Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville

Giants and Grasshoppers - Part Eleven

August 03, 2021 Cornerstone Christian Fellowship
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville
Giants and Grasshoppers - Part Eleven
Show Notes Transcript

Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation

We will continue looking at the whole armor of God today as we move on to the helmet of salvation.

The full text of this message can be found by on our website: www.cornerstonejacksonville.com/messages.

Sunday July 11th 2021
Giants and Grasshoppers
Part Eleven



1). Eph 6:10 ¶ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-

We have become aware through our study of the spiritual warfare that a continual conflict exists between those who at present occupy the heavenly places, declared to be principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, the spiritual hosts of wickedness, and those who have been called to receive the Kingdom of the heavens as an inheritance in their place. And the battle that exists, as we have seen, is a spiritual battle and is over territory and jurisdiction in the Millennial Kingdom.
a). The battle for us continually takes place in our present, every day, and will only end for us at either our physical death or the resurrection/rapture. And the conclusion of the matter will finally be brought to pass at the end of Man’s Day when the many sons brought to glory will take their seat with Christ on His throne for the Age to come.
b). As we have seen, our adversaries are spirit beings who are of greater power and authority than us, within whose jurisdiction we have been born and now live as strangers and aliens, as we look to another land and another Day - Heb 2:6 But one testified in a certain place, saying: "What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? 7 You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. 8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet." For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

God’s purpose for creating Man, ‘let them have dominion’, will, without doubt, be accomplished.  And we would note from the verses in Hebrews Chapter 2, drawn from Psalm 8, that from God’s perspective, He sees Man [faithful Christians] as already crowned with glory and honor, and already set over the works of His hand.  This is something that from God’s eternal perspective has already been fulfilled and accomplished but still awaits its manifestation in time. In other words, it hasn’t happened yet. 
c). We can understand this in the same way as the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world, but whose physical death was not seen in human history until some 4000 years after the creation of Adam.  The absolute certainty of that which God has determined for His creation is unshakable.
d). In the meantime, as we wait for God’s purpose for Man to be fulfilled within the boundary of time, we are to look from this world unto Jesus, the living hope set before us, whose resurrection has made possible our inheritance, and on whom we are to focus our complete attention, in anticipation of the Day when we will join Him in rulership.
e). However, although God’s purpose for the overcoming Christian cannot be altered, our individual participation in it, as a coheir with Christ, is neither automatic nor guaranteed - Ro 8:17 ¶ and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

1 Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

And because our spirit adversaries remain at present far more powerful than us, we are in need of protection from their systematic plots and schemes so that we would not be overthrown from the goal of our calling. And to give that protection God has provided His complete spiritual armor for us that we may be strong in Him and the power of His might.
f). We will remember that our enemy’s primary weapon for bringing about our downfall is deception. Enticing us to believe something other than that which God has said.  
g).  Hence the need we have for ‘the whole armor of God’, spiritual armor that is ours through having faith to the saving of the soul as a result of hearing and believing the Word of the Kingdom. God’s whole armor that is interrelated and interdependent. 
h). Either we will have it, or we won’t, there is no middle ground.

2).  And so, with all that we have looked at today firmly in place, we are now ready to add in the helmet of salvation to this overall picture.
a). And as we do, we must continue to keep in the forefront of our mind that our goal, on which we are to focus, remains yet future. And that we must in this present time be constantly preparing ourselves for that future Day.  A future Day that involves a meeting with the Christ at His Judgment Seat, resulting in either reward or loss.
b). We should also be ever mindful that the deception we face will attempt to draw us away from focusing on the coming Kingdom so as to believe and then act in a way contrary to that which God has said about the 7th Day and our participation in it. It is deception with a view to our assimilation into, and desire for, the things of this world. Causing our eyes to be fixed on the present world and the things in it, instead of organizing our lives, as we live day by day within Satan’s kingdom, with our eyes fixed firmly on what awaits us in the age to come, yet future.
c). And it is the danger of this deception and the seriousness of its aftermath that the Lord challenges us with in – Lu 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.

