What to Wear to the Battle: The Belt of Truth

Text: Ephesians 6:10-18

Focal Passage: Ephesians 6:14 "Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth."

Theme: Satan, his demons, and men are liars and deceivers. God speaks only truth. When we gird up our loins with truth, we are protected from one of Satan’s most effective weapons: deceptions, lies, and half truths.

In a classic "Twilight Zone" episode from 1960, Mr. David Ellington, an American on a walking trip through central Europe becomes lost and gets caught in a raging storm. Staggering through the blinding rain, he chances upon an imposing medieval castle. It's a hermitage for a brotherhood of monks. Ellington bangs on the door, hoping to be let in out of the storm. The door keeper sternly demands that he immediately depart the premises despite the weather. Ellington insists that he just wants to dry out. He is let in and taken to the Prior, Father Jerome. He, too, insists that they can do nothing for him and demands that he leave immediately, but as he tries to leave he faints and collapses. The reclusive monks reluctantly take him in.

Later that night, he is awakened by wolf-like howls coming from somewhere inside the castle. He follows the wails into the bowels of the castle where Ellington discovers a bedraggled but apparently cultured and intelligent man locked inside a cell. An ancient wooden staff bolts the door. The prisoner claims he's being held captive by Brother Jerome. He pleads for the American to release him. The prisoner's kindly face and gentle voice win him over.

The American confronts Brother Jerome about the imprisoned man. Jerome reveals that the prisoner is actually none other than Satan, himself —"the father of lies." He is held captive by the Staff of Truth, the one barrier he cannot pass. This incredible claim convinces the American that Jerome is mad, but nevertheless, he plays along and convinces Father Jerome that he believes his story. Latter that night, when all the monks are asleep, he creeps down to the cell, removes the Staff of Truth, and releases the man. When he does, the prisoner begins his transformation into a hideous, horned demon and vanishes into the night! The stunned American is horrified at the realization of what he has done. He confesses to Brother Jerome who responds sympathetically. "I'm sorry for you, my son. All your life you will remember this night and whom you have turned loose upon the world."

"I didn't believe you," the Ellington replies. "I saw him and didn't recognize him," to which Jerome solemnly observes, "That is man's weakness and Satan's strength."

The Apostle Paul reminds the Ephesian believers that they are involved in a struggle with powerful spiritual forces of evil in this world. The architect behind this conspiracy of cosmic evil is Satan himself. His goal is to deceive men—even the saints—into believing his lies. He accomplishes this through falsehoods:

False Philosophies (Col. 2:8)

False Religions (1 Cor. 10:19)

False Ministers (2 Cor. 11:14-15)

False Doctrine (1 John 2:18)

False Disciples (Matthew 13)

False Morals (2 Thess. 2:7)

The to way combat all these falsehoods and deceptions is with truth. Jesus told His disciples, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Now, in his letter to the believers at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul commands them to fasten around their waist, the belt of truth. It is the first of six essential pieces of the Christian’s armor we must daily put on.

I. THE BELT OF TRUTH IS THE CENTERPIECE OF THE CHRISTIAN’S ARMOR

1. it is significant that Paul puts truth first in his discussion of the believers spiritual armor

2. a Christian’s survival in this world requires a firm grounding in the God-revealed truth of the Scriptures

a. the power of truth is that it sets us free by exposing the devil’s lies and deceptions

b. just as with Eve in Eden, the devil always downplays the consequences of sin and promotes its pleasures

3. when we are firmly rooted in the truth, then we are equipped to recognize the lies, resist the devil and do God’s will

a. this is why our church must be committed to biblical teaching and biblical preaching that leads to biblical living

4. in listing the parts of the Armor of God, the Apostle Paul begins with the belt of truth

a. soldiers in Paul’s day wore belts to secure their clothing and hold their weapons

