Prepare for the Fight with the belt of truth
Notes
Transcript
Handout
In April of 2011,
a line of deadly tornadoes
ripped across the state of Alabama,
leaving some 250 people dead in its wake.
Near Wellington, Alabama,
the Hardy family realized the storm
was coming too late to find a permanent shelter.
They considered
trying to take shelter in a metal clubhouse,
but it had already been turned on its side
by the strong winds.
So, in desperation,
they took shelter in a small stand of trees.
They tied a rope around the children
and huddled around them in the trees
as the storm passed.
A family member said
that while they had been scratched
by flying dirt and debris,
none suffered any serious injuries
because the trees they clung to
had deep roots
and they stood steadfast
throughout the storm.
Imagine how tightly
you would cling to the trees
and rope in such a situation.
Knowing that your life
or the life of your child
might depend on your grip-
that thought would give you
all the motivation you needed
to hang on with every ounce of power
you could muster!
Although there are no warning sirens
or news alerts,
each of us
is living in the path
of destructive storms.
There are temptations
and destructive philosophies
abounding around us,
perhaps more than any other time in history
it is essential to hang onto the truth.
For mis-information and mis-belief
rage about us like a storm.
In his letter to the Ephesians,
the apostle Paul gives us another analogy.
Instead of a storm,
Paul compares the danger
to an enemy attacking us in a spiritual battle.
Turn with me to our text for this morning
found in Ephesians 6:10-12 (NIV):
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord
and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God,
so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes.
For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms.”
The Word of the Lord
Last week we talked about
how the enemy of our soul is real.
The apostle Peter compares him
to a prowling lion
seeking to devour and to destroy us.
In our last sermon series,
we learned that the enemy of our soul
wants to tell you what to think,
he wants to tell you what to say,
he wants to light your fuse,
and to freak you out.
Whether you acknowledge him or not,
Satan is no joke.
He is real and we fight against Him.
But not in our own strength.
No, as Christians
we fight in the authority
and in the strength
of our Lord Jesus.
Why?
Because He has already won the battle.
Through His death on the cross
and His resurrection from the dead,
Jesus conquered sin and defeated Satan.
Then, in Matthew 28:18
Jesus declared that all authority,
in Heaven and on the earth is His.
Right about now,
some of you may be thinking
one of your thoughtful questions,
“If the battle has already been won than why am I still under attack?
If the enemy has no authority then how can he still assault me?”
Friends, the truth is
that through Jesus
you have victory over the sin in your life.
If you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus
And have asked Him
to forgive you of your sins
Then He has forgiven you
and through the Holy Spirit
you have been given powerful gifts
and virtues.
Satan has lost.
He has no power over you.
However,
the enemy of our soul
is a sour loser.
As a Christian
you are under the protection of God,
so, Satan must scheme and plot
and deceive.
He will do whatever he can
to trick you to walk away from God’s protection-
to surrender what is yours in Christ.
Friends,
the only power Satan has over your life
is what you give him.
He will twist you around
and lie to you-
hoping that you will hand over to him
what is rightfully yours.
That is why,
TRUTH
is at the top of Paul’s list
of spiritual armor.
He says, in verses Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV),
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
“Therefore put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth
buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness
in place,
and with your feet
fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this,
take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.”
Our first point this morning is
1. We are to wear our belt of truth all the time.
Take note
that in the original Greek,
Paul changes verbs.
He begins his description
of the first three pieces of the armor
with a derivative of the verb “to be”
or “having”
this verb indicates
a state of being.
So the Greek reads-
Having the belt of truth
Having the breastplate of righteousness
Having the gospel of peace
Then he switches to the verb, to “take”
Take up the shield of faith
Take up the helmet of salvation
Take up the sword of the spirit.
Well, what the heck does that mean?
The first three
are a part of your state of being.
They are with you always.
You don’t take them off.
Keep them on.
Wear them everywhere.
The last three
you “take up”
when you need them
or when the occasion calls for it.
Before we explore
the significance of Paul’s analogy
we need to answer the question-
what is truth.
When you came in this morning
you were asked to guess
how many beans are in this jar
and to write down what song
you think is the best
on the top of the sermon notes handout.
If you haven’t had a chance yet
to write down your guess
or the name of a song
or if you are watching at home-
go ahead and take a moment to do so…
Okay
so what was your guess
for the number of beans in this jar
(give a moment for people to yell out their answers).
Did anyone write down ____ (say the actual number of beans).
That is how many beans are in this jar.
Now.
What song did you write down
as being the best?
(give a moment for people to call out their answers).
Friends,
which of the songs mentioned
is the correct one?
Which song is the best?
(have Keone or Kayla yell “You can’t do that- there is no ‘best song,’
a favorite song is a matter of a person’s taste.”
Then repeat what was said so those watching online can hear).
You are absolutely correct.
