Armor of God

You know, depending upon which source you read, America has been involved in over a hundred wars, starting with the American Revolution. You know, I think some of the wars you may recognize or remember hearing about in history books, the War of 1812, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, some of those types of things.

But there's probably some wars that are much less remembered. For instance, the Moral Rebellion, or the Pancho Villa Expedition, or the Box Uprising, or the Keiko War.

And maybe some of those you may have heard or maybe have not heard about. But presently, depending upon the source that you go to, the United States presently is engaged in six wars as we speak. By cleverly using international bodies, advanced war technologies, covert capabilities, and those types of things, President Obama, along with actually a long list of presidents before him, have been redefining the meaning of war. Now, according to Michael Hirsch of the National Journal, he says this, and I quote, The process of turning war into something other than war is likely to grow, grow even more intricate and subtle. Now, instead of war, the United States is engaged in missions for operations, for uprisings, for counter-insurgency campaigns.

I think we all fear the words, America is at war, or America is now at war. And yet, brethren, we as Christians, you and I, are fighting in a war. And we fight an enemy that we don't see, and we fight an enemy that we don't hear. And yet, this enemy is very real. He's real. And the battle is going on right now. It's going on today. Let's turn over to 2 Timothy 2 and verse 3. This war is being fought on the ground, it's being fought in the air, and you and I are, in a sense, military personnel. You know, sometimes we don't think about that, because, you know, we don't wage war, we don't enter the military. And yet, brethren, we are very much in the military sense. We are soldiers of Jesus Christ. And we've enlisted in a battle, probably one of the greatest battles of humankind. And, brethren, it's very important. We make no mistake. This is an important battle. Let's notice what it says here in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 3. We'll see here that we are soldiers, that we are military personnel. It says here that no one, or it says, you therefore must endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So there we are. God tells us plainly through Scripture that we are soldiers of Jesus Christ, and that we must endure hardship. And, you know, for those of you that have actually been in the military and had to fight and been in battles, you know it's not easy. It's hard. And sometimes you go where you don't want to go, and you endure hardships, difficulties, whether you put your life in danger on the line. It goes on to say, no one engaged in warfare. So there we are. The Scriptures tell you and I plainly that we are engaged in war, in warfare. And no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. You know, entangle with the affairs of this life. Sometimes that can happen. And we can begin to forget about the severity of the battle. And make no mistake, though, our spiritual lives are, in a sense, on the line. They are on the line, and our future in God's kingdom sometimes is on the line. Because if we lose this war, we lose everything. You know, our enemy, our adversary, Satan the Devil, and the spiritual hosts that are with him, the demons, they have one single goal and driving purpose, and that is to destroy the children of God. Let's know 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. It's hard to believe that there be somebody out there like that, but God gives us the reality that this is exactly what it is.

Sometimes in your life you may have had a memory, or this happened to you, or someone that you know, maybe when you were in school, that someone just seemed to have it out for you. And that you could do nothing right, that they were going to make your life miserable. They were going to make you pay. It's hard to imagine a spirit like that, but that is the spirit of our enemy. And it's out there, and this is the type of person, the spirit being that we're dealing with. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and we'll pick it up here in verse number 3. It says, For though we walk in the flesh, and that's what we do, we're human beings, we don't war according to the flesh. And again, the scripture is telling us that we are engaged in war. We're waging a war, verse 4. And then it goes on to say, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds. But I want to talk about some of those weapons here in a moment. But to understand that God has given us the ability, through weaponry, through armor, to be able, as it says here, that they're mighty in God. They're mighty in Him. They're not something that you and I would think about necessarily, as weapons or armor to put on. But it's what God reveals through scripture, that they're mighty in God to be able to pull down strongholds. And verse 5, And they can cast down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and then bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So these are the weapons of our warfare. Brother God tells us how to fight the battle. He tells us how to fight the war, and how to prepare ourselves for it. He's told us to equip ourselves with armor. Let's go over to Ephesians 6 and pick it up in verse number 10. Ephesians 6 and verse number 10.

We've been going through a series of sermons on the armor of God, and the title of the series is really simply and profoundly, the armor of God and spiritual warfare. And let's pick it up here in Ephesians 6 and verse 10. And Paul is coming to a concluding thought. He says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. He's telling us to be strong in God and in the power of His might, not in our own strength, not what you and I can do, but be powerful in His might. And then he begins to tell us how to do that in verse number 11. He says, Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. So he identifies a couple of things. So our enemy is here, the latter part of verse 11. A little bit of how he works, the wiles of the devil, and the fact that we have to put on the armor. And it's the whole armor, not just one piece, but all of the armor in order to be able to stand. What are some of the wiles of the devil? You know, let's talk about that for a moment. Really, that's almost an entire message in itself, but let's cover a little bit here before we go along. The word wiles is a Greek word. That's where it's translated. Wiles here. It comes from a Greek word, methodia. Methodia, which we get the English word method. Methodia, and I'm quoting here from the Albert Barnes commentary, Methodia means properly that which is traced out with method, that which is methodized. And then, that which is well laid out with its method, such as cunning arts, skill, deceit, craft, and trickery. You know, this Greek word only appears twice in the entire New Testament, once here in verse 11, and it also appears one other time. And when it appears other time, it's in the book of Ephesians, and it's translated, deceitful plotting.

And so, that's in Ephesians 4 and verse 14, and I think that describes very well that our enemy has a method. You know, you hear the phrase, sometimes there's madness to the method, or method to the madness. But this is an interesting word, and it talks about the method is twisted. I think deceitful plotting, I think, grasps a lot of the meaning here of how he works. He plots. He has a method. And it's involved with a way to deceive, to have trickery. There's a cunningness to it. And these are some of the tactics and the strategies that our enemy uses to delude and to deceive and to destroy. And so, we have to know our enemy. You know, brethren, sometimes I think we can more easily encounter open force. You know, I know who my enemy is. It's a clear-cut situation. It's easy, I think, sometimes, or more easy to encounter open force than sometimes to encounter cunningness or trickery. And we need the weapons of God's armor to meet the attempts that are there to ensnare, that are there to trap. Or whether it's an open confrontation, we need to be ready for whichever way or whichever direction that it comes from. And that's why God tells us the necessity of being constantly armed in order to meet our enemy whenever and however the attack is made. Verse number 12, For we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. So again, He lets us know who our enemy is, but against principalities and against power. These are spiritual principalities, spiritual powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.

