Helmet of Salvation

You know, depending upon which source you read, America has been involved in over a hundred wars since the Revolutionary War, since our nation began. And some of the wars, I think, we would recognize. We'd know well the War of 1812, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War. But you know, there's been some wars also that maybe are lesser known. And maybe if you're a student of history, you'll recognize some of these, but they're not quite as well known. The moral rebellion, the box uprising, the Pancho Villa expedition, and the Caico War. You know, presently, depending upon which source you go to, the United States is engaged in war at the present time with six different countries. How? Well, by cleverly using international bodies, advanced war technology, new covert capabilities, and President Obama, along with a long list of presidents that preceded him, have been redefining the meaning of going to war. According to Michael Hirsch of the National Journals, he says this, the process of turning war into something other than war is likely to grow more intricate and more subtle. Now, instead of war, the United States is engaged in missions, or operations, or uprisings, or counter-insurgency campaigns. I think most of us, if not all of us, fear that when we hear the words that America has declared war, or America is now at war. And yet, brethren, we as Christians are in a war, and we're fighting in a war, and we're fighting against an enemy that we can't see, and we're fighting against an enemy that we can't hear, and yet our enemy is real. In fact, the battle is going on right now. It's going on today. Let's note 2 Timothy 2 and verse 3. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 3. We've talked before about how we don't fight in the military, and yet we are definitely soldiers. We're definitely at war. And so, in that sense, we are warriors. 2 Timothy 2, and we'll pick it up in verse 3. Paul is talking to Timothy. He's writing to Timothy here. And we read the following. He says, You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So there we have it. We are soldiers, but we are to be a good soldier and to endure hardship.

And for those of you that are maybe older and have fought in the military, you know that a soldier does endure hardship. You often eat, but you don't want to eat. You often go where you don't want to go. You often sleep in places you don't want to sleep. It's not easy, and sometimes it's difficult. And that's why it says here that we must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And then it goes on to say, and no one engaged in warfare. I think we know what that word engaged means of her. We're involved. You know, I remember the old Star Trek series that Captain Picard, they were just about ready to go to warp drive, and he'd say to his helmsman, Engage! You know, boom! All of a sudden they take off. They're involved. You get engaged to somebody, you're beginning to realize you're getting to be intertwined with them. And so it says, no one engaged in warfare. So there we are. We're involved. We're involved with warfare. A lot of people don't like to be involved in warfare, but apparently that's the role that God has given for us to play. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life. And we heard some of the lessons about that in the first message today, a very good message about how easily that can happen. To be entangled, it's interesting, or engaged, I guess is another way you could put it, with the affairs of this life, that He may please Him who enlisted Him as a soldier. So there we are. We're enlisted. If we've committed to God, you and I are fellow soldiers in a war. We've been enlisted.

You know, sometimes, entangling ourselves with the affairs of this life, as we heard in the first message, we can easily forget the severity of the battle that we're in. But we don't want to do that. We want to keep that in mind at all times, to be on the alert at all times. That we want to make sure that we make no mistake about it, that our spiritual lives, in a sense, are on the line. That our spiritual future, in God's kingdom, are on the line. And if we were to lose this battle, lose this war, we've really lost everything. But God's intention is that we not lose that battle. Our adversary, Satan the Devil, and his host of demons, have a single driving purpose, and that is to destroy the children of God. That's His single and driving purpose.

Let's note 2 Corinthians 10 and 3. 2 Corinthians 10 and 3. A little bit more about this warfare that we're battling, that we're fighting. And God wants us to know. He wants us to know the facts. He wants us to know how things work, so that we can begin to deal with it and prepare ourselves. 2 Corinthians 10 and 3. This is also written by Paul. It's to our brothers and sisters in Corinth. The second letter to the Corinthians. Chapter 10 and verse number 3. He says, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. So again, He says we're waging a war, and it's not according to the flesh. This is a spiritual battle. Verse number 4. And notice, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty in God, for the pulling down of strongholds. And I think He's talking about the context here. It's a spiritual battle. We're talking about being able to pull down spiritual strongholds, even though you and I are in the flesh. And God says those weapons, whatever they are, and we've been actually covering some of those. The armor that we're talking about in the series we've been going through. For those weapons, referring to that armor, of our warfare are not carnal weapons. They're not carnal armor. They're spiritual armor. They're the very same armor that God Himself wears. Then they're mighty. For then we've got the capabilities through the armor that God has given to us to be able to pull down strongholds, spiritual strongholds, and they're mighty. They are powerful. And God has made them available to you and to me. Now Jesus Christ, it says, is the captain of our salvation. He's leading us. He wears some of the armor as well. Notice verse number 5, that this spiritual armor, or these spiritual weapons that God has made available, can cast down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And notice, it can even be to the point where it begins to bring every thought into the captivity, to the obedience of Christ. Even this spiritual armor can even help the way that we think and help us as soldiers to bring into captivity those things that could destroy us, that our enemy utilizes, that he puts into our mind that floats around there for a while and begins to affect us in a negative way. God says, if we have these strong weapons that can bring every thought into the captivity, the obedience of Christ. Brethren, God tells us, He reveals to us how to fight this battle and how to prepare ourselves for the battle. And He's told us to equip ourselves with His armor. Let's go over to Ephesians 6 and verse 10. Ephesians 6 and verse 10, we've been going through this series of sermons on the armor of God.

