Question
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
Response
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We and Us refers to Christians
What can separate us from the love of Christ?
What can make us fall?
Lets bring the scriptures into understandable, modern terms
Trouble or hardship-when the going gets tough the tough get going
Not always possible
Persecution-being tried for your faith
Thousands suffer everyday
Famine-loosing your means of survival
Nakedness-when your dignity is stripped away from you
Danger-possibility of the monster under your bed just a fear
Sometimes the scariest thing is the unknown
Hypochondriacs
Or
Sword-"the dirty underwear from last month actually left under the bed" that will kill
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
What’s the point of going on?
Seems hopeless.
Will fate or destiny bring you down?
Is there anything that will make you fall (separate you from the love of God?
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Not Just Survivors but more than Conquerors
What is a survivor?
It’s a good thing to be / better than the alternative
What is a conqueror?
We have the victory Jesus won it for us a long time ago
Why are we conquerors?
We come in the name of Jesus Christ, the Master of the Universe and the one who defeated Satan, Hell and the Grave.
What effect does that have on me as a Christian?
"I am convinced"
Philippians 1:6
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
You always protect an investment never destroy it
What am I convinced of?
"neither death nor life" can separate us from the love of God.
Like many people today, Paul couldn’t decide which was more honorable and which was worse, life or death.
Philippians 1:21
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
"angels" can’t separate us from the love of God.
This was a time when people popularly thought, as some think today, that angels were mean creatures.
This goes along with the idea that God is some angry giant that lives on a cloud and will throw a lightning bolt at you if you mess up.
I believe angels are very real and very ever-present beings employed God to help us.
"guardian angels"
"demons" can’t separate us from the love of God.
Demons are very real and very ever-present beings employed by Satan with the purpose to mess you up.
"I believe in demon possession"
"Many stories in the Bible of Christ and the disciples casting out demons"
I think Hollywood takes a little to much freedom in trying to mimic these devilish beings. I think they are very accurate in depicting the power these guys possess.
The power of God will forever overpower the attempts of Satan at any cost.
"Harry Potter" books fail to show this
Quotes from Young Harry Potter readers:
"I used to believe in what they taught us at Sunday School," said Ashley, "conjuring up an ancient spell to summon Cerebus, the three-headed hound of hell. "But the Harry Potter books showed me that magic is real, something I can learn and use right now, and that the Bible is nothing but boring lies."
"Jesus died because He was weak and stupid." This is a quote from 6-year-old Jessica of Easley, South Carolina after reading the Harry Potter books
God (Jesus) was not being a weak sissy when He died. In fact He was being the toughest man to ever cross the earth and he sealed Satan’s fate of eternal Hell.
"Misery loves company" Satan doesn’t want to go to Hell alone so he’s quest is to try to pull you down with him. You are young and impressionable (teachable) now so he is going to get you while it is easy.
GOD WILL WIN, HE ALREADY HAS.
"the present" can’t separate us from the love of God.
The world as it is now.
Every age has thought they had it worst. From Adam to you.
Classic Grandpa’s statement "This sure ain’t the good old days" "What’s this world come to"
"All seems lost, this world we live in is so far from God and going straight to Hell"
HEY!!! I’m NOT THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Jesus died for my sins.
The reason the world is like it is now is because we aren’t trying to win people for Christ anymore. Yes, the trend is that the world is sliding to Hell but the Christians have a ticket out.
"the future" cannot separate us from the love of God.
Always a fear of the future
Y2K scare how did that one turn out?
Students headed for graduation are warned of "THAT BIG WORLD OUT THAR"
The God who walked with Adam is the God who walked with Paul is the God who walks with me is the same God that will walk with my grandson fifty generations from now.
Check out the back of the book WE WIN. Let God worry about the future. DON"T WORRY ABOUT IT.
Not "any powers" can separate us from God.
People think that the Christian life is too hard to live so they fall away.
People in other areas of the world face real persecution for their faith in Jesus.
These people most often remain strong and even to the point of giving their own life.
They don’t allow the forces of man (under the control of Satan’s persuasion) to sway them from what they know is right.
Just like Paul in Philippians 3:14
"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
People think they have the surplus of power by being in service to Satan or one of his derivatives.
Voodoo
Wicca
Naturism
Worship of any false gods
Paganism
Astrological pursuits
Religious organization following another person (they are all still dead)
The Occult
These all tricks/camouflages of Satan to trick people in to following something other than the true God, following these is nothing more than following Satan
"neither height nor depth" can separate us from the love of God
Not just a measure of space but referring to "loftiness/eminence nor profundity/mystery".
Astrology
Tarot cards
Ouiji board
Horoscopes
Why look to the stares when you can look to the maker of the stars?
This is a further attempt of Satan, the ruler of the dark world, to get you to put faith in things other than the one true God.
"nor anything else in all creation" can separate us from the love of God
If it hasn’t been covered so far, let this put your mind to rest.
NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD,
GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE US, WE HAVE TO LEAVE HIM
