Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

[ILLUS] The director of a medical clinic once told of a terminally ill young man who came in for his treatment.

One of the doctors at the clinic seemed insensitive when he said to the young man, “You know you won’t live out the year, right?”

On the way out, the young man spoke to the director in tears, saying, “That man took away my hope.”

The director replied, “Maybe it’s time to find a new one.”

One writer asked, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away?

Is there hope when the situation is hopeless?”

That question leads us to Christian hope, or as Paul calls it here in Ephesians 6:17, the helmet of salvation.

[READING - Eph 6:14-17]

[PRAYER]

[CONTEXT] Paul, the Apostle of Christ Jesus who planted and pastored the church in Ephesus, wrote to the Christians there rejoicing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and calling them to walk in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The grace of God in Jesus that had saved them was to show up in how they treated one another, how they managed their time, what songs they sang, how they treated their spouses and children, and even their slaves and their masters.

But living in a worthy manner would not be easy because the devil and his wicked minions continually schemed up ways to trip them up.

They would have to be ever vigilant, always on the alert, “for (their) struggle (was) not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places,” (Eph.

6:12).

“Therefore, (they would had to) take up the full armor of God, so that (they would) be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, (they would be able) to stand firm,” (Eph.

6:13).

But these words that the Holy Spirit breathed-out for the Ephesians are the words that He breathed-out for us to.

WE must “put on the full armor of God, so that (we) will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil,” (Eph.

6:11).

So far in our study of the armor of God, we examined…

…truth, which is right and wrong as determined by God.

…righteousness, which is the practice of holiness, obeying God in all things.

…peace, which only comes to us in the Gospel and only flows through us to others as we share the Gospel.

…faith, which is believing that God is good and that what He commands is for my good.

…and today we come to hope or the helmet of salvation in Ephesians 6:17.

Now, hopefully some of you are wondering, “How is Rocky getting hope out of v. 17?”

Well, I’m not.

I’m getting hope out of 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

There Paul writes to the Christians in the city of Thessalonica using some of the same armor of God language that he used in his letter to the Ephesians.

First Thessalonians 5:8…

[CIT] The helmet of salvation is the hope of salvation.

It’s the helmet that the Ephesian believers were called to receive.

[PROP] Hope is the helmet we must receive as we stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

[TS] This morning we want to think about why this hope must be received, why this hope is called a helmet, and why this hope is called the helmet of salvation.

Major Ideas

#1: This hope must be received so that we persevere.

[EXP] That word ‘take’ in Ephesians 6:17 is different from ‘take up’ in Ephesians 6:13.

The word in v. 13 refers to taking hold of something while the word in v. 17 may more closely refer to receiving something.

So one translation puts v. 17 like this, “and receive the helmet of salvation,” (LEB).

The hope in the helmet of salvation is what we receive when we take up the other graces in the armor of God.

As we put on God’s truth our hope increases.

As we practice God’s holiness our hope increases.

As we prepare to share God’s peace our hope increases.

As we trust in God’s goodness our hope increases.

As we take up God’s word our hope increases.

As we kneel before God in prayer our hope increases.

William Gurnall said all the graces described in the armor of God are born together in the birth of the new man or new woman in Christ Jesus.

This means that all of these graces grow together.

I think this is especially true with hope.

In other words, as we grow in truth, we grow in hope.

As we grow in faith, we grow in hope.

And so on.

But this also means that all of these graces decay together as well.

And this too is especially true with hope.

In other words, as truth decays, hope decays.

As faith decays, hope decays.

And so on.

[ILLUS] Let’s say you go to doctor, and the doctor says, “Your blood pressure is too low.

I’m going to put you on this medication to get your blood pressure to where it needs to be.”

Now, if you take your medicine, you’re blood pressure will be fine.

But if you don’t take your medicine, then you won’t be fine.

[APP] In the same way, when you take up these other graces your hope will be where it needs to be.

But if you don’t take up these other graces, then your hope will be too low.

And if your hope is too low, you won’t persevere; you won’t endure to the end; you won’t stand firm against the schemes of the devil; you won’t be able to resist in the evil day.

This hope is the life-blood of our perseverance.

And if we do not persevere to the end, we will not be saved.

[TS] …

#2: This hope is called a helmet because it provides protection.

[EXP] The Roman soldier’s helmet was basically a padded metal bowl with some cheek guards down the side to protect the face.

No solider would have gone into battle with his helmet because it protected the principal part of the soldier’s body—his head.

As the helmet protected the principal part of the soldier’s body, so hope protects the principal part of our spiritual life—the soul.

Hope protects the soul from despair.

Despair is the opposite of hope.

It is the complete loss or absence of hope.

Despair doesn’t see a way forward.

It doesn’t see a reason to go on.

Despair is utter darkness.

It may come at us at any time.

We expect it to come on us during time of grief and loss, but it came upon Elijah after a great victory against the prophets of Baal on Mt.

Carmel.

Despair may come our way due to trials.

Our constant trials may lead us to think that our trials will always be constant.

The constant trials of others—others that we love—may lead us to conclude that their trials will always be constant.

Despair may come our way due to temptations.

We are barraged by temptations and despair would have us believe that we will always be barraged by temptations.

Sometimes we give in to temptation, and despair whispers to us, “You will always give in.”

Despair may come our way due to terror, to persecution.

[ILLUS] Yesterday I was reading about Christians in Pakistan in a recent issue of The Voice of the Martyrs magazine.

It said, “Roughly four million Christians live in Pakistan, but they compose less than 2% of the country’s population.

Pakistani Christians face daily oppression, discrimination, and persecution from radical Muslims.”

It said, “Christians in Pakistan live under continual pressure, enduring frequent threats and the ever-present possibility of attack.”

The issue cited examples like that of a Christian man who was born into indentured servitude, forced to pay off the debts of his parents in a brick kiln.

After he took a coworker to church, the owner of the brick kiln started to beat him.

That treatment continued even after he was sold to another brick kiln owner.

Or take the example of two Christian young women in Pakistan who were asked by a coworker about Jesus.

They told her about Jesus but then were accused of breaking Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

They were beaten for refusing to renounce their faith in Christ, and only after overpowering a guard where they able to escape to safety.

A few months ago, a church leader was murdered when ambushed after leaving a worship service.

In 2013, suicide bombers denoted their explosive devices in a church service murdering 120 people and injuring 250 others.

It’d be easy to despair living under that sort of terror—that sort of persecution—but often these brothers and sisters are full of hope because their souls are protected by the helmet of salvation.

[APP] Romans 8:24-25 says…

That’s what persecution Christians in Pakistan are doing, waiting eagerly for what they do not see with perseverance.