The Helmet of Salvation
We have been studying in the book of Ephesians chapter 6 in the past weeks and learning what it means to put on The Whole Armor of God. This week by the grace of God we will study the Helmet of Salvation and its importance in battle. I pray for God to touch the hearts of all who read, and all those that hear this message from the Lord and that hearts will be pricked for the very words sake, and that we stand in battle as mighty men, women, and children of valor in the army of God, for His glory!
Handout: The Helmet of Salvation
As believers, we are engaged in a war with evil. Our enemy is Satan. The battlefield in which we fight is in our minds. Satan works diligently to set up strongholds there. He does it through clever strategy and deceit. He has well thought out plans to use through premeditated deception. He is in no hurry. He will gladly take his time to work out his plan to overtake our minds for his own evil and destructive purposes. Be certain that he knows our weaknesses, fears, and our insecurities. He will prey on those. He knows what buttons to push. He has studied you and I very carefully, and he knows those things which will work best against us in his attacks. He is willing to be patient in order to defeat us any way possible. He takes his tasks very seriously and he works hard to be the best at warfare against those who are in Christ. Be certain Dear One, you are in this war whether you like it or not. Don’t think you can sit and do nothing and be out of the battle, you serve either God or Satan, all people on earth do. So you have a choice. You can sit and let Satan destroy you, or you can stand firm on the authority and promises of God, putting on the whole armor of God and warring against the enemy for victory through Christ Jesus. You can choose a life of victory in Christ, or a death of defeat. The choice is yours. As for me and my house, by God’s ever lasting grace we choose victory! I hope you gird your loins for battle and do the same!
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
Deuteronomy 30:20 “That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
So not we know that we are in a battle. Life is a battle. We can choose whose side we are on. We can choose to be on the side of The Lord Strong and Mighty, or on the side of Satan and evil. If you are born again, washed in the blood of the Lamb, then you should be on the side of the Lord if you have taken up your cross and are following Him.
Studying God’s word today further about the whole armor of God that Paul teaches about in Ephesians chapter 6, let’s review.
Ephesians 6:12-17 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking on the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Sprit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
Why is it so important to put on The Helmet of Salvation? Let’s think for a moment about those words that Paul used. The Helmet of Salvation, in battle in those days, soldiers would gird themselves with armor for protection from the enemy attacks. The helmet was vital just as it is of utmost importance for us today in warfare with powers and principalities. The helmet of salvation protects our mind from the evil one because it is in the mind where war begins, and where the battle is won or lost.
Satan attacks us in our minds first and foremost, with just a thought. He knows that a thought stimulates emotion, which results in attitude in which produces behavior. It’s a process and he is patient, willing to wait for his plan to take form, beginning with a thought, then another and another, each seeming harmless until he has created toxic thoughts and strongholds in our mind to bind us.
Psalms 10:4 “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”
Psalm 94:11 “The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.”
Proverbs 15:26 “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.”
Matthew 15:19-20 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man:”
All sin begins with a thought! Our minds are a battlefield. This is why it is so important to guard our minds and thoughts with the helmet of salvation. When our thoughts are on the things of God, then evil thoughts from the devil cannot get in. It is then that we are protected from Satan’s attacks and from his strongholds and toxic thinking.
Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:”
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 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;”
1 Peter 1:13 “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”
Now don’t be overwhelmed by all this Beloved. We cannot control all our thoughts alone, but the good news is that we are not alone! God will never command us to do anything unless He first makes provision for us to accomplish it through the Holy Spirit, through Christ. Just like in earthly wars today, the soldiers on the battlefield have a high commander that is in touch with them at all times. We have an Almighty High Commander the Lord, Jesus Christ and Praise God, we that are born again; we have been given the mind of Christ through God’s Holy Spirit that dwells inside us. We are not left to battle the devil alone.
1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Paul isn’t saying here that we are perfect and that we will never fail, what he is saying is that we who are born into the family of God have been given the mind of Christ. We now are empowered through the Holy Spirit to think thoughts of peace, love, and joy. We can now meditate on the Lord and His ways instead of continuing to think according to the ways of the flesh. The Holy Spirit has set up His abode in our hearts and we are made new creatures in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Ezekiel 36:26-28 “A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.”
