) I am just a simple man and my righteousness comes from the Lord, I am just a sinner like everyone else, but prayer does change things, I cannot boast about myself, I can only boast in the Lord and what He has done for me and so many others. I am contented that I still can pray for others. “Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.” (Psalm 28:6-7) “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” (Psalm 23:6) “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.” (Psalm 57:1-2) With these scriptures and promises how can I even think He will not help us all, I have gotten so many praise reports and wonderful stories of healing and people getting everything they asked for. I go through such intense spiritual warfare in the process because the evil one does not want me to pray to so many others, plus a lot more has been added to my life, but every night I devote my time to prayer and to communicate to others, it gets hard when you are going through refinement school with many of the “called for a purpose Christians”. I have realized there is a group that are going through intense spiritual battles all over the world, and it seems the Lord is going to raise up these chosen ones or these crucified ones into the hearts of ministering to all people, there will be a new remnant, a new reformation and it might happen this year, because the years are working out changes every 11 years and all that I read in so many books, this year will be some changes, we have to remember the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. And everyday prayer after prayer, I get a clearer picture through reading so many prayer requests, and I have to pick up the word and read and figure out our future prophesy, the visions and thoughts I get are so intense, it is like God is showing me things but I can’t see them clear enough. I have been praying for many even before this affliction came about in Nov. 03, I opened the church in August and I started the prayer ministry right then, so even at night I was sending out many more prayers then I do now. Last night I prayed to God with my list, just about the love and healing of Christ, to be at one with Christ, and with Christ in us, which involved many prayer requests, and all the people that are hurting, how could anything possibly get even harder for so many others, but God at times wants to purify us even more. It seems the Lord wants to strip us of everything of self, and the world. “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”(1John 2:15-17) It seems that we have to have complete trust in the Lord, not just added trust, or more than just saying it, we have to give ourselves completely and totally to Him, complete submission. I believe that is what He is trying to show or guide me to. “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together. Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it. (Col. 1:15-23) My life has been like a roller coaster, out of a countless group of doctors, they just give up or don’t try or don’t want to get involved. I got stuck with another one, a good specialist who was very interested, ran all kinds of tests and he was looking for Lupus then when it wasn’t that, he then just gives up, I give him the tell tale signs of RSD/CRPS and it seems like he was interested and then just blew it off even with all the my symptoms lining up in a row. It just doesn’t make sense, it seems like they are just all afraid, or the devil is working in them, thank God my regular doctor is a true spirit filled gifted Christian. So God is telling me do not fear how these doctors are treating you. He tells me I am the Lord, and I can heal you of anything. I have plenty of time to pray for others everyday the prayer list changes, we all should spend our time talking to God the healer and maker of the universe, when He has so much pure love for us, and He does want to listen to us all about anything, He wants to hear from us. So after prayer a few nights ago, then came in many emails, and a phone call, from all the people that know what is going on, they all wanted to help with prayer, kind words of compassion, understanding and loyalty which brought much joy in my heart, that was a true gift from God Himself, letting me know that He was there for me. We just have to give everything to the hands of the Lord. The story about me in itself is shocking of how one doctor can see you, make a guess, do a procedure, then realize it was mistake and gives up and sends you to another doctor, not thinking what kind of damage the man has done, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually, and this has been going on with doctor after doctor, and it hurts. And here I have the Lord right here 'in" me. The healer, the redeemer, the Lord of joy, happiness, truth, and who enjoys giving gifts that He wants to give His children. So we have to have true trust, not just half way, but total trust, with a mixture of pure faith, this way the Lord can act on our prayers, our needs, and requests. “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways". (James 1:6-8) So my prayers are with you, and if I can share a small amount of what I go through, and the true Love of God, we ourselves can build a bond of agreement in prayer, to familiarize ourselves together with the Lord. And we can share the strength of Christ in all ways, with sharing our prayers together. “Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Thes 1:11-12) God Bless, Rev Paul www.thechurch-ministries.org
The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. John 3:33 NIV
Concerning “these things,” if we simply rejoice, with Paul, saying, “God is for me, who could be against me?” it is well! But if we cannot rejoice in Divine, sovereign future knowledge, upcoming ordination, and the calling, this also is the fruit of delicate unbelief and self-righteousness. Even Paul, set forth the case: If God be for us, who is against us? This “if” does not imply doubt, but amounts to since. We are expected to have heard and understood, and believed all the previous wonders of our salvation written in this epistle. The conclusion is: GOD IS FOR US. The Creator of the universe, the supporter of all things, the Redeemer God Himself, for us!
