378: Barret Law - Exhortation: Helmet of Salvation

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:03

   Welcome to good Christophian talks. Thank you for joining us this week on this podcast. We select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. Each week we post a talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world. Then we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. And now let’s talk more about this week’s talk. Hello all and welcome back.

2. 0:35

   This is Brother Benji. This week’s talk will be an exhortation given by Brother Barrett Law at the Brighton Ecclesia in South Australia on the 13th of July this year to the theme Helmet of Salvation. Brother Barrett’s passion is unmatched as he encourages us to consider deeply the assurance of our salvation. What a hope we have.

3. 1:05

   Our brother explores the purpose, context and reasoning behind the Helmet of Salvation. He shows us a consistent message throughout all Scripture. God is our salvation, it is not of ourselves. Therefore, we do not need to worry and can rejoice. I particularly liked his description of the function of a helmet serving to protect our minds. An absolutely delightful and exciting lesson. With that all said, I’ll give you over to our brother Barrett for his exhortation.

4. 1:47

   Helmet of Salvation. Well, good morning my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought we might look at the helmet of salvation as Brother Ian has mentioned this morning by way of bringing our minds to the emblems. It is a very positive subject, brothers and sisters, and one that that I think does well to that we do well to remember the what, what it what it teaches us. So if we just go to Ephesians 6 that Paul here in Ephesians 6 gives us, gives the Ephesian ecclesia this little bit of advice on taking on the whole armour of God. Now, when when he’s, he’s talking to the Ephesian ecclesia brothers and sisters and I.

5. 2:32

   And I think it just does well to to, in order to actually build this picture of where we actually going here in Ephesians, Let’s just go back to Acts 20, verse 29. Because in Acts 20, verse 29, Paul has been at Ephesus. And this is what and, and the last time he was at Ephesus, this is what he told them. And I think this is actually the basis of this advice that he actually gives them.

6. 2:56

   So back in Acts 20 verse 29. So let’s read from verse 28. So we know he’s talking to the Ephesian ecclesia. It says that in verse 17 and from malicious, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the ecclesia and they came to him. And then from verse 17, from verse 18 onwards is all the way almost to the end of the chapter is what he actually tells them. And so part of this advice is then verse verse 28. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the ecclesia of God, which he’s purchased with his own blood. For I know this, I know this, says Paul. This is what is going to happen.

7. 3:44

   I know that after my departing, grievous wolves are going to enter in among you, not sparing the flock. And what are they going to do, brothers and sisters? What is going to be the spirit of these brothers and sisters in this Ephesian ecclesia? OK, verse 30. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves.

8. 4:11

   So these brothers and sisters, we’re going to seek to draw away disciples after themselves. This is a very self focused group of brothers and sisters within the ecclesia. This is the spirit of it. They, they, they, they’re not interested in the Lord Jesus Christ. They’re not interested in feeding their brothers and sisters. What they interested in is their own prestige, their own looks, their own, that they’ve got disciples, people looking up to them.

9. 4:43

   They want to be seen as the authority. They want to be seen as the ones who people defer to when there’s a question or ask that brother or ask that sister, they will know. So it’s the spirit of actually seeking to draw away disciples after oneself because self is the problem. And I think, brothers and sisters, that what is what, what Paul knew was going to permeate that Ephesian ecclesia is exactly the spirit of our age, brothers and sisters. It is the spirit of self where self is everything, where people want to be seen as something not just ordinary. They won’t have a following.

10. 5:27

    They wanted people to look up to them. They wanted people to to reverence them as it were, and and to admire what they are doing because they think they are important. And that is exactly the opposite of the spirit of Christ. Diametrically opposed to everything that is on the table in front of us is the spirit of self. And that is the spirit that was in this ecclesia. And that’s what Paul is advising him now in his letter. How do we counteract that?

11. 5:59

    How do we counteract that spirit of self? And it’s, and the brothers and sisters, it’s not just in the ecclesia. The ecclesia gets it because it is the spirit of the world around us. We absorb it from society. We absorb it from every form of media that that is bombarding us daily, whether it’s YouTube or Facebook or Twitter or every form of media that comes to us.

12. 6:26

    They are all positioning us and that because they all seek to draw away people after themselves. And so we are being bombarded, brothers and sisters, by the spirit of self from society, which we which it’s impossible, but well, not impossible, but it is so hard to resist because we absorb it in the spur of the age.

13. 6:51

    Because every part of society, whether it’s the education department who’s full of left wing ideology, or whether it’s the current government, which is in in America, which is a right wing government, whatever, they all have their own ideologies. And those ideologies, brothers and sisters or what, or what we’re absorbing and they influence our mind.