And the title of the series is simply, and yet I think profoundly, the armor of God and spiritual warfare, because that's what we're fighting. So let's pick it up here in verse number 10 of Ephesians 6 and begin to read through here a little bit. Ephesians 6 and verse number 10, very important part of Scripture. It says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. So we know that this is His armor. We know these are His weapons. It's what He fights with. And so He tells us His sons and His daughters and His family, as part of soldiers that fight with the captain of our salvation, to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, and then to put on the whole armor of God.

That you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Let's talk about our enemy a little bit. Let's talk about that phrase, the wiles of the devil. You know, what are some of the wiles of the devil? Let's take a look at that word, wiles. You know, it's not maybe a word we use a lot. But what does it mean? Well, the Greek word is, methodeia, of which we get the English word, method.

Methodeia is the Greek word. And some of this information is coming from the Albert Barnes commentary in reference to this scripture, in reference to this word, methodeia, which is translated, wiles. It says, methodeia means properly that which is traced out with method, something that's methodized, and then that which is well laid out, a method that has to do with cunning, or cunning arts, method that has to do with deceit, with craft, with trickery. You know, there's a method, really, to almost anything. And we begin to see, because of this particular Greek word, we begin to understand that it involves trickery and craft as far as the method. Now, the Greek word is only used one other time in the New Testament. And that's in Ephesians 4, verse 14. I'm not going to have you turn there unless you'd like. But where it's translated in that particular place, the only other place in the New Testament, it's translated, deceitful plotting. Deceitful plotting. And I think that sums it up in two words very, very well when we talk about the wiles, or the deceitful plotting, of our enemy. So the wiles of the devil are his various arts, his tactics, his strategies, which he employs to deceive, to delude, and to destroy.

You know, I think sometimes we can more easily encounter open force that we can see than we can cunningness. You know, we need the weapons of God's armor to meet the attempts that draw us into traps or try to ensnare us as much as we need it to be able to deal with open attacks or open force.

Which is why I think God tells us the necessity of being constantly armed with this armor to meet our enemy whenever and however he attacks. In verse number 12 it says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. So we've been touching on that already through some of the other scriptures, but we're wrestling against principalities and against powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this age and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. And so understanding who we're up against, it says in verse 13, 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. So we talked to them at that time. Apparently they could have an opportunity where there was an evil day, whether that means an evil day, where there was a perfect storm that's attempting to wipe them out individually, or whether we're talking about the end of the age. It doesn't really matter, as that the armor of God is important, no matter what type of evil day that we're faced with. You know, God reveals that we're not simply a nation at war, but we as the people of God are engaged in a spiritual war. And this spiritual warfare is ongoing. You know, sometimes a nation can be at war, and then there seems to be a time of peace. But apparently this is a spiritual war that's ongoing, until ultimately our enemy is going to be defeated, which is prophesied to come to pass after the return of Jesus Christ. And so during this present age, during this present spiritual warfare, the armor of God is designed by God, and for you and for me, and to put it on. And God says, if we put it on, then we are guaranteed victory. His Word promises that. He says, in the end, you and I will stand.

How is it that as Christians we're expected to withstand incredible pressures and not be defeated? How can we possibly stand against everything that a spiritual enemy with spiritual powers can throw at us? How are we expected to stand?

Well, the answer doesn't lie in ourselves, brethren. It doesn't. The answer lies in a divine and unbeatable defense, the armor of God. Let's see as we begin to get to verse 14, the armor is listed. It says, verse 14, Stand therefore having your waste girded with truth. We've covered that one already about the belt of truth and how God loves the truth, and how He hates, and it's an abomination when we lie or we bear false witness. That there is, when it comes to truth, there's a difference between what's right and what's wrong. And those things are actually getting confused today, where people say there really isn't an absolute right or wrong, but God says that there is. There is something called righteousness. There is something that's right versus wrong. And God wants us to live that way, to choose right, and all of His commandments are right, righteousness. Verse number 15, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, we've covered that particular armor and its importance about the good news, the gospel of peace, about the coming kingdom of God, and that it is going to truly bring true peace. It's going to start small, but it says, in Isaiah 9, verse 6, of its peace there will be no end. And that is something to look forward to. You know, when there's peace, you can take a deep breath and relax, and you think, wow, this is wonderful. This is wonderful. The stress is gone, and there's peace. And God says, we have a part to play in that now. That where we go, we should be sowing the seeds of peace. That we should be peacemakers. That we're learning that way now, too. That where our feet go, with the circle of influence that we have, that we begin to build a peaceful relationship with others.

Verse number 16 in Ephesians 6, and above all, or overall as it can also be translated, taking the shield of faith with which you'll be able to quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked. And we covered that one last time. Faith in God, He's the object of our faith. We put our faith and our trust in Him, no matter what. No matter what the circumstances. You know, Jesus said, when He comes back to the earth, will He really find faith on the earth?

And the disciples said, increase our faith. And we talked about the fact, that they began to understand the importance of it. Faith without works is dead. We covered that. That faith produces something. And we covered Hebrews 11, we talked about Abraham, that his faith in God, he was willing to sacrifice his son, if that's what God wanted him to do.

And so, his faith produced something. He was willing to build the ark. Not necessarily knowing for sure that these waters were coming, but he believed God that they were, even though he hadn't seen them come. Or hadn't seen it. And he built the ark, and he had to preach as well, for all of those years. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, their faith produced something. You know, they weren't going to bow down to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And yes, they believed and trusted in God, no matter what. If they were going to be thrown to the furnace and God wasn't going to protect them, they still were going to obey God. And yet, they believed that God could protect them. But if he chose not to, they were not going to stop obeying God and trusting in Him. The prophets of old, all the things that they went through, they trusted God. Daniel, we heard about that in the first message.

