THE HELMET THAT HELPS YOU STAND

THE HELMET THAT HELPS YOU STAND Ephesians 6:17 June 20, 1999 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory Six year old Molly complained to her mother that her stomach was hurting. It was about lunch time, so her mother told her her stomach was empty and that’s why it hurt. "You’ll feel better after you put something in it." That evening the pastor came over for a visit. During the conversation he mentioned he had a headache. Molly offered quick advice: "That’s because it’s empty. You’ll feel better once you’ve put something in it." Paul’s counsel in our text today is not that we put something into our heads, but something on them--a helmet. Five words in Ephesians 6:17 - Take the helmet of salvation... In Paul’s day, the battle gear for soldiers included a leather headpiece (much like an early aviator skull cap) with bronze or iron attached. Decorative helmets made of solid cast metal were worn by officers on special occasions. Helmet of Salvation - Interestingly, the Indo-European word from which we get our English word helmet originally meant Hell, or the "covered place", the underworld. So the head was covered by a helmet. The first of our five words is "Take" in most translations, but the Greek word, DEXSASTHE, which is an imperative verb (command), is the word Paul uses here. This word translates best as receive, indicating the warrior is almost passive as the helmet is given to him. You can almost picture the soldier standing still while someone else of higher rank places the helmet on his head. This, of course, is perfectly accurate, because we can do NOTHING to earn our salvation (for it is by grace you are saved--it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by your works). Paul says of this Helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is next), RECEIVE. What exactly are we receiving? What precisely is this thing the Bible calls "salvation " ? SOTERION--slightly unusual form of the regular word SOTERIA) means the deliverance of God and it encompasses: Salvation from enemies (i.e., sin, devil, evil, death) Healing or wholeness of the body, the soul and the spirit. The whole package. These are the devil’s targets in your life, and they are the areas in which he would steal, kill and destroy you. And symbolically these all center in your head. God is about the business of "protecting" your head, but Satan wants you to lose your head. You’ve heard the expression, "Don’t lose your head over it!" Here Paul pictures this salvation as that which protects our heads as a helmet. Listen - what ultimately protects believers is that God has already saved them, rescued them, from bondage to the devil’s prisons of sin and guilt and death. Earlier in chapter two Paul pictured this victory as our being seated already with Christ in the heavenly realms. By appropriating this salvation as a helmet, Christians have protection and every reason to b confident of the outcome of the battle with Satan. SALVATION RECEIVED CONQUERS THE ENEMY’S HOSTILE POWERS...Accusation, guilt, confusion, doubt, fear, alienation, insecurity, fear of death, uncertainty of the future. The Christian can say, as in the words of the old gospel song, "I know where I’m going; and who I’m gonna’ see." It is so important for the Christian to be sure of his past present and future salvation. "Are you saved" - Answer: "Yes I was; yes, I am; and yes, I will be." Because it is so vitally important that we confess/admit this truth, let’s rehearse what God wants us to be sure of. Now, as we do this we are doing exactly what Ephesians 3:10 says - we are announcing the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places! Have you been saved? Yes, I have! Will you be saved? Yes, I will! Are you saved? Yes, I am! Salvation in the Past See Ephesians 2:5, 8 - twice repeated "...by grace you HAVE BEEN SAVED ..." Perfect tense a past action with ongoing benefit. 1 Cor. 15:2 - Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the GOSPEL I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you... Paul then rehearses the points of the gospel: Christ died according to the scriptures, he was buried, and he was raised according to the scriptures. This is the good news, gospel. If you believe it, and admit your faith in this gospel, then you are saved. You are receiving the helmet of salvation, and you are being protected from the enemy. If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God RAISED him from the dead, you will be saved AS the Scriptures says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved... "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13) So when someone asks you "Have you been saved?" what are you going to say? YES, I HAVE! Salvation in the Future There is one other place in the New Testament where Paul uses the imagery of a helmet in connection with salvation - at 1 Thessalonians 5:8. There he calls on believers to put on the