Helmet of Salvation

ILL. John Olerud wore a helmet while playing in the field due to a brain aneurysm he suffered during college at Washington State University. The aneurysm, which caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage, led doctors to advise him to protect his head with a helmet, especially from line drives and collisions. While he could have stopped wearing the helmet later in his career, he continued to do so out of habit and a sense of precaution. Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Incident:In January 1989, Olerud collapsed during a workout and was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which involved bleeding in the spinal column

CAUTION IS ABUNDANT WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING THE HEAD—

The Protection of the Saint

salvation

the term salvation is soteria. It means deliverance, victory, healing, and wholeness.

we are saved by grace through faith

we are healed through the work of salvation

1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

William Barclay - In classical Greek soteria means 'deliverance' or 'preservation'. It can be used for a man's safe return to his own home or his own country after an absence and a journey. It can mean a 'guarantee of safety' or a 'security against danger'. In the papyri by far the commonest meaning of soteria is 'bodily health'. For instance, a member of the family writes home, 'Write me a letter about your soteria,' or, as we would say, 'Let me know how you are.'  (New Testament Words)

hope

1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”

willpower- motivation to strive for a goal

waypower- pathways to victory- focus; strategy

waitpower- the ability to trust God through the process of attaining the goal

John Philips said, “Apart from God’s salvation, man cannot reach correct conclusions about psychological, social, philosophical, and spiritual phenomena. He can orbit spacecraft and journey to the moon. He can split atoms and tinker with the genetic code. But sin imparis his thinking about his relationship to God and his fellows. His first sin separated him from God. His second sin separated him from man. Satan tries to ensure that he is kept in bondage and blindness in both relationships.”

What is Being Protected?

sight- what we see

Psalm 101:3 “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”

Proverbs 6:25 “Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.”

Proverbs 4:25 “Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.”

Job 31:1 “I made a covenant with mine eyes; Why then should I think upon a maid?”

hearing- what we hear

Proverbs 4:20–22 “My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh.”

Matthew 11:15 “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

cognition- what we think

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.”

Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

Colossians 3:1–3 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

smelling- what we discern

Not much is written about the sense of smell, but in literature, it appears often. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Of landscapes, as of people, one becomes more tolerant after one’s twentieth year…We learn to look at them not in the flat but in depth as things to be burrowed into. It is not merely a question of lines and colors but of smells, sounds and tastes as well: I often wonder if professional artists don’t lose by seeing it in eye sensation only” [Lewis and Executors of C. S. Lewis, 1966, 234].”

sensory abilities

God can smell!

Genesis 8:21 “And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”

smelling is the first of our senses

Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Job 27:3 “All the while my breath is in me, And the spirit of God is in my nostrils;”

the nostrils are the residence of the Spirit

discernment

Does that pass the smell test?

motor skills- what we do

Colossians 3:23–24 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

personality- who we are

changes in personality after blunt force trauma

Daniel 3:27 “And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellers, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.”

Battlefields of the Mind

thought life

renew- Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

refocus- Philippians 4:7–8 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, 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, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

restrain- 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

identity in Christ

not condemned but free

Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

not rejected but accepted

Ephesians 1:6 “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

not striving but secure

Matthew 3:17 “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

control and trust

self-sufficiency

2 Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

anger

Ephesians 4:31–32 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

comparison and envy

Proverbs 6:34 “For jealousy is the rage of a man: Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.”

2 Corinthians 10:12 “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”