14. 7:19

    So how do we stop that? And this is what we want to talk about this morning, brothers and sisters. The answer is actually really, really simple. It’s a very, very simple answer, but that is what we’re dealing with, brothers and sisters. That’s the that’s the spirit of our age that we’re trying to build a barrier against so we don’t absorb the ideologies of the world that is coming to us through every form of media. So Paul here in, in Ephesians actually then says to my brethren, these are the same brothers and sisters that we’ve just looked at in, in Acts 20.

15. 7:53

    My brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. So he’s now going to give them this little bit of advice. He says put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand against the Wiles of the devil. OK, So he says you got to put on this whole armour. And now when we talk about armour, brothers and sisters, obviously Paul, he has got the Roman soldier in his mind. He’s thinking about, about physical warfare and he’s using that as his analogy.

16. 8:24

    OK, but we’re obviously talking about, we’re not talking about physical things. Yeah, and he does, and he does tell us that it’s, it’s we’re, we’re it’s he’s spiritualizing these things. So, and it’s very much like what the Lord does in in Luke 11. Just come with me back to Luke 11, verse 22 because Jesus, Jesus talks about the strongman who trusts in his armour. So Luke 11, verse 22, the the context of this is that the Pharisees have just come to Jesus and said, ah, you just casting out devils by Beelzebub.

17. 8:59

    You know, the, the, the Prince of the devils and Jesus has got an answer to them and he gives them this parable of the strongman. In fact, it actually should probably be the parable of the stronger man, because Jesus is the stronger man, isn’t he? Because look what it says in in Luke 11 verse 21, well, verse 20 for context.

18. 9:17

    But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God has come upon you when a strong man armed keepeth his palace and his his goods are in peace. And the strong man is human nature. It’s the flesh, it’s the devil. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. He was stronger than human nature, He overcame it. It was a stronger than he overcame him and taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusteth and divided his spoils. And Jesus says he that is not with me is against me. OK, so Jesus is that stronger man and he takes away because he’s got armour and it’s armour fit for purpose, isn’t it? And so you have to trust your armour. And Jesus, Jesus did, He trusted the armour that God had given him in order to overcome that strong man of human nature. You know, just thinking about that, brothers and sisters, you know, thinking about trusting in your armour, trusting in things that are fit for purpose.

19. 10:24

    This is something we, we, we have to do. You know, it doesn’t matter what profession you’re in. You know, like as a, as a cabinet maker, you know, I have to trust my tools. I have to know that my chisel is really sharp and it’s got, it’s made out of good steel. You know, you might be an artist and you paint with a brush and you want to, you want to buy, you know, you know that if you buy a brush with sable hair that it’ll, it’ll, the paint will flow perfectly. You have to trust the thing that you’re working in. There’s lots of ideas, lots of things that we could analogies that we could use to trust your equipment. You have to be able to place full confidence in your equipment so that it’s because it’s got to be fit for purpose. And I was having a discussion with Uncle Royce not that long ago when I was going to put tires on my Prado because we go out hunting and we go, we drive through the, the paddocks and the hills and there’s rocks and stumps. And also I’m going to put tires on my Prado so that I don’t RIP them.

20. 11:15

    So we’re having this big discussion, Uncle Royce and I, you know, whether I put BF Goodrich’s on or, or which is the American made, you know, really good, but they’re very expensive, or whether I put the Chinese made ones on there. And you know, like the last thing you want to be doing is being in the paddock or in and you’ve got pop tires, you know, 2:00 in the morning or something like that.

21. 11:35

    So you’ve got to be able to, so I ended up with the BF Goodridges and they were fantastic, except when your Prada is upside down in a ditch and the tires up in the air. So, but so you’ve got to be able to trust your equipment because when you, when you are in a situation where you really need to rely upon that equipment, you need to be able to trust that it is going to be fit for purpose. And this is the example that Paul’s going to give us here. He’s saying, actually, you know what, I’m going to give you an example of this armour that you need to put on that is fit for purpose because it did the Lord Jesus Christ really well. He was the stronger man that disarmed the man of the flesh, took away his armour and overcame him and beat him. And so this is now armour for you which is going to be fit for purpose.

22. 12:23

    So he says you need to put on the whole armour of God, not just part of it, all of it, so that it can help you to stand against the Wiles of the devil. So back in Ephesians 6. And so we’re standing against the the devil, isn’t it? Like it’s, and we know what that is.

23. 12:38

    It’s, it’s human nature and it’s, it’s human nature in US individually. But that’s not what he’s going to talk about. He’s going to go on to show that actually it’s not just human nature in US, It’s actually something else. And we’ll get to that. But we have to be able to stand against the Wiles of the devil because you see, and, and this is it, brothers and sisters, it’s not, this is not it’s, it’s wily.

24. 13:06

    It’s not coming to us. How do we say this? It’s deliberately trying to deceive us. You know, and you see this in the media, brothers and sisters, you know, if you, if you watch, just take one example, if you watch Al Jazeera, you know that Al Jazeera is owned by Iran. You know that they are positioning you to accept the narrative that they are trying to propound.

