7. Armor of God: Helmet of Salvation

Okay, as you can see we are on the lesson the helmet of salvation and Who wants to tell me where we can find the scriptures about the armor of God?

Ephesians chapter 6 all right We're gonna read 10 to 12 a 10 to 15 and then 15 to 20 very good

Finally be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might put on the full armor of God So that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle is not against flesh and blood

But against the rulers against the powers against the world forces of this darkness Against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places therefore take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and Having done everything to stand firm

Stand firm therefore having girder your loins with the truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness

And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace In addition to all taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit

Which is the Word of God? with all prayer and petition prayed all times in the spirit and with this in view beyond the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints and Pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness

The mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak all right

That's the culmination of putting on the the armor so again We're just going to do a quick review the belt of truth offensive or defensive weapon

Defensive right the truth of the cross your sins are paid for covering your sin and shame your sins have been paid in full breastplate of righteousness offensive or defensive

Defensive you've received the righteousness of Christ and are in right relationship with God because of Jesus His perfect righteousness is given to you as a gift so that you could stand before God without Owing God anything your his his perfect life becomes your perfect like shoes of peace

Defensive Defensive you've been able to stand fight and carry the message of hope that will change the world

Just do it right the hope that has changed you Faith and trust in Jesus Christ is the same message

That's going to affect the people that you bring it to right where to bring the gospel to every creature under heaven and earth shield the faith offensive or defensive

Defensive all right faith connects you to the power and promises of God to quell your doubts and fears

God is your shield remember if we don't have faith in faith itself faith is not a force

We have faith in it's the object of our faith that matters and our faith is in God Who makes the promises and has the power to carry them out?

That's where our confidence comes from okay? helmet of salvation offensive or defensive

Defensive all right so The helmet of salvation is basically the shield of faith for your head right so when the enemy tries to attack you with lies and Deception you put on the helmet of salvation that goes back and recognizes the belt of truth your shame has been covered

Your sins are paid for you don't when the devil says oh, you're not good enough You say have the breastplate of righteousness.

I have the Christ righteousness. Oh That's not going to matter to anyone well that message of hope matters to me, and it matters to the rest of the world

And he's just going to throw darts of doubt at you And that's when you hold up the shield of faith, and you trust in the power and the promises of God All right your helmet is just a shield for your head to guard you against the lies that the devil throws at you

We know this as the battlefield of the mind right the devil is going to tell you you're a sinner

He's going to tell you you're not good enough. He's going to tell you there's no hope for you He's going to try to convince you that God doesn't love you

And that's what all this armor being put on helps us to remember especially the helmet of salvation

Okay, the first three are fastened to the body in other words They're not taken on and off easily

The last three the shield of faith the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit are all things that you can pick up And put down Okay, you want to pick these up and not put them down you want to continue to hold on to them all right?

Let's get into the lesson the spiritual application of the helmet is obvious the

Apostle is drawing attention to the head to the mind to the brain the understanding the thinking of the Christian We have already dealt with the feelings and the sensibilities the emotions and the desires and have seen how the enemy tends to attack us at those various points but now we have to direct our attention to the particular aspect which involves the

Consideration of the mind and the understanding the intellectual part of our whole position as Christians It was a comedian named

Ben Stein Ben Stein No not Ben Stein Brad Stein Right and in the beginning of his routine every time you say put a helmet on Like he would bring up these stupid statements that people make he's like put a helmet on in other words

Yeah, you're the thing the ideas that you have are so dangerous. You're gonna hurt yourself by hitting your head We put the helmet of salvation on because that's that's where the

Word of God protects our minds once we dwell in it What it means is that the devil succeeds at times in persuading us to become preoccupied with?

The details of the Christian life that we forget the grand truth covering the whole We lose the forest for the trees.

