This morning, we continue our study of the armour of God.
Our study to date:
- Part one - Holy War
- Part two - The Enemy
- Part three - A Command
- Part four - When?
- Part five - The Belt of Truth
- Part six - The Breastplate of Righteousness
- Part seven - The Shoes
- Part eight - The Shield
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God.
Ephesians 6:17 NIV
Even today, the helmet is an essential part of any soldier's kit. Roman soldiers
were made of iron, bronze or brass depending on the unit, region and time. The
helmets consisted of a bowl (the round part that protects the top of the head,
a brow guard to protect the face from downward blows and cheek plate to protect
the sides of the face.
The helmets were both functional and ornamental. Some units had feathers or other
attachments of the top of the helmet. This has the advantage of not only looking
good, but also it made the soldiers seem taller and more intimidating to the enemy.
Many helmets had various crests attached to them that identified units, campaigns
fought in and more. The crests also made it more difficult for a blow to connect
with the face. Some soldiers also carved their own names and the name of their
centurion on the helmet to personalize it.
Putting on the helmet of salvation doesn't mean an intellectual assent to the
gospel message. It is recognition that much of the battle for our souls takes
place on the battlefield of the mind. That doesn't mean it's imaginary. It's very
real. The mind is simply the front where much of the battle takes place. Like
he does with fiery darts, Satan will work hard at distorting our way of thinking
to keep us from being effective in our faith.
We can be attacked by evil thoughts. Ever wonder where that decidedly inappropriate
thought came from in the middle of prayer, worship or an excellent sermon? It
comes from Satan trying to distract us.
Stan attacks us through the things we read, surf to on the computer, listen to,
watch on television or the movies and more. Any place he can get an ungodly image
in our thoughts, he'll do it. The hard part is once those images are in the mind
they don't go away. That's one of the dangers of pornography.
We need to don our salvation helmets. Holy Spirit indwells all who are saved.
With His help we can reduce the trash input into our brains and keep from dwelling
on what's already in there. With Holy Spirit's discernment we can eliminate much
of the threat directed at us. Putting on the helmet can thwart the best-laid plans
of the enemy.
Until next time, rejoice that the helmet of salvation can protect us.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed
Kevin
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