He continued. His faith produced something. It produced works. He still prayed. He still had a relationship with God, no matter what was going on around Him. Incredible examples of people that are going to be there.

Verse 17, And take the helmet of salvation. Take the helmet of salvation. And so, this morning, brethren, I want to talk to you about this important and necessary piece of armor for you and for me. The helmet of salvation. Paul talks about it as part of the armor of God. And let's talk a moment about a helmet as a piece of the armor that we have to put on.

Paul was an apostle in the first century. He was involved in the Roman Empire. He saw soldiers everywhere. In fact, he had to actually... He was in house, in prison, for two years. In fact, a lot of times, they were chained within their dungeon, not disabled, even free to Rome, within the room itself. But they were chained. He talked about being in his chains. But, you know, he went through a lot. He went through a lot. He saw the Roman army, and he saw the Roman soldiers, and he was under their watchful eye a lot of the time.

But he was beaten. He was arrested. He was stoned and left for dead, because they thought he was dead. You know, you stone somebody, and you think, okay, we finished the job. And they left. But then, either God miraculously brought him back to life, or they didn't finish the job. But he went through all of these different things and was imprisoned. And during that time, with Roman soldiers, he must have made an impression upon Paul with the things that they wore. And God inspired an analogy, a spiritual analogy for you and me, to begin to understand, as the Romans, the function of each piece, what its purpose was, and why it was important.

And then God inspired an analogy to Paul about there are different pieces of armor, spiritual armor, that we have to wear like a Roman soldier did, in order to be able to have a spiritual defense. Let's talk about the purpose of the helmet and what it served in the Roman army. This fifth piece of God's armor, salvation, is represented by the Roman soldier's helmet, which without, the soldier would never go into battle without his helmet. He would not do it.

Some of their helmets were made of thick leather, covered with metal plates. Others were heavily molded or beaten metal. And they usually had these little pieces that would come down to protect their cheeks as well, as maybe a piece to protect their nose. The purpose of the helmet, of course, was to protect the soldier from a head injury, particularly from the dangerous broadsword that was often a two-handed sword, about three or four feet long.

It had cutting edges on both sides, and the Calvary men would often have that, and they would try to decapitate or slice the skull of the enemy. So it was a pretty powerful weapon, and the helmet would help to protect from that.

In the book of Revelation, it talks about that there were some, for the testimony of Jesus Christ, that were physically beheaded. Well, I can tell you, our enemy wants to spiritually behead us, which talks about an eternal death and not just a first physical human death. It's hard to deny the importance of a helmet. I'm going to read a couple of different newspaper articles here, and I think maybe you'll be able to see, in this case, how a helmet can help, or the lack of one can really hurt.

This is from the Lansing State Journal. They ran an article here. This happened. This ran on June 23rd of 2009. It had to do with a 36-year-old man who was at a skate park, and he fell on a skateboarding accident.

The article says, it was a death that could have been avoided.

Paul Maxam, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered a skull fracture and other head injuries in an accident at Ranney Skate Park near Randor, and he died on Saturday.

Quote, A simple helmet would have saved his life, said Lansing Fire Public Information Officer Steve Mazuric. Now, this story stands in contrast to a second one we're going to read here, which was listed here on July 4th of 2008 in the Manchester Evening News. This has to do with a young girl, age 11. Savannah Hayworth, age 11, was knocked unconscious after falling into the path of a car.

It says, the wheels went over her arm and over the top of her helmet. But she escaped with a swollen elbow and a bruising to her face. Her parents say that she would have been killed without the helmet, and they are now urging bicyclists to wear helmets. You know, it's incredible to think about the difference between these two particular stories. Here's a skateboarder that just fell a few feet to the ground, and then we've got a girl who was run over on her head with a multi-thousand pound vehicle.

The helmet can make such a big difference in order to prove fatal without one or to be able to survive with one. The fact that the helmet is related to salvation indicates that some of Satan's blows are going to be directed at you and me and as a believer in Christ. They're going to be directed at the believer's trust in God and God's ability to deliver us. That's what's going to be attempted, to attack our assurance in Jesus Christ, who is the captain of our salvation.

Some of his dangerous blows are to the head and to our thinking. You know, he's got a lot of different ways to get between our ears and begin to affect our thinking. For example, his blows can include discouragement, they can include confusion, and they can include doubt.

He affects us in all of these ways and probably more, but those are some of the things that he affects us with. He affects us with negativism. He points to our failures. He reminds us of those. He points us to our shortcomings. He points us to our sins. He points us to our own unresolved problems. You're never going to be able to overcome that. He begins to whisper things in our ears that God's not there for you. You can't trust Him.

He doesn't have your best interest at heart. He whispered some of those same things into the ears of our first parents. He whispers those things that life isn't fair. And He starts to plant seeds of doubt. This way is too hard. You can't make it. It's not fair that God should put you through all this. His goal is to make us lose our confidence in our love, in our trust, in our faith in God. Let's talk about salvation for a moment. This is a big topic. Let's just define some basic things here.

We're going to go to dictionary.com. This word is salvation. It's basically got four different definitions, and I think they're all good. Four different definitions of salvation at dictionary.com. The first one is this. It's the act of saving or protecting from harm or loss or destruction. So it involves somebody doing something. It's action. It's a verb. The act of saving. Of protecting from harm or loss or destruction. The second one is the state of being saved or protected from harm or loss or destruction.

