Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
Listen to the sermon at SermonAudio.com website:
Part 5 of The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God
Christian in the Complete Armour
5. HELMET OF SALVATION
Text: Ephesians 6:17a
And take the helmet of salvation…Introduction
True Christianity is not about health and wealth and love and laughter. The True Christian does not waltz or dance his way to heaven. The reality is that the true Christian will have to fight a good fight and ran an agonising race if he is to enter into heaven. This is a fact that is taught over and over in the Scripture. The true Christian life is one that involves an intense Christian warfare.
The nominal Christian is largely unaware of this warfare apart from some superstitious notions that he may have. But the true Christian will fight valiantly because the Spirit of Christ in them in at enmity against the world and the principles of the world.
But this battle is intense; and the temptations are strong for the devil is a very cunning foe. Therefore the apostle Paul, as he wraps up his letter to the Ephesians, teaches us to put on the full armour of God in order that we might resist the attacks of the wicked one.
We have begun to learn about various parts of the armour that is available to us. We have considered the BELT of truth. We saw that this belt symbolises everything to do with the truth.
Objectively it refers to the truth of the Gospel which we must hold on tenaciously. Subjectively, we must gird ourselves with honesty, faithfulness, and integrity. Unless we know the truth and are truthful, we shall easily fall prey to the temptation of the devil to fight on his side. For Satan is the father of lies.
We have also considered the breastplate or THORAX of righteousness. We saw that the breastplate of righteousness has two parts. One part of it refers to Christ’s imputed righteousness, and the other part refers to Christ’s imparted righteousness. We must make sure that we are assured of our justification in Christ and we must live holy lives in response to the work of sanctification of the Spirit of Christ.
We considered how we must put on the SHOES of the preparation the Gospel of peace. Though the war that we fight is a defensive war, we must be ever ready to move out not only to answer the queries of anyone who ask us of a reason for our faith, but also to present the Gospel to the lost.
We have looked at the SHIELD of faith. We saw that faith is the first level of defence against the temptations that the wicked one will hurl in our direction.
The Lord helping we must now look at our head protection: the HELMET of salvation. Let’s consider the Helmet of Salvation under 6 points:
1. Helmets Protect the Head
2. Even a Child knows that the Head is the Mind in the Spiritual War.
3. Lucifer wants your Mind, but the Hope of Salvation will Prevent Him.
4. Making Diligent Use of the Means of Grace is a way of Maintaining the Helmet.
5. Encouragements through Godly Fellowship will also toughen the Helmet
6. Taking the Helmet of Salvation is Simply to Stand Confident in Christ when Satan Cast Doubts.
1. Helmets Protect the Head
We are all familiar with helmets. Our children wear them when they are cycling, or at least when they first learn cycling. Motorcyclists are required to wear helmets by law because it has been proven over and over again through statistical studies that the probability of dying in an accident is much higher for a motorcyclist who is not helmeted compared to one who is helmeted.
The fact is: Although our skull is hard, injuries on the head is often more fatal than injuries elsewhere on the body.
This is why soldiers from ancient time to modern times wore helmets. The Roman soldiers that Paul was familiar with would wear helmets made of iron, bronze or brass. Many such helmets have been discovered which had the soldier’s name and the name of his centurion scratched or punched onto it as a mark of ownership.
The soldiers were proud of their helmets—especially those that had a big bushy crest fitted to it.
But there is a difference between owning a helmet and wearing it. Many soldiers do not like to wear their helmet because it is hot and heavy. Well, the modern helmets are not so bad, but ten years ago when I was in the reservist, the helmets were still very heavy and bulky and soldiers hate to wear them. Very often the soldier have to be compelled to wear them.
But do you notice from the photographs of soldiers who are at the frontline fighting a war, that they always have their helmets on? Do you know why? It is because the bullets and shrapnel are flying all over.
When the soldier is aware of the dangers all around, he will put on his helmet! There is a difference between owning a helmet and wearing one. The soldier who refuse to wear his helmet will often realise too late how foolish he had been.