Therefore the challenge: who is against us? Paul knew as none have ever known, the power and the great wickedness of Satan and his hosts, the persecuting energy of the haters of the gospel, the relentless watchfulness of the Roman Empire that had pitched justice to the winds, and crucified Paul’s Lord, and ever stood ready, upon occasion, to seize him. Yet he challenges all! It is not a question of logic, as the King James puts it: “Who can be against us?” But it is a direct challenge in the lists: to all and any in the whole possible universe: factually. If God for us who against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Rom 8:32 KJV
This is the God who is for us; and this is the proof! Spared not what that word shows! Of the infinite price of redemption! To show the measureless unconquerable love of God that would not be stopped at such a horrible terrible cost! “His own Son”; His only Son; His well-beloved Son, from all eternity! And for us! But look, how wretched we are, even in our own sight! We are guilty, unfasten, tarnished, powerless, worthless, for us all! Truthfully we are “the most miserable of sheep!” (Zech. 11:7).
So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock. Zech.11:7 NASB.
Then, delivered Him up we remember immediately the same word in Chapter 4:25: “delivered up for our trespasses.” Yes, we know why: but see to what? The opposing, mocking, spitting, scourging, crucifying by men; and to the awful cup of wrath for our sin at God’s hand considerably more appalling that any creature had to deal with. Yet God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up!
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Rom 4:25 KJV
Who was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our acquittal), [making our account balance and absolving us from all guilt before God]. Rom 4:25 AMP
For us all, Here the saints are spoken of. Paul never uses “us” of any others. And who are the saints? Sinners who have heard God’s good news concerning His Son, and have simply believed! Only faith can walk here! Unbelief, coming to the fearful gulf between the infinitely holy God and the awful guilt of the sinner, shrinks back; while faith, seeing Christ crucified, cries, God is for me! And the sinner passes gladly over the bridge God made who spared not His own Son! Heavy situation we should all feel blessed. God has done so much for us and people just don’t get it, or understand it, or even recognize it, what hurts me is some don’t even care.
How shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? The great gift, the unspeakable gift, being made, all must follow! “How shall He not, with Him?” If you buy an expensive bracelet at the jeweler’s, he sends it to you in a lovely case which he gives you freely with your purchase. It is as in Chapter Five, with the “much mores.” God has not spared His Son: what are all else to Him? God has opened to us His heart, He has spared not, giving us His best, His all even Christ. Now, with Him, all things come! God cannot but do this. Shall He give us His dear Son, and then hold back at the little things? For “all things” of this created universe, yes, even all gifts or blessings God may give us, here or here after, are but nothing, compared with Christ! That my brothers and sisters is the best gift anyone could ever want, so we should never murmur for anything the rest of our lives.
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Rom. 5:15 KJV
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Rom. 5:17KJV
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 5:20-21KJV
All things,: It will greatly please God for us boldly to beg Him for this or that, saying: You did not even spare Your own Son, but gavest Him for me. Now I need a thing from You; and I ask it, “as one” to whom You Father gavest Christ! As doubt would put it, let youself watch what you ask for being you have been given your life through the Son of God’s suffering and death, now start seeking wisdom in asking for anything. God gave us Christ don’t we feel a bit like a child when we start asking God for things when God has given us His best, and the closest thing to Him, and we don’t need anything else except Christ. Christ is all we need.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: John 17:22
He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. Psalm 21:4
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Rom 8:33
It is God’s elect whom this passage concerns. God’s elect not only believe, but are confident! For there can be no charge laid against them. They boldly challenge any and every foe, concerning any possible charge against them before God! It is not that those triumphing are without fault in themselves they know that! But God is for them! They are His “elect,” and we know from the next chapter that the purpose of God according to election is not of works”: but on the contrary, God has called each and every one of us before we were all born, before we could start sinning still once we are born we automatically are born into Adams sin so God will and has done His planning for each one of us while still in the womb, or before we were created entirely. (Romans 9:11). As absolutely as righteousness is “not of works,” so neither is election! Both have God Himself as the only Source! So, “the purpose of God according to election stands!”
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) Rom. 9:11
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Rom. 8:34
Here the emphasis is upon God. He is the Judge; and He has declared His elect, those “of faith in Jesus,” righteous. Now will any condemn? Shall any stand before God’s High Court and condemn whom He has justified? Never! Satan may accuse us in our consciences; but the day of our condemnation was past forever when Christ our Substitute “bore our sins in His own body on the tree!” When it is announced as toward all possible foes: “It is God that justifies,” we feel in our hearts God taking our part!