ILLUS. When we think of belts, our minds conjure up images of modern belts. Thin, slim leather stipes that frequently serve more as accent pieces than functional wardrobe. But when you think “Roman Legionnaire Belt” think “World Wrestling Federation Championship Belt” ... several pounds of leather and lots of metal studding ... a belt that covers the entire mid-section of the wrestler. A Roman Legionnaire’s belt was not merely an accent piece, but an essential part of his battle gear that kept his tunic in place as well as any number of weapons.

b. the belt of truth has similar functions in spiritual warfare

5. the belt of truth accomplishes four functions in our life

A. TRUTH SANCTIFIES US

1. the belt of truth sets us apart (that’s what the word sanctify means) from people who do not follow God or who do follow Him, but only give Him lip-service—insincere expression of support

2. once we come to Christ, the Scriptures supply the believer with a radically new worldview

ILLUS. No other world religion or worldview tells its adherents to love their enemies and faithfully minister to them ... no other world religion or worldview says your importance to the community is dictated by how many people your willing to become a slave to ... no other world religion or worldview says you gain abundant life by dying to self ... no other world religion or worldview says redemption and forgiveness is at the heart of salvation.

a. ours is a worldview that is absolutely contradictory to the secularism, humanism, libertinism, and rising Marxism of early 21st century America

1) in his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul warns believers of the exaggerated sense of self-importance of the secular culture’s schools of thought

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8, NIV84)

2) men may mean well with their ideas, but ultimately their teaching, if not from God’s word, is based on “the elementary principles” of the world ... meaning those philosophies are empty, bogus, and lead men away from true truth that will lead to human flourishing, and truly change the culture

b. the vain philosophies of Paul’s day are different than the vain philosophies of our day, but the point is that believers in every age will have to deal with and face down those worldviews opposed to our biblical worldview

c. while most modern Americans do not consciously study philosophy, we are all constantly surrounded by and influenced by a multitude of unbiblical philosophical worldviews, including:

1) Humanism is the philosophy that mankind can achieve all they need apart from God

a) this is the worldview behind much of the activism we’re seeing played out in the streets of our metropolitan cities and being advocated by leftist politicians

b) they believe that humans are capable of creating a utopia through social transformation

2) Atheism is the philosophy that there is no deity of any kind

a) it was largely an unknown worldview until the 16th century and the beginning of the Enlightenment

ILLUS. Darwinism provided an intellectual foundation for it.

b) atheistic evangelists such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Peter Singer, Sam Harris, and comedian Bill Maher preach this philosophy with what could be called religious fervor

3) Naturalism is the philosophy that all life spontaneously evolved by chance and random mutation without any guidance or direction from God

a) when you die that’s it ... end of story ... no heaven, no hell ... no eternity

b) your body becomes part of the great circle of life

4) Mysticism is the philosophy that spiritual insight is subjectively attained through seeking the diety within each of us

a) Oprah Winfrey is the high priestess of American mysticism

3. unfortunately, too many believers have been carried off as prisoners of the culture war because they’ve surrendered to “secular truth” and abandoned “biblical truth”

ILLUS Nowhere is this more evident right now than in the Church’s almost wholesale surrender to the Social Justice Movement that now includes the Black Lives Matter movement. Many young Christians didn’t learn how to understand justice from Scripture. So in college, they learned how to understand justice from culture. And now, they think injustice is justice. And they interpret Scripture through culture, not culture through Scripture. That’s why many professing Christians are more committed to Black Lives Matter’s cultural Marxism than they are to Biblical theology. Even among Southern Baptists influential leaders and organizations look like they identify with social justice just as much or more than they identify with our own confession of faith.

4. we cannot redeem the culture by accepting the vain philosophies of the culture

a. if Jesus Christ is the believer’s model of how we ought to live, then our goal should be to act like Jesus

b. the primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus ... behavior stems from what we think—our attitudes, beliefs, values and opinions

5. Jesus prayed that God would sanctify us by the truth

a. in our Lord’s Prayer just hours before His arrest he prayed ...

