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.
I would like to mention some important truths about our eternal security that we have in Jesus Christ and the salvation He gives us… because the lie and scheme of Satan we will talk about in a moment is directly tied to our thoughts about salvation and going to church and being a Christian. If you are not a Christian, this part is for you so… listen up.
Our salvation in Christ has an aspect to it that deals with our past. Salvation means freedom from the penalty of sin. Galatians 2:20 shares with us that our sinful selves are crucified with Christ and we now live for Him. The penalty for our sin was paid.
Our salvation in Christ also has a present reality. Presently we who are in Christ have freedom to pursue a relationship with God. Without Jesus, there is no freedom to have a right relationship with the God of the Universe.
Our salvation in Christ has an aspect to it that deals with the future. We have future sure hope and a promise that the life after this one is free from sin and pain and suffering. A day is coming when there will be no more sin, but this is a reality only for those who are in Christ.
Satan swings a broadsword of discouragement and doubt and temptation. Satan wants to tempt us to be weak in faith or give us reasons not to believe. He wants us to doubt that God really has given us grace for our past, present, and future sin. He wants us to be discouraged in our lives because we still sin and we should know better. He wants us to disregard the promise of Heaven and eternal life as a fiction.
TRANSITION
How might Satan do that? How might Satan get us to take off our helmet and to become vulnerable? This week and next week are related in that the phrase “good enough” is present in both of the schemes. This week: “Going to church is good enough.”
SCHEME OF THE DEVIL: GOING TO CHURCH IS GOOD ENOUGH
This scheme of Satan is based on a half-truth and a half-lie. The best most insidious schemes of Satan usually are and it makes talking about them most confusing. This is a very complicated scheme of Satan filled with personal preference and family traditions and perceived guilt and even some misquoted Bible verses. This morning I am trying to uncover the scheme that we settle in our spiritual lives for the minimum and for what is “good enough” and in doing so we take our protective helmet off. We settle comfortably into our faith so that we check the minimum of spiritual boxes and we think we are good to go spiritually and our resume for Heaven is up to snuff. Settling for the minimum will be the death of the American Church.
Satan knows that.
Satan introduces a lie in our minds and hearts that “going to church is good enough.”
ILLUSTRATION… Settling for Good Enough (p)
I have to say that I am a bit of an over-achiever. I try not to settle for good enough in anything. I shoot for excellence in all I do… it is part of who I am. I do that except when it comes to “first cars.” “First cars” need to be good enough and no better because good solid lessons come from such things.
For example: Abby’s first car and Nate’s first car and Ian’s first car were all just good enough and no better. Tha pattern goes all the way back to my first car. My first car was a 1987 brown Ford Taurus. I worked all summer to save up enough money to get it and it cost me $1200. My car was good enough until I was on my way from Texas back to school in Tennessee and the thermostat broke and the car overheated south of Dallas in Waxahachie just two hours into my trip. My car was good enough until there was a hole in the power steering line and I had to constantly put power steering fluid in it. My car was good enough until two alternators went out on it. Good enough is not ever good enough… is it?
Satan wants us to settle for “good enough” in our spiritual life which in the end means we take off our helmet and we are clobbered by doubt and discouragement. No helmet means we are vulnerable to attack. He wants us to put going to church in the category of “as long as we get there once every so often that is good enough.”
Yes! Worshipping in church is spiritually important… I would even say essential.
No! Worshipping in church is not all there is to being a Christian.
Yes! People who claim to be Christians should be in church 4 out of 4 Sundays.
No! Going to church does not save you and doesn’t make you a Christian.
Yes! Your faith should be a priority and a result of that is you want to worship and focus on God.
No! Just because you miss a Sunday does not mean you are a pagan and need to be saved again.
Yes! You can watch church online.
No! Church online is not enough for so many reasons.
Yes! Going to church is a very good spiritual discipline.
No! Going to church isn’t good enough.
Yes! Church enables you to teach your children and grandchildren about God.
No! Just because you come to church does not automatically mean your children will love God.
When we believe “going to church is good enough” we usually don’t attend any other Bible studies because the minimum is good enough. We have things that come up often on Sundays and do that instead and we read a 5-minute devotion and think that is studying the Bible and we pray before meals and think that is a prayer life… we settle for the minimum.
That lie leads us to be hardened by sin because “yeah I am a sinner, but I go to church.”
That lie teaches us to be self-centered when we come to church because church is all about us.
That lie means we sit in the pew and leave and that’s it.
That lie means we never encourage another person or carry a burden or use our spiritual gift.
That lie means the preacher had better tell me something useful or I’m outta here.
That lie eventually teaches our children that church is not very important.
That lie means we go to church and that is the sum total of our relationship with God.
That lie leads us to forget who we are and that God wants a relationship with us.
Going to worship services every Sunday can get to be a routine and at some point. We can be tempted just to check a box and move on and we do not realize that we are drifting away from a dynamic abiding relationship with God because we have settled for the minimum. When going to church is just a box to check in our lives or a tradition we “have to do”… Satan has us right where he wants us. Satan has tempted us to take off our helmet and we are exposed to a blow from discouragement or doubt. We might think:
“We come to church because if we don’t mom and dad will be mad at us.”
