Alright, you don't have to keep your Bibles open there in Acts 27, we are going to come
back to that passage later on. But for now, can you please go to 1 Thessalonians chapter
5, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and we're continuing our series on the armour of God, putting on
the whole armour of God so we can stand in a wicked day, so we can be soldiers for God,
so we can be effective in this spiritual warfare that we find ourselves in. And while you turn
to 1 Thessalonians 5, let me just read to you the portion of scripture once again that
has to do with the whole armour of God. In Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17, it says, And
take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
so we're up to the helmet of salvation, the helmet of salvation. Now I don't know what
you think about this Brethren, I remember when I was a child, I remember being just
a young man reading my Bible, seeing the whole armour of God, you hear a lot of good preaching
about this topic, but it never made sense to me why I have to have this helmet of salvation.
And the reason I was a little confused on this as a young man is because I was thinking
about, I thought this had to do with the soul's salvation. I thought this had to do with getting
saved and going to heaven, that kind of salvation. In actual fact, the salvation that's been
referred to here is basically any kind of deliverance. Yes, you can apply it to salvation
of your soul, but actually when you think about this, this is a believer who's been
asked to put on the whole armour. So you're already a believer. Whether you've got the
helmet on or not, you're saved. And so the Bible says in Ephesians 6 and 11, put on the
whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. And
so if you think the helmet of salvation is your soul's salvation, then you can see why
some people might take this passage and teach that you can lose your salvation. You can
take it off, you've got to make sure you put it back on. If you take it off, you're not
saved. You've got to put it back on now, you're saved. You take it off, you're not saved.
You put it back on, you're saved. And before you know it, you're teaching a workspace salvation.
And so having a misunderstanding of what the salvation here is can get you into bad doctrine.
So that's obviously when you read the Bible and you see the word salvation or saved, it's
not always about the salvation of the soul. In fact, we're going through Psalms right
now. How many times do we see, you know, salvation or deliverance, right? King David, one of
the main psalmist, is already saved. And often he's speaking about the salvation against
his enemies. Or he finds himself in a bad place, in a bad spiritual place, and he's
asking for deliverance, you know, in our lives. And so, you know, we are people that are saved.
And of course, you know, in Ephesians 1, 1, it says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God to the saints, which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
And so if the book of Ephesians is written to the saints in Ephesus, are they already
saved? Absolutely, they're saved. That's why they're called saints, right? They've
been sanctified. They believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. They've called upon the name
of the Lord. And so believers are being told to put on the helmet of salvation. Okay? Now
you're already saved. Once saved, always saved. Praise God. There's nothing you can
do to lose your salvation. That's why it's called eternal life. It's called everlasting
life. Because if you could finish tomorrow, it wouldn't be eternal. It wouldn't be everlasting,
right? Just by definition, the words everlasting and eternal means that it's once saved, always
saved. And so then if this is for the believer, this is part of our spiritual fight, part
of our spiritual armour, what is the helmet of salvation exactly? What is that aspect?
And that's why I asked you to turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and look at verse number 6. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5 and of course we know these chapters very well. It's about the second coming
of the Lord. We know that 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is about the rapture. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5 is about the day of the Lord, which is the day that the rapture takes place. And
then it says in verse number 6, notice this, it says, Therefore let us not sleep as do
others but let us watch and be sober for they that sleep, sleep in the night and they that
be drunken are drunk in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, now notice
this, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, now notice this, and for a helmet
the hope of salvation. Okay? The hope of salvation. So why is this important? Well you know he's
talking about the end times and of course we know that at the end, in the end times,
believers are going to go through great tribulation. You know there's going to be great persecution
for the people of God and so we're looking forward to the day of Christ. We're looking
forward to the coming of Christ. And so when he's speaking about putting on the helmet,
the hope of salvation, you know this is speaking about yes, that you are going to be saved,
you are going to be delivered because we know that immediately after the tribulation that
the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and he delivers us from the tribulation. In fact he comes
back and gives us those new resurrected bodies, the rapture takes place. So the hope of salvation,
practically speaking in this passage, is the rapture. Of course the previous chapter is
all about the rapture, right? So we understand what this is talking about now, this is all
about just being delivered from hardship, being delivered from difficulties. Look at
verse number nine, what delivery is this? It's verse number nine for God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation. What about salvation? Again, the rapture, the salvation
of the physical body that we're going to be delivered from great tribulation, right? We're
not going to go for the wrath of God. To obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ
who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him. And so I
think 1 Thessalonians chapter five gives us a better definition, a better explanation
of what the helmet of salvation is, okay? It's the hope of salvation. Now brethren,
one of the spiritual, you know, pieces, the helmet that you must put on is just hope in
God's deliverance, okay? Yes, in the rapture, yes, but you know what? As I've been preaching
for the book of Psalms, we'll find ourselves in difficulties. We're going to find ourselves
in trials, in hardships, and what's going to get you through that is the hope of salvation.
