THE BELT THAT HELPS YOU STAND

THE BELT THAT HELPS YOU STAND Ephesians 6:10-14 May 9, 1999 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory It was a beautiful Sunday morning and all the folks in Johnstown got up early and went to the local church. People were sitting in their pews visiting before church was to start. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the sanctuary. Everyone started screaming and running for the doors, trampling each other in their frantic effort to get away from the enemy of their souls. In a matter of moments everyone was evacuated from the church building, except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew, perfectly relaxed. Satan was confused a bit, so he walked over to the man and said, "Don’t you know who I am?" "Yep, ‘sure do." Satan asked, "Aren’t you afraid of me?" "Nope, ‘sure ain’t." Satan asks, "Why aren’t you afraid of me?" The man calmly replied, "’Been married to your sister for 48 years." As we consider the truth that we are engaged in spiritual warfare all of our lives, we need to be reminded that we have no reason to fear . . . IF we are properly prepared. Paul tells us that if we want to STAND in spite of the enemy’s attack against us, there is something we must do. 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. THEREFORE PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. British Admiral Lord David Beatty commanded a flotilla at the Battle of Jutland during World War I. As the battle began, British and German ships engaged each other in a long-range artillery battle. It quickly became apparent that there was a major flaw in the British ships. First, a heavy cruiser, the LION, was hit by an artillery barrage and quickly sank. Next the INDEFATIGABLE was hit in the powder magazine, and was blown to pieces. The QUEEN MARY was sunk, taking a crew of 1,200 sailors straight to the bottom. Watching this destruction among the proud ships of his fleet, Admiral Beatty turned to his bridge officer and said with characteristic restraint, "There seems to be something wrong with our ships today, Chatfield." The British ships eventually turned back the German fleet, it was discovered that there was a fatal flaw in the design of the British ships. They had heavily armored hulls, their wooden decks offered almost no protection against enemy long-range artillery shells which dripped almost straight down from the sky. Only after the British began to armor their ships on top as well as on the sides did they stop losing ships to German long-range artillery. Effective armor is a crucial element of victory in any war--including spiritual warfare. You can be well-protected everywhere else, but if you leave one area unprotected, the enemy will find a way to exploit that chink in your armor. And, once inside, he will set about his task of destroying you. Paul says, "Put on the FULL armor of God." Listen, each of us has our favorite Christian discipline or behavior--something we’re really good at, like reading the Bible through every 3 months, or helping the poor, or praying for the sick, or casting out demons, or fasting. That’s the thing I do well, and that’s what I always do. That’s what I always talk about. That’s my pet Christian behavior, and nobody does it quite as good as I do it. It’s not enough! When it comes to being protected spiritually from the harm the enemy would bring you, when it comes to being able to STAND, you need every piece of armor on. You cannot leave any part of yourself uncovered and unprotected. Don’t give the enemy any little opening or he will exploit it to his advantage. So you need to be THOROUGH in your spiritual dress -- put on the WHOLE ARMOR of God. We will be going over each piece of the armor in the next few weeks. First, THE BELT OF TRUTH. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist . . . (vs. 14) The belt The belt that Paul refers to here as a symbol for truth is the belt that Roman soldiers wore when in full military dress. The belt (or, sash; or, girdle) was probably a wide belt which wrapped around the middle abdomen. It served a couple of purposes. First it held their cloak or tunic in place. Roman soldiers wore what amounted to short skirts or kilts like the Scottish wear. Over that they wore a tunic, which was a loose fitting, long cloak. The belt helped to hold it against their body. (Demonstrate with housecoat & belt). It also, of course, offered a little more protection for the soldier’s belly in case of hand to hand combat. A knife, for example, would have to first penetrate the belt before doing any bodily harm. And finally, when it was time to run or to do battle, the belt was used as a "girdle" to tuck the lower part of the cloak into in order to free up the soldiers legs for more mobility. The expression "gird up your loins" refers to this kind of preparation for battle. Paul clearly is thinking of Christians doing close combat with the devil and needing to be well-cinched with the truth. There is one more application of the belt imagery that would not escape a weight-lifter or a warehouse clerk. To protect against lower back injury and hernias, a tight-fitting belt apparatus helps to brace the muscles in the waist and abdomen--basically something to push against for strong support. In the middle of the struggle (whether a lift or a spiritual battle) you need a strong belt to give you added strength. And this belt must be reliable. Can you imagine an Olympic weight-lifter doing a snatch, clean & jerk of 700 lb. and his belt breaks. He would tear every muscle in his lower torso and probably throw out three or four disks while he was at it. The point? You need a belt you can depend on. The Truth When accident victims go through physical therapy re-learning to walk and re-building their strength, the therapist straps a strong, wide belt around the patient’s waist and holds it in the back. It helps the patient stand up. There is an interesting irony here. This is a belt that helps you STAND. Strapping on this important piece of equipment, Paul says, is like being armed with the Truth of God. Notice, this is the first piece of equipment the apostle urges on the believer going to war with Satan and his host. Christian, you cannot do battle successfully with evil forces until you have surrounded yourself securely with the Truth. What specifically is this truth? It is two things: first, the truth of the Christian faith and the gospel as revealed in the Bible; second, it is the kind of behavior in which the church and each individual believer walks. THE TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH As is true with all the pieces of armor, truth is actually a picture of Jesus himself. He said I am the way the TRUTH and the life...