Sermon, Fifth Sunday of Lent, Helmet and Sword

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Today, on this the fifth Sunday of Lent, we continue our series on the spiritual armor God has given us to wage successful battle against our supernatural enemy. And so, we turn once again to the sixth chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Christians at Ephesus:

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph 6:13-17)

We’ve looked these past several weeks at various pieces of the supernatural armor. Today we turn our attention to the soldier’s helmet and his sword.

The Roman soldiers’ helmets were made of metal, though poorer soldiers may have had leather helmets fortified with pieces of metal. The most obvious value of the helmet was to protect against blows to the head.

No soldier would willingly go into battle without a helmet. If his head was badly injured, the rest of the armor would be of little use. Likewise, it ought to be equally unthinkable for the Christian to engage in this spiritual warfare without our helmet of salvation. Our supernatural helmet protects our mind against any demonic-driven lies that would disorient, discourage, or deceive the Christian.

That’s why Paul wrote to the church at Rome: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

As we let Scripture interpret Scripture, notice Paul’s use of the term, ‘helmet’ in 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9: “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In this Thessalonian text, Paul refers to the helmet as “the hope of salvation.” Let me again remind you, the Greek word, elpis (el-peace) is not defined as a ‘maybe’ hope – like saying, “I hope it won't rain next Saturday,” or, “I hope I get that promotion.”

The way Paul and other New Testament writers use the word is to speak of something much more definite than a wishful hope. One of the more common NT uses of the Greek word means a ‘joyful and confident expectation’ that something either WILL occur – because God promised it would happen.

And so, the word ‘hope’ as used here in 1 Thessalonians conveys a certainty, an unquenchable confidence in God’s promise of salvation to all who believe and obey Jesus.

 

The New Living Translation recognizes the nuance of elpis when it translates 1 Thessalonians 5:8: “But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.”

 

Did you catch that? “The confidence of our salvation” is our helmet, a head covering stronger than the steel ones worn by soldiers on the battlefield. Our supernatural helmet Paul speaks of in Ephesians is our protection against all the flaming arrows of the evil one. It shields us from his seductive lies that whisper, “You never can know of your salvation until you die.”

 

By the way, do you notice how the helmet of the confident expectation of our salvation is similar to the shield of faith we talked about a week or so ago, how it ALSO wards off the blows of the enemy?

 

The sandals for our feet which bring good news to the John Lennons of the world, combined with the helmet and the shield, because we cannot share the hope of salvation with others if we ourselves do not have that confident expectation that God will do for us as He promised.

 

I do not understand the Christian who is unsure of his or her salvation. I know of many Christians who say we can’t know we are saved until we die and stand before the Lord. And we certainly can't be sure of the salvation of anyone else until we see them in heaven (if we ourselves get there).

 

I can’t imagine living my life with Christ without trusting God’s word that assures me of my salvation as I follow Him in obedient faith. If I can't trust THAT promise, then what else in Scripture can I not trust?

 

Christian! Put on that helmet of the expectant hope of heaven. Here are only a few Biblical promises in which every follower of Christ can place utter confidence.

 

By the way, before we go on, let me draw your attention to the operative word in my last statement – every ‘follower of Christ’ can place utter confidence in God’s promises.  A follower of Christ is one who seeks every day, and in every situation, to obey God’s word regarding faith and morals. If God’s word says something is sin, then it is sinful, regardless of how WE feel about it, or what Ph.Ds and Th.Ds, and the rest of the cultural says about it.

 

So, follower of Christ, here are only a handful of God’s sacred promises to you concerning your salvation. And as you listen, pay close attention to the verb tenses in these following texts.

 

1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (present tense)

 

John 5:24 (Jesus is speaking) “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation but has passed from death to life.” (present tense)

 

John 20:30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (present tense)

 

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (In other words, believe the Scriptures and not people) . . .  [For] in Him you have been made complete . . . having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him . . .[and] When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions. (Present tense)

 

I could spend the next hour quoting one promise after another after another in which God assures everyone who believes and obeys Jesus Christ that we HAVE eternal life. Heaven is our destiny.  So, why do we let anyone or anything cloud our minds with half-truths and ‘what-ifs’ that rob us of the joy of our salvation?