It's the hope of deliverance, knowing that God's going to come through and help me
in this time of trial. That's what this is about, okay? And so when we're going
into spiritual warfare, when we're going to fight, you know, pretend that you're a
soldier, right? You're being sent out by, you know, the army. You're going to fight
a war. There are bullets flying past. You know, you're afraid of your life. Am I going
to be delivered, Lord? Am I going to die? Am I going to succeed in this battle? Well,
what we have is, believe it, is the hope of salvation. We know that the Lord's going
to hear us. The Lord can deliver us, you know, that we're in his hands. And listen, whether
we wake or sleep, whether we're dead or alive, we're going to be with the Lord. We
have this hope of his deliverance. This is something that the unsaved world do not have,
okay? But as Christians, if you don't put the helmet on, then you can lose hope. You
know, when you're going through difficulties, when you're going through hardships, when
you're going through spiritual warfare, if you don't have the hope of salvation, you
don't have that helmet on, then you're going to find yourself really struggling. You're
going to find yourself getting downcast. You're going to find yourself maybe even getting
angry with God. God, where's your hand of deliverance? Where's your hand of salvation
in my trials? Now, if you can please go to the previous chapter, 1 Thessalonians 4, because
what the Bible's telling us here, brethren, is that as soldiers, we have hope, alright?
We have hope that God will deliver us. But the unbeliever, the Bible says, has no hope,
okay? No hope. Let me give you some examples of this. The Bible says in Ephesians 2-11,
Therefore remember that ye been in time past Gentiles in the flesh, before ye were saved,
it says here, who are called uncircumcision, by that which is called the circumcision in
the flesh, made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world, and without God in the world. So the unbeliever, the Bible
says, has no hope. He is without God in this world. You know, the unbeliever goes through
the same trials that you do. They go through the same sicknesses, the difficulties that
you go through. But they have no hope. They have no deliverer. They don't have God in
this world. And so the helmet of salvation is to bring to our remembrance that we have
a mighty God who will deliver us through hardships. I mean, that's such a benefit,
right? Just to know that God is our saviour. He is our deliverer. And so, you know, before
you were saved, the Bible says you were a stranger without God. You had not entered
into any covenant with God. You had no hope. You're a stranger. You're without God in
this world. All right? But you're at 1 Thessalonians 4. Look at verse number 13. So before leading
into the passage on the rapture, you know, the Apostle Paul is speaking to the Thessalonian
church, and they were a little bit upset because they had lost some loved ones, you know, they
had passed away. And he writes this in verse number 13, 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13. He
writes, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep
or those that had passed away, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Okay,
no hope. So what is he saying? He's saying the unbelieving world, the unsaved, have no
hope. You know, when they lose a loved one, they have no hope. They have no confidence
that they're going to see them again. Okay? This is, look, we as believers, we as Christians,
when our saved loved one passes away, when someone in our church passes away, hey, we
have hope. We don't have to mourn like, yes, we can mourn. Nothing wrong with mourning.
That's important, but we don't have to mourn like the others that have no hope. So, brethren,
even when you're mourning for a loved one, you know, specifically here, a saved loved
one, we have an advantage. We have a huge advantage over the unbelieving world, you
know? And because the hope there is the rapture, the hope there that we're going to see them
again, all right? Not just some spiritual realm, we're going to see them physically
at the rapture when they receive their new resurrected bodies. They're going to be risen
up first, and then we'll be caught up together with them in the clouds, you know? And we'll
be able to see our saved loved ones again. And so there's that hope, right? The hope,
the world doesn't have hope. The world is without God, and the world has no hope of
a resurrection. We have that hope. We know this isn't the end. We know there's a future
ahead of us, a really exciting future for us. And if I can get you to turn to, please
go to Titus chapter three. Go to Titus chapter three. And while you're turning to Titus
chapter three, I'm going to read to you from Jeremiah 18. You go to Titus chapter three.
