20260422 Helmet of Salvation and Sword of the Spirit Wednesday Bible Study Tim Dickmann

So Ephesians chapter 6, let's just go ahead and

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

read beginning in verse 10 again. Finally, be

strong in the Lord and 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 girded

your loins with truth, 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. Take the helmet of salvation

and the sword of the spirit, which is the word

of God So we'll stop there So tonight we're going

to begin with the helmet of salvation Okay, so

what is this what is this helmet of salvation

First of all what part of the body are we protecting?

The head. The head. We could say we're the mind,

right? Our brains up there, our thinking. So

the helmet is protecting the head, protecting

our minds. Spiritually, what would we say? If

we're likening that to that, what would we say?

Not our soul, the way that we think, what we're

thinking about, how we think, and maybe specifically

with regard to salvation, right? The helmet of

salvation. So, what does that mean? When we say

salvation, the helmet of salvation, what salvation

are we talking about? Is anybody giving any thought

to that? What do we mean when we say salvation?

So what I'm thinking here is there is a time

when we were saved, right, when salvation came.

We were born again, we were made new, and we

were saved, we would say. But there's also other

salvations that we talk about, right? We talk

about being saved. And what do we mean by that?

The continuing work of sanctification, being

made holy, changed life. And then we talk about

being saved in a final state or the finality

of our salvation. What is that? Glorification.

Eternity. Reaching heaven. So this helmet of

salvation... Which does it apply to? Paul here

is speaking to Christians, right? We've already

established that. That these are instructions

to Christians. These are things that Christians

are to do. So I don't think he's talking here

about this first salvation that we mentioned.

Being saved. We already are. We already are saved.

So what salvation is he speaking of? Anybody

have any thoughts? Okay, we've got to vote for

the final salvation. Okay. Okay, so Becky brings

up assurance there We got two votes So I think

I think you guys are right. I think that's the

emphasis. Okay, I think that the hope Of our

final salvation is what Paul is talking about

Primarily again, I don't think we can limit it

to that in the sense of our sanctification I

think I think that plays a role. I think we can

definitely apply it to There to some degree,

but I think it would seem the emphasis in my

mind and in everybody else's that I read for

the most part It's referring here to this hope

that we have this hope of glory so if we look

at And Paul says that also in Thessalonians,

so if we look at that real quick in 1st Thessalonians

I think it's 1st Thessalonians 5 Yeah, 1st Thessalonians

5a He uses the same same type of language talking

about the helmet First Thessalonians 5 a but

since we are of the day Let us be sober having

put on the breastplate of faith and love and

as a helmet the hope of salvation For God has

not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining

salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ Who died

for us so that whether we are awake or asleep.

We will live together with him therefore encourage

one another and build one another up just as

You also are doing So here Paul uses this same

language here of the armor. He talks about the

breastplate of faith and love, which is different

than he uses in Ephesians. But again, he's not

there saying that the breastplate can only mean

the breastplate of righteousness, as he said

in Ephesians here. He's applying it differently,

but he does say here this hope of salvation.

I'm sorry. Yeah, the hope of salvation referring

to the helmet there So I think again, I think

it's it's reasonable. It's good and we can certainly

apply Apply that here So I think that is his

emphasis here is our our hope of salvation So,

how does that help us what good is that If we're

to put on this helmet, this helmet of salvation,

and we're saying here it is the hope of glory,

the hope of eternal life, of reaching that state

of glorification, how does that help us in our

walk here? How is that a piece of armor that

is to protect us, that is to help us in our warfare,

that is to help us on our way? How does that

apply? What does that mean for us? Well It should

impact every part of our life So we're not going

to touch on everything tonight, but there is

a broad very broad array of things And if you

want to know the full list then you can read

William Grinnell's Christian incomplete armor

and you can read 100 pages on what the helmet

of salvation is But there's a lot of things there

and it's amazing how many things he points out

in there if you've not read the Puritans They

can be difficult to read, but they are very thorough.

And so you'll have point A and 1 2 3 4 5 and

then B 1 2 3 4 5 6 and C 1 2 3 and then maybe

sub points in there and so they really delve

in deep and Apply these things and so how do

we apply these things? How does this hope of

salvation? this final state of glory encourages

here well Becky said that there's a lot throughout

the New Testament that she's been noticing telling

us to think about those things okay so how does

it what does what does that mean what does it

mean to think about glory how does that impact

us does anybody have any thoughts So so right

so that's just that's one let's just talk about

that that's on my list here So this present life

will end We're not stuck here forever with our

difficulties with our sin with You name it physical

ailments The sins that we struggle with truly

struggle with on a regular basis and and all

of those different things. That should be an

encouragement that this time will end. It should

encourage us to press on. It should encourage

us to say, for a little while. Remember, if you

remember when we went through Peter, that's what

Peter says. These things are for a little while.

