The Believer's Armor, Part 5: The Helmet of Salvation, Part 1

And so God has not just given us a past salvation, not even just a maintaining of present salvation, but has given to us a tremendous hope. There will be an end. There will be a goal.

There is a finish line. And that's exactly what the helmet of salvation is. It's the hope of ultimate salvation. So Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle Fortune, gained lasting fame for what's known today as the Winchester Mystery House. Supposedly as a means to gaining eternal life, she ordered construction and reconstruction on her mansion that literally went on around the clock for 38 years. For those who worked on the house, it must have seemed that there was no end in sight. Maybe that's how you feel as you consider the spiritual battles in your life, the struggles with doubt, temptation, and discouragement.

But the fact is you could put those struggles behind you sooner than you may think. Let John MacArthur show you how to stand up to Satan's attacks by putting on the believer's armor. That's the name of his current study on grace to you, the believer's armor.

And now here's the lesson. Ephesians 6, 13 through 17. Now in that tremendous passage, we have Paul presenting to us the resources for gaining the victory in the Christian life, at least as far as the battle with Satan and his demons is concerned. After giving to us all the resources and all of the functions of a believer through the end of chapter 5 and on into chapter 6, he now says, get ready for a conflict because it will not be easy. You will be withstood. You will be sidetracked.

You will be attacked. You will be thwarted at every possible angle where Satan can succeed. Now remember this also, that the Bible discusses the Christian life's conflict in three dimensions. In Galatians chapter 5, for example, there's a conflict seen in the life of a believer between the flesh and the spirit. In John chapter 15, there is a conflict seen in the life of a believer between the Christian and the world. And really, Paul is not zeroing in either here on the world or the flesh, but he's zeroing here on the conflict between the believer and the demon hosts themselves. Now you can't really extricate them from the other two because they will work through the world and the flesh, but he gets to the core of the matter here. How does a believer live this life in victory with the tremendous amount of opposition that he's going to get from what verse 11 calls the wiles of the devil and what verse 12 calls principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and wicked spirits in high places. How can we really gain the victory in this very sophisticated warfare?

Well, if you go back a little bit, let me just give you some basics. Back in chapter 3 verse 20, we have a great truth. This is the summation of the first three chapters. Because of all that Christ has done for us, because of all that is really involved in being in Christ, now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. This is the sum of the believer's position. We have the power. We have the resource needed. Therefore, chapter 4 verse 1, because the power is there to glorify God, because the power is there, we are to walk worthy. In other words, we have the resource and we're to walk worthy. The key to that, chapter 5 verse 18. How do you tap the power to walk worthy?

Be not drunk with wine in which is asotia, but be filled with the Spirit. We have the resource, which makes us responsible to walk in the right way. We tap the resource through the filling of the Spirit. You shall receive power after the Spirit has come upon you, said our Lord, and when we tap that power, we will be victorious. Now, when you come to chapter 6, there's really nothing to fear, you see.

The power is there, therefore the command is there, and the resource to tap that power in the Spirit of God, resident in the life of every Christian. And so we can go into the army and right into the war with a sense of accomplishment and victory at hand. But that doesn't mean the battle is going to be easy, does it?

I mean, we all struggle. The battle goes on and on, and it's just relentless. Some of us are winning and some of us are losing, and maybe some of you are sort of in a lull right now and you're not winning or losing.

But that's the way it'll be as long as you live in this world. The battle will go on and on and on. And I think as you grow in Christ, as you feed on the Word, and as you mature, what happens is you begin to win more than you lose.

And then the percentage of winning gets higher and higher. But everybody experiences the victories, and everybody experiences the defeats in the battle. I received a letter from a radio listener to our program in Boston. This is what he said, Dear John MacArthur, your ministry has been of significance to me, and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you personally as well as express my desire to lend you financial support. I'm a young man of 23 years and came to Jesus Christ at the age of 19. In that time, I have grown in the Word, staggered, fallen down, been crushed, been convinced by a neurotic legalist that I was demon-possessed, been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, gotten a woman friend pregnant, and finally begun to regain my spiritual senses. I'd say just offhand he's been in the battle.

