7 attacks: sword, summary and conclusion

Romans 8:35
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Sword: 

Strong’s Concordance #3162
machaira: a short sword or dagger
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Phonetic Spelling: (makh’-ahee-rah)
Definition: a sword.

HELPS Word-studies
3162 máχaira – properly, a slaughter-knife; a short sword or dagger mainly used for stabbing; (figuratively) an instrument for exacting retribution.

In the bible, there are both physical and spiritual swords.

The physical ones were used in countless battles in the old testament and one of the obvious purposes is to kill somebody.  But another purpose is to separate things.

If you are slicing up a big slab of meat or a big fish, what is the result?

You now have several smaller pieces suitable for cooking or storing in a freezer.

In other words, the sword or knife causes division because it divides up a big piece into many smaller pieces.

This has huge implications with regards to spiritual swords.

The spiritual ones are mentioned throughout the bible so that we can be aware and take appropriate action.

Job 19:2
How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

Psalms 55:21
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

Psalms 57:4
My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

Psalms 59:7
Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?

Psalms 64:3
Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

Isaiah 49:2
And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

Just as a reminder, this is how the 7 different types of attack stack up.

How to conquer: 

Swords are symbolic of war and death, but God can deliver us from both.

Hebrews 2
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Psalm 18:34
He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Psalm 27:3
Though an host [army] should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

Even in the old testament, without the name of Jesus Christ, believers could still be confident in their battles, so what about us?

Joshua 23:10
One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.

Colossians 2:15
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Jesus Christ decisively defeated the devil.  We have Christ in us, so we can defeat him too.

Psalms 55
16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.
19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.

20 He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

How to defeat the spiritual swords in the spiritual competition

As an athlete of the spirit, we can quench the fiery darts of the wicked, which come in the form of words and images that contradict God’s word.

Ephesians 6:16
Above all, taking the shield of faith [believing], wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Robert Garrett, throwing the discus in the 1896 summer Olympics

As a spiritual athlete of God, we have both defensive and offensive equipment to use against our spiritual foe, the devil.

The word of God is our weapon of choice.

II Corinthians 10
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 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;

Hebrews 4:12 [amplified bible]
For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.

I John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

I John 5
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith [believing].
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

In Ephesians, when it talks about being an athlete and quenching the fiery darts of the wicked, it’s referring to evil words, [swords] that have devil spirit power.

Since Ephesians is based on Romans, a prerequisite to defeating the swords of the adversary, the devil, is to claim our 5 sonship rights:

1. Redemption
2. Justification
3. Righteousness
4. Sanctification
5. Word and ministry of reconciliation

The key is to compare what has been said with the word of God.  If there is a contradiction, then we don’t believe the false words and discard them.

SUMMARY

Part 1: 

Here we saw a unique overview of Romans 8 with several different figures of speech of structure.

“Their objective is to precisely and deliberately deviate from the normal pattern of grammatical rules in a specific and documented way.

The purpose of figures of speech is to reveal what is most important in God’s word by emphasizing a particular word or phrase, a verse, a whole group of verses, or even an entire book of the bible or perhaps just a concept.

Figures of speech eliminate a trainload of confusion and conflict about what any given bible verse really means”.

The precision, symmetry, and correspondence of the structural figures of speech demonstrate the deeper and more profound meaning of scripture in a unique and powerful way.

There are 9 rhetorical questions in Romans 8 that makes an indelible impact on us due to the unfathomable goodness of our God!

“Here is the final version so we can feel the real impact of what God has done for us:

1. What shall we then say to these things?
2. If God be for us, who can be against us?
3. 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?
4. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?
5. Is it God that justifieth?!
6. Who is he that condemneth?
7. Is it Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us?!
8. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
9. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

The number 9 in the bible is the number of finality and judgment.   God’s final judgment is that we are justified in his sight and nothing shall separate us from his perfect and eternal love”.

Part 2: 

In part 2, we saw that both tribulation and distress were fundamentally the same, except that distress was a more intense version of tribulation [mental stress or pressure].

One of the purposes of stress is to break down our believing by stealing our peace.

How to deal with pressure is shown in the infographic below.

How to process stress and distress in Romans 8:35

Some forms of stress are temptations and being with toxic people.

Stress can be overcome with God’s peace, wisdom, the comfort of his word and operating the manifestations of holy spirit, producing the 9 fruit of the spirit.

Part 3:

Part 3 deals with persecution and famine.

We can overcome these by believing God to change the situation itself, or by changing the meaning of the attack.  In other words, to change our attitude about it.

It’s important to walk in God’s perfect love and cast out all fear so that we can have strong believing for the situation to change by God’s grace, wisdom and mercy.

Acts 5:41 says: “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name”.

God can deliver us from any persecution or famine that may arise.

Psalms 33:19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Famines, wars and diseases are spiritually caused by idolatry and evil practices of the people.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid with Romans 8:35 overlay

The 7 attacks against us were overlaid against Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid to better illustrate how they operate.

• The first thing attacked is the spiritual realm.
• The second thing attacked is the psychological area
• The third thing attacked is the physical arena

Part 4: believing, love and hope.

In this part, we learned that there are 4 forms of unbelief:

1. Anxiety
2. Fear
3. Doubt
4. Confused wavering reasoning

These 4 things were successfully used against Eve in the first biblical administration in the garden of Eden to cause the fall of man.

Next, the devil attacked Eve’s love for God, which is doing his word.

Finally, the devil attacked Eve’s hope and she fell into the power of Satan, along with Adam that transferred all the power God gave to him over to the devil, so that he became the God of this world.

Part 5: nakedness and peril.

There are 2 broad categories of clothing: physical and spiritual.

Physical clothing has many purposes, but our spiritual clothing is appropriate for all occasions.

After the fall of man, Adam & Eve put physical clothes on to make up for the lack of spiritual clothes.

We must seek God first in order for him to supply all our need, which includes food and clothing.

There are 8 different categories of perils:

1. Waters
2. Robbers
3. Countrymen
4. Heathen
5. City
6. Wilderness
7. Sea
8. False brethren

Out of the 8 perils, 3 are from the environment [waters, wilderness, sea = 37.5%;  2 out of these 3 deal with some form of water] and 5 are from people [robbers, countrymen, heathen, city, false brethren = 62.5%].

It’s interesting that waters are listed as the first peril and it was the devil that made the first peril by destroying the first heaven and earth with water.

II Timothy 3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

II Timothy 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Speaking of perils in the wilderness, the entire world is a spiritual wilderness, yet look what God did for Israel!

• God fed Israel in the wilderness
• God blessed Israel in the wilderness
• God led Israel through the wilderness

Since he did this for his adopted sons under the bondage of the old testament, what can he do for us, his first-born sons in the age of grace?

CONCLUSION

There are 7 categories of ways the world can attack us, but with all of God’s resources at hand, we can consistently be ready and defeat them all.

Romans 8
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

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

39 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.

Stay rooted and grounded in love.

Ephesians 3
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.