Some of the Lord’s servants are called and specially qualified for edification. They therefore
occupy themselves with souls and with the assembly, laboring to build up themselves and others
on their most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, seeking to maintain the truth of the Church
among the saints, and caring for the holiness of the house of God. There are others who are called
to conflict, who are quick to discern the assaults of the enemy upon the truth of God, and wise in
the power of the Holy Spirit to meet them with the weapons of their warfare which "are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; 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" (2 Cor. 10:4,5).

The builders, the burden-bearers, and those that laded are also distinguished. Every one had his
appointed work, and all contributed to the same end. But whether builders, burden-bearers, or
those that laded, one feature characterized them all alike:"Every one with one of his hands
wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon" (Neh. 4:17). This in itself reveals
the character of the times in which they labored. They were in fact perilous times_times when
the power of Satan was increasingly manifested in opposition to the people of God. These times
were typical of that in which Jude labored, especially when he wrote his epistle, for we find the
same two things in him_the sword and the trowel. He found it necessary to contend earnestly for
the faith once delivered to the saints, and he also exhorted those to whom he wrote to build up
themselves on their most holy faith. And this is also the character of the present day_the perilous
times in which our lot is cast.

Therefore, we may well learn from Nehemiah’s builders that the divine way of being prepared for
the assaults of the enemy is, while we have our weapons of defense in one hand, or our swords
girded on our thigh, to be diligently occupied in building. When controversies arise through
Satan’s attacks upon the truth, there is a great danger of forgetting the need of souls_of ceasing
to build. We may be so occupied with the enemy that we overlook the necessity of diligent and
persistent ministrations of Christ to sustain and nourish souls, thus enabling them to repel the
enemy’s assaults. God’s people cannot be fed, built up, with controversies. This is a warning word
which cannot be too loudly sounded forth at the present moment. Our positive work, even when
expecting and on the outlook for the enemy, is building; and the more earnestly we build, the
more secure we shall be when the enemy delivers his assault. The weapons must be ready, but our
work is to go on with the wall.

(From An Exposition of Nehemiah.)

FRAGMENT
In the combination of the sword and the trowel, we see the symbols of our own calling. There is
that which we have to withstand, and there is that which we have to cultivate. We are to cherish
and advance, like builders, what is of the Spirit in us; we are to resist and mortify what is of the
flesh. We are builders and fighters.