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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:17
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Going into battle requires a lot of preparation. I saw that first-hand during my more than 28 years serving in the United States Navy during deployments for Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Iraqi Freedom.
In this sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we have seen how battle preparation also applies to the spiritual side of every person and especially Christians who have chosen to believe in God and His Son Jesus who He sent to save mankind. Here was the lead in to discussing the parts of God’s armor that every believer needs to put on daily.
“...be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Vv. 10-13
The call is for spiritual readiness in regard to protection against Satan, the enemy of God and His people. All Christians are to don the full armor of God, not just some parts but all of them which include:
1. The belt of truth
2. The breastplate of righteousness
3. The shoes fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace
4. The shield of faith
And today, we add the final two pieces...
5. The helmet of salvation
and
6. The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God
Let’s look at each and what they mean.
A helmet would be worn in battle for obvious reasons. For a soldier isn’t going to be able to do anything without the ability to think and thus the brain needs protected. Like the breastplate protecting the heart, lungs, and other vital organs, the helmet likewise provide defense against damage to the head that could be terminal.
So how does this link to salvation?
I think the devil is always trying to get into a believer’s mind. The enemy is uber-skilled in playing head games.
Satan can easily get a Christian to start thinking they are unworthy of God’s favor, placing extreme emphasis on the sins the person has committed. At its worst, these mental attacks can convince a person they shouldn’t even be alive anymore, that there is no redemption possible for them.
This is where the helmet of salvation is so critical to put on. Through this special helmet, the Christian believer is always mindful that they have been justified, their sins covered by the shed blood of Jesus, their Savior. Through Christ, they have been washed clean and pardoned from the eternal damnation and torment found in God’s judgment. Therefore, hope is never lost and no one should ever allow themselves to believe it has been. They won’t as long as they put on their helmet along with the other elements of God’s full armor.
Now let’s shift to the sword of the Spirit which we see is the word of God.
No one in their right mind would ever go into physical war without a weapon and the same applies to our spiritual self. Thankfully, God gave us a weapon through the Bible, His holy Word but to be able to use the weapon, you have to know it. Skilled warriors don’t go into combat without knowing how to use their attacking instruments of war and neither should any Christian.
And yet, there are millions of Christians out there with just a surface knowledge and understanding of the scriptures. As a result, they are vulnerable to the attacks of the devil and unskilled in how to fight back with their spiritual sword.
When we look to the scriptures, we find Jesus perfectly showing us how to use this weapon. Look at this breakdown of what happened in the first verses of Matthew, Chapter 4.
First, let’s set the background.
After His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days and nights. As soon as He emerged from this period of fasting, He found the devil waiting and eager to attack but Jesus had on His full armor of God with His sword of the Spirit ready.
We see where Satan goes for Jesus’ point of weakness immediately. Knowing that He was hungry after fasting for the forty days and nights, the devil tempts Jesus by saying:
“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” v.3
To which Jesus replied, wielding His sword from the word of God:
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” v.4
Highly skilled swordsmanship, wouldn’t you say?
But Satan wasn’t ready to give up. He went back at Jesus with a second attempt, taking Him to the holy city of Jerusalem and the highest point of the temple before saying:
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”Psalm 91:11-12
Note an important fact here. Satan knows the scriptures too and if he tried to use them to deceive Jesus, he will definitely try to use them against you, me, or any other believer. Here, we find him using verses from the Psalms but Jesus gets out His sword of the Spirit and slices through Satan’s attempt by invoking words from Deuteronomy, proclaiming to the enemy:
“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 6:16
You would have thought that the devil would have just given up then but he didn’t, showing how persistent Satan is. We can never let our guard down and as we see, Jesus was ready for His enemy’s third attempt which went like this:
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”
Going back to the book of Deuteronomy (6:13), we find Jesus finish the battle with Satan by once again wielding His sword of the Spirit with perfect mastery.
What was the result?
We go back to Matthew 4 and read this:
Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him. v.11
Unable to get past Jesus and the full armor He wore, especially His skilled scriptural sword play, the devil left and God took care of His Son with the angels. Through this action, we see how the Lord is not only equipping us for war with the enemy but also ready to help us heal after being in the fray.
Satan is coming for every single Christian. There is no questioning this so every single Jesus believer had better be prepared by putting on the full armor of God daily, not leaving any part off. It’s the only way to stay safe while we live this life on earth.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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