Guarded by Grace
Notes
Transcript
Tonight we are on the last pieces of the Armor of God and I hope by now you all recognize that as believers we shouldn’t wait until life gets rough to “protect” ourselves but live ready. We should already daily be living in the armor not putting it on and taking it off again. The armor as a whole defines who you are.
It defines your identity. It defines who you are and it is that identity that holds you together in the good times and the bad.
It’s defines your righteousness. Not because you are righteous but because you are covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
You are to have movement. The armor isn’t supposed to just protect you but it is also supposed to take you somewhere. To your friends, to your schools, to your family, and to your home. You are supposed to bring peace and good news everywhere you go.
You’re supposed to have faith. The enemy will attack you with thoughts of doubt and temptation but your faith in Jesus Christ is supposed to protect you and that you have better protection when you are in community with one another to pick each other up and protect you from the sides that your own shield can’t cover by yourself.
There is one more defensive piece in the verse we are looking at today. The Helmet of Salvation. I know we have already talked about the Helmet but we are going to briefly go over it again tonight as well because it ties in with the last piece and other piece of armor in verse 17. Let’s read through Ephesians 6:10-17 one last time.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. 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. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Now let’s look at verse 17 and the last two pieces of armor that we will talk about.
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
The fight for a christian will always start in the mind. The devil will always attack there first. Everything you do starts with your mind first. Even if you don’t realize it.
Our bodies are wired to around our mind.
Hold up a water bottle. Ask a student to catch it when you drop it, no warning.
"How did your hand know to close?"
Your eyes saw it fall, your brain processed that in a fraction of a second, sent a signal down your spinal cord and nerves, and then your hand closed. The hand didn't decide anything — the brain did, first, before any of it was visible.
Nothing happens in your body that didn't first happen in your mind.
Have you ever been nervous to talk to someone, or walk into a room, or take a shot in a game — and you psyched yourself out before you even did it? That's the same mechanism, just slower and more visible.
The sweaty palms,
the racing heart,
the freezing up
— none of that started in your hands or your stomach. It started as a thought ("what if I mess this up / what if they laugh"), and your mind sent that signal to your whole body before you ever moved.
So if your mind is the control center for everything you do — every move, every fear, every reaction — then why would you not protect and guard your mind from the things that corrupt it. The helmet protects your mind because that is where the war is fought.
The enemy does not attack with physical weapons but he attacks with the doubts that creep into your mind, the temptations that show up in a moment of weakness, or the lies that the enemy whispers in your ear…
“you’re not enough”
“they aren’t really your friends”
“they’re gonna leave the second they get a chance”
“they’re the only one who really cares about me so I have to stay with them”
“I’m not enough”
“No one will miss me if I’m gone”
“everyone does it, it’s not a big deal”
“Why should I care, God doesn’t even hear me”
None of that is true, and if that thought stays in your mind lingering, unchallenged, and entertained then you will convince yourself that it is true and the enemy will have won in your life.
Those thoughts will show up in your life just like the nervousness did. That is why 2 Corinthians 10:5 says to take every thought captive and why Romans 12:2 says to be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
When Paul says to take every thought captive in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 he is using military language just like he is doing in our text of Ephesians chapter 6.
Taking someone captive in war meant you had defeated an enemy soldier and that they are now under your authority not theirs. So whenever a thought in your mind comes at you —
a lie,
a doubt,
a temptation,
an accusation,
— instead of letting it run loose in your mind and do whatever it wants and allow it to take control over you and your life you have to capture it, question it against the truth, and it either aligns with and submits to the truth of Jesus Christ or you need to throw it out.
Most people never catch the thought itself — they only notice the feeling or action it produced 10 minutes later. Taking it captive starts with catching it in real time.
Notice the thought.
Ask: is this true? Does this line up with what God actually says about me / this situation / Him? Test it.
If it's true, bring it under Christ's authority — let it shape you rightly. If it's a lie, refuse to let it keep running; replace it with what's actually true.
Submit it or reject it.
And ‘Renew your mind’. This is not a one time fix, this is an ongoing process. It’s not about getting rid of the bad thoughts it’s about changing your whole mindset.
Before it says to renew your mind it says to not be conformed to the world. Conformed means to be molded from the outside — shaped by peer pressure, culture, and whatever your friends and your feed tells you is normal.
Transformed is the opposite. It’s change from the inside out.
You have to protect your mind with the helmet of salvation from the lies of the enemy. The lie that…
You’re too far gone to be saved.
That the mistake you’ve made, the sin you’ve committed is too much.
That it’s all over for you.
He’ll tell you the lie that you’re perfect just the way you are. That you don’t have worry about your struggles because it’s everyone else that’s wrong and that you don’t need anyone to help you because you’re already perfect.
He’ll convince you that you just have to do more good than bad and everything will be alright. You just have to out preform the under performance.
Those are all lies straight from the enemy.
True salvation comes from Christ because the truth is that you aren’t perfect, you can’t save yourself by doing more good things but how great is our God that He says you can never run so far away to a place that I can’t find you and rescue you whenever you call out to me knowing you are lost.
Salvation saves you from what you can’t save yourself from. It is God doing for you what you could never do for yourself.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Salvation is something done for you. Not something you can do for yourself because if you can then Jesus went to the cross for nothing. He went to the cross on calvary for you and paid your price so that you can be saved. How are you honoring His sacrifice today?
Are you living for Him?
Are you glorifying Him?
Or are you doing the same exact things that you are saying He saved you from?
Paul says to take the helmet of salvation. Not to put it on. Because unlike the rest of the armor which has to be picked up and put on, the helmet is handed to him. Salvation isn’t earned. It isn’t something you can grab. It’s recieved and accepted.