25. 13:34

    It is an anti Israel narrative that they are, that they are showing you. So if you think that you’re getting the truth by watching Al Jazeera, you’re wrong. They are positioning you in a wrong from a wrong perspective. They want you to buy into their narrative. That is the Wiles of the devil. They are deliberately.

26. 13:57

    Make no mistake, brothers and sisters, this is a calculated plan to deceive. And if you watch another media outlet, they are positioning you on the other side. So they, it is not we, we must, we must not be ignorant brothers and sisters that these things that, that the, the, the, that the information that we get through the media is actually deliberately trying to position us according to their position.

27. 14:34

    It is the walls of the devil. And, you know, the dialect then says so. So what is this, this devil that he’s actually talking about? Well, he goes on to explain it. He says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So brothers and sisters, the dialect says, for that our conflict is not with blood and flesh. In other words, we’re not fighting a physical battle that that’s obvious.

28. 15:08

    OK, This is not a physical battle against physical people that we are fighting with in that sense. But with so the dialogue says, our conflict is not with blood and flesh, but with the governments, with the authorities and potentates of this, of this darkness and spiritual things, of wickedness in the heavenlies. So what we’re fighting against, brothers and sisters, is worldly ideologies, false religious ideologies, humanism and brothers and sisters. What we need is armour that is going to help us to defend ourselves against that.

29. 15:51

    We need a helmet of salvation, which is a brilliantly effective way of overcoming those ideologies because it governs our thinking. OK, so we’re we’re fighting against spiritual wickedness in high places, wicked spirits in heaven. And we know that the heaven is the government of the ruling power. So these are false ideologies, false teachings both from the government and from religious, religious entities.

30. 16:20

    And we know that like I’ve said this before, like you. So even like President Trump says of, of Harvard University, he says it’s a nest of left wing ideology. And that’s exactly what it is. And, and, and it’s and they both as bad as each other. So we’re not taking sides here, OK? But but they actually recognize each other for what they are. Harvard University is a nest of left wing ideology because that’s what they propound.

31. 16:47

    That’s what they that’s the narrative that they are spewing out. And that’s why you have all these people camping on the lawns in front of Harvard, you know, waving Palestinian flags, etcetera. And and and and you know. Yeah, so so that these are the ideologies that we’re that are coming to us through the media

32. 17:06

    and Jesus has overcome that. Brothers and sisters, just just turn back in Ephesians to chapter one, verse 21, chapter one, verse 21 says reading verse 20, who he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in the world that is to come.

33. 17:38

    So Jesus after his resurrection is now above all principalities. Otherwise he’s above all governments in this world. He controls the governments of this world and he’s going to be the highest government in the world to come. So that’s, that’s the sense of what Paul is saying here in Ephesians 6 with the, the, the, it’s the ideologies that come from the ruling powers, whichever they be left wing or right wing or somewhere in between.

34. 18:04

    And, and, and the, the rulers of the darkness of this world, religious, religious ideology as well as as political ideology. It’s all fleshly ideology that we’re fighting against. So, so our spiritual weapons, brothers and sisters, defend us. They spiritual weapons that defend US against the world’s thinking and its reasoning. And So what we’ve got to do, brothers and sisters, is we’ve got to do what Paul, just come with me across to 2nd Corinthians 5.

35. 18:35

    So we’ve got to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ. He says that in 2nd Corinthians 5. Just have a look at this second Corinth, sorry, not 2nd Corinthians 5, Second Corinthians 10, verse 5, 2nd Corinthians 10, verse 5 says, well actually we’ll read verse 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. This is exactly the same message, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Or what are these strongholds casting down imaginations? And if you look in your centre margin there, it says reasonings, casting down reasonings, and every hard thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So brothers and sisters, this is a spiritual conflict against the spirit of this age, which seeks to draw away disciples after themselves.

36. 19:45

    And it’s wily, it’s cunning, it’s crafty. They it’s, it’s, it’s a lie and it’s deceptive. Just while we’re in Second Corinthians, just turn over to Chapter 11. So 2nd Corinthians 11 verse three, look what it says. And this is really what the, the, you know, the, the answer is, is quite simple. Our fear, says Paul verse Chapter 11, verse three.

37. 20:08

    Our fear lest by any means as the serpent. Beguiled Eve through his subtlety. It’s that craftiness that the the whiles of the devil. He beguiled Eve through his subtlety that your minds, your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in crossed. So Paul says, I don’t want you to be beguiled from the simplicity that is in Christ and and that is the answer, brothers and sisters, it is a very simple answer. It is the simplicity that is that is in Christ and that that we’re going to talk about short shortly that we that will help us to stand against the Wiles of the devil. And we know back in Ephesians, he says that we’ve got to stand against it.

