Not Every Battle is Meant for You
The Warrior does not choose his own battles. He waits for clear orders from his commanding officer.
A Wise Warrior does not go to war in an enemy city when his own home is under attack. He first defeats the enemies in his own home, then when it is safe, he goes to war.
Before you go to war—fighting battles against others’ wickedness or sin online or in person—I encourage you to first ask the Father two questions.
- Is this my battle?
- Is there an ongoing battle with sin in my own life that I still need to address?
This is why He tells us, “First remove the plank in your own eye.”
I do not tell you this in order to scold and to say that we should not correct others within the church.
To the contrary, the Scripture is clear that it is incumbent upon the believer who is skilled with the sword to exercise it precisely—which is in the manner that it pierces the enemy and saves the man. This skilled believer also knows that if the man he should be protecting dies, he has used the sword improperly and has done evil instead of good.
Respect the Sword
The Wise Warrior learns by first using the sword only in his own own life.
In so doing, he learns to target the devil and avoid the man, because he is the man! Because his own life depends on its careful use, he learns both skill with this sword and a reverent respect for it, learning to target only the true enemy—the devil.
One secret that the Wise Warrior knows is that his own life is always also at risk whenever he picks up the sword.
Consider the police officer who has to draw his gun in order to save a girl from a rapist. He knows that if he begins firing his gun to stop the action and he kills the girl, he will still stand trial and may even go to prison because he took a life without just cause. We must ask ourselves, will God be any less just than man?
If someone is killed in the natural but is a believer, that person will still live for eternity, but when one who is young or weak in the faith is wounded and falls away from the faith, that one is lost for eternity. Imagine these actions from the perspective of an eternal judge. Which death will He find more egregious—that which is temporary or that which is eternal?
I say this with respect but firmly, because of my care for you and my own history of mistakes in this area. If picking up the sword makes you feel powerful—lay it down.
Picking it up with that attitude is the same as putting it to your own throat. If you do, it will be fulfilled in your life what is said, “He who lives by the sword, will die by it.”
If, however, you have come to the place where picking it up fills you with terror, causing you you pray for a sober mind free from error, then let the Lord lead you where He will. But, so long as the sword is in your hand, be grateful for this feeling. That weakness is to remind you to seek guidance and strength in order to save your life and others’.
If I can say it proverbially — let your arm always be too weak to lift the sword by reason of terror, so that only the Father can provide the strength to pick it up when it is time.
The Soldier’s Life is Difficult
Additionally, if you will permit me, I will also charge you strictly as a fellow believer. Although I am weak and without renown, I will speak to you as if I have some authority, not by virtue of accomplishment or rank, but rather by the authority inherent to the source of where these concepts are found—the Bible.
My second charge to you is this—do not be eager or desirous for battle.
Battle is costly and it is a time where lives are lost. Even when wicked men fall, God takes no pleasure in their destruction. Battle is necessary, but it is solemn, not joyous. We know, also, that times of peace are better than times of battle, and a soldier’s life is difficult when he is on active duty.
The soldier is not free to go where he wants to go; he goes where he is told, to places he does not want to go. He endures cold, rain, sickness, pain, and separation from his loved ones. He sees his friends and brothers die around him day after day. While civilians are laughing and enjoying their friends with ease, his mind remains sober, alert, and cautious at all times. For that reason, I encourage you to pray for times of peace, but nevertheless, whether in peace or in trouble, always stay alert and exercise your skills for battle each day.
As you also know, though some times are quiet and relatively peaceful, we are already in the midst of an ongoing war which has been raging on for thousands of years. In this war, the souls of many fall and are lost all around us every day—even in the quiet times.
This is why we all need to keep watch and fight to keep our own homes clear (free from sin), so that we are able and ready to help our neighbors when they are under attack—exercising the same care for the lives of their household as we do our own.
Follow the Path & Finish Well
Furthermore, brothers, we know that the final days of this age are nearer now than ever before and that this age is nearly at its conclusion. We know what things are in store for those who trust Jesus to the end—not only those wonderful things that await us after we’ve finished, but also the hardship we face along the way. We also know what the brothers and sisters in the early churches have gone through, in addition to those countless throughout history, and even today, who face persecution in various nations around the earth.