Because having this hope of salvation, this hope of deliverance is going to drive you
to live a certain way, okay? And we're going to go through those points shortly, but I'm
going to read to you from Jeremiah 18 verse 11. This is God speaking to a backslid in
Israel. So for those sitting at the back, backslidden, this is for you. All right, Jeremiah
18 verse 11. It says, Now therefore go to speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, behold, I frame evil against you, and devise
a device against you. So God's planning to do them evil. But then he says this, Return
ye now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. He says, Look,
get it right, get it right with me before I do evil on you, right? And this is how they
respond. And they said, this is backslidden in Israel, there is no hope. That's what they
say. I'll read verse number 12 again. And they said, There is no hope, but we will walk
after our own devices, and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. All
right? So when we have this hope of salvation, we have a hope of deliverance, look, God is
saying, I'm going to come down and bring evil upon you. I'm going to come and bring judgment
and wrath upon you. Just get it right. Just get right with me. Just stop doing evil, stop
doing wicked things. And so what this hope does for us brethren, as saved believers,
it gives us hope of a righteous life, knowing that God is patient with us. He doesn't want
to chastise us. He doesn't want to bring swift judgment. He wants to give us time. Okay,
this hope of salvation, instead of being destroyed in our sins, God's given us time. We have
hope that he's going to deliver us from these struggles, these sinful, wicked devices that
we have in our hearts and our minds and our hands. God's given us the opportunity to turn
from those things. Hey, we have hope in that, right? But the backslidden Israel says, There's
no hope. I'm just going to keep doing sinful works. I'm just going to keep living this
way. And so listen, we ought to be excited and know that God can deliver us, even when
we're in a state of backslidden, wicked sins in our lives, you know, that God can bring
us deliverance. God can bring us salvation. And that's going to cause you to live a righteous
life, to be able to turn from those wickedness when you know that God's judgment is going
to come down swiftly upon you if you don't turn from those things. All right. So, you
know, the helmet of salvation is not primarily about the salvation of your soul, as I said,
right? It's about our daily life as a Christian. We can apply it in a sense for that. And so
you know, positionally, positionally, you know, we are as good as being in heaven right
now. Just right now you're saved. It's just in God's eyes, it's like you're in heaven
already. You should just count yourself as in heaven. The new man has already entered
the kingdom of God. Okay. But that's our position. All right. There is still a process. I'm not
talking about a process to be saved. All right. But a process that will eventually give us
a complete salvation. And as I've already covered, what does that look like? That's
the resurrection. The salvation of the flesh. The resurrection of this dead body, right?
Giving us a new body. That's still a future thing to come. And so when you talk about
the hope of salvation, this is more in relation to time, as we go through time, as we live
our lives in hope of deliverance, which ultimately will conclude with the resurrected body at
the rapture. All right. So you're in Titus chapter three and verse number five. I just
want to show you this, the position and the relation to time, salvation in relation to
time. Okay. In relation to a process that is still happening in our lives. Okay. And
I know, I hesitate to say that because, you know, when people talk about a process of
salvation, they're talking about, you know, well, you know, you believe, now you've got
to turn from your sins and you've got to get baptised and you've got to keep living a clean
life and whatever it is, you know, people, other people don't know. That's not what I'm
talking about. I'm just talking about the process that will lead us eventually to have
that fullness of salvation, which is the resurrected body. Okay. Look at Titus chapter
three, verse number five. It says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done,
but according to his mercy, he saved us. Past tense. Are you saved today? Absolutely. That's
our position, right? Our position, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our saviour. Now notice
this, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. Hey, are we hoping for eternal life? Yeah. But do we have eternal life now?
Yeah, we do. We have eternal life right now because we're saved, but we're also hoping
for that eternal life because we know that that new body is coming. We know that the
millennium is coming. We know the new heavens and the new earth are coming and we're hoping
for that fullness of salvation to come. Okay. So there's those two elements, right? The
position and our walk or the time that it takes for us to have that complete salvation.
And so when we talk about the helmet of salvation, it's got more to do with that period of time,
that process that will eventually lead us to the resurrected bodies, you know, being
with Christ forever. Now, if you can, please go to Psalm 119. Psalm 119. So now I'm going
to go through five points. So five advantages or five points that this helmet of salvation
gives us. Okay. If we know we're in difficulties, we have a hope that God will deliver us. Okay.
What are five advantages that we have as a Christian? Psalm 119, maybe not advantages,
just five points relating to this topic. Okay. Psalm 119 and verse number 81, verse number
81. Give you a moment to turn there because it's a big Psalm, right? Verse number 81.
Point number one is that the helmet of salvation will draw us to his word. All right. It will
draw us to his word. How do I know I have the helmet of salvation on? Well, are you
being drawn to his word? This is the first thing you notice. Look at verse number 81.