The state of being saved from those things. The third definition is a source or means of being saved or protected, for again, from harm or loss or destruction. So there's a source that brings this about. And then there's a theological definition here, number four. It says, deliverance from the power and the penalty of sin. That's interesting, because that's how we understand it as part of the meaning of salvation.

It's right here in the dictionary, if you will, the secular dictionary. Deliverance from the power and penalty of sin or redemption. Maybe I can illustrate some of the meaning of salvation, some of these meanings here with a story. Let me tell you a story. True story. There was a pilot that took a flight from Nassau to Miami. His name was Walter Wyatt, Jr. And he was a small aircraft. He was flying his own beachcraft airplane.

It normally took him 65 minutes to go from Nassau to Miami. But on December 5th of 1986, he attempted it after Theves had stolen his navigation equipment. So here he's going with a compass that he held in his hand. He took a compass and a handheld radio. Well, he'd done it many times, and so he was going to do it again. So he took off, and all of a sudden he found himself in blackened storm clouds.

And then his compass began to gyrate, which means he can no longer trust the compass. So then he flew his plane below the clouds, trying to see something, some landmark of something that would help guide him back to his way to Miami. He flew his plane below the clouds, hoping to spot something, but he didn't spot anything. He was lost. He called out a May Day call. And there was a response. There was a Coast Guard Falcon search plane that found him and began to lead him to an emergency landing strip that was only six miles from his present location where they found him.

But there was only one problem. He ran out of fuel before he could get to the airport. His engine coughed its last, and it died. It quit running. And the fuel tank read dry. It was about 8 p.m., and all he could do was guide his plane down into the Atlantic Ocean. It wasn't long before he got out. He got injured in the crash, but he was able to get out of the plane.

But it wasn't long that his plane slipped underneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. And he found himself with a leaky life vest and a cut in his forehead where blood was protruding from his forehead. Eight o'clock at night. With the blood on his forehead, he decided to try to float on his back to try to keep the blood from going into the water. But suddenly he felt a hard bump against his body. Most of you have guessed it, it was a shark. A shark had found him. He kicked, and the intruder went away. But he began to wonder, am I going to be able to survive?

He managed to stay afloat for 10 hours. Can you imagine that? I mean, we're not talking about a life raft here. We're talking about a life vest that was leaky. He was 10 hours in the water. In the morning, he saw no airplanes, but in the water he saw a dorsal fin was headed for him. And twisting again, he felt the bump against his body of the hide of a shark brush against his body. And then a moment later, there were two more bull sharks that were slicing through the water, headed in his direction. Again, he kicked the sharks, and they veered away. But he was nearing exhaustion. You can imagine, bobbing up and down these incredible waves, that he was near exhaustion after all these hours.

Then, he heard the sound of a distant aircraft, and what was within a half a mile, he waved his orange vest to get their attention. The pilot radioed to Cape York, which was a cutter about 12 minutes away, about where his location was. And he said, Get moving, cutter! There are sharks all around this guy! They're targeting him! As the Cape York pulled alongside Wyatt, a Jacob's ladder was dropped over the side.

I thought that's interesting that they used that terminology, Jacob's ladder. A Jacob's ladder was dropped over the side, and Wyatt climbed wearily out of the water and onto the ship, where he fell to his knees, and he kissed the deck.

He'd been saved.

When he'd been floating the Atlantic Ocean amidst the shark, he needed to be rescued.

Brethren, nothing less than outside intervention would have saved him from a certain death.

How much are we like Walter Wyatt?

Let's turn to Exodus 14, verse 8. We begin to realize that salvation has something to do with something. It has to do with a lot of things. But one of the things it has to do with is that somebody else has to save us from certain death.

Let's take a look at an Old Testament example of the children of Israel, God's people back at the time that they'd come out of Egypt. They'd been in slavery, and God had brought them out. And they'd come out with a high hand, remember that? You remember that story?

But now they've come to a place where they're at a crossroads where they're trapped between the Red Sea and rock formations to their side, and the Egyptians are coming.

Remember that story? Let's pick it up here in Exodus 14, verse 8. It says, And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with boldness. We knew they went out with a high hand. And then afterwards, when the Egyptians began to realize where they had put themselves, the children of Israel put themselves in a very dangerous predicament. They thought they're confused. They don't know where they're going. This is our opportunity. And so they went out after them. Let's jump to verse number 11. They said to Moses, because there weren't any graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us to bring us up out of the land of Egypt? And is not this the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone? So they were afraid. And they had, in a sense, they'd lost their, I suppose, their faith in God. He'd gotten them this far, but now their faith was being tested. For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness. And then notice verse number 13. And Moses said to the people, don't be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today. Brethren, God tells us several things here. It's that God's salvation, it's something that comes from Him. He acts. He's the source of what we've been talking about. And that notice it's something He is going to accomplish for them. He says, for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. What about you and me today? We saw a little bit of an example here that they needed to be saved from a situation. We're New Testament Christians. What do you and I need to be saved from today? What do we need to be delivered from? If salvation needs to be saved or delivered from something, what is it that we need to be saved or delivered from? Romans 6, verse 23. Romans 6, verse 23.

Let's pick it up in verse 12. Don't let sin reign in your mortal body. Sin can still reign in us. He says, don't let it reign, that you should obey its lusts. Then He talks about whoever we are obeying, and that we're there. Let's read on it. It says, verse 13, Don't present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead.

In verse 14, For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. Let's jump now down to verse 23. It says, for the wages of sin is death. I think we're talking about eternal death here. And brethren, that's frankly what we need to be saved from. Because there isn't a person here that hasn't sinned.

