Week 4: Spiritual Warfare The Helmet of Salvation How 2 Defend Against Satan!!!
***Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
*** PHYSICAL- A.). the helmet was made up of leather with strips of metal going up each side of the temple, and at the forehead
B.). the helmet made the Roman soldier look taller and more impresive... ( psyched the enemy out)
C.). And of course it protected the head during battle, being that most of the battles were fought with clubs, pieces of chain, as well as swords and daggers!!
D.). And sometimes the soldiers rode horses, and the helmet played an important role if the soldier fell off the horse..
*** The key word that stands out in this scripture is Salvation!!!
*** What is Salvation???
1. Webster's Dictionary- Act of saving; redemption of man from sin; that which saves
2. New Concise Bible Dictionary- sense of being freed from limitation, deliverance from disease, trouble, enemies...
3. Student Bible Dictionary- Safety, deliverance from evil, eternal life, hope!!! ( Isa.. 12:2; Luke 19:9).
*** SPIRITUAL- Salvation is the experience of confessing sin, acknowledging that what Jesus did on the cross was the full sacrifice required by God for the punishment of sin, and recieving what Jesus did on one's behalf...
*** Basically.. acknowledging and believing that Jesus died on the cross for us, so that we might have everlasting life...
*** To take the helmet of salvation means:
1. it is 2 remind us that Jesus is our Savior, and that what He has done for us, He desires to do for others..
2. it is 2 remind us that we once were sinners and that by His Grace, we are no longer in bondage to sin... ( Explain)
3. it is 2 remind us that the Holy Spirit is always with us to save us from the enemy...
*** Remember that the Mind is the battlefield, where all is won or lost***
*** with this in mind:
1. nobody can govern your thinking but you.
2. you govern what you will dwell on in your mind
3. you have the power to dismiss thoughts or to entertain thoughts.
*** What happens if we keep the most important thought that JESUS IS MY SAVIOR at the forefront of our thinking???
1. we have a keen awareness that we have been delivered from the bondage of sin..
2. we have a deep gratitude for our deliverance from sin and our ability to live a pure and Godpleasing life..
3. we have a deep knowing that sin destroys health, relationships, finances, and the ful-fillment of our true purpose in life...
4. we have a deep understanding that certain things no longer fit us as a believer in Jesus Christ.. and we no longer have the desire to dabble with sin, toy with sin, or entertain sin in our life...
5. We also have a deep passion for other people who are in need of the Savior...
*** Salvation is an ongoing rescue***
*** In this scripture salvation does not just refer to a person's initial acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior...
*** this word salvation refers also to God's ongoing rescuing and delivering power...
Explain:
*** Remember that our mind is the battlefield... Well the helmet protects the head -- the brain, the mind.
*** Remember that the real spiritual battle is fought in the mind... this is where the enemy fights his strongest, dirtiest, bloodiest, and most important battles...
***NOTE*** WE MUST PROTECT OUR THOUGHT LIVES!!!
1. We must remind ourselves continually that God desires to save us from all doubt and that He wants to deliver us from all lies...
2. We must trust God to save us, recue us, and deliver us from the desturbing messages that we encounter everyday..
Example...
1. bumper stickers, television sets, people in the streets, advertising signs, and music blaring from radios and loudspeakers-- all send messages daily denying the saving power of God...
THIS IS THE WORLD'S VIEW: " YOU have to save yourself. It's up to you. You have 2 look out for number one. If you don't do it, then nobody will help you, You cant trust nobody to do it for you, you must do it yourself!!! ( LIes, LIes, Lies)
GOD'S WORD IS JUST THE OPPOSITE:
1. (1 Timothy 4:10) We trust in the living God, who is our Savior.
2. ( Psalms 7:10) My defense is of God, who saves the upright in heart.
3. ( Psalms 68: 19-20) Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Our God is the God of salvation; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death...
*** Closing***
1. The truth is that we cannot save ourselves...We cannot save ourselves from sin... We cannot save ourselves from acts of terror, all temptations, or all accidents and sicknesses... But God alone can..
*** Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven!!! ( Matthew 7:13)
*** Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father!!! ( John 14:1-7)
*** Jesus Christ is the Savior of the body ( the church) (Ephesians 5:23)
People that do not believe that Jesus is their Savior and that God desires to save them from life's trials:
1. live with doubt and discouragement.
2. they have no hope.
3. they are limited in their own resources and ability..
4. they are most likely living at the egde of discouragement,despair, and dis-illusionment
5. they slightly respond to fear, doubt, and anxiety to every unfolding negative news story, and every idle piece of gossip circulating in the community, or even emails that predict the coming of christ, or the predictions of the the world's end...
*** If you know that Jesus is your Savior without a shadow of a doubt, and you are convinced that God is in the process of rescuing you from evil, "you have a great capacity for hope"!!!
*** Nobody can make you think that "God is in the process of saving me right now"
*** You have to entertain that thought!! It is called hope, and you have faith that God is saving you.
*** If you replace every negative situation, every troublesome thought, and every painful and traumatic experience-- with the thought that " God is in the Process of saving me right now" "and that Jesus is my Savoir,", and that Jesus died on the cross to save me of my sins"
**** THEN I GUARANTEE, THAT WE WILL COME OUT VICTORIOUS, IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!!
*** REMEMBER***
Salvation comes only by God's grace and through Jesus Christ when a person accepts Christ as Lord and Savior... ( Acts 4:12, and Titus2:11)
***Encourage the class that if they do not know Jesus personally, to call upon Him...
Created about 3 years ago
