Sword and Trowel

Warrior: A man engaged or experienced in war, or in the military life; a soldier; a champion.

God has called men to be the protectors of their homes, churches, and communities. I also contend that if men are called to be protectors, then men are called to be warriors. Spiritual warriors yes, but physically as well. Unfortunately, in today’s mostly peaceful western society, it is often too easy for men to neglect this calling in our lives.

I believe that the first step in ceasing to neglect this calling is to develop a biblically based warrior’s mindset, rooted in the example of Scripture. With this in mind, I would like to spend some time sharing with you some Scriptures I believe are pertinent to developing a warrior's mindset.

God is a warrior.

Exodus 15: 3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

1 Samuel 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

God is a warrior who fights for the good of His people (Pr. 15:25). God's warrior-kingship is part of His revealed nature and is implicit in His name of YAHWEH-SABAOTH (Lord of Armies).

God is a warrior who fights on our behalf. God has promised to never leave us or forsake us, and He has promised that He will defeat the enemies of His kingdom (Deut. 5:15; Heb. 13:5). Because our strength comes from him (Ps. 28:7), we are enabled to follow His warrior-example and to fight on the behalf of others. When we are weak, God intercedes on our behalf.

God has called you to be a warrior.

Judges 6:11-16 . . . Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” . . . Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

Psalm 82:3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

God calls us to follow His example of interceding for the weak – regardless of how we feel about it. Men, in our natural state, are likely to shrink from this task – in the Judges account given above, Gideon asks the Angel of the Lord, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” God’s answer to Gideon is simply “I will be with you.” God has called us to warriorhood, and he excepts us to answer that call. However, in fulfilling the call to warriorhood, God has promised to be with us and give us the strength for it. If God calls us to something, He will be faithful to equip us for it (2 Cor. 9:8, Heb. 13:21)

It is your responsibility to accept the call.

Isaiah 6:8
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

It is your responsibility to accept this call on your life and to act on it, regardless of your frame.

We must not say, “I would go if I thought I should have success;” but, “I will go, and leave the success to God. Here am I; send me.” – Matthew Henry

Be a servant

Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The call to warriorhood does not entitle you to empower or dominate others. It is a call to serve others with humility, placing the needs, and potentially the lives of others above your own.

Be prepared to give your life…

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Christ gave his life so that we may live. We too may be called to follow his example in this. You must be prepared to give your life in love. Men with families: it may be wise to discuss this with your wife, and with your children as age appropriate.

But resolve to fight and win.

1 Samuel 17:46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment./p>

Take heart in the fact that God has ordained all things in your life, including the exact time and circumstances of your death. So yes, Christ may indeed call you to give your life in defense of another but understand that it is NOT your job to seek martyrdom; it’s your job to fight and win with whatever strength God gives you. If you are in a fight for your life, it’s your job to take the life of the other guy. You fight and live, so that you can be there standing in the gap the next day, ready to take one the next bad guy, to God be the glory.

Be Vigilant

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Luke 21:36 "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Matthew 24:43 But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.

1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

In the Marines we had a saying – “complacency kills.” And in the profession of war, we mean that literally. Your complacency can cause the death of another. As a warrior, you are called to stand guard. First, to STAND guard means that you are in an upright, alert, and ready posture. Sitting is passive, standing is active. Your mind is to remain active and focused on the task of guarding. Second, to guard means to actively keep and protect from danger; to secure and shield against surprise, attack, or injury. The first step in shielding against surprise is to be watchful.

Train Hard

1 Chronicles 5:18 The sons of Reuben and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, consisting of valiant men, men who bore shield and sword and shot with bow and were skillful in battle, were 44,760, who went to war.

Song of Solomon 3:8
All of them are wielders of the sword,
Expert in war;
Each man has his sword at his side,
Guarding against the terrors of the night.

Psalm 144:1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;

This principle simply states that in order to be an effective protector, we must be skillful in the use of the tools available to us. Scripture commends the skillfulness in war of David, the sons of Reuben, and Solomon’s guards. I would submit that these men put in quite a bit of training in order to gain said skill. If we are ever called upon to use a weapon in a fight, where people’s lives are a stake, then we had better know how to use that weapon well.

Mentally Rehearse

Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Genesis 39:11-12 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

If you are ever placed in a situation of extreme stress and time pressure, where you only have a split second to make a decision and act, it is going to be very difficult to make the right decision unless you have thought about it calmly beforehand – unless you have practiced mental rehearsal.

