Spiritual Armor: The Battle for Salvation
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I brought my bicycle helmet with me today. You can’t see it from where you sit, but right her on the side there is about and 3/4 inch long gash and few smaller scrapes. It reminds me of a day I decided to go biking alone and while looking backwards, getting ready to cross a road, I hit the curb and went head first over the handle bars. I remember my head bouncing off the sidewalk, my shoulder screaming with pain, thinking to myself, “how bad is it?” Fortunately, I was able to get up and ride home, with nothing more that a bruised shoulder and a few scrapes, but none on my head. Since then, i will not go biking without my helmet.
In 2013 statistic said - In the U.S., there were 900 deaths and an estimated 494,000 emergency room visits due to bicycle-related injuries in 2013, the study authors write.
Researchers analyzed records of 6,267 people treated in 2012 for bleeding inside the skull after a bicycle accident.
One quarter of patients had been wearing a bicycle helmet at the time of their accident. Just over half of the patients had severe traumatic brain injuries and 3 percent died.
Researchers found that people wearing helmets had 52 percent lower risk of severe TBI, compared to unhelmeted riders, and a 44 percent lower risk of death.
Our text says that we are to take the helmet of Salvation as we go into battle. The idea of taking the helmet once agains suggests, that we have a responsibility to take it up… to receive it. As a soldier was preparing for battle, he would put on the belt of truth, the breast plate of righteousness, put on his shoes, and then an attendant would sometime hand him his helmet. The purpose of the helmet is obvious, it is to protect the head. Remember that our enemy has weapons as well. Taking up the helmet of Salvation indicates that...
...Satan’s blows are aimed at our minds. He is intent on destroying our sense of security and our assurance in Jesus Christ. If the devil can strike a blow against us that causes us to become discouraged and filled with doubt, he will have little trouble sidelining us and taking us out of the battle.
Today we are going to talk about wearing our Spiritual helmet. Even though it may not stop all of Satan’s influential thoughts that come to our mind, having the helmet of Salvation does provide us with assurance of eternity with God.
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1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Our text says that we are to take the helmet of Salvation as we go into battle. The idea of taking the helmet once agains suggests, that we have a responsibility to take it up… to receive it.
As a soldier was preparing for battle, he would put on the belt of truth, the breast plate of righteousness, put on his shoes, get on his horse and then an attendant would sometime hand him his helmet. The purpose of the helmet is obvious, it is to protect the head. Remember that our enemy has weapons as well as we do. Taking up the helmet of Salvation indicates that...
...Satan’s blows are aimed at our minds. He is intent on destroying our sense of security and our assurance in Jesus Christ. If the devil can strike a blow against us that causes us to become discouraged and filled with doubt, he will have little trouble sidelining us and taking us out of the battle.
The Helmet of Salvation protects us from Discouragement...
The Devil will use the sword of discouragement to defeat our walk with God and our influence for the Kingdom of God. He will cause us to look at our sins, our failures, the problems in our lives, health issues… he will use any negative thing he can to take our eyes off of the Lord Jesus Christ. If he can get us to doubt God’s love for us, his forgiveness, it will lead to discouragement.
No matter how long we walk with the Lord, the Devil never stops swinging his sword of discouragement. Remember the Prophet Elijah who prayed down fire from heaven and God destroyed 450 prophets of baal? We find the story in . Elijah had a number of spiritual victories. In this particular victory, he challenged the prophets of baal to have their gods bring down fire to burn the sacrifice.
It didn’t happen. Then he prayed asking God to bring down fire to burn up the sacrifice that had been placed on the altar. God gave him the victory! You would think that would be enough for Elijah to remain strong in his faith, living without discouragement.
However, After the fire the Bible tells us… that when King Ahab told his wife Jezebel all that Elijah had done to the prophets of the false god baal, she sent a message to Elijah - the reaction of Elijah was one of fear and discouragement; he ran for his life. He was so discourage that he wished to ‘die.’ After running for miles, he was tired and fell asleep. He was awaken by an angel, who had prepared a meal for him. He ate it and fell asleep again. The angel came a second time and he was told to eat again, so he did. He then went on a journey for 40 day. When he arrived at his destination, the Lord himself speaks to him …
2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.
16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.
