Week 6 - The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit
Women of Unity Bible Study
Week 6The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit
Ephesians
6:17
How is your journey to a closer relationship with
God coming along? Have you been
successful in carving out time each day to spend with God in His Word? This is the
final week of our journey. We will
actually be looking at the final two pieces of armor this week – the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the spirit. I
have enjoyed my time studying the whole armor of God. Some weeks have been better than others but
overall I have made a conscious choice to get up each day and put on the whole
armor of God. If you continue to
struggle with making time with God a priority, keep on praying. Always remember that God answers
prayers. Surround yourself with
individuals who will pray with you and for you. Remember that this is a
process. We were justified and now we are
being sanctified, and one day we will be glorified.
The
Helmet of Salvation
What is the purpose of the helmet? The helmet protects the soldier’s head. Roman
soldiers would never think of entering a battle without their helmet. The
helmet was a cap made of thick leather, or brass, fitted to the head, and was
usually crowned with a plume, or crest, as an ornament. Its use was to guard
the head from a blow by a sword, or war-club, or battle-axe. This wasn’t a
small one headed sword that you may be picturing in your mind. This was a
two-handed, double-edged sword measuring three to four feet in length.
So what does
the helmet protect us from? The lies of
the enemy. Notice how the helmet is connected to salvation. When the enemy comes at you with lies, these
blows are directed at the believer’s security and assurance in Christ. Two main ways he comes at us is with
discouragement and doubt. When we are
discouraged we are focused on our failures, our sins, or whatever else seems
negative in our lives. We dwell on those
things that keep us feeling inadequate, worthless, rejected, hopeless, and
unlovable. These thoughts may have been
told to you by someone else or formulated in your own mind. Either way the
enemy wants to reinforce those ideas and keep you from being who God called you
to be. I don’t know about you but for me discouragement sneaks in soon after I
have achieved some great success with the help of the Lord. What we must remember is that we need the
Lord’s strength and provision not only in the battle but after a victory. What
better time for the devil to sneak in with discouragement but the moment we
think we are safe.
The other area that the enemy will attempt to attack
us is with doubt. He wants to make us
doubt our salvation and also doubt the truth in God’s Word. How many times have you found yourself
struggling to hold on? You’ve been
praying about something and it hasn’t happened yet (at least in the way you
want it to happen). What is the first
thing that happens? You begin to
question God’s goodness, His power, His dependability. How do I know this? I’ve done it.
So how do we counteract these feelings of doubt? Lest I jump the gun here I will simply say
‘with the Word of God’. It is in the
Word that we find promises like John 10:28-29, Romans 8:1; 38-39, and
Philippians 1:6. There is no failure, no
shortcoming or sin that can cause you to be disowned by the God. If we confess our sins, HE is faithful and
just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The
enemy will have you thinking that whatever you did was too bad so there is no
point in asking for forgiveness. The
enemy will put things in your mind like “How many times are you going to ask
for forgiveness for the same thing”?
The enemy doesn’t want you to accept the
unconditional love of God and accept the hope we receive in Christ. The hope that we receive in Christ protects
us from our past (justification), our present (sanctification), and our future
(glorification). One thing that we must
never forget is that the devil is already defeated. He cannot destroy us but that won’t stop him
from trying to wound us. The hope of salvation will both purify the soul and
keep it from being defiled by the devil, and it will comfort the soul and keep
it from being troubled and tormented by the devil. One of my favorite verses in
the Bible, II Corinthians 4:16-18 tells us, ‘therefore we do not lose heart,
though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day,
for our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us a far greater
weight in glory, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen for
what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal’. This journey we call life is often referred
to as a race, a marathon and not a sprint.
When a runner is nearing the finish line it never fails that she ‘hits
the wall’. She doesn’t feel that she can
go any further. The hope that she has
comes from keeping his mind on the goal, the victory that awaits. This is what keeps her going when every other
part of her wants to give up.
The
Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God)
One of the most underutilized weapons that the
believer has in its possession is the Word of God. The
problem is that most people neglect the Word is because they fail to
acknowledge that every day they are involved in a spiritual battle. One that they will not win without the Word
of God. II Timothy 3:16 says, All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God
may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. There are those that try to explain away the
Bible and diminish its value by labeling it simply a history book.
Remember the story in Matthew Chapter 4. Jesus was tempted of the devil after fasting
for forty days and forty nights. Jesus,
who was all God and all man, did not fight the devil in His own strength but
instead He responded to each temptation with the Word of God. The sword which Paul refers to here is the
machaira. A Machaira was usually
anywhere from six to eighteen inches.
The Roman foot soldiers used this weapon. It was the principal weapon in hand-to-hand
combat. This weapon was always ready for
use. Scottish pastor Thomas Guthrie
said, “The Bible is an armory of heavenly weapons, a laboratory of infallible
medicines, a mine of exhaustless wealth.
It is a guidebook for every road, a chart for every sea, a medicine for
every malady, and a balm for every wound.
Rob us of our Bible and our sky has lost its sun.” The Bible not only claims to be inerrant and
infallible but complete. Isaiah 55:11
says, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to
me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in
the thing for which I sent it.
One of the best things about the Bible is that it is
available to all. But it is only an
asset to the one who read it. To the one
who hide it in their hearts. To the one who
make it a point to not only know what it says but how it applies in her
life. The sword of the spirit is first
of all a defensive weapon. It is the
best weapon against the onslaughts of the devil. The sword must be handled precisely and
skillfully. Notice that in Matthew 4
when Jesus was tempted the Word was effective because the passages used
precisely contradicted the devil’s word. (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) If you do not
know the Word will not be able to use it well. Scripture is not meant to be
waved indiscriminately but instead used with great precision. It was Paul in
his counsel to Timothy that said, ‘study to shew thyself approved unto God a
workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth’.
Not only is the sword of the Spirit a defensive
weapon, but it is also an offensive weapon.
Hebrews 4:12 says, the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to dividing asunder of the soul and spirit,
to the joints and morrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart’. The Word of God has
transformation power. It changes sadness
into joy, despair into hope, and stagnation into growth. True knowledge of the Word of God separates
little girls from grown women. The
spiritually immature from the spiritually mature. Those who know the value of Scripture become
doers and not hearers only as James admonishes us to do. Victory comes from being prepared. II Timothy 4:2 reminds us to be ready in
season and out of season. For the Word
to be effective as a weapon against the enemy it has to be more than a book you
pick up on Sunday morning, a few catchy phrases you write down from the
preacher, a good feeling you get after attending a small group bible study
class. It must be prayerfully studied.
It must be hidden in your heart. You
must meditate on it day and night. It
must be known, loved, and practiced.
Prayer:
Lord help me to take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit daily. Help me not to take for granted that which you have
saved me from when you sent your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins,
sacrificing all so that I might have the right to the tree of life. When the
enemy comes at me with thoughts that threaten to discourage me or make me doubt
you, help me to think on whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of
good report. Increase my desire to grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Jesus’
name Amen.
1. What are some of the areas the enemy has tried to
tempt you with discouragement and bring about doubt in your mind?
2. What ways have you tried to combat this
discouragement and doubt in the past? How
did that work for you?
Personal
Growth:
1. Take the specific areas you listed in Question 1
in Points to Ponder and search the Scriptures for verse that combat these area. Over the next two weeks commit those verses
to memory so that like Jesus you can combat the enemy with precision.
2. Read II Timothy 3:16-17 again. Commit this verse to memory. Write down what these words mean to you. What does it mean to have the Word of God in
your mind, memory and your heart? Pray
and ask God to give you the desire to grow in grace and in the knowledge of
Him.
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