Ephesians: In The Lord's Army (3)
Notes
Transcript
The Belt and Breastplate
The Belt and Breastplate
The late philosophy professor, Allan Bloom, began his book, The Closing of the American Mind by saying:
“There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative.”
He goes on to point out that although these students may be varied in backgrounds and religious beliefs, they are unified in their allegiance to relativism and equality. The danger they fear from those who hold to absolute truth is not error, but intolerance. And tolerance is the supreme virtue that our educational system has been pushing for many decades.
Bloom says, “The point is not to correct the mistakes [of the past] and really be right; rather it is not to think you are right at all.” (Bloom)
Bloom was not a Christian. He could not be labeled a “fundamentalist.” He was a Jewish philosopher at a secular university who was pointing out the absurdity of intellectual relativism.
So, what is the problem with not wanting to except the idea of absolute truth?
When you disregard absolute truth, you are also discarding absolute standards of morality.
Many college students cannot bring themselves to say that the Holocaust was evil. A student said in Reader’s Digest “Of course I dislike the Nazis, but who is to say they are morally wrong?” (Readers Digest)
While these students deplore what Hitler did, they express their disapproval as a matter of personal preference, not as a moral judgment.
I wish that our cultural tolerance of sin and rejection of moral absolutes were only outside the church.
A study by George Barna in the early 1990’s showed that while only 28 percent of the general population expressed strong belief in absolute truth, among those who identified themselves as born-again evangelicals, the number dropped to 23 percent! (Dobson)
I am sure that number would be much worse now.
When the apostle Paul tells us how to stand firm against these evil spiritual forces, he lists six pieces of spiritual armor to put on in verses 14-17: the belt of truth; the breastplate of righteousness; the sandals of the preparation of the gospel of peace; the shield of faith; the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Eph. 6:14–17
Today I want to look at the first two pieces of the armor we are to put on:
The belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness.
These two pieces stand firmly opposed to the philosophical and moral relativism of our day, which is a mighty weapon of our Adversary.
The first thing you need to put on if you are going to withstand the enemy in this evil day,
Is….
1. The Belt of Truth
1. The Belt of Truth
For the Roman soldier, the girdle or belt was a leather apron-like piece that extended down to the thighs, protecting the lower abdomen and groin
This belt, also called a girdle, was about six inches wide.
Probably made of leather, it held together the clothing underneath as well as holding the other pieces of armor in place, such as the breastplate and the sheath for the sword.
It may have contained a “breechclout,” an apron that protected the groin.
It may have also braced the back in order to give strength.
When the belt was fastened, the soldier was “on duty,” ready to fight.
A slackened belt meant “off duty.”
Christians, however, must face each day with a fastened belt, ready to fight the battle when needed.
As the belt formed the foundation of the soldier’s armor, the truth is the foundation of the Christian life.
This “truth” refers to the believer’s character as a person who can be relied on for the truth and It refers to the truth of God’s Word and his message in the gospel.
If we could not be absolutely sure of our faith, if we were not sure that Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6), then there would be little use for the armor or in attempting to fight any battle.
God’s truth, as revealed to us through Jesus Christ, forms the foundation of victorious Christian living.
When the enemy, the father of lies (John 8:44), attacks with his lies, half-truths, and distortions, we believers can stand on the truth we believe.
Jesus prayed for his followers: (John 17:17 (Barton and Comfort)
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Paul is telling us that truth matters because it performs a crucial function in spiritual warfare. (Hughes).
It holds our spiritual armor in place and it safeguards against what Hodge calls religious spiderwebs. (Hodge)
As you know, the Book of Ephesians is structured on the idea that the objective truth of our position in Christ is the foundation for practical righteousness.
Chapters 1–3 set forth what God did for us when He saved us and placed us in Christ.
Chapters 4–6 then spell out how we must live in light of these truths.