It says, my soul fainteth for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Now what salvation
is this talking about? Okay. My soul fainted for thy salvation. Is that the salvation of
the soul? Well, Psalmist is saved, right? So he's going through some difficulties, going
through some hardship, or maybe he's just considering the end result, the resurrected
body. And it says, because of that, he hopes in the word, right? Go to verse number 147,
verse 147. Same Psalm, 147. It says, I prevented the dawning of the morning and cried, I hope
in thy word. Do you see that the Psalmist looks at the word of God and says, look, this
gives me hope. When I read the word of God, it gives me this hope of this salvation to
come, this deliverance to come. And brethren, that's what the helmet does. It drives us
to the word of God so we can be hopeful for a future, for a deliverance, for some help
of God in our lives. Go to verse number 166, same Psalm, 166. It says, Lord, I have hoped
for thy salvation and done thy commandments. Okay? I have hoped in thy salvation and done
thy commandments. So we know he wants salvation, he's hoping for this, he knows God can deliver
me. And he goes, well, you know what, it drives me to his word because it's through
his word that I can get this hope, right? This hope of salvation. And of course, once
you dig into the word of God, you know his commandments much better. You know what God
wants from you. And so then you can keep his commandments. You can do the commandments
that God is asking you to do. So point number one, I won't harp on this point because part
of the fruit of the spirit of course is, sorry, the armor of God is the sword of the spirit,
the word of God. So we'll move on from that. But the point number one is that the helmet
of salvation will draw us to his word. Okay? And the word of course is the sword of the
spirit. We'll cover that next time. Now please, I should have told you to stay in Titus. If
you go back to Titus, go to Titus chapter two. Titus chapter two. Titus chapter two.
Point number two is that the helmet of salvation will motivate us to purity, to live a pure
life, to live a clean life. Okay? The hope of salvation will draw us to live a life of
purity. Okay? Now the Bible says in first John three two, Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear,
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now look at verse number three.
It says, and every man that have this hope in him purify of himself, even as he is pure.
So do we have a hope of salvation? A hope of this resurrection of life? Yes we do. We
know we're going to be like him. Alright? And we know that Jesus Christ is pure, and
that's why it says there in verse number three, and every man that have this hope in him purify
himself, even as he is pure. So when we think about the truth that we're going to have
new resurrected bodies, we're going to be like Jesus, we're not going to have struggles
with sin anymore, that should drive us, right? To live a pure life. To live a righteous life.
To get the sins out of our life. The hope of salvation. The helmet. And so this is how
you know whether you've got the helmet or not. Alright? Number one, does it draw you
to the word of God? Number two, does it cause you to desire to live a pure life? Now look,
I'm not saying that you've got it on if you only live a pure life, because none of us
live a 100% pure life, right? We all struggle with sin. We're all trying to fight this battle
in our flesh. But having that helmet of salvation, knowing what's going to happen in the future,
that we're going to have these pure bodies like Jesus will draw us to live a pure life.
Here in Titus chapter two, verse number eleven, Titus chapter two and verse eleven, it says
for the grace of God that bringeth salvation have appeared to all men, okay, now notice
this, so bringeth salvation, the grace of God bringeth salvation, teaching us that,
what's it teaching us? That denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, okay, we should live soberly,
righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope. What's a blessed
hope? The hope of our physical salvation, the salvation of the flesh, the resurrection,
the coming of Christ, it says and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour,
Jesus Christ, look at this, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify, there it is, the purity, he's going to help you purify and purify unto himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works. And so when you've got the hope, the helmet, the hope
of salvation on you, it's going to draw you, drive you to live a pure life, drive you to purity,
looking for that blessed hope, you know, with the help of Jesus Christ, he wants to purify unto
himself a peculiar people. That's what makes you peculiar, by the way, okay? What makes you
peculiar is you living a pure life, standing out from the world, that's what makes you peculiar.
Oh man, I thought what made me peculiar was believing all the controversial doctrines. No,
that's not what makes, you know, you can believe all those controversial doctrines about reprobates
or, you know, you know, what else is there? Replacement theology, that's pretty controversial,
but you can still live a very wicked and dirty life. That's not making you peculiar. What should
be making you peculiar is you living a pure life, a pure life, a righteous life, a good life,
that's different from the wickedness of this world, okay? And so the hope of salvation,
remembering Jesus will give me his body, a body just like he is, I'm going to be just like him,
for the power of his resurrection, well, Lord, I'm not going to wait for that day. I want to
live like that now. I want to live like that today. Why should I wait for that time if God's
given me that power? God's given me the new man. I've got this wicked filth. He wants to have a
peculiar people. I better start cleaning up. Why? Because I have a hope of salvation, okay? That
helmet of salvation, that deliverance to come, okay? So the helmet of salvation will motivate
us to purity. That's point number two. Point number three, and this is where we can go back
to the book of Acts now. Let's go to Acts 27 where the reading was from. Acts chapter 27,
and I think this is my main point. I've got five points, and this is probably on my main point,
okay? Out of the five points. Acts chapter 27. So as brother Jason was reading Acts chapter 27,
