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Jonathan Prater

Armor of God • Sermon • Submitted 8 months ago • Presented 8 months ago

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

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NFL investment into helmet research

In 2016 the NFL invested $100m into helmet research and concussion safety.

The Helmet

The battle helmet of the first few centuries was quite primitive compared to the helmets we see today. In the best situations is was light metal that had been beaten into shape by a hammer to conform to a soldiers head. For armies with less resources it was likely leather straps with pieces of metal strapped to it to protect the most vulnerable places of the head. Some gladiators would have forms of face masks that came down to protect them, but that was far from standard. And the bristles that were on the top that we see depicted in lots of things were a way to denote rank in the army.

Helmets were essential parts of the armor for a soldier; because they learned quickly that no matter how much they protected the body- one blow to the head could kill a solider instantly. In fact, these helmets were so primitive that even with them on a blow from a sword could still kill a solider in the right circumstance.

Salvation

Paul’s exhortation to us is that we put in the helmet of salvation. Now, let’s unpack that for a moment; because this might be a little deeper than the surface reading would present. On the surface we could read this and say- helmet of salvation- got it, I have been saved. I gave my life to Jesus at youth camp when I was a teenager; or I came to the altar and said the sinner’s prayer when I was in college; or I asked Jesus to be my savior a few years back.

But Paul might not be talking about the moment you were saved- he might be talking about something a bit different.

Now, this could be a whole other sermon in itself, but I am going to skim the surface for a moment. The Bible actually talks about salvation in three ways- past, present, and future.

Your past salvation is the day that you were saved. Passages like Romans 10:13 tells us that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”

Your present salvation is the work God is doing in you right now to save you. 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Your future salvation is what you will experience when you pass from this life to the next. Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

It seems to me like when Paul is talking about the helmet of salvation he is talking about the second and third kinds of salvation.

We are given the helmet on the day we are saved- but from there on out it is a choice to put it on and use it to protect us.

Putting on the Helmet

1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

I love this verse and how Paul attaches the word hope to the helmet of salvation.

You know what I don’t really think about----my home insurance policy. It is a really important document, but I don’t refer to it daily, or even weekly, or annually for that matter. In fact, I cannot tell you with any honesty that I have reviewed the policy since the day we signed it. You know when we typically use our homeowners insurance? When something is wrong.

I think we Christians can treat our salvation like that- file it away for judgement day. We can live in a way that does not require us to be mindful of our salvation. In fact, churches are full of people who have asked to be saved, but are not living as saved people. They have experienced salvation in the past tense, but they are not living into their salvation present tense, which can drastically impact their future tense.

We put on our helmets when we decided to make our salvation an active part of our lives. When we allow the hope and the purpose of salvation to be an integral part of our lives.

This is an exercise of hope- allowing the good and perfect work of Jesus on the cross to saturate our lives, even when things are not going the way that we want or plan.

Protecting our minds

Friends, we have been talking about the kind of war that we are in as Christians and that we have a very real enemy in Satan. We have talked about how he will try and dilute the truth; attempt to tell you lies about who you are; he will throw arrows at the things that you hold dear and precious- and today we see that he will attack our minds.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Peter tells us that because our enemy is looking to devour us we need to be sober-minded; the Greek word Nepho which means “well balanced; of sound judgement; or the absence of wine”

People who are drunk make bad judgements and have no sense of balance. They are impaired and because of that they make self-destructive decisions. If Satan can disorient us to the things of God- if he can fill our minds with lies, doubt, and sin then we are much easier to pick off.

You know what else feels like drunkeness? A concussion. Anyone else had a concussion? It is dehabilitating.

And you know what a concussion is, right? It is when someone gets hit in the head so hard that their brain shakes and bounces off the skull hard enough to bruise it.

Can I ask- do you have a spiritual concussion today? Have you allowed Satan to hit you on the head so hard you are disoriented about the things of God today?

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

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