THE LIVING WORD TRANSCRIPT

Program Air Date - 8-12-07

LESSON TITLE: "TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION: PUTTING ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD"

WELCOME

Good morning! Thank you for joining us today for The Living Word. I hope everyone had a great week. And I hope you are ready to begin this new week with a day of service and offering to your God.

As always, it is our commitment through this program to proclaim the simple truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - which is confirmed for us in the Bible. I hope you all have your Bible's handy and I hope you are ready to worship God together as we sing praises to His name and study from His wondrous word. Now let's begin by talking to our Father in prayer!

(Prayer)

We want to begin our songs of praise this morning by singing a hymn which reminds us of which way we should go as we walk in Christ Jesus our Lord. How wonderful it is to know that Jesus has left us the footprints and the path to follow, as we do those things acceptable in His sight. So, at this time won't you join in with the congregation as we together sing, "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah."

(SONG # 1)

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

Most of us have brothers or sisters! If not, at least we have lived in households while growing up, where a family learns to live together and share the things they have. At times, all of us have just thought, "I wish I could have my own room, or my own bathroom, or maybe even my own apartment or house. This sounds great on the surface, but sometimes we don't always think through the things we ask for. Why do I say this? Because no one likes to be alone!

When was the last time you felt alone or were lonely? Nobody likes to be alone, at least all of the time. How many of us like to go out to a restaurant and eat alone? How many of us want to go to the game and sit alone with no one to talk to or to visit with? How many of us really believe we would be happy and content to just be by ourselves all of the time? Imagine being stranded on a desert island. You may have been asked before what would be the one thing you would want if you were stranded alone? Some might say cable television, some might say a radio, but most, with serious thought would say - companionship! Why? Because no one likes to be alone!

God realized this from the very beginning of His creation. In Gen. 2:18, after creating man, God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Because of this, verse 19 says that God made a woman out of a rib from the man. Even our creator realized that mankind needs companionship.

We must also realize where we can find the greatest companionship - that is in Jesus Christ. In Matt. 28:20, Jesus said "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Here we see that God is with us forever, without end. How encouraging it is to realize that not only is Jesus with us, but he will always be there for us - forever. The word always helps us to realize this point of our discussion. God is always with us, at every moment. How long? Forever. What other companion of ours promises this?

We have a detailed explanation of God's companionship in Joshua 1:9. There Joshua said, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Now we add the ideas that God is with us everywhere we go. Because of this Joshua said we should not be afraid or dismayed, but we should be strong and courageous. I hope we are starting to realize what the Lord's companionship means to us.

In Psalm 139, King David put it this way, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence...? Here we see that David eloquently helps us to understand that God is with us all the time. He further helps us to realize that while God is with us He is caring for us. That's why we are told to cast our cares on Him, because He truly cares for us. That is how He can help us so much, because he is always with us.

This morning we have a guest speaker with us who is one of the ministers at the Kansas Expressway Church of Christ. We are happy to have brother Brent Green with us today as we continue our series of study which is helping us to know more about the armor we must wear as soldiers of God. Our specific topic of study today will be, "Take The Helmet Of Salvation," as we continue to consider our series on "Putting on The Whole Armor of God." So, please continue with us this morning, and after our next song together brother Green will return with this study from God's Word. The name of our next hymn, "Standing On The Promises!"

(SONG # 2)

LESSON

Speaker: Brent Green

We have freedoms today in this country that we cherish and that we love because men and women have been fighting throughout our history. Since the inception of this country, even today, men and women have been fighting battles that we might have what we have in this nation. And even throughout the world, there are nations and governments that are fighting against each other. So we are familiar even from the news with the great warfare that continues throughout the world. But we're also, every single one of us in a fight every single day of our lives and this isn't a fight with flesh and blood, but the fight is spiritual, the fight that we have against Satan and against the powers of the evil that are in this world.