38. 20:59

    So back in Ephesians, he says actually this this he uses this word stand a few times. He says you’ve got it in verse 11 that you may be able to stand against the Wiles of the devil. At the end of verse 13, he says having to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand and verse 14 to stand, therefore having your loins good about with truth.

39. 21:24

    So it’s really important to stand against this. OK. And that, that brings to my mind, well, the opposite of standing is falling down, isn’t it? So in, in my mind, I’ll go back to Daniel 3, where you’ve got those three friends who are, who are, who stay standing. So there you’ve got Nebuchadnezzar setting himself up.

40. 21:44

    He’s, he’s the government, he’s, he’s the religion. And he set up his image, which is a representation of all his, his political and his religious ideals, against the word of God.

41. 21:58

    And he says, I want you to bow down to that. I want you to, I want you to conform to my government ideals, my ideology, my religious ideology, my political ideology. I want you to conform to that. And they say, no, we will not bow down. We are going to stand against that. And that’s exactly what Paul is telling us here. We need to stand against the ideology of the world. And so the answer that he gives us, the simplicity that is in crossed is then outlined in verse 13 to 18, which is these these various elements of of armour. So back in Ephesians 6, he says, now let’s just take these, let’s look at these as a big picture, not as not as particularly armour itself, but let’s have a look at what what the what it represents.

42. 22:48

    So what have we got in verse 14? We’ve got truth. Your loins get about with truth. Then we’ve got righteousness at the end of verse 14, a breastplate of righteousness. Then we’ve got feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. So we’ve got the gospel and above all, taking the shield of faith. So we’ve got faith.

43. 23:17

    And then we’ve got a helmet in verse 17 of salvation. And then we’ve got in verse 17 the the sword of the Spirit with the Spirit word of God. So if we look at those things, brothers and sisters, what have we got? We’ve got truth, we’ve got righteousness, we’ve got preparate the the gospel of peace.

44. 23:33

    We’ve got faith, we’ve got salvation and we’ve got the Spirit word. And brothers and sisters, isn’t that then really it’s our whole journey in in Christ, isn’t it? This is the simplicity in Christ. What happens first? What happened to you first? You first learned the truth. You were, you were convicted of the truth. You came to understand that there was actual truth and it could be defined.

45. 24:05

    And so you espoused and you took on the truth 1st. And you, you had a knowledge of the truth and you took on the truth and the very. And having learnt the truth, what did you do? You were baptized, weren’t you? And so when you were baptized, what happened? Well, you put on Christ, you were imputed righteous.

46. 24:24

    So you’ve got the truth. You learned the truth, and then you were made righteous. So you’ve got righteousness. And having learned the truth and having been made righteous, how did you feel and what did you want to do then? Well, didn’t you want to go and talk to other people about it? Didn’t anyone go tell other people about the gospel that you’ve just that you? So you’ve got the gospel of peace and you and you go out and you and in everyday life you want to talk about the gospel to people that you meet.

47. 24:53

    But what happens when you do that? Do they all accept and go, wow, we’re so excited for you, That’s really good. Can we join too? Do they say that? No, the fiery dots of the wicked come back at you, don’t they? And so you have to have a shield of faith because you realize that actually it’s not very popular. And so you’ve got this, you’ve got faith that has to be developed and faith that actually protects you then from from the fiery darts that we get to come back at you. So you’ve got the truth that you’ve espoused, you’ve got righteousness that you’ve put on in Christ. You, you go out and you preach the gospel and your faith is developed as you come into conflict with others who don’t, who don’t see things the same way. And that develops now a relationship with God. You, you, you’ve got this mindset of salvation. It’s a perspective that that guards your mind and it’s, and I and I believe it’s your relationship with God, your idea of salvation, that you are saved. And then you have the word of this, the spirit word of God, which helps you every day as and you and you grow in this, in the spirit word of God.

48. 26:02

    And you learn to discern between right and wrong, between flesh and spirit as you go through life and you grow and your, your mind grows and you see things for what they really are because you look at it through the lens of the word of God and you see the ideologies. You see what the root of those ideologies are and where they coming from.

49. 26:23

    It’s your critical thinking, isn’t it? Critical thinking viewed through the lens of the Word of God, and you discern human nature as the root of all these ideologies that come to us. And so, brothers and sisters, isn’t that just the simplicity that’s in Crossed? So simple, isn’t it? And yet we’ve got to have these things, truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation and the word and the Spirit word of God.

50. 26:51

    And that is the armor which is fit for purpose. You can trust it. Let’s let’s just come back with me to, I want to just focus a little bit on this idea of salvation for a few minutes, this idea of the, the helmet of salvation, because I think this is really important, one of these not more important than all the rest, but it’s just a very important one. Just come back to first Thessalonians 5 verse 8, because Paul is sort of he explains what this little, what this helmet of salvation is a little bit more so First Thessalonians 5 verse 8.