And what He's talking about is that the wages of those sins is death. And I think He's talking about eternal death, isn't it? Because the next part of the verse talks about, but the gift of God is eternal life. That's the context here. We're talking about either eternal life or not eternal life. We have to be saved from death due to our sins. Just as Walter Wyatt was saved from certain death at sea by the cutter, the Cape York, and its crew, we need to be saved from death just as certain.

And just as eternal. I'm going to refer to Ezekiel 18.4. You can look it up if you'd like, or you can write it down. I'm going to refer to Ezekiel 18.4. God's the Creator of all of us. We're all His sons and daughters. He says there, He says, all souls are mine. As the soul of the Father, as well as the soul of the Son, they're mine. But He goes on to say, but the soul who sins shall die. So we need to be saved because of our sins. Our sins bring death. So how can we be saved from death due to our sins?

Well, we need a Savior. We need a Savior. Luke 1, verse 68. Luke 1, verse 68. The context here is John the Baptist's father is speaking, and he's been inspired by God's Spirit. What he's about ready to share with us is coming directly from God through His Holy Spirit, and coming to you and to me as we read. It says, verse 67, now His Father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and He prophesied, which means inspired speaking.

And He said this, He said, Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and He has raised up a horn of salvation for us. God has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His Holy Prophet. So this is something that was talked about before, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies, and that from the hand of all who hate us. And verse 72, to perform the mercy that was promised to our fathers. God made a way of escape, of salvation, 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 without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. That's talking about right now. Verse 76, in you child, referring to His Son, John the Baptist, you're going to be called the prophet of that highest, for you will go to prepare the face of the Lord, to prepare His ways. Notice to give the knowledge of salvation to His people. How? By the remission of their sins.

Through the tender mercy of our God, from which the day spring from on high, has visited us to give light to those who sit in darkness, and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. But notice verse 77, to give the knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins. Let's notice Matthew 1 and 21.

We needed a Savior to save us from our sins, because our sins result in death. Matthew 1 and 21. It says, and she, referring to Mary, is going to bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

It's just as plain and profound as that. We need to be saved from our iniquities, from our sins. You know, it wasn't too long ago that I watched, it's probably been a couple of years ago, that I saw a clip of Oprah Winfrey, and she's into this New Age religion. And she was having one of her shows where she had several New Age illuminaries that she was beginning to interview. And then all of a sudden, there was a Christian woman in the audience.

They were talking about salvation. They were talking about how you come back to God the Father, eternal life and salvation. And a woman in the audience said, well, what about Jesus? And Oprah said this, Jesus can't possibly be the only way to God. Jesus can't possibly be the only way to God. And boy, that started a whole fireworks of conversation, because there were a couple of people in the crowd that pretty much stood up for the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior.

He is the only way to salvation. He's the only way back to God. But you know, not everyone believes that. There was a religious poll that was taken, that I was reading about, that talked about not only Catholicism, but also several of the different Protestant denominations, whether it be Presbyterian or Lutheran or all these various denominations that are out there. And they talked about the way to salvation, and is Christ the only way, or are there other ways? And it surprised me, the different percentages for each denomination. But even the one with the lowest percentage, which was about two-thirds, two-thirds or more believed that there was another way, other than the way that God talks about in the Scriptures, that there was another way.

One of our Catholic friends that we talked about, that we talk to every now and then, the wife said this, the differences in our religion don't really matter. What you believe doesn't matter. We'll all end up in the same place anyway.

And that's some of the thought that's out there, that there's different ways to salvation. How are you and I saved from death? How are we saved from death? Are there many ways of salvation? Is there more than one Savior? Let's look from God's Word. Let's go over to John 14 and verse 2. John 14 and verse 2. Jesus makes a pretty bold claim here. John 14 and verse 2, He says, In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I'm going to go and prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'm going to come again, and I'm going to receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. I'm kind of glad He made that statement, because Thomas asked Him a question. And then God, through Christ, reveals a little bit more information.

Thomas said to Him, Well, Lord, we don't know where You're going, and how can we know the way? And Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me. It's pretty singular when you say, Me. And it's not, I am a way, He's saying, I am the way. In other words, there is no other way. He makes a bold statement here.

Now, to some, this probably seems rash and arrogant, and flies in the face of a tolerant society that believes there are many ways to the truth. There are many ways to salvation, and there are many ways to eternal life. And then Jesus not only goes on to say that He's the way, but He says that no one can come to God the Father except through Him. It's like He's saying, I am the door. You know, this door is, you've got to go through Me.

The disciples believed what Jesus said. They believed that His bold statements were true. Let's notice Acts 4, verse 8. Acts 4, verse 8. Were these just bold statements, or were they just simply a statement of fact, the way that God the Father had designed the plan, the plan of salvation? Did He engage His Son Jesus Christ, that they were going to have to be saved, that there was someone who was going to have to pay the penalty?

God through Peter here, Peter's the one that we'll be speaking about here as we get to Acts 4, verse 8. And we see how Peter feels about this. In the context here is they just healed somebody who was lame from birth. Acts 4, verse 8. It says, then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit.

So again, God was inspiring Peter. So what we're about to hear is God's inspiration from Him, through His Spirit. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he said, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all and to all of the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God, referring to the Father, has raised from the dead, by Him, referring to Jesus, this man stands before you whole.

So here, there's a miracle that they know has taken place, no one can deny. And so Peter has moved to say that this healing has been taken place through the name of Jesus Christ. And then he takes this a step further. He utilizes this whole experience to go even more step further. And not only was this person healed or saved, if you will, from his lameness from birth, but he takes this even further, if you will, in verse number 11. This is the stone, referring to Christ, which was rejected by the builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.