We see this in how the word truth itself is used in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:13 (KJV 1900)
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
Ephesians 4:15 (KJV 1900)
But speaking the truth in love,
Ephesians 4:21 (KJV 1900)
as the truth is in Jesus:
Ephesians 4:25 (KJV 1900)
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
If we are going to stand in these evil days we must put on our Belt, but
before we can put on our belt of truth, we first need to answer a question:
What is truth?
What is truth?
Pilate asked Jesus this question, I think with a sneer in his voice. Jesus had said to him (
John 18:37 (KJV 1900)
To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Jesus’ assertion shows that there is an identifiable body of knowledge that may be labeled “the truth,” and that Jesus Himself testified to it.
While philosophers and theologians write volumes on the subject truth, I can only comment on what the scriptures say.
(1). The Sovereign is Truth
(1). The Sovereign is Truth
Webster 1828 Dictionary, defines truth as “conformity to fact or reality….”
Truth does not refer to our subjective perceptions of reality, but to what “really exists external to ourselves” (Tackett).
Since God is the only essential reality in the universe, He is truth and the standard for all truth.
Jesus referred to Him as “the only true God” (John 17:3).
If He is the only eternal, self-existent Being, then He is the truth, the only unchanging reality in the universe. He cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
(2). The Son is the Embodiment of God’s Truth.
(2). The Son is the Embodiment of God’s Truth.
John 1:14 states of Jesus,
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus said (John 14:6
John 14:6 (KJV 1900)
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus claimed that His reason for coming to this earth was to testify to the truth (John 18:37).
He claimed to speak the truth (John 8:45, 46).
He prayed (John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
So if we want to know the truth, we must come to know God through the One who was the embodiment of truth, Jesus Christ.
(3). The Holy Scripture is God’s revelation of truth.
(3). The Holy Scripture is God’s revelation of truth.
Jesus prayed (John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Paul referred to the Bible and its central message, the gospel, as “the word of truth”
(2 Tim. 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Clearly, God communicated the truth of His word in written form that it may be understood.
Therefore, any deviation from God’s Word is error or falsehood.
Some churches today rejects this and opt for a story-telling approach to the Bible. Some even say the Bible is just a guide and should be taken as such.
I hate that Joel Olsteen had to experience such a horrific thing the other week, but my prayer is that this has opened his eyes to something he has denied for years we are sinners and need a savior. He should get to preaching the gospel not just some Live your best life now message.
Long before the church latched onto postmodernism, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote
“The truth can be defined, it can be stated in propositions. That is what we find in these Epistles.
“It teaches clearly that you must therefore say that any other teaching is wrong and you must condemn it. The New Testament argues; the New Testament is controversial. The Apostle Paul uses very strong language. He says that some people ‘believe a lie’, that there are ‘false teachers’, and he warns people to flee from them.”
We must hold firmly to the idea of God and His Word as absolutely true in every culture and in every age.
So, Now that we know what truth is and how truth is perceived in todays culture, We need to know what we are to do with the truth we have.
How do we put on the belt of truth so that we can stand firm against the enemy?
How do we put on the belt of truth so that we can stand firm against the enemy?
As I already stated, the belt of truth refers both to the objective truth that God has revealed in His Word and to the truthfulness that must characterize us as believers.
So,
To stand firm against the enemy,
1. Gird Yourself With the Core Truths of the Gospel.
1. Gird Yourself With the Core Truths of the Gospel.
Paul writes (2 Cor. 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Paul continues in verse 6 that it is God that command the light to shine in our hearts, so that we would have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
If people get saved, it is because God opened their blind eyes.
If you have never been born again, you may think you have the truth but it most likly is a distroted view or you would have already come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
To order to put on the belt of truth, you must have been born again by God’s word of truth (James 1:18
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Can you say like the man who was born blind whom Jesus healed (John 9:25
John 9:25 (KJV 1900)
Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
Our Adversary, Satan, deceives unbelievers in many ways, but especially with regard to the gospel (2 Thess. 2:9–12).
