Sermon Notes: June 28, 2007
Sermon # 06: The Helmet of Salvation
Scripture Ref: Ephesians 6:10-18
Ephesians 6:10-18 ‘Therefore my beloved brethern, be ye strong in the LORD & in the power of HIS might. Put on the whole armor of GOD that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of GOD that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, & having done all to stand, Stand therefore, with your loins girt about with truth, & having on the breastplate of righteousness, & your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. & take the helmet of salvation & the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of GOD, Praying always with all supplication in the Spirit, & perserverance & supplication for all saints.’
V17 ‘Take the helmet of salvation.’
Thus far we have looked at these pieces of spiritual armor.
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Shoes of Peace
The Shield of the Faith
This morning, The Helmet of Salvation
If we were to take the SIMPLIEST APPLICATION to what the HELMET of SALVATION means it would be that we had better BE SAVED if are going to BATTLE against the DEVIL ----- because EVERYBODY & ANYBODY who doesn’t KNOW JESUS CHRIST as their SAVOUR & LORD ----- LOSES EVERY DAY & will LOSE ULTIMATELY to the DEVIL. Our VICTORY over the DEVIL comes ONLY through a SAVING RELATIONSHIP with JESUS CHRIST, the SON of the LIVING GOD.
So the HELMET of SALVATION means to BE SAVED if we are going to be VICTORIOUS. There is a SPIRITUAL POWER that comes from being SAVED.
HELMETS:
HELMETS are used for PROTECTION by people riding down the road on MOTOR CYCLES. CHILDREN riding BYCYCLES wear HELMETS. CONSTRUCTION WORKERS wear HELMETS at work. FIREFIGHTERS wear HELMETS. SOLDIERS in combat wear HELMETS.
& the PURPOSE for the HELMET is UNDERSTANDABLE --- it is there to PROTECT a very IMPORTANT PART of the BODY --- the HEAD.
& WHAT is so IMPORTANT about trying to PROTECT the HEAD?
One may survive a broken arm while in battle or a few broken ribs but a head injury could easily become fatal. An INJURY to the HEAD is a SERIOUS INJURY. INCASED within the HEAD is the BRAIN. & the BRAIN is the CENTER of our THINKING & of our EMOTIONS. So if we are going to PROTECT ANYTHING it needs to be our MINDS & our THINKING because many times the BATTLE ---- BEFORE it takes place anywhere else it takes place ----- 1st in the MIND
The MIND is the prime target in all of our battles against Satan. One good BLOW to our MINDS is often times ALL the DEVIL needs to ACCOMPLISH his tasks. Many times ALL the DEVIL has to do to CREATE DEVASTATION & DESTRUCTION is to PLACE HIS THOUGHTS into someone’s MIND. & then BOOM! Sparks & Fireworks can fly as if it were the 4th of July; splinters scatter.
How many of us will ADMIT there are TIMES when you KNOW the DEVIL is ATTACKING your MIND. He is TRYING to get into your THOUGHTS & your THINKING PROCESS & he is trying to PULL YOU in a DIRECTION you don’t need to go? He is trying to get you to do things or say things you know you shouldn’t?
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So what PAUL is telling us to do here is to PROTECT our MINDS from the DEVIL. No soldier would go to battle without putting on his HELMET. & we should not enter into SPIRITUAL BATTLE without our HELMET of SALVATION.
& if we are going to be WHO we NEED to BE as CHRISTIANS ----- then we NEED to GUARD our MINDS & to FILL our MINDS with the RIGHT THINGS & KEEP our MINDS on the RIGHT THINGS.
We get SAVED when we give our lives to the LORD JESUS CHRIST but we need to take our SALVATION FURTHER than just GIVING our HEARTS to CHRIST. We NEED to DEVELOP a SPIRITUAL LIFE.
How many would AGREE that as CHRISTIANS we need to be GROWING in the LORD? We need to DEVELOP our MINDS SPIRITUALLY.
Make sure our MINDS are SAVED & SANCTIFIED.
As we CONSIDER the HELMET of SALVATION we want to LOOK at these 3 things:
1} The POWER of the MIND.
2} The POLLUTION of the MIND.
3} The POTENTIAL of the MIND.
1} The POWER of the MIND:
There was a TELEVISION COMMERCIAL several years ago that made this statement.
A MIND is a TERRIBLE THING to WASTE. How True! Amen?
That COMMERCIAL FOCUSED on DRUGS & the POWER they have to DESTROY the MIND. Because the MIND is indeed a TERRIBLE THING to WASTE. DRUGS WEAKEN the MIND!
That’s WHY the DEVIL has multitudes of people WASTED by DRUGS today. He loves it when people’s MINDS are WEAK & WASTED.
There is a SPIRITUAL POWER in a SAVED MIND. Amen?
#1} There is POWER in a DISCIPLINED & DILIGENT & a STUDIOUS MIND:
The DEVIL likes it when we are EVERYTHING BUT such.
