“The Helmet of Salvation”
OPEN: OK so we’re still in the book of Ephesians and we are down to the last two pieces of armor – we’ve done armored ourselves out. You’ll remember Paul is under house arrest as he is writing this letter and he’s looking at a Roman soldier(s) who are guarding him and using the armor that he is wearing as object lessons for his message.
Let’s talk about the helmet; no Roman soldier would go into battle without one. He’d be foolish if
he did. That’s true today as well – no soldier would go into a battle without a protection for his head. When a sailor hears the call “Battle stations” the first thing he does is grab his helmet. When a foot soldier hears the call “Heads Up! There’s in-coming!” the first thought on his mind is his helmet. If you want to survive in any battle, you’ll soon realize the importance of protecting your head. Roman helmets were made out of basically two things, leather with some patches of metal on it, pieces of metal or else those molded solid cast helmets, you know you've seen with the plums depending on what regiment, what function, what period of time you were involved in. The plumed helmet was used primarily for ceremonial purposes – much like a soldier’s dress blues. But, the a helmet was very important to protect the head. From what? Well from perhaps arrows flying around for one thing but primarily from what was known as a broad sword. There was not only the machaira, the little dagger - but there was also in the midst of a battle those who carried the broad sword which was from three to four feet long, longer than your yardstick, and it had a huge massive handle that you held with both hands like a baseball bat. And you just lifted it over your head and went around trying to create split personalities. That was the idea, you would be riding along on a horse and you’d be flailing away at some footmen down there. The broad sword was a tremendous weapon and you wanted to have a helmet to deflect a blow from a broad sword because it would deal a heavy, crushing, splitting blow to the skull. We’ve got lots of evidence of the effectiveness of the broad sward from archeological digs. Go to just about any ancient battle field and you’ll find skulls that have been split into two pieces – where a broad sword found its mark.
Now when Paul talks about taking up the helmet of salvation what’s he talking about? There are some who will take the position that it’s referring to salvation – in others he’s saying “Get saved” - “get born again” Some assume that it is the act of committing our lives to Jesus Christ. But there are a couple of problems with that view. He’s not saying – “now that you are in the army of the Lord- put on the helmet of salvation” – you get into the army by getting saved first. That’s already happened. I mean you aren’t even in the army unless you’re a believer, right? If you are taking a stand against the fiery arrows of the enemy – you already have to be on God’s side. If you’re not a believer, Satan doesn’t need to attack you, because he’s already captured you. Salvation itself can’t be the fifth thing you do to protect yourself from the attacks of the enemy. It has to be the first things you do. If you weren’t saved - you would be still be fighting against God – not Satan. He’s not giving instruction to unbelievers here – he’s talking to believers – so getting saved is not the issue.
So what is he talking about? Let’s let Scripture interpret Scripture for us.
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:8)
When Paul talks to the Thessalonians about the helmet of salvation – he calls it a helmet of hope.
In this verse, Paul very clearly points out that hope is our helmet. He is pointing out that there will be a day in the future where we will not suffer the wrath of God, but instead receive the reward of our salvation. The Thessalonians were discouraged because they thought they had missed the second coming of our Lord. They were moping about – commiserating about how bleak their future was and how miserable their lot in life and how bad things were and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They had lost their hope. Their expector had expired. Their anticipator ran out of anticipation. Their hope had run out. Paul has written about this concept frequently when he wrote about our inheritance. It is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9) And that inheritance, that future glorification, is assured for every believer by the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to every follower of Jesus as a guarantee that we will one day receive everything that God has promised to us.
He’s talking about the assurance we should have in our salvation. Hope energizes people. Ever watch an 8-year-old when they show up for midget league football? When they get to the field the first time, they are very hesitant. The prospect of getting tackled over and over again isn’t all that attractive. They’re nervous – they very tentative. But boy watch them they day uniforms are handed out and they put on that helmet for the first time. They become instant kamikazes! Why? Because they feel invincible in their helmets. In the same way, the helmet of our salvation gives us confidence because we know that no matter what happens we will ultimately win the victory. Salvation infuses us with the optimism that victory is assured! This helmet of salvation protects us from doubt. There are two kinds of Christians here this morning. Some of you have been delivered from doubt; you have absolute, total assurance of your salvation. If I were to ask you “Are you a believer? Do you know the Lord?” You would immediately respond, “Oh, yes, pastor. I know the Lord. I’m going to heaven when I die. I am a Christian. Jesus is so real to me!” The second kind of believers when asked the same question responds with “I think so. I really hope I will.”
As a Christian should have absolute, total assurance of your salvation so you never ever doubt again.