hope of salvation as a helmet. Here salvation is pictured as something yet to arrive. Paul reminded Titus (2:13) that in this world we are "waiting for" that blessed hope--the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ... and at that time we receive the fulfillment of our salvation. In Romans 13:11 Paul said that our salvation is "nearer now than when we first believed." That is, it is still to come, even though it is already here. Hebrews 1:14 reminds us that angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation... Peter writes that we who are Christians are protected by God’s power through faith until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. We have salvation now, but it is not yet perfected--not like it will be in the day when we meet the Lord face to face. It is then, according to 1 John, that we will truly see him as he is and we will be changed instantly to be like him. That is the ultimate day of salvation. Now the devil in the meantime (and I mean mean-time) will try to seduce you into thinking you are not save, or not going to be saved. But you are wearing on your head protection against that kind of thinking--you know your salvation. By the way, the Holy Spirit of God has been placed in you as a seal of your salvation (Eph. 1:13; 2 Cor. 1:22), as a deposit, guaranteeing your inheritance (the fulfillment of your salvation) until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. And one of the main purposes of the Holy Spirit is to speak to you out of your own spirit, "Abba" reminding you that you are a child of God. Let me ask you a couple of questions: Have you been saved? YES I HAVE! Will you be saved? YES, I WILL! You mean you have been saved AND you WILL be saved? YES! Sixteen years ago last Tuesday Charlotte and I signed some papers regarding a house on Delaware Avenue in Belleville. We committed to pay so much principal and a mountain of interest, so we could live in a house we picked out. When we walked out of that bank, we were legally HOMEOWNERS. Frankly, it will be a couple years yet before we will be completely through paying off that debt, and the title is released free and clear to us--but it is THEN we will really be HOMEOWNERS, right? But because I know that day is coming, and because I am being faithful to make my payments, I know that the completion of ownership is right around the corner. So, somewhere between the NOW and the NOT YET, I can say today to whatever home improvement, window-replacement, vinyl-siding salesperson who calls me at supper time and asks me "Are you a homeowner there at 318 North Delaware, Mr. Bersett?", I can say YES, I AM! and YES, I WILL BE! Salvation in the Present Because of a simple, sincere act of faith that I made 29 years ago in February, when I first determined to trust Jesus as my Savior, I know by faith in His Word and his provision that I have been saved--I have received salvation, and the assurance of the perfection of that salvation yet to come. I have been saved, I will be saved; therefore, I am saved. That assurance, brothers and sisters, is my helmet against the attack of Satan who desperately wants me to doubt that great truth! Paul wrote this magnificent piece of prose about spiritual armor because he wanted the Christians to stand! Friends in Christ, this helmet of salvation will help you STAND. Wear it trust it, and let it protect you from Satan’s accusations. When the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco was being built years ago, workers developed a great fear of falling. Bridge builders have a superstition that one man will die building a bridge for every million dollars spent on the project. The GG bridge was budgeted for $35 million. Even the chief engineer, Joseph Strauss, was certain that about three dozen workers would fall to their death. The impact of falling from the height of that bridge and striking the water below is equivalent to hitting a brick wall at 80 mph. To provide the builders with a sense of security, Strauss made an unprecedented move and ordered a large trapeze net to be placed under the workers. Bridge builders had never had such a luxury. One of the workers said it made them feel as though they could dance on the steel. Christians, too, can be immobilized by their fear of falling, afraid they will lose their salvation. But God has given us His security net--His promise that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, that he will forgive any repented sin that threatens our relationship with Him, that the HS is in us as a GUARANTEE of the salvation to come to us, that those who come to Him He will not cast out. Doesn’t that make you feel like you can dance? Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your STAND against the devil’s schemes...Put on the whole armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to STAND YOUR GROUND, and after you have done everything, to STAND! STAND FIRM, then...           [Top]