Christ Jesus [God’s own Son] is the one that died, yea, rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who is also making intercession for us!
Some would render the answer to the question of verse 33, “Who shall lay anything to the charge,” etc., entirely in the question form: “Shall God that justifieth? Shall Christ that died?” We have not yielded to rendering it thus; for this question-form does not fit the bold challenge here: for this whole passage is governed by the great word: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom.8:35
God then, is seen for us, as justifying; His own Son Christ Jesus as dying and as interceding for us. All of which commits God to us permanently! The Yea, rather, that was raised from the dead, follows the exact order of the development of the truth of Christ’s work in this epistle: set forth as a mercy-seat through faith in His blood in Chapter 3; God seen raising Him who was delivered on account of our trespasses in Chapter 5. There is no crucifix, no Romanism, here; no dead Christ, but One raised.
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Rom. 3:22-26
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Rom. 5:15-17 NIV
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Rom.8:34KJV
“Now we have Jesus at the right hand of God” We have that He is there, and not merely there in the place of honor and power, but engaged as ever for our benefit: who also is making intercession for us. In verse 8:9-11, the indwelling Spirit is making intercession for the saints; in verse 31, God is for us; in verse 34, Christ Jesus is making intercession for us. What a wonderful salvation this is, in which all three persons of the Trinity are constantly occupied in our behalf!
But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you]. And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you. Rom. 8:9-11 AMP
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Rom 8:22 KJV
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?Rom. 8:35 KJV
When Paul says, who shall separate us from Christ’s love? And then begins to detail things, it is plain that in the word “Who” he has in mind the great enemy who opposes “things” to God’s saints! Satan is “prince of this world,” and “god of this age”: this the apostle always has before him: “that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” So he says: Who shall separate us? shall tribulation? Thirty-seven times this word rendered “tribulation” (thlipsis) and its verb are used to denote those direct troubles that afflict the saints, because of the gospel! Satan has hunted, and how desperately, but has never succeeded in separating one saint from Christ’s love by tribulations! To be perfectly honest I know about never and I have known many people that have changed because they didn’t have the backbone of faith or strong faith. And God sees to it that the path of the Christian is a narrow, “straitened one!
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2Corth 4:4KJV
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Eph. 2:2KJV
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.2Cor. 2:11 KJV
Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. Matt. 13:21KJV
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. 1Thes 1:6KJV
That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. 1Thes 3:3KJV
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33KJV
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matt. 7:14KJV
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 2Cor. 4:8-10KJV
For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. 2Cor. 7:5KJV
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And now the next word is distress This word (stenochoria) is rightly translated “anguish” in Chapter 2:9; for there it evidently means a fixed place in which “every soul of man that doeth evil” is held while Divine judgment is visited. The word means a narrow, cramped place, where one is “in straits.” For the lost this is unendurable; for the saved, it. only affords room for God’s help, when not anything else can avail. So, distresses how terrible so ever cannot separate from Christ’s love. (See the note on the Russian women in Chapter Five.) Remember Christ, the Lord of glory, had not a place to lay His head: He knows what distresses are!
Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; Rom. 2:9KJV
Or Persecution (diōgmos). This is a word used ten times in the New Testament, and always in reference to the gospel. Its verb means, “to make to run,” or “to run swiftly to catch” those pursued; so, to persecute. No saint thus persecuted has yet been forsaken by Christ, nor ever will be! “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Christ never forsakes, but has the sweetest fellowship with those persecuted by the world, directed by Satan, but there is one thing God is in control and we all are under God’s accommodating ruling. Christ is always saying, “Be of good cheer!” (Acts 23:11.)
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you”; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. John 15:18-20KJV
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. Matt 9:2KJV
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33KJV
For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. Mk. 6:50KJV
11And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. Acts 23:11KJV
22And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. Acts 27:22KJV
25Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Acts 27:25KJV
Famine comes next. And you would think that the Lord of all would ever provide liberally for His saints. Not always! The “present distress” is on. Christ the Heir was cast out of Israel’s vineyard and slain! The Head of the new Body has indeed been glorified. But why should not the members of His Body know by experience what the Head passed through and thus find fellowship with the Head? Thus they come to have one heart with Him! “Famine?” Yes. But not to separate us from Christ’s love! “I know how to be in want,” says Paul. Twelve times is “famine” (limos) mentioned in the New Testament: though only twice (here in Rom. 8:35; II Cor. 11:27 this last concerning an apostle!) does it directly touch the saints. In Acts 11:28, indeed they get relief (though by other saints, not by government agency!). Yea; you may be hungry in this Christ-rejecting world, ‘and yet be beloved of your Lord. “The meek shall inherit the earth” but not yet! Not till He comes back!
