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I am right-handed and have always been that way, but my brother is left-handed, so I was exposed at an early age to the differences and demands of left-handedness. In an effort to be like my brother, I practiced as a young child throwing a baseball left-handed and can almost throw that way as well as I can with my right. My brother also crossed skills with each of his hands as he bats and swings a golf club right-handed but throws and writes left-handed. Growing up, we always had to put brother on a corner of the table where his left hand was on the outside so that he wouldn't bump us while eating.

This week, I did a little research on left-handedness and discovered some interesting facts. First of all, it is a genetic difference that makes people left-handed and not learned behavior. And second of all, scientists are still not completely sure why some people are right-handed with a smaller percentage of people being left-handed. The latest studies show that a little less than 15% of people are left-handed. I also learned that it is not just the use of our hands that is dominant to one side or another, but that people have a dominant eye, ear, nostril, and foot which usually but not necessarily matches their preferred hand. You learn something new about yourself everyday and I found out that I am right-handed and right-footed but left-eyed and left-eared. That's why when I look through a telescope, or sight a rifle, I use my left eye and often hear the chords or a bass line better when I lean my left ear toward the speaker when listening to music. After twenty-eight years, I found out that I'm all mixed up! I also found out that people who are right-handed and left-eyed or vice versa are supposed to have the best physical setup for the sport of golf, and so I'm wondering why my golf game isn't any better than it is!

One interesting thing that I did not know is that in some sports, particularly fighting and combat sports, left-handers tend to do much better. Of the top ten fencing champions currently in the world, seven are left-handed. Slightly less, but still prevalent are the success of left-handers in ping pong, tennis, racquetball, and boxing. Part of this is because of the fact that the right-handed person has a microsecond delay from when one side of the brain recognizes what needs to be done and then the command is transferred to the other side of the brain which gives the command for the right hand to move and perform it. The left-handed person's brain recognizes what needs to be done and sends the command to the hand to move from the same side of the brain, thus giving them a nanosecond advantage. The other reason that left-handers seem to be more physically successful in certain sports such as tennis and fencing is that most opponents are used to combating right-handed people and so to face a left-handed person is a new experience, whereas the left-handed person faces right-handed people all of the time. It provides a psychological and tactical advantage and in these particular sports that advantage is often enough to mean the difference between winning and losing.

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In Biblical times, being able to use the left hand as well as most used the right was considered an extreme advantage because combat was more than just a sport, but an art necessary to survival. They didn't understand all of the scientific reasons like we just outlined, but they just knew that a warrior that could fight agilely with his left hand was a formidable foe and someone to be feared because he could strike in ways that were not normal or expected and often with both hands at the same time.

In our first text, we read about the tribe of Benjamin going to war. We are not so much concerned in this message with the cause of the war or for what purpose that they were fighting, or even the identity of their enemies. I have chosen these verses for our text, because they mention that of the armies of Benjamin, an extraordinary number -- 700 of 26,000 -- were able to fight left-handed. And that with their left hand these men could throw a rock with a sling and were so accurate that they practically "never missed." Indeed, we find in the two battles that immediately happen after this was stated, the Benjaminites, although outnumbered and outmoded, decisively won those engagements thanks largely to the great fighting ability of this force of "left-handed warriors."

There have been various opinions as to why the tribe of Benjamin had such a large number of lefties. One theory is that they were just naturally born lefties. The problem with that theory is that the numbers -- 700 of 26,000 or a little higher than 37% -- are much higher than the rate of lefties that normally occurs (less than 15%). It follows logically that most of these warriors were not born lefties at all. Another theory that has but put forth is that these were men whose right hand had been wounded in battle and thus had to learn to fight with their other hand. It makes a good sermon, but it is doubtful that this is the truth because the reason runs into the witness of other scriptures. In 1 Chronicles 12:2, we find that later a band of mighty warriors from the tribe of -- guess who -- Benjamin, joined up with David and these men from this tribe were adept at throwing rocks, using slings, and wielding swords with both their right and left hands! Obviously these men were not using their left hand because of a lack of usage of their right.

There are only three references to left-handed warriors in the scripture and in all three cases, the lefties were from the tribe of Benjamin. This seems to indicate that this tribe put a special emphasis on training, from the earliest ages, men to fight with both their right and left hands. And that this training was something that was done despite of the overwhelmingly tendency to use the right hand. All of this becomes even more remarkable and clearer when you realize that every time a left-handed warrior was mentioned in scripture, they are always without exception from the tribe of Benjamin and yet the name "Benjamin" literally means "the son of my right hand!" All of these facts seem to point that these men were not men who were crippled but that most of these "lefties" were men who had decided to apply themselves to the adept and agile use of their left hand!