Everything, as you can see, has just been fine. And he goes on in the next paragraph. I like this part. Please send me some ammunition. The battle lines are drawn, the trenches are being dug, and I'm not going to be one of those caught shame-faced when our commanding officer returns. When the record is being reviewed, I want it written that the soldier in question, namely me, after repeatedly disobeying orders and going AWOL during wartime alert, finally donned his armor, reported back to his commanding officer, fought courageously and fearlessly without batting an eye, hit the enemy with everything he could get his hands on, and inflicted heavy damage in strategic areas to the credit of his patient, forgiving commanding officer, amen.

I like that. Then he says at the end, remember me in your prayers, please, sincerely, parenthesis with the sin covered, CT. Hey, he's been in the battle, hasn't he? He's been in the battle.

So have you, and so have I. And being victorious in the battle is a matter of putting on the armor, isn't it? Let's go back to the armor in verse 14 and following and see what the Spirit of God would say to us today. But remember, first of all, in verse 14, stand therefore, having your loins girded about with truthfulness. And we discussed that what the Apostle Paul is talking about here is not so much content. That comes in the last piece of armor, the word of God.

It's not so much the content as it is the attitude. And he's using aletheia in the sense of an attitude of truthfulness or commitment or no hypocrisy. In other words, you're girding up your loins, the old Jewish expression meaning readiness, anticipation. The soldier is ready for the battle. He's made his commitment. He's joined the army.

He's girded his loins, and he's going to be a winner. And we saw how important it is if we're going to win the victory to make the commitment to victory from the very beginning. Secondly, we saw in verse 14, the breastplate of righteousness. And we said that another thing that must arm the Christian is his own purity of life, righteousness, holiness, practical righteousness. And then thirdly, we saw that we are to have our feet shod with the readiness or the preparation of the gospel of peace. And the idea here is that the gospel of peace is the good news that we're at peace with God. This seems to be the long-range kind of armor.

In other words, this is what you keep on all the time. And then when the battle gets really hot, you pick up the rest. And the verb changes in verse 16 to taking. And verse 17, take the helmet. And a soldier would have his breastplate secured on. He would have his shoes secured on.

He would have his belt secured on. And when the battle got hot, he would grab his helmet, pull it on, take his sword, and take up his shield. And so it's as if these add that kind of immediate preparation for when the arrows really begin to fly. And so we moved into verse 16 last time and discussed on top of everything else, we take the shield of faith with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. We talked about how Satan wants to shoot his arrows of temptation. And the only way we can quench those is with faith. Who do you believe? You believe Satan, you sin, you believe God, you do.

It's that simple. The shield of faith. You want to go on to the fifth piece of armor?

Tremendous, tremendous truth. In verse 17, and take the helmet of salvation. That's all it says about it. You say, what is there in that? The helmet of salvation?

That's easy, being saved. No, not that. Let's talk about a helmet. A Roman soldier wouldn't go to battle without a helmet.

I mean, be foolish. Roman soldier would be very careful to get his helmet on. Now, helmets were made out of basically two things, leather with some patches of metal on it, pieces of metal, or else those molded solid cast helmets, you know, you've seen with the plumes, depending on what regiment, what function, what period of time you were involved in. But a helmet was very important to protect the head.

From what? Well, from perhaps arrows flying around for one thing, but primarily from what was known as a broadsword. There was not only the makaira, the little dagger that he uses in verse 17, but there was in the midst of a battle those who carried the broadsword, which was from three to four feet long, longer than your yardstick. And it had a huge, massive handle that you held with both hands, like a baseball bat. And you just lifted it over your head and went around trying to create split personalities, basically. That was the idea.