If you think of this life in that way, you can

do anything for a little while. Right? I mean,

how hard is it? You think of the saints of old

and the torture that they endured for a little

while in compared to glory. Our hardships here,

and I'm not downplaying them at all obviously,

they're hard. The Christian life can be a very

hard life, spiritually speaking. It's just this

life can be difficult in a physical sense. But

the hope of glory far surpasses. all of those

things that we endure here. And so it should

encourage us to press on. It should encourage

us to fight sin, to war against sin, that this

struggle will end and I need to press on in this

struggle. I really need to struggle against sin

to fight. And so it should be an encouragement

for us in that sense. Unless I forget, I want

to, because this is on a previous page that we

already went over, but Becky mentioned assurance.

And I think that also is a great help. If we

consider this helmet, one aspect of this helmet

of salvation, assurance. I think we've said this

before. There are, you know, the Christian church

out there says you can't really have assurance.

And that's a hard place to be if you really,

I mean, I really don't know. I really don't know

where I'm going. I don't know if I'm reaching

glory, right? We as Christians can have an absolute

assurance that we will meet that or get to that

final end, that final state where we will be

with Jesus, where we will be like Him. And so,

you know, I think that's part of this helmet

of salvation that we put on here is this assurance.

Now, Not everybody has assurance. Not every Christian

necessarily has this assurance that they are

God's child. And so if you don't have that, that

is something to ask the Lord for. That is something

to pray that the Lord would give you. Seek an

answer in the scripture. I was reading through

1 John 1, 2, 3. John talks about all sorts of

things. If you are a child of God, this is true

of you. Consider those things. Examine your life.

Right? We're not just talking about just feelings.

There is an inner sense, an inner peace, an experience

of that assurance of salvation. But we can look

at the Word and if we come honestly to the Word

and we honestly evaluate ourselves, You know

that that is a helpful thing seeking the Lord

asking the Lord for that assurance For that peace

that passes understanding and so that I think

that's part of a part of it we talked earlier

about the breastplate of righteousness and That's

part of this whole assurance as well right living

rightly living in a righteous way living a holy

life Should be an encouragement to our assurance

that we are doing these things. We are living

in a way that shows I am a Christian. I am doing

these things that God has told me to do. I want

to do the things that God has told me to do.

I want to obey. I want to be pleasing. And so

that is a help in our assurance. Again, I think

we said this, you know, that we have no peace

when we are continuing in sin. There's no assurance

there. that we are a child of God when we are

just continuing to walk in sin. So, a righteous

life, seeking the Lord for assurance. I think

that's part of this as well. This helmet of salvation

that gives us this great hope of glory. Okay.

One other thing along these same lines here is

the reality of our pilgrimage. that this is not

our home and so this hope of glory we are hoping

for something so much better and viewing ourselves

rightly in this world is a help in that that

this this is we are not citizens of this earthly

this earthly land so to speak we are citizens

of heaven and so again having the right view

as we walk in this world Should help us So a

couple verses here first John 3 1 to 3 I'll read

these see how great a love the father Has bestowed

on us that we would be called children of God

and such we are For this reason the world does

not know us because it did not know him Beloved,

now are we children of God, and it has not appeared

as yet what we will be. We know that when He

appears, we will be like Him, because we will

see Him just as He is. That everyone who has

this hope fixed on Him purifies himself just

as He is pure. So again, this hope of seeing

Jesus should encourage us, should cause us to

purify ourselves, to deal with our sin. and to

live a life that is wholly pleasing to the Lord.

This is from William Grinnell. He says, the sight

of glory makes corruptible or sinful things more

grossly detestable. And so I think that is good

to think in that regard. If we see, if we see

this glory, it causes all of these things on

earth to be of no value to us. 1 Peter 1 .3 I

wrote down here too. So let me read that one.