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom.8:35KJV
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. Matt.8:20KJV
But whatever they dare to boast about--I'm talking like a fool again--I can boast about it, too. They say they are Hebrews, do they? So am I. And they say they are Israelites? So am I. And they are descendants of Abraham? So am I. They say they serve Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled many weary miles. I have faced danger from flooded rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the stormy seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be Christians but are not. I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food. Often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 2Cor. 11:21b-27 NLT
This is some list of what Paul has been through for the gospel.
28And one of them named Agabus stood up and prophesied through the [Holy] Spirit that a great and severe famine would come upon the whole world. And this did occur during the reign of Claudius. Acts 11:28 AMP
Or nakedness, In I Corinthians 4:11, Paul says, “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place.” How ashamed we feel, who are not as devoted to our Lord as was Paul, to hear him speak this! This whole part of Romans Eight shows us as partakers with a Christ that the world has just tossed aside or has just cast out.
Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you are so wise! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are well thought of, but we are laughed at. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, without enough clothes to keep us warm. We have endured many beatings, and we have no homes of our own. We have worked wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. We respond gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world's garbage, like everybody's trash--right up to the present moment. I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I ask you to follow my example and do as I do. That is the very reason I am sending Timothy--to help you do this. For he is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord. He will remind you of what I teach about Christ Jesus in all the churches wherever I go. I know that some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will never visit you again. But I will come--and soon--if the Lord will let me, and then I'll find out whether these arrogant people are just big talkers or whether they really have God's power. For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God's power. Which do you choose? Should I come with punishment and scolding, or should I come with quiet love and gentleness? 1Cor 4:10-21NLT
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; Luke 4:25KJV
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. Luke 15:14 KJV
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. Rev. 18:8 KJV
Or peril Eight times in one verse, II Corinthians 11:26, does Paul use this word. Read that verse, remembering the same word in I Corinthians 15:30: “We stand in jeopardy peril every hour.” In Paul’s bringing you this gospel, Jewish hatred, Roman jealousy, pagan blindness (Acts 14:8-20) striving that “the truth of the gospel” might come unto us! God grant we cherish it! Many have suffered, that we might have these wondrous truths!
And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?1Cor, 15:30 KJV
And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. Acts 14:8-20 NLT
Or sword, The first use of this word (machaira) is connected with our Lord Himself: Matthew 26:47: A great multitude with swords and staves to take Him; while Acts 12:2 Herod killed James the brother of John with the sword, and Hebrews 11:37 They were slain with the sword, give only examples of the attitude of this world toward Christ and His saints. The world hates the saints; though sometimes those making most hideous use of the sword have worn the sign of the cross. That was the world’s religion; and, like Cain, it killed God’s people. But, even in the hour of death most terrible, Christ was there: they were not separated from His love.
And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Matt26:47KJV
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. Acts 12:2KJV
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; Heb. 11:37KJV
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. Gal. 2;5KJV
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Rom. 8:36KJV
Here, then, is the description of God’s saints: killed perpetually, and sheep for slaughter. We know that this quotation is taken from a Psalm (44:22) which describes that terrible hunting down by the Antichrist of the godly remnant of Israel in the days of the Great Tribulation. But todayall the day of grace long, this is the real state of real saints: killed, and slaughter-sheep! This is the way thing are today people that are doing good works for the Lord are getting killed in all different countries, the hidden factor is the spiritual warfare is silent and there are many unexplained deaths and accidents, and people are dieing normal deaths under normal circumstances but the timing and the way they are all happening and the groups that are together or when one person can help many they end up dieing, we have to understand that Satan is doing some real dirty work but there is no way to actually prove the deaths only the timing and the groups are dieing for strange reasons. To the student of God’s Word, the many years of outward peace from persecution, horrors, and death, that have come to us is the unusual, the astonishing thing. Look at the deaths of the early Church, the martyrs; and again when truth burst out afresh at the Reformation!
But now again, look at Russia and India, look at Germany, Africa, many countries in Africa that are trying to be Christians are getting beaten and some even killed, all throughout the world, people are destroying churches and meeting halls and bibles are getting more and more scarce, and in some countries if someone even gets caught with a bible they could be shot, and rumor has it people are getting beaten to death with their own bibles, look all around. Ruthless hatred of God’s saints is breaking out everywhere, as of old!
