So far, we have studied the breastplate of righteousness that insures that we are in right standing with God. This piece of armor protects us from the accusations of Satan of being apart from God.
We looked at the shoes of peace that gives us a firm foundation. This piece of armor protects us from satanic forces that would desire to stop us from moving forward in our relationship with God. We looked at the belt of truth that is the Word of God, which holds everything together. This piece of armor protects us from becoming tired and deceived by Satan’s lies. Last week we looked at the shield of faith, which covers us from head to toe. This piece of armor protects us from Satan’s attacks against our faith. Today we will study the helmet of salvation.
Ephesians 6:17 “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Although two articles of spiritual armor is mentioned here, we will only be dealing with one.
The Romans soldier helmet would be quite ornate, almost like an artwork. There would be farm scenes with animals. Some would have helmets that looked like the entire head of an animal. Some would have engravings of fruit. The helmet looked more like a sculpture than a defensive weapon. Sitting on top of these magnificent helmets would be huge plumes of brightly covered feathers or horsehair.
The helmet was made of bronze. Since it would be very heavy, the inside of the helmet would be lined with a spongy material. The helmet would extend from the top of the head to the chin. On each side it would extend downward to protect the neck area. It was designed so that nothing could penetrate it.
Just as this helmet is designed to protect the head of the soldier from a hit that could take his life, our helmet of salvation is designed to protect our mind. To grasp this let’s review some things from a few weeks ago.
Ephesians 6:11 “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”
Has anyone seen the movies with the superhero Ironman in them? He just a regular guy but when it’s time to battle the villains he summons his suit. Pieces of it fly from all different directions attaching themselves to every part of his body until he is invincible. If one piece is lacking then he is exposed in that one area. We are to summon our spiritual armor that way. If any piece is missing, we are exposed to the attacks of Satan. We must put on the full armor
Satan has a strategy. His strategy is to attack your mind. The word for strategy is where we get our word method. It was a method of travel. It meant with a road. Satan has designed a road in which to enter your mind. He doesn’t come at you from every side. He doesn’t have a bag of tricks. He just has one method. That is to plant thoughts into your mind that will work in his favor. Once that is accomplished he begins to scheme.
2 Corinthians 2:11 “so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.”
If he can get into your mind, he will begin to play mind games with you. He will make you doubt friends, loved ones, neighbors, co-workers, your pastor; anyone that you have trusted in the past.
He will bring up memories of past failures and betrayals to cause you unrest. He will have you questioning the motives of others when they are offering help. Through your mind, he will control your time, convincing you that you don’t have time to spend in the Word of God. He will do all he can to get you to react in the flesh and not the spirit. He will do all he can to keep you from being like Jesus. Next, he begins to build a prison for your thoughts to be held captive.
2 Corinthians 10:4 “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.”
The Greek word for stronghold could be interpreted prison. I have never been in a jail cell but I have seen them on TV. They seem quite small and restricted. They are not only designed to keep the prisoner inside but also to keep others out. That is Satan’s desire for you.
He wants to keep you in bondage with the mind games that he plays with you. He wants to imprison you with thoughts of rejection so you won’t establish healthy relationships. He wants to imprison you with thoughts of a failed marriage so you can’t function in a loving relationship. He wants to imprison you with thoughts of failure so you won’t do something worthwhile with your life.
And he wants to keep out those who can help set you free from this bondage. The warden in the prison can decide whom the prisoner gets to see and whom he does not get to see. Satan will do all he can to keep you away from those who want to help you on a spiritual level and he does so with mind games. This is why some people come to church sporadically. They are allowing Satan to control them to insure they never win their freedom in Christ.
Notice there are two types of strongholds. The first is human reasoning. It is logic. It is going against the Word of God based on logical reasoning. Here are some examples.
The Word says, “Give to Caesar that which is his and to God that which is his.”
Logic says, “I have to pay my taxes but I am to far in debt to give anything to God.”
The Word says, “Don’t forsake meeting together.”
Logic says, “I don’t need to go to church to meet with God. He’s everywhere anyway.”
Logic will keep you from God and his Word and will make you feel that it is expectable.
The second stronghold is false arguments. These are irrational strongholds. They are fears of getting sick, dying early in life, fear of rejection, financial collapse, and so forth. Time will usually prove these fears wrong. Sometimes sharing them with others will bring to light how irrational they are. However, remember that Satan is trying to keep your visitors limited while your mind is in a stronghold. It all begins in the mind. That is why the helmet of salvation is so important.