If the enemy assails you with doubts, go back to the bedrock of the gospel:
Who is Jesus Christ?
Are His claims true?
Did He die for my sins according to the Scriptures?
Was He raised from the dead as the many New Testament witnesses testify?
Have I experienced the change from blindness to sight?
Our Christian walk dependent upon the putting on the new man, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth (4:21–24).
The truest thing about you is not what you feel.
It is not what others say or think about you.
The truest thing about you is what God says is true.
Can He call you His child?
While sincere believers differ over non-essential teachings, on the core truths of the gospel,
We must agree that
Jesus is the ONLY begotten Son of God
He came to earth born of a virgin
he lived as a man
he lived a sinless life
He died on a cross shedding His blood of the ransom of many
he was buried
on the third day he got up
he has ascended to heaven and is sitting at the right hand of His Father in heaven
we must agree on this or we are not Christians in a biblical sense of the word.
Next you must
2. Gird Yourself with Truthful Behavior.
2. Gird Yourself with Truthful Behavior.
In light of the truth of the new man in (Eph. 4:21–24), Paul applies it by commanding (Eph. 4:25
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
If we are not walking openly before God and truthfully with one another and our selves, the enemy has an opening to attack us.
If we practice lying and deception, not only do we erode trust, which is at the heart of close relationships.
We also join forces with Satan, who is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
As the belt gives strength and freedom of action, and therefore confidence, so does the truth when spiritually apprehended and believed.
Don’t even think that you are prepared to withstand the assaults of the powers of darkness, if your mind is filled with your own theories or speculations of others.
Nothing but the truth of God, clearly understood and embraced by the heart, will enable you to stand.
So, to stand firm against the enemy, we must gird ourselves in daily experience with the belt of truth: the truth of the gospel and truthful behavior.
The Second thing you need to put on if you are going to withstand the enemy in this evil day,
Is…
II. The Breastplate of Righteousness.
II. The Breastplate of Righteousness.
Again, commentators’ debate whether this refers to the imputed righteousness of Christ that we receive at salvation, or to the necessity of a righteous life.
I argue that it is both.
Paul uses righteousness in Eph 4:24 to refer to the new man that God has created when He saved us.
He uses it in Eph 5:9 to refer to righteous behavior, which includes all goodness and truth.
The breastplate on a Roman soldier is a picture of the righteousness we are to have
It covered the soldier from his neck to his waist, front and back.
it protected his heart and other vital organs.
In Hebrew thought, which to some extent Paul Im sure was writing with,
the heart represented the mind and will, and the bowels were the seat of the emotions.
So, the breastplate of righteousness protects the believer’s mind, will, and emotions, areas where Satan often attacks.
Therefore Put on the breastplate of righteousness!
What is righteousness?
What is righteousness?
“Righteousness is that attribute by which God’s nature is seen to be the eternally perfect standard of what is right” (Diehl)
For us, to be righteous is to be without guilt or moral culpability before God.
It also means to conform to God’s standard of holiness.
It is to be pure, just as Jesus is pure (1 John 3:3
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
It involves not just our outward behavior, but also being pure in our thoughts and attitudes
(Matt. 5:27–28; Mark 7:20–23; Ps. 51:6, 10, 16–17).
So, with that in mind,
How do we put on the breastplate of righteousness so that we can withstand the enemy?
How do we put on the breastplate of righteousness so that we can withstand the enemy?
To withstand the enemy,
(1) Put on the Imputed Righteousness of Jesus Christ.
(1) Put on the Imputed Righteousness of Jesus Christ.
If you are here this morning and have never accepted Christ as your savior, you cant put on the imputed righteousness of Christ because it has not been applied to your account.
You say, “You don’t know me preacher, Im a good person.”
God says other wise. Rom.3:10
WE are all born sinners in need of a savior.
That makes us all unrighteous and God says, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall all likewise perish.