Throughout the study of the whole armor of God in Ephesians chapter 6 we see laid out there in verse 11 of that chapter what it is that we fight truly against. Verse 12, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness against this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness I the heavenly places." Whose behind all this? Well it is the same being, the same entity that's been behind the evil since the beginning of time, that being Satan, the devil, the evil one who is warring against all of us and warring against our souls that he might capture us and ensnare us in his ways that we might fight on his side because truly in spiritual warfare we are either fighting on the side of God which we will be victorious is we're faithful and obedient to Him or we're fighting on the side of Satan and if we're fighting on his side, we are guaranteed that we will lose that battle because God will be victorious in the end.

And so we must consider our armor and how we have prepared ourselves before God, and especially as we prepare and we take up that whole armor of God as set out there by Paul to the Ephesians in chapter 6. In verses 10 and 11, he says, "Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the whiles of the devil."

Verse 13, "Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand."

And we read of the devil in 1st Peter chapter 5, verses 6-9. We are warned to be sober and be vigilant because our adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

You know Satan is not just a housecat playing with his prey and hoping that whenever he is ready he might eat it. He's a wild beast. He's a wild animal. He's a roaring lion as he is compared to, and he wants to devour us. He wants to eat us. He wants to consume us. He wants to have our souls for his own. That's his mission. That's his plan and that's what he's been fighting against every soul that has lived on this earth since the day of creation to ensnare them and to get them to come to his side, but we can withstand him.

That's the exhortation there from Ephesians to "take the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day." So we see there, we put on the pieces of armor as God has given them to us. We take up that whole armor and we gird our waist with truth. We shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We put on the breastplate of righteousness. We take the shield of faith and we take the sword of the spirit and also, the point of today's discussion is to put on or take up the helmet of salvation. And we consider the great protection that is found in the helmet, we see this to be just as a vital piece of the armor as all the pieces of armor. We cannot go into battle unprepared. Just as someone that goes into physical battle makes sure that they have their weapons and their artillery and all of the things that they need to be prepared to go into battle, well spiritually it is the same thing. We must have all those pieces and this is just another one of those critical pieces that we must have in our lives so that we can fend off so that we can fight against Satan and be victorious. We take this helmet of salvation. When you think about what a helmet does, it protects one of the most vital pieces of the body, that being the brain, that being that resource center that tells the body what to do. It also contains our ears and our eyes and our mouths, all those senses that we have to communicate and be able to take feedback from what we see around us is controlled by the brain. Even the heart and the other vital organs are controlled by the brain. So we see the necessity of having that helmet on to protect our physical heads if we were fighting in warfare.

Well, the same is true when we go to fight spiritual warfare. We must have that helmet to protect our heads and not our heads physically speaking, but that soul, that consciousness, that inner being of man which we must protect against Satan and that is the helmet of salvation and what it protects.

But what does this salvation represent? Well, it represents that of saving man to bring him forth and to save him from the evil effects that sin causes. Even those that never know about God will die in their sins unless they learn of His saving Word, unless they are obedient to it. So salvation is saving one from sin. So who saves us? Well, it is truly God. We see in many passages that Satan is trying to get us to not be those that are faithful to God, to not be those that follow God's plan.

In 2nd Samuel chapter 22 and verse 47, "The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock that my God be exalted, the rock of my salvation." It is God who is our rock. It is God who is our salvation. He is the one who saves us. Quite literally, Satan is going for a striking blow. He wants to strike us in the head, so to speak, and kill us. He wants to devour us because he is that lion, but God is our rock. He's that strong substance, that metal like a helmet is made out of. God is that strength that protects our heads, protects our souls if we are faithful to Him.

So you see there even in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might because our strength comes from the Lord."

There we see in James chapter 4 and verse 7, "Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

Why do we need to turn to God? Why do we need to put Him on as our helmet of salvation? Because in Him is protection. If we submit to Him, if we commit our lives to Him, if we do what we need to do to be found faithful in His sight, He will protect us. he will be that Savior to us and He will give us life eternal. We also learn that if we submit to Him, the devil will flee from us. The devil will turn around and run and he cannot stand against God. Truly, salvation belongs to the Lord.