We are so concerned about the trees that we miss the forest We're so immersed in the local tactics that we forget the great campaign right we might have

Minor losses in the skirmish, but we remember we win the war Ultimately the victory belongs to Christ and we're part of the plan we get to participate in the victory

So if you're in Christ You know that you're going to win that gives you the boldness to take chances to take

Calculated risks for the sake of the gospel to stand for your king and serve him

Paul calls the Christians headgear the helmet of salvation an image that like the breastplate of righteousness is again borrowed

Directly from the description of the divine warrior in Isaiah 59 17 so this is not something

New that Paul is explaining to us this teaching is found rooted and grounded in in the

Old Testament specifically the book of Isaiah In fact God's righteousness and his people salvation occurred together frequently in the book of Isaiah They have a cause -and -effect relationship

God's righteousness his reliable commitment to fulfill all his promises to his people

Means that he must act to deliver them from their enemies So if anybody is saved if anybody is walking rightly with God It's because God has acted in his righteousness to save them

This means that he must act to deliver them from their enemies This includes not merely their physical enemies such as the

Assyrians and the Babylonians But the greatest enemy of all their own sin and the separation from God that sin causes

So we know in the fall man and God were separated man is not the one who can reconcile the relationship

The relationship has to be reconciled by God and he gives us the terms Unconditional surrender lay down your arms.

You are the offending party. Not the offended you need to come to God on his terms What's that surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord stop trusting in yourself.

You continue to trust in yourself How's that working out for you, right you continue to trust in yourself you're gonna fail

But when you continue to trust in Christ the armor -bearer the one who's bore the armor for you

You're guaranteed to win you're guaranteed victory So remember the breastplate protects the heart the helmet protects the mind right, the breastplate is basically protecting you from the emotions that you're you're

Apt to to move in right the things that you feel on a regular basis and that changes

The helmet is designed to protect your mind, right? I hide God's law in my heart that I may not sin against him

You're feeding your mind the Word of God so that you stand in the midst of that evil day so Isaiah 51 the

Lord declares My righteousness draws near my salvation has gone out and my arms will judge the people's the coastlands

Hope for me and for my arm They wait lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath For the heavens vanish like smoke the earth will wear out like a garment and they who dwell in it will die in like manner

But my salvation will be forever My righteousness will never be dismayed

So whose righteousness do you want to count on your own? or his His righteousness is gonna stand forever.

His salvation is gonna stand forever. Anybody know what the word salvation is in the Old Testament Yeshua That ring a bell somebody in the

New Testament Yeshua is Jesus. So my salvation Yeshua Will be forever.

He's the one who's going to come and save his people from their sins Listen to me you who know righteousness the people in whose heart is my law.

It's a promise of the New Covenant I will write my law on your heart Fear not the reproach of man nor be dismayed at their revilings

We do not fear man We fear God Jesus tells us do not fear him who can kill the body

Fear him who can kill the body and soul and cast you into hell our fear Reverence is to God not man

For the moth will eat them up like a garment and the worm will eat them like wool But my righteousness will be forever and my salvation to all generations

This is God's plan of righteousness Not yours you trust in his plan not yours because of God's righteousness

Israel's ultimate salvation was assured in the midst of the very of the very real trials of the

Babylonian exile and the resulting doubts About whether the Lord had abandoned them because of their sins

God's people could be encouraged by the confident. Hope that God's promises would not fail people come and go

Empires rise and fall even the earth and the heavens themselves will one day wear out like a garment

Disappearing like the smoke that rises from a smoldering fire, but because the Lord is righteous

He must and will fulfill everything that he has promised including the deliverance and restoration of his people

That's God's promise. He is the righteous one. He is the one who's going to come and rescue his people

It's about God's righteousness Our righteousness is not what causes

God to love us His righteousness is what makes that happen, right? God's righteousness is a gift to the guilty not a reward for us who are supposedly good

This firm promise of God provides the basis for their secure hope in the midst of life's trials and difficulties

That God will save and deliver his people in the end. This is why in first Thessalonians, which pastor

Chris got right earlier Paul describes this piece of armor more fully as the hope of salvation

Now I'm not going to ask you now, but in the next slide I'm going to ask you what is the hope of salvation, right? The Christians helmet is his or her sure hope of salvation

The hope of salvation Well, what is the hope of salvation?

Give me an answer. This is a this isn't a rhetorical question who wants to Raise their hand shout out somebody anybody

What is huh? Going to heaven went. Okay, that's that that would be part of it.

