303 - THE DEVIL’S DEVICESJULY 25, 1965
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
Romans 8: 35 – 39 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 thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here God brings out the glorious fact of the love of God, and that a believer in Jesus Christ cannot be separated from the Love of God. We told you that the love of God is the greatest attribute of God. It is the greatest of the things that last—faith, hope and love.
1/ You have a listing of things in Verse 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Tribulation, trouble or distress, pain persecution or famine, or nakedness or peril, that is danger, or sword, that’s the secret police. None of these things shall be able to separate us from the love of God.
2/ Every time I read this portion of Scripture, my mind goes back to the accusation that was made to Jesus Christ, for there we have the religious people mocking Jesus Christ as He was on the cross.
Matthew 27: 43 They cried out, He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him, for he said, I am the Son of God.
When things happen to us, the world likes to point the finger at us and say, He said he’s a Christian, he says he is saved, he is on his way to Heaven, now let his God deliver him. But we, as children of God, can have absolute assurance that the things we are passing through will never separate us from the love of God.
3/ Romans 8: 36 Paul quotes this time, As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for slaughter.
Here he is quoting from Psalms 44: 22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
One should read the entire Psalm in order to get the force of the verse quoted. This is not a prophecy, but it is parallel history. This has been the experience of God’s people in every day, and the important words are the first three—For Thy sake. And the entire Psalm pictures Israel, not as being punished for its sins, but rather because it was faithful, it’s enemies came against it like a flood. They were afflicted for Christ’s sake, just because they were true children of God. It wasn’t a matter that they had sinned and now they were being punished, but rather they were faithful and the enemies of God came in upon them and persecuted and afflicted them.
4/ THIS IS NOT A SIGN OF CHRIST WITHDRAWING HIS LOVE. IT IS A SIGN OF THE VERY OPPOSITE. WE ARE INDEED TO SUFFER FOR HIS SAKE. IF YOU ARE NOT SUFFERING FOR HIS SAKE, THEN SOMETHING IS WRONG.
5/ Thy, of course, refers to God, and the expression, the whole day long expresses the extent of time. The enemies kept killing God’s people. Actually, they regarded them as nothing but sheep for the slaughter. The Psalmist does not see God’s people as a flock that is led to pasture, but one that is being sold to be butchered. And Paul says this was true of Israel as God’s earthly people, just so it is true of the church which is the Body of Christ at this present time. Our enemies seem to be victorious—we suffer on every hand, but we know these things will not separate us from the love of Christ.
6/ Romans 8: 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
What is it to be more than a conqueror? For a long, time I wasn’t sure. I would wonder. I read many, many commentaries as I told you in the past, the commentaries love to skip over these things and just ignore them as if they are not there. I know what it means to be a conqueror—I’ve studied history. Napoleon was a great conqueror. He swept through Europe and no enemies were able to stand before him until nearly all of Europe was lying at his feet—that is all except England. He had a map made, and he had England painted in red, because that was dangerous. He used to look at all of Europe and then he would point to that little red spot that was England, and he wanted that more than any other victory he ever had. But he finally met defeat.
Down through history there have been many who have been conquerors. They have been victorious, but just like Napoleon, they have never been more than conquerors, because I’m going to tell you what I think it means to be more than a conqueror. It means to have the victory and always have the victory. Never to have the victory taken away. It means not to be defeated. It also means to be victorious without fighting. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. We don’t do the fighting—did you ever stop to think that the little bit of fighting you do doesn’t mean a thing—to Satan—he is not afraid of you. But he is afraid of One—that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
7/ I would like to turn to the Old Testament to give you an illustration of what I think it means to be more than a conqueror.
II Kings 19: 35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
This is where the Assyrians have come against Israel, and the Assyrians were a mighty nation in that day. We are told in one place that they came with thousand, thousands—that is a million soldiers—that was a pretty large army in those days. It isn’t by our standards today, with the population explosion, but in those days, that was a pretty big army. There was nothing in all the world like it. They were coming against God’s people, and what were they to do? The Assyrian’s king came with chariots of iron, and he had his mounted soldiers all decked out with banners and colors.
Hezekiah went to the Lord and said, Lord, what are we going to do about this? Isaiah was living at that time, and the Lord said to Isaiah, tell Hezekiah the king of the Assyrians will not come to Jerusalem. They will not get any closer than they are.
Notice Verse 35, And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord (that night) went out and smote all in the camp of the Assyrians—104 score and five thousand, and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
When the morning came, they were all dead. I think Israel was more than a conqueror in this portion of Scripture, because they got the victory without fighting. I don’t know of anything else that could be more than a conqueror. The Church, the Body of Christ, those who make it up are just like that. The church cannot fail because the church cannot be defeated. It cannot be separated from God. Our victory does not depend upon us but on the Lord Jesus Christ.
