Unseen Battles - The Helmet of Salvation

Intro

Controversy - I am not surprised

You have heard it said here that the enemy always tries to place a question mark when God has placed a period. (explain)

The reverse is also true. The enemy will try to place a period where God has placed a question mark.

There are aspects of our faith that are a mystery and that is OK. Deut 29:29

Read Eph 6:10-17

Helmet of Salvation (1 Thess 5:8 - the hope of salvation)

Guards the head - how far will a soldier get with a critical head wound?

Everything done flows from the head - every decision - every action - every thought

If the head isn’t right the whole body will be off

Right thinking around the topic of salvation will effect every part of your life

The assurance of salvation is central to our health as it guards the head (our thoughts our decisions everything)

We are in and will be in a battle our whole lives Eph 6:12, 2 Cor 10:3-6

the helmet must stay on at all times or we will find ourselves vulnerable

If the enemy can get you to compromise on salvation he has you

Questioning their salvation - Christians struggling with sin mostly

Questioning the mode of salvation (multiple ways to God) Christians with low knowledge and high empathy

John 14:6 “I am the way the truth and the life. no one comes to the father except through me”

Both ways your mind is exposed and a stronghold has been created

Don’t waste your life taking off and putting on the helmet of salvation

This will keep you from getting in the fight

John 10:29 - none can snatch

Good Doctrine on Salvation

take - dechomai - to pick up physically - you must put on the helmet of salvation

the helmet is a gift (V10 - “the strength of his might”) - it is his strength not ours

we still have an active role in applying his provision

God is a provider - see this all throughout scripture - God needs nothing from us yet he chooses to love us

in order to enter into his provision we must submit ourselves to the provider

You don’t get the provision of a king’s army without submitting yourself to the laws of the kingdom

There is a whole movement today that claims the provision of the King while refusing to submit to the King’s desires

Are they saved?

My answer is no where in scripture are the good promises to people who live in unrepentant sin

What is the purpose of taking up the armor of God?

V13 - that you may withstand the attacks of the enemy and that you may stand firm until the end

Why would Paul tell us to stand if we couldn’t fall?

Big picture - fill the Earth with the knowledge of the glory of God

Adam sinned - man still did what he was designed to do but no longer multiplied the image of God but his own fallen sinful image

God instituted the law for many reasons one of which was to provide the mechanism for the forgiveness of sins Heb 10:1-10 really he was laying a framework for his future plan (Plan A) Lev 17:11

Jesus came and perfectly fulfilled the law - he was innocent

We are guilty

Jesus, the passover lamb took the penalty on himself that we deserved thus trading places with us. Heb 10:10, Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, Heb 9:11-14

Jesus literally went to the temple that is in Heaven and offered his blood for our sins

Phalanx / Angel armies / the armor / battle plans and strategies

Isaiah 59:14-21

What is good theology on salvation?

Exodus 12 is Jesus’ prophetic template

It is a gift - faith and grace - without the work of God, Jesus and the Spirit we wouldn’t have any way to be saved even through sacrificial system Heb 10:10

We have a responsibility (take up) We must apply the blood of Jesus to the door posts of our lives just like at Passover

Moses commanded the Jews to stay in their homes - under the covering of the blood all night - We cannot undo the work of Jesus but we can choose to leave our homes and the blood

No one can take the gift from us but we can give it away Heb 10, 6

Never stop being thankful for Jesus’ work but you need to move past it

have faith in the work that Jesus did - keep the helmet on and quit taking it off

no where is there a good promise for unrepentant sin but the bible is full of promises for those who humbly repent

References

Scriptures about the Lamb of God and the offering of blood for sins.

Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, he opened not his mouth.”

Why emphasis on silence? He was innocent but declared guilty!

John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”

On the 10th day they Israelites took the Passover lamb into their house. For 4 days the lamb was with them until they killed it. Jesus made his triumphal entry (Palm Sunday) on the 10th day of the month. Just like the Passover Lamb he was with the Jews for 4 days in their home (Jerusalem) before they killed him on Passover.

14th day (the feast begins) the lamb was killed - Jesus was killed on the 14th day. Why did he have to die? Because blood provides covering for sins.

Leviticus 17:11 “for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for you souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”

Hebrews 10:1-10 - blood of animals not enough

Hebrews 9:11-14 - atonement through Jesus’ blood at the temple that is in Heaven

Jesus was without sin/blemish Exodus 12:5

2 Cor 5:21 “for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, that in him we might become the righteousness of God”

Ex 12:3 - a lamb for a household - Jesus = 1 lamb for household of God

John 15 - no greater love is there than this - in Jesus work of salvation the very heart of God was revealed in its most full expression. If you don’t understand salvation correctly everything will be off.

Broad Outline

Intro

You have heard it said here before that the enemy will put a question mark where God had placed a period. (the tempter in the garden)

When God is clear on a topic the enemy will try to get you to question it

The reverse is true as well. Where God leaves a question mark the enemy will try to place a period.

Deut 29:29 - (read) there are mysteries. Part of being a Christian is choosing to be OK with mystery

Today we are talking about the helmet of salvation.

Salvation is one of if not the most controversial topics of the Bible for this very reason

Certain aspects of it are clear but some parts God has left a mystery - God’s sovereign will vs our free will - both are clearly seen throughout the entire Bible. how the two work together is a mystery,

Bad doctrines have been developed because some really intelligent people relentlessly sought periods when God placed question marks and it is just as damaging.

This is why so much controversy surrounds this topic

Passage + Thess - salvation is a hope - its not measurable or observable which is why it requires faith

hope requires faith - airplane example - i don’t demand from the pilot his flight record - I place my faith in the hope that he knows what he is doing

Helmet

Guards the head - how far will a soldier get with a critical head wound?

Everything done flows from the head - every decision - every action - every thought

If the head isn’t right the whole body will be off

Right thinking around the topic of salvation will effect every part of your life: identity - son and daughter

The assurance of salvation is central to our health as it guards the head (our thoughts our decisions everything)

Satan’s tactics

doubt your salvation

doubt what God’s word says about salvation

I have doubts do you? Have you ever doubted?

Walk through my logic through the person of Jesus

something that is able to be proven by logic and reason requires no faith (secularism)

What scripture teaches on salvation and how it relates to the helmet

Take up - Our Role