18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
God assures Elijah in a “still, small voice” that there are still 7,000 in Israel that have remained faithful and that have not bowed to Baal, .
Elijah learned the truth that spiritual victory does not insulate us against discouragement. Rather that God assures us in the midst of it. Someone has said, “Satan has many tools, but that discouragement is the handle that fits them all.” There is much truth in that.
You may have been saved for years, but if the devil can get you discouraged in your walk with the Lord, he can get you out of the battle. If he can get you focused on your problems, on the failures in your life, on the shortcomings of others, or on any negative thing at all, he can overwhelm your defenses and cause you to doubt the Lord’s goodness.
We don’t think about it like this, but it’s true: when we allow problems, pain, people, and other situations to make us discouraged to the point where we quit on God, the devil has won that battle. For a period of time, he has caused us to doubt the goodness and grace of God. Regardless of the reason we name, when we allow Satan to discourage us to the point where we stop serving the Lord, we are, at that moment, looking God in the face and telling Him, “I don’t believe you are bigger than this!” That may sound farfetched, but it’s true nonetheless.
Another man who wore the “helmet of salvation” to great benefit was the prophet Jeremiah. When the Lord called Jeremiah, the Lord told him that he would be rejected, persecuted, and attacked. Yet, Jeremiah said this, .
16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.
Be sure “the helmet of salvation” is in place, and refuse to allow Satan to focus your attention on the events of life, or by the actions of people. If he can get your eyes off the Lord and on the difficulties of life, you will be easy prey for his slashing broadsword. Ill. Asaph - .
It’s hard not to be discouraged when it seems like everything in life goes against you. It’s easy to be discouraged when the answers to your prayers are delayed. It’s easy to be discouraged when feel ineffective.
Discouragement is our default setting most of the time. Satan knows this and he exploits this weakness in our lives. Even when we are discouraged by the events of life, we must never forget that our Father always has our situation well in hand. He can be trusted to do what is right, all the time, , .
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Thus, we must not “be weary in well doing,” but we must carry on, knowing that “in due season we shall reap, if we faint not,” . So, when we face the enemy in battle, and Satan aims the broadsword of discouragement at our heads, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world,” .
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Secondly, the helmet of Salvation protects us from doubt
When we doubt our salvation, we will be discouraged. When we come to doubt God’s faithfulness, we are easily discouraged. When we come to doubt the Word of God, we have the very foundations for our hope in the Lord undermined and we have no ground upon which to stand.
If Satan can convince you that you are not really saved, or that somehow, you have lost your salvation, you will be devastated spiritually. Such doubt paralyzes us and makes us unproductive and miserable. Nothing more quickly sidelines the child of God than having their peace and security in Jesus stripped away. When we forget this truth: we are easy prey for the enemy. Satan has an easy time defeating a believer who has lost the assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ. But listen to the words of Jesus
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
If Satan has been beating you with that sword, let me remind you that, if you are in Jesus, you are secure in Jesus.
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37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
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28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
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38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
In the NT the greek word “Soteria “Salvation” is the concept of “Rescue,” “Deliverance” or “Salvation)
In we read about being born again… being saved from our sins.
(Save Completely)
, (Received through Jesus)
Helmet, the hope of Salvation… Not an uncertain hope, but one that brings with it no shame of disappointment
(good conclusion verse)
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
300 Quotations for Preachers Summary of Archibald Alexander’s Theology
On his deathbed, he was heard to say to a friend, “All my theology is reduced to this narrow compass—Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.”
Dictionary of Bible Themes 6511 salvation, nature of
Salvation involves a change in the relationship between God and a person. Salvation includes God’s adoption of believers into his family, his acceptance of them as righteous and his forgiveness of their sins. It also includes personal renewal and transformation through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1149 God Can Do It
1149 God Can Do It
Longfellow could take a worthless sheet of paper, write a poem on it, and make it worth $6,000—that’s genius.
Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth a million dollars—that’s capital.
Uncle Sam can take gold, stamp an eagle on it, and make it worth $20.00—that’s money.
A mechanic can take material that is worth only $5.00 and make it worth $50.00—that’s skill.
An artist can take a fifty-cent piece of canvas, paint a picture on it, and make it worth $1,000—that’s art.
God can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in the blood of Christ, put His Spirit in it, and make it a blessing to humanity—that’s salvation.
—Christian Digest
