Equipped for Battle: The Helmet of Salvation

I'm going to ask our ushers to go ahead and come forward this morning. And while they're coming up, during prayer and reflection this morning, I'm going to be discussing what we've been discussing in our sermon for the last several weeks. We've been talking about the armor of God. And for the ones that were here a couple weeks ago, you may remember that I told you about getting placed one Friday in a school with an officer that I wasn't normally with. And I happened to look and he had those challenge coins, which are like police coins. And one of them was the armor of God. [00:03:54]

And I told you about how those moments, as much as we want to call them a coincidence, they're anything but that. That's not a coincidence. They're moments that God uses to show that He's in control of all. Well, on Wednesday nights, there's a man that comes, and he's very sporadic because he only can come when he's in town, and that doesn't happen very often for him. And when he comes, he usually will bring me just a small little something, like a little trinket or something that's Christian related. [00:04:31]

And this man walks in, hands me this, the same one that the officer had in his collection. And on the coin on one side, it says Ephesians 6, 13 through 17 on the bottom. And on the top, it has the words, put on the armor of God. And the back of the coin has the pieces listed. And what I want to do is I want to read some scripture that's found in Romans to remind myself and all of you that when it comes to situations like this, that man, God's in control. [00:05:18]

Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who became his counselor or who has first given to him, that it would be paid back to him for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. [00:06:09]

And today that's what we will be speaking on. If we go to Ephesians 6, of course, this is part five of six in our sermon series. So we've got one more week after this. But if we go to Ephesians 6 and we begin with verse 10, it says, Finally, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist on the evil day and having done everything, to stand firm. [00:17:42]

Stand firm, therefore, having belted your waist with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having strapped on your feet 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. [00:18:33]

And wouldn't you know it, like I've been doing, I typically go to good old Webster's Dictionary, and I will define the word based on what Webster's says about the word first, and then we will define it based on what the Bible says. And wouldn't you know it for the first time, Webster's Dictionary gives us really a biblical definition, not that the other definitions didn't coincide, but the first listed definition for salvation in Webster's Dictionary is deliverance from the power and effects of sin. [00:19:42]

As we discuss liberation from ignorance or illusion in a worldly context, someone would use the word salvation in a way to move out of an area of foolishness into an area of enlightenment. An example sentence would be, I thought that I was vegan, but bacon was my salvation. That moves us out of ignorance into enlightenment. If you're a vegan out there, I apologize, but that's Bryant's view of how things are when it comes to that. [00:21:00]

And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to his house because he too is a son of Abraham. Acts 4 .12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. And Romans 1 .16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. [00:23:30]

We needed someone to save us from ourselves. And it was through a perfect Savior that came to offer us this salvation that saves us from the destruction of sin, but also that liberated us from this and also preserves us in the future. That is the whole picture of salvation, and it is all done through Jesus Christ. And what an incredible thing that is this morning. [00:27:12]

Romans 12, be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. One of my favorite verses, when we come to Christ we are a new creature. Old things pass away, behold all things become new. And the book of Colossians tells us to set our mind to things above, not on things of this world. Because the fact of the matter is this, when salvation comes to you, when it comes, when you accept Jesus Christ as that Savior that has saved you, that has delivered you, that has delivered you, that has liberated you, that has kept you and is going to keep you, salvation literally changes your mind. [00:34:49]

The saving of us from our sins, the liberation, the perseverance, the preserving that comes through salvation changes our mind from things that we once had to now having crossed things on our mind. And that is where our mind should stay. It should stay on those crossed things. Salvation is what keeps our mind on godly things. No other things. No other things. Last thing is said by the old games. [00:35:43]