Not that there's a lot of cornerstones here, but there's one. And it's this Jesus Christ that I'm telling you about is what he's saying. And notice verse number 12, "...nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved." Well, I think that makes it pretty exclusive, other than Jesus Christ, our Savior.

That's one of His titles. That's one of His things, the name or the word that's associated with Jesus Christ. And notice He's saying this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And notice verse 13, "...and when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled." They marveled at what they were hearing.

And they realized they've been with Jesus. To many today, this bold statement of Christ, and Peter's statement, which is just as bold, that no other name under heaven by which we must be saved, seems ludicrous, preposterous, rash, and arrogant. And that's why there were several people on that particular show that felt this woman was out of place.

No, no, it can't be that exclusive. Are they bold statements? Or are they simply just a matter of fact? A statement of fact. Further in God's Word, let's turn over to John 10, verse 7. John 10, verse 7. The Scripture is revealed there's only one way to salvation and eternal life, and not many. And there's only one Savior, not many. John 10, verse 7. But that's not the feeling that's getting to be out there, brother. Among traditional Christianity, Catholicism, Protestantism, New Age religion.

It's too arrogant. It's too confined. It doesn't give us enough leeway to do it a different way. John 10, verse 7. Then Jesus said to them, I'm telling you the truth. I'm the door. I'm the door of the sheep. And all who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers. There are some that say there's another way that they can't deliver. They're thieves and they're robbers. They can't deliver.

And the sheep didn't hear them, verse 8. Verse 9, but I am the door. That's pretty... Talk about one person. He doesn't say we are the door. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved. And he'll go in and out and find pasture. Verse 10, the thief, and I wonder if this has reference to our enemy.

He doesn't come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. But I have come that they may have life. There weren't others that came to have life. He came to have life. That was the plan. And that they may have it more abundantly.

I think we're talking about eternal life here. I am the Good Shepherd. There aren't other Good Shepherds out there. This is all exclusive. I am the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. Let's go over to John 3. Jesus Christ is talking with Nicodemus about eternal life. He's talking about being born of the Spirit. John 3, we'll pick it up here in verse 5. Jesus answered, He said, I am telling you the truth. I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. We're talking about salvation, eternal life.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Don't marvel that I said to you that you must be born again. And then He talks to Nicodemus about what it's like to be born a second time with the Spirit. He says, the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you can't tell from where it came from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. You probably noticed that when you've been outside, you see the wind blowing the trees, and you can see the branches moving and the leaves, but you don't know in which direction did it come from.

You don't see it, where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. And Nicodemus answered Jesus Christ and He said, how can these things be? He didn't understand. Christ goes on to say, I'm telling you the truth, verse number 11.

Let's pick it up in verse number 10. Jesus answered and said, are you a teacher of Israel, and you don't know these things? I'm telling you the truth. I speak, or we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you don't receive our witness. Jesus Christ said, I have been a faithful witness. I'm just telling you what I've seen and I'm telling you what I know, and you don't believe Me. And then He goes on to say in verse 12, and if I've told you earthly things and you don't believe Me, then how will you believe Me if I tell you heavenly things?

Then verse number 13, and I don't want to beat this too hard here, but He says, no one has ascended to heaven, but He who came down from heaven, and that is the Son of Man, who is in heaven. He said, I'm the only one that's been up there. Verse number 14, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

You remember the story when the children of Israel had rebelled and God sent snakes, and they were being bitten by venomous snakes, and they were dying. God was punishing them, and He told Moses that if he would build this metal-molded image of a serpent on a pole, and you've probably seen that in doctor's offices or on their letterhead, there's a pole with a snake that's wrapped around, it's kind of a medical icon. He said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And when the children of Israel saw that molded serpent image and icon, they survived.

They were saved from death, from a physical death in this case, because of the fact that they looked upon that image, and even though they had been bitten by a venomous snake, they did not die, as long as they looked on that.

And now, Jesus Christ begins to say that as Moses, verse number 14, was lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. I'm talking about being on a stake. And notice verse number 15, that whoever believes in Him should not perish. We're talking about eternal death, being able to be saved from perishing. Whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have notice eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. He says it again. You know, it's that Scripture that you see in the end zone, football games.

John 3, 16, we've talked about that. But you know, it's both not only 16, but verse 15 are pretty important verses. Notice verse 17, for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, and we're talking about all mankind, not just the Israelites, we're talking about all mankind, but that the world, referring to all mankind, through Him, might be saved.

Again, He's the way. It's through Him that we might be saved.

I'll just refer to 1 Peter 2, verses 3 and 4. It talks about God's desire, what His will is. It says, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. That's what God desires. He wants us all to be saved, but He knows that He's the only one that can save us. Your sins and my sins have separated us from God, and they've incurred the death penalty for you and me. Your sins and mine will separate us from eternal life, and they'll separate us from salvation in the King of God. It's just as simple and it's just profound as that.

Every one of us have thought and acted in ways that are an abomination to God. We've decided to break His wonderful laws, which He lives by, which actually are for our good, because we think we know better, sometimes ignorantly. But sin and where it leads is so dangerous. It changes us, it corrupts us. The whole festival of the Days of Unleavened Bread were meant to design to help us to see how sin works.

From the beginning to the end.

And because of sin and what it means and where it leads and how corrupt and how vile it is, God said it requires a death penalty, and God is a just God, and God's justice requires that penalty.