In scripture, the "right hand" is a figure of speech for "power." It is always used this way. When God told David to sit "on His right hand" until He made his enemies his footstool, God meant for David to trust in God's power and watch God's might and awesome ability to win the battles over all of his enemies (Psalms 110:1)! What God was basically saying was "David, let me fight for you." To "sit on His right hand" was a figure of speech that meant David would patiently wait the delivering power of God. When God said in Isaiah that His "right hand spanned the heavens," He was not referring to a literal, five-fingered palm reaching through the galaxies of space, but what He was saying was "my power is greater than even the vastness of the universe" (Isaiah 48:13). The right hand was a metaphor for power and strength. In the time of Moses, Israel sang:

Obviously there wasn't a huge hand that came from the sky and smashed the Egyptians like Smurfs, but rather that the power of God through the Red Sea miracle had won the victory for Israel. One hundred and sixty-seven times the phrase "right hand" is used in scripture and it always refers to either direction (turning to the right hand instead of to the left) or as a figure of speech for power. We still use it today in this meaning as in when we say "they are my right-hand man" meaning that they are the person who gets things done. And when we raise our right hand in the court of law to promise that we will endeavor to do everything within our power to tell the truth.

If that is true then the reverse must also be true. That means then that the "left hand" represents weakness and insecurities and feebleness. If "our right hand" represents strength, then the left hand represents the areas in our life that are not our strongest. And so the Benjaminites understood the importance of a "left-handed warrior" and so they obviously spent hours developing the "weaker" side of their fighting abilities. When they got into battle, they wanted to have everything that they needed to ensure that they emerged victors, so despite being "sons of the right hand," they spent hours developing the weaker sides so that it would not be a liability, but would become a strength in time of battle!

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Now let me preach to you. In our other text, we read the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth and we read about things that He had to endure and to develop in His life to survive as ministers and warriors of God.

The Apostle Paul mentions the enduring of hardships and such and then in verse six changes to the good things that must be put in a Godly warrior to win the battles of the Spirit. We could preach an entire message on these verses. If you are going to make it living for God, then you will have to endure some hard times and their will be some "distressful" situations, and afflicitions and bad days. There will be times that you will be persecuted for living right and that you will have to work and pray and fast and await the deliverance of God and like David sit in the "right hand of God" and allow Him to fight your battles!

And like Paul, there are going to be times that we find ourselves in a fight with Satan, and with our flesh, and with this sinful world for our souls, our lives, our families, our church, and our harvest! We can never forget that we are warriors in the Lord's army and, no, we don't pick up literal swords but we must put on the spiritual armor of God so that we can stand against the attack, because when you make up in your mind to live for God, there is going to be an attack from Satan in your life like never before! And so we can learn a lesson from the Apostle Paul's list here beginning in verse six, because if we are to win in these spiritual battles, it will be because of "pureness, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by unconditional love, by the Word of God which is truth, and by the power of God!" If you are going to make it in this battle we call serving God, then you are going to need those things within your life and walk with God. But those are not all of the things that you are going to need, because Paul finished the seventh verse with this admonition:

The New International Version puts the seventh verse like this:

Paul was saying "if you are going to make it through your spiritual battles, then you are going to have to be able to put the weapons of righteousness in the right hand AND in the left!" Not only are you going to have to fight with your strengths and natural abilities, but Paul was saying "I've been victorious because I have learned the power of developing my left hand, too!" Paul was saying that if we are to be successful as a soldier of God, we must be a spiritual "left-hand warrior!" Sounds like that I've heard that before! And guess what tribe of Israel, Paul was from? You guessed it, Paul who is writing here about the importance of holding weapons of righteousness in your left hand as well as your right was from no other tribe but the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1)! This "son of the right hand" had a revelation that "I must develop my weaknesses." And so a spiritual principle for victory becomes evident from the pages of the Word of God: "if I am to remain victorious in living for God, I must -- I must -- become a left-handed warrior."

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What does it mean to become a "left handed warrior" spiritually? You have to look no further than the Benjaminites for lessons. The first thing that it means is that you do not fall into the trap of thinking that just because you are the "son of the right hand" that you can get by on only that. The Benjaminites were mighty warriors simply by their natural ability and family into which they were born, but they were not content to just rely on that, but they were willing to put hours into training their "left hand" so that it would no longer be a liability but would become their greatest asset!