Yeah Okay, so we're called to put on what the helmet of salvation you put on a nice floppy

Sun hat right you think that's going to help you if somebody's shooting at you You think that's going to help you if somebody's coming at you with a bat?

How well will that hat protect your head? It might protect you from the Sun Is it going to protect you from somebody who's trying to rob you or beat you?

No You need that kind of hat Right, you need the helmet.

You need something firm something. That's not going to move something. That's impenetrable

Something that's actually going to protect your head not leave it exposed like the Sun hat real hope is a settled conviction a confident

Expectation about where one will spend eternity like like Tom just said knowing that you're going to heaven

It's knowing it being confident that your final destination is in the presence of the

Lord Biblical hope is sufficiently sure that you can give a reason for it

First Peter 3 15 always be prepared to give a reason for what the hope you have What's the hope that you have that Jesus died on the cross for my sins that I made right with God because of him

Yet many people can't give a good reason for their vague feeling that they are going to heaven Hope is not wishful thinking

Mmm, I really hope I'm gonna get there if you really hope you're gonna get there, and you're not sure

Let me let me make a suggestion to you. You're trusting in yourself Because you don't know if you're good enough.

Here's what you need to know you're not Here's what you need to know he is Stop trusting in you and start trusting in him eternal life is the free gift of God Salvation is a shield for your head so that you recognize and remember

God is this is God's righteousness This is God's plan. He's the one who's going to rescue me

John says I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God That you may know that you have eternal life

So many people today of various Christian traditions tell you you can't be sure

You can't know if you're elect you can't know for sure you're going to heaven and all that tells me is

Somehow some way they think it depends on us on Humanity the moment you start thinking it depends on humanity you're on shaky ground

Show me one person aside from Jesus that was perfect What's the requirement to heaven?

perfect righteousness If you're not perfect yourself you have no hope

I Can tell you now if you're hoping in yourself you're doomed to fail You're not going to get in but if you're hoping in the one who did it for you ah

That's where the power comes from We must access the storehouse within the human mind in order to bring about biblical change in people's lives

According to God's Word the mind is not only the battlefield, but also the spoils for the war of enemy

That's where he's going to try to get you right. What was the promise in? Genesis 315

I am going to send one who's going to crush the head of the serpent The head in turn wants to crush the head of God's people

He wants to distort their mind get them to think something different and like we were talking about before When you read the scriptures, and you believe what they say you're thinking

God's thoughts after him now God's thoughts are perfect no When you think

God's thoughts after him you're thinking perfectly you're thinking biblically you're thinking godly Those are good thoughts

The Bible depicts Satan as the father of lies Johnny 44 who completely envelops the minds of those who are alienated from God so those people who don't know

God their minds are fodder for the enemy a field for him to sow seeds in People like who don't know what a woman is who don't know when life begins

Who thinks that men can be women and women can be men all that kind of stuff those are all lies from the enemy you?

Cannot do those things life begins a conception marriage is between a husband and a wife.

It's only two two genders male and female and seeks to change the minds of those who walk with God us those things like pest

Chris says every week the world is trying to catechize you and Understand this the way you live your life is a commercial for your worldview

How you comport yourself as a Christian is a commercial to the people around you telling them what you actually believe?

So when you compromise they say aha, yeah, I see But if you compromise recognize it and apologize for it.

So you know what I what I said to you was wrong I apologize let them know that there's forgiveness in Christ Jesus This is why

Paul holds the life that grasps the good pleasing and perfect will of God one Transformed by the renewing of your mind right you know this verse do not be conformed to this world

But be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern What is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect?

When we read God's Word We meditate on it. We study it We memorize it we hide

God's Word in my in our heart that we might not sin against him That transforms how you think on a daily basis.

That's why it's imperative that you be in the Word of God every day If you can't be in the

Word of God every day get an app on your phone and do them at memorization of the verse

Memorize it pick a verse Memorize it have it drilled into your head do it Memorize one verse a week you'll be astonished at how that changed the way it changes the way you think 2nd

Corinthians We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey

Christ Being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete

So when you memorize God's Word when you read God's Word and study it you use that to destroy arguments

Where are arguments found in? The lot are arguments found in the library are they found in the grocery store are they found in the movie theater?