I would like to make an analogy between mental rehearsal and meditation. Meditation is that spiritual discipline in which we think deeply on some truth we have heard or read in the Scriptures, in order to train and prepare our minds and hearts to think or act according to that truth. Charles Spurgeon writes that “When those old athletes went out to wrestle, they always took care before they went to oil themselves well to make their joints supple and fit for their task. Now, meditation makes the soul supple—makes it so that it can use things when they come into the mind.” Likewise, in order to make our minds supple and fit for the task of making decisions under extreme stress, we need to mentally rehearse being in those situations before they happen. Practicing in your mind primes the brain to take action.

Finally, consider the case of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. Scripture does not state this plainly, but I highly doubt that Joseph had not mentally rehearsed beforehand what he would do if Potiphar’s wife continued to try and seduce him. I believe that he was alert, he was aware that he was alone in Potiphar’s house and was therefore on his guard, and that he had practiced mentally what he would do.

Learn Biblical Discernment

Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.

Proverbs 24:5 A wise warrior is better than a strong one, and a man of knowledge that one of strength.

It is not enough to have strength or prowess: we must also have the discernment to know when to use it, and the wisdom to know how to use it well. Strength used unwisely can often cause more harm than good.

Don’t be a Hot head

Ephesians 4:26 Be angry and do not sin.

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Related to the above, if you are ever in a confrontation, it is your responsibility to deescalate the situation. Sometimes you might need to deescalate the situation extremely quickly, like at 1300 fps; most of the time, however, you will simply be speaking with someone. It is usually better for everyone if you can talk someone down without resorting to physical force. You must be able to do so calmly yet firmly.

Get in Shape

1 Timothy 4:7-8 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Genesis 14:14-16 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

Being a physical protector is going to require physical exertion on your part. Take Abraham’s 318 men for example: they marched some 200 miles from Hebron to Dan, preformed a night attack, and then perused their enemy at least another 50 miles north of Dan, destroying their enemy and rescuing Lot.

Bodily training is “of some value,” and maintaining the ability to physically protect others is one of those values. Develop a mindset that values physical fitness.

Be a man of Prayer

Isaiah 62:6,7 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.

Ezekiel 22:30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

Part of your calling as a warrior is to engage in spiritual warfare as well as physical warfare. Understand that “Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.” We should always be petitioning God both for the safety of His people and for the defeat of His enemies.

Have Courage

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong, and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Courage is not the absence of fear, it is acting even in the face of fear. It is the Lord who gives us the strength to do so. So have courage, for the Lord of Armies is with us.

Trust God for the Victory

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Finally, in order to be led well, and in order to be effective, a warrior must have a deep trust in his captain. Know that we serve THE Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ, and, even if we perish, we can trust in Him for the ultimate victory.

I will leave you with a verse from the pen of Martin Luther:

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His Name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

Proverbs 25:28 “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”

One of the personal life and practice issues I’ve been working through the past few months is uprooting anger out of my life, and this verse is one of the verses I’ve been meditating on throughout that process. I would like to share with you just a few of the observations I’ve had while meditating on this verse.

The first observation I made is that this proverb likens a man to a city. Which was interesting to me because I tend to focus on the negative connotations of cities and this proverb forced me to consider some of the positive aspects of cities. Cities are places of community, they promote commerce, trade, the exchange of ideas, and ultimately, they promote human flourishing. And through Scripture we know that history will culminate in the heavenly city of Revelation 21, which is the pinnacle of human flourishing under submission to God.

For the Old Testament reader, the city that would most likely come to their mind is Jerusalem. God built Jerusalem and protected Jerusalem (Ps. 46:4; 87:5; 127:1), and not only that, but the Temple was there, as a symbol of God’s presence with His people (Deut. 12:11; 1 Kings 8). And just as God once dwelt in Jerusalem, God now dwells within us. 1 Cor. 3:16 says that “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”

The primary image of a city that this proverb is communicating, however, is one that is left defenseless. “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man…” Consider those things mentioned before that a city does well, and how a city promotes flourishing: they are impossible for a city to accomplish if it is left defenseless, if the city walls are broken down.

Cities depend on their physical walls to shield themselves from dangerous animals, raiding bandits, invading armies, and the like. Without a wall, the city is open to physical attack. Likewise, if we are a city, and our spiritual walls are broken down, then we are open to spiritual attack. And not only that, but many of us here have other people, other cities, which we are responsible for guarding physically and spiritually. If we are not adequately guarding ourselves, how can we be expected guard others? So, the question I would like to pose to you today is, are your city walls broken down, and if so, why?

