If you have already died and your life is hid in Christ (Colossians 3:3), what can man do to you? Specifically, what can ISIS, Al Shabaab and any other godless, evil, fear-mongering terrorist do to you? Yes, they are raping, torturing, beheading, and crucifying Christians. But can these godless purveyors of unbridled hate separate you from the love of Christ? The answer is a resounding NO!
Jeff walks you through the eternal promises of God found in Romans 8. Get ready to be encouraged!
Radio Show Transcript
ANNC: Welcome to Eternal Promises, with your host and founder, Jeff Tobler. “Because all of the promises of God in Christ are Yes and in Him, AMEN!” (1 Corinthians 2:10) “And this is THE promise He’s promised us, even eternal life!” (1 John 2:25)
JEFF: Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither ISIS, nor AL Shabaab, nor Boko Haram, nor suicide bombers, nor any other God-hating fear-monitoring terrorist group shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord!
ANNC: To participate in the show we invite you to submit your question or comment online at EternalPromises.org/radio.
JEFF: Thank you, Scott. Welcome everyone to the program. This is Jeff Tobler with Eternal Promises, and you know that one of our foundational promises found in 1 John 2:25 says “this is the promise God’s promised us, even eternal life!”
But today were going to focus on the eternal promise that says:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. 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 created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Now that’s from Romans 8:35-39, and I encourage you to memorize and meditate upon these wonderful promises from God.
Well, the reason this eternal promise is so important at this time is because of the intense persecution facing Christians around the world. And it’s not only persecution, but it’s a Christian genocide.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you understand what’s happening worldwide to Christians. Not only in China in the past several decades. Not only in India, where there has been much persecution from Hindus, from Muslims, from many fronts — even from the governments in many of these countries — but lately it has ramped up in the Muslim or Islamic quarters in Syria, to begin with; now in Iraq. It is been this way in Iran, and we could go on.
And the name that we know this by today is ISIS or ISIL or Daesch. And there many ways to refer to this group, but it’s known also as the Islamic State; we could just call it that. And I want to call it the “personification of evil”, and that’s simply what it is. It is a satanic hatred of people and especially focused on Christians.
I want to make it clear that it’s not only Christians who are dying and being put to death, being subjected to a forced conversion to Islam, but it’s people of many different faiths. But we’re going to focus on the Christian genocide that’s going on because there is a very pointed, focused genocide against the Christian communities worldwide, and especially in Syria and in Iraq, as we’ve noted. But it’s coming over to America. It’s happened in France. Now it’s all over the place.
There was a well-written article by Kirsten Powers. It showed up in USA Today. The headline read something like this: “Secretary of State should call what ISIL is committing by its true name”. Kirsten starts of the article pointing to a situation that happen in October with Islamic state militants in Syria demanding two Christian women and six [Christian] men to convert.
And when they refused they were publicly raped and then beheaded — which we’re seeing is commonly the case — along with the men. The women were publicly raped because they refused to convert to Islam… and then they were beheaded along with the men.
Now as if that weren’t enough, we have another account of a 12-year-old boy’s fingertips being cut off by the militants in an attempt to force the Christian father to convert to Islam. Well, when the father refused to, guess what happen? They were brutalized and then crucified!
This is happening all over the place. It’s not new. This is not some isolated instance. She goes on to say “beheadings crucifixions and enslavement are visited on those who won’t renounce their religious beliefs; the lucky ones are murdered in more mundane ways or driven from their homes with nothing but the clothes on their back”.
And this is the part that really struck me. A little bit further down in the story Powers writes this:
“indeed ISIL warned Christians in a video:” (and this is the warning from the Muslims) “you will not have safety, even in your dreams, until you embrace Islam.”
What’s so interesting about that statement from the terrorists is this: they have no understanding of what it means to be reconciled to God. Because if they did, if they understood what it was to walk in the love and peace that Christ affords us, they would know that we already have safety. They would know that even in our worst nightmares we can still have peace.
And so [the terrorists] are claiming that it won’t be until we embrace Islam that will find peace, but Jesus says the ONLY way to find peace is in Him!