Where are arguments found? People's minds ideas and arguments exist in people's minds

Why because they've been lied to by the enemy our minds have been filtered and changed by the

Word of God So that when somebody tells me oh a man could be a woman. I say no. Here's why

God said This is what it is We counter their arguments with the

Word of God we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God What's our ultimate foundation?

Where do we start the foundation of God's Word God's Word is truth? Whatever they tell you that's contrary to God's Word is a lie

They're believing the deception that the enemy has planted in their minds We combat that with the

Word of God All right, so exposing lies and teaching sound doctrine And rebuking those who contradict it.

That's one of the tasks of an elder so this morning I want to teach you sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it

Here's how the enemy uses lies and systems to get into your mind You guys all heard of the

Council of Trent the Council of Trent was an anti Reformation response in other words after the

Reformation came and people started entrusting in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation and Moving away from the errors of the

Roman Catholic Church. They didn't want to split the church They wanted to correct the errors well some people stuck their their heels in the ground and didn't want to move so the

Protestants They protested the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church Rome's response was the

Council of Trent And here's what they say in Council 9 if anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone

Meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification And that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared or disposed by the action of his own will let him be anathema

The word anathema means eternally cursed, so if you believe If you trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, you're not trusting in anything that you do

Rome pronounces you anathema Canon 12 if anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence which is another word for faith

Confidence in divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake or that it is this confidence alone that justifies

Justifies us let him be anathema Eternally cursed so the two things that the

Bible teaches they reject, and they say that we're accursed Being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus Right we are

Justified by placing our faith and trust in Jesus as a free gift not something that we earn

I used the illustration yesterday I was talking to somebody If I came to your house And I was counseling you and I took something out of my bag

And I gave it to you unwrapped it. It was like a gold Rolex watch you're like wow Anthony That's that's really nice You know and in the awkward because that's such a that's a really expensive gift right in the awkwardness of the moment you stick your

Hand in your pocket say here take this you got like 20 or 30 dollars How would you make me feel if I was giving that to you as a gift?

You'd insult me you'd insult me now if I took the money. What would the watch no longer be?

Wouldn't be a gift Be a great deal on a Rolex, but it wouldn't be a gift a gift is given freely

It's received freely the moment you have to give something for it you negate the fact that it's a gift

Eternal life is a gift For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law

So the works of the law include the Ten Commandments you are not justified by that Now when

God comes in and changes your heart and writes his law on your heart on your new heart of course You're gonna follow those things, but that's the fruit of salvation not the root of it, right?

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness This is even before The New Testament was written.

This is Genesis 15. This is in the Old Testament the Old Testament Saints were saved by faith why?

Once you place your faith in the Savior he gives you his perfect righteousness. That's what

Abraham received That's what in the book of Romans right after this. That's what David received

But as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God Even to those who believe in his name

All right, so what I want to do is Shane if you could pull up this video

Just a couple of days ago the Pope was in Singapore and what he did he gave a talk

Okay, so the the the Pope is in Singapore, and he has a panel of people of various different different faiths and I want to I want you to listen to what the

Pope tells to the people of Various different faiths what to do all right

Notice the title together for unity together for unity, that's ballpark.

It's you in unity Because every religion is a way to arrive at God Sono Dino una comparazione

Sono come diverse lingua diverse idiomi per arrivare li

Sort of a comparison an example would be they're sort of like different languages in order to arrive at God Madio a do per tutti, but God is is

God for all the comedy or a do per tutti No, he's a mo tutti

Philly did you and if God is God for all then we're all sons and daughters of God But my

God is more important than your God Is that true?

There's only one God and each of us is a language so to speak in order to arrive at God There are different paths

In order to have interreligious dialogue among young people it takes courage

Does it take courage to tell anyone? Someone else that Jesus is the only way to salvation or is it does it take courage to tell you?