And against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, since we understand these things again, He says, take up the whole armor of God. It's the armor that He wears. And He wants His sons and His daughters to have that same armor in order to stand. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. And whether that evil day is something that's happening to you and me right now because of the perfect storm, or whether it's towards the end of the age when our enemy is angry and he's pulling out all the stops, and he's trying to crush and destroy God's sons and daughters. It doesn't make any difference when that evil day is, He wants us to be ready. He wants us to be prepared.

God reveals that we're not simply a nation at war, but we are a people of God that are engaged in a spiritual war. And this spiritual warfare is ongoing. You know, wars have come and gone in our country in the United States. World War II lasted several years and others. But this is a war that's going to continue on until ultimately the enemy is defeated at the return of Jesus Christ, or after His return.

God's Word promises us this, that if you and I will put on this armor, that we'll be able to stand. At the end of the day, others may fall. At the end of the day, others may fail. But God says, you will be standing. He says, as a matter of fact, He says, that's the only way that you and I are going to be able to stand, is to have this armor against an enemy and against His wiles. Brethren, how is it that Christians are expected to withstand such incredible pressures and difficulties against the strategies and the attacks of our enemy? How can we possibly stand against everything that He and His demons can throw at us? How can we expect to emerge from whatever's going to happen victorious?

Brethren, God begins to give us the answer here, because the answer doesn't lie in ourselves. But it lies in the divine and unbeatable defenses of the armor of God. Let's pick it up in verse 14. He starts to talk about some of this armor. We've had messages on many of these here. Verse 14, He says, stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.

We've covered a message about this, about having the belt of truth, about the fact that God loves truth. In fact, He encompassed that belief that truth is so important. It was one of the Ten Commandments. Of all the things that He could have picked out, that was one of the things that was in those Ten. The fact that we are not to bear false witness, that we are to speak what's true, and that God loves the truth, and that God will never lie, and we can always count on what He says, and He wants His sons and daughters to be the same way.

To love the truth. And He says, and I hate lying. And that the church is the ground and the pillar of the truth. That the truth has been revealed to the church, and the church has the responsibility to make sure that it encompasses the truth of God, and that it gets passed on to the next generation. That we have safeguards in place to pass on the precious truth of God from Scripture to the next generation. From one to the next to the next until the return of Jesus Christ. But that's necessary as one of the pieces of armor. The second one was having put on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness. That there is a difference between right and wrong. That's getting blurred today, brethren. It's getting blurred today. But God says, yes, there is things that are right. There are things that are true. And God says, I want you to do the right. I want you to choose righteousness and to live that way. God says, my commandments help you to understand right from wrong. My commandments are righteousness. And then He goes on to say, in having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And the fact that to put on that armor, to realize that the good news is that there is a kingdom coming. That it's going to come and it's going to restore. It's going to be a refreshing. There's going to be peace. Things are going to change. And we need to have that hope. And we need to be thinking about that. And that it's going to start small, but it's going to eventually leaven the entire planet and everyone that's on it when the kingdom of God comes. We'll begin the peace and that peace will continue to grow and it will not end. It's kind of like taking a deep breath and saying, you know what, we're home. We're home. And God's going to have that spiritual deep breath for everyone that's there at that time. And for anyone that will come into that situation later on. And having that hope and having that understanding and realize that God is a God of peace and that we are to be peacemakers as well.

Having our feet shot with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.

Last time we covered verse number 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you'll be able to quench all, not just some, but all of the fiery darts of the wicked one. How important that spiritual armor is, like a shield that can be in front of you, can protect the head, protect the sides. You can move it to the back. If the enemy's attacking at the back, that shield can quench the darts. It can quench the darts from whatever direction they're coming from. And how important that is.

And then we come to verse number 17. The one we're going to be covering today, the fifth piece of armor. And take the helmet of salvation.

So that's the one we're going to cover today, brethren. You know, God has got different reasons for each one of these spiritual pieces of armor we've been covering now. Let's cover the fifth one today. This is a necessary piece as well. It's the helmet of salvation. You know, Paul talks about the helmet of salvation here as a part of the armor of God. And why is salvation portrayed as a helmet?

Why is it? You know, let's talk about Paul for a moment. He had been around, you know, the time that he lived. We had a world ruling empire. It was the Roman Empire. They were strong. They had soldiers. They had equipment. And they had armor that they wore. Now, Paul was there at that time. He was an apostle in the first century. He was accused of a lot of things. He was accused of sedition. He was beaten.

He was arrested. He was stoned and left for dead. So they thought he was dead, and they left him. He was under house arrest for a couple of years in Rome. And so he was under the watchful eye of Romans and Roman soldiers quite a bit. And I think during some of that time, he must have... Their armor must have made an impression upon him. And then God must have inspired a spiritual analogy to say, you know what?

There's a reason for all these pieces of armor for a soldier. And God must have inspired an analogy to begin to form in Paul's mind, like pieces of puzzle that were beginning to fall into place, that he got a bigger picture here, where Paul saw each piece of Roman armor had a powerful correlation with our own spiritual defenses. And so Paul starts to talk about the Roman armor. And the fifth piece, salvation in a sense, of God's armor is represented by the Roman soldier's helmet, and without which a Roman soldier would not go into battle without his helmet, as well as all the other pieces of armor.

