Armor of God - Belt of Truth
Notes
Transcript
To please his father a freshman went out for track. He had no athletic ability, though the father had been a good miler in his day. His first race was a two-man race in which he ran against the school miler. He was badly beaten. Not wanting to disappoint his father, the boy wrote home as follows: "You will be happy to know that I ran against Bill Williams, the best miler in school. He came in next to last, while I came in second."
Bits & Pieces, September 17, 1992, p. 12. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/t/truth.htm
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 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.
13 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.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
There are two parallel commands that we see in this chapter. in verse 10, we see the first - be strong in the Lord. We cannot take spiritual strength for granted. We are either growing in our faith or growing in something else. The verb’s present tense helps us to understand that we need to continually seek and utilize God’s mighty power. This is something that I do not think the Church calls on enough today. We have so individualized our faith, that we keep an account of our lack of sins and following the rules, that we let our guard down. We do not keep seeking God’s power and we are anything but strong in the Lord at times.
The second command in verse 11 is to put on the full armor of God. God is the source of this armor, even though the imagery we see in the passage looks more like what the people of that day would have been accustomed to as battle armor. The people of that day would be fully aware of what this armor would have looked like because of the Roman empire. Today, we probably are not as familiar as warfare tactics have changed greatly over the centuries.
Have you ever seen a historic suit of armor? We’ve seen a couple in museums over the years. The first impression I have each time I see this armor is that it looks heavy. Much of it is metal. It isn’t just defensive, but also offensive - whether a long spear or a javelin, or battle axes or bow/arrows. The audience would have been quite familiar. The call to put on armor was to prepare for battle and the dangers of battle. While the references would have been literal examples to the people of Paul’s day, there is also a metaphorical role of armor as God’s protection of the righteous. The Christian armor’s purpose is to take your stand against the devil’s schemes. We need to be able to stand our ground, offer resistance to the enemy. We cannot retreat when things get tough.
One thing we need to remember, is that we are to take up this armor, but we are also still to be people of God’s counter-cultural kingdom who display the fruit of the Spirit. The armor of God does not allow us to be ugly people, or to stomp all over for our “rights,” or trample over others on our “warpath” for our pet topic or cause. We see this all to often out of the western Church and it’s heartbreaking. God does not need us to defend God, but instead God needs us to be counter-cultural Kingdom-minded people
However, I want us to notice something about the armor of God that is mentioned before we dig in this morning. There is only one offensive piece. The rest is defensive or meant to help fold things in place, such as the piece we are going to talk about today. The belt of truth.
First, let’s talk about truth. A word that has a specific meaning, but has become so polluted in our current time. Merriam-Webster defines truth as:
the body of real things, events, and facts : ACTUALITY
the state of being the case : FACT
a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality
a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true
truths of thermodynamics
the body of true statements and propositions
The challenge today is that there is a perception that there is no single truth or source of truth. Everyone has their own truth. Paul tells us in Ephesians that the enemies that oppose Christ and those who follow Christ are powerful, numerous, determined, and deceptive. This morning we are going to take a look at the first piece of armor, the belt of truth.
Even those who claim to be Born Again are not necessarily firmly grounded in the truths of the Bible. In his book which provides a statistical analysis of religious beliefs in America, George Barna cites several fascinating statistics which are based on a national survey.
In chapter four he states, "The Devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil." Then asking that segment of his survey respondents who have identified themselves at being Born Again, he states, "Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?"
The Born Again population reply with 32 percent agreeing strongly, 11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did not know. Thus, of the total number responding, 48 percent either agreed that Satan is only symbolic or did not know!
Should it then be surprising that a few pages later Barna would receive some very startling responses? His next question, "Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God." Again, the respondents were asked to agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly.
Of that population surveyed who identified themselves as Born Again, 30 percent agreed strongly, 18 percent agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know. That is a total of 60 percent! (What Americans Believe, pp. 206-212). http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/t/truth.htm
You see, the belt for the Roman soldier kept everything together. It kept his clothing from dragging on the ground. It was a belt that held his sword and gave him mobility.
To some of us, not wearing a belt would prove to be embarrassing, and to others watching, it would be funny. The belt holds up our pants!
Paul is telling the believers, that before we even think about doing battle, we must put on the belt of truth. God calls many people to different things, but the one thing that God calls all believers is to protect ourselves with the armor God gave us. God tells us that we are to do all that we know to do and then stand firm. The only way to stand firm is in the Lord.