Now, we ought not to view such things with alarm, but, on the contrary, to remember that Christ has not yet set up His kingdom, nor He will till His second coming! Satan is the prince of this world, and shall yet be exhibited as the “god of this age”see Revelation Thirteen.
Let the saints rouse quickly from these false dreams of “peace.” The saints are sheep for slaughter! Name yourself among them, and cease contending for your “rights” in a world that has cast out Christ! Persecution is shaping itself up again throughout Christendom yes, even in the United States. The hidden false churches of today you can walk in and Satan will cause confusion, mix-ups, cause common misunderstandings and universal problems. Eventually he will try to start a spiritual conflict, and of course nobody wins this game it is only an illusion the purpose is so many are getting hurt in the process and don’t even know it.. He has to seek getting behind enemy lines which is always a way to start the total confusion. To go back and go behind everyone and attack from the rear and by surprise, and one of the strategies of turning everything backwards and upside down and as the church and the people within are going and thinking in all directions of mass confusion, they have no concept that they are opening the doors to Satan himself, as all demonic influences are moving all around especially undetectable and sooner or later you have complete division everywhere and know one even has the common sense enough to say anything, because everyone thinks there is a problem with each other and they think all the confusion is within themselves, and that is why who would stand up and agree that they feel so unworthy once the confusion is placed into their minds. It would be like the congregation are all hypnotized and they don’t know what is happening, they believe there is something wrong with themselves, so why would anyone stand up and say I’m confused, and I don’t know what is going on, and I don’t feel right, I don’t think anyone wants to make fool of themselves so nobody says anything, they just say hello and carry normal conversations. Satanic warfare is already established in the people’s minds, so how can you group anyone together for anything when everyone is walking around or sitting down in mass confusion but know one will admit to it, that the confusion is even going on because if they admit anything, they are admitting that there is something wrong with themselves, so then no one says anything, they wait for someone else to say something, so the whole church and or the group are so messed up because know one will admit they are being under attack and there minds and spirits are already altered. So the pastor gets up and talks he too doesn’t know what is going on, he thinks the congregation is not even listening, or may be listening because he is in the same boat to the demonic warfare, and the people they are so confused themselves but don’t say anything they just listen, and an hour later they don’t even remember what the pastor even said, because the demonic depression is over all of them. Then they leave go out to lunch and they might talk over the service but everyone has this consciousness about what they felt themselves while they were there, and they just change the subject because they don’t want to talk about how uneasy they felt in the first place. Then out of routine they go back to church next week and they become even worse, and they get home and do not feel refreshed they feel empty, because there minds were all ready displaced because of all the demonic attack, and they are trying to shake off all the demonism that was placed in there minds at church which it will slowly were off, unless the church was so full of demonic power they each brought home a demonic entity on there backs, but most likely it will just were off in a few hours once they get back to there own surroundings.
Intolerance unto death for any who will not bow to a totalitarian state is ready, as in the days of the Roman emperors (who demanded worship) to assert itself,—is asserting itself, throughout the world. This “totalitarian” movement is setting the stage for Antichrist more rapidly than you dream! Therefore get ready. Put up over your mirror the motto: “I am Christ’s: a sheep for slaughter.”
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Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Rom. 8:37 KJV
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Psalm 44:22 KJV
“Sheep for slaughter” naming themselves more than conquerors!
We are conquerors in all this terrible situation, in all these things. We are more than conquerors. It is altogether through Him that loved us, and not through human energy of any kind, that we are more than conquerors. We all have that hidden strength which is our faith and we have to arm ourselves against the enemy and the point is we have to use God’s weapons, we just can’t sit back and get slaughtered, so we have to call upon the name of the Lord in any instance of any day, we don’t know what is going to happen to any one of us we have to look to Christ and His love and have the total faith in Him we know nothing shall separate us so we utilize the same format which helps to build our faith and our confidence.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isa 53:12 KJV
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. 2Cor. 10:3-6 KJV
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:38-39 KJV
Further, when Christ’s love for the Church is described, it is again the past tense“Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for it” (Eph. 5:25). And, “The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). It is this past tense gospel the devil hates, for “the Word of the Cross is the power of God.” Let a preacher be continually saying, “God loves you, Christ loves you,” and he and his congregation will by and by be losing sight of the true grace that the Lord has given to all His people and of the atonement of the cross, where the love of God and of Christ was once for all and supremely set forth, and in honorable righteous display were Satan was already defeated. He hates that when everyone says out load your defeated Satan. Christ defeated you at the cross
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Eph. 5:23-27
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1Cor. 1:18
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom.8:35KJV
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8:39KJV
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8:31KJV
To tell you the truth nothing can stand in the way of the Fathers love or the love of Jesus in these three verses they join hands as if you really look at all three verses they cover any base about love protection and being close by and close to the heart. Like I said in the beginning we don’t need anything else but the love of God and Christ, we are almost always contented even if we are out in the middle of the road with no money and no ride and it is starting to snow and starting to get cold and you begin to freeze but time after time out of no ware a car would come and pull over and the heat would be blaring and once you have gone through that a serous of times you know for certain that God is there.