Even Jonah, the great prophet there as he went to proclaim to Ninevah, he turned and ran from God. We see as he was on that ship sailing away from his task that he was thrown overboard upon his request and he found himself in the belly of a great fish. In Jonah chapter 2 and verse 9, he cried out in the belly of that fish, "Salvation is of the Lord." Jonah realized that he made a mistake, that he turned to the side of Satan and that he ran away from God, that he forgot to clothe himself with the helmet of salvation, but he realized truly that salvation was of the Lord. We must realize that as well today as we put on that helmet, to be against those that fight against Satan and to be against that evil that might come into our lives, to have that strong helmet to protect our souls.

So, when do we put this helmet on? Do we wait until we might think the battle gets hot, until things get desperate, until things get really in depth and we might feel that there is a great trial upon us? No! We put it on now. Today is the day of salvation. We need to be those that are prepared for the battle in the moment.

If you would and you have your Bibles, turn to 2nd Corinthians, we see the words of Paul as he writes to the brethren here, "Putting forth to them when they need to be prepared for battle, when they need to be prepared in their lives for the things that are upon them. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2, for he says, "In an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation." The truth is Satan is ever lurking. He's ever about trying to get us to give in and we must put on the whole armor of God and this includes taking up that helmet of salvation because today is the day of salvation. There's no reason to delay. There's no reason to wait until we might think or might feel that the times are worse. Today is that day to be prepared, to have all those pieces of armor, to take up that helmet of salvation.

In 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 9, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord." He didn't set us here to be those that follow sin, that follow wrath, that follow and fight on the side of Satan. He put us here to fight the good fight of faith, to stand up for God and to be those that are fighting on God's side because today is the day of salvation.

In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13, we see similar words here because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the spirit and belief in the truth. It takes our obedience and our faithfulness to God, but God put us here for the fact that we need to be those that serve Him having put ourselves in a position to fight against Satan, to be those that can stand and withstand every blow and every time he comes at us to be able to stand against him and repel him, to fight against him and to send him running because we have submitted ourselves to God. We need to equip ourselves on a daily basis.

We should consider the words, also, that Paul wrote to the young evangelist, Timothy. In 2nd Timothy chapter 3, he puts forth here a very encouraging word and he tells this young evangelist about the scriptures and what they have to do with salvation. In 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15, he says to Timothy, "And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Well, how did Timothy know what he needed to do? Why did Timothy know how to equip himself? How could he be prepared to preach the word and to be ready in season and out of season, to convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering, preaching... How did he know? From childhood, he had been taught the Holy Scriptures which are able to make one wise for salvation.

When we go to battle and we think about being prepared for our spiritual warfare, why would we not go knowing how to use the armor that is before us? And when we look to God's Word, we see the great depth and the great preparation that we need to have in His book so that we can go to warfare and so that we can fight Satan. It is through the Holy Scriptures that we find that we are able to be wise for salvation.

So when we put that helmet of salvation on, what in effect are we doing? Well, we are equipping ourselves. We're studying God's Word. We're doing those things that we need to do so that God can see that we're faithful and obedient to Him. It comes back to preparation to use the armor and to know what it is, and it comes from the scripture.

We see also in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 3 that exhortation, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" If we're not prepared, if we've not put on those pieces of armor, if we've not put on that helmet of salvation, we will not escape the devil. We will not escape Satan because he will continue to come at us day by day and fight against us and try to get us to give in to that which we know is not proper in His sight. So we can not give in to Satan! We can escape and we can flee from Satan and we can stand against him and see him turn and run from us if we are faithful in the sight of God.

So we go back to those encouraging words in Ephesians chapter 6 when we think about putting on the whole armor of God. "Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand the whiles of the devil."

We think about taking up all these pieces of armor and when Satan goes to shoot those fiery darts, when he goes to use everything in his armor, his repertoire, his ammunition that he might come at us from every angle to fight against us to attack us to get us to give in to sin. We must stand upon God's Word. We must take up the whole armor of God and take up the helmet of salvation.

(SONG # 3 - "An Empty Mansion!")

CLOSING COMMENTS

What a wondrous time we have had together in participating in the things of God. I hope we all have been encouraged through our time spent together. Please remember you are invited to join us every Sunday morning at 7:30, as we commit ourselves to this service of God.

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How blessed we all are to have a God who has provided us a clear way by which we can be saved. The question is are you doing those things which are according to His Will which will secure you place in Heaven?

(Program closing)