So when Paul commands us to take the helmet, he is not telling us to carry it around, but to put it on… just as Isaiah speaks of the Lord putting on the helmet of salvation on his head (cf. Isa 59:17)
But now note secondly, that …
2. Even a Child knows that the Head is the Mind in the Spiritual War
Remember that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Eph 6:12). The battle is a spiritual one, and therefore, Paul is not talking about the physical head that sits upon our shoulder. What then does Paul mean by referring to the helmet? Well, I believe we don’t need a theologian to tell us the answer.
Even a child can understand that Paul must be thinking about our mind. In the spiritual war, it is the mind, not the literal head that needs protection.
Just as the metal helmet protects the Roman soldier’s head, Paul wants us to make sure our mind is protected by a spiritual helmet. We must protect our minds from the assaults of the wicked one.
Satan, we must realise, will always focus his attacks on our minds. When he tempted Eve with the words, “Hath God said?” He was attacking her mind and making her doubt. Satan cannot force us to sin but he can persuade us to sin. He persuades us by attacking our minds… for our mind is the command centre of our soul. It is our mind which decides whether we would resist temptation or give in to temptation.
Once Satan has control of our mind, we become his willing salves; and we begin to fight his battle.
This is why Paul wants us to protect our mind. How must we protect our mind? For this consider our third point:
3. Lucifer wants Your Mind, but the Hope of Salvation Prevents Him
“And take the helmet of salvation” says Paul. We must put on the helmet of salvation. Salvation must protect our mind.
But how does salvation protects our mind? Well, Paul makes it clear elsewhere that it is the hope of our salvation and not just salvation itself that protects our minds. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:8—
“But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Th 5:8).
That is: the hope, which has our salvation as its object is our helmet.
How does the hope of our salvation protect our mind? Well, the first thing we must realise is that unless we are sure of our salvation, we have lost the major part of the battle. For how are we going to fight the battle if we have no assurance that we belong to the Lord? Satan wants us to doubt that we really belong to Christ because He knows that we would have no reason to be obedient to God to live holy lives if we do not belong to Christ!
In the first place, if you do not believe that the King loves you, will you fight for Him? You know that by nature, you are at enmity with God. So you know also that if you are not saved, you will face the wrath of God. If Satan can somehow persuade you that it is pointless for you to try to enter the kingdom of God, will you still try?
In the second place, if you are fighting in an intense battle and suffering much losses, will you still fight on if you have no confidence that you will win? Will you not rather cut lost? This is why the Lord in teaching us to count of costs says:
“What king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” (Lk 14:31).
So one of the things that Satan will always try to do is to attack our minds by making us doubt our salvation. He will tempt us to despair and rob us of our hope so that we give up the fight.
Most of us would be familiar with the devises of the devil.
He will come to you, and as it were, whisper in your ear:
• You are not for real aren’t you? You don’t really believe. You just say you believe to gain the approval of man.
• Look at yourself: You are a hypocrite. You do God’s command only when there is someone watching you. You don’t really care about pleasing God?
• Why continue to pretend? Why not be honest? Why not do yourself a favour and free yourself from this bondage?
• Why bother to fight or to please the Lord when He is going to cast you into hell anyway.
• Why bother to keep the commandments of God?
Now, sometime, the Holy Spirit speaking through our conscience will make us examine ourselves in such a way that we grieve at our hypocrisy. But the Holy Spirit will always draw us back to the Lord. He calls us to repent. He calls us to return to the old path. He calls us to depend on the Lord and to rest in Him.
Not so the devil. The devil will make us doubt our salvation. He will rob us of our comfort. He will suggest to us to leave the Lord. He will tempt us to give up the faith. He wants us to surrender to him.
The apostle Paul is warning us against the devices of the devil. He wants us to take and put on the helmet of salvation. He wants us to make use of the hope of salvation that the Scripture give us warrant to have to defend ourselves against the head blows of the wicked one.
He wants us stand firmly assured that we belong to Christ, so that we may keep trusting and rejoicing in the Lord and so that at the end of our Christian race, when we have fought a good fight, we will receive a crown of victory and glory. In this way, we will be kept from giving in to the devices of the wicked one to sin against the Lord.