Before we quote the last two verses of this triumphant joyful praise let us lay to the heart this word persuaded for it is the key to Paul’s triumph as he goes shouting up these mountain heights of Christian faith. “Persuaded” is a heart word. The difference between knowing a truth and being heart-persuaded of it, Paul brings out in Chapter 14:14: “I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself.” Many people know, for example, that in this dispensation all distinctions of meats have been removed; yet their consciences are not relieved. Weakness and fear still trouble them, about meats and days and many things. To know a Bible truth, you have only to read it: to be “persuaded of it in the Lord Jesus” involves the fact, first, that the truth in question touches your own personal safety before God; and, second, that your heart has so been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and your will so won over being persuaded” that confidence, that you have within all our hearts the Spirit of God leads us in all things and we have to be very sensitive to the Spirits leading
Like Paul was saying before if you go to another’s house and you are served meat don’t just sit there asking questions well where did it come from, I want to know where it came from, before I eat it, well that gets a bit rude as Paul says just sit down and eat and if someone mentions the fact it was sacrificed to idols then don’t eat anymore, just politely excuse yourself and give them your blessing and head on home, but if you don’t know and know one tells you, God is not going to hold that sin against you. You have to have proper etiquette with your friends and other guests plus the fellowship is important so if you don’t know just try to be normal and don’t be all paranoid about it.
Now Paul says in Romans 8:38: I am persuaded—Dear saints, had not Paul passed through all these terrible things of verse 35, tribulation, anguish, persecution, plus many other things? He went through more in 2 Corth. 11, in fact I went through my own share, I don’t think I was whipped 5x 39 times and beaten with rods three different times but when I was boy I was whipped a lot, and beaten with many different articles, but now and with all this pain I am going through even now, just to sit up and type you would not believe what I have to go through, yea Paul had scars on his body , after being whipped 5 times with whips and then 3 times with rods, plus being stoned any man would, but that was then. Declaration of Paul’s sufferings yes he had many, that time He was stoned and he probably went then to the third heaven in and out of a vision or a trance but the Lord loved Paul and he told him in Acts that he was going to go through a lot of suffering, as He told Ananias;
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake." Acts 9:15-16
I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean Rom. 14:14
This boasting is all so foolish, but let me go on. Let me tell about the visions and revelations I received from the Lord. I was caught up into the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether my body was there or just my spirit, I don't know; only God knows. But I do know that I was caught up into paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be told. That experience is something worth boasting about, but I am not going to do it. I am going to boast only about my weaknesses. I have plenty to boast about and would be no fool in doing it, because I would be telling the truth. But I won't do it. I don't want anyone to think more highly of me than what they can actually see in my life and my message, even though I have received wonderful revelations from God. But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud.
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.2Corth. 12:1-10 NLT
You have made me act like a fool--boasting like this. You ought to be writing commendations for me, for I am not at all inferior to these "super apostles," even though I am nothing at all. When I was with you, I certainly gave you every proof that I am truly an apostle, sent to you by God himself. For I patiently did many signs and wonders and miracles among you. The only thing I didn't do, which I do in the other churches, was to become a burden to you. Please forgive me for this wrong!
Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don't want what you have; I want you. And anyway, little children don't pay for their parents' food. It's the other way around; parents supply food for their children. I will gladly spend myself and all I have for your spiritual good, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.
Some of you admit I was not a burden to you. But they still think I was sneaky and took advantage of you by trickery. But how? Did any of the men I sent to you take advantage of you? When I urged Titus to visit you and sent our other brother with him, did Titus take advantage of you? No, of course not! For we both have the same Spirit and walk in each other's steps, doing things the same way.