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17, NIV)

1) it is not intellectual truth that sanctifies us

2) it is not philosophical truth that sanctifies us

3) it is not religious truth that sanctifies us

4) and it is certainly not scientific truth that sanctifies us

b. it is Scriptural truth that blesses and consecrates us

ILLUS. If any of the previous sources of truth agree with the Bible, they can be accepted, but if they disagree, they must be rejected.

1) truth is revealed to us through the pages of the Scriptures

2) that truth is absolute

c. God’s truth is a compass for our lives—only when we hear the truth, and trust the truth can we know how to live in the truth

6. to sanctify means to set apart for a special purpose and to purify

a. the truth helps us accomplish these two critical tasks

1) the truth helps us stay on mission for God and

2) the truth helps us avoid falling back into sin’s corruption

Truth Sanctifies us

B. TRUTH GUIDES US

1. the Holy Spirit uses truth to guide us in whatever circumstances we’re in

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:13, NIV)

a. just as communications are crucial on the physical battlefield, so is the Holy Spirit’s guidance via truth on the spiritual battlefield

b. Satan, his demons, and men under domination their evil influence are liars and deceivers

1) God, however, speaks only truth – Heb. 6:18 saying “... God cannot lie ... “

ILLUS. When the Scriptures tell us that God created sex, and its only proper place for expression is in a monogamous relationship between and man and a woman within the covenant of marriage, it’s not because God is a killjoy, but because God wants His creation to flourish. Any expression of sex outside of God’s created order, leads to frustration, hurt, and unintended consequences. The secular worldview, spawned by the Devil, says “It’s just sex. As long as it is between to consenting adults, what’s the rub bub?”

c. Satan’s untruth will always lead us away from God and God’s ideal for human flourishing

2. when we gird up our loins with truth, we are protected from one of Satan’s most effective weapons: discouragement through lies

a. Satan will lie to you about God

b. Satan will lie to you about you

c. Satan will lie to you about the consequences of sin

d. Satan will lie to you about the rewards of righteousness

3. Satan attempts to deceive us, confuse us, blind us, and keep us in a state of ignorance

4. Satan will persuade us to trust experience and emotion or common sense or human philosophy, or logical reasoning instead of God’s Word

5. Christians need to learn to become sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit in their life

a. it is the Spirit of God who will Guide Us into All Truth

C. TRUTH ILLUMINATES US

1. in any military engagement, intelligence gathering and its interpretation are crucial to winning the battle

a. in our battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil the more we know about our enemies and how they work, the more prepared we will be for the battle

b. the Bible has a word for this spiritual intelligence gathering —it’s called discernment

1) truth—God’s truth—sheds light on the enemy’s tactics and strategies and illuminates them for what they are—snares and traps

ILLUS. Let me give you an illustration of these snares and traps. A coworker has taken credit for work you did, and cheated you out of a position that should have been yours. Even as a Christian, you are understandably angry. God has said, "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” But the devil comes to you and says, “What he did to you wasn’t fair. He sinned against you. You have every right to feel the way you do.” The Devil plays with your mind and you emotions, as he gets you to constantly rehearse the event in your thoughts. Your heart become increasingly bitter. And then the Devil begins using word-play with you. He convinces you that it’s not REALLY anger you’re carrying in your heart, but righteous indignation. Then the Devil comes to you and whispers in you ear, “You know that righteous indignation has every right to pass judgement on your oppressor, and to retaliate. After all God is simply using you to execute his vengeance. Go ahead. Spread those rumors that will embarrass him and lead to his resignation or firing.” And when he is fired, you’ll feel smug that you accomplished “God’s will” when what you really did was give place to the Devil.