(John 14:6). Jesus is the truth, the reality, the key to life. Colossians 2:3 - It is Jesus in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Earlier in Ephesians, Paul reminded the Christians that they were taught in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. Jesus said of those who would follow Him You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free... When you became a Christian (a committed Christ-follower) you accepted the Truth as revealed in Jesus and you committed to living for it. When you gave your life to Jesus, you surrounded yourself with the truth. The trouble our world today has with truth is that it has been relativized and trivialized to the point that there really isn’t any truth. Riding on the plane from Arizona to Denver I struck up a conversation with a man named "Rich" who at first seemed interested in my being a Christian whom he thought might be able to articulate the faith a little. He finally got to the issue that I knew was needling him. How can you know that Christianity is right and other religions are wrong. Wow, people do get upset about the "exclusivism" of the gospel. "That’s sanctimonious and arrogant to say there is only one way to heaven, and it’s through Jesus." This is very faulty logic--anytime you start implying that there is no real truth--that truth is whatever it means to me. "Stop being so exclusive" they say. Especially Americans who are hopelessly enamored with the "individual" spirit, freedom of choice and relativism. As if to say that because I can choose to believe and follow whatever course I want to necessarily makes my way as true or valid as anyone else’s. And so they cry "foul" whenever you insist that your Jesus is superior to other forms of religion. "Shame on you for saying your Jesus is the only one who is right. We are democratic, non-discriminating; truth comes in different forms; we’re all going to the same place anyway...!" Who said there can’t be one exclusive truth? On whose word does moral relativism replace truth? This doesn’t happen in sports, or medicine, or mathematics, or in any other science, for that matter. Can you feature a player arguing with the umpire because he called him out when the fly ball he hit was caught - "Oh, yeah? Who says? That’s an idiotic, out-of-date rule!" Or how about two surgeons who have your chest cavity opened up and they start to argue. One of them says, "You’re so arrogant, doctor! You’ve got a lot of nerve saying that major artery can only be connected to the left atrium! You’re such a ‘know-it-all’--What?! Like you’re the only one who went to medical school?! I happen to think we can attach it over here. Who says your idea is better than mine?" "Professor, what makes you think your way is always right? We have a lot of students in here, and some of them think the square root of 100 is five; others say it is 20. How can you be so sure you have the right answer when you say 10? Isn’t that a little sanctimonious?" You see, truth, by its very definition, is exclusive. Truth excludes other notions which are wrong. While others try to figure out what they think is right, Christians simply insist "We have a word from outside ourselves, from God who made us and loves us and is making a way for us to return to fellowship with Him." THAT’S our basis of truth--God said so! When someone tells you Christians are too self-righteous, narrow-minded and provincial, tell them, "No we’re not--God is! And if you’ve got a problem with that, take it up with Him on Judgment Day." Whether any self-styled moral relativist likes it or not, here’s the truth: God made us, we’ve sinned and fallen from His favor; He sent His own Son to die for us to reconcile us to Himself; and he said this is the only provision He is offering for salvation. Satan wars against believers today, especially in our broad-minded, politically-correct, don’t-offend-anyone culture--trying to get us to believe the lie that Jesus can’t possibly be the only way to the Father. After all, look at all these really GOOD people who don’t believe in Jesus... Church, we have nothing to stand on for truth if we don’t have the Word of God! Truth is not relative, only the opinions of people are. When life brings you discouragement, depression, spiritual apathy, and the devil tries to use it to destroy you, remember that when you came to Jesus, you came to the Truth. Wrap yourself in this belt and stand. Jesus did not say you will be wise when you understand a lot of philosophy and man-made religious ideas; He said You will know the TRUTH and the Truth will make you free! (John 8:32) Earlier in Ephesians (at 1:13) Paul wrote And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth. It is worldly wisdom which says the gospel is foolishness. It is God who is pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached about the cross, and He makes foolish the wisdom of the world! The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) So, keep on preaching the truth that is in Jesus, church! Like Paul, determine to know nothing except Jesus and Him crucified. This is our collective spiritual warfare--to stand on the truth of God redeeming people through Christ, and to share the message of this good news with anyone and everyone: That