toward the end of the book of Acts, this is after, you know, Paul, well, you know the story,
Paul gets arrested. I don't know if you all know, sorry. He gets arrested, and eventually he's
getting brought into Rome to stand before Caesar. And so he's on a journey on the ship, you know,
some other prisoners. He's a prisoner himself, and other, you know, the ship captain, and sailors,
and all that. Anyway, they hit some rough seas, all right? They hit some rough seas, and they get
into a shipwreck, all right? So let's pick up the story here in verse number 18. Acts chapter 27,
and verse number 18. And actually, before we read that passage, let me just read to you from
Lamentations chapter 3 verse 25. Let me just read it to you. It says this, the Lord is good unto
them that waits for him, to the soul that seeketh him. Then it says this in verse 26, it is good
that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord, okay? So what this is
saying is, when we're going through some difficulties, all right, and we're like,
God, can you please hurry up and save me? Can you please hurry up and deliver me from this
difficulty? The Bible says it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the Lord. Listen, the salvation of the Lord will come, okay? You don't have to get,
you know, don't be impatient. Just be patient. Just wait and hope for that salvation. And like
I said, this is not just the resurrection. This is any kind of difficulty you're going through,
anything. Any trouble you're going through, whether it's some financial trouble, whether it's
relationships, whether it's sicknesses in your body, whether it's just being downcast and
depressed and having great burdens upon you, whether it's fear of this coronavirus or whatever
else, whatever might be bothering you, whatever difficulty you might be going through, the
solution is just understand that God's going to deliver you, that God's your Savior. You know,
wait for the Lord, be patient for his deliverance. And so we see a practical example of this in the
book of Acts. Acts 27 verse 18, talking about the shipwreck here. And it says in verse number 18,
And we've been exceedingly tossed with a tempest. The next day they lighted the ship, and the third
day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in
many days appeared and no small tempest lay on us, look at this, all hope that we should be saved
was then taken away. Okay, so they're going through this bad weather, this shipwreck,
and they say, look, we've not seen the sun nor the stars. I mean, it's been overcast this whole time.
You know, it's been raining, it's been storming this whole time. We can't even see the sky. And
they get to the point after three days where they're just like, they've lost all hope. We're
not going to be saved. You know, this is not just talking about Paul, this is about everybody on the
ship, you know, that's lost hope. And brethren, this is the unbelieving world. This is the world
without God, without Christ, without, with no hope, as the Bible describes for us, right? When
they're in a ship like this, when they're being beaten down, when they're being cast down, they
don't have the hope that we have, you know, and they'll feel that the opportunity of being saved
has been taken away from them. Okay, and this is why people, you know, end up committing suicide
or, you know, just doing stupid things with their lives, messing up even more so. They just aren't
expecting any salvation from the Lord. It's just easier to just end their lives. And all Christians
sometimes do this. Christians sometimes commit suicide, you know. You know why they do that?
Because they didn't have the helmet of salvation on. They weren't hoping, they weren't looking for
that, for God's deliverance. Maybe they thought he was waiting too long and they're like, this is,
I can't do this. They've taken off the helmet and they've committed suicide. Christians,
some Christians have committed suicide. It's a sad thing when we have the Lord, you know.
So this is an important part of our fight, important part of our spiritual fight, okay.
Now look at verse number 21. But after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them
and said, sirs, you should have hearkened unto me and have not loosed from Crete and to have gained
this harm and loss. Then it says this in verse 22, and now I exhort you to be of good cheer,
for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship. So hey, who's positive?
You know, who's the one who's got hope for salvation? It's the Christian. It's Paul,
right. He says, look, we're all going to live. No one's going to die, but we're going to lose
the ship, okay. There's going to be a big shipwreck here. We're going to lose the ship,
but we're not going to lose any man's life. Look at verse 23. For there stood by me this night
the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul. Thou must be brought
unto Caesar, and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs,
be of good cheer, for I believe, God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Listen,
Paul got the word of the Lord, all right. He got it through an angel, and the angel said, look,
you're going to be delivered. You'll all be fine. In fact, you know, God says, look, my hand is
upon you, Paul, so much so that you're going to be a blessing to everyone else on the ship.
They're all going to be saved. They're all going to be delivered because of you,
because of you being on the ship. And listen, brethren, that should be the difference between
the unbelieving world without the helmet of salvation and us as Christians who have that
helmet of salvation, who has the hope of salvation, that knows that we can be delivered even in a
physical situation like a shipwreck, okay. You know, the Lord knows when you're going through
some physical trials. Now, brethren, I know we're probably not all going to find ourselves
in a shipwreck, all right, probably very unlikely, but we do struggle in other areas of our life.
We do have, you know, situations that are difficult and, you know, something that I've
observed in my own life, and I don't know, I've observed this with myself and I've observed this
with others, is that there are different levels of our stress, different levels of difficulties
that we have in ourselves. You know, the first one might be a very physical difficulty, right.
