“I WILL PREVAIL”, Part 5:
Prevailing in Salvation.
The Armor of God: Finding the Strength in
Your Struggle to Stand for Jesus!
We continue with our Series “I Will Prevail”. And today we speak about prevailing in SALVATION!
Say this out loud with me: “I will be right with God! I will stand in the strength of the Lord and in His mighty power; I will take up the whole armor of God and take my stand against the devil’s schemes.
I put on the belt of truth around my waist. I choose to hear, believe, speak and live by the truth.
I put on the breastplate of righteousness and have it in place. I am in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and my conscience is clear towards others. I take my stand against the devil’s schemes to question who I am in Christ.
I have the good news of peace with God through Jesus Christ on my feet and I go telling others about peace with God and with those around me.
Today, I take up the shield of faith and with it quench all of the fiery darts of the enemy—to keep immature or deceived. I trust in God alone.
I put on the helmet of salvation.
I played football in Junior High and High School. I loved running the ball; and I loved tackling too! The helmet is a fairly important piece to your equipment. Not only does it protect your head, but it shows which position you play and which team you are on.
The helmet is made of up of just a few pieces. There is padding on the inside to cushion any impact to the head. There is the outer shell made of (metal? no) hard plastic so it is light enough to wear and hard enough to protect. It is painted the same color as your teammates. You also have a facemask; back-fielders have less bars for visual acuity and linemen have more bars for greater durability. There is also a chin strap which snaps to the helmet to keep it on.
A Roman helmet was made of thin yet hard metal and fashioned much like the rest of his battalion’s. Some had no pieces, some had high plumes, others had ear guards. But all were made so you could see and speak yet have your head protected from falling objects or an enemy’s attack. If you want to take someone out quickly, go for the head!
The helmet’s main purpose is to protect the head and the brain. The brain is the object the mind uses to think and reason—to discern observations from all of the five senses and make decisions based on those observations.
Paul said to TAKE the helmet OF salvation in chapter 6.
There are two places where salvation is used in this letter—Ephesians 1:13-14 and 2:5, 8:
5, 8 For it is by grace you have been SAVED (and again in verse 8 only it adds) through faith; this is a gift from God.
13 And you also were included IN Christ when you HEARD the word of TRUTH, the GOSPEL of your SALVATION. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
HEARD the Word of Truth = the Gospel of your Salvation
BELIEVED
MARKED with the a seal = the promised Holy Spirit
= a deposit guaranteeing our
Inheritance
GOD’S POSSESSION =to the praise of HIS glory
REDEEMED! =have been and will be
If you want to take someone out quickly, go for the head!!! Satan knows this, and he will mess with your head. Protection comes from Salvation.
Are you saved today? Have you been saved? Are you being saved? Will you be among those who will be saved?
We have been saved from SIN’s PENALTY
We are being saved from SIN’S POWER & PLEASURE
We will be saved from SIN’S PRESENCE
(A.W. Pink)
How? One way we are saved is by:
(1) What you heard.
Paul told the Corinthians is was through the foolishness of preaching! A sower went out to sow the seeds of the Gospel.
Paul told us in Romans that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God = it is an act of grace! In the UM tradition we believe in what it is called prevenient grace. Prevenient means PRE = that which comes before, and VENE like in the word “intervene” = on behalf of, in between the two. There is a grace of God that he grants to those who are coming towards him in salvation. A grace then enables faith to work—to take root in the heart, grasped and believed. I don’t know how this works, I just know that it does!
What you hear produces faith. It was the word of Truth! Only God’s truth revealed in Jesus Christ can save you!
Only the gospel of truth about peace with God through Jesus Christ preached by those sent to preach to those God has to hear the message can we receive faith to believe and reach out to a God who is reaching out to us! Now that’s good news! That’s God’s love!
Every time we have a slot in our services here to each other, and when people share their testimony about the Lord, it is a way we prevail in salvation! It is like dents in our helmet pop themselves back out!
Take advantage of testifying for the Lord! Give others opportunity to have their helmets fixed! Encourage others by hearing once again about the living God they serve!
Another way we are saved is by:
(2) What your heart says = believe. Romans 10, it is with your heart you keep on believing and are justified, and it is with your mouth you keep on confessing and are saved!
Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart (what?) the mouth speaks.” So we talk about what is in our hearts.
Prevailing in salvation is keeping our heart close to God, turned towards God, and our mouths speaking and confessing our belief in God.
What have you been speaking lately? Have you allowed your circumstances to blur your vision enough to cause you to speak disbelieving words out loud? Have you declaring truth and confessing your hopes and dreams in God and your belief in Jesus Christ?
Singing is one of the best ways to promote your faith in Jesus Christ. How many of you listen to praise and worship hymns or music throughout your day?
Listening to praise music and worship songs is a command in the Bible you know. Right? Sing and making melody in your hearts unto the Lord (Eph 5:__).
Look at Philippians 4:6-8 with me.
WORRY! THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS! What we think guards our heads! It keeps us focused on the Lord! It unites us with Jesus! It saves us! And you and I need to testify to the faithfulness of God to prevail and to help those around us prevail!
To prevail in Salvation, we need to hear faith stories of our brothers and sisters in Christ; we need to speak to the brothers and sisters in Christ our testimonies too!
That raps it up for today. Just HEARING and SPEAKING about the Lord and his saving grace—speaking the truths God gives you out loud and declaring his praises with worship and singing will keep you on the prevailing road!
All right, let’s put on the armor of God:
Lord, we put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace; we take up the shield of faith, and take the helmet of salvation. We take up the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God.