“We come to church because it is tradition and we have to.”
“I go to church because it is expected of me.”
“We come to church because we are good people and that is what good people do.”
“I go to church because I am a Christian and Christians go to church.”
TRANSITION
I want to mention a part of a parable that Jesus tells that shows us that any of us can be tempted to do the minimum and that it is dangerous for us spiritually.
THE MINIMUM ONE TALENT PERSON IN THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS
Jesus Christ tells a parable in Matthew 25 about a man who went on a journey and left servants money according to their ability. The amounts don’t matter. What the servants did with what they were given is the point. The one who got five talents made five more. The one who got two talents made two more. Both are called “good and faithful” servants. Then we come to verse 24.
READ MATTHEW 25:24-30
24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The one talent guy did the minimum. He buried the money he received in the ground and didn’t lose it. That was the least he could do and that was all he did. Notice the three words that Jesus uses for this servant who settled for the minimum:
“Wicked”
“Slothful”
“Worthless”
When I read that, I read that God does not want us to settle for the minimum when it comes to our relationship with Him… and Christianity is all about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is very easy to be tempted to do the minimum and one of those minimum attitudes is “going to church is good enough.”
TRANSITION
I want us to ask real questions this morning:
Who does God want us to be and how do we help those around us not settle for minimum Christianity?
What does God want us to do when it comes to church and how do we not settle for good enough?
Where should our priorities be on Sunday when church services happen?
Why is church a big deal and how do we keep God a priority?
How am I and my family affected when church isn’t important and we settle for less?
PROPER MOTIVATION FOR CHURCH
Being a part of a church isn’t just important, it’s essential and having the right heart motivation is also essential. If you are a Christian, then you are part of the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, and being in a faith community is not an option. There are so many reasons to go to church:
#1 Go to church so we won’t be hardened by sin. Hebrews 3:12-13 encourages us to exhort each other and encourage each other in faith so that we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The church is one of God’s primary means of keeping us from being hardened by sin.
#2 Go to church regularly because God tells us to. Hebrews 10:25 says to go to church and don’t get out of the habit of going.
#3 Go to church because we need the encouragement and we need to encourage others. Hebrews 10:25 tells us this as well. Not only encouragement, but sharpening our faith and sharpening others (Proverbs 27:17). Without other believers, we grow dull. Church is about mentoring others and being mentored ourselves in faith (Titus 2:2-6).
#4 Go to church to hear God’s Word preached and expounded. Hebrews 4:12 says that the presence of God’s Word in our lives is important and we should value its place in our lives. Is His Word worth enough to us that we show up regularly in person to hear it read and taught?
#5 Go to church to exercise our spiritual gifts because we are part of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:5). God gifts us in different ways not to serve ourselves, but Romans 12:6 says we are gifted to serve others and 1 Corinthians 12:7 says our gifts can be used in the church for the common good of those around us.
#6 Go to church to partner in the gospel with others and to share the gospel with others.
#7 Go to church to learn to train up our children and grandchildren in faith (Proverbs 22:6). If you are a Christian and you are a parent, it is 100% your job to raise your children to love God, love people, to learn to worship, and to value God’s Word. Church can help with that.
#8 Go to church to love one another. Galatians 6:10 commands us to love people and do good for each other, but especially for those who are in our household of faith. If we aren’t here, we are missing out on the good we could do. This also shows the world that we belong to God because Jesus in John 13:35 says that the world will know us by our love. 1 Corinthians 12:25 tells us to care for one another.
#9 Go to church to bear one another’s burdens. Galatians 6:2 tells us that as believers we help bear one another’s burdens. The Apostle Paul in that verses even calls this “the law of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:16 tells us that a church can suffer together and help others who are hurting.
#10 Go to church to celebrate baptisms of people who come to know the Lord and to share in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper (communion) with a gathering of His disciples so that we would constantly partake in order to remind each other of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf.
#11 Go to church to remind each other what we were created for and to Whom we belong. Ephesians 2:10 says we were created in Christ Jesus for good works which He has prepared for us to do and we need to remind each other of that. This helps us to live out the reality of who we are as a chosen people and a priesthood and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). We are God’s people and citizens of heaven and this is easy to forget (1 Peter 2:10).
SUMMARY
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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 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; and take the helmet of salvation and have right motivation for your spiritual life. Do not settle for the minimum with faith, but rather abide, strive, deepen, stretch, rest, and seek first the Kingdom of God. In not settling for the minimum, you will keep your helmet on.
PRAYER
INVITATION
Salvation in Jesus Christ has an aspect to it that deals with our past. Salvation means freedom from the penalty of sin. The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus on the cross. Do you believe this? Salvation in Jesus Christ also has a present reality in that we who are in Christ have freedom to pursue a relationship with God. Do you want the freedom to pursue a right relationship God? Salvation in Jesus Christ brings us a future sure hope and a promise that the life after this one is free from sin and pain and suffering. Do you want that assurance? Choose Jesus today.