God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. That He is not willing that anyone should perish. That God loves them and has made a way for them out of the misery of sin’s bondage into the glorious freedom of salvation in Jesus Christ! But there is another application of the Belt of Truth in our lives . . . THE BEHAVIOR OF THE CHURCH AND THE BELIEVER A quick look at the way the apostle Paul uses the term for truth (ALETHEIA) will help us to understand a little more about its use in the war against Satan. There is a "change of lifestyle" for the believer which is marked by TRUTH. In 4:21  You were taught in accordance with the TRUTH that is in Christ . . . to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness... Then, verse 25: Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak TRUTHFULLY to his neighbor, for we are all members in one body. Ephesians 5:8-9 - For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and TRUTH), and find out what pleases the Lord. One more passage, where Paul uses a verb form of ALETHEIA, is at Ephesians 4:15 - Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Let me give you a radical definition of spiritual warfare - TELL THE TRUTH, AND DO IT IN LOVE! Satan is diametrically opposed to the purposes of God. The clear purpose of God is that all of us would grow up in Christ. The devil will do anything he can do to stop that program! And, may I suggest, when he gets the believers in the church to be untruthful, he not only stops our growing into the character of Christ, he also destroys our witness as the community of LIGHT, and gives valuable ammunition to the cynical onlookers who love to call Christians hypocrites. Nothing destroys the unity of the body of Christ like a couple of well-chosen lies or half-truths, or any behavior which subverts the truth. Now, in the world, lying is epidemic and is second nature. From padded expense accounts to misrepresentative sales pitches to itemized deductions to the little "white lies" that keep us from getting into trouble. Three boys decided to not go to their first hour class, but instead go riding around. They arrived with only five minutes remaining in the class and told the teacher they had a flat tire on the way to school. The teacher said they needed to make up a quiz and could do it very quickly. He told them to get a piece of notebook paper and a pen, and he put them in opposite corners of the room and said, "Question number one - which tire was flat?" What does telling the truth have to do with spiritual warfare? Everything! Spiritual warfare is pushing back the enemy of God in the face-to-face combat of everyday life and temptation. Spiritual warfare is not just the dramatic work of praying down demonic strongholds, casting out demons and laying claim to God’s promises (although this certainly is spiritual warfare). Spiritual warfare is as simple as a fair day’s work for your boss, honesty toward your customers, open communication with family members. Dishonesty complicates life. "Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." One half-truth leads to another lie. A lie is a doorway for Satan to come into your life with more force than you can imagine. An innocent-seeming exaggeration, a misrepresented feeling, a bad report about someone, being less-than-totally-honest when someone asks you a question. Community is destroyed when we do anything less than the truth in love. Some folks love to tell the truth, but they don’t do it in love - "That was a stupid thing to do--you are so immature!" Others are so "loving" they never get around to telling the full truth for fear of hurting or offending someone. Christians do the truth in love when they prayerfully confront a brother or sister who is sinning. They do the truth in love when they share their honest feelings when asked, rather than avoiding the full truth and then going around with a bitter spirit. They do the truth when they have a problem with someone and they go straight to the person involved, and do NOT share information about the problem with others who are neither a part of the problem or the solution. Christians do the truth in love when they gently say NO to someone who asks them a favor they can’t do without destroying other priorities. They do the truth in love when they commit to do something and they do what they promised, when they promised to do it. Christians do the truth in love when they are open about their sin and shortcomings among those in their cell group, so they can receive healing They do the truth in love when they deal with conflicts in healthy ways. Christ’s desire for His church is that we would all be honest, loving and mature with one another. This is how we not only grow ourselves, but also lead others to maturity. Concluding Exhortations 1. Fix all your lies and start doing the truth right now. Psalm 51:6 - "I desire truth in the inward parts." "But I could destroy a relationship..." "But I could lose a lot of money..." Risk it! Truth is to be your belt, and your battle tactic against the schemes of the devil who would love to keep you in complicated, deceit-ridden relationships. You will defeat Satan every time you set a lie straight. 2. Determine that the next time you face temptation, you will do the truth--that is, obey the truth of God’s word, whatever the cost. Determine in advance to recognize the enemy’s tactic of trying to get you involved in some intrigue where you are not totally honest with others. If you will do the truth right away, you will crush Satan and the Kingdom of God will advance in you. 3. Commit to truthing with one another. Don’t misrepresent God to others. Don’t exaggerate to make yourself look better. Never misrepresent others through gossip, giving a bad report or passing along unconfirmed information. Always go immediately to whomever you have offended or whoever has offended you and take care of the matters right away in love. The way to beat the devil’s deceitful scheming is to do the truth in love..           [Top]