And I don't know if you guys remember, but going

through 1 Peter, Peter is constantly telling

us, reminding us of glory. There's, let's see,

so it's, I think I've got three written down

here, if I can. Remember well I wrote them here

But in first Peter 1 3 he says it he says here

blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus

Christ Who according to his great mercy has caused

us to be born again unto a living hope Through

the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable

and undefiled and will not fade away Reserved

in heaven for you And then in verse 13, fix your

hope completely on the grace to be brought to

you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then

I don't think I wrote this one down, I just read

it, but there's another one in chapter two here

that I read this evening actually. I can't find

it. That was 1st Peter 1 .13. So anyway, Peter

continually is reminding us of this glory that

is ours, that is waiting for us. And in doing

that, he is encouraging us to press on in holiness

here in this world. All right. Another help.

As we walk here, this hope that we have is Hebrews

12. So this is the example of Jesus here. The

writer to the Hebrews says in verse 2, 12 -2,

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter

of faith, who for the joy set before him, endured

the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down

at the right hand of the throne of God. So who

for the joy set before him was able to endure

all of these things. And so again, it should

be an encouragement to us in the same way for

a little while here. There's a much greater joy

that awaits us. Any comments or questions? Did

I say Already the certainty of this of this glory

I don't think I did because we skipped so again

the certainty glory do we all there's no doubt

right we have Jesus and we're told that he has

accomplished all of this for us on the cross

his death his resurrection in Corinthians first

Corinthians 15 talks about If Christ is not raised,

we are of all men most miserable. We have nothing

to hope for, but Christ has risen. Christ is

seated in the heavenly places at the Father's

right hand. And because Christ has accomplished

this and because Christ is there, we know that

we will be there. And so again, we have a sure

hope. We see that throughout Scripture. It's

not a hope that is... placed on something that

is shaking and variable, but it is a sure and

solid hope based upon Jesus Christ, a solid rock

who has accomplished all of these things. And

so, viewing our salvation in that light, that

final salvation, that glory that awaits as sure,

as certain, guaranteed, wonderful, free from

sin. All of those things should help us wage

war here upon this earth. Viewing our final salvation

aright. I think we said this in another way,

but One of the points here that I have is hope

gives patience to wait for God to perform His

promises. So again, having this sure hope gives

us patience to wait for God to perform His promises.

His promise that He will glorify us. He will

get us to glory. We will be with Him. On the

same lines of hope that I have here, that our

hope, let our hope be grounded in truth and not

upon presumption or false doctrine. Well, we've

kind of already talked about this. We talked

about girding our loins with truth, and then

when we talk about the sword of the spirit here,

we'll talk again about truth. It is imperative

for us to know the Word, to know what is promised

to us there, to know what has been accomplished

for us there through Christ, to know the promises

of God. If we base our hope upon something other

than Christ, other than the promises of God,

other than those things that are in the Word,

those things will shake. They will fail. They

will crumble and fall. And then our hope, where

is it? We're left with none. We're left devastated.

We're left disappointed. But a hope that is based

upon God, based upon His promises and upon His

Word is sure. It's steadfast. And it will come

to pass. Questions, comments? Is there a difference

in you just mean in in there in their sureness

of it No, I don't think there is. I mean, you

hear, you know, just as you were talking, I think

of that guy Richard Dawkins and the interview

that he had with somebody and he was fully confident

of everything that he said and had a reason and

an argument and he was confident as can be. And

so We can we can be just as confident as he his

confidence is based upon his himself Now you

know you could say we could say well He knows

that there's a God because the scripture says

that and that's true And so he's really not that

confident. He's just denying these These things

that that he does know that God has revealed

to all men that he's suppressed And you could

say he really doesn't have confidence, and that's

fine. I can understand that argument for sure.

But yeah, his confidence is baseless, because

it's just based upon his own philosophies and

his own logic, his own reason. I think it does

make it easier to think about storing that treasure

rather than here doing things that will benefit

us there rather than here in the temporary. That

should definitely be an impact. It should definitely

change our thinking. Fix your hope completely

on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation

of Jesus Christ. If you're a Christian and you've

actually experienced God, I don't know if you

will, then you can have a kind of assurance that

somebody who thinks they're a Christian has never

actually put their faith into practice. You know,

like, I've heard people talk about, uh, like,

jack stands and metaphor for faith. So if they

don't, you know, if you're just looking at the

jack stands on your garage, it's like, yeah,

I've got those over there. Yeah, that's for sure.

There is a different again to say we have confidence.

And then when those things come that would shake

our confidence, would shake our hope, we find

out that our confidence really isn't that great.