We must put on the helmet of salvation. But how?
Well, in the first place…
4. Making Diligent Use of the Means of Grace is a way of Maintaining the Helmet.
To put on the helmet of salvation, you need to be sure of yours salvation. But before you talk about your sense of salvation, or the assurance of sense, you need to talk about your actual salvation.
Now, you are saved by grace through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t do anything about it. You can only take or put on the helmet of salvation if you are truly save, i.e. you are a true Christian.
If you are not truly saved, then you do not have the helmet of salvation. Then, it would be meaningless for you to consider how you may take up the helmet of salvation. If that is the case, what you need to do is really to repent of your sin and hardness of heart, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. You need to revisit the Gospel. You need to consider why you need salvation. You need to flee from the wrath to come and rest in Christ for salvation. Only after you are born again and converted will you have the armour of God. Indeed, only if you are born again will you have to fight any real battles!
When the apostle Paul says, “take the helmet of salvation” he is speaking specifically to all who are saved. And we have a warrant in Scripture to regard those who have the sign and seal of the covenant as believers—even though it is possible that in the church there is likely to be wheat and tares, good and bad fishes, sheep and goats, and wise and foolish virgins.
So this morning, I am speaking to you, brethren and children, as those who are saved. I am going to assume that you have a helmet of salvation. But I know that your helmets are not all in good condition. Some of you have battle-worn helmets with cracks and holes here and there. Some of you have helmets that are so thin that a stone thrown from a distance will penetrate it.
So what must you do? You must maintain your helmet if you are going to use it effectively. How to maintain your helmet? Well, by no other way than by making use of the means of grace or the means of salvation: prayer, the word, and the sacraments.
In our shorter catechism, question 88, we ask:
WSC 88. What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of Redemption?
A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of Redemption, are HIS ORDINANCES, especially the Word, Sacraments, and Prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.
Now, take note that these means will not save you if you are still in the bondage of iniquity. But if you are a child of God, they are the means to strengthen you in the grace of the Lord. They are the means for you to work out your salvation. They are the means for you to maintain your helmet of salvation.
For example, the more you know of the word of God, and are convinced of the word of God through prayerful reflection, the stronger will be your mind in regards to your position in Christ.
Beloved brethren, youths and children, as the soldier must make sure that his helmet is in a good condition if he wants protection from the enemy, so you must maintain your spiritual helmet by making use of the means of salvation.
But now, secondly, note that …
5. Encouragements through Godly Fellowship will also toughen the Helmet
Remember that the Christian must not walk nor fight alone. We must fight alongside our brethren in the Lord as members of the army of Christ. In an army, it is essential for us to encourage one another in battles that we encounter. For this reason, the Scripture speaks often of the importance of mutual encouragement.
So the Word of God teaches us that we should bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2); we should teach and admonish one another through congregational singing (Col 3:16); we should comfort one another with words of assurance regarding the return of the Lord (1Th 4:18); we should exhort one another daily lest we be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13); and we should consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works (Heb 10:24); etc.
What is the purpose of all these exercises? The purpose is to build one another up in the most holy faith (Jude 1:20). Or in other words, it to help one another grow in saving graces.
A Christian who is walking alone and fighting the spiritual battle alone will easily fall into the temptations of the wicked gone, and begin to backslide or even be persuaded by the devil to leave the way of the Lord for a season.
This is why the apostle to the Hebrews exhorts us “[not to forsake] the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but [to exhort] one another: and so much the more, as [we] see the day approaching” (Heb 10:25).
The fact is: Without mutual encouragement by fellow believers, we will easily fall pray to the wicked one to give up the fight.
Therefore, if we are to make use of the helmet of salvation, it is essential that we avail ourselves to godly Christian fellowship to the end that we may be encourage to persevere on in our salvation.
But finally, in order that you may take the helmet of salvation, you must understand that:
6. Taking the Helmet of Salvation is Simply to Stand Confident in Christ when Satan Cast Doubts.
Remember that your spiritual helmet is really your hope of salvation. Therefore to take or to wear the helmet of salvation is simply to stand confident in Christ as you face the assaults of the wicked one to make you doubt your salvation.