There is no “best song,”
because a person’s favorite song
is a matter of personal taste.
Friends “truth”
is more like guessing the number of beans
than like choosing your favorite song.
Theologian and pastor Dr. Tony Evens
defines truth
as “An objective standard
by which reality is measured.
That is our second point this morning.
2. “Truth is an objective standard by which reality is measured.”
“It is an objective standard- that is a standard outside of you.
It is not predicated on how you feel or what you think about it…
It is a fixed standard.
Truth is that to which all things must conform.
Truth is reality in its original norm.
That is, truth is that which is real because it was real originally.
So, in order to discover truth- you look for origin.
Since God is the originator of all origin- only God can be the fixed standard for what is true.
Because He is the origin of it. There is no pre-origin to God… “
(end quote)
Friends
I can tell you
that there are ____ beans in this jar
because I am the one
who measured them
and put them there.
God can tell us
what is true in this world
because He is the one
who measured this world
and put us here.
Truth is not relative.
It is not like
choosing a favorite song
where truth conforms to people’s preferences
with one person’s truth
being over here
and another person’s truth
being over here.
No,
you cannot determine
what is true
and what is not true
and make it so.
You can think
that you can fly like Peter Pan.
I mean you can really believe it.
In fact,
you can find a really tall bridge
jump off
and believe you’re Peter Pan
all the way down
until the cold
dark water
gives you a rude awakening.
Nope.
Truth is not relative.
Instead,
it is objective.
As a human being-
you are not qualified to decide
what is true and what is not.
Sorry to break it to you
but you and I
We are just not brilliant enough.
Our wisdom-
Our knowledge-
Our understanding
is finite.
You are not God.
You do not have infinite wisdom.
You just don’t know
all the facts to be able to decide
what is true and what is not.
Only God has that privilege.
God says what is true.
God defines truth-
not you and not me.
God on the other hand?
Well, He is truth.
Jesus said in John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me.”
God’s perspective is truth-
even when we don’t like it.
Notice that
the first article of armor
Paul addresses
is the belt of truth.
Why?
Because as Dr. Evans explains,
“Demons piggyback on lies.
Demons ride horseback
on lies.”
End Quote
Satan is a liar.
Revelation 12:9 (ESV)
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
calls him,
“that ancient serpent,
who is called the devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world.”
We talked about
how destructive
Satan’s lies can be.
If you believe his lies
you let him light your fuse,
you let him freak you out,
you let him tell you what to think –
and the results can be disastrous.
So,
Paul tells us
how to stand firm
against the enemy’s schemes-
and we do it with God’s truth.
Turn with me to
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
(ESV),
“For though we walk in the flesh,
we are not waging war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare
are not of the flesh
but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments
and every lofty opinion
raised against the knowledge of God,
and take every thought
captive to obey Christ...”
Satan’s lies,
the mis-beliefs that we have believed
are like a fortress
a stronghold in our minds.
Dr. Evans explains,
“You are to get rid of, I am to get rid of, anything that blocks God’s point of view from getting through.
Anything that blocks God’s point of view from getting through, must be torn down, because if they can get a fort
and block out God’s point of view- leaving you with your point of view, your momma’s point of view, your friend’s point of view, your neighbor’s point of view- the evil forces say ‘gotcha.’”
End Quote
When we believe the lies
then sin starts to ensnare us
and we become captives once again.
The Greek word used for “stronghold”
in 2 Corinthians 10:3
means “patrician”
it is like a separating wall in your mind.
On one side
is the “God side”
and on the other
is the human side.
On Sunday morning
you go over to the God side-
you know all the right things to say
to believe in,
but then on Monday morning
you flip
and now your on the man side
and you think
and do
whatever you want.
Dr. Evens explains,
“Satan says ‘gotcha. I own you.
Because I have created a patrician in your mind
that keeps truth- that keeps the knowledge of God from flowing through.’
If Satan can keep the patrician up so that you’re speculate’in, and pontificate’in and consumed by the human point of view, it blocks out the knowledge of God.
And without the knowledge of God you do not have the power of God- the spirit of God- bringing you victory.”
End Quote
So,
Paul tells us to
wear the belt of truth
all the time.
That brings me to another question this morning-
Why a belt.
I can think of several pieces of armor
that seem to be more essential
than a belt.
Why give the belt
a place of prominence?
To answer that question,
we must first realize
that Paul is not talking about
a nice outfit accessory.
He isn’t telling us to
go to Amazon
and find a flimsy
glittery thing
to give our outfits a bit of pizzaz.
No,
Paul wrote this letter
while he was a captive
in a Roman prison.
He was chained to a guard
day and night.
I can imagine him writing his letter
to the Christians living in Ephesus
with his quill scratching away-
then he pauses for a moment,
as the Holy Spirit nudges, him
to look up at the Roman guard.
A smile crosses Paul’s face
as he returns to writing
the Spirit inspired description
of the armor of God.
