Becoming a Warrior
Being Tough but Tender
1. You are born a warrior.
Isaiah 49:1-2 “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath
called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my
name.
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;”
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth
out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Genesis 1:26-28 “We were created in the Image of God.”
Proverbs 18:21 “Like God, our victory is in our Mouth, life and death”
2. Our situation and circumstances cause us to forget who we are.
Isaiah 49:4 “Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in
vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God
3. We are warriors because of covenant.
1 Samuel 17:34-36 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there
came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: (David’s interview with Saul) 35
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he
arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant
slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them,
seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
1. We are a chosen generation, God’s own people.
Sometimes we forget who we are. Israel was reminded by David that they were
warriors because of covenant.
We need to know the Lord is our strength.
Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount
up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not
faint.”
Psalm 144:1-2 “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers
for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my
shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”
1. The Lord is your strength.
2 Samuel 10:12 “Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God.
The LORD will do what is good in his sight.”
Jeremiah 51:20 “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in
pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;”
1. You become a warrior by having courage and knowing that the Lord is with you.
1 John 5:5 “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the
Son of God.”
1. Is He with you? Who is He to you?
Matthew 16:15-20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my
Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah.”
Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you - Believe in me: receive me as your prophet,
priest, and king. For I am meek and lowly in heart - Meek toward all men, lowly toward God:
and ye shall find rest - Whoever therefore does not find rest of soul, is not meek and lowly.”
The 6 Pieces of the Armor of God and How to Use Them
Ephesians 6:10–18 “ 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the
full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you
may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with
all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for
all the Lord’s people.”
A shield design can communicate stability, protection, longevity, tradition, solidity,
masculinity, toughness, boldness, confidence, no retreat, no surrender.
The belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, shield of faith,
helmet of salvation, and sword of the spirit all make up the whole armor of God.
Every true follower of Jesus Christ needs to wear it.
1. BELT OF TRUTH
We know that in God, there is no sin, and all of His words are true and alive. He is perfect in all
of his ways (Psalm 18:30), whereas Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to
the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar
and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Thus, the belt of truth is in essence the truth we find in God
himself and His word, whereas Satan’s character displays the complete opposite of truth.
2. BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
The second piece of the whole armor of God is the Breastplate of Righteousness, which we can
understand by looking at God’s righteous character.
Romans 3:11-12 “…that nobody is righteous by himself, nobody does good, and apart from God
seeking out for us, we are lost and unrighteous without Him.”
3. SHOES OF THE GOSPEL
To be effective soldiers of God, we must be able to move around and spread His word. In
Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus called on His disciples, as well as calling on all of His future followers
to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
4. SHIELD OF FAITH
Use the Shield of Faith to really protect yourself as a Christian and “extinguish all the
flaming darts of the evil one”.
Having faith in God and His promises, will act as a shield to protect us from doubt and
the lies thrown at us from the world.
5. HELMET OF SALVATION
The Helmet of Salvation is a very crucial piece of spiritual armor, as it involves protecting our
head from the lies and doubts about our salvation in Jesus that can be planted in our minds.
6. SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
Looking back to our main passage from Ephesians 4, you need to take with you “the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The Sword of the Spirit is the key weapon in our spiritual arsenal that God has given us
to win the battle against the devil.
We are not fighting, we just trust God like Jehoshaphat. We will stand ready with praise
on our mouth.
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