The Belt Of Truth: Truth Changes From Person To Person Series

THE ARMOR OF GOD AND THE LIES OF THE ENEMY

The Belt of Truth: Truth Changes from Person to Person

Ephesians 6:10-18

#armorofGod

INTRODUCTION… “Dad, you are in the Army?” (p)

My whole life growing up, my dad was active duty Army. I do not have a memory growing up that does not have the U.S. Army in the background. It was my dad’s career right before I was born and he retired about when I graduated from college. He was a special agent and then special agent in charge in CID (Criminal Investigation Division) most of his career in the Army and retired as a CW4. I was reminded of a memory about that as I read our passage for today and I called my dad to confirm my memory.

As a CID agent, most of the time my dad wore civilian clothes like suits and ties. He said, when I called him, that 98% of the time he wore suits and not the more traditional fatigues/BDUs. I was probably 4 or 5, definitely kindergarten age, when one day my dad came out from his bedroom dressed in fatigues/BDUs about to head to work. This was not his normal look. I looked at him in complete shock and said: “Dad! You are in the Army?” Now, granted he had been in the Army literally every single breath I had ever taken, but because his daily uniform was different, I had no clue. My mom and dad laughed that this was perhaps the first time I had ever seen him in any class of Army uniform.

SERIES INTRODUCTION

Today, we are beginning a series of messages about a word picture of a Roman soldier that the Apostle Paul uses in Ephesians 6 that is quite popular among devotional writers and I am sure has whole devotional books dedicated to it: The Armor of God. To be honest, I am hoping to be intensely relevant to our lives and not softly devotional as we think about these verses in Ephesians 6. I do not want to be quirky or gimmicky, but really applicable for our lives.

My plan is to look at each item in Paul’s description for two weeks and to unpack why we need such spiritual armor in our lives. Verses 10-13 makes it very clear that we have an enemy that wars against us physically, emotionally, and spiritually and that we need to stand firm against all his schemes which often come to us as lies, deception, false beliefs, worldly philosophies, and even beliefs from other religions.

Let’s jump in and read from Ephesians 6:

READ EPHESIANS 6:10-18 (ESV)

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…”

THE ARMOR PIECE: THE BELT OF TRUTH

THE BELT

In Paul’s day, Roman soldiers wore tunics which was a large square piece of material that had holes for the head and arms. It hung low and loose over the body. As you can imagine, a loose tunic in the middle of battle was not a desired thing. Soldiers would gather up any loose fabric and make sure it was all tucked into the belt and any other straps. For a Roman soldier, the belt was made of leather and was most likely a little thicker and wider than we imagine because it also helped protect the soldier’s stomach.

The phrase for gathering up all the loose fabric used in the Bible and in Paul’s day is “gird up your loins.” Nowadays, that phrase means “get ready for something difficult,” which makes complete sense given that it originally meant “get ready for a battle.” This did get me wondering how one might actually gird up one’s loins back in Paul’s day. What does it take? What are the steps?