We can say it, we can look like it, but when

anything were to come against us, all of a sudden,

we're not all that sure because we don't have

a sure hope, a true confidence. Okay. The next

verse there, or the next part of the verse, I

think, is the sword of the spirit. The helmet

of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which

is the word of God. What is this sword of the

Spirit? The Word of God. Okay. Is this a weapon

of offense or defense? Yes. Yes. Okay. I just

point that out, it's both, right? I mean, the

word of God, this sword of the spirit, can be

used in both ways. As an offensive weapon and

as a defensive weapon. To ward off the attacks

of Satan, just like the shield of faith. That

faith that is based upon promises of God and

all those things that we mentioned. It's all

contained in the word of God. And so that sword,

when wielded properly, is a sword of defense

against the lies and the doubts that Satan would

bring. It's also a sword of offense to wage war

against the world, the flesh, and the devil,

and all those things that are contrary to the

kingdom of God. Okay. Why is it the sword of

the spirit? Why is it referred to as the sword

of the spirit? Okay. That's not what I'm looking

for, but that is true. The sword of the spirit,

the spirit. Okay, this is from the spirit, the

word of God. Where does it come from? comes from

God, comes from the Spirit. The Spirit inspired

men to write the Word of God, right? And so this

sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Where

is it? In Peter, if you just want to write this

down. 2nd Peter 1 19 -21 talks about the scripture

and the interpretation of scripture and the prophecy

all not of man but of God. Alright, so an offensive

weapon, a defensive weapon, the sword is The

Word of God, from God, given to us, able to defeat

every enemy. I made a special note of that there

in my notes. Able to defeat every enemy. We think

of the Word of God in that way. That it is all

that we need for our warfare here upon this earth.

That it is it is the answer to everything to

every question it is We just consider the Bible

and the Word of God Flip back to these notes

here. What is what are some things that we could

say about the scripture? Just So for example,

it's inspired What else could we say? It's inerrant.

There is nothing. There is no contradiction,

right? There is no false teaching in there. There's

nothing. There's no mess ups. It's true. Psalm

19. If you want to write that down and read some

of that. Psalm 19, I think it's beginning in

verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring

the soul. Testimony of the Lord is sure. The

precepts of the Lord are right. The commandment

of the Lord is pure. The fear of the Lord is

clean. Judgments of the Lord are true. And he

goes on, he says, what each one of those things

do then. in our lives. And so, what else can

we say? It's sufficient. The Word of God is sufficient

for us. It tells us all about salvation. It tells

about life here and how we're to live. It tells

us who God is. All that we need to know about

God is contained in the Word. We don't need to

go elsewhere to find that. Everything about man.

What we need to know about ourselves. What we

need to know about those around us. contained

in the scriptures. The Word of God is sufficient.

Everything about it is true. So all of the historical

things that are written in the scripture, those

are true. The songs, the poetry, the songs and

all of that, to worship. prophecies I mean it's

amazing to consider the prophecies in the Old

Testament all came true and was a clear evidence

that this was the Word of God all the wisdom

literature that we have there all of the doctrine

that is contained all of the practical application

for our daily lives for our sanctification all

of these things are contained there the Word

of God It's all that we need and it is able to

defeat every foe. It is able to withstand, to

defend against every attack of Satan. It is able

to give us all that we need as far as encouragement

and strength, to build our faith and our trust

in God. It's all contained there in the Word

of God. This sword of the spirit It's all there

All right How else is the but does the Bible

describe this sword this word of God Okay, a

two -edged sword. That's in Hebrews 4. 412. For

the word of God is living and active and sharper

than any two -edged sword, and piercing as far

as the division of soul and spirit and joints

and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and

intents of the heart. The Word of God is quick,

it's active, alive, living, lively. It is powerful,

able to shatter the kingdom of Satan and set

up the kingdom of Christ. It's a light. I didn't

have that one on my list, but I should put it

there. It is able to cut this two -edged sword.

It is able to dissect. It is able to, if you

think of the scalpel of a surgeon, to cut out

just that one part that needs to be dealt with.

To pinpoint, pinpoint accuracy as the Word of

God is applied to our hearts and to our lives,

to our minds, dealing with that specific area.

in our lives that the Lord wants to deal with.

The Word of God is able to do that, to deal with

that one sin, to deal with that one issue, whatever

it may be. He is able, and He is able through

the Spirit to apply that to us in that way. I

wrote down here, able to cut away the flesh that

would hinder us and cause us to stumble, to be

tempted. Alright, anything else that anybody

remembers about the Word of God? Okay, it endures

forever. What does that mean, Chris? One job

or one tittle will not pass away till all is

fulfilled. Is that? Yeah. Okay. It endures forever.

