Eph 6 v10to14 Girded With Truth

I)       Ephesians 6:10-14

A)    Spiritual Warfare – This passage is the pre-eminent passage on the matter.

B)    Last Week:  Gen. 3:14-15.

1)      Who declared the war?  God

2)      Who is fighting the war? Satan, the serpent, and mankind.

3)      Who will win the war?  The seed of the woman – Christ.

(a)    The question remains:  Will you be a casualty?

C)    The Ephesian Letter:

1)      Main theme – unity of the church.

2)      First Half:  The church, plan of salvation, emph. on unity

3)      Second Half:  Practical application – what we must do.

II)    Context:  Paul has explained many specifics of how we ought to live – he is going to give them a good analogy that will show them what to do in this ongoing spiritual battle. 

III) READ 6:10-17

A)    V10 – be strong in the Lord.  All that was taught before this verse and that which follows in these verses is only accomplished in His power and might.

B)    V11-13 Before getting into details about the armor, Paul gives us the reasons for the armor.

1)      Charles B. Williams translates v12: “For our contest is not with human foes alone, but with the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark world; that is, with the spirit forces of evil challenging us in the heavenly contest”

2)      If this armor sounds weird, unreal, other-worldly – its because the foes we face are other worldly.

3)      Note – more than the devil is mentioned here – apparently he has many others working for him – rulers, authorities.

(a)    The Bible shows that countless thousands of angels were created (Heb 12:22, Rev. 5:11).  Rev. 12:9 says some followed Satan in his rebellion and as many of a third of these fallen angels were thrown out of heaven with Satan. (12:4)

4)      We must stand against not just Satan – a single being that can be in only one place at a time, but potentially thousands and thousands of his angelic followers who have influence in our world – they do the will of Satan. 

5)      For this battle, some special preparation is necessary.

C)    So this special warfare is the reason for this armor – let’s look at the first two pieces of armor – truth and righteousness.

IV) V14a: “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth.”

A)    Girded:  Refers to the use of a belt about the waist. lit. – to wrap something around you.  Girdle.

1)      Important for the soldier – held sword.

(a)    Breast plate and other materials attached to it.

2)      Important for movement – to gather up the robes out of the way – tuck them into belt for running.

3)      Summary – someone who is girded is ready to roll.

B)    Stand firm – to cause a person to keep his place.

1)      An unwavering aspect

2)      to be of a steadfast mind – someone who does not hesitate.

3)      It makes sense that the strongest stance can be taken when you are ready for it – when you are girded about the waist having your clothing under control ready to shift position against what may come.

C)    Truth: an honesty of mind – being free from pretence, falsehood, or deceit.  The 11th commandment.

1)      Be in reality – do not deceive yourself.

2)      Do not be in any untruthfulness

(a)    With God

(b)   With others

(c)    Particularly with yourself

3)      This reference to truth does not refer explicitly to God’s universal truth or the truth of the gospel but there is a sense of being in line with God’s truth.

(a)    This is directed to Christians – as Christians, we have received the gospel message – we know what Christ did for us and we know the commands he gave to us.

(b)   We also have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us which testifies to the truth – reminds of what Christ taught.

(c)    Therefore, it is impossible for Christians to be girded in truth when we are out of sync with Christ and His gospel.

4)      Being in truth means living honestly with ourselves and Christ.  Not pretending – really being Christians

(a)    Not perfect – but working on it with God’s power.

V)    v14b:  “and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

A)    Breastplate – neck to waist – maybe back.  At least partially held in place by the belt or girdle.

B)    Righteousness:  To be in right legal-standing with God.

1)      Those who are saved are in a perpetual state of righteousness – Christ’s righteousness becomes our righteousness if we join Him in death for our sins.

2)      Even when we do sin, we have an advocate at the right hand of the Father who intercedes for us.  1 John 1:9.

3)      To have righteouseness is important – it means that we do not have to fear the judgment of God – that He is satisfied with our standing and our sins can not be held against us.

(a)    How can we be in battle if our own commander has a death sentence against us? 

4)      How do we know if we have righteousness?  If we are truly saved, the Spirit will testify to it.

(a)    Note that truth helps to hold in place righteousness. 

(b)   If we stay honest with ourselves and with God, we will always be reminded of our standing in righteousness.

VI) Why are truth and righteousness important?  The enemy

A)    Truth is important because the enemy is called a liar, (John 8:44)  The person who lives by truth can defeat a liar.

1)      The girdle holds things together for the soldier – so is true of the truth

(a)    If a lie enters a Christian’s life – everything falls apart.

2)      Understand how easy it is to face the enemy if we have integrity and a clear conscience.

3)      The girdle also holds the sword – the word of truth.

(a)    We cannot hold onto God’s word if we are harboring a lie.  We cannot believe God’s word if we believe some of Satan’s lies.  We cannot use it in battle.

(b)   We cannot use sword – the word of truth, if we have rejected part of it or refuse to obey it or we have entertained the devil’s lies about the reliability of scripture.

4)      The truth is essential to fighting the battle.

5)      Example:  David.  His sin with Bathsheba – he lied and covered it up.  (2 Samuel 11 & 12)  Read Psalms 32 and 51 to see how his spiritual life was during the period between the sin and his repentance of it.  About a year.  Total misery and total ineffectiveness in his rule.

B)    Righteousness is important because the enemy is called the accuser (Rev. 12:10, Zech. 3:1)

1)      He prowls around looking for anything to accuse you of

(a)    This happened to Daniel.

(b)   It happened to Christ with chief priest, Pharisees, scribes.  They followed, watching for a chance.

(c)    It happens continually to all of his followers – Jesus said if they hated Him, they’ll hate us also.

(d)   Peter says, “…be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

2)      How can you fight for and defend the Christian faith when you are falling short in this area.

3)      The accuser will come and whisper in your ear, “you hypocrite” or “who are you fooling?”

4)      Or you’ll try to tell others about the gospel and you’ll have a voice in your conscience saying, “how can they believe you, a liar?”  “don’t you remember…”

5)      Or you’ll want to volunteer for something in church – you’ll have a good idea – an inspiration, but won’t come forward with it for fear of being exposed.

C)    How many times have you heard of an unbeliever complaining, “Well, I don’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites”

1)      How important is it then, that we remain righteous – to protect us from injury from the enemy’s accusations?

2)      It’s not just us that he will accuse us to – He and his operators will accuse us to non-believers.  He will use weaknesses in our armor to attack unbelievers – to give them excuses to turn away from Christ’s message.

VII)          Maybe right now some of the evil one’s lies are haunting you.

VIII)       Maybe you are not certain of your righteousness – are you wondering if you are on the right side.