51. 27:35

    So First Thessalonians 5, verse 8, he says, let us who are of the day and be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation. So he actually adds that word hope there. The hope of salvation is now the thing that we wear to protect our mind. So this is the thing that’s in the natural sense, the helmet’s protecting the head.

52. 28:00

    The helmet is is the hope of salvation. Our view of salvation is what’s protecting our mind, of course. Now look, he expands on this, So he says in verse 9, for God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. So that’s our perspective. We have been appointed. We have been appointed to obtain salvation. That is really positive, brothers and sisters, we have not been appointed to wrath.

53. 28:32

    We have been appointed to obtain salvation by Christ who died for us, that with a wake or sleep we should live together with Him. That is our perspective on salvation. We have been appointed to salvation. Just turn over the page to 2nd Thessalonians, the Second Thessalonians 2 verse 13. In 2nd Thessalonians 2, verse 13, he says, But we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, President beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

54. 29:12

    God has chosen us, brothers and sisters, from the very beginning. God’s chosen us to salvation. We have not been appointed to wrath. We’ve been chosen. We’ve been appointed to salvation. We’ve been chosen to salvation. And that is the thing that should protect our minds, how we view salvation, how we view what God has done for us.

55. 29:33

    You know, as I was thinking about this, it actually what came back to me. And it’s so funny. It’s ironic that our brother Steve is here because I was thinking that we had our, we had our, our special 11 with Uncle Steve on forgiveness. And, and one of the sort of the great things that came out of that was that we live in a perpetual state of forgiveness. Incredible.

56. 29:52

    We have been chosen from the very beginning to salvation. We have not been appointed to wrath. We’ve been appointed to salvation and we live in a perpetual state of forgiveness. And that’s how we have to see it individually. Incredible. So let’s have a look at the salvation. Let’s just quickly flick through a few scriptures just to get this perspective on how so because it’s our view of salvation that then governs how how it protects us from all these other things that come to us through the media.

57. 30:25

    So salvation, brothers and sisters, has always been a work of God. Always. It’s God’s work. It’s not our work. It’s something that God has done because we are not capable of doing it. It has to be a work of God. OK, so salvation has always been a work of God. Think back to Genesis 315. Man’s just sinned, big problem.

58. 30:53

    Can’t extradite, extricate himself out of it. God says don’t worry, I’ve got the solution, OK. And there’s the first prophecy of salvation. I will send one who’s going to have armour fit for purpose and he’s going to crush that. Your head, the serpent’s head, there’s your salvation. I’m the one who’s going to do that. OK, so God is always the the, the the operator of salvation. So there’s the first one, the next great act of salvation. You’ve got Noah.

59. 31:25

    He’s he’s, he’s the only little family in a world that that’s, there’s millions of people, possibly even a billion people in the world. And he’s this one little family who’s righteous before God. How’s he going to save himself? He cannot. How’s he going to get himself out of that situation? He cannot. God says, don’t worry, Noah, I’ll work it out.

60. 31:47

    You just build an ark. You do that because that’s what you can do. You can build an ark and I will flood the world. I will do the humanly impossible. That’s God’s salvation. God does the humanly impossible because we can’t. We can’t do the humanly impossible. God’s. God’s the one who works out salvation. Think about another example.

61. 32:16

    What about Israel? When, when, when, when they’re in Egypt, They’re generations of slavery in Israel and, and there they are. What, what were they going to do? This, this, this, this, this nation of all this, this group of people who was who generations were slaves? What what happens if they just got up on mess and ran out, stormed out or great, they got nowhere to go. Humanly impossible situation.

62. 32:42

    There would have been a whole group of displaced people with with nowhere to go. It was an impossible situation. What does God do? Takes them out and he says now you stand still. You stand still and see my you’ve got the Red Sea in front of you. You’ve got the Egyptian army behind you.

63. 33:01

    Now you stand still and see my salvation, says God. I will do the humanly impossible for you. God is the one that always works out salvation. Think about just come with me to this one to to to David and to not to David to Jonathan first Samuel 14 verse 6. I love this one on Jonathan because you see, this is this creative tension. Sometimes God actually, sometimes God actually just says stand still and see my salvation. At other times God actually works with individuals and gets them to do a little bit and then he works the salvation through them.

64. 33:37

    And so the human actually becomes the agent of salvation. And this is a a classic example of this in in first Samuel 14 where Jonathan first Samuel 14 verse 6 where Jonathan and his armour bearer are facing this impossible, humanly impossible situation of this Garrison of the Philistines. And Jonathan says in in first Samuel 14 verse 6.

65. 34:03

    And Jonathan said unto the young man that bear his armour, come, let us go over unto the Garrison of these uncircumcised, that it may be that Yahweh will work for us. For there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few. Wow. So you see, there is, is Jonathan’s understanding that salvation is the is the work of God alone.