These helmets were made of thick leather, and they were covered with metal plates, and they were heavy, molded, beaten metal, and they usually had these special plates that would come down to protect their cheeks. And of course, the purpose of the helmet was to protect the head, protect the head injury. Which was part of the common of the vortex of the day, is that it would protect you from the sword. The cavalry would have these large two-edged swords, almost two-handed type of swords with double edges on them, and they measured about three to four feet in length, and the cavalry would come by and they would attempt to behead you, to decapitate you, or to strike your head, you know, to take and split your skull and basically destroy you, kill you in that way.

You know, it's hard to deny the importance of a helmet. Let me read a couple of stories here that ran in a couple of newspapers here, and I think this will illustrate a point. The Lansing State Journal ran an article, and this happened back in June of 2009, about a 36-year-old man who was involved in a skateboarding accident. Now, I'll read here from the article. It says, It was a death that could have been avoided, officials said. Paul Maxam, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered a skull fracture and other head injuries in an accident at a skate park near Randor.

And he died. He died on Saturday. It says, A simple helmet would have saved his life, said Lansing Fire Public Information Officer Steve Masuric. Now, this story is different. It stands in contrast to another story here that appeared in the Manchester Evening News on July 4th of 2008. This has to do with the young little girl. It says, Savannah Hayworth, age 11, was knocked unconscious after falling off her bicycle and into the path of a car.

The wheels of the car went over her arm and over the top of her helmet. But she escaped with a swollen elbow and bruising to her face. Her parents say she would have been killed without the helmet and are now urging all cyclists to wear them. You know, it's incredible to think about whether you have the absence of a helmet or the presence of the helmet that it can make so much of a difference. You know, you could have a skateboarding accident on one hand falling just a short distance and prove fatal without a helmet while being run over by a multi-thousand pound vehicle with a helmet and be able to survive because you're wearing one.

The fact that the helmet is related to salvation, I think, indicates that some of our enemies' blows are directed at having our trust in God, looking to Him as the captain of our salvation. Jesus Christ is the captain of our salvation, and sometimes our enemy comes at us in different directions with blows. It talks about in the book of Revelation that some of God's people would be headed for what they believed.

That sounds like a terrible thing to have to go through, but you know, their promise that God is given is secure. But I think our enemy is trying to spiritually behead us where we don't have an opportunity to be a part of God's family.

And some of His blows that He directs at us have to do with discouragement, have to do with confusion, have to do with doubt. You know, the captain of our salvation, we need to look to Him. We need to trust Him. We talked about the shield of faith where we trust God no matter what. We talk about the fact of whether we suffer the violence of fire, I suppose, like almost happened to Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego, or whether we don't suffer the violence of fire.

You know, they said, you know, our God is able to save us from this fire, Nebuchadnezzar. But if He chooses not to, we're not going to bow down and worship these false idols.

So whether we suffer the violence of fire, whether it's quenched or whether it's not quenched, and it consumes you or me, we still believe and trust in God. And whether we subdue the armies through our faith, whether we are subdued by the armies, we still believe in God no matter what the outcome. So our enemy would have us mistrust the captain of our salvation. And he would try to discourage us, and how does he do that? Well, there's a lot of ways that he has to do that, and he's very good at it.

He will point to our failures. He'll point to our sins. He'll whisper in our ear, God's not there for you. You know, look what's happening in your life. God's not there for you. And if we're not careful, we'll start to begin to listen. We'll take our eyes off of the goal. We'll take our eyes off of the vision that God wants us to have about how wonderful this process of salvation is that God has in store for us, and how it's going to change everything, and how it's going to change us. Not that we'll be there as spirit beings, but that we'll also have the divine nature.

That we're going to have a nature like God, a character like that. This process of salvation is incredible. Brother, let's talk about salvation here a little bit. Let's go back to some basics here just for a moment. Let's go back to the dictionary. I looked up on, for my purposes here, on the internet, dictionary.com. Salvation, dictionary.com, and here's what it said. It had four definitions. Number one, it's the act of saving or protecting from harm, or from loss, or from destruction. In other words, death. The act of saving or protecting from harm, loss, destruction, and death.

A second definition was the state of being saved or protected. That someone is in a state where they're being protected. From harm or risk or destruction. A third definition, a source or means of being saved or protected from harm or loss or destruction. And the fourth definition was, it's a theological one, a deliverance from the power and the penalty of sin. A deliverance from the power and the penalty of sin. In other words, redemption. Maybe I can illustrate some of this with a story. About a man who was a pilot.

He would normally, his flight from Nassau to Miami would take Walter Wyatt, Jr. only about 65 minutes. Pretty short flight from Nassau to Miami. But on December 5th, 1986, he attempted to do it after thieves had looted his navigational equipment on his beachcraft. And with only a compass and a handheld radio, he took off. He thought he'd be able to do it. So he flew in the skies that were blackened by storms, and when his compass began to gyrate, which means he couldn't really trust where he was going, he lost his direction.

And so when his compass began to gyrate, he concluded he was headed in the wrong direction. He flew his plane down below the clouds so he could be able to get some landmarks, be able to see, hoping to spot something, but he realized now he was lost. So he put out a May Day call.

And it brought a Coast Guard Falcon search plane to lead him. They found him, and they began to lead him to an emergency landing site, which was only six miles from his present location. Except for one problem. He ran out of fuel before he could get those six miles. So he ran out of fuel. The fuel tank ran dry, and about 8 o'clock, all he could do was be able to settle this plane down into the water.

Well, he got injured a little bit. He cut his forehead, started the bleed, but he was able to get out of the plane, and it wasn't long before the plane sank beneath the Atlantic Ocean. And so he found himself with a leaky light vest floating in the Atlantic Ocean. Well, as he floated on his back, because he was bleeding his forehead, he didn't want the blood to go into the water.

Suddenly he felt a large bump against his body. A shark had located him. He kicked this intruder and hoped that it would go away. And it did, but he wondered if he was going to be able to survive the night in the Atlantic. He managed to stay afloat for the next 10 hours.

