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!

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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.

Here’s an Eternal Promise to help you face the satanic fear-mongering Islamic terrorists such as ISIS (or ISIL or DAESH), Al Shabab, Boko Haram, and all others like them who are involved in the current Christian genocide: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35).

Today we are going to focus on the eternal promise found in Romans 8:35 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.”

That’s Roman’s 8:35-39, and I encourage you to memorize and meditate upon this wonderful promise 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 not only a persecution, but a Christian genocide.

USA Today Story – Kirsten Powers: John Kerry should recognize Christian genocide – December 7, 2015

HEADLINE: Secretary of State should call what ISIL is committing by its true name.

“In October, Islamic State militants in Syria demanded that two Christian women and six men convert to Islam. When they refused, the women were publicly raped and then beheaded along with the men. On the same day, militants cut off the fingertips of a 12-year-old boy in an attempt to force his Christian father to convert. When his father refused, they were brutalized and then crucified.

“This has become the plight of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIL or ISIS. 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 backs.”

A little further down in the story, Powers writes:

“Indeed, ISIL warned Christians in a video, ‘You will not have safety, even in your dreams, until you embrace Islam.’ Its militants or their affiliates have murdered or claimed credit for killing Christians in Syria, Nigeria, Iraq and Libya.

She ends the piece with:

“ISIL doesn’t want to co-exist with Middle Eastern Christians. It wants to eliminate them. Let’s stop pretending otherwise and call this what it is: a genocide.”

The threat from the islamist terrorists is “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 and the only atonement for sins)”.

These muslim terrorists don’t get it because their godless hatred has blinded them from the hearing the truth. True Christians don’t 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 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… instill fear of him and hear of death – these fear tactics hold no real power over the one who is Christ’s.

Does this mean Christians will not mourn the loss of loved ones? No, of course not. Does this mean Christians will not even feel the pain? Well, some accounts say that martyrs have signaled no pain, but it may even mean we experience a brief period of pain. I say brief because in light of eternity, this life, is but a blip. So imagine the small amount of time it is to be martyred compared to eternity with God where all pain and all tears are wiped away.

But it does mean that we will be victorious unto our very own death because God will uphold us during these trials.

Let’s hear the fulness of this eternal promises from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome:

Romans 8:31-39 VOICE – So what should we say about all of this? If God is on our side, then tell me:whom should we fear?  If He did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over on our account, then don’t you think that He will graciously give us all things with Him? Can anyone be so bold as to level a charge against God’s chosen? Especially since God’s “not guilty” verdict is already declared. Who has the authority to condemn? Jesus the Anointed who died, but more importantly, conquered death when He was raised to sit at the right hand of God where He pleads on our behalf. So who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing. As the psalm says,

On Your behalf, our lives are endangered constantly; we are like sheep awaiting slaughter.

But no matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us. For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, 39 height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord

Romans 8:35 in the NKJV Version reads this way:

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. 38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor 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.

SEGMENT 3

The writer of Hebrews says something similar:

Hebrews 13:5-6 (NKJV)

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “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?”

1 CORINTHIANS 15

53 We’ll step out of our mortal clothes and slide into immortal bodies, replacing everything that is subject to death with eternal life. 54 And, when we are all redressed with bodies that do not, cannot decay, when we put immortality over our mortal frames, then it will be as Scripture says:

Life everlasting has victoriously swallowed death.

55 Hey, Death! What happened to your big win?

Hey, Death! What happened to your sting?

56 Sin came into this world, and death’s sting followed. Then sin took aim at the law and gained power over those who follow the law.

57 Thank God, then, for our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, the Liberating King, who brought us victory over the grave.

2 CORINTHIANS 4

7 But this beautiful treasure is contained in us— cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us. 8 We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair. 9 We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well. 11 For while we live, we are constantly handed over to death on account of Jesus so that His life may be revealed even in our mortal bodies of flesh.

13 We share the same spirit of faith as the one who wrote the psalm, “I believed; therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and that belief leads us to acknowledge 14 that the same God who resurrected the Lord Jesus will raise us with Jesus and will usher us all together into His presence.

16 So we have no reason to despair. Despite the fact that our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying, our inner humanity is breathing in new life every day. 17 You see, the short- lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here. 18 So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes. All of that is fleeting; it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on.

2 CORINTHIANS 5

1 We know that if our earthly house—a mere tent that can easily be taken down —is destroyed, we will then live in an eternal home in the heavens, a building crafted by divine—not human—hands. 2 Currently, in this tent of a house, we continue to groan and ache with a deep desire to be sheltered in our permanent home 3 because then we will be truly clothed and comfortable, protected by a covering for our current nakedness. 4 The fact is that in this tent we anxiously moan, fearing the naked truth of our reality. What we crave above all is to be clothed so that what is temporary and mortal can be wrapped completely in life. 5 The One who has worked and tailored us for this is God Himself, who has gifted His Spirit to us as a pledge toward our permanent home.

6 In light of this, we live with a daring passion and know that our time spent in this body is also time we are not present with the Lord.

7 The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes. 8 There is no doubt that we live with a daring passion, but in the end we prefer to be gone from this body so that we can be at home with the Lord. 9 Ultimately it does not matter whether we are here or gone; our purpose stays fixed, and that is to please Him

HEBREWS 2

14 Since we, the children, are all creatures of flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood, so that by dying He could destroy the one who held power over death—the devil— 15 and destroy the fear of death that has always held people captive

JOHN 3

16 For God expressed His love for the world in this way:He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. 17 Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

18 No one who believes in Him has to fear condemnation, yet condemnation is already the reality for everyone who refuses to believe because they reject the name of the only Son of God. 19 Why does God allow for judgment and condemnation? Because the Light, sent from God, pierced through the world’s darkness to expose ill motives, hatred, gossip, greed, violence, and the like. Still some people preferred the darkness over the light because their actions were dark. 20 Some of humankind hated the light. They scampered hurriedly back into the darkness where vices thrive and wickedness flourishes. 21 Those who abandon deceit and embrace what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God

Paul tells us not to worry because what we face here is a blip in time and not to be compared with the awesome reality of eternal life in the direct presence of our loving Father and King Jesus!

And he makes the point that nothing, absolutely NOTHING – not even the most twisted muslim terrorist – can separate us from the LOVE of GOD.

Look at what Jesus says about this:

Matthew 10:28-33

28 Don’t fear those who aim to kill just the body but are unable to touch the soul. The One to fear is He who can destroy you, soul and body, in the fires of hell. 29 Look, if you sold a few sparrows, how much money would you get? A copper coin apiece, perhaps? And yet your Father in heaven knows when those small sparrows fall to the ground. 30 31 You, beloved, are worth so much more than a whole flock of sparrows. God knows everything about you, even the number of hairs on your head. So do not fear.

32 Whoever knows Me here on earth, I will know him in heaven. And whoever proclaims faith in Me here on earth, I will proclaim faith in him before My Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns Me here, I will disown before My Father in heaven

So, you see, those how trust in Jesus have no fear of Death nor of those who can kill just the body. Why? Because they are unable to touch or destroy the soul. Our Lord Jesus is able to preserve us blameless in soul and spirit, and our Heavenly Father is able to keep anyone or anything from snatching us from His hand. While it doesn’t mean we won’t face persecution and even death because of our faith, it does mean we will be eternally alive, healthy, and well in the presence of God enjoying His perfect place called Heaven.

And that’s a Word of Promise today from Eternal Promises. I’m Jeff Tobler, and I want to encourage you to seek the Lord while He may be found, because if you seek Him with all of your heart, the promise of God is that you will find Him.

This is Jeff Tobler, and the Lord bless you richly!