Maybe, you know, you might work a very physical job, right. You might be like a laborer. You work
with your hands. You know, you're out in the sun potentially all day long and it's, you know,
it's taxing on the physical body, all right. And I've worked some jobs which were very taxing on
my body, all right. But what I found is, usually by the time I got home at the end of the day,
yes, I was physically tired, but mentally and spiritually I'm fine. I'm doing just fine,
you know, just mentally and spiritually. And sometimes just a good rest, just a good sleep
gets you back up and you can get back on your feet usually when you just, you know, have some
physical stress, you know, on your body. Then I've also worked jobs where it's very, it's taxing
mentally, right. You may not be even physically doing, you know, you just sit on a computer the
whole time, right. You know, all those hours for eight, nine, ten hours on a computer. You're not
actually doing anything physical, but it's just, it's just a mental stress, you know. It's just,
you know, coordinating things, trying to make things, sure things are running properly,
you know, anticipating, you know, issues and trying to solve problems just mentally.
And what I found is when you can, you know, get to a point where you're stressed mentally,
that physically, it has an effect on your physical body. You know, like, I don't know about you,
but I've had times I've just been working so mentally where I've just gotten home and like,
man, I'm so tired, I need to sleep. What did you do all day? I was just sitting on a computer
all day, right, or something like that because, you know, the mental state, if you're stressed
mentally, it does have an effect on your physical body, all right. So you have that double whammy
effect, you know, compared to some of that maybe just works, that labors just physically,
but maybe not be so stressed mentally. Okay, so that's, that's normal. Most of us will go
through some of those challenges, but the worst state you can be in as a Christian
is when you're spiritually stressed, when you're really, when you're being attacked spiritually,
when you're far from God, when you're backslidden and you just lost hope, you haven't got that
helmet of salvation on, you're not expecting God's deliverance in you, and when you're far from God
and you're spiritually stressed, you know what that has? That's an effect on your mental capacity,
it has an effect on your physical. Okay, so that's like a triple whammy, right. When you're,
when you're far from God and you're just in a bad state spiritually, it has an effect mentally and
physically as well. It taxes the body as well. And, you know, people understand this, you know,
if you stress a lot, you know, you can cause ulcers in your body, you can cause certain
sicknesses in your body. Alright, so why are you saying all that? Because, you know, God's not
always going to necessarily deliver you physically, you know, and I know there are some individuals in
our church, now he may do, like we saw with the shipwreck, they needed physical deliverance,
and the Lord stepped in and physically delivered them, okay. But I know there are a lot of people
in our church that suffer from, you know, sicknesses in their bodies, physical sicknesses
in their bodies, right. And, you know, it's very taxing, it's very challenging, it can cause them
to eventually struggle mentally or even spiritually, but even if God doesn't see you through and
deliver you physically, now, one day he will at the rapture, he'll give you that new body,
but you know, one thing that God can deliver you through is mentally and spiritually, okay. So you
can be someone that struggles in the flesh, you know, you have a sickness, you have an ailment,
it's getting you down, but the Lord may deliver you, that hope of salvation may come in just a
good mental state, just in a good spiritual position before God, and so you're still
struggling with those things physically, but now you can actually get through it a lot better,
because God has delivered you, you know, internally, and that's really where it matters,
because when you're bad internally, it has an effect everywhere else. When you're bad spiritually,
it has a bad effect on your mind, it has a bad effect on your body, okay. Now, just another
example, of course, is when Israel was being delivered by Egypt, and I'll just read a quick
passage, Exodus 14 verse 13, and you know, Israel, you know, going to the Red Sea, and it says that
Moses said unto the people in verse number 13, fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show to you today, for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today,
ye shall see them again no more, then it says in verse number 14, the Lord shall fight for you,
and ye shall hold your peace. So look, you don't even have to fight, God's going to fight for you,
God's going to deliver us physically, and of course we know the story, he gets him through
the Red Sea, and the Egyptians all, you know, drown the chariots, or get destroyed, the horses,
all that, so he, you know, God can deliver you physically, right, there can be that kind of
deliverance, but quite often, if you can please go to Philippians, go to Philippians chapter four,
did I get to turn here anywhere else? No, probably not, go to Philippians chapter four,
Philippians chapter four, because if you're not being delivered physically, and you know, well,
my body's deteriorating, this is just how, this is the curse on the earth, right, I mean,
this is just the fact that we live in sinful bodies, right, that they're breaking down,
this is why God promises us the resurrected body in the future, well in Philippians chapter four,
verse number six, it says this, Philippians chapter four and verse number six,
it says be careful for nothing, it says don't be full of care, don't be full of worries,
is what the Bible's saying here, right, but in everything, by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, it says, look, are you struggling,
are you worried, are you stressed, are you going through some difficulty, take it to prayer to God,
right, take it to Him, make your request known unto God, verse number seven, now notice this,
now with Moses, he says, look, God will fight the battle, and you shall hold your peace,