Lot and his family we will recall had the opportunity to be delivered from the destruction of the cities of the plain and were given the instructions that we find in - Ge 19:17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life[soul]! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed."

They were told to escape from Sodom, a type of the world, in order to save their life/soul.  And the only way they would be able to do this was by escaping to the mountain, a type of the coming Kingdom.  And this escape to the mountain and life, is set stark contrast to the certain destruction of the cities of the plain and death.
d). Lot’s wife however, although having been told the means of gaining life, could not see anything beyond her affinity with Sodom. So complete was her assimilation into the affairs of that place that she could look nowhere other than back to where her soulical life called home, being unable to see or hear anything else. And consequently, when the city was overthrown, she was overthrown with it, being turned into a pillar of salt.
e). And it is because of the enemy’s continual endeavor to assimilate us into his kingdom, as he did with Lot and his wife, that we will find both the necessity for, and the function of, the helmet of salvation.

3).  Now the salvation spoken of in relation to the helmet is not the salvation we presently possess, the salvation of our spirit, the free gift of eternal life. And we would know this to be so, firstly from the context in which we find it in Ephesians Chapter 6.  We have already seen that the whole armor of God is something that can only be worn by those who have come to a place of spiritual maturity.  This then continues to deal with things beyond the free gift.
a). Secondly, we have seen that the armor is something we are to put on, bringing it into the area of works.  Something that is never seen in connection with the free gift.
b). And thirdly, we would know by comparing scripture with scripture - 1Th 5:6 ¶ Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

From these verses we see that with the breastplate of faith and love we are to put on ‘as a helmet the hope of salvation’. And the key word here is ‘hope’.
c).  And we will note from these verses that the hope of salvation is connected to the day, a time associated with light, and this is contrasted with the sleep and drunkenness of the night, a time associated with darkness, the domain of the present rulers of the darkness of this age.
d). In other words, in order to have the hope of salvation as a helmet, we must have the breastplate of faith and love so as to separate ourselves from the darkness, walking in the light, given by the light of the Word.

4).  We are to have hope with respect to salvation because this salvation we do not yet possess.  It is - 1Pe 1:5b… salvation ready to be revealed in the last time……………9 receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls.

It is the salvation of the soul that is our hope.  A salvation inextricably connected to faith and works - Php 2:12 ¶ Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

Ga 5:5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Php 3:9 ¶ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

The hope of salvation produces the righteous acts of the saints.  The same acts of righteousness found in the breastplate of righteousness. The righteousness which is accounted to us through faithful obedience.
a). And again - Heb 6:17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Col 1:5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,

This is the gospel of the glory of Christ. The good news of the coming Day of Christ’s glory, His rulership with His coheirs during the Millennial Kingdom, the certainty of which has been given to the heirs of promise by an oath. This is what our hope consists of, and where is the realization of this hope to be found?  ‘Laid up for you in heaven’
b).  Let’s connect the dots - 1Pe 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We see then that the hope laid up in heaven, yet future, the inheritance in heaven, yet future, and the hope of salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, yet future, are all references to the same thing. And they will be received by the Christian who has properly prepared in readiness for that future, who has put on the whole armor of God so as to be kept by the power of God in readiness for it. 
c). Now let’s look at what scripture says about this hope – 
Ro 8:24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

We do not yet see our hope realized but remember what we were told in Hebrews Chapter 2 - But now we do not yet see all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus,

The very nature of hope means that it may or may not be realized. And with respect to the hope of salvation, this is dependent upon our choices.
d).  Let us look at three examples from Scripture that deal with hope in a more general way - Lu 23:8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.