There are PREACHERS who only know HOW to PREACH ONE SERMON:
Regardless of WHAT the SCRIPTURE is they ALWAYS get on that SAME SUBJECT.
There are those who SIMPLY DO NOT PREPARE ahead of time. They DON’T STUDY.
I heard of pastors reading a SERMON out of a CHURCH MAGAZINE word for word & that was their MESSAGE to the CHURCH that Sunday.
Now that took a LOT of STUDY & PREPARATION Didn’t it? POWERLESS
Preachers who say; “Well, I don’t know WHAT I am going to PREACH UNTIL I get in the PULPIT & then the HOLY SPIRIT tells me.’
If we SEEK GOD BEFOREHAND GOD will GIVE some INSPIRATION. Amen? WHATEVER we DO for the LORD it DESERVES our BEST!
In LIFE a MIND that is DISCIPLINED & STUDIOUS & PREPARED is a POWERFUL THING.
We’re FINDING OUT in the WORLD we’re living in today --- IF you want to EARN a GOOD LIVING you have to have a GOOD EDUCATION or a LEARNED SKILL in some sought after area. & that REQUIRES DISCIPLINE. There is POWER in a DISCIPLINED MIND.
The same is TRUE with a SPIRITUAL MIND. There is a lot of SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE of TODAY. & that is SAD & DANGEROUS.
SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE is a FIELD DAY for the DEVIL.
The DEVIL wants to get INTO OUR MINDS. Tell us all sorts of LIES & DECEPTION.
The BIBLE that spends it’s time ON A SHELF or in the CAR SEAT or LEFT at CHURCH isn’t ANY BENEFIT to us.
David wrote, Psalm 119:11 ‘Thy WORD have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against GOD.’
Again, there is a LOT of SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE today that makes the DEVIL so HAPPY!
But when you KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW, there is POWER in that KNOWLEDGE.
#2: There is POWER in a DETERMINED MIND:
When you have MADE UP your MIND it is HARD for the DEVIL to TURN YOU AROUND. We absolutely have to have a DETERMINED MADE UP MIND if we expect to WIN in this SPIRITUAL BATTLE.
We won’t get VERY FAR in this SPIRITUAL WARFARE WITHOUT a DETERMINED MIND. I don’t EXPECT the BATTLE to be EASY.
I KNOW there will be SOME BATTLES to FIGHT & SOME of them will be DIFFICULT.
I EXPECT some WOUNDS along the way. FLASH BACKS at times of some past battles.
But IF we are DETERMINED & we place our TRUST in the LORD we can MAKE IT.
’Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the LORD delivers us from them all.’
PAUL wrote to TIMOTHY in
II Timothy 2:3 ‘Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of JESUS CHRIST.’
We don’t get to ESCAPE HARD TIMES we have to ENDURE HARD TIMES.
& we have to BE DETERMINED to NOT LET HARDSHIPS & SUFFERINGS DETER US.
Do we have a DETERMINED MIND? Can we be PERSUADED otherwise?
That’s EXACTLY what SATAN did to JOB & he’ll do the SAME to us today.
JESUS said, Revelation 2:10 “Be thou FAITHFUL UNTIL DEATH & I will give thee a CROWN of LIFE.’
The QUESTION is WHY?
PAUL wrote: Romans 8:18 ‘For I reckon that the SUFFERINGS of this PRESENT WORLD are not WORTHY to be COMPARED to the GLORY which SHALL BE REVEALED in us.’
Those who are DETERMINED in their MINDS will be GREATLY COMPENSATED. Amen?
The future CROWN far outweighs the present CROSS!
There is POWER in a DETERMINED--- PERSUADED--- MADE UP MIND.
#2} The POLLUTION of the MIND:
There is MORE to POLLUTED MINDS than being addicted to R & X rated movies.
MINDS that are FILLED with the WRONG STUFF:
& they often DO NOT REALIZE the DAMAGE it is doing to their lives & their spirits.
The DEVIL would love for us to FOCUS on all the NEGATIVE STUFF.
STUFF that is DISCOURAGING to us SPIRITUALLY & MENTALLY
You have to be UP before you can UPLIFT others. That is WHY the DEVIL wants us to be DEPRESSED & DISCOURAGED. DARK & DREARY in MIND.
You hear of SOMEBODY being SICK & you begin to THINK, ‘You know that’s what I think I’ve got too.”
There are people who LOVE to DWELL upon GOSSIP & NEGATIVITY.
The CHURCH ISN’T WHAT it USED to BE!
Not SUPPOSED to BE----- WHAT it USED to BE.
The TRUTH is the CHURCH is WHAT we MAKE it BE!
There are TOO MANY GLOOM & DOOM MINDS filled with POLLUTION.
We NEED to be CAREFUL WHAT ENTERS into our MINDS! Can you say AMEN?
Put on the HELMET of SALVATION:
Paul wrote to the Philippians 4:8 ‘Finally, brethern, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue & if there be any praise, think on these things.’