Can you imagine going through the night with just, you know, not a boat, you know, a lifeboat. We're talking about not even a raft. We're talking about a vest in the Atlantic Ocean. He managed to stay afloat for 10 hours, and in the morning, Wyatt saw no airplanes, but in the water a dorsal fin was headed towards him. Twisting, he felt the hide of the shark again brush across his back.

And in a moment, there were two more bull sharks that sliced through the water towards him. Then he kicked the sharks, and they veered away. But he was beginning to get near exhaustion. He was tired. And he realized that, well, he was shark bait out there in the middle of the Atlantic. He kicked the sharks, they veered away.

He was tired. He heard the sound, though, of a distant aircraft. And when it was within a half mile, he waved his... He took off his vest, and he just waved it to try to get the attention of the aircraft, and he was able to get their attention. They saw him. The pilot of the aircraft radioed a ship, a cutter by the name of Cape York, which is about only 12 minutes away from him, but this was the message.

Get moving, cutter. There's a shark targeting this guy. And 12 minutes later, as the Cape York pulled alongside Wyatt, a Jacob's ladder was dropped down to him. Interesting. I thought, Jacob's ladder. I wasn't aware of this. A Jacob's ladder was dropped over the side, and Wyatt climbed wearily out of the water and under the safety of the ship.

He fell to his knees, and he kissed the deck. He was saved.

Brother, when he was floating the Atlantic Ocean amidst the sharks, he needed to be rescued. If you can put yourself in his shoes, you know there's nothing you can do. There's nothing I could do. We needed to be rescued. Nothing less than outside intervention from somebody else would have saved him.

Brother, maybe we can think of ourselves a little bit that way spiritually. Nothing less than outside intervention is going to save us from the type of certain death that Wyatt was certainly going to face unless the Cape York and his crew would have come to save his life. How much are we, in a sense, spiritually speaking, like Walter Wyatt, Jr.? Let's look at an example of salvation in the Old Testament. Let's go back to Exodus 14, verse 8. Exodus 14, verse 8. Brethren, salvation basically means that we need to be saved or delivered from something by someone else.

Outside intervention, something outside of our ability. We'll see here an example of just that with God's people. They'd left Egypt. They'd gone out. God had saved them from slavery. They were removed out of this place. And yet, we'll see that they weren't out of the woods just yet. Exodus 14, verse 8. Now we'll pick up a little bit of the context here. In verse 2, we see that speak to the children of Israel that they turn and they camp before Pi, hereof, and between Migdall and the sea, and opposite bales, ephon, you shall camp before it by the sea.

So they're basically going down by the sea. And you know what Pharaoh's going to say? They're bewildered. Why on earth would they go to this place? They're going to be trapped. You know, they're going to be trapped by water on one side. They've got these boulders on another. This is a place that they're going to be trapped. They're going to be bewildered. They're not. Why on earth would they go that way? The children of Israel are bewildered. The wilderness is closed in on them.

God said he's going to harden Pharaoh's heart here, and he's going to pursue them. And he's going to gain honor over Pharaoh, that they may know that God is the Lord. So this is exactly what happened. So let's pick it up in verse 8. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh the king, and he pursued the children of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with boldness.

They were freed from slavery. They were saved from it. They've been in there many generations. Verse 9, And so the Egyptians pursued them. All the horses and the chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, basically Pharaoh's throwing out all the stops here. And they overtook them by this camp by the sea. Verse 10, And when Pharaoh drew near, and the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. They were afraid. They were no man's land. They were afraid. So they complained, in verse 11, to Moses, because there weren't any graves in Egypt. Have you brought us here to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us to bring us up out of the land of Egypt?

Verse 12, isn't this the word we said when you were in Egypt, saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness. In verse 13, then Moses says this to the people in response to what they've been saying, Don't be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today, for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.

Here's an example that God says, I am going to save you from the situation. Watch and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. There was no way that they could have gotten out of that situation without God's intervention. So we begin to see a little bit about an example of salvation. What about you and I today? New Testament Christians today, what do we need to be saved from? What do we need to be delivered from?

If salvation means to be saved or delivered from something, what is it that we need to be saved and delivered from? Romans 6, verse 23. Romans 6, verse 23. This is a pretty familiar Scripture, brethren. Probably do a lot of you here. But it's here. It helps us to understand what's happening. Romans 6, verse 23.

It says, for the wages of sin is death. That's a pretty familiar Scripture to a lot of us, but it has a lot of meaning here. It's that wages are what we earn, and God says the wages of the way we've lived our lives bring forth death. But notice the second part of the verse, which begins to be a clue of how we're going to be saved out of this situation.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Further, we have to be saved. Jesus Christ and God the Father have set up a plan. It's called the Plan of Salvation. It's basically through the Holy Days that we begin to understand this process of salvation. But we have to be saved from death because of your and my sins, because of the way we've lived our life, because of our sins. We have to be saved from death. Just as Walter Wyatt was saved from certain death at sea by the cutter of the Cape York, so we need to be saved from a death just as certain.

I'll just refer to Ezekiel 18, verse 4. You can turn there if you'd like. Ezekiel 18, verse 4 says this. God says, Behold, all souls are mine.

God says, We're all His children. We're all His kids. All souls are mine. He says, The soul of the Father as well as the soul of the Son.

They're mine. And then He goes on to say, And the soul who sins shall die. The soul that sins shall die. Our sins bring death. It's just as simple as that. And yet, sobering. Our sins bring death. So how can we be saved from the death due to our own individual sins? Well, we need a Savior. Luke 1, verse 68. Luke 1, verse 68. The context here is John the Baptist's father, Zacharias, was filled with God's Holy Spirit. God was speaking through him very powerfully, and he began to prophesy. I mean, these are just words that were coming to his heart and mind, and he had expressed them.

And he says this in verse 68. He says, Blessed is the Lord God of Israel because he has visited and he's redeemed his people. God, redemption means he's going to buy them back. He's going to bring them out of the slavery. He's going to bring them out of death. He's going to provide a way to save them. Verse 69, And he has raised up a horn of salvation for us. And notice, verse 69, he's raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.