66. 34:31

    God alone can work out salvation. But here Jonathan is actually doing his little part, his little faithful part. And he’s saying, look, God can do it with with many or few, but it’s going to be God’s work ultimately at the end of the day. So salvation has always been a work of God.

67. 34:48

    And, and there’s another classic example, isn’t there, in the life of Jehoshaphat. Actually, let’s go to that one as well. So just over second Chronicles, come to the Second Chronicles, chapter 20.

68. 35:03

    So Second Chronicles chapter 20, Jehoshaphat again here is facing a, a massive army that’s come against him. And there’s there’s no human solution to this. It’s an impossible situation. He’s going to be defeated, humanly speaking. And the prophet comes to him and says in verse 15, So the prophet says, and he said, Hearken ye all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, thus saith Yahweh unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude.

69. 35:36

    For the battle is not yours, but gods. It’s not your battle. Salvation is God’s work. Salvation is God’s problem. He’s the one who’s going to work it out because you can’t. And so verse 17. And you shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still. Well, we’ve heard that before, haven’t we? Back on the shores of the Red Sea. Stand ye still and see the salvation of Yahweh. Isn’t that just amazing Joshua that’s told to stand still and see the salvation of Yahweh.

70. 36:16

    So, so this is just salvation has always been a work of God. And so that’s why, brothers and sisters, we can feel so confident, you know, and brother Ian read from Psalm 27 verse one. Just let’s just go there, Psalm 27 verse one and read that again. This is why we can feel so confident, because salvation is not our work, it’s God’s work. So Psalm 27 verse one says Yahweh is my light and my salvation.

71. 36:51

    And because Yahweh is my salvation, the psalmist says well, well whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. I don’t need to fear all the ideologies of the world. I don’t need to worry about the left wing and the right wing of politics and where they trying to position me. I don’t I can see through all of that. Yahweh is my we see the lens that we look at all of that is that God rules in the kingdoms of men. God is in control, totally in control. He’s in control in in the in the in the international sphere and he’s in his control in my own personal life. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?

72. 37:37

    And so that then brings to our life a we don’t need to be tormented by depression or by anxiety. When we know that Yahweh is on our side and that He is strong and He has worked out salvation for us, it is absolutely, 100% guaranteed. That’s the confidence, brothers and sisters, and I think that’s what Paul is trying to show, is you’ve got a helmet on your head.

73. 38:03

    It’s a helmet of salvation. It protects your thinking. What do you think about salvation? Do you doubt it? Do you think God can’t get you into the Kingdom? Absolutely not. It is 100% guaranteed, brothers and sisters, that you will be in the Kingdom, 100% guaranteed. Do you know how? You know how the, the rest of Scripture talks about this in Psalm 18, it talks about a shield that just imagine a person and, and, and Psalm 18 says there’s a shield of salvation. So we’ve got a shield over here of salvation. Then Isaiah 59 talks about a helmet of salvation. So you’ve got a helmet on you to put a shield. You’ve got a helmet of salvation. Then Isaiah 61 talks about garments of salvation. So now you’re wrapped up in salvation. And then Isaiah 60 says you’ve got walls of salvation. So can you see this person?

74. 38:50

    He’s got a shield of salvation, he’s got a helmet of salvation, He’s wrapped up in salvation, and he’s in a city of salvation. How guaranteed is salvation? It’s 100% guaranteed. Isn’t that just amazing, Brothers and sisters? Salvation is 100% guaranteed. So what should our response be to that brothers and sisters? I just turn over to Isaiah 12.

75. 39:18

    Our response to that in Isaiah 12 is just is that we should sing and we should praise and we should thank God with from the bottom of our hearts. Look at this Isaiah 12.

76. 39:33

    This is this is this is the the the human response to salvation should be this in Isaiah 12 verse verse verse one to three in that day, in the day of the Kingdom, OK, when we finally made immortal, thou shalt say, O Yahweh, I will praise thee because you see we’re living. We know that we are going to be in the Kingdom. We know we are saved.

77. 39:57

    O Yahweh, I will praise thee. Thou wast angry with me. Thine anger is turned away. Thou has comforted me. Behold God is my salvation. I will trust. I will not be afraid. Yahweh is this my strength and my song. He’s become my salvation. Therefore, with joy He shall draw waters out of the wells of salvation. In that day He shall say praise Yahweh, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people. You see, brothers and sisters, this should be our response to our understanding of salvation.

78. 40:32

    We we are assured that God is my salvation. I will trust, I will not be afraid. And this is the mindset that we should have. This is the helmet of salvation. God is my strength. God is my song. God is my salvation. He’s worked it all out. That does. You know, we just turn over because Paul’s got this idea, brothers and sisters, from Isaiah.

79. 40:53

    So, so let’s just turn over to Isaiah 59 because this is where he gets it from. Even the Messiah himself put on the helmet of salvation. You know, we talk about salvation being 100% guaranteed. And of course, you know that the perspective that that’s coming from, it’s, it’s not saying that we don’t sin or we don’t recognize our sin.