Before I continue, I would like to make one caveat. I think that for most of us, regarding our spiritual walls, the primary danger we face is not that our entire wall lies in ruins and that we are completely open to getting steam rolled by the enemy. It is much more likely that we have cracks in our walls, points of weakness. Allow me a quick military tactics primer: an infantry platoon in the attack first sends out recon to identify points weakness in the enemy’s defenses. The platoon next exploits those weaknesses to create a gap in the enemy’s defenses which it can then focus its main effort on. You don’t just throw your main effort against the entire enemy defensive line. In the same way, the enemy is going to be reconnoitering us to discover our spiritual points of weakness, and then the enemy is going to attempt to exploit those weaknesses. So, I want to challenge you today to ask God to show you where your points of weaknesses are, and to give you the strength, through His grace, to shore up your defenses.

Now, if our walls are broken down, the next question we should ask is why. Proverbs 25:28 tells me it is because I lack self-control. I like how the New King James Version puts it: “whoever has no rule over his sprit...” To rule over your spirt is to exercise authority over it, to command it, to have it obey you. Matthew Henry says that a man who does have rule over his spirt is a man who “maintains the government of himself, and of his own appetites and passions, and does not suffer them to rebel against reason and conscience. He has the rule of his own thoughts, his desires, his inclinations, his resentments, and keeps them all in good order.” So, conversely, a man who lacks self-control is one who is NOT maintaining the government of himself. He does not have rule over his thoughts, desires, etc. and, I would submit, it is likely that these things are exercising rule over him.

As an example, one of the things that I have been learning about in my study on anger are inordinate desires. They are desires for good things, but the desire is out of proportion, you desire them too much. So, for example, you could have the desire to maintain a hobby, which is good, but you could desire it so much that thoughts of the hobby consume you and distract your mind from other more product pursuits; or it could consume you to the extent that you are willing to sin to “enjoy” the hobby, such as lying to your wife about how you are spending your time. That is an example of your thoughts and desires exercising rule over you, and when that happens, you get cracks in your wall and you start opening yourself up to spiritual attack.

So far, we have drawn out the analogy between a man and a city, and we understand why our city walls are important, and we have gone over at least some contributing factors as to why our city wall could be broken down. And maybe, like me, you’ve realized that your city wall is broken. Very well, but your wall cannot just stay broken; we got to get that thing rebuilt. There is too much at stake to let our walls lay in ruins.

Thinking about rebuilding walls, my mind went to Nehemiah. I want to share with you four principles out of Nehemiah that I think we can use in helping to rebuild our spiritual walls. The first principle is Nehemiah’s brokenness over the state of Jerusalem’s walls. Neh. 1:4 says that “As soon as I heard these words [about the broken walls] I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Likewise, James 4 says to “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” Revival starts with repentance, and if we are not willing be broken over our own brokenness, to mourn over our sin, and humbly seek God’s face, our efforts to rebuild our walls are not even going to get started.

The second principle out of Nehemiah, is that before beginning the building process, Nehemiah surveyed the wall in order to draw up a plan and discover which areas needed the most focus. Practice self-confrontation and ask God to show you where your areas of spiritual weaknesses are.

The third principle that we can use to help rebuild our walls is that Nehemiah didn’t rebuild the wall of Jerusalem himself. He used the people of God. Part of the reason for the body of believers is so that we may edify one another. Hebrews 10 says “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” If your walls are broken, go confess as much to someone and ask them for help.

The fourth principle out of Nehemiah for rebuilding spiritual walls is that the enemy did not like the people of God rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and wanted to stop them by any means necessary. Therefore the Israelites, in order to defend themselves while they were rebuilding the wall, had to be armed. The enemy wants you to be week and defenseless. The enemy wants to keep you from defending others. The enemy does not want you rebuilding your wall. Therefore, if you are in the process or rebuilding your spiritual walls, you must expect attack and therefore you must be armed. We must be armed with many things, but I think primarily with the Word of God. Scripture testifies to itself as weapon in Hebrews 4:12 - “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” So the word is a weapon and we must be armed with it.

And not only must we be armed with the word, but we must also bear arms with the word. To bear arms means to use those arms in a military manner. If I am going to use a weapon in a military manner, in a fight, where people’s lives are a stake, then I had better know how to use that weapon well. Likewise, let us be well trained and practiced in the skillful use of the spiritual weapons that we have been given. Engaging in Spiritual Warfare well is something that I am trying to learn how to do currently.

Finally, all this talk of cities and walls and weapons reminded me of my time in the Marine Corps standing watch (of which I stood many). And it reminded me of one of the verses I memorized then. Psalms 127:1 says “Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.” If anything I just said applies to you, and you’ve got some work to do rebuilding your walls, realize that all of your efforts will be in vain unless they are done in the strength of the LORD, and unless you trust in the Lord God for the victory. Let us do so.