2. God’s word reveals truth that helps us decisively recognize the devil’s lies and strategies in spiritual conflicts

“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.” (Romans 12:2, NIV)

3. Truth Illuminates us

D. TRUTH READIES US

1. there was one piece of equipment the Roman soldier never took off even when he was not ‘on duty’ —it was his belt

a. he might loosen it, but it never came off

b. at a moments notice, he could cinch up his belt and don the rest of his armor

2. if we do not use the Word of God as our belt of truth, we have no foundation on which to base our warfare with the enemy

3. we must be constantly prepared for spiritual battle since we never know for sure from where the enemy will strike

a. some times the enemy mounts a full-scale frontal assault across the broad spectrum of our lives

b. but more often than not, the enemy uses subtle guerilla tactics, relentlessly picking at our weak spots

1) the Bible tells us that the devil is like a lion patiently stalking his prey

2) what do lions do? —they look for the hurt, the crippled, the unweary and the animal that strays too far from the herd

3) those are the animals that lions attack

c. Satan does the same in preying on Christians—he looks for the emotionally hurt, the spiritually crippled, the intellectually unweary, or the believer who have strayed away from the fellowship of the church

1) these are the believers whom he makes lunch of

2) this is why Paul tells the Ephesian believers: Finally, “ ... be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might,” (Eph. 6:10)

4. the belt of truth guides our minds

“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;” (1 Peter 1:13–15, NIV)

a. Satan’s chief aim is to substitute God’s truth with his lies

ILLUS. Consider Eve in the Garden. When approached by the serpent, Eve had the choice to believe God’s Word or Satan’s lie. Notice her thought process expressed in Genesis 3:6: “the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.” She conformed to evil desires because, in her mind, she reasoned that Satan’s lie was more truthful than God’s true Truth! God’s word was not firmly planted in her mind.

5. the belt of truth can never be set aside

a. Satan fights with lies and sometimes his lies sound like truth

b. but believers have God’s truth, which defeat Satan’s lies

6. to be girded with truth is to possess an attitude of readiness

II. THE BELT OF TRUTH MUST BE PUT ON EACH DAY

1. the Apostle Paul tells us that we must take up the full armor of God

a. we must purposely, day-by-day, ready ourselves for spiritual battle

b. how do you do that

A. STUDY THE TRUTH

1. daily Bible study will help you keep truth in the forefront of your mind

a. contrary to popular wisdom, our mind—not our flesh—is the battlefield where most of our spiritual warfare is fought

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3–5, NIV)

b. a mind that is not renewed regularly by Scripture is a mind that becomes a tronghold for Satan’s lies

1) the apostle writes that we must take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ

2. there simply is no substitute for Bible study during your quiet time with God

a. it’s essential if you hope to grow closer to God and maintain victory over your old sinful habits

“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.” (John 8:31–32, NIV)

B. PRAY THE TRUTH

1. putting on the belt of truth requires confession and supplication

a. begin by confessing your sin—your specific sins

1) you cannot put on the belt of truth if you’re not willing to be honest with yourself and with God about your sin

b. supplication simply means asking

1) each day, ask God to fill your mind with the truth of His Word

2) each day, ask God to guide your spirit into all truth by His Spirit

3) each day, ask God to enable you to live the truth by emulating the life of His Son

C. LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

1. the Bible calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth

a. the Spirit of God—who indwells all believers—will remind us of the truth and guide us in truth as we walk with God

2. if you will do your part and get into the Word of God, the Spirit will do His part and remind you of the Word of God when you are engaged in spiritual battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil

Con. In the warfare of the Christian life, the devil is determined to ruin as many churches and believers as he can. Although Satan cannot nullify our justification, he aims to frustrate our sanctification and oppose our growth in grace every step of the way. This conflict with spiritual powers demands protection, and God has made available just the thing we need.

We all know that a modern army is fitted with a strategic mix of various weapons to maximize its effectiveness in fulfilling its purpose. Some soldiers receive a rifle and some are given pistols or ride in a tank armed with a cannon and machine guns. Others operate missiles, jet fighters, bombers, or ships. To win the war, it takes the unified effects of all these weapons, operated by the shared efforts of all the variously equipped soldiers.

God, as the wise Commander-in-Chief in our spiritual warfare, has likewise given to each of his children in the body of Christ spiritual armor so that we can not only defend ourselves, but actually go on the offensive and take the battle to the enemy.