We NEED to RESIST WHAT the WORLD is TRYING to PUT INTO OUR MINDS so that we won’t be DEFEATED by the DEVIL.
JESUS PRAYED for HIS DISCIPLES:
“FATHER I pray that YOU TAKE THEM NOT OUT of the WORLD but that YOU would KEEP them FROM the EVIL that is in the WORLD.’
That is SOMETHING we have to WANT --- NOT INFLUENCED by the WORLD.
We CANNOT be a PART of THIS WORLD & have a SAVED MIND.
#3} The POTENTIAL of the MIND:
There is GREAT POTENTIAL for the SAVED MIND of the CHRISTIAN:
If our MIND is FOCUSED in the RIGHT DIRECTION it can be a POWERFUL WEAPON AGAINST the ATTACKS of the DEVIL.
#1:} The MIND has the POTENTIAL to LOVE:
JESUS said in Matthew 22:37 ‘LOVE the LORD your GOD with all your heart, with all your soul, with all of your strength & with ALL of your MIND.’
That means our MINDS are THINKING & DWELLING upon the LORD & LOVING HIM in our THOUGHTS on a REGULAR BASIS.
That makes it DIFFICULT for the DEVIL to PERSUADE us to DO SOMETHING that is CONTRARY to GOD’S WILL for our lives.
A MIND that if FILLED with a LOVE for GOD is a POWERFUL WEAPON AGAINST the DEVIL.
That’s why JESUS told HIS DISCIPLES in Luke 22:19 as HE passed the BROKEN BREAD ‘As oft as you do this, do it in REMEMBERANCE of ME.’
When the LORD DELIVERED the ISREALITES from EGYPT there is ONE THING GOD asked of them. ‘KEEP your MINDS upon WHAT I have DONE for you.’
GOD instructed them to TALK about it in the MORNING, in the MIDDLE of the DAY & at NIGHT.
Being MINDFUL of the GOODNESS of GOD upon our lives is a POWERFUL WEAPON that has the POTENTIAL to RESIST the PULLS of the DEVIL.
LOVE the LORD with ALL of OUR MIND.
When our MINDS have WANDERED AWAY from GOD’S GOODNESS & BLESSINGS upon our lives it EASY for the DEVIL to PULL us AWAY.
But when OUR MINDS are filled with LOVE, ---- RECALLING the BLESSINGS of the LORD upon our lives, it is HARD for the DEVIL to PULL us AWAY.
#2} The POTENTIAL of a TRANSFORMED MIND:
Romans 12:2 ‘Be not CONFORMED to this world but be ye TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING of your MIND.’
Paul says ‘If we want our lives to CHANGE then we must 1st RENEW our MINDS.’ We have to CHANGE WHAT we THINK.
Begin to BELIEVE that we CAN LIVE SPIRITUAL VICTORIOUS LIVES.
I CAN LIVE for GOD. Not filled with DOUBT & UNBELIEF!
The DEVIL LOVES to HEAR ‘I just don’t know how much more I can take.’
The DEVIL is THINKING: ONE MORE BATTLE & I’ve got them.”
Romans 8: 38-39 PAUL gave a LONG LIST of things he had EXPERIENCED as ATTACKS from the DEVIL & then he declared: ‘I am persuaded that NONE of these things shall SEPARATE ME from the LOVE of GOD.”
Acts 20:24 he said: “NONE of these things MOVE ME.”
We have the POTENTIAL to be OVERCOMERS by having a TRANSFORMED MADE UP MIND. NOBODY can CHANGE our MINDS but us!
‘I CAN DO ALL THINGS through JESUS CHRIST which STRENGTHENS me.’
In closing I want us to sing this chorus which speaks of the ATTITUDE of someone who is wearing the HELMET of SALVATION. Church we have gone too far to allow the enemy to defeat us today.
Chorus: I’ll not be defeated, I’ll not be defeated,
I’ll not be defeated any more.
For JESUS CHRIST, GOD’S only SON,
Fought the battle & HE won
So I’ll not be defeated any more.
There is POTENTIAL in a TRANSFORMED MIND.
We need to REMIND OURSELVES every day, ‘There is NOTHING going to HAPPEN to me TODAY that is GREATER than GOD’S POWER to KEEP me.’
BELIEVE in YOU & GOD. “What a TEAM.” I said, “WHAT a TEAM.”
I think of LITTLE DAVID who stood before the giant, GOLATHA. He told the giant, “You come to me with a spear & a sword but I come to you in the name of the LORD GOD of ISRAEL.”
DAVID THOUGHT with a TRANSFORMED MIND.
A VICTORIOUS MIND.
A MIND of FAITH.
I suggest to you this morning that it was as much DAVID’S MIND as much as it was the ROCK that brought GOLATHA down.
I’ll not be defeated, I’ll not be defeated.
I’ll not be defeated anymore
For JESUS CHRIST, GOD’S only SON,
Fought the battle & HE won,
So I’ll not be defeated anymore.
