Keep your Helmet buckled up at all times
Book of Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsTake the Helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro:
Intro:
Football Illustration about keeping my Helmet Buckled up
Review
Review
Tighten your belt up
Keep your Bullet Proof Vest on
Tie up your Shoes
The Shield of Faith our Fortress
Keep your Helmet buckled up at all times
Always
Always
Present struggles can be overcome by our willingness to keep our eyes on the finish line. We must have a future mindset when it comes to overcoming daily battles.
I. Buckle up
I. Buckle up
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
(EXE-v.17) “And Take the Helmet of Salvation”
Paul tells us to “take up” Paul is clear by this verb he is not making a suggestion. This verb is in the imperative mood. This is Paul telling the believers at Ephesus what to do remember imperatives are commands. He is speaking like a General at the head of Battalion not an advisor.
Paul says we are to take up the “Helmet of Salvation”
What is this Helmet of Salvation?
The Ephesians clause does not gives us a whole lot of data. but I think it would wise to work through the Metaphor of the helmet first.
Ancient Warriors all wore some type of Helmet to protect the head against Arrows & other projectiles.
The Roman Soldiers Helmet look like an ancient Football Helmet. It protected all of his head around to his jaw. Which would be buckled up like the chinstrap of a football helmet.
The Buckle was there so that during a battle his head gear would stay on for the duration of that battle.
Ancient Warriors were skilled at ending life quickly. The Chest or the Head, as both of these spots would result in a quick death.
Paul borrows this Metaphor to talk about Salvation.
Review: What part of the body does the Helmet protect?
It protects the head.
So based on this conclusion How is Paul employing this Metaphor as it relates to the Helmet?
Paul is saying that in Spiritual Warfare the Head must be always protected because Satan and the Demons are skilled at going for kill shots. They don’t aim at you knees, ankles, or hands. They aim for the Head!!!
Where do thoughts, lusts, desires & plans come from?
They come from the Mind
So Paul is saying this Helmet of Salvation will protect your mind during Spiritual Warfare. Therefore It must stay buckled up at all times.
If Satan hits you with an Arrow without your helmet on it could take you out in minutes. Lets take a look at several texts to see Satan’s methods of attack:
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
(v.3) Paul says our gospel is only veiled(obscure)(not clearly seen) by those who are perishing. Then he tells us “Why?”
(v.4) “the god(Satan) of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”
See-To view in the clearest light, or discern
Paul tells us in this text “unbelievers” are not able to see clear or discern because their ‘minds” have been darken by Satan.
21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
(v.21) Notice what Paul says to the new believers in Collosae about their “Minds” prior to salvation.
Your mind was “hostile” means “enemy” to God and the things of God.
Look what the hostile mind lead too: “engaged in evil deeds”
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
(v.3) “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,”
Paul says we live out our life journey in fleshly bodies. But our war is not against people, or countries. You won’t win this war with guns or tanks.
(v.4) “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” Paul tells us that our weapons are “divinely powerful” for the destruction of fortresses.
What does Paul mean when he says fortresses?
Paul tells us the weapons that God has put at our disposal are Supernaturally Effective at destroying “fortresses/strongholds”
Fortresses/Strongholds in the ancient world: when two combatants went to war the objectives was to take control of territory take down the flag and then put of your flag.
You see that with Israel moving through Canaan. They hit Jericho and slowly moved throughout the whole country and took control of the land of Canaan.
When Paul uses fortresses/strongholds to describe our mind. He is talking about places in our mind where our enemy has set up shop.
5 and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
(v.5) “and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God” These are all the places in our minds that have been erected since the time we were born that contradicts the truth of the Gospel.
APPLICATION-No one living has a clean hard drive. The things we have read, experienced, and watched have all inputed data on to the Hard drive of our mind. Some of things saved on our minds have been from God. Most of things saved in our minds has been from the World, the flesh and Satan.
(v.5) “and we take every thought captive to obey Christ” Paul tells us these “Divinely Powerful Weapons” allow us to destroy “Demonic Thinking” on the hard drives of our minds and then put them in Jail.
Summary: As we grow in the Gospel and begin to deconstruct Satanic thinking we also have to protect our minds from Satan continued assault on our minds after conversion.
Summary: As we grow in the Gospel and begin to deconstruct Satanic thinking we also have to protect our minds from Satan continued assault on our minds after conversion.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.
(EXE-v.17) “Take the helmet of Salvation” We have established the Helmet’s purpose in the ancient worlds, and it was to protect the brain because a shot to the brain was usually lethal. In the same way Paul says we must protect “Our Minds” from the lethal shots of Satan who is seeking to construct fortresses, or fortify structures we have have failed to destroy.
(EXE-v.17) “Take the helmet of Salvation” Now this is an interesting noun usage.
What does Paul mean here?
Remember two Sundays ago we talked about the Synthesis Method of Biblical Interpretation.