God gave that promise to Israel even though they had failed Him many times in every way. Still, as His beloved, He would not abandon them because HE is faithful, merciful and good. They were punished many times, but not abandoned. He would change them, He would give them a new spirit which was His Holy Spirit. Just as He will not abandon us, and will instead change us. He has begun a good work in the heart of every believer through Christ Jesus! Praise His name.
Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
One may be thinking, That scripture of promise is only to Israel. Yes, He is referring to Israel but He includes those who inherit the promises that God gave to Abraham through adoption, through Christ Jesus. God told Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed because of that covenant. Genesis 26:4. We, who are born into the family of God through Christ, are part of that promise as well. We inherit that promise through the righteousness of Christ Jesus! Hallelujah!
Galatians 3:6-9 “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
2 Timothy 1:7 states this fact:
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
So now we see that we have been given the Helmet of Salvation by having the mind of Christ. We have to choose to put it on and keep it on. God does not force it upon us. We all have free will of choice. Satan can and will get in our minds if we allow him to. He cannot force us, but we must allow him. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you must give him permission, simply letting your guard down, is an invitation to him to dump his trash in our minds.
By now I hope that you all understand that the Helmet of Salvation is Christ Jesus Himself. The whole armor is Christ and the wisdom of God. Covering our heads with the helmet of salvation is to equip ourselves with Christ and His truth, all of Him. It means equipping ourselves with the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written , He that glorieth, let him glory in the LORD.”
I recently heard a commentary by Dr. David Jeremiah of Turning Point Ministries and I loved these words that he spoke on the above scripture of 1 Corinthians 1:30. He pointed out that,“Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God and we are the wisdom of Jesus Christ. Christ is Gods wisdom to us as God’s wisdom is to Him. As we put on Jesus Christ He becomes to us our Wisdom. The helmet of Salvation is personified in Jesus Christ.”
How do we put on the whole armor of God and the helmet of salvation? We gain this Wisdom of God one way by reading and studying His word.
2 Tim 3:15-17 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished into all good works.”
Here Paul is saying to Timothy, that from a child he has learned the Holy Scriptures and that this knowledge has made him wise in the ways of God, or given him Godly wisdom. One of our greatest weapons against the evil one is the Word of God. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.
Knowing God’s word and having that wisdom equips us with The Helmet of Salvation. Another way of gaining this Godly wisdom and putting on The Helmet of Salvation is through prayer and asking God.
James 1:5-6 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
It is the delight and the will of God to give us much Godly wisdom that only He can give. It is my prayer today that every person in the earth would ask for an abundance of Godly Wisdom to fight the good fight of faith, to put on and keep on the beautiful and powerful Helmet of Salvation!
May the passion of Christ burn within our hearts, may we stand as good soldiers and fight the good fight of faith. We do not have to lie down and let Satan stomp on us. We do not have to lie down in defeat and let him take our children, our loved ones, and our lives of victory! NO! God has given the tools we need to war against the evil one and win! Let us put on the whole armor of God Dear Brothers and Sisters, and let us fight for the glory and honor of God Almighty our Lord and Master! Praise You LORD.
Dear Righteous and Heavenly Father,
We bow ourselves again at Your throne in thanksgiving and in praise that You are Almighty, that You alone are Worthy of our Praise. Dear Lord we are thankful and we praise You for always taking care of us and providing for us and our families and loved ones. We come to You today by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and ask You to place the Helmet of Salvation upon our heads as we war against the evil one. Father we understand that this comes only from You and we understand that it is vital for our survival in battle. Father we ask that You give each of us an abundance of Your Wisdom that Only You can give. Father we will forever Praise You and worship You for who You are, and all that You do forever! Thank You Lord for Your mercy, love, and grace. We ask Dear Savior that You look after, protect, and provide yet another week for us and for our loved ones. We thank You that You hear us and grant our requests through the name of Christ. We ask Dear Lord that You help us to spread the good news of You unto all the world through this ministry and any other way that You desire. Thank You Lord for all the things You have provided for us spiritually as well in this body. In the name of Lovely, Jesus we ask, pray, and praise You. Amen.
~*Cindygirl*~
September 15, 2013