That’s what the helmet of salvation (and the shield of faith) is all about. In a physical world where nothing is permanent, God’s promise of salvation made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ never fades away. That promise represents stability in an unstable world. It gives hope in the worst of circumstances, enabling us to fight against despair and discouragement!

The assurance of salvation is our impenetrable defense against anything the enemy throws at us. If you believe the good news, the gospel message of our Lord Jesus Christ, if you obey Him who is God from God, Light from light, true God from true God, begotten – not made – and consubstantial, or

of the same essence as the Father, then your name IS WRITTEN right now in the Book of Life.

 

Those are not my words. Not my opinion. Those are the clear words of the God Himself. But if we do not believe the Scriptures, then no wonder we will worry about our salvation.

 

So, now with our helmet securely fastened, let’s pick up the next piece of our armor. Here is how Paul writes it: Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (6:17)

 

Here is Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

 

Each piece of the Roman soldier’s armor was designed for defense – except for his sword. The sword was the soldier’s offensive weapon.

 

Likewise, each piece of the Christian’s armor is designed for defense – except for the sword of the spirit, which is the eternal, infallible, unfailing, and transcendent Word of God – and which is not subject to any cultural or political power. God gives the sword of the Spirit to the Christian as an offensive weapon to be used in our supernatural battle against our supernatural enemy.

 

You will please remember during the Lord’s 40-day temptation in the wilderness, Jesus employed the Word of God at each of Satan’s challenges. And so, for you and me as well, the Scriptures are the bedrock of the truth with which we gird our loins. They are the strength of our shield with which we stave off the fiery arrows of the enemy. The Bible is the vitality of our breastplate of righteousness which God imputes to us by His grace. It is the impenetrable material that forms our helmet, and it is the energy behind the reason we shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace we bring to others.

 

Listen to these words of God:

 

“You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (1 Timothy 3:14-17)

 

Psalm 119:9-12 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; Teach me Your statutes.”

 

The strength and integrity of the Christian's spiritual armor is rooted uncompromisingly in God's word. That is why in the spiritual battles we face each day, it is critical to examine every philosophy, every thought, every idea under the light of Scripture and the historic teaching of the church dating to the first century. There is too much at stake to be sloppy or casual about our spiritual armor.

 

Every combat soldier knows that before an attack, commanders try to deceive the other side about his movements and plans. And in this spiritual warfare, Satan is master at deception. And because Satan knows how critical God's word is for the Christian, he tries relentlessly to diminish its authority and its influence in our lives.

 

One of his tactics is to introduce droplets of his toxins - not obvious errors, but pinhead seeds of doubt with which he tries to render the Scripture, by degrees, impotent in our lives. You may have read some of these subtle lies in magazines and books, or heard them promulgated in movies, the workplace – and even in some churches. For example:                   

 

- The Bible is a compilation of moral stories, but certainly it is not the inerrant and infallible word of God.  

 

- Because the stories were copied time after time through the centuries, significant errors are sure to have occurred over the millennia.

 

- There are no absolutes upon which we may anchor our actions. Everything is relative.

 

- The Bible addresses the problems facing today’s people with archaic and uselessly outdated methods.

 

- What was considered sin in Bible days was rooted in the ignorance of a nomadic and intolerant people. Twenty-first century humanity is far more knowledgeable and tolerant about what should be considered wrong.

 

Christian! Do not be ignorant of the devil’s strategies!

 

So, this afternoon we looked at two more elements of our spiritual armor – the helmet and sword. The helmet guards our mind from lies that can steal the joy of our assurance of salvation, and the sword is our offensive weapon that we must use to defend our souls and the souls of those God brings across our paths. Next week we will conclude this series on our spiritual armor with an examination of prayer.