right, so physically, they don't have to, you know, work, okay, they can be at peace physically,
but then there is a peace as well that comes mentally, in verse number seven, it says and
the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and your minds through
Christ Jesus, you know, that's teaching us that even if you have a physical ailment,
you're struggling physically, you know, I don't know, some disability, you know, people that might
be, you know, people who are lame, who can't walk or whatever, you know, it's just physically,
can actually be some of the best people, can be some of the best Christians, can be some of the
most happy people, can be some of the people with the most peace, why? Because they've gone to Jesus,
they've cast their worries and their cares upon him, and yes, he may not have delivered them
physically, but he's delivered them mentally, you know, in the heart, the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, you cannot understand the peace of God, the world doesn't understand
the peace of God when you have it, when God has delivered you in that way, right, the hope of
salvation, listen, if you think that, you know, I can only be happy, I can only be close to God
if I'm physically well, you're missing the point, it all starts spiritually, hey, you get the
spiritual side right with God, you're walking with God, you're close to God, he's going to be able to
give you the peace of understanding, that passes all understanding, he's going to be able to deliver
you in that sense, brethren, you know, please, you're in Philippians, go to verse number one,
chapter one, sorry, Philippians chapter one, while you're turning to Philippians chapter one,
I'll read to you from 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 16, it says, now our Lord Jesus Christ
himself and God, even our Father, which have loved us, and have given us everlasting consolation
and good hope through grace, then it says in verse number 17, comfort your hearts and establish you
in every good word and work, what is God seeking to deliver you from, from worries, from stress,
okay, from stress and worries, you know, God's trying to deliver you from that, he wants to
comfort your hearts, right, the hope, the good hope through God's grace, and in Proverbs chapter
10 verse 28, it says the hope of the righteous shall be gladness, let me read that again,
the hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish,
listen, if we are righteous, we're spiritually right with God, we're walking with God,
got the helmet of salvation on, you got no, listen God, I'm struggling, I got problems,
you may not even physically deliver me from this Lord, but I know if I'm close to you,
you're going to be able to give me peace, you're going to comfort my heart, you know,
you're going to give me gladness, you're going to give me joy, you know, instead of being cast down
and upset and frustrated in life, you can have the joy, the helmet of salvation, the hope of
salvation, the hope of deliverance, you know, is a great arsenal, a great art arsenal, a great,
you know, piece of defense, right, in our spiritual fight in this world, and so point number three,
I don't know if I even said it, let me just go back to it, point number three is that the helmet
of salvation gives peace of mind, peace of mind, all right, now I think, now I don't know if you
would agree on this, but I think you'd be better off physically struggling with physical issues,
but you have the peace of God, you're right with God, you've got the joy of your salvation,
you'd be in a better state like that than being well physically, but full of stress,
full of worry, far from God, fallen away, you know, and the Lord's just about to bring that
judgment upon you, you're better, you know, you're better off with a bad body, physical body,
because it's going to be replaced one day with a better one, don't worry about it, you know,
and just walking with the Lord, being close to the Lord, and knowing that the Lord can deliver
you mentally from your struggles and your stressors that you have. Look at Philippians
chapter 1 verse 18, Philippians chapter 1 and verse number 18, point number four,
the hope, sorry, the helmet of salvation will give boldness even unto death,
all right, it'll give you boldness even unto death, Philippians chapter 1 verse 18,
let me just give you, so Paul is in prison, he's writing to the Philippian church,
he's explaining about that he's in bonds, all of this, right, and then in verse number 18 he says,
what then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached,
and either in do rejoice, yea and will rejoice, verse number 19, for I know that this shall turn
to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, so he says,
look, if you just keep praying for me, I know you guys are preaching Jesus Christ, I know this is
going to turn to my salvation, I know I'm going to be delivered from prison, is what he's saying,
right, so it's a very physical deliverance here that he's hoping for, and then he says in verse
number 20, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life or by death. He says, look, I'm expecting God to deliver me,
I'm expecting his salvation, I'm in prison right now, alright, you guys just keep praying,
I've got a hope that he's going to deliver me, he says, but you know what, this hope gives me
boldness, alright, and look, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether I get released
and go and live, he'll be magnified in my body, or whether I die in prison, God's going to be
magnified, I'm going to be a martyr, I'm going to die for Christ, is what he's saying, right,
verse number 21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain, right, so man, if I die for Christ,
I know, he's hoping in his deliverance, he's hoping his salvation, yes, a part of that is
prison, but the greater part, the greater gain is the hope of salvation in heaven for him, right,
being with Jesus Christ forever, and so you see the boldness he has in prison,
now I'm sure Paul in prison had times of being cast down, I'm sure he had that, right, I'm sure,
just, he's a normal man, don't forget that, right, you know, sometimes we read about Paul
and we think he's a super Christian, of course he was a super Christian, but he's still a man,