Now, in a certain sense, if you are strongly assured of your salvation, or you are firmly convicted that you belong to Christ, then nothing that Satan says is going to move you. Your helmet of salvation will protect you.
But now, we must remember also that it is a fact that this hope or assurance of salvation can, as our Confession puts it, be in “divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted” such as by negligence and sin (WCF 18.4).
Therefore, really in order to stand confident in the Lord in the face of Satanic attacks, it is essential for us to be prepared for his assaults. How may we be prepared? Well, not only by making use of the means and by Christian fellowship, but also by self-examination and self-resolutions.
The apostle Paul says:
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2Cor 13:5).
What is the purpose of self-examination? Not so that you may doubt your salvation! No, no, that would be to fall into the trap of Satan. And besides, you would hardly be bothered to do self-examination if you are not a true believer. Only a true believer will be bothered to honestly examine his faith to see if he is for real.
So self-examination when honestly carried out is rather for the purpose of strengthening one’s assurance of salvation.
How does that happen? Well, this happens in several ways:
In the first place, if you honestly examine yourself, then you will find areas in your life that are not befitting a saint. And if by the grace of God you work on these areas, then you are going to grow stronger as a believer and you will correspondingly increase in assurance of salvation. Or in other words, your helmet of salvation will be stronger and more effective.
In the second place, if you honestly examine yourself, and are dealing with your failures, then you will be prepared when the devil, the accuser of the brethren accuses you of hypocrisy. And he will accuse you if you are a true believer. Paul says: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Cor 10:31).
In the third place, if you examine yourself honestly, you will see the remarkable work that the Holy Spirit is doing in your heart, for you will notice that there are aspects of you that are not natural to you. You will see the fruit of the Spirit. You will see that the Lord has begun a good work in you, and in this way, your assurance of salvation will also be strengthened.
Now, remember that self-examination is only preparatory. It is like a drill that an army will do before the battle. When it comes to the battle, when Satan tempts you sore to doubt the Lord, it is the strength of your assurance and the grace of God that will sustain you.
And remember not to allow Satan to manipulate your mind and make you doubt your salvation. In the strength of assurance that the Lord has given you, remind yourself that Christ came to save sinners and that you are a sinner. Or look back to your baptism. If you were baptised in a true Church of Christ, you can look to the baptism as a sign and seal of Christ laid upon you. This sign and seal is not yours, it belongs to Christ and He has put it upon you because you belong to Him.
Whenever you are tempted to sin against God, remind yourself that you belong to Christ. Christ paid a great price for your redemption. Gratitude therefore demands that you love him and serve him.
And whenever you are tempted to doubt your salvation, go to the Lord in prayer, “Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.” Then remind yourself that Christ came to die for sinners. Remind yourself of what the Spirit of Christ has done for you. He has change your heart and made you believe and love the truth, has He not? By His work in your heart, you now find the law not grievous. He has enabled you to grow in grace, has He not? Then consider the testimony of the Spirit testifying that you are a child of God, enabling you to call unto Him as “Abba, Father” (see WCF 18).
Do this then, beloved brethren, when Satan would take advantage of painful situations in your life to tempt you to give up following the Lord. And the Lord will surely sustain you and bless you with joy and confidence that is immovable.
Conclusion
Beloved brethren, have you put on your helmet of salvation? Is your mind well-protected against the assaults of the wicked one?
Remember:
1. Helmets Protect the Head
2. Even a Child knows that the Head is the Mind in the Spiritual War.
3. Lucifer wants your Mind, but the Hope of Salvation will Prevent Him.
4. Making Diligent Use of the Means of Grace is a way of Maintaining the Helmet.
5. Encouragements through Godly Fellowship will also toughen the Helmet
6. Taking the Helmet of Salvation is Simply to Stand Confident in Christ when Satan cast Doubts.
May the Lord help us that our salvation may not be just an academic notion, but a hope that enables us to fight the spiritual battle against the wicked one until we receive that eternal reward from Christ our captain and king. Amen.
Sermon by Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
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