Anyway, it leads to God all pathways lead to God a pernicious error

This is why you need to wear the helmet of salvation To start to stop yourself from flowing at well.

God must love all people all people are children of God No John tells us to those who receive him he gave the right to become children of God We do not all start off as God's children

Ephesians chapter 2 says we were objects of wrath God's wrath doesn't abide on his children

You have to you have to put on the helmet to stop yourself from absorbing these things

Because this can tend to work on your emotions How can I believe that my Muslim neighbor who's really a sincerely good guy in a good name?

How can he be cast into hell? Because he doesn't have a

Savior. He rejects the Savior those those There was Muslims there was

Sikhs there were Hindus there They all heard that their pathway is the path to God.

Yes, John Yeah, so exactly good good point. This is one of the things I meant to say so all paths lead to God Except the

Protestants whose faith and trust is in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation We're separated from them.

They have the truth then this is called Inclusivism where all religions at some point get to God So what

I like to tell them is listen if you're gonna persist and believing that all roads lead to God This is what I'm gonna tell you.

I Agree with them. I say all roads do lead to God as Judge only one leads to them as his child and that's through Jesus Christ Right all roads lead to God you will all stand before God to be judged

But he does not judge his children they've been judged in Jesus Christ already

That's why the message of salvation is so important That's why we need to put on the helmet of salvation and be able to convey the gospel to the people who believe these lies

Who the largest supposed Christian denomination in all the world is telling him all roads lead to heaven

This is a pernicious era now before you get so angry at the Roman Catholic Church Have mercy on the people who believe the lie

Right we are on a rescue mission You do need courage to share the gospel

But share it boldly share it confidently because he is the way the truth and the life and no one gets to the father

But through him So you're standing on you have the gospel of readiness the shoes of the gospel of peace

Stand on your firm foundation and share the gospel. This is how we bring God's kingdom to earth, okay?

Let's continue confident assurance Genesis 3 1 through 7 describes the far -reaching and devastating blow to the human mind that would affect every human being who lived thereafter

Without question Satan waged war against God and the human race in this monumental passage

Where the battlefield turns out to be Eve's mind in the end Eve exchanged the truth of God for the lie of Satan and the

Human mind has never been the same since so when at when when Adam taught Eve Okay, don't talk don't eat of the fruit of that tree

Satan comes to her starts talking to her Did God really say are you really gonna die?

So what does it Eve do hmm? Let me test this Let me step off what God says Let me stand on what he's the the enemy so she didn't know he's the enemy

Let me stand on what this angel says let me see how it works out disaster Plunges and Adam standing right there allows it to happen this plunges the whole human race into sin

So our minds because of Adam's sin our minds are stained polluted by sinfulness

So we're all born into this world Not as children of God, but as of enemies of God and we need to be reconciled to him

That's the blow that Satan hit to the human race so Has God said that's the question that the enemy asks, and this is what you need to know this is what he said and I call these the nevers of Scripture, and it was in a

Message by Steve Lawson listen to this if you're a child of God John 3 16

You'll never perish if you drank of the waters that he gives you you will never thirst if your trust is in Jesus You'll never be judged.

You'll never hunger Jesus says if you trust in me, you'll never be cast out John 6 39.

You'll never be lost John 8 51 and 52 you'll never see death He talks to Martha in in John 10 28.

You'll never perish if you're part of the resurrection You'll never perish. He says do you believe this that's my question to you.

Do you believe that? John 11 26 you're never gonna die. You're never going to walk in darkness

You're never going to be orphaned you're never going to be left alone and not protected that's what the whole book of Ephesians is about and You're never going to be unguarded unguarded in Jesus's high priestly prayer.

He prays that he would protect all his people Do you believe that or do you believe what all the other religions tell you if you're in Christ all of those things all

Of those nevers apply to you That's why we can have confidence John 10 27 to 30 my sheep hear my voice.

I know them and they follow me So if you're a believer, it's because you're hearing the voice of God It's resonating with your spirit and you know, you know that this is true

I give them eternal life and they will what never perish No one will snatch them out of my hand

My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand

I and the father are one now. It's amazing. How many people read this and say well, you can't be snatched out

But you could walk out. Is that what that's teaching? Okay, my father is greater than all

But you can walk out that makes you greater than the father just saying

This is not teaching that you can lose your salvation This is teaching you that you are secure in the hand of God if you're not secure in the hand of God Where are you secure your own effort your own performance?