8/ Romans 8: 38, 39 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.
Notice, the words, for I am persuaded. There is absolutely no doubt about this at all in my mind. Death cannot separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus or Lord?
What is death? It just brings us into the presence of God. Can death do any harm to me? No, none whatsoever. Death is not a monster, he is not the believer’s enemy, but death is that which releases me into the very presence of God.
Job 19: 25, 26 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Here, is one of the earliest writings we have and Job says, without my flesh I shall see God.
Paul says the same thing.
II Corinthians 5: 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
II Peter 1: 13, 14 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
Peter says, as long as I am in this tabernacle, but I know shortly I must put off my tabernacle, in other words leave it behind. So, death cannot do me any harm whatsoever.
9/ Nor life. What about life? Sometimes I’m convinced that it is easier to die than to live. Life is full of problems and perplexities. Man lives his life with death and trouble before him.
Did you ever see chickens in a chicken yard scurry for cover? If you ask the farmer why they are doing that, nine out of ten times he will point in the air to a chicken hawk that has just sailed over the barn yard, its shadow falling upon the yard. That was enough for the chickens. Men are something like that. They live what they come to call “normal lives,” knowing that death is ever hanging over them. They try to ignore it but it is always there.
Since we know that death can’t separate us from God, but rather brings us into the presence of God, what about life? Life can’t separate us from God for we read in Galatians 2: 20, 21 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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. The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
10/ As I think of life, there are two phases of life. Neither of which can separate us from the love of God. One is the life that is so busy, it is just full of activity—the other is the humdrum—just the ordinary living, going through the motions, neither one can separate us from the love of God.
11/ Then notice, neither can angels—whether it is the angels of God or the angels of the devil. Certainly, God’s angels wouldn’t want to separate us from His love, and we know very clearly that Satan’s angels cannot. Angels, nor principalities, nor powers. I believe this is not talking about God’s angels, but all the hosts of darkness cannot separate us from the love of God.
Ephesians 6: 12, 13 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
You contrast Romans 8 with Ephesians 6 and even though we have this enemy, even though we wrestle, we are not wrestling to be saved, or to stay saved, because these supernatural, wicked beings cannot separate us from the love of God.
12/ I don’t know whether you realize it or not, but Satan has a most elaborate organization. If you read this with any Bible knowledge at all, it must bring a moment of chill to your heart. I am sure that the evil spirits are in ranks. We can understand this if we think of military rank—Privates, Corporals, Sergeants, Lieutenants, Captains, Colonels, Majors, Generals. But all the host, with all their rank, with all their authority, cannot separate us from the love of God that is in Christ.
Then notice, things present or things to come. There is nothing in your present life that is going to be able to separate you from the love of Christ. The average person doesn’t worry about the present. He thinks and worries and stews and frets about the future. Do you realize that worry cannot conceive of a monster that would separate us from the love of God. I am convinced we live in a world in which there is too much imagination. Children are brought up to read comics about space men, about invasions from outer space, about all sorts of things. Men are warned now that we have the hydrogen bomb, we have the power to destroy the earth and all humanity, but as we study our Bible, we know all this is nonsense. There is an orderly course of history that lies before us. The same is true of us.
Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
All things work together for good.
II Corinthians 4: 16, 17 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; which are but for a moment work for us.
Our light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us.
13/ But as I think of the phrase, things to come, I realize it must refer to the judgment seat of God. Ever since the dark ages—that is when the church ruled the world, and it wasn’t the church of Jesus Christ, it was the church that went by His Name, but there was nothing Christian about it. All the world was in darkness, and the Bible was little known—false theology was pushed off upon the people, the idea was developed there would be one day of general judgment, at the end of the world, but this is not true, and men would think when that day would come, their good deeds and their bad deeds would be weighed out, and it would decide whether they would go to Heaven or hell. This is nonsense, there is more than one day of judgement. All one has to do is compare two Scriptures.
Matthew 25: 31, 32 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Revelations 20: 11, 12 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
A comparison of these two passages shows that one is the judgment of living nations, the other is a judgment of dead souls. The one takes place on this earth, the other takes place where earth and heaven are fled away, because the Scripture says, there was now no place for them because on earth the believer is not going to be separated from the love of God by a coming judgment. Why?
Romans 8: 1 There is therefore now no condemnation (judgment) to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Hallelujah!
AMEN
Ref: 07/25/1965 / 303 - THE DEVICES OF SATAN / 03/12/2021