Perhaps you think we are saying all this just to defend ourselves. That isn't it at all. We tell you this as Christ's servants, and we know that God is listening. Everything we do, dear friends, is for your benefit. For I am afraid that when I come to visit you I won't like what I find, and then you won't like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfishness, backstabbing, gossip, conceit, and disorderly behavior. Yes, I am afraid that when I come, God will humble me again because of you. And I will have to grieve because many of you who sinned earlier have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.2Cor. 12:11-21 NLT
So my brothers and sisters you can see after you read a few scriptures about Paul and how real and caring and understanding he really was, God has shown him some beautiful things but he almost died in the process, he was left out there in Lystra left for dead, that is where I believe he saw the vision. Even after he got stoned he was still able to travel to Derbe. So you can tell that the Lord did protect Paul, but also he had his own problems with the thorn in the flesh, I believe it was his pride that the Lord wanted to have control over, he couldn’t have Paul have such a big head, after you read how humble the man was you know what a great teacher he must have been. Just think of the countless people he brought into the Kingdom, just being himself.
Verses 38, 39: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How we do misquote this verse, putting it according to natural thought, “neither life nor death.” But God says, neither death nor life. To the instructed believer, the fear of death is gone (see Hebrews 2:14, 15). Christ partook of it: “That through death He might bring to the effect not know him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
But life! Ah, life is so much more difficult than death!—life with its burdens, its unpleasantness, its disappointments, its doubts; often with its physical and spiritual miseries,—as Job said, “My soul chooseth strangling and death rather than these my bones.” But just as death cannot separate us from this unchangeable love of God in Christ, neither can any circumstances of life do it!
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle flying back and forth. They end without hope. O God, remember that my life is but a breath, and I will never again experience pleasure. You see me now, but not for long. Your eyes will be on me, but I will be dead. Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes, those who die will not come back. They are gone forever from their home--never to be seen again. "I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. I must complain in my bitterness. Am I a sea monster that you place a guard on me? If I think, `My bed will comfort me, and I will try to forget my misery with sleep,' you shatter me with dreams. You terrify me with visions. I would rather die of strangulation than go on and on like this. I hate my life. I do not want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days. "What are mere mortals, that you should make so much of us? For you examine us every morning and test us every moment. Why won't you leave me alone--even for a moment, Have I sinned? What have I done to you, O watcher of all humanity? Why have you made me your target? Am I a burden to you? Why not just pardon my sin and take away my guilt? For soon I will lie down in the dust and die. When you look for me, I will be gone." Job 7:6-21 NLT
Nor angels—Whether we speak of the elect angels—the angels of God’s power, in the presence of whom the saints have felt overwhelmed by their utter unworthiness (as Daniel, Dan 10:8-17); or whether it be the malignant angels, who chose Satan’s captaincy, and are a unity with him in evil;—no angels can separate us from that love of God which is fixed forever in Christ.
In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision. It concerned events certain to happen in the future--times of war and great hardship--and Daniel understood what the vision meant. When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three weeks. All that time I had eaten no rich food or meat, had drunk no wine, and had used no fragrant oils. On April 23, as I was standing beside the great Tigris River, I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body looked like a dazzling gem. From his face came flashes like lightning, and his eyes were like flaming torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice was like the roaring of a vast multitude of people. I, Daniel, am the only one who saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide. So I was left there all alone to watch this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak. When I heard him speak, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground. Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. And the man said to me, "O Daniel, greatly loved of God, listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you." When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling with fear. Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come."
While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word. Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, "I am terrified by the vision I have seen, my lord, and I am very weak. How can someone like me, your servant, talk to you, my lord? My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe." Then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and I felt my strength returning. "Don't be afraid," he said, "for you are deeply loved by God. Be at peace; take heart and be strong!" As he spoke these words, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, "Now you may speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me." He replied, "Do you know why I have come? Soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and then against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece. But before I do that, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (There is no one to help me against these spirit princes except Michael, your spirit prince. Dan 10:1-21 NLT
Nor principalities—Here we touch a mysterious word. We know from Ephesians 1:21 that there is an ordered realm of unseen authorities whether of good or of evil (Eph. 2:2; 6:12). But with none of them have we anything to do, for whatever they are, they cannot separate us from God’s love in Christ .
I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced. Eph 1:21NASB
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Eph. 2:1-2
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph 6:12 NASB
Nor things present nor things to come In Job’s case, Satan dealt in “things present”—and they were as bad as hellish enmity could make them. But they did not separate from God’s love, for look at “the end of the Lord,” with Job. In the cases of David and Elijah, Satan dealt in “futures”: David said, “I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul.” Yet shortly he sat on the throne! And Jezebel threatened, “I will make thy life as the life of one of them [the slain prophets] by tomorrow about this time.” When Elijah saw that, alas, these “thats” of the devil! “he arose, and went for his life.” Yet God took him up by a chariot of fire into heaven!