The scribes and Pharisees lived by the letter of the law and yet they were full of dead mans bones.
If our righteousness has to exceed the Scribes and Pharisees and we are already dead in our trespasses and sins, what makes you, sir, ma’am, think you will make it to heaven by your works?
What makes you think you will make it to heaven by being a good person?
Paul tells us in Rom. 3:22-26
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Don’t wait come today. You don’t have to wait till the close of the message, it may be to late. Come now.
Now for us that are born again,
Paul made the astounding statement (2 Cor. 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He wrote (Rom. 4:5
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Phil. 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
The glorious truth is that we stand before God clothed with the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
That is our only hope for eternal life.
So how do we use this knowledge to defend against our adversary?
When Satan comes and gets us to focus on our sinful behavior, by saying something like,
“Look at how you just exploded in anger! Look at how you lied to cover your tracks! Look at how you lusted after that girl! Some Christian you are!”
How do you answer him if his charges are true?
You answer by applying Christ’s imputed righteousness:
“You are right, I am a sinner, I do mess up and sin, but its not my sinlessness that makes me a child of God. Its the sinless blood of Christ that makes me righteous in God’s eyes, so take it up with Him.”
You put on the breastplate of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ as your defense against Satan’s accusations.
Lastly,
(2) Put on the Practical Righteousness of an Obedient Life.
(2) Put on the Practical Righteousness of an Obedient Life.
As Paul has explained (Eph. 4:24), the new man was “created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
So, as new creatures in Christ, we are to walk as children of light Eph 5:8b-9
In other words, as we walk as God’s children in this world, as new creatures in Christ, we will be growing in conformity to God’s holy standards as revealed in His Word.
Fruit takes time, but if a fruit tree has been a mature tree for some time and it is not producing fruit there is something wrong, there should be evident progress in holiness and obedience.
If there is a gap between our profession of Christ and our practice, the enemy will use it to attack us.
If we put on Christ as our righteousness, it is inconceivable that we would live in sin (Rom. 13:14 2 Cor. 6:7).(Cole)
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
Conclusion
Conclusion
Peter Singer, who has been called the most influential philosopher alive, teaches ethics at Princeton. He is credited with starting the animal rights movement.
For him, the notion of same-sex marriage is intellectual child’s play.
He argues that any kind of fully consensual sex between two or 200 people is ethically fine (World [Nov. 27, 2004], p. 32).
He goes on to say that Bestiality is “not wrong inherently in a moral sense.”
It is not wrong, says Singer, for parents to give birth to a child so that they intentionally can kill him and transplant his organs in an older child!
And, it would be ethically okay to kill one-year-olds with physical or mental disabilities (ibid., p. 33)!
This man teaches ethics at the university where Jonathan Edwards was once President!
How do we stand against this sort of blatant attack on the morality of the Bible?
How do we guard ourselves from falling into the moral relativism and tolerance of our degraded culture?
Paul says, Gird yourself with the belt of God’s absolute, unchanging truth. Put on the breastplate of imputed and practical righteousness.
They will protect you as you stand firm against the adversary of our soul, in this dark world.
Bibliography
Barton , Bruce B. and Philip Wesley Comfort. "Ephesians, Life Application Bible Commentary." Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1996), 131–132, 1996. 131-132.
Bloom, Allan. "The Closing of the American Mind." Simon and Schuster,, 1987;. p. 25-26].
Cole, Steven J. "Ephesians." 2017.
Dobson, James. Newsletter December 1991.
Helprin, Mark. "Imprimis." Wall Street Journal (July 2002).
Hodge, Charles. " Crossway Classic Commentaries." Ephesians. Wheaton, IL:: Crossway Books, 1994. 216.
Hughes, R. Kent. "Preaching the Word." Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990. 224.
O'Brien, Peter. "The Letter to the Ephesians." Eerdmans/Apollos, n.d. 473, note 140.
Readers Digest. Feb. 1998. 75.