Because it's received rather than performed,
it can be known rather than hoped for.
It is something that is settled not something that is shaky.
Helmet guards the head. It’s the last defensive piece of armor. Five pieces of armor get the soldier standing but one gets him swinging.
The sword is the only offensive piece of the armor because it’s the only thing used to fight against what is coming for you.
the sword Paul names is a short weapon, worn at the hip, meant for close combat, not for swinging wildly — precision over power. Soldiers trained with practice weapons for years before carrying a real one into a fight.
This wasn’t something that was just handed to them on the day that they were supposed to use it. They trained diligently. With focus, effort, and work.
Imagine before youth tonight I came up to you handed you a guitar and said “you’re up tonight. You’re gonna play during worship.”
You wouldn’t know what to do, you never learned how to play the guitar and it would be wrong of me to assume that just because I put it into your hand that you would know what to do with it. You would have to practice and learn, and be shown how to play it and know the chords needed to play a song.
You would have it in your hand but you wouldn’t know what to do with it. Because being in possession of something and knowing how to use it are not the same thing.
Most people may own a bible,
many of you own bibles,
many of your friends and classmates may carry one around
but that doesn’t necessarily mean they know it, understand it, and live by what it says. Having a bible is not the same as carrying the Sword of the Spirit which is God’s word.
That’s what Paul is talking about, the word of God. His Holy scriptures. The word that Paul uses doesn’t just mean words on a page but spoken words.
Something known, said, and understood.
Not something that sits on a shelf or stays unopened in your hand. A bible on a nightstand is not functioning as a sword.
I’ve heard it said before that if your bible is not falling apart it means that your life is.
That is meant to make the point that if you are not in your word, really reading the bible, then you will get lost in the world and all of it’s struggles. BUT. If your bible is constantly being opened, day after day, then you are pursuing Christ and abiding in Him and because of that He will abide in you and make you whole and filled with joy, peace , and hope.
You will read his word, understand it, know it, and be able to speak His truth over the enemy’s lies.
Jesus shows us how to do this and is the best example of it. In Matthew chapter 4 Jesus goes out into the wilderness after He is baptized by John the Baptist. He goes into the wilderness for 40 days without food, alone, physically depleted, and the devil comes on the scene. Matthew 4:1-4
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
The devil comes and he is referred to as the tempter because that’s what he does. He tries to tempt us especially in our weakest moments.
This was one of three temptations said by Satan where Jesus responded all three times with the same pattern each time.
He didn’t argue with Satan.
He didn’t reason His way out
but He quoted and spoke scripture over it. He spoke truth over the lies of the enemy. If that's how the Son of God engaged the enemy, then so should we. Out-arguing a lie was never going to be the strategy available to anyone else either, you have to speak truth over the lie.
All of these scriptures that Jesus referenced and quoted is found in the book of Deuteronomy. This wasn’t an answer He had to fight to come up with but something that was written on His heart because apart of the jewish tradition was to meditate on the scripture day and night and know it from memory.
However, Jesus wasn’t the only one that used scripture.
Satan also used scripture to tempt Jesus. He used the words of God to try to get Jesus to do what he wanted Him to do. Just like He did in the garden with Adam and Eve when he convinced them to question the words of God.
Satan takes every good thing that comes from God and he tries to twist it for his gain. He is a liar and a deceiver and he will use your lack of understanding and knowledge of God’s word against you. That is why you have to know the word well enough to recognize when it's misused — not just knowing verses, but staying close enough to understand them rightly.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
The phrase the word of God usually refers to the message of salvation, but here it means God’s personal utterance. His words given to us from Him, and because it is His words and He is eternal then that means He is alive and so also meaning His words given to us are living and true.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
the NLT says that It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
This is not just a weapon that points outward, it points both ways. It doesn’t just
protect,
defend,
and allow you to to attack what is coming at you
but it actually exposes what is going on in you, including the parts you haven’t said out loud to anyone.
So here's where we land. Tonight you got two pieces — the helmet and the sword. And they're not two separate lessons, they work together.
The helmet guards your mind so the lie doesn't land.
The sword arms your mouth so the lie doesn't stay.
How can a lie stay if it didn’t even land?
If you only have one of those, you're in trouble. If you only guard your mind but never learn to speak the truth back, you'll just stand there absorbing hit after hit, silently, for the rest of your life.
And if you only know how to swing the sword but you haven't let the helmet do its job, you're swinging blind — you don't even know what you're actually fighting because you never figured out what's true and what's a lie in the first place.
You need both.
Guarded and armed.
Protected and dangerous.
I want you to think for a second — not write it down, just think — about the thing that shows up when you're alone.
The lie that gets loudest when nobody else is around. You know the one. Everybody in this room has one.
Here's my challenge to you.
Don't leave here tonight with that thing still sitting there unanswered in your head.
I want you to find one verse —
not a whole chapter,
not a reading plan,
just one verse
— that answers that lie head on. If you already know where to find it, go find it tonight before you go to bed. And if you don't know where to look, that's what leaders are for. Grab one on your way out and say "hey, can you help me find a verse for this." That's not a weird thing to ask.
That's literally what we're here for.
And if you're sitting here tonight and all of this — the armor, the mind, the sword — and you're realizing you've never actually done anything with it because you've never actually received what we've been talking about the whole series... salvation... I want you to hear this one more time.
You don't earn this.
You don't clean yourself up first.
You don't have to have the right words.
It's received, not achieved. Hands open, that's it.
If that's you tonight, I'm not going to make this a big deal but just find a leader — any leader in this room — and tell them you want to talk. No pressure, no spotlight, just a conversation.
Let's pray.