So it's going to be a descendant of David. Verse number 70, As he's spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began. This is something that was prophesied, that there was going to be a Savior to save us from death. It's been prophesied since the world began. Verse 71, That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. And to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him with fear and in holiness and in righteousness before him all the days of our life.

And you, child, referring to his own son John the Baptist, will be called the prophet of this highest, of the one that we're talking about. And you'll go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. And notice verse number 77, To give knowledge of salvation to his people.

Brethren, how does that come? Now the knowledge of salvation to his people, noticed by the remission of their sins. Your sins in mind have to be removed. That's part of the process of salvation. It says it here in verse number 7, To give knowledge of salvation to his people, who you and I are. How? By the remission of their sins. I don't know how many... I don't watch Oprah Winfrey very often, but I don't know if maybe you would have caught this particular show.

I didn't see it, but I saw some of the highlights of it afterwards. She was bringing on air a lot of these new age religious people, and talking about salvation and how we find our way to God. And so she was interviewing all these different new age luminaries, and then a Christian woman in the audience asked Oprah, What about Jesus? Oprah insists, Jesus can't possibly be the only way back to God, is what Oprah said.

Jesus can't possibly be the only way to God. And boy, I'll tell you, sparks started flying all of a sudden. Sparks started flying because... And I have to admire, there were certain people that stood up, that said, Hey, wait a minute. Jesus Christ is the only name given among men by which we must be saved. And there were others that joined her. There weren't the majority, but there were a handful of people that got up there and they were brave and said, No, wait a minute.

Jesus Christ is the Savior that brings us back to God. Anyone, have you had the chance to see any of that? Nobody saw that. Okay. There was a religious poll that was taken not too long ago. It really surprised me. It was given among Catholics and a lot of different Protestant groups, Presbyterians, Lutherans, all different types, evangelicals. They asked if Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. And you know what? The vast percentage, it didn't matter what Catholic, I mean, the percentage is a little different. But almost, I think in almost every case, the lowest one was two-thirds or higher, that they said, No, there's another way.

There is another way than Jesus Christ. How are you and I saved from death? Are there a lot of different ways to salvation? Is there more than one Savior? God tells us the truth here in the Scriptures. Let's look at John 14, verse 2. John 14, verse 2.

Jesus makes a pretty bold claim here. It may seem bold, but actually, He's just speaking the truth. John 14, verse 2. Jesus Christ is speaking. If you've got a red letter Bible, you'll know that. It says, In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. And I'm going to go, and I'm going to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, then I'm going to come again, and I'm going to receive you to Myself, that where I am, that you may be also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. And then Thomas said, Well, Lord, we don't know where you're going, and how can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am the way.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except through me. Now, He said a lot here. No disrespect to Oprah Winfrey or the others. But there are several ways to salvation. But Jesus Christ said, He's the way. He's the life. He's the truth. And you know, matters of life and death, I think, are pretty important. And He goes and He says, And no one comes to the Father except through me. That's pretty singular. Me. He's not saying, Except through me, but you know, there are some others too.

Now, He said, Except through me. And He goes on to say, not only that He's the way, not a way. He uses the word, the, the way. He goes on to say, He is the truth and the life. And that no one can come to God except through Him. It's like He's almost saying, I am the gate. I am the door. No one can come to God except through this door. The disciples believe that. And they testified of that.

Let's notice that in Acts 4, verse 8. Acts 4, verse 8. They believe that this, what seems like a bold statement of Jesus Christ is true. In Acts 4, verse 8, we'll see that God through Peter has just healed a lame man, who is lame from birth. This is a miracle. And then He addresses the rulers of the people and the religious authorities here. This is the context here of Acts 4, verse 8. It says, then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit. So we see God is inspiring Him now, but what's going to come out of His mouth?

God is placed there. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, rulers of the people and elders of Israel. If this day we are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man by what means he's been made well, then let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, so He's getting pretty personal here, whom God, referring to the Father, has raised from the dead, by Him, referring to Jesus, this man stands before you whole.

By this person, by this man Jesus Christ, is how this lame person has been miraculously healed who was lame from birth. And notice verse 11, this stone, which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone, because we heard also in the first message today, Jesus Christ, the foundation of the church. But He doesn't stop there. Talking about this man, He doesn't stop there.

He goes on to verse number 12. He's going to take this lesson. He's going to lead it in to something even more profound. He says, nor is there salvation in any other... Wow! Now He's junked from it. Well, not only did this man heal this lame man, but there's not salvation than any other person than this man. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, which is given among men by which we must be saved.

Not that we may be saved. This is one of several different options. But that we must be saved by no other name than the man that we're talking about, Jesus Christ. Now remember, Peter is being filled with the Holy Spirit here.

These are God's words. Verse number 13, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, you know, they were just telling the truth with inspiration. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they perceived, and they perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. They caught them by surprise, and they marveled, and they realized that they had been with Jesus.

You know, to many today, that statement that Jesus Christ made and that Peter made and the other disciples made about Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life, seems presumptuous. Seems ludicrous, seems rash. Or is it just a simple statement of fact?

The Scripture has revealed there's only one way to salvation and eternal life. There's not more than one. There's not many. There's only one. And there's only one Savior. There aren't many. John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Sometimes when you do what God asks you to do, and that's what Jesus Christ did, God said, I want you to go.

I'm going to engage you. You're going to be a Savior for them. You're going to be an example for them. You're going to not only save them from death, but you're going to show them how to live, and they're going to look to you as an older brother and follow you. And some people think that's presumptuous when you're only doing what God has asked you to do.