You would be riding along on a horse and you'd be flailing away at some footmen down there, you know, and so forth. The broadsword was a tremendous weapon and you wanted to have a helmet to deflect a blow from a broadsword, believe me, because it would deal a heavy crushing, splitting blow to the skull. It was interesting recently that I was reading in the newspaper that they have discovered a skeleton somewhere in a dig that had a cleavage right through the skull that they assume had been made by somebody who flattened a broadsword right into its skull. So the helmet was very necessary. Now the helmet here is the helmet of salvation. Now let me say that does not refer to being saved. He's not saying now that you're in the army and now that you're fighting Satan and now that you've got the breastplate of righteousness on and now that you've got your shoes shod with the preparation of gospel of peace and now that you have the shield of faith, get saved.

No, no. That's already happened. I mean, you aren't even in the army unless you're a believer, right? If you're fighting Satan at all, you've got to be on God's side. If you're not with him, you're against him. So if you're in the battle against Satan, you're already saved.

He's not talking about that. The helmet of salvation is not getting saved. He's not saying, by the way, fifth, get saved.

Oh, no. You got saved in chapter 2, right? For by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of work, so any man should boast. You've already been saved.

This is not getting saved. You wouldn't even be in the army if you weren't a believer. Satan wouldn't be attacking you if you weren't a believer, right? He'd leave you alone.

He's already got you. You'd be fighting God. So if you're in the army and the war is going on, you are already a believer.

That has already taken place. The helmet of salvation is not saying you need to be saved. You say, well, what is it saying? I want to give you a little theology. And you say, well, what is it saying? I want to give you a little theology now, so just get comfortable. Take your pencil or pen and take a few notes and let's see what we can see about this.

First of all, now you have to understand this or you're not going to understand a lot of things. People are confused, you know, about eternal security and they ask me all the time, do you believe once saved, always saved? What about my Aunt Martha? You know, she went along so long and then she was gone.

Is she or isn't she? And all of this. And people are concerned about it and even in their own lives they commit some sins, they feel guilty. Well, I don't know if I'm saved anymore. Well, you know, and the other thing is young people, you know, you ask them, have you ever given your life to Christ?

And they'll say, yeah, 24 times and, you know, repeating over and over again and just to be sure I did it again today. And that kind of thing. How do we really get a grasp on the security of the believer? Well, first of all, by understanding the meaning of salvation. Now let me begin by saying what's a very simple beginning. There are three aspects to salvation.

Three aspects, past, present and future. And these have been simply defined in this way. The past aspect frees us from the penalty of sin. The past aspect frees us from the penalty of sin. In other words, if you say to me, are you a Christian, have you been saved?

I would say, yes. When did it happen? Well, so many years ago and at that point when I confessed Jesus Christ, invited Him into my life, then my sins were placed on Him on the cross, as it were, and He paid the penalty for my sin.

That's in the past. The penalty is paid. I died. I was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, right? I died.

Paul in Romans 6 is saying that in essence. He is saying you died once, you don't need to die again. When did you die? You died when you put your faith in Christ. You were crucified with Him. The penalty was paid. Sin was dealt with.

There's never any more penalty to pay. Romans 8 one says, there is therefore now no what? Condemnation to them who are in Christ.

That's taken care of. So the past aspect of salvation is freedom from the penalty of sin. There's a present aspect, freedom from the power of sin. Sin no longer has what?

Dominion over you. Sin no longer has dominion over you. Sin has no reigning power. Sin has no dominance.

Why? Because He is faithful and just to keep on cleansing us from all sin. You know you can never even get one sin laid against your account. Romans 8 says, who is He that lays anything to the charge of God's elect?

Nobody. No condemnation. He's forgiven you all your trespasses for His name's sake. He keeps on purifying, keeps on purging. It's like Jesus said to Peter, you have a bath one time and then the rest of your life you just wash your feet. The Lord bathes you as it were at salvation and dust your feet off with His cleansing day by day by day.

So there's a present aspect. I have been saved. I am being saved. If I have been saved, Romans 5 rather, it says I was saved by His death. I am being saved by His life.