When you are born again of the water and of the Spirit, you become a part of the family of Jesus Christ! We become "sons of the right hand." We have the Spirit of God living within us, and the powerful revelation of the name of Jesus Christ! We can worship Him, and feel His presence. We have a relationship with God that the rest of the world doesn't even know exists! You get a promise that He will never leave you nor forsake you. You get a fresh and exciting revelation of the Word of God which is a two-edged sword, the most powerful weapon in the Spirit. The Apostolic Church was born in the power of the Holy Ghost, and so we exist for the power of God to be made manifest through us! You are part of a glorious church and you have had a powerful experience change you and shape you!

But there is a tendency for Christians to depend upon that power exclusively and forget about the other areas in our lives that need work. There is a tendency to get excited when the preaching is about Jesus as God, the Holy Ghost fire, the miracles and supernatural, and praise and worship, but yet we get a little uncomfortable when the preaching turns to other areas that aren't our "strengths" like prayer, family life, our mouth, our attitudes, our money, our anger and temperaments, our everyday lifestyle, our hurts, our wounds, our pasts, our unforgiveness, and our issues! When the Word of God speaks to us, there is a great responsibility that we must be "doers of the Word and not hearers only" and when it is commanding us to work on things that are our strengths, we are anxious to move to "exercise" that area of our life. Preach on praise and worship and most of you are excited and ready to finish the service by praising and dancing and worshipping God and are ready to turn it up a notch! Why? Because praise and worship is a strength of most of you in this church! But preach on becoming a better husband or wife to our spouse and we are not so anxious to go home and try to "exercise" that Word of God! Why not? Because that is our "left hand." It's a weak area, and it's harder to develop that area!

When the Body for Life exercise program came out, my wife and I decided that we were going to work out and look like "Hulk Hogan and his girlfriend." We quickly found out that there were two problems with the Body for Life program: we couldn't eat anything that we liked to eat, and we didn't have two and a half hours a day to pump iron. But for a while we tried it. We got the weights and we begin three days a week, every other day, pumping iron. I found that doing bicep curls with my right hand was no problem, but the same weight and the same motion and the same repetition with my left hand hurt, was hard, and was not near as fun. By the time I'd be finished curling my left hand, I would be hating Body for Life and that pumped up geek that invented it. I got to where I hated doing anything with my left hand because my weakness there surprised me. Not only could it not do as much naturally as my right, but it also didn't develop as fast and it took longer for it to respond to the training. And the tendency in our human nature is to always work and develop what comes easiest and skimp on what is harder and takes self-discipline and old-fashioned work and perseverance! That's why in ever gym, you will seem pumped up guys that the top of their body is much bigger than the bottom of their body or vice versa. Or they will have big arms and weak abs and a belly. Or they will have one side that is noticeably bigger than the other. They've fallen into the trap of just developing their strengths and ignoring the "non fun" side.

When the devil looks at some of us in the spirit, he sees a pumped right arm with the steroids of the Holy Ghost, and yet when he looks at the left, he sees a toothpick. Which side do you think that he'll attack from? For most of you, he's not going to bother attacking those sides like your praise and worship and "Jesus-name baptism" because that's your "right side." So he attacks through your weaknesses. He attacks through that bit of hurt from the past that you still haven't let go. He attacks through your family. He attacks through temptations that appeal to a part of your flesh that has never really died. The devil is a loser but he's not stupid and so he'll always choose to attack from your weakest side, the left hand!

But I'm here to challenge somebody that it's time to turn back to exercising the left hand! It's time to work on becoming a left-handed warrior! I know that it's not fun, but it's time to respond to the Word of God in the areas that are the weakest! It's not the greatest feeling working on my weaknesses, but it's sure not as bad a feeling to lose a battle because the devil was able to slip up into my left hand side! Some of you are perhaps a little battle weary because the devil is been slapping you around on the left, but you need to get up and get a resolve that gripped the Benjaminites: I'm about to start exercising my weaknesses until they get up to speed with my right! When the enemy tries to return there again, it's going to be different than it was last week or last year! He's going to find that I've gotten stronger through exercising the Word of God in those areas! I'm going to start working to become a "left-handed warrior!

The great thing about the Benjaminites was that they did not stop when the left-hand was slightly improved, but they continued working on their weakness until their left-hand was just as strong as their right, and even to the point that their left became the stronger of the two! We know from Chronicles that they could use either hand equally well, but yet the Bible could call them "left handed" in Judges and be truthful! Why? Because they had trained so much and worked so much that what had been before their weakness was now their greatest and strongest assest!