God forbid? John 10 24 so the Jews gathered around him and said how long will you keep us in suspense if?

You're the Christ tell us plainly now this verse comes right before this one Jesus answered them

I told you and you don't believe It's as simple as that I told you on the

Christ you don't believe it Jesus his sheep hear his voice The works that I do in my father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you're not among my sheep right his sheep

Hit the people who are not a sheep don't hear his voice the people who are his sheep hear his voice

My sheep hear my voice When someone's listen listening to what

Romanists called the vicar of Christ on earth in the in the office of the Pope They're believing what the

Pope says They're not believing what Christ says you have to go back to the words of God You have to read what

Jesus says about himself You have to read what the Word of God says about salvation and you trust in what

God says Not what any man says Put it this way don't trust what I say just go to the

Word of God and trust that I'm a human being I could Be wrong, but God can't that's our foundation

That's why there is nothing arrogant about saying that we know for sure. We're going to heaven

Indeed we would be incredibly prideful to rest our hope in heaven on our own goodness But if our salvation is a free gift that comes to us by simple faith in Christ and his work on our behalf

Then there is nothing arrogant in claiming such knowledge We're simply taking

God as at his Word We're simply saying Lord. You said it. I believe it.

I trust in you Not any man not any system not any organized religion or church.

I trust in you We can even go further we're able to wear the armor of God with confidence because Jesus wore it first for us

He was forever faithful to God the Father in Isaiah 59 17 It was the

Lord himself who donned righteousness as his breastplate and put the helmet of salvation on his head

He earned it for us This means that Jesus not only lived a spotless life perfect righteousness in our place

He also hoped perfectly perfectly in our place in other words He had confident expectation

Jesus knows what it is to endure trials and suffering while keeping his hope in the father's care

The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus learned obedience Through what he suffered for the joy that was set before him.

He endured the cross despising it shame why? Was Jesus confident because he was perfectly faithful He knows that his sheep will hear his voice and all that the father gives him will come to him and whoever comes to Him he will never cast out, but raise them up on my on the last day for his will is to do his father's will

He's perfectly confident that all his sheep will be saved Not one of them is going to be lost

Jesus came to seek and save the lost and my question to you is does he succeed in that mission or fail? I tried really hard, but I failed no

Jesus is not a salesman. He's a Savior He's not bidding you to buy into his plan.

Please pick me I'm the only boy you can get to heaven Jesus says I'm the only way to get to heaven you want to follow me great.

You don't okay? Go ahead because he's confident that his perfect work is gonna accomplish exactly what

God the father intended it Jesus's hope has already been vindicated

Why he's now seated at the right hand of the father and has become the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him

The head that once was crowned with thorns is now wreathed in eternal glory

He's seated at the father ruling and reigning until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet

Because Jesus has worn the armor of God first Accomplishing perfect righteousness through his spotless life and winning our salvation through his atoning death

We are now able confidently to wear the helmet of the hope of salvation the confident

Expectation of salvation because God promised it and we can trust his promises Our salvation has already been accomplished for us by Christ all that waits is the future harvest of that salvation

Okay, remember What is Jesus's active obedience accomplish? Anybody know his active obedience.

What does that garner for us? What do I mean by active obedience? His life right the way he lived his life.

He was perfectly obedient So he earned the righteousness we need through perfect obedience to God the

Father He lived the life that we needed to live but didn't Now what's

Jesus's passive obedience? Everybody want to venture a guess? Okay He paid our debt through the subsidiary substitutionary death on the cross.

In other words He allowed Himself to be crucified. He says nobody put me on the cross.

I Allowed that to happen, right? This is God the Father. This is the plan of salvation He was going to the cross, but he allowed it.

