Tony Evans — The Helmet of Salvation
Well, greetings, friends. Tony Evans here with "The Urban Alternative," and if you've been tracking with us, you know we're dealing with Ephesians . We're dealing with the armor of God. And we're dealing with your spiritual battles, and how to have victory using God's armor. We want you to dress for spiritual success.
And today we're gonna deal with the helmet of salvation. And you know, the helmet covers your head. What's in your head is your brain. And what the brain does is communicate what comes from the mind. And I said a whole lot just then. But we gonna break that down in just a moment as we talk about the helmet of salvation. 'Cause salvation means "to be delivered." And all of us need to be delivered from somethin', through somethin', to something. Let's find out what this helmet does, and what deliverance takes place because of it.
Today we have reached the point in verse where we're told to, "Take the helmet of salvation." Paul's point is to stand firm in what Christ has already done, as opposed trying to go out and do something yourself. He says that, "Victory in the visible world is tied to victory in the invisible world."
He declares that one of the things that will give us victory is what we wear on our head, the helmet of salvation. The helmet that somebody wears is placed over the head. The reason that the helmet is placed over the head is to protect from brain injury.
A football player wears a helmet to absorb shock so that the brain is not damaged. Because the understanding is that if the brain is damaged, bodily function is impeded. He uses this physical concept of a helmet to drive home a spiritual point of spiritual victory. He says, "You are to put on the helmet of salvation."
Because what the brain is to the body, the mind is to the soul. Just as the brain is the control center for the functioning of the body, the mind is the control center for the functioning of the soul.
The mind is a spiritual expression for what the brain does with the body, it deals with your soul. And as we've explained, your soul governs your body. So, what the body does is influenced by the soul. Just as the body is controlled by the brain, the soul is controlled by the mind. So if I want my body to go right, my brain must think that way. If I want my soul to go right, so that I tell my body to right, my mind must think that way.
He says, "The brain, or the mind, must be protected to absorb the shocks of being hit in the spiritual realm by the enemy." Paul says that, "In this battle, we are to put on a helmet."
A helmet, spiritually speaking, to govern the mind. The problem of victory or defeat is tied to proper programming. If the mind, the spiritual expression of the brain, is improperly programmed, if it has bad information, then it will function improperly.
In other words, if you're thinking wrong, you're gonna be wrong. If your perspective is errant, if your mind-set is flawed, then your function will be flawed based on flawed thinking. That's why the only way you can consistently change your action is changing your thought. If the thought is wrong, the wrong action will inevitably follow, unless you're forced not to do it, unless you're being coerced.
The enemy is attacking us. God wants us to put on a helmet so he can speak some stuff in our minds, 'cause he sits high, and he looks low. He can see the field of life better than we can. He can examine it better than we can. Without proper information, proper programming, the head, the helmet, there will be errant, false, faulty life without the right information.
The Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves were freed. But we all know from history it's one thing to have somethin' on paper saying, "You are freed," when you can legally be freed but not functionally free. That's why we can sing songs in church about bein' free, freed by what Jesus has accomplished, but not living a life of freedom.
'Cause either we didn't get the information, or the information we got is not being utilized properly. We don't have on our helmet. You and I act based on our self-perception. In other words, how you perceive yourself is how you will function. So if you perceive yourself a certain way, even though it's wrong, as long as it's real to you, you will function based on your self-perception.
I'm going somewhere with this, stick with me. If you have a faulty mind, self-perception about you, you're gonna function in a faulty way. And you will function in a way that is real while being really wrong.