John chapter 3. We'll pick it up in verse 5. Jesus Christ is talking to Nicodemus, one of the teachers of Israel. John chapter 3 verse 5, and they've been talking about being born again. John chapter 3 verse 5, Jesus answered, He said, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He can't have everlasting life. Flesh and blood can't enter into this kingdom. He said, You've got to be born of the Spirit. Verse number 6, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Jesus says, Don't marvel. Don't marvel that I had to say to you that you must be born again. And then He talks about what it's like to be born again. He says, The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it. You know, you see the trees and the branches waving, the leaves going back and forth. You see what it's doing. You hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell necessarily from which direction it comes from or which direction it's going. So is everyone who was born of the Spirit. And Nicodemus answered and he said to him, How can these things be? It didn't make sense to him. This is something he never really contemplated or heard before. How can these things be? And Jesus answered and he said to him, Are you a teacher in Israel? A teacher of Israel? And you don't know these things? He said most assuredly, which is another way of saying, I'm telling you the truth. We speak what we know.

Jesus said, I'm telling you the truth. I speak what I know and I'm testifying what I've seen. And he came from the Father. He's telling them exactly how it's going to work. And you don't believe. He said, If I've told you, verse 12, earthly things and you don't believe, how are you going to believe if I tell you heavenly things or spiritual things?

Verse 13, No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven. And that is the Son of Man.

There's nobody else that's done it, he said. And I'm telling you the truth. I'm testifying the truth. I'm speaking the truth.

There's nobody else that's done this but me.

Verse 14, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Remember that story in the Old Testament when God's people were beginning to rebel against him and snakes started to bite them? Remember that? And so God told Moses, We'll make this image of a snake. It's kind of a little bit about how the doctor's symbol you see today. It's a pole and you've got the snake wrapped around it. Something probably similar to that was set up, and if the people looked on that, they were saved from dying.

Even though they'd been bitten by a venomous snake, if they looked up at what had been raised up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Jesus Christ is beginning to give an analogy here. It says in the latter part of verse 14, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And we're not talking about just anybody. Another Savior, we're talking about Jesus Christ. He's going to be lifted up. And notice verse 15. We get into some pretty familiar scriptures as you see in the end zones of football games.

Verse number 15. And notice that whoever believes in Him, we're talking about the Son of Man, should not perish.

Shouldn't die. That's why He's lifted up. That whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, saved from death.

And then verse 16, that familiar scripture. And God's doing this because of His love for you and me.

He went to great extents because He loves you, and He loves me.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. He put His Son through this. A real test for Jesus Christ with real pain and real suffering.

And very difficult circumstances to pay the penalty of death for you and for me to save us from something that we could not be saved from ourselves.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

He repeats the same point. That's God's way of emphasizing this. Of course, believing in Him involves a lot of different things. That's another message in itself.

It's more than just believing that exists. It's much more than that. We live the way He lived.

Verse 17, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. That's not why our Savior came, was to condemn us.

And it wasn't some other Savior. It was this one. The only one.

But that the world through Him might be saved. Through Jesus Christ. That's why He came. He came to save us.

Brother, how do we receive salvation?

What's the first step? Well, God took the first step. Romans chapter 5 and verse 8. Romans chapter 5 and verse 8. God took the first step.

It ties in a little bit with John chapter 3 verse 16.

Well, it says, God so loved the world. Notice Romans chapter 5 and we'll pick it up here in verse number 8.

The God demonstrates. He acted. That's what that means. He demonstrates. He did something. He acted to save. God demonstrates His own love towards us that while we were still sinners, He died for us. Jesus Christ died for us. It wasn't anybody else. It was Christ, our elder brother. He died for us while we were still sinners.

And much more than having now been justified by His blood, we're going to be saved from wrath through Him because He incurred the wrath.

He incurred God's justice. Remember Isaiah? Chapter 53 talks about it. Please God to crush Him.

You know, God, He hates sin and He's a God of justice. And you know, I heard it said one time, what's one of the biggest things to be fearful about God is the fact that we have a good God.

Somebody would say, what's so bad about that? Why is that one of the biggest things to be afraid about by God? Because we have a good God. Because God is good and we're not.

And what does it just God do with somebody like us? So the penalty had to be paid.

And so God's anger against sin had to be satisfied. And so He crushed His own Son instead of you and me.

Please God to crush Him, to bruise Him as it talks about.

So we shall be saved from wrath through Jesus Christ.

For if then when we were enemies, when we were still sinners, in other words, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more having been reconciled were going to be saved by His life?

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

You know, it's not the Father that's going to resurrect us to eternal life. It's going to be Jesus Christ.

So the first step in receiving salvation, God took the first step. What's the second step? Acts 2, verse 38.

Pretty familiar Scripture for a lot of us here. We have to take a step through.

Acts 2, verse 38.

Peter has been speaking, again powerfully, by the Holy Spirit. So these are God's words here in the day of Pentecost.

He's kind of coming to the conclusion here.

Verse number 36. Therefore, let all the house, we're in Acts 2, verse 36.

Let all the house of Israel know assuredly. In other words, this is the truth of the matter.

That God has made this Jesus, again, He's our Savior, whom you crucified.

Referring to the responsibility personally that we have.

Whom you crucified, He's made Him both Lord and Christ. Christ means Messiah. Messiah means Deliverer, means Savior.

Verse 37. When they heard this, they were cut to the heart, which means they really cut to the heart for the right reasons.

They saw for the first time their personal responsibility.

And they didn't know what to do. They said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, What do we do now? Where do we turn? Notice the mercy and love of God. Verse 38. Peter said to them, and God did through Peter.

God says, I know you understand that now, what you've done. So repent.

And let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, not anyone else's name, for the remission of sins.

The removal or the forgiveness as it can be also translated. The remission or forgiveness of sins. And you shall receive a gift. A gift of the Holy Spirit. A down payment.

We're not receiving the rest of it until the return of Christ. But this begins the process of salvation.

Some have understood this. I couldn't wait to take this step of repenting of their sins, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, and begin to pursue the goal of the coming Kingdom of God and eternal life and salvation.

It's really an essential step that we all have to take that God wants us to take because He wants everyone, all men everywhere to be saved.

This is the step He would like everyone to take. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8.