John wrote, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)
There is an enemy that wants to deliver a deadly blow in your life. There is a savior that wants to position something between the deadly blows of the enemy and spiritual life. Helmets don’t prevent blows – they just prevent them from destroying us. Once you come to Christ – Jesus wants you to know that salvation – your blessed hope is yours. He wants you to know that you have eternal life. He wants to put brass between you and the blow that the enemy is hitting you with.
Let’s make sure we know what we are talking about – many of us are in a position of vulnerability to the enemy because we do not know or understand salvation. So let’s talk about about what salvation is:
Three Aspects of Salvation: There are 3 aspect to salvation - past, present and future
- Past:
The past aspect frees us from the penalty of sin.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)
Salvation is a judicial verdict made from God’s bar of justice. You sin has been judged on the cross of Christ. Through faith in the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, the matter of sin has been adjudicated. A judgment has been pronounced. The verdict returned is not innocent – it is guilty. John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” And a verdict for all who believe was pronounced. There is a penalty attached to sin – it is death – but that penalty has been paid in full. “At just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Jesus declared on the cross – it is finished. The penalty has been paid in full. There is no way to reverse what has been pronounced from the bema – from the judgment seat of God. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The moment that you invite him into your life and confess him as Lord and repent from your wins – the full penalty was placed upon him and applied to your life. If you have confessed Christ in the past – you are free from the penalty of sin – and that results in your justification before the Judge.
- Present:
There's a present aspect, freedom from the power of sin, sin no longer has what? Dominion over you. Sin no longer has dominion over you. As one book title puts it, IT AIN'T GOING TO REIGN NO MORE. Sin has no reigning power; sin has no dominance, why? Because the power of sin has been broken. What’s that result in? – it results in sanctification. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. “He is faithful and just to keep on cleansing us from all sin.” Romans 8 also says: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. I am saved – and I am being saved from sin’s power. That’s what enables sanctification. Unless the power of sin is broken, we have no ability to live holy lives. There would be no moving from glory to glory. But sin’s power has been broken and so we have to ability to say NO to temptation and YES to obedience to God.
- Future:
- Then there’s a future part. In the past we've been saved from the penalty of sin in the present from the power of sin in the future the presence of sin. Do you know there’s coming a day when there’ll be no more sin? That’s right. You now how I know? Because the Book of Revelation says there’ll be no more death, and the wages of sin is what? Death. No death, no sin. And we’ll be like Him, 1 John 3 says,
“We’ll be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” And He is sinless, spotless and without - flaw and without blemish. There’s coming a day when we’ll be saved from the presence of sin. That’s our glorification.
Salvation has happened, is happening and will happen.
Has – that’s justification,
Is, - that’s sanctification,
Will, - that’s glorification.
And Romans 8 says, whom He justifies He sanctifies and glorifies. Now if it is past it is done. If it is also present then you can't lose it, because it’s continually going on. And if it is guaranteed in the future then you’re absolutely secure
What’s all this pointing towards?
Absolute Security. Absolute security for every son and daughter of the king.
You see what that does for you? That infuses your life with an undying – untouchable safe and secure hope. It’s something the enemy can’t touch. Jesus said in John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[d]; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one." Hope – he wanted to infuse his followers with an unshakable hope that their future was secure and protected in his hands.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
Ill. of pastor visiting China: “Once walking through the twisted little streets in Hong Kong, he came upon a tattoo studio. In the window were displayed samples of the tattoos available. On the chest or arms you could have tattooed an anchor or flag or mermaid or whatever.” (I don’t understand the idea of tattoos – think it would dawn on someone that they might not always like the picture or design that they put on their body. IE – people who have several names of girls, each one scratched out with a new one below it. Makes it easy to pick baby names, but likely to cause some relational problems when you finally decide to get married.) “But what struck him were three words that could be tattooed on one’s flesh, “Born to lose.” He entered the shop in astonishment and, pointing to those words, asked the Chinese tattoo artist, “Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, Born to lose, tattooed on his body?” He replied, “Yes, sometimes.” “But," he said, “I just can’t believe that anyone in his right mind would do that.” The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, “Before tattoo go on body, tattoo go on mind.”
What happens when we begin to loose hope?
Prov. 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick”
One person put it this way: Man can live about 40 days without food – he can live about 8 days without water, he can live about 4 minutes without air – but he can’t live one second without hope. Ill - It was advertised that the devil was going to put his tools up for sale. On the date of the sale, the tools were placed for public inspection; each tool being marked with its sale price. They were a treacherous lot of implements ...Hatred, Envy, Jealousy,Deceit, Lying, Pride,And so on.... Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool, it was well worn and priced very high. “What is the name of this tool?” asked one of the shoppers, pointing to it. “That is Discouragement replied the devil. “Why have you priced it so high?” “Because it is more useful to me than the others. I can pry open and get inside a man's heart with that, when I cannot get near him with my other tools. Once I get inside, I can make him do what I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since very few people know that it belongs to me.”
