Helmet Of Salvation: Going To Church Is Enough Series

THE ARMOR OF GOD AND THE LIES OF THE ENEMY

Helmet of Salvation: Going to Church is Enough

Ephesians 6:10-18

#armorofGod

INTRODUCTION… READ EPHESIANS 6:10-18 (ESV)

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 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 firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…”

Today we will be focusing on verse 17 and the “helmet of salvation” that the Apostle Paul mentions. As we get started, let’s watch a short commercial about one of the most expensive modern helmets I found:

INTRODUCTION… https://youtu.be/RWFsqC043OI [5:15]

[Show video]

I did a little reading on this helmet and noted that the company engineered the Arai Corsair X RC Helmet to not only guards against direct impacts, but is specifically designed to minimize the effect of "glancing off" impacts as well. The strong shell and smoother shape redirects impact energy rather than absorbing it and transferring force into the body. This thing is nice and expensive and definitely protects your noggin when riding or driving anything.

SERIES REMINDER

Today, we are continuing (and are about finished) with a series of messages about a word picture of a Roman soldier that the Apostle Paul uses in Ephesians 6 that is quite popular among devotional writers and I know has whole devotional books dedicated to it: The Armor of God. I hope and pray that the last 8 weeks have been intensely relevant to your life. We have uncovered so many schemes of the Devil that are planned and shot like flaming arrows against us:

Week 1: Truth changes from person to person

Week 2: It is wrong to judge

Week 3: Follow your heart

Week 4: Compassion over truth

Week 5: Forgive and cut them out

Week 6: Do what makes you happy

Week 7: God is not good

Week 8: Faith is the opposite of knowledge

We have looked at each item in Paul’s description for two weeks and unpacked why we need such spiritual armor in our lives. Verses 10-13 makes it very clear that we have an enemy that wars against us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and that we need to stand firm against all his schemes which often come to us as lies, deception, false beliefs, worldly philosophies, and even beliefs from other religions.

TRANSITION

Today and next week we look at verse 17 and the “helmet of salvation.”

HELMET

We need to know a little bit about Roman helmets. The Roman soldier would not go into battle without a helmet. It is foolishness to go into battle with swinging swords and flying arrows and not have protection on your head. Helmets in the Apostle Paul’s day were made of metal and leather. The helmet protected the soldier’s head from arrows, but also broadswords that were often swung like baseball bats.

The name for Roman helmets was ‘galea’ and apparently since helmets were handmade, there was no standard type of helmet for Roman soldiers. You got what you got or you bought what you bought. A study in 1975 concluded that there were four main types of helmets for Roman soldiers and thirty different kinds of cheek guards. I find that amazing since I would assume all Roman soldiers looked the same from head to toe, but that probably was not the case, but every soldier had a helmet of some kind.

We sort of know the purpose of a helmet. Helmets protect your head. That’s pretty much it. There is not a deeper meaning or another use for a helmet. I suppose a helmet could be used like a pot to cook soup, but depending on what it is made of that may not work. Helmets protect our head… end of description.

HELMET OF SALVATION

When the Apostle Paul looks over a Roman soldier or imagines one in his mind, he notes the head and the protection needed and assigns the armor protecting the head as ‘salvation.’ The ‘helmet of salvation’ that the Apostle Paul mentions is not ‘salvation’ as in ‘being born again’ or ‘getting saved.’ This passage in Ephesians 6 is written to people who are already in God’s army and who are already ‘born again.’ We already belong to Him. We already fight for God and Satan is attacking us with schemes and flaming arrows and trying to get us to retreat. The helmet of salvation is not about becoming the Lord’s, but rather keeping oneself strong and protected in our salvation.