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So he says above all taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spear, which is the Word of God now This is one that always kind of perplexed me a little bit as I was reading this and you know I knew this passage as a child The helmet of salvation now, here's why this kind of perplexed me We're already saved So why do we need to put on the helmet of salvation? Isn't it already on? I mean if we're saved, right? I mean what he's talking to people that are saved. He's talking to Christians Well, let me shed some light on this go to 1st Thessalonians 5 keep your finger in Ephesians 6 1st Thessalonians 5 will actually make this more clear Because it kind of confused me at first. Why would I need to put on the helmet of salvation? Because I'm already saved so wouldn't it just automatically be on? Why would I need a commandment to put it on? Okay, that was my thought I don't know anybody else kind of wonder the same thing when you when you thought about that Now one thing that I thought about was well, you know, your helmets protecting your head So if you don't have your helmet on if you get hit in the head, you're pretty much gonna die I mean, that's that's pretty much the most important thing to protect if anything, right? So if you're not saved you're doomed But I just thought there must be something more to it than that because otherwise why would he tell you to put it on when? It should already be on if anything But look what it says in 1st Thessalonians 5 a lot of times when something Confuses us the answer is somewhere else in the Bible if we compare Scripture with Scripture So look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 it says but let us verse 8 but let us who are of the day be sober What does that remind you of? Loins gird about with truth right gird up the loins your mind be sober. He says be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet and he see how it's a little different here the hope of salvation for a helmet the hope of Salvation and then he rolls right into the next thought for God has not appointed us to wrath But to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep We should live together with him. So when the Bible says put on the helmet of salvation He's not just saying be saved because we're already saved We already knew that or we wouldn't even be the church at Ephesus or whatever that he's writing to He says put on the helmet of salvation He's talking about the hope of salvation and what that means is not just being saved but remembering that you're saved Remembering that you're saved. Why is that important the hope of salvation? What does it mean to have hope? Hope is when you realize you know what there's brighter times ahead Isn't that what hope is hope is when you realize that weeping may endure for the night But joy cometh in the morning see a person who's hopeless is one who feels that their situation will never improve I'm hopeless. I'm doomed, right? There's no way out here It's over hope is when you see the light at the end of the tunnel you see a way out, right? What's the hope of salvation the hope of salvation look down at your Bible there in verse 10? It's that whether we wake or sleep and sleep there is referring to death Whether we wake or sleep We should live together with him. What's he saying? Hey for me to live is Christ and to die is gain the hope of salvation is when you realize that look Even if I die I'm going to heaven No matter how bad my life gets It's gonna be over There's gonna be an end. There's gonna be a brighter day I'm gonna go to heaven and the Bible says that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared With the glory which shall be revealed in us so the hope of salvation is when we realize hey No matter how bad things get no matter how even unto death even if we die It's okay Everything's alright. This gives us peace Now what's one of the worst things that could happen in battle You know if you've read any kind of military histories or any historical documents that have to do with battles if you know anything about warfare You know the worst thing that could happen on the battlefield is to panic You know when the enemy panics you win Why because then it's a route they start running away. They start breaking ranks It becomes confusion You know the the the army that keeps it together and doesn't break rank They win and the people who run away and get confused and panic. They're doomed I mean, that's one of the most basic principles of warfare is that you've got to keep it together What's the hope of salvation do for you? You don't panic you don't freak out when things go bad because you realize you know what God has not appointed us to wrath But to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ and whether we wake or sleep We live together with him to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord For me to live as Christ and to die is game I mean, that's the hope of salvation, you know that helmet on your head That's gonna protect you from a lot of the devil's attacks where he tries to get you depressed hopeless Feeling like there's no way out or scared of physical death, but the hope of salvation tells you hey Nothing can destroy me because I have eternal life So it's not just being saved. It's having the hope of salvation. It's actually thinking about the fact that you're safe Realizing and understanding what it means to be saved and acts because think about we're all saved here at least You know except Judas, you know, whoever he is, but you know, we're all saved here You know or at least the vast majority of people are saved There might be a couple of people here that aren't safe, but the vast majority of us are safe But you know what? That doesn't stop us from maybe Getting caught up in the things of this world and not really thinking about the fact that we're safe Don't you think it's possible for even us as saved believers to maybe go a couple weeks going by without even thinking about the fact That we're gonna go to heaven someday Just where we're not even thinking about that. We're just thinking about our job We're just thinking about our our spouse our kids our bills and maybe we just get caught up in those things and we don't even realize Hey, we're going to heaven But that's something we need to think about and and keep our conversation in heaven The Bible says let's think and have our mind and our thoughts on Christ and on Heaven and so forth. So that's that's what it means to have the helmet of stuff Doesn't that make a little more sense with the helmet of salvation why you need to put it on It's not already on even though you're already safe