Examples
God called Moses to confront Pharaoh, and he calls us to confront evil around us. He was going to use Moses to show the power of God working through him, and he wants to show those around us the power of God working through each of us.
Another example is David and Goliath. We think of the bravery and we think of a shepherd boy bringing down an enemy of Israel with a rock. But David used what he knew how to use.
They tried putting the armor of someone else on him, and it didn’t fit. God used David to show the power of God working through him.
The belt of truth is symbolic clothing of the Messiah in Isaiah 11:5 (talking about Jesus):
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
I want you to see something here, that I believe is important. God tells us to fight the battle of faith. He tells us to fight to win the race and finish strong. He does not say anywhere to go toe to toe with the enemy in your own strength!
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” Several times he uses the word stand. If God expected you to fight the enemy of our souls yourself, he would have said here fight, or run, move like a butterfly, sting like a bee!
In the middle of a battle with the devil, He says stand!
Be immoveable!
Anchored!
Secure in Christ!
Literally, the same Greek word for stand (ISS-sta-mee) is also the same Greek word for resist. He is telling us STAND AGAINST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE.
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
When the enemy attacks, I said when the enemy attacks and not if- you have the belt of truth on. What is the truth. The truth is Jesus Christ. Jesus says I am the way, the truth , the life.
When you are standing in the truth of Jesus Christ and in Jesus’s authority, the devil must flee! When we simply speak the name of Jesus the enemy must flee!
That is God’s Word! We have that in the authority of God! Do you go toe to toe with the enemy? We should not in our own strength. The same for a spiritual battle - we are to stand firm in Jesus!
You stand firm in Jesus Christ and His Word.
You stand firm in prayer for direction.
You stand firm and obey Jesus’s teachings (in the proper context).
So how do we know when and how to fight if some of us don’t know that we are in a fight? How do you use the tools the Lord gives us if we are not reading God’s Word to see what is available to the believer. We need to admit that we need the armor of God and stay close to God and the Word in order for us to be ready to stand firm!
Myth Busters interviewed Deputy Shawn Osborne whose standard issue belt buckle saved his life. His belt buckle deflected a close range bullet saving his life. Now we know that during the time of the Roman Soldier, no shots were fired, but a soldier would not run out to battle without his belt.
His belt of truth held his weapon and secured his armor. There is a reason that God put this as the first piece of armor, not the sword, not the breastplate of righteousness- no, the belt of truth! The belt girds or secures the other pieces of armor. The belt encompassed the soldier, and truth must encompass each of us as we seek the face of God for protection and wisdom. Where do we find truth? In Jesus Christ! His promises, His commands, His Word- they are truths plain and simple.
John says: “Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth.”
Questions to ask:
1. What is truth? Jesus Christ is truth.
2. What does the truth have to do with a belt? Just like the belt held all the soldiers pieces together, the truth of God holds and encompasses us as a believer.
Christians should test all things against Scripture and then hold unto that which is good. Hold the truth, and discard all else.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
Rest in the truth- that the truth (Jesus Christ) will reveal to you. We must stay close to Jesus and to the Word - Protect up your mind- prepare your mind for action.
What are the dangers of not wearing the belt of truth? To the soldier, he was undone, and dangerously unprepared for battle. For us not wearing the belt: It is being open to spiritual attack.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The world teaches that truth is what we make it- that good and bad are relative and that there are no absolutes, only equal valued opinions. The Bible teaches that truth is God’s Word. That good and bad are defined by God and that there are eternal and unchangeable absolutes, uninfluenced by opinions.
Let me try to drive this home-
What good is a belt that does not go all the way around you? It is worthless. It won’t hold your pants up!
Now imagine living a life and not totally living God’s way. How can we expect to be people ready for spiritual battle and people of the Truth without staying close and putting on the belt of truth?
With God! Everything! To live God’s way without totally believing is like trying to hold up your sword with a belt that does not go all the way around. Our trust in God must be solid! Without a break or we will find ourselves without a weapon. No matter how well the rest of the armor works, if the truth of God is not around you, something will be missing.
We need to rightly divide the truth, knowing what we believe and why!
Closing:
You have to admit that you cannot do this on your own.
You have to draw near to God and allow God to fight those battles that you cannot win.
You have to make time for the Lord to show you His truths and apply them to your life.
You have to allow God to make those changes.
You have to admit, you have to draw near to God, you have to make time, and you have to allow God to make the necessary changes in your life.