he still has the flesh, he still has weaknesses and concerns, and you find yourself in prison,
you're going to be a little bit cast down, alright, but with the prayer of the saints,
we put on that helmet of salvation back on, and God's going to deliver me either physically out
of this prison or just in heaven, right, I'm just going to magnify God, I'm going to have the
boldness to just live for him or to die for him, and so the helmet of salvation will give boldness
even unto death, because we know where we go when we die, alright, someone points a gun at your head
and says I'll shoot you if you don't deny Christ, I hope I can be like Paul, go ahead, for me to die
is gain, make my day, yeah, I believe that, alright, and if you're struggling in that area,
you've got to put on the hope of salvation, alright, the helmet, the hope of salvation,
alright, let's just, we're going to conclude, no, I haven't concluded just yet, please go to Romans
chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, I'm almost done, so I'm up to my fifth point now, my fifth point is
this, that the helmet of salvation will keep your eyes on eternal matters, okay, eyes on eternal
matters, the helmet of salvation. Romans chapter 8 verse number 22 reads, for we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they but ourselves
also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body, okay, did you know that, did you know
that your body's groaning, you know, you're like, you may not, I don't know if you realize this,
right, but every time you get frustrated because of your sins, alright, and you're like, oh man,
did I do this, is your body groaning, you know what the body's saying, give me that new body,
the redemption of the body, give me that body of Jesus that, you know, is like Jesus Christ,
and then look at verse number 24, for we are saved by hope, I think it's talking about the new body
there, right, but hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for,
but we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it, alright, so we're hoping
for the salvation, what he's saying is this, because we can hope for these things, we can't
see it now, what do we see now, we see the temporal things, we see the carnal things now,
you know, we see the earthly worldly things now, but we're hoping for the spiritual things,
we're hoping for eternity, because we've got that helmet of salvation, we know that we're going to
be saved, this body's going to receive the new one, the better one, the sinless one, right,
it's going to be great, and so by having this helmet on, this hope of salvation to come,
it's going to help you focus on the things that you do not yet see, the eternal matters,
that's what matters in life, brethren, what can I take into eternity with me,
I can take my soul, I can take my children's souls, I can take other people's souls with me,
that's all you can take with you, what else can you take with you there,
nothing, can't take anything, what else can you take, is there anything else, brethren,
maybe I'm missing something, that's all I can think of, you can just take the souls of men
with you, you know, and with that hope of salvation, that's going to cause you to just
remember eternity, say, Lord, this is just a temporary place, you know, why should I hope
for the things that I can see, I'm going to hope for the things that I cannot see, you know, your
word has told me, Lord, that you've got mansions in heaven, you have told me that I'm going to serve
you and worship you, and, you know, we'll be resting in heaven, but we'll be also serving him,
we'll also be doing some works, I don't know what the projects are in heaven, but listen,
it's going to be exciting, it's for all eternity, you know, we're going to have great rewards,
it's going to be awesome, it's going to be awesome, so, you know, the helmet of salvation
will keep our eyes on eternal matters. Now, just in conclusion, brethren, I'll just repeat those
five points, and I'll just conclude, point number one was the helmet of salvation will draw us to
his word, number two, the helmet of salvation will motivate us to purity, number three, the helmet of
salvation gives peace of mind, point number four, the helmet of salvation will give boldness even
unto death, and number five, the helmet of salvation will keep your eyes on eternal matters.
Now, just in conclusion, I'll just read it to you, Isaiah 43 verse 10, it says, the Lord speaking
here, ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and
believe me and understand that I am he, before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be
after me. Then he says this, I even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no saviour,
I have declared and have saved, and I have showed and there was no strange God among you,
therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. I just wanted to conclude on that,
because we're talking about the helmet of salvation, there's only one saviour,
there's only one salvation, there's only one person that can deliver us,
there are many false gods out there, they can't save you, listen this world cannot save you,
there's only one, there's only one, that's the Lord God, there's only one God,
and that's our God, it's God, the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Father, the Holy Spirit,
you know, and the Lord wants us to, remember, put on that helmet, all right, it's not your
soul's salvation because you already got that, okay, that's guaranteed, you can't take that
off and put it back on, but when you put on the helmet of salvation, it will give you hope for
the future, it will give you hope of deliverance, whether that's a physical, just mental, or just a
spiritual deliverance, all right, and let me encourage you, if you're struggling in some of
these areas, get the spiritual aspects of your life fixed first, okay, don't worry about the
physicals, don't worry about the mental stress you're going through right now, if you're far
from God, get the spiritual part right first, get close to God, you know, and if you get close to
God, he's going to give you the peace of mind, and then, you know, physically, he may deliver
you as well, if that's in the will of God, all right, let's pray.