When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the LORD has told me to go to Bethel." But Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!" So they went on together to Bethel. The group of prophets from Bethel came to Elisha and asked him, "Did you know that the LORD is going to take your master away from you today?" "Quiet!" Elisha answered. "Of course I know it." Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the LORD has told me to go to Jericho." But Elisha replied again, "As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you." So they went on together to Jericho. Then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and asked him, "Did you know that the LORD is going to take your master away from you today?" "Quiet!" he answered again. "Of course I know it." Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the LORD has told me to go to the Jordan River." But again Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you." So they went on together. Fifty men from the group of prophets also went and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped beside the Jordan River. Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground! When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, "What can I do for you before I am taken away?" And Elisha replied, "Please let me become your rightful successor." "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah replied. "If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won't." As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between them, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and charioteers of Israel!" And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his robe in two. Then Elisha picked up Elijah's cloak and returned to the bank of the Jordan River. He struck the water with the cloak and cried out, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" Then the river divided, and Elisha went across. When the group of prophets from Jericho saw what happened, they exclaimed, "Elisha has become Elijah's successor!" And they went to meet him and bowed down before him. "Sir," they said, "just say the word and fifty of our strongest men will search the wilderness for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has left him on some mountain or in some valley." "No," Elisha said, "don't send them." But they kept urging him until he was embarrassed, and he finally said, "All right, send them." So fifty men searched for three days but did not find Elijah. Elisha was still at Jericho when they returned. "Didn't I tell you not to go?" he asked. 2Kings 2:1-18 NLT
Nor powers The word translated “powers” here is dunamis, energy or the meaning dynamite : and has reference evidently to those strange and horrible workings of Satan and his host seen in spiritism, Religious philosophy or speculation about the nature of the soul based on mystical insight into the nature of God., and all kinds of magic. Indeed, this very word is used in Acts 8:10 concerning Simon the Magician: “They said, this man is that power (dunamis) of God which is called Great.” This guy name Simon did all kinds of bewitchment and sorcery. The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future plus the old evil eye, and mystic spells cast upon people. But, it is a sad fact that many dear saints are troubled by these things. To me they are just childhood games.
A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, claiming to be someone great. The Samaritan people, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as "the Great One--the Power of God." He was very influential because of the magic he performed. But now the people believed Philip's message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the great miracles and signs Philip performed. When the apostles back in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there. As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new Christians to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands upon people's heads, he offered money to buy this power. "Let me have this power, too," he exclaimed, "so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!" But Peter replied, "May your money perish with you for thinking God's gift can be bought! You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right before God. Turn from your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, for I can see that you are full of bitterness and held captive by sin." Acts 8:9-23 NLT
Who rules in earth’s affairs, Satan or God? God has always been in control and Satan has to ask God for every step he takes as far as hurting someone or giving them certain trials, but you see God uses Satan to strengthen our faith to give us more character and more perseverance, and Satan does not even realize it.
People say to me, “Do you believe there is anything in spiritism?” I say,”I certainly do the devil’s got a part in it” But none of these powers can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. “God worketh all things after the counsel of His will.” I have seen professing Christians if making some confident statements all about different superstitions and some people still believe in a broken mirror or a black cat or walking under a ladder these different things were placed into peoples minds at childhood and it sticks and people that watch to much TV. get the same way. Let us be “persuaded” of the love which God, without cause in us, has unchangeable toward us in Christ Jesus our Lord. No matter how real, dangerous, terrifying these demon powers may be, we are safe in Christ! James gives us a good heads up.
Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that."Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:13-17 NLT
Nor height, nor depth The astronomers would frighten us with their figures of the vastness of the universe But Christ has passed through all the heavens, and is at the right hand of God! And God has loved us in Christ there is no separation from that love. But “depth”Ah, poor mortals we are afraid, even of earthly cliffs and gorges. Yea, but Christ descended into “the lower parts of the earth,” into “the abyss” at “the heart of the earth” (Eph. 4:9; Rom 10:7; Matt. 12:40). Moreover, He has said that His Church would not enter the gates of Hades (Matt. 16:18). And they shall not! But even if God had arranged that they should, Christ says to John, “Fear not; I am the First and the Last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades!” This is indeed a glorious salvation! No “depth” can separate us from God’s love in Christ
Notice that it says "he ascended." This means that Christ first came down to the lowly world in which we live. The same one who came down is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that his rule might fill the enti