80. 41:18

    And of course, that’s, that’s axiomatic. We, we understand that. OK, so as I 59 starts with behold, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save. God is able to work out salvation at this point. It hadn’t been done yet, but it was as good as done. As I 59 verse one, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is ear heavy that it cannot hear, but it’s your iniquities that have separated between you and your God.

81. 41:44

    Your sins have hit his face from you. And of course, yes, we understand that we and God is we understand that we do still sin. But God has dealt with that. God has solved that problem in Christ because he says in verse 16, God waited for 4000 years and then God and then God implemented his solution. And he says in verse 16 and he saw that there was no man and he wondered that there was no intercept. It says intercessor.

82. 42:11

    Therefore his arm brought salvation unto him. So God’s arm brought salvation to Christ and his righteousness. That’s God’s righteousness. It sustained him. That is Christ. God’s righteousness sustained Christ, and he, that is Christ, put on righteousness as a breastplate and then helmet of salvation on his head. So, so Jesus put on God’s righteousness.

83. 42:38

    Jesus upheld God’s righteousness, knowing that God would do the humanly impossible. God would take him out of the grave three days later, so he put on the helmet of salvation. That was the thing that governed his thinking. Even the Messiah’s thinking was governed by the idea that salvation was 100% guaranteed. You know, just turn back to Psalm 16 quickly. We see this.

84. 43:07

    We see this in Psalm 16 where this is the mindset that we’re talking about, the mindset of Messiah here. He knew that God based on God’s own righteousness, God would never, God could not leave him in the grave.

85. 43:25

    Salvation was 100% guaranteed. And so this is the mindset that then drives him forward. This is the mindset that that enables him now to overcome. So look at Psalm 16 verse 8 to 11. It says I’ve set Yahweh. This is the Messiah speaking. He says I’ve set Yahweh always before me. He’s a helmet of salvation on my head. That’s what it is.

86. 43:54

    He’s always before me. He’s right in front of me. He’s in the front of my mind. I’ve set Yahweh always before me because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. This is the confidence. It’s 100% guaranteed. Therefore my heart is glad. This is my perspective. My, my glory rejoices. My flesh shall rest in hope, 100% based on the righteousness of God.

87. 44:22

    My flesh is going to rest in hope. I am coming out of the grave in three days time. And that perspective took him through the ordeal of the crucifixion, doesn’t it? For thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave, neither wilt thou suffer the Holy one to to seek corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life and in our presence is fullness of joy forevermore.

88. 44:46

    That’s the perspective, brothers and sisters, that is the the mindset, the the helmet of that protects our mind that salvation is 100% guaranteed. And you know, so, so God takes us into these these humanly impossible situations. And when we realise, brothers and sisters, that there is no human solution, he then saves us, teaching us that the the only source of salvation is himself and that we cannot save ourselves. That’s the the teaching of salvation as it runs through Scripture.

89. 45:22

    Well, just in by way of conclusion, brothers and sisters, I I just want to go back to one last quote in first in first Samuel 17. I think this is probably one of the greatest. You know, you think, well maybe this is like a perspective that we have having seen the Lord Jesus Christ, him having accomplished salvation in that sense, you know, brothers and sisters, there have been brothers and sisters down through the ages that have absolutely seen this all the way through.

90. 45:50

    Just have a look at this perspective from this young man. When we talk about a helmet of salvation that protects the mind and an understanding of salvation. Look at, look at David’s understanding of this in First Samuel 17. So first Samuel 17, what, what, what is the whole context of first Samuel 17?

91. 46:11

    Well, it’s David fighting Goliath, isn’t it? And, and so we, so we see this young man who’s been, who’s been brought up by faithful parents and he’s out there shepherding the sheep and he’s fought to lion and he’s fought to bear. And he’s, and he’s overcome them with the, with the Spirit of God that moved in an impossible situation without the Spirit of God to take on a lion and to take on a bear.

92. 46:36

    And so this has generated this, this faith and this reassurance and this confidence in him. And, and so now he comes and did he know, did he know that that day when he was going towards the army, did he know he was going to face Goliath? He had no idea. But because of the, the, these things that God’s worked in his life, all of a sudden it’s giving him the faith and the confidence now.

93. 46:56

    And so he comes to this, he comes to the situation in the battle then and, and, and he sees this, this, this goal, this, this, this giant blaspheming and defying the armies of the living God. Verse 26 Look at the end of verse 26, David says for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

94. 47:19

    And so this is his perspective that this uncircumcised Philistine is defying the armies of the living God. OK. Verse 36 and and so this is his words to Saul. Now thy servant slew both a lion and a bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing that he has defied the armies of the living God. You see, brother, because he had this understanding that this, these people here are the people of God, the and he’s a living God.