It has been preserved for us. It is unchanging.

It's relevant for all times. It's what? Relevant

for all times. I don't know that we will need

need it when we're in heaven Yeah, that's that's

in Hebrews, isn't it Yeah, the Word of God will

never pass away. As far as the truths that are

contained in Scripture, they will be true forever.

They are unchanging. We will live perfectly there.

We will have Jesus. We will have God there. We

will not need to be instructed from the Word.

We will be with Him. the word Okay, so a couple

of examples With this sword we're able to resist

the devil we see that with Jesus in the wilderness

We will be able to answer those who would seek

to distort the Word or accuse us or God falsely.

You think of the Pharisees and all the things

they said and did, and how Jesus had to correct

them and rebuke them. And so the Word of God

is sufficient for all of those things. Okay,

so what does this mean for us then? So how do

we apply this? What does this mean for us in

our daily lives? What good are all of these facts?

What does that say to us? We've got to know these

things, right? That's the first thing. All of

these things that we mentioned, and again, we

didn't... We didn't go through everything we

went through this quickly and so We need to know

all of these things unchanging and errant Relevant

all of these things that we mentioned concerning

the Word of God. We need to know that But what

else do we need to know? Got to know the Word

itself, okay, that's imperative The sword of

the spirit, how is the spirit, how is that sword

of the spirit going to work in our lives? To

cut and to change us and then also to change

those around us as we speak the word if we don't

know the word. The word if I hid in my heart

that I might not sin against thee, right? And

so we've got to hide the word in our heart. Not

only do we have to memorize the word, We have

to be able to study the Word and to know what

it means. We've got to know what the... We can't

just have a proof text for everything, right?

We've got to have real texts in context saying,

here's what this means. This is what God is teaching

us. This is this doctrine. This is how we apply

this based upon this scripture and that scripture.

We've got to know the Word of God and we've got

to apply it rightly to our lives. We have to

memorize the Word of God. We've got to read it,

study it, be familiar with it. All of these things

are essential if we are going to wield this sword

in a way that is both offensive and defensive

in our lives. It is this Word of God, this sword

of the Spirit in which we wage war. All right?

Logic and reason and argument. Those are fine.

But we don't reason people into the kingdom of

God. We've got to present them with truth. Here's

what the Bible says. Here's what the Bible says

about you, about me. about who God is, about

who Christ is, what salvation is. The truth is

what is essential. The Word is essential. And

so we must be able to wield that sword. We must

be able to present the Word and to use it appropriately.

And we've got to apply it as well in our own

lives. We've got to apply it to the attacks of

Satan. The attacks of the world. All of these

things tie together. Everything that we've mentioned

from the very beginning to now. Standing firm.

Upon who? The Lord. On Jesus Christ. On the truth

and all of these things that we've gone through.

They all tie together. They all intertwine. They're

all interwoven. We didn't really talk much about

faith tonight. But all of these things, why do

we believe the Word of God? There's faith involved.

We've got to have faith. So there's faith involved

in all of these things. There's truth involved

in all of these things. There's application of

all of these things. So, girding our loins with

truth, the breastplate of righteousness, having

our feet shoved, the helmet of salvation, the

sword of the Spirit. It's a daily putting on

these things, a daily reminding ourselves of

the gospel, the truth of the gospel, the glory

that awaits us, Jesus Christ, who He is. what

He has accomplished, who we are in Him. All of

these things should be daily upon our minds.

The faithfulness of God, the promises of God.

That's the armor that we're putting on. And remember,

it is a daily putting on. A moment by moment

putting on. We say putting it on as though, you

know, I say daily putting it on as though we

take it off at night We talked about that. We

don't take it off But it's daily girding ourselves

with these things Putting these things upon our

minds Resting upon Jesus Christ. I mean we could

go on and on and on But it's imperative that

we remember this is a daily thing for each of

us We've got to be in the word we've got to fix

our minds upon truth fix our minds upon Christ

Rest in him rest in him for our salvation Rest

in him In every circumstance on the sovereignty

of God Right. I mean daily life will seek to

throw us all out of whack Satan to distract us

to tempt us and So we've got to be grounded We've

got to be sure we've got to remind ourselves

of these things speaking to ourselves these truths

Daily moment by moment Any questions any comments

Any comments any other questions?