But God's mercy, His loving mercy, also provided a substitute in our place. To be saved, we needed a Savior. And it's He. It's Him, Jesus Christ.

How do we receive salvation? What's the first step?

Romans 5 and verse 8. Notice it's God who took the first step.

Romans 5 and verse 8. The God demonstrates His own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Saved from wrath through Him. Not to anybody else, and I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but this is scriptural. This is what God's Word says. Let's make sure we understand there aren't other ways to salvation.

It's through Jesus Christ. And it says here, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

What's that mean? Saved from wrath through Jesus Christ. There are so many scriptures that talk about the fact that when God comes back, He's coming back to a very sinful age. He's angry.

In fact, His wrath is going to result in a lot of people losing their lives.

And that the part of the punishment, the justice of sin is wrath. God's wrath.

Not only death, eternal death, but His anger, His wrath.

And it says we shall be saved from that wrath through Him. And what that means is that Jesus Christ also incurred God's wrath in our place.

Isaiah 53, verse 5 and 10, I don't have time to turn there, but it talks about it pleased God to crush Him.

He incurred God's wrath in our place.

We shall be saved from wrath because He incurred the wrath in our place.

For if we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. While we were enemies, God took the first step.

Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life, future. We shall be saved by His life.

But let's notice something that's important. Ephesians 2, verse 8.

It's important to understand that salvation can't be earned. And I know we've taught that. Let's just review that.

That's important to understand. It took outside intervention. There's nothing that we could do. Nothing to save us from a certain eternal death. Ephesians 2, verse 8. For by grace or graciousness, you have been saved through faith. And that's not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

So it's important for us to understand we needed a Savior. There's no other way to be saved from death. Eternal death than to have a Savior.

And it can't be earned. It's a gift from God. It's something that we cannot obtain through our own right actions.

And thus, obligating God to give it to us. No. That's not how it works.

And we also have to have the full, balanced understanding, because other Scriptures show that we do need to come out of sin, which is what the Days of 11 bread are all about. That we no longer live that as a lifestyle. That we were sinners, but we start to change and we don't practice that any longer.

We begin to obey God's laws. We begin to have faith in Him.

Yet in no way do our efforts make up for our sins that cause the death of our Creator in our place.

Second step, Acts 2, verse 38. Acts 2, verse 38.

Then Peter said to them, and again, he's under the influence of God's Spirit, he's filled with it on this day of Pentecost.

Acts 2, verse 38.

Then Peter said to all that were there, he said, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of...

One of those New Age luminaries.

I don't mean to be flippant, brethren. We just need to call this fate a spade. We do need to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Why? For the remission of your sins and mine.

And then God says, I'm going to give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's an essential step that we have to take individually and prayerfully to make and to begin to receive God's Spirit and then to begin our journey towards salvation.

That's when we begin our journey.

Is salvation permanent? Is it an irrevocable gift? Once it's been given, it can't be taken back.

Or does salvation have to be maintained?

Every once in a while, and not often, when I was practicing in accounting and doing more tax work, you're never supposed to talk about politics or religion.

I got into a religious discussion with a client, a good friend. We'd known each other for years, started talking about salvation as a gift. We both shared that same thought, but where it stopped was he felt that once God had given you that gift, it could not be taken back, and you were assured of salvation no matter what you did.

After you were baptized, I said, I don't think so.

And I came up with a few scriptures that he didn't buy in.

Brother, let's take a look at some scriptures here.

I want you to write these three down. The New Testament tells us the following things, three different things.

Ephesians 2, verse 5, it says, we have been saved.

This is one of the scriptures he was looking at.

We have been saved.

Ephesians 2, verse 5.

Then there's another scripture I'd like you to write down.

1 Corinthians 1, verse 18, which says, we are being saved.

Kind of like a process. We are being saved.

And then the third one is Matthew 10, verse 22.

Matthew 10, verse 22.

Remember that one?

If you endure to the end, then you will be saved.

So what does this all mean for us?

Let's go to Ephesians 2.

Pick it up in verse 4. I think Paul makes it clear that having been saved equates to the forgiveness of sins and coming under God's grace that we've been taken off of death row.

That doesn't mean we can't be put on death row again, you know.

But we've been saved from it.

Kind of like the children of Israel who had been saved from the slavery of Egypt.

But then they got into the wilderness and not all of them made it to the Promised Land.

They didn't receive that salvation in a sense, that promise that God intended.

Let's pick it up here first in Ephesians 2 and verse 4.

Ephesians 2 and verse 4.

But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, He's made us alive.

Together with Christ by grace you've been saved.

He's raised us up together to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and kindness towards us in Jesus Christ.

For by grace you have been saved through death, and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

It's taken off of death row, saved from a certain death in a sense.

But let's notice it's more than that. Jude chapter, well, I guess there is no chapters in Jude.

Jude 3. Let's understand, though, that it's a process.

We've begun the journey, but we have to endure to the end in order to be saved.

Jude 1 and verse 3.

Jude, who is the brother of Jesus Christ, by the way, wrote this book.

He says, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, absorbing you to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered, for once for all, delivered to the saints.

He said, I was going to talk about our common salvation, but I found it necessary to talk about something else.

Verse 4, because certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation.

They are ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into lewdness or licentiousness, which means that you can disobey God's ways through grace, and that's not what it was for.

And to deny that this grace that they turned into law-breaking has also turned them into denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

But I want to focus on verse number 5.

But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards, He destroyed those who didn't believe.

Once it started, it's not necessarily guaranteed, in other words.

We have to maintain salvation. It's a process.