We have heard of how those who trusted in Christ to the end were faithful and loving to one another and that the same went willingly to their own deaths, as they were prepared to die for Christ—not in displays of violent uprising and defiance, but rather in testifying openly of the goodness and mercy of God and the saving Grace of Christ Jesus even in the face of certain death.
And, when the day came that they were taken, they went willingly and peacefully, knowing that they had fought valiantly not against man, but for man, after the pattern set by our Christ, who laid down His own Life in Love, not only for those who loved Him, but even for those who were against Him. He even demonstrated this for us until the very end, as He spent His final breaths in forgiving his tormentors while they gambled for his clothes at the foot of the cross.
This is a true soldier, and He is the true Commanding Officer.
Soldier of God, whether you are still in training or a veteran—I encourage you as a fellow brother. Follow His commands. Follow His footsteps. Respect the Sword. Your promotion in the time that follows this life is largely determined by how well you’ve kept those principles.
He Helps those who Love Him
Remember that whoever loves Him also loves those whom He loved.
Whoever fights for Him, fights for those He also fought and died for—the sinners and the broken of this world.
However, whoever takes up the sword in his own strength and zeal disregards the lives of those He loved. Make no mistake, Beloved of God, His Wrath will be against all who shed blood without cause, and all who act without orders will be guilty of the blood they’ve shed. Be wise and consider the spiritual blood of each soul with whom you interact and for whom you perform.
But as for you who Love Him, I do not want you to be afraid. Though we labour to fight in the Spirit of Love, we often wound accidentally or in a moment of anger or self-righteousness. For those who have done this, please know that we all have done the same.
It is for that reason that we can praise God that He is also the Healer Who binds up wounds and even raises the dead!
If you’ve made this mistake, remember that in the gospel we read of how Peter picked up his sword and cut off the ear of the soldier who was coming to arrest Jesus. He did this in a righteous zeal, but he did not understand that it was not time to wield the sword. In other words, he acted on his own zeal rather than on His commander’s order.
Despite this mistake, Jesus did not reject Peter, but rather by God’s grace, the blow—which was no doubt intended for the soldier’s head—missed and only cut off an ear. If that were not miraculous enough, in His Mercy and Power, Jesus healed the man’s ear, restoring it just as it had been. He also forgave Peter immediately. Please be encouraged that He is able to do the same for you and those you may wound, whether brother or foe.
If you should happen to wound one, yet you love the Lord, His eternal judgment is not for you, but it will be for those who do not love Him, because they are not of Him. There are those who claim to love Christ, but their true love is the power of the sword. These ones roam around looking for sinners that they can slash down with the words of the Bible. Do not follow or be like them, for their end was written before they were born, and they have their place with Satan, whose name means “The Accuser”.
As for you, be as gentle as doves, being quick to forgive, quick to apologize, and quick to turn away from your own anger, so you do not become like the woman riding the beast in Revelation, who became intoxicated with the blood of the saints. As lawlessness continues to increase, many will join her as they exchange Love for anger, and what begins as zeal for Truth becomes blindness, culminating in an intoxicated lust for blood.
Final Clarification
In case anyone decides to pass on these words, I ask you to be sure to not leave out this final part of the message.
In this message I speak of life and death, swords and battle, bloodshed and warfare—yet I must state again—Christ laid down His physical life.
The Scripture reminds us that the battle is not flesh and blood, but it is in spirit. My words also convey that same message in their entirety.
When the greatest affront to Holiness ever committed on earth happened—the crucifixion of Christ—He did not take up a sword against man, although He had Justice on His side and could have called for judgment. Instead, He demonstrated His own Love for us in forgiving even the unjust.
For those who are still stirred to anger by the injustice of wicked authorities, as Peter was that fateful night, I encourage you to read these verses to see how the Bible repeatedly forbids from participating in uprising and rebellion against governing authorities. Though many have tried to use the Words of Scripture out of context as reason for insurrection and inciting violence against authorities or neighbors, the Bible is consistently clear on such activity not being permissible.
May God bless and keep you as you grow in Christ Jesus, and may we all look forward with joy to the day on which we meet together in Heaven where the time of battle will nearly be over!