Ac 16:19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

Ac 27:20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

The possibility of hope being realized or not being realized is exactly what these verses show us. And we can readily apply this same principle to the ‘hope of salvation.’ - Heb 3:6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Col 1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard,

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

In each of these verses we can see that the realization of the hope is conditional upon the exercise of faith to the saving of the soul.
e). So, the question to ask with regards to the helmet of salvation, is how should we understand it in relation to having faith to the saving of the soul, so that we can hold fast, not be moved away, not waver?
f). As always Scripture provides our answer.  Let us revisit 1 Peter verse 9 and then continue reading from there - 1Pe 1:9 receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls. 10 ¶ Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel [the gospel of the glory of Christ] to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into. 13 ¶ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

Note particularly what we are told to do in v13 - ¶ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

And according to verse 14 we are to do this, as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;

Let’s consider these things a little more closely. What part of our anatomy would a helmet protect? And what would we find inside our head that would need protecting so that we might walk in faith as obedient children?
g). It is our mind, the loins of which we are told to ‘gird up’. The Greek word translated ‘gird’ means to bind about with intensity, and it has its origins in the Greek word – zugos, which means to be joined, especially by a yoke.
h).  In other words, then, our thoughts, our attitudes and consequently our actions that come from them are to be inseparably yoked to the hope of salvation, which will be realized through the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ – When we stand before Christ at His Judgment Seat, when we would receive the salvation of our souls. And we must be sober, serious and watchful to this end.
i).  There is a stark contrast made in the juxtaposition of girding up the loins of our mind with respect to the hope of salvation, and conforming to our former lusts that will bring shipwreck.
j). In the girding up of the loins of our mind we see a life submitted to the Scripture, and in conforming to the former lusts, we see a life of doing what is right in its own eyes.
k). There is a parallel here with the parable of the 10 virgins.  Those with the loins of the mind girded up would be found among the 5 wise virgins, who had properly prepared themselves to meet the Bridegroom, through having an extra supply of oil, to provide light for them to navigate through the darkness of this age.  
l). The wise are then set in contrast to the 5 foolish virgins, whose lamps were going out because they had no extra supply of oil, whose minds were not protected, so that they would not be able to see to navigate the darkness – 2 Co 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

As with the example of Lot’s wife, our choice is to either escape to the mountain, being properly prepared to do so by having on the helmet of salvation or to look back to the cities of the plain, conforming ourselves to our former lusts.
n).  And according to our Scripture, our former lusts, before we knew anything different, were done in ignorance.  But we are no longer in ignorance.  We have heard the Word of the Kingdom and we have the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth with respect to this – it is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path, the hope of salvation, that is to govern our thinking and initiate our actions - 2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Ro 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

5).  We can see then, that to have on the helmet of salvation is to receive and believe the Word of the Kingdom and consequently to organize our life so as to be focused on the salvation of our soul, our inheritance, the coming Kingdom of Christ, in that coming Day. To have this as the focus and motivation for all that we do. To have our thinking aligned with Scripture - Php 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

To have this will be our protection from the enemy’s deceptive wiles that would seek to draw us away to the things of this world, diverting our attention from the goal of our calling, to turn us into Lot’s wife – 
1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.

It is only through the renewing of our mind by the implanted Word of God, that we will find security - Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Only in this way, through faith to the saving of the soul, can we be kept by the power of God for the salvation to be revealed in the last time.
a). It becomes a question as to whether we have believed God or not concerning what He has said about the coming Kingdom and what He has said about how we should live now to have a part in it.
b). And as we believe, as we have faith, so we can have on the helmet of salvation – Heb 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,

It is only through the diligence of maintaining our focus on what is set before us that our soul will remain anchored to the hope of its future salvation. And we can only remain focused in this way if we take what God has said seriously, if we would be watchful and sober to this end.  And this can only be maintained through a proper engagement with the Word of the Kingdom.
c). Our mind must be ‘bound up’ to this end with intensity.  Being surely and tightly fitted with the helmet of [the hope of] salvation. This is our protection from the worldly wiles of the devil. 
d). If we do not maintain our focus through the Scriptural protection of our mind, we will begin to drift away with the inevitable consequence of being shipwrecked, being overthrown, being disqualified at the Judgment Seat - Lu 9:62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

The question facing us is always a personal one, where are we looking this morning?  Or better still, where will we be looking tomorrow morning?
e). If we have on the helmet of salvation in conjunction with the other parts of the armor, then we will only be looking in one direction. There will be only one thing on our mind.  Satan could offer us all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, but nothing will move us from our course – we will remain steadfast, resolute and immovable – 
2 Ti 1:13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

Re 3:11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

More next time – if we remain and the Lord is willing.