But before you put on the helmet of salvation, you must deal with the progress that Satan has already made. You must do an inventory of your thoughts and discover if Satan has already made a roadway into your mind. Is he playing mind games with you? Have you allowed him to place you into strongholds that have captured your thoughts? If so, you must deal with that first.
Make use of the belt of truth. Discover what the Bible says about healing, about deliverance from evil powers, and what it means to be redeemed. Then follow the advice of
2 Corinthians 10:5 “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
Make this verse personal. “I will destroy every proud obstacle that keeps me from knowing God. I will capture my rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey God.” This has nothing to do with Satan. This has everything to do with you deciding to make a stand against him.
Make no mistake about it. This is spiritual warfare. The word capture paints a picture of capturing someone by placing a spear in their back. It was brutal. It was forceful. It is you forcefully and brutally making your thoughts to be in align with God’s Word.
It’s bringing your thoughts into obedience with Christ. This means forcing your thoughts into a subordinate position and making them listen to you.
As we examine this helmet let’s discover what is salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2 “For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’
Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.”
Salvation is an everyday occurrence. You received salvation when you accepted Christ and salvation is given to you right now, today, tomorrow, throughout eternity.
Salvation means you were saved, delivered from danger, and brought into a safe place. Salvation means you are currently being saved, delivered from danger, and brought into a safe place. Salvation means you will be continuously being saved, delivered from danger, and brought into a safe place. That’s why Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” If you have asked Jesus to be your savior then you have salvation and access to the helmet of salvation.
When you have salvation covering your mind as a Roman soldier had his helmet to protect his head, then Satan’s plans are doomed. He cannot deceive with his strategies, play mind games with your thoughts, or build strongholds to hold your thoughts captive.
Read 1 Peter 1:13 “So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.”
Be certain that Satan will not relinquish his attacks on our mind. We are to prepare our minds for action. Action is a word of being on the offense. Attack Satan if he begins to advance toward you. And exercise self-control to insure that he has no fuel to ignite his flaming arrows.
We are to put all of our hope in salvation. The reason is salvation provides you with deliverance from sin, deliverance from hell, divine protection, preservation, healing, wholeness, and soundness of mind. It would do us all well to go home and meditate on the Psalms that reference salvation.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
The King James Version refers to self-discipline as a sound mind. The picture painted here is of one not understanding the wonderful provision of salvation. The opposite of a sound mind would be insanity. The thought here is one would be insane to continue walking in a sinful manner after receiving such a glorious gift as salvation.
Satan gives us a spirit of fear. He plays mind games to make us fearful of what each day might bring. We have salvation given to us daily to counter his actions. Satan gives us a spirit of timidity. He makes us cowards to be forceful for God when placed in situations that require us to be forceful. We have salvation given to us daily to counter his actions.
Salvation gives us power. Salvation gives us love for one another. Salvation gives us self-control. Salvation gives us a sound mind.
When you have the full knowledge of salvation, it will show itself in your life. When your mind has been renewed by the Word of God, concerning all the blessings centered on your salvation it will show itself in your life. When you mind is filled with the goodness of God received through your salvation it will show itself in your life.
Here is the way Paul put it in Romans 8:6 “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
You have a choice. You can leave off your helmet of salvation and live a life filled with guilt, depression, fear, and bondage.
Or put on your helmet and live a life delivered from sin and hell, that has divine protection, with healing, wholeness, and soundness of mind.
Read Colossians 1:13 “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,”
This is salvation. Not a physical transfer but rather a spiritual transfer. And a transfer of our minds.
We are told to put on the helmet of salvation. God does not say to allow him to put it on you. Again, we see the partnership between God and us. He has provided us with salvation. We must decide what we will do with it.
We have the promise that if we change our way of thinking based on God’s Word that out lives will be transformed.
God has you covered from head to toe as long as you stand behind your faith. He guarantees our right standing with him as long as we reflect his righteousness. He assures our firm footing as long as we walk in the peace He offers to us. He promises to protect our minds as long as we walk in our salvation. He promises to hold our lives together as long as we spend time in his word.
Next week we will discover one of the two weapons available to us in spiritual warfare.