It is a trait of a true spiritual Benjaminite that their weaknesses become their greatest strengths! The scriptures say that the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees and that he was trained in the law by the finest teachers and that he knew the laws of the Jewish people and the Old Testament backwards and forward. That meant that as a converted Christian, Paul's natural strength should have been in teaching the Word of God, the "letter" and in reaching Jewish people. And we find that throughout his first two missionary journeys that Paul did exactly that: he would enter into a town, go to the Jewish synagogue and find the smartest Jewish scholars and try to debate and convince them with their own laws that Jesus was the Messiah. He wasn't very successful, though and in fact got so frustrated that he decided to focus on the Gentiles and trust in the miracle working power of God to do the work! And his success with the Gentiles was so great, that the Apostle Paul became known as the "Apostle to the Gentiles" and the unlearned fisherman, Peter, became the "Apostle to the Jews!" In both cases, God used the men most extensively in the areas that they were naturally the weakest in. Peter, read and wrote so poorly that he had Mark write his gospel for him and the letters that Peter actually wrote, 1 Peter and 2 Peter, are extremely short compared to the letters that Paul put together, but yet it was Peter that God would develop his ministry to reach the studious Jews! Not only were Peter and Paul spiritually "left-handed warriors" but they achieved the most for the kingdom of God in the areas that when they first started serving God, was their weakest! Paul later realized this and explained it like this:

When I began my ministry, I found that music came naturally for me and that to study God's Word and to present it to others was hard. When we got married, my wife could easily quote more scripture than I could. There were times that in San Antonio, she was teaching kid's church and teaching Bible Studies and I was teaching piano lessons and doing the choir and practicing piano. Music was my right hand, it came easily for me. But there came a day that I had to choose: would I forever spend my life shying away from Biblical questions and relying on my wife, or would I bite the bullet and discipline myself and push myself from the piano, and began to pick up the spiritual weights in my left hand and study and preach and work on it? I chose the latter! It wasn't fun at first. I slaughtered a few dozen Bible studies. Some of my first Bible studies I stumbled around and got used to saying "uh, I don't know, but I'll find out!" But I didn't give up. I kept trying. I kept using that left arm. I kept working at it. And now, I have people come to me and say "I wish I could teach like you or that I knew as much as the Bible as you do, or that I could quote scripture like you do." And I just smile, because if they want to do that, I know that all that they have to do is to start working on their left hand an not quit just because it's awkward and tough, but keep going! Now, I'd rather teach a Bible Study or study to preach than study music any day of the week! What used to be my biggest liability has become one of the most anointed areas of my life!

I'm here to encourage someone! Keep working on that left-hand! Don't stop! Because God has a plan for you in that area! You may cannot even imagine it now, but if you will keep working and keep praying and keep exercising the Word of God in your weakest areas, not only will you reach a place where you are just as strong in your left-hand areas as you were with your right, but you can become known as a "left-handed warrior!" It can become your greatest strength! God has a need for such "left-handed warriors" where the areas that they used to get beaten the most in the Spirit become the areas where they wreak havoc in the kingdom of Satan! Where the areas that used to get them distracted and "thrown for a loop" spiritually become the areas that Satan is scared to attack and touch because he knows that something's changed in these Christians: they are left-handed warriors and as such something to be feared!

And let me throw this in for free: The scriptures said that the chief characteristic of the left-handed warriors from the tribe of Benjaminites was their ability to: "sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss." That term in the Hebrew for "not miss" literally says "to not miss the mark" and is the same word and phrase that is translated everywhere in the Bible as "to not sin." Throughout the Old and New Testament when you see the word "sin" in the Hebrew and Greek it is literally "to miss the mark."

And I'm here to remind some of you that the devil is a liar! He has told and convinced some of you that you will never be able to live righteously and overcome sin in your life. That you will never be able to live up to the Word of God in every area and that you will always be a Christian who "misses the mark" continually through sin! But the devil is a liar and the father of them! You can overcome willful sin, and you can live according to God's Word, but it will come when you begin to develop your weaknesses and allow the Word of God to exercise and provoke your left side. When you become a "left-handed warrior" then you become as one who does "not miss the mark." You will find that the ability to overcome sin and live Godly comes when you begin to exercise the left-hand areas of your life! God is looking for some left-handed warriors today! But they are not made overnight! You are not going to leave this service a left-handed warrior, but it is God's will for you to leave having started the journey. For you to leave with a made-up mind that not only am I going to give up, but I'm going to allow God to work on my weaknesses with a renewed purpose and plan! I'm going to be as a Benjaminite warrior! I'm not going to spend my life being defeated in my weaker areas, but I will turn my weaknesses into my strengths!