The writer of Hebrews says,“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb. 6:18)
Our hope is only as good as what we anchor it to. Ill. of someone telling about a sailing incident. The sailboat tipped over when the wind began to blow, and because they didn’t have an anchor the boat, which they were hanging on to was being pushed into deeper and deeper water further and further away from the shore while the waves kept getting higher and higher. Eventually he ended up hanging on to a mooring that had been anchored to the seabed to guide ships along a certain path -hanging on waiting to be rescued by the Coast Guard because he wasn’t able to right the sailboat himself. When the boat tips over and the tides are against you and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, you need an anchor. If ever you have the chance to visit the catacombs in Rome, those tunnels under the ancient city, where many of the early Christians were buried, you can see the symbols of faith on their tombs. Three common symbols appear: the dove, the fish, and the anchor. The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. The letters of the Greek word for “fish,” ichthus, stand for the words Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. The anchor came from the idea that as Christians were going through difficult, insecure times, their hope in Christ anchored their souls.
Unfortunately, we tend to miss out on the significance of what the Bible says about hope because of the
way we use the word “hope” in our English language.
There is a distinction between human optimism and Christian hope:
I want to say that God offers a hope so powerful that it can transform a person's life and rewrite a person's destiny. But it's not the kind of hope we usually think of when we commonly use the word hope. I mean, we use the word all the time to mean different things. In fact, much of what we call "hope" could fall into three categories: First there is Wishful Thinking: wishful thinking is when we try to hope things in or out of existence. It's when we blow out the candles on our birthday cake and say to ourselves, "I hope I stay healthy for another year." It's when we pick up the Wall Street Journal and say, "I hope the prime rate drops again." Or it's when we turn on the TV today and say, "I hope the Patriots beat the Cowboys." Wishful thinking is kind of a hopeful feeling that maybe, somehow, some way, things will go the way we want them to, even though we really don't have any power to make it happen.
Next there is Blind Optimism.
Another kind of hopeful attitude is blind optimism. It's fine to have a generally optimistic outlook, but some optimists see everything through rose-colored glasses. They paper over their problems like they didn't exist; they avert their eyes from the ugly aspects of the world, and to them, everything is just fine all the time. In fact, some religions take an approach like this. Christian Scientists actually say that evil is ultimately just an illusion; it doesn't really exist at all.
And then there are Hopeful Dreams.
Hopeful dreams are those lofty goals that we set for ourselves and then we set out to achieve them. In other words, we don't just hope for them but we do something to try to bring them about. We don’t just hope for a new car, but we begin saving for one. We don't just hope we become a better golfer, but we take lessons and spend time on the practice tee. We don't just wish for a good marriage, we work at keeping the lines of communication open with our spouse. Now, that's fine, but the problem is that our hopeful dreams are always restricted by our own limitations. Dreams often they fall victim to factors that are beyond our control. For instance, I suppose a lot of people have had hopeful dreams of job security and retirement, but that doesn’t stop an employer from announcing that they're going to fire or lay off employees. Often our hopeful dreams are at the mercy of others.
I don’t know how many people I met in life whose hope has died. In spite of their wishful thinking, in spite of their optimism and in spite of their hopeful dreams – they’ve faced disappointment – discouragement - which has led them into doubt. Let me tell you something folks – the hope of the world dies.
Our helmet of hope is stronger than any of these.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! In his great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade -- kept in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:3-4)
The Bible refers to this kind of hope as “living hope,” and that’s because Biblical hope is directly linked to the resurrection of Christ. We have a guaranteed reserved future that God has already determined and established. It’s an inheritance. He’s calling on these troubled believers who are getting hammered from every side with all the difficulties that life can possibly bring to bear upon them to patiently wait with hearts full of praise for the best which is yet to come in the future. These are people are facing the fiery arrows of the enemy in the form of persecution and losing their homes and jobs and loved ones and he says don’t loose heart – don’t grow faint – but praise God - someday you’re going to burst into that glorious light in the presence of Jesus Christ and receive the reward of your inheritance in Christ. You see this is the helmet – this is the helmet of hope – the inheritance – the reward that awaits the saints in heaven.
This inheritance, this full, glorious, eternal salvation, this living hope secured for us in heaven, protected by the power of God is made possible “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” It’s a living hope because we have a living Savior. - No resurrection, no inheritance. No resurrection, no eternal hope. No resurrection, no salvation. If there was no resurrection – it would be like running a race where there was no finish line. How many times have you heard stories of runners – particularly in long marathon kind of races who just give everything they have – they hit the wall – it feels as if there is nothing left to give – but then they get sight of the finish line and all of a sudden they find energy to persevere that they didn’t know they had. You see that’s hope. That’s what the resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees. We need a hope that sustains us no matter what kind of trail we are facing – that’s what God has given to us through the resurrection of our living Lord. Our hope is grounded in nothing less than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ came through the grave and took the key and unlocked the door of the treasure house of hope. He conquered the grave – so our hope is a living hope – a hope that can never die.