In other words, He ever ever lives to make what? Intercession for me. And so there's this constant salvation going on. I have been saved from the penalty. I am being saved from sin's power.

Romans 5, 10 and 11. If we were enemies and we're reconciled to God by the death of His Son, how much more shall we be saved now by His life? We are being saved now continually as He constantly cleanses us.

And so there is that element. Then there's the future part. In the past we've been saved from the penalty of sin and the present from the power of sin and the future the presence of sin. You know there's coming a day when there'll be no more sin?

That's right. You know how I know? Because the book of Revelation says there'll be no more death and the wages of sin is what? Death. No death, no sin. And we'll be like Him, 1 John 3 says, we'll be like Him for we shall see Him as He is and He is sinless, spotless, without flaw, without blemish. There's coming a day when we'll be saved from the presence of sin. Now listen people, salvation has happened, is happening and will happen. Has, that's justification. Is, that's sanctification. Will, that's glorification. And Romans 8 says, whom He justifies, He sanctifies and glorifies.

You see? So when you think of salvation, you do not think of salvation in terms of something in the past. And you do not think of salvation like some cults think of it or even some in the Roman church as something that has to be waited for in the future. It is past, present and future. Now if it is past, it is done. If it is also present, then you can't lose it, right? Because it's continually going on.

And if it is guaranteed in the future, then you're absolutely secure. Now that is the heart and the soul of the meaning of salvation. The past aspect, the present and the future. Let me illustrate this by having a look at Romans 8 23. And I'm going to show you several Scriptures that I think will really help you to understand it. In Romans 8 23 we read this. Well, let's back up to verse 22.

Now Paul is talking here about the curse. He's talking about how sin has affected creation and made it subject to vanity, but that still there's hope for something different. You know, the world is going to get better.

Did you know that? It is going to get better. In fact, the world's going to get perfect. It's going to get perfect, but that's only when Jesus comes.

It isn't going to get perfect by man's efforts. And so hope is a very important part of Christian experience. In verse 22, he says, we know the whole creation groans and travails in pain together till now. In other words, the whole world knows it's out of whack. The whole world knows that something is desperately wrong.

Even the created order is chaotic. And not only they, verse 23, but ourselves also. We know things aren't right. We know this isn't the way God intended it.

We know this isn't the way God made life to be. We who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption that is the redemption of our body. Listen, our souls have been saved and are being saved. And someday our bodies together with those souls will be saved so that there will be absolute holiness. And that's what verse 24 means. We are saved in hope.

In is a better translation than by. We are saved in hope. So yes, we've been saved. But this isn't all there is. Listen, you know, if somebody said to me, oh, you know, the salvation you've received, that's it forever.

You've got it now and there's nothing more to be added to it. I'd say, you mean I've got to fight the flesh the rest of my life and throughout eternity? You mean I've got to fight the devil like this and I've got to live with the human weakness? Do you mean I'm going to stay in Romans 7 to some degree crying out, oh, oh, wretched man that is in me, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

When do I unload this mess? You mean forever this is it? Then I would say to you, salvation is incomplete. If all the Lord does is aid me in the struggle, then it never reaches fruition. But that isn't all there is.

There is a future else that of salvation that means that we will reach a point where there will be no sin at all. And without that, there's no hope for now. I mean, it would be like running a race without a finish line.

Somebody's saying, start running and run the rest of your life. What? Well, there's no finish. That's right. And give everything you've got all the way. Are you kidding? You imagine God saying, that's all there is, so fight forever.

Oh, come on. Why, even Revelation says that when they died, they rested from their labors, right? I paced myself as it is now. If I had to pace myself for eternity, I'd be doing nothing most of the time. But there is a future element. Look at Galatians 5. Galatians 5. For we through the Spirit, again, we must be talking about believers because it is the Spirit of God that creates the enablement. We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Now, he's not talking about past element of salvation or the present feature, but he is talking about the fullness of it.