At the end of the piece, [Powers] says this: “ISIL doesn’t want to coexist with Middle Eastern Christians: it wants to eliminate them. Let’s stop pretending otherwise and call this what it is: a genocide.”
While I appreciate her article first of all because I think we live in such a politically correct world or just naivety would just have our heads buried in the sand. This is exactly what’s going on, and the threat is not going away; it’s only growing.
But the question is, “How should we respond the threat from the Islamic terrorists?”
ISIS says “fear death or convert!”, but the message from God, from Jesus Christ Himself, and from the apostles is: “don’t fear death, rather fear not counting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!”
And don’t convert to Islam or any other religion that rejects Jesus as the only Way to the Father; the only atonement for sins. No, no. Embrace Jesus! Embrace Christianity, and find peace for your soul. You see, these Muslim terrorists just don’t get it because their godless hatred has blinded them from hearing the Truth.
True Christians do not fear death because we know that when we die, either naturally or at the hands of a terrorist — the very embodiment of evil — that we will be released from this world to be forever with the true God, our Heavenly Father, praising King Jesus!
We will not face the punishment of our past sins, but rather we will be welcomed into the presence of God with the Crown of Eternal Life. So, while they hope to instill fear, which by the way is what Satan always hopes to do, these fear tactics hold no real power over the one who is Christ’s.
Let’s take [Romans 8:37-39] one step further and actually replace some of those things with what were facing today. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither ISIS, nor AL Shabaab, nor Boko Haram, nor suicide bombers, nor any other God-hating fear-monitoring terrorist group shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord!
ANNC: Jeff will be back in just a moment to share some closing thoughts.
FEMALE ANNC: Do you have trouble sharing the gospel? Is it difficult to find the right time to discuss the hope that lies within you. We understand and to help you share the gospel we’ve produced stunning, smart, and thought-provoking gospel tracks, such as the “Taste and See” Bread of Life track that teases a free lifetime supply perfect for coffee shops, bakeries, and cafes. Or get our BOO! tract for Halloween that tells of the coming TRUE fright night story. We even have our close counters tract for those area 51 folks that answers the question “are we alone”. That and much more to help you share the eternal promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Go to eternal promises.org/resources to order your tracks today, and get the news of Jesus Christ into the hands and hearts of others.
ANNC: To participate in the show, submit your question or comment online at eternalpromises.org/radio or by calling toll-free 888-88-LOVE-GOD. And now, here’s your host, Jeff Tobler:
JEFF: This is Jeff Tobler, founder of Eternal Promises and I’m here to encourage you today, that in the face of pure evil, the unveiled face of evil — and it’s represented today in many groups, but one of them that is gaining notoriety is ISIS. They are these Islamic terrorists that are putting to death — it’s a genocide of Christians, along with other groups. But Christians are being targeted, and if they do not convert the women are being publicly raped, the men are being beheaded, the younger women are being sold into sexual slavery, the young men are having their fingertips cut off… and I could go on. But the point is, should we fear? How do we go forward? How is it that these saints over there are not denying Jesus Christ, and are suffering the martyrdom? Well it’s because there are eternal promises that we can rest upon that we can gain strength through. And let me share a few of them. One of them comes from Hebrews 13:5-6 and it says this “God himself says I will never leave you nor forsake you, so we may boldly say the Lord is my helper; I will not fear! What can man do to me?” And in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul, speaking of death, encourages the Saints this way: “We’ll step out of our mortal clothes and slide into immortal bodies, replacing everything that is subject to death with eternal life!”
ANNC: You’ve been listening to Eternal Promises with your host and founder, Jeff Tobler. On behalf of all of us at Eternal Promises thank you for listening! And we encourage you to lay hold of God’s promises in you life today, by loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Because all of the promises of God in Christ are YES, and in Him, AMEN.
This is a listener supported broadcast, and your prayers and financial support are appreciated. You can support this ministry online at EternalPromises.org/give or by calling 888-88-LOVE-GOD (888-885-6834).
“And this is the promise He has promised us, even Eternal Life!” 1 John 2:25
Eternal Promises Radio was produced by eternal promises ministries.
You’re listening to Eternal Promises Radio with Jeff Tobler.