It's important for us to understand that this salvation we receive is a gift.

It's by God's graciousness that we've been saved. It's not anything that we've done. It's not anything we can earn. This is very important to understand.

Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 8.

We can't save ourselves, no matter what we do.

It says, Grace you have been saved through faith, of course, through faith in God and through Jesus Christ.

And it's not of yourselves. It's a gift. A gift from God. Not of works, not of things that you and I could do through a job or work or the way we live our life.

Lest anyone should boast.

Paul is trying to help us to understand that this is a gift from God. It's important to understand that salvation cannot be earned.

It's a gift from God. And it's something that we can't obtain just because of our right actions and obligating God to give it to us.

No, that's not the way it works.

Still, we have to understand the balance also.

There are other scriptures that talk about that we have to show our repentance towards God when we're not living according to His ways.

He doesn't expect us to continue to live in sin, but to go and sin no more.

And that we have to repent and ask for His forgiveness when we've disobeyed Him.

And we have to accept the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf.

And yet our efforts don't make up for our sins that cause the death of our Savior in our place.

I'm going to address a little bit here about salvation. Is it permanent? The ones received? It cannot be taken away?

Is it irrevocable? Or does it have to be maintained?

This happened a few years ago, but I was still in my accounting practice, and I was talking with a...

doing a tax return for one of my customers, one of my clients, and we got into religion, of all things.

Never talk about religion and politics.

And we still have a mutual respect for each other, but we came down on the opposite side of a coin when it came to salvation.

As far as one saved, always saved. Or no, can you lose your salvation? Can you start in that process, but not finish?

Oh, he was adamant. No, he said that is a gift God gives to you, and you know, a gift giver doesn't take a gift back.

Well, there's some logic to that. There's some method to that, I suppose.

But we have to look at the Scriptures, don't we? We can't just rely on maybe what we think, or have some kind of a logic, a human logic.

I'd like you to write this down on your notes here.

The New Testament tells us the following. It says in Ephesians 2, verse 5, that we have been saved.

Ephesians chapter 2, verse 5, which is one of the Scriptures that he was using in his argument.

With me. There's another Scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 18.

1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 18, that says we are being saved.

It's like the process isn't complete. We are being saved.

It's not done yet, but it started. And then Matthew chapter 10, verse 22. Matthew chapter 10, verse 22, that says we will be saved.

Future. We'll be saved. And he's talking to people that probably started that process.

So what does all this mean for us? What's all this mean? What's the truth of the matter?

Some people are quoting one side here that we are saved. Others are saying, well, no, we will be saved if we endure. Where's the truth of the matter? Let's go to Jude chapter 1 and verse number 3.

I think Paul begins to make it clear that having been saved equates to the forgiveness of sins and beginning to come under God's grace.

We've started the process. We've been taking off of death row, and we've started the process.

But our salvation isn't complete yet. It started.

You know, the children of Israel, remember they came out of the slavery of Egypt. They were saved from that. They came out with a high hand.

Let's go to Jude chapter 1, verse 3. I guess there is only one chapter. Jude verse 3. Jude is saying, beloved, talking about God's sons and daughters, His people, beloved, I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation.

I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you, that you contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. I was going to talk about something else, but I had to change in midstream here because there's something that's going on that we need to address.

So He says, I write to you concerning our common salvation. Verse 4, He says, For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who are turning the grace of our God into lewdness, or licentiousness, which means license to disobey, license to sin, license to break.

commandments of God. And they're denying the only Lord. They're denying the only Savior.

And notice verse number 5. He says, I want to remind you of something, though.

And, Olya, you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward He destroyed those who didn't believe.

You know, they were saved from slavery. They were going through a wilderness and they were on their way to a Promised Land, where there was going to be blessings, there was going to be peace, there was going to be joy, there was going to be plenty.

And they never made it. They never made it.

But what God is trying to tell us here with this and a couple other scriptures that we're going to read here in a moment is that we can start this process and not finish. He's telling us that. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1.

1 Corinthians 15, verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which you also received and which you stand.

You're standing right now in the truth of the gospel and what it is. Verse 2.

By which also you are saved. If, there's the key word there. That's such a big meaning for a small word.

You're saved, you are saved if you hold fast. That word which I preached to you. Very much like what you just said, wasn't it?

That we're saved if we hold fast. That word which I preached to you. Unless we believed in vain. It's possible to believe in vain.

1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 and 2. Let's notice 2 Peter 2, verse 20. 2 Peter 2, verse 20.

Peter understood this. Paul understood this. Jesus Christ understands it. It's the Holy Spirit that's speaking these words.

2 Peter 2, verse 20. It says, For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world. That's quite a statement there. I've never thought of it as the pollutions of the world.

But it's after they've escaped. So in other words, these are people that have taken steps to, just like the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, they escape slavery.

After escaping the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome.

The latter end is worse for them than the beginning. Why? Because it would have been better not to have known the way of righteousness, so they knew it.

They knew it. That having to have known it to turn away from the Holy Commandments that was delivered to them.

But as it's happened according to the true Father, a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire.

For the salvation is a process. We are being saved. As 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18 talks about.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18 may refer to it for the sake of time. It says, The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. They are in the process of perishing. But to us, who are being saved, it is the power of God.

For then salvation is described as an ongoing process. It starts. In fact, the Holy is often referred to the process of how it works.

Passover. Jesus Christ being the Savior. And then the days of 11th grade, we begin to put sin out of our lives. We make choices.

We obey God's commandments and the Holy Spirit coming. And then Jesus Christ returning to give us eternal life and salvation.

Matthew chapter 10 verse 22. I'll just read that here. He's probably written it down in your notes.

But it says, Jesus is speaking. He says, you're going to be hated for all by all for my name's sake. But Jesus himself said, He who endures to the end will be saved.

He that endures to the end. So, brethren, we have to endure to the end. And we have to help each other to endure. And we have to look to the captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ.

Our ultimate salvation depends on whether or not we choose to endure to the end.