The First Place you start is to see if the current writer Paul speaks about this Helmet in any of his other writings. In this case he does in 1 Thessalonians 5:8:
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.
(EXE-v.8) “and the helmet of the hope of salvation” it is important now that we discuss this word hope:
Worldly Understanding of “Hope”
Worldly Understanding of “Hope”
Worldly Hope-uncertain expectation of a future event we desire to come to pass, or an uncertain expectation in an object to complete a task.
Ex: I hope when my Dad gets home he will play catch with me.
Ex: The elevator is getting pretty packed I hope it is able to hold us.
In both cases hope it is rooted in an “uncertainty” back in the day when we were little we would say “cross your fingers”
These definition are not bad they do a pretty good job of communicating “hope” but they fall short in the end.
Biblical Hope-a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future.....John Piper
Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future — it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen — it is confident that it will happen. There is a moral certainty that the good we expect and desire will be done.....John Piper
When we say “Moral Certainty” we mean that differently than mathematical certainty or logical certainty.
Mathematical-If you have $5 and I give you another 5$ it is mathematical certain that you have 10.00
Logical-All men are mortal, Plato is a man, conclusion: Plato is mortal
“Moral Certainty”-works differently because the certainty is rooted in the nature and will of the person making the pronouncement.
When two people get married and make a commitment the fulfilling of that covenant is based on the words of 2 free moral agents.
In this sense our “Hope” is rooted in the nature & word of the person who made the commitment, which in our case is God. “who says I cannot lie” Our “Hope” comes from a being who is Morally Pure, and Faithful in all of his promises and commitments. Thats makes whatever he promises a moral certainty.
Now that you have a greater understanding of Hope let’s take a look at another usage of this phraseology “helmet of salvation” we need to go to the book of Is 59:
Let me paint this picture:
Let me paint this picture:
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
(v.1-2) Isaiah gives us the problem “God can save but our iniquities/sins have cause a gulf(crack) between us and God
3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness. 4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
(v.3-4) “Yall are a bunch of liars. Everything that comes out of yall mouth are lies
7 Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways. 8 They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace.
(v.7-8) Yall are quick to evil and wickedness and only want justice when it benefits you.
9 Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom. 10 We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight, Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men.
(v.9-10) Since we love dishonesty, violence and partiality we become like a blind man groping for the front door, not able to see light or ascertain truth.
13 Transgressing and denying the Lord, And turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.
(v.13) We turned our backs on God, with an attitude. All of us. You will notice Isaiah is using plural pronouns throughout this writing to let you know he is including himself.
15 Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. 16 And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. 17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
(v.15) “Yes, truth is lacking” And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey:
Isaiah says no one is preaching truth and folks are running right into the traps of Satan & Hell
(v.15) “Now the Lord saw” this will preach right here. The Lord “saw” and reacted. The Lord was displeased in the lack of fairness in the world he created to be fair & just.
Sidenote: Unrestrained Sin will always lead to gross injustice and unfairness
Sidenote: Unrestrained Sin will always lead to gross injustice and unfairness
16 And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.
(v.16) “and HE(The Lord) saw there was no man able to stand in the gap or intercede between he and mankind.
(v.16b) So HE(The Lord) step in by his own arm(strength) and brought salvation. Man was unable to save himself so our Lord wrap himself in human flesh but notice what else he did to make sure he maintained his righteousness so that he would be a pure sacrifice. He put on his Spiritual Armor:
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
He Put on Righteousness like a breastplate
And he put on “the helmet of salvation on his head”
Yall remember what this helmet is: “The Helmet of the Hope of Salvation. Well Jesus keep his helmet buckled while he was fulfilling the plan of God for his life and doing battle with the Evil on a daily basis. Now let me show you what Jesus “Hoped in”
What was Jesus hope in while he was in Battle?
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
“For the Joy set before Him” Jesus in the midst of his pain and suffering had his eyes set on something future. That future reality gave him hope and endurance in his present struggle.
What was his future hope?
Look what he did after completing his mission “He sat down at the right of the throne of God” Jesus went home. He elaborated a little more on this during his high priestly prayer
1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Jesus “hope” was a return to Glory sitting in the presence of his Father Ruling the Nations with all power in his hands.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
What is our Hope?
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
(v.6) I want you to pay close attention to one phrase in this verse “It is done”
Then He tells us who he is “I am Alpha & Omega, the Beginning and the end”
He did this so that we would know his promise to fulfill this scripture is rooted in who he is. Basically he was saying “You can trust me!” “The buck stops with me!
Dear Saints Buckle up Everyday with this Hope!!!! Don’t let Satan rob you of the joy of knowing one day There will be no more fighting, seperation, abandonment, pain, fear or death.
Open the doors of the church
Open the doors of the church
Giving
Giving
7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Benediction
Benediction
16 And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
II. Stay Strapped!
II. Stay Strapped!
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.