He could have stopped it, but that was the plan of salvation So his active obedience is what he did his passive obedience is what he received

He lived the perfect life for us, but died the death we deserve in essence

That's the gospel when you trust in Jesus. You're saying my life isn't good enough. Praise God His is

If I pay the price for my sins, I'm going to be turning separated, but thank goodness. He took that penalty

Does that make sense to everybody? That's really important Protection and boldness

Helmets provide the soldier with protection against bullets and blows in a similar way the hope of salvation provides a real protection for the

Christian In times of difficulty or distress it defends the Christian against discouragement and despair

Why should you be discouraged by your present challenging circumstances when you have such a glorious and secure inheritance awaiting for you

Right. Sometimes we look out at America. I'm like, oh gosh, this place is going down. This is not good

You live in America, but you're a citizen of the kingdom right, that's First and foremost that should be preeminent in your mind the citizenship in the kingdom that Jesus is

Lord in that's the one we're concerned about Think about this suppose tomorrow you receive two letters in one you receive the news that your great auntie

Frida in Australia This is Ian Dugan, by the way, your great auntie Frida in Australia had died and left you ten million dollars

While in the same post the next letter you also received a parking ticket that was going to cost you 50 bucks

Which of the two letters is going to shape your day? The sure and certain hope of ten million dollars or the present depressed depressing reality of the $50 fine

That's not even gonna be a figment like that's not even gonna be a passing thought big deal. I got a $50 fine

I'm getting ten million dollars remember What do you think of this statement? Jesus died for your sins and there is now no condemnation in Christ and you are co -heir with Christ What does that mean?

Do you believe that? Everything that Christ has because you're in communion with him or a marital covenant with him all his

Assets if you will are yours You're no longer an orphan You're not an orphan.

You're a child of God to those who received him He gave the right to become children of God. You've been in a dot.

You've been adopted into the family of God You're seated in the heavenlies. You have every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus Right.

So when your Pentecostals friends come to you and say hey, have you received the second blessing you say? Yes, I received all of them

I'm seated in the heavenlies. I received every spiritual blessing in Christ. Not only did I receive the second blessing I received the third the fourth the fifth all of them whatever blessing every one of them

I have in Christ I'm not waiting for the second blessing. I have all the blessings now Stop acting like you don't

Okay. What about trials? How does God allow that and we went through this last week for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of Glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen

But the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal so many people are killing themselves for the things of this world and Neglecting the invisible things the immaterial things that really matter

They're killing themselves for the things that are temporary where Jesus killed himself for the things that were permanent he secured eternal salvation eternal union with God a

Spiritual blessing that will never fade away the things of this world will stop killing yourself for the things of the world

James 1 2 through 4 count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and the steadfastness has its full effect

You will be made perfect and complete lacking in nothing Trials have a purpose they're given to you for a purpose

So if you come for counseling good chance one of the elders is going to bring up one of these verses to you and say hey

Listen, are you rejoicing in this recognizing that God is for you not against you. This is for your good We don't want to hear that but that's why we need to put on the helmet of salvation

Remembering the things that God said even with regards to our trials Romans 5 3 not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings.

Oh, man This is another reason why I never would have picked Christianity, right? I got to rejoice in my suffering.

Yeah, knowing that suffering produces endurance Endurance produces character and character produces hope which is what?

Confident expectation and hope confident expectation does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts

Through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us Paul tells us not to look at the the material things of this world

Look to the invisible things the endurance and the spiritual blessings that you have through these trials and rejoice in them

Doubt about your eternal salvation naturally leads on a trajectory that ends in despair

If you doubt God's desire and ability to save you ultimately Why should you believe in his desire and ability to watch over you in the present storms of life?

Hope supports you in your deepest afflictions. You recognize that God has a plan and a purpose in the midst of this

Hope protects you when you're sick and when you're sad you recognize that in the midst of this

God will sustain you He's gonna work all things together for good and somehow some way he's he's going to work something in my heart

Preparing me hope sustains you when you're rejected and when you're lonely you think Jesus was lonely at the cross

Everybody abandoned him his closest friends his disciples abandoned him. He knows loneliness

So rather than pull away from God when you're lonely pull closer to God when you're lonely and when you pull closer to God What are you gonna do?