We've got a lot of encouraging examples that we covered last time in Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter, of those who died in faith.

That they believed God no matter what and they kept their vision on the city that had not yet been built, that God was going to build.

And that was the promise that God had made. They're waiting for the promise. They believe God.

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 8.

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 8.

For the part of the reason God wants us to put on as a helmet of salvation is to help us to understand that we need to keep that vision in our eyes, in our mind, that it's out there.

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse number 8.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober. God's opened our eyes. He's begun to bring us out of the slavery of sin and He's working us towards eternal salvation.

And we're of the day. Let us be sober. Let's be humble. Let's realize that we're not there quite just yet.

And putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation. As a helmet of the hope of salvation.

For God didn't appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.

And though whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him, therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you're now doing.

We can receive, brethren, tremendous hope and comfort by understanding salvation and the hope of the salvation that God has in store for us.

You know, I'll just refer to Proverbs chapter 29 verse 18. You may want to write that down. But without vision, the people perish.

The hope of salvation is going to help us, brethren, as we go through our life.

Paul has written much of what we've read today, was attacked by the enemy and on many fronts by our enemy.

And he needed the helmet of salvation. Let's notice Romans chapter 8 and verse number 18. Romans chapter 8 and verse number 18.

You know, many things that can sidetrack us from the gold of salvation, eternal life, and the kingdom of God. We can't be spiritually sidetracked. We can't succumb and get entangled with the affairs of this life.

Notice what Paul said, the vision that he had. He said, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's going to be revealed in us.

God's not done with us yet. He's not done with us yet. In fact, that's where salvation really culminates in its completeness.

When he's changed us to the glory and having a spiritual divine nature as well. This is Paul speaking. How can I compare my sufferings with him?

But he knew the most important thing in life, no matter what he went through, was to keep his goal, his vision, very clearly in mind to help him to get through the things that he had to go through.

The most important thing in life for him was his salvation of God in the kingdom.

Let's note a second Corinthians chapter 4, verse number 7.

Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse number 7.

It says, we have this treasure, talking about this down payment of the Holy Spirit that's within us. It's in earthen vessels right now. It's going to change some day.

It says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We're hard pressed on every side, and yet we're not crushed. We're perplexed.

In other words, we don't necessarily know what to do sometimes. But we're not in despair. We're persecuted. But we have not been forsaken.

The captain of our salvation will never leave us and he'll never forsake us. We're struck down, but we're not destroyed. Let's jump to verse number 17.

For our light affliction, Paul's vision must have been different than mine.

For our light affliction, which is only but for a moment, for this battle is not going to last forever. This war is not going to go on forever. Paul talks about it's only for a moment is working for you and for me and for Paul a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

How can you say it any other way better than that? An eternal weight of glory.

Well, we don't look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. That's where faith comes in. We talked about that last time.

Being able to see and hold it as substance, things that we cannot see, but we believe that God is building the city and that we're going to inherit a city, seek a homeland.

Why did Paul go through it all? Why did Paul go through it all? Because he said the sufferings, the things that we face in this war are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's going to be revealed. That's what kept Paul going.

He had the hope of salvation helmet on. Further, we've got the armor of God. It's available to us, the helmet of salvation. There's a glorious future that's out there before us.

We have to endure to the end, though, is what he tells us to do. Paul had that vision. He valued his salvation highly, and he was diligent, and he fought a good fight.

2 Timothy 4, verse 6. 2 Timothy 4, verse 6. He's an example for us. 2 Timothy 4.

You know, when Paul wrote a lot of these things, he was in prison.

Prison Epistles. Ephesians is one of the prison epistles, and that's where the armor of God is listed. He knew how important it was.

I don't know if I could have been as encouraging as he was, you know, down in the dungeon. And he was in chains. It's just not like you're free to roam in the dungeon, but you're chained in these chains, as he talks about.

But Paul had a vision. 2 Timothy 4, verse 6. This is towards the end of his life.

He says to Timothy, for I am already being poured a hout as a drink offering, a living sacrifice, in other words.

And the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight.

Now, he could stand before God and said, I gave it everything I had in this spiritual warfare. I fought a good fight. I have finished the race. I've kept the faith.

And finally, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, is going to give me, because he doesn't lie.

He's going to give me on that day, and not to me only, but to also to all who have loved his appearing.

When Paul, I think, wakes up in the first resurrection, he's going to be happy to trade his armor in. He's going to be happy to trade in his helmet of salvation for a far more glorious and imperishable crown of righteousness.

You know, we can be assured of that victory as well.

Like Paul, we can faithfully follow God and fight the good fight and to put on the armor and encourage one another as fellow soldiers of Jesus Christ.

One last scripture, Revelation 21, verse 1. Revelation chapter 21, verse 1. Let's keep the hope of salvation, brethren, before us. It's our goal, it's our vision. We're going to need it. We're going to need it certain times in our life.

Revelation chapter 21, verse 1. You'll recognize the scripture, a lot of you. It's a very encouraging scripture about the reality of what's going to come.

It says in Revelation 21, verse 1, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. So John is seeing this in vision. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

And also there was no more sea. And then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.

And God himself will be with them and be their God. And God is going to wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there isn't going to be any more death.

There isn't going to be any more sorrow. There isn't going to be any more crying. And there isn't going to be any more pain. Because those former things are going to pass away.

Further, this is the salvation that we're fighting for. This is the salvation we're fighting for. To be a part of and to help bring in this type of future. Glorious Kingdom.

God says, don't lose sight of it. Don't lose sight of this salvation, this coming kingdom, this worldwide peace and prosperity.

That it's worth every price that we could pay, like Paul said. It's not worthy to be compared.

So, brother, no matter what comes, no matter what vicious, difficult, trying attacks come our way. No matter what our enemy puts against us, we know that as long as we are faithful to God and put on the armor that he puts on, that we are moving slowly but surely in an unstoppable way towards eternal victory.

What wouldn't we give for that?