95. 47:50

    Salvation for them is 100% guaranteed. That’s his perspective, isn’t it, brothers and sisters? He knew he was going to win absolutely, 100% guarantee that giant is dead because these are the armies of the living God. And you, you think, well surely, did he really think that? Did he really believe that? Absolutely. So look what Saul does in verse 38.

96. 48:20

    Saul says as Saul tries to arm David and he says, and so Saul in verse 38 says and Saul armed David with his armour and he put a helmet of brass on his head and he also armed him with a coat of mail. You see, there’s a person who doesn’t have the spiritual perspective that salvation is 100% guaranteed because he puts a helmet of brass on his head.

97. 48:43

    And we and we understand Goliath himself, we had had a helmet of brass on his head as well. And so Saul here is saying, well, well actually you can fight flesh with flesh. And David’s saying no, you cannot fight flesh with fish. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They are spiritual, mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.

98. 49:05

    OK, so we cannot fight flesh with flesh. So he takes off the brass helmet. I need a spiritual perspective here. And so he goes out and, and, and of course he goes unarmed, unarmed with conventional weapons into that fight. He’s armed with the perspective that this is the these are the armies of the living God. OK.

99. 49:26

    And in verse, look. And so we know this story had ends. He he, he, he kills Goliath and he cuts off his head. And you think, well, is that where the story ends? Is that where the end of David’s perspective ends? Do you know, brothers and sisters, in David’s mind, this, this helmet of salvation, seeing salvation here was far, far deeper than all of this.

100. 49:49

     Do you look what he does with that head? Brothers and sisters, I find this absolutely amazing. What does he do with Goliath’s head? The thinking of that serpent, the thinking of the flesh, the thinking of the diabolos, the thinking that the Saviour was going to going to crucify and crush right from Genesis 315, what what is David’s perspective?

101. 50:13

     Look what he does. And David verse 54 took the head of the Philistine and he brought it to Jerusalem. Now how on earth did David know to take that head to Jerusalem?

102. 50:28

     He took the head to Jerusalem, a Canaanite city. Jerusalem doesn’t become until David’s king much later on. He took the head to Jerusalem, but he put the armour in his tent. Do you know, brothers and sisters, the reason why he took that head and all of what that head represented? He took that to Jerusalem because that is where Abraham offered Isaac.

103. 50:55

     That is where Abraham where God said to Abraham, you take your son and you go offer him for a burnt offering on one of the mountains of Moriah that I’m going to show you. It’s Jerusalem. You go offer him there because that’s where I am going to work out salvation. This is my problem, says God. I am going to do, you can’t do it, I’m going to do it. So you so David takes that head because he says this is where God is going to answer the things. This is where God is going to work out salvation. This is where the son of God is going to go and he’s going to crucify the thinking of the flesh and everything that it represents and everything that it comes from it principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. It’s all going to be destroyed on that mountain at Jerusalem. And you see brothers and says that’s why in all through every four gospel records it says and they took him out to the till Golgotha, the place of the skull. Isn’t that amazing?

104. 51:56

     Brothers and sisters, They took him out and that’s where they crucified him at the place of the skull, because that’s the skull of Goliath that was there. And David knew that. You see what a spiritual perspective does, brothers and sisters, a spiritual perspective, a helmet of salvation. The way you look at your own personal life. Do you see yourself in the Kingdom? If you see yourself in the Kingdom, you see that salvation is 100% guaranteed.

105. 52:23

     Yes, we own our sins and no, we don’t think about anybody else who’s not living according to the Spirit of Christ. Don’t worry about that. You yourself personal, your relationship with this sacrifice right here. That’s all that matters. This morning, brothers and sisters, is how you view this sacrifice that that is 100% salvation. Helmet, shield, garments, strong walls, 100% salvation, guaranteed.

106. 52:52

     You’re in the Kingdom. It’s your relationship with that. That’s all that matters, brothers and sisters. And it’ll take you cutting off Goliath’s head and taking it to Jerusalem. That’s where that thinking, brothers and sisters, that’s where what that thinking can do for you. Amen. Thank you for listening to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast.

107. 53:30

     We hope this talk helped you in your walk and brightened your day. If you would like to hear more, please subscribe for new episodes. We are on all major podcast platforms and also on YouTube. If you enjoyed this particular talk, please share it with someone else who you think might enjoy it too.

108. 53:47

     For show notes on the talk you just listened to, visit [email protected] or check out the Show Notes section of your podcast player. Please share your thoughts on the talk from this week on our Facebook or Instagram pages where we are at Good Christadelphian talks, or leave a comment on our YouTube channel where these talks are posted as well. If you enjoy listening to the talks that we post and hear one that you think we should share, please tell us about it. You can send us a suggestion using the Contact Us tab on our website or message us on any of our social media accounts. Thank you for listening.

109. 54:20

     God bless and talk to you next week.