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Our final story takes us to the only named left-hand warrior in scripture. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, he lived in the time of the judges, and his name was Ehud. Ehud's story is found in Judges 3:12-30, the latter half of the third chapter. Ehud was the finest example of a left-hand warrior and the perfect example of what God can do with such a man!

The story begins with the children of Israelites worshipping idols and turning from God and so God allowed the king of the nearby country of Moab, King Eglon, to conquer Israel. King Eglon was a huge, fat man and was a greedy and evil king and yet because of their sin, Israel had to live life under his oppression for 18 years! It probably would have been longer if not for a left-handed warrior named Ehud that arose!

Part of the captivity to big, King Eglon, was that ever once in a while, the Israelites had to put together a huge gift package with the best of their land and deliver it to a city in Moab. When they would do this, they would have to send a messenger to the "Big Daddy Royal" and tell him what was in the package and basically do lip service to the evil behemoth. This had been going on for years, when finally one year they picked Ehud, the left-handed warrior from the tribe of Benjamin to be the messenger that they gift/tax had arrived. Ehud, being the type of God-fearing man that he was, decided that he was tired of living under bondage at that it was time for him and the children of God to be free. So, Ehud made himself a huge knife, a dagger about 18 inches long, and put it under his coat on his right side.

When he gets to the palace of King Eglon (did I mention that Eglon was very, very fat?), Ehud tells the king and his guards that he is there to relay the message from Israel but also has a very private message for the king, and could all of the guards and servants step out of the throne room so that he could speak to Big, bad Eglon by himself? The guard glanced at his left side, the place that a right handed man always put his sword because it could be drawn swiftly, and realizing that there was no weapon there, thought "what can it hurt?" and left. Their attitude was that "he is not operating in his power, so what harm can come to the king, after all King Eglon is big enough (did I mention that he was big?) to take care of himself. They all go out, and Ehud locks the door. He then turns to the king and says "King, I've got a Word from God for you." When big King Eglon stands up in reverence to receive the Word, before he can lift a finger to defend himself, Ehud draws the dagger with his left-hand, and quick as a flash pushes it so far into Eglon that the Bible says that the fat completely covered up the entire knife. As Eglon, fell down and died, Ehud escaped out a side entrance and by the time that Eglon's servants had found their king, the big, evil ruler had been slain! And the scriptures don't stop the story there but goes on to say that as long as Ehud was alive, Israel served and worshipped only the one, true, living God, Jehovah! Revival and victory had come because of a left-handed warrior!

It is no accident that this story is recorded in scripture and it is no accident that the scripture repeatedly emphasizes that Ehud was a left-handed warrior from the tribe of Benjamin! Because every one of us will face an enemy that will rise up and try to hamper our walk with God and our relationship with Him. He's out to steal our joy, and steal our hope, and steal our freedom in God. I'm not talking about an everyday little trial, but I'm talking about when an enemy arises in your life that is big and intimidating. I'm talking about a King Eglon, about a giant in your life. I'm talking about the situation and opposition and barrier in your walk with God that looks impossible to kill and untouchable and too big to overcome and get past! I'm talking about the sort of things that cause you to lose hope, but you take one look at it and you say "he's bigger than me and so I'll just have to live in bondage and stay slave to my situation."

But hear the lesson of Ehud, tonight! Somebody needs to realize that no matter how big that barrier and enemy looks, that he will be no match for a left-handed warrior with a Word from God! God is looking for some Ehuds, some Benjaminites that will say, "I will not be content with just being strong in certain areas of my life, but I will begin to work on my weaknesses and let God exercise them through obeying His Word, because not only am I going to give the devil a black eye when he attacks on my left the next time, but I'm going to keep working on it until hell fears my left-side more than my right! I'm not going to stop until -- like Paul -- I have the weapons of righteousness in my right hand and in my left! And I'm not going to stop there, because when the big, ugly giant rises up in my life that says I can go no further and that I cannot live free in God in every area, then because I have become a left-handed warrior, I will be able to rise up and slay the Eglon in my life and serve God with every blessing and every ability that God has promised!

Hear the call tonight! What our church needs; what our community needs; what our families need; are some born-again Christians to become like the Benjaminites and become the fighters in the Spirit that hell knows the names of and fears: God wants to raise up this generation of Apostolics to be "left-handed warriors!"