Let's notice 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 1.

1 Corinthians 15 and verse 1.

We can start out on that road that leads to salvation.

But we can get off the road.

1 Corinthians 15 and verse 1.

Paul is writing, he says, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you and which you also received and which you stand.

You've received this gospel. You've received this good news.

You're standing in the truth. You're standing in the faith.

But notice verse 2, and verse 2, by which also you are saved if...

You know, Mr. Armstrong used to talk about that word, if.

That is such a small word, it has such powerful meaning.

You are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain.

So it's possible to believe in vain because you're no longer holding fast the word.

2 Peter 2, verse 20.

These are all Scriptures that I talked about with this man.

You know, I talked about how you can neglect. In the book of Hebrews it says you can neglect so great a salvation. It can be neglected.

2 Peter 2, verse 20. We've heard from Paul, we've heard from Jude. Let's hear from Peter in this regard. It says, "...For if after they've escaped the pollutions of the world, they've been saved in a sense from the pollutions of the world." It's interesting that phrase, pollutions of the world.

How God can say some graphic things here. We don't think about it, but they're there. Pollutions in the world. "...For if after they've escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome.

That the latter end is worse for them than the beginning." Can you lose your salvation? I think so. I think it's pretty clear from Scripture. You can start and then get escaped from the pollutions of the world and then get entangled in them again. And then the latter end is worse than if you ever would have gotten started. Which is sometimes where we're very careful when we're counseling for baptism. You want to make sure you know what you're getting into before you put your hand to the plow.

He says in verse 21, "...It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, so they knew it.

And then having known it," so that's pretty clear, "...to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit, and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire." So salvation is a process, brethren. I think the Scriptures, when we take them as a whole, show that we are in the process of being saved.

And our ultimate salvation depends, like it says in Matthew 10, verse 22, "...if we endure to the end, we shall be saved." You know, we have the example we talked about last time in the book of Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. All these died in faith. They believed God no matter what, even though they hadn't yet inherited the promises.

They hadn't seen that city that God was building, but they believed it was going to happen. And they waited for it. What's the hope of salvation? Let's notice 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 8. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 8.

This is an important Scripture here in reference to the topic today. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 8. It says, "...but let us who are of the day be sober." In other words, to be humble, to be safe. "...and love as a helmet the hope of salvation." To put on as a helmet the hope of salvation. I don't know if we lost our battery or... Okay, we're okay. I'll speak a little louder. Am I back on? Sometimes I speak a little louder when it goes off, and then when it comes back on, you get blasted. Try to keep that down. 2 The hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, brethren. We talked about that wrath that Jesus Christ saved us through Him. God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or whether we sleep, we should live together with Him, therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you're doing. You know, we can receive tremendous hope and comfort by focusing on the incredible future. The Kingdom of God, eternal life, salvation. The same things that those that went before us in Hebrews 11 focused on that helped them to get through. It kept their vision on the future. It helped them to endure many difficult things. When they had the hope of salvation as a helmet put on it, it helped them to endure very difficult circumstances, and God knows that we need it as well, to keep our eyes focused on His salvation. I'll refer to Proverbs 29, verse 18. Without vision, it says the people perish. God knows that we will perish without this hope of salvation, without us keeping our eyes kind of on that as we go forward in our life. Paul said, you know, the suffering I consider the sufferings of this day and age not worthy to be compared with the glory that's going to be revealed, he kept his eye on that salvation, that hope of salvation. Our brothers and sisters in Hebrews 11 kept their eye on the hope of salvation. Let's turn to Psalm 27, verse 1. Well, let's go to 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4, verse 6. Further, with our helmet securely fastened, we can have the same confidence that Paul had. He said, I know why I fight. He said, I know why I'm doing this. Because he kept that before him in his vision, the hope of salvation. Let's go to 2 Timothy 4, pick it up here in verse number 6. He said at the end of his life here, he's run his race well and faithfully. He's kept his eyes on the future of his eternal life and salvation. He says, I'm ready now to be poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand, and I have fought the good fight, and I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. And he says, finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day. And notice, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Northern Paul had a vision. He valued his salvation very highly, and he diligently fought the fight. And as the end of his life drew near, he was able to complete it with confidence, and he said, I will receive this crown. He's going to change this helmet eventually for a crown. He's going to exchange it after this life is over, and he's finished his race. Ours is still ahead of us. But we, too, can be assured of victory so long as we follow some of the examples that God has given us in the Scripture.

Revelation 21. Final Scripture. Revelation 21. In verse 4. Further, without this vision of salvation, we will surely perish. We won't be able to make it. We need to put on this helmet. It needs to guide us. Revelation 21. In verse 1. An encouraging Scripture here as we close.

And God Himself will be with them, and He will be their God. And God is going to wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no crying. There isn't going to be any more pain, because the former things are passed away. Brethren, this is the salvation that we're fighting for. This is why we war. This is why we do what we do. We really want to keep that vision ahead of us, brethren, and they help us to go through the difficult times that may be there for us when the perfect storm hits us in the day of evil, in the day of trial. This is what we're fighting for, is to enter His glorious Kingdom and help Him to bring it in, to share it with others. We don't ever really want to lose sight of that, because once we do, it could be the beginning of the end for us. So, brethren, no matter what comes, no matter what difficulties we face, no matter what trials come our way, let's make sure that we stay close to God, and that we have this particular piece of armor on, that vision, that hope of salvation. So that slowly but surely, as we remain with God, that we're moving slowly, surely, and unstoppable towards an eternal victory. And what wouldn't we give for that?