We are waiting in hope. We are holding on to hope that someday the battle will be over and someday we won't have to struggle with sin and the flesh and the devil and the world and demons. Someday we'll know the hope of a full righteousness. Look at 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 3.

And here is a great benediction. Peter says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In other words, he says, we have been saved to a hope, saved to a hope, to hope for something.

And what is it to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that faiteth not a way reserved in heaven for you? Our hope is heaven. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. What's salvation? A salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. There is another element of salvation, a last time element that is the consummation of living hope when we go to heaven and receive the reward and the inheritance that He has planned for us.

And because of that, we don't mind, verse 6, a season of heaviness and manifold trials. You see, we don't mind a little pain. There is a finish line.

We don't mind a little effort. There is a goal to reach. And so God has not just given us a past salvation, not even just a maintaining of present salvation, but has given to us a tremendous hope. There will be an end. There will be a goal.

There is a finish line. And that's exactly what the helmet of salvation is. It's the hope of ultimate salvation. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur.

Thanks for being with us. John's current study from Ephesians 6 is looking at the believer's armor. Well, John, the finish line you talked about today, experiencing the fullness of salvation in heaven. I think I've heard you say something like this about heaven. Next to being with the Lord Jesus Christ and worshiping with Him forever, the thing you look forward to the most about heaven is something that will not be there.

So talk about that for a moment. Well, obviously, what will not be there is sin. The book of Revelation makes it clear that anything that defiles will not be there. So yes, when I talk about heaven, I'm not so much enamored with sitting on a cloud and playing a harp or sort of meandering through the golden, transparent streets or looking at the pearly gates or looking at the jeweled foundations of the city. Certainly, to be lost in what the Puritans used to call the beatific vision, the full glory of Christ on display so that there's no light in heaven, because He is the light of heaven, is an overwhelming reality. But I think it's the virtue of heaven. It's the holiness. It's the utter absence of sin.

I can't even comprehend that kind of an experience. I can't even imagine an experience where you never have a sinful moment's thought. You never, ever say anything less than a God-glorifying, edifying word. You never do anything that's trivial or marginal or unnecessary.

You never say anything that's useless or trivial. I can't comprehend that as me. So understanding that I would be that kind of person in glory is literally overwhelming. So I guess what I'm saying is the appeal of heaven is that all that you hate about this life here is gone. And I think people sometimes think, well, won't it get boring being there forever? I mean, even perfection could get boring forever, but I think you fail to understand there's no time there. So what heaven is, is one moment of perfection, perfect joy, perfect bliss, perfect holiness.

It's that one moment that never ends. So it's the purity of heaven that is the attraction. So I would say it's not so much what's going to happen outside of us there as what will have taken place inside of us there. I have a book on that called The Glory of Heaven.

If you don't have that book, you need to get a copy of it. The Glory of Heaven. If you're a believer, you're going there, and you need to know what to expect.

If you're not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to know about heaven and why you would want to come to Christ with the promise that you would be there as well. The Glory of Heaven Free Shipping on U.S. Orders. Yes, I love this book, The Glory of Heaven.

It shows you what the Bible says about your future home, what it will be like, what you'll be like there, and it's encouraging stuff. To purchase your copy, contact us today. You can call our toll-free number, 800-55-GRACE, or shop online at gty.org. The Glory of Heaven costs $13.

Shipping is free. This book could be a particularly helpful resource for someone who has lost a believing friend or family member. So call today to order your copy, 800-55-GRACE, or go to our website, gty.org. And remember the thousands of free resources that are available at gty.org. If you're looking to grow in your love for God and his word, if you're wondering what Scripture says about how to best serve your family in these chaotic times, or if you want to know how to interpret a particular passage of Scripture, you will most likely find a sermon or a blog article or a devotional that will meet your spiritual need.

That website again, gty.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson, reminding you to watch Grace to You Television this Sunday on DIRECTV Channel 378, or check your local listings for Channel and Times. And join us tomorrow when John looks at how the helmet of salvation can help you endure the trials you face. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.