You're gonna fellowship with his people and when you fellowship with his people, you're no longer lonely Hope bears you up when you're depressed and downcast

You think Jesus before he went to the cross? What'd he say? Lord If there be any other way

You know, maybe Yet not my will be done And I heard a pastor recently play pray

Lord, we pray that your will will be done and we pray that we would love your will Sometimes we're praying

God's will would be done and we're like I still don't I don't like it. I Want God's will to be done because I love

God's will Hope strengthens you even when you stare face to face at the last enemy death itself death shall not have the final victory

Jesus conquered death. So if you're facing death Fear not he conquered death you are going to live on the other side

You realize at some point in time every one of us in this room is going to die Right just a matter of when

But if your faith and trust is in Jesus, you're gonna see him face to face the one who conquered death You're gonna be resurrected with him on the last day

This the Christ in whom your hope rests has already triumphed. He has the victory already

You don't need to earn it you just need to bring a reflection of the victory he had at the cross you are the recipient of of his righteousness and the the payment for your sins

Act that way your hope of salvation Thus protects you in the deepest darkest valleys of your life by reminding you of God's power and his care for you

Hope encourages you to hold lightly to the good things of this world as well for these two

We shall also leave behind one day the highs as well as the lows in life are put in their proper

Perspective in the light of the all -surpassing glory of our salvation in Jesus Amen, so let me ask you something.

What is it you think about most? Before you go to bed, what are you thinking about? When you wake up, what are you thinking about when you're carrying on your day going to work or doing homeschooling or whatever?

It is what are you thinking about most? A .W. Toza says what comes into your mind when you the what the first thing that comes into your mind

Mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you What are you thinking about most?

the government the stock market your job your health a relationship a house something of physical nature that's transient

The key surely lies in remembering and thinking often about the glories of our salvation.

I often pray Lord May I never get over the wonder and awe of my own salvation?

I don't deserve this at all But I have it because of Jesus if you've forgotten about the ten million dollar

Inheritance by the time the parking ticket hits your hope cannot do anything to protect you You have a lot more than ten million dollars in your account you have perfect righteousness

You're gonna live in the new heavens and the new earth Never worrying about anything never crying all the tears will be removed

You are gonna be in perfect union with the God who breathed the universe into existence Like you gotta let that settle in But if you spend every moment of the day thinking planning wondering visualizing your new life as a millionaire

The parking ticket is less likely to throw you into a downward spiral of despair Recognize you're not an orphan.

You're a child of the one true God Put on the helmet of the hope of your salvation experience the joy and boldness that come from the certainty of your righteousness in Christ and the

Solid assurance that the one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on that day

What is the hope of salvation? Is it this? Are you gonna wear that hat and get knocked to and fro by every lie that the enemy tells you?

Or are you gonna put on the helmet and protect your mind and remind yourself of the gospel every single day?

Remind yourself that you have what God's giving you you can rely on the power and the promises of God Jesus secured salvation

I'm confident that I'm going to heaven. That's not arrogant because I'm not trusting in me. Let him who boasts boast in the

Lord I simply take God out of this word. I'll leave you with this Colossians 1 10 27 to them

God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is

Christ in you the hope the confident expectation of glory if Christ lives in you you are his child.

You will not be plucked out of his hand Nor will you walk out of his hand you will be redeemed on the last day praise

God Okay, really quick the righteousness and salvation Okay, both come from God himself

God through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit The hope of salvation is confident expectation

It's not wishful thinking we can bank on what God said because he's not a man that he should lie

He doesn't change his mind We can have confident assurance again because it doesn't depend on me

It depends on him the full weight of my salvation was bore by Jesus on the cross

We have protection and boldness Because we rely on the protection and the promises of God the power and the promises of God He's the one who's in control so that even in my suffering even in my trials

I can rejoice because I know he's got a greater purpose for it and Finally we put on the helmet

Do not fail to put on the helmet and guard your mind Because of Christ by the by the power of the

Word of God to hide it in your heart So that you will not sin against him and you will be able to destroy

Arguments and and everything that sets itself up against the knowledge. Okay?

Any final questions? Yes, John. We're good.