Besides a helmet of salvation, you should be bringing ALL of the right equipment…
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 10-18, he says:
(6:10) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (18) praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints (NKJV)
Your Equipment Checklist:
- A Belt (to gird your waist with truth)
- Shoulderpads (your breastplate of righteousness)
- Football cleats (so your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace)
- Other pads (your shield of faith)
- A Helmet (with lots of Salvation stickers)
- Playbook (the sword of the Spirit… God’s word)
What happens in football if you don’t have a belt on? You won’t be running very far. Likewise, you won’t get very far without sincerity and truthfulness… gird your waist with truth.
What about this breastplate of righteousness? Well, much like shoulderpads, the breastplate was usually a tough, sleeveless piece of leather or heavy material with animal horn or hoof pieces sewn on, covering the soldier’s full torso, protecting his heart and other vital organs. The bible tells us repeatedly that we should guard our hearts… remain holy… so you’d better have your shoulderpads.
What would happen if Darren McFadden (to my readers… I often refer to Arkansas Razorbacks players as if you know who I am talking about… sorry about that!) were to wear bowling shoes in tomorrow’s big game? He would probably have a pretty difficult time getting much traction and his feet would probably often slip out from underneath him. That’s why football players wear cleats. Did you know that Roman soldiers did the same thing? The boots that they wore in battle would have nails in them to grip the ground. The gospel of peace means that we, as believers, are at peace with God… this gives us strength to stand firm… we are wearing cleats!
The Greek word thurÄ•ÅÂs (θÃ…ÃÂεÃŒÂ) means a large shield (door-shaped). This is the Greek word used in verse 16… the shield of faith… the thurÄ•ÅÂs of faith was big. It wasn’t some small thing that you would have to move in order to block a part of you. It would cover your whole body… that’s what we want from our other pads… full body coverage… if you’re anything like me, you might want a little extra… so you could sneak off and get some Charmin and stuff it in all the vulnerable spots. But we want this thurÄ•ÅÂs to cover our whole body… we want a faith that encompasses all of us so that we will be protected from the fiery darts of temptation that Satan will use. Put on your other pads… hold up your shield.
We’ve already talked about our helmet’s stickers, but the purpose of the helmet is to protect the head, right? Now, my parents didn’t think to put a helmet on me when I was a child and that’s probably why I’m the way that I am today. Satan wants to attack our heads… he wants to confuse us… put a little doubt and a lot of discouragement into our heads. But Jesus said in John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.†So, the bible tells us that our salvation cannot be taken from us. That doesn’t mean that Satan won’t try to make us think that it can… he certainly will, but we have security with our helmet of salvation.
Our playbook, the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me, is our sword. Perhaps a better term, though, is our dagger. The Greek word for sword used in verse 16 is actually translated more closely as a knife. Now, this is significant because a sword is usually used for aggression and sometimes for defense while the dagger is usually used for defense and sometimes for aggression. Notice that all of our other items here are used for defense. We aren’t called to attack Satan… we are called to withstand Satan’s attacks by using the word of God.
What are you bringing to the game? You need to make sure you have all the right equipment!
[tags]football, Arkansas, Razorbacks, equipment, football sermon, belt, shoulderpads, cleats, helmet, playbook, bible, sword, Greek, armor of God, breastplate, Darren McFadden[/tags]