In the life to come, we will have the glorious sight of Jesus Christ, - the treasure above all treasures – we will have the complete fullness of infinite perfection, the absolute absence of sin and all that it produces, the full enjoyment of unhindered freedom in worship and service to God, the wonder of heaven, the pure fellowship of God, Christ, saints and angels, pleasure forever unrestrained, unrestricted and infinite. That’s a living hope.
Look what the second half of that verse says to you - It’s a secure hope– your inheritance – your future inheritance can never perish, spoil, or fade – in other words- the fiery arrows of the enemy can’t touch it. Every thing that satan touches is polluted. Every idea that comes from satan is a lie and leads to corruption and destruction. He shoots his fiery arrows all around spreading death, disease and lies and destruction. But listen to me saints – he can’t touch what Christ has prepared for you. His arrows can reach it. His power doesn’t go that far. God has a future inheritance that isn’t subject to his influence.
It is a guaranteed hope.
Notice what it says – “it is kept.” It is kept in heaven for your. It cannot be defiled, defaced, corrupted or stolen. It cannot be taken and given to anyone else. Why? It is reserved for you. It is guarded in heaven for you. It will never spoil. It is protected – it is shielded – it is secure - it is kept. It is imperishable – it is incorruptible – it is unstained - it is impervious to all the assaults and attacks of the enemy. It is enduring – it is everlasting – it is eternal – it is permanent – it is shielded – it is kept in heaven for you. It is undefiled, unpolluted, unstained, cannot be touched by defect. It is unfading, - it is permanent. Our inheritance never loses its supernatural glory. It's not like verse 24, the grass and the flower of the grass that withers and fades away. Our inheritance never fades, never has a defect, is never corrupted, never plundered. All that we have in heaven is forever unchanged, as is our unchanging Lord.
In Revelation chapter 21 verse 27 it says about heaven,
“Nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.”
Nobody’s going to go in there and take your treasure...not Satan, not demons, not anybody. Heaven will never know any invasion. Heaven will never know any spoiling of its treasure. Heaven will never know any defacing of its beauty. Heaven will never have armies tramping into it to fight against its inhabitants. Heaven will never experience some coming and taking away its glories. – You see not only is your salvation protected – but your reward is also protected.
The Helmet of Salvation Defeats Discouragement and Doubt – the Two-Sided Broadsword of Our Enemy.
You see there is a reason that the helemet of salvation follows the shield of faith. – When you are facing one fiery arrow after another what happens? Discouragement – doubt. Do you know what Satan’s big broad sword is? It’s got two sides to it. One side is discouragement and the other side is doubt. You know what Satan wants to do? He wants to belt you right in the head with discouragement. – then He wants to hit you in the head again with doubt. Satan loves to fill your mind with discouragement. Maybe you get discouraged because you have an unsaved husband, and it never seems to change, nothing ever happens and you just get so discouraged or maybe you have a child that seems so resistant to all of your efforts or maybe you have a friend you’ve tried to witness to or maybe you seem to be doing a ministry and you don’t get the thanks you ought to get or maybe you even have a physical infirmity, a physical ailment, a handicap of some kind physically, and you get so tired of struggling with that thing and it seems to bind you and discourage you. Satan’s got you halfway to where he wants to take you – next he hits you with doubt – I doubt that this making a difference – I doubt that I’ll ever see change – I doubt that my witness, my service, my involvement, my testimony, my study, my sacrifice, my teaching, my contribution will ever make a difference. Bam – he hits you with discouragement – Bam he hits you with doubt. Now you’re no longer standing firm – now you’re AWOL – no longer teaching – no longer fighting the good fight. You’ve lost your hope.
Have you ever been in a situation where you have lost your hope? You can tell how when hope is under attack – the indicator of whether a person has hope or not is revealed by their willingness to put up a fight. When someone’s marriage is under attack, you can walk into the home and in just a few moments of conversation you can tell whether or not hope has left that marriage. You can walk into some workplace and in few moments you can get a reading on the morale of the workers. You can see it in sports – when two teams are playing and one team is way behind and they just aren’t playing at the level they should be playing – they’ve lost hope of winning. - you can tell by how the players are playing – where there is no fight – no tenacity – no resolve. It happens sometimes to people spiritually – they kind of start going through the motions spiritually
CLOSE: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans12:12)
Now listen to me – God has given you a protection – an unshakeable, incorruptible, sturdy, defense against discouragement and doubt – he has given you a helmet that will deflect every blow the enemy attempts to hit you with – take up your helmet – wear it - focus on the living hope Jesus has provided – and stand firm.