A Roman soldier’s belt
was no outfit accessory.
It was a tool
used to help prepare the soldier for battle.
The same is true for us today
which brings us to our next point this morning:
3. The belt of truth is used to help prepare you to engage the enemy in battle.
Look again with me at Ephesians 6:14
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
but this time in the King James Translations,
“Stand therefore,
having your loins
girt about with truth,”
In Roman times,
men wore long tunics
that could get in the way
and even trip them up
when engaged in battle.
So,
in preparation for a fight,
the soldier would “gird up his loins”
by taking his dress like tunic
and wrapping it up between his legs
then securing it into his belt.
Paul is telling us
to wrap ourselves
with truth
so that we are prepared to engage
the enemy in battle.
The loins
were some of the most vulnerable
parts of the body
and Paul uses it as a symbol-
we are to
“gird up our loins”
with the truth-
so we are protected
and un-encumbered for the fight.
Friends,
truth is more than just facts
it includes intention.
You can give the facts
but not express the truth.
Dr. Evens shares a story of a husband
who went out in the morning
to “go fishing.”
He came home with 20 big catfish
and he said to his wife,
“Honey
I went out
and caught me 20 catfish.”
She looked at her husband
and shrewdly asked,
“How did you catch all these fish?”
The man looking at the ground
and shuffling his feet confessed,
“ I went to the fish market
and asked them
to toss me 20 catfish
and I caught them all.”
End Quote
You see
the man shared the facts
but failed to speak the truth.
Truth is more than just facts
it must include our inner intention.
The Bible calls it
truth in the inner parts.
“Gird up your loins” brothers and sisters
let the truth surround you,
encompasses the most vulnerable
inner parts of your being.
Next,
4. The belt of truth is used to intimidate the enemy.
When a Roman soldier received an award
for valor or military distinction,
he would attach it to his belt
or to a set of straps
that extended from the belt
up the chest.
These awards were called phalera.
📷
Soldiers would display their phalera
to intimidate the enemy.
When the enemy approached
and saw a lot of phalera on a soldier’s belt
he would know that the warrior
was experienced
and perhaps decide
to go after an easier target.
Satan- t
he father of lies
is intimidated by the truth.
And finally,
5. The belt of truth is used to enable your attack.
The Roman’s soldier’s belt
was often a thick piece of leather
that served like a utility belt.
The soldier would fasten a food pouch,
and his weapon onto the belt
including his most valuable
offensive weapon-
his sword.
The Christian’s sword
is the sword of the Spirit-
the word of God.
The belt holds
all the things necessary
for the soldier to attack the enemy.
Notice how the sword-
the word of God-
is tied close to the Christian
by the belt of truth.
📷
In John 8:31-32a
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jesus declared,
“If you hold to my teaching,
you are really my disciples.
Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.”
No matter what other people say is true,
it is only God’s opinion,
God’s point of view,
God’s truth
that is really true,
and only His truth
has the ability to set us free.
As Dr. Even explains,
“If it disagrees with a divine point of view it is not the truth so you won’t be free.
You will not be delivered. You will not be victorious.
And you (sure enough) won’t be free indeed.
For He who the Son sets free, is (sure enough)free, indeed free, for real free-
because God’s truth sets people free.
But it is God’s truth- not your truth.
It’s God’s truth- not man’s truth.
It’s God’s truth, because the deceiving demonic spiritual forces-
here it is- Jack Nicholson said it best-
‘Can’t handle the truth.’”
Remember when Jesus was attacked by the devil in the desert the Son of God responded each time with God’s truth.
Friends, when the lying enemy comes at you.
Let the belt of truth enable your attack.
Pull out your sword of the Spirit- the word of God and attack back.
Just keep hammering the enemy with the truth.
He says you are worthless- you reply “but God says I am His priceless masterpiece.”
He says you are a failure- you reply “but God says His strength is made perfect in my weakness.”
He says you will never be able to shake that addiction- you reply “but God says that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
The enemy attacks and you attack back with “but God says, but God says,” just keep advancing,
“you are liar and I am not going to let you lie to me- because God says, God says, God says, BUT GOD SAYS!”
End Quote
(Pause)
Brothers and sisters,
if you don’t start with the truth-
surrounding yourself (mime putting on a belt)
with the truth-
really believing God’s truth
is for real, real,
than you will have no place
to hang your sword.
The word of God
is there waiting to be used by you
to attack the enemy
but if you do not accept its truth
as THE truth
if you do not believe in it as truth
than you cannot use it as a weapon.
You will go into battle-
facing the enemy’s lies
without your weapon.
The belt of truth
holds the sword of the spirit-
the word of God-
close to you.
That way
when the evil one comes
your weapon is at hand
and you can attack-
(Mime using the sword as you say-)
But God says,
But God says,
But God says.
Put on the belt of truth
and let’s face the enemy together.
Let us pray.