The Belt of Truth
Ephesians 6:10-13
Chenoa Baptist Church
Pastor Jefferson M. Willams
04-13-2024
The Belt of Truth
A couple of years ago, I learned how important a belt is. I was flying back from Trinidad and was in the Toronto airport. I had lost weight over the summer and my belt was the only thing holding up my pants. Of course, I had to take my belt off to go through security.
I was holding my pants up and the lady that took me through the X-ray machine told me I had to put my hands up. I told her that if I did that my pants would be at my ankles. She gave me a stern TSA look, and I obeyed her. My pants weren’t quite at my ankles but they were close. She laughed and said, “Well, you weren’t kidding, were you?”
Belts are important to hold up our pants. This morning, Paul will use the word picture of a belt to describe the first piece of armor that we are studying.
Last week, we began our sermon series on the armor of God from Ephesians 6.
As we walked through these verses, we learned of
The Christian’s power source
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10)
He begins by commanding them to “be strong.” It’s in the present tense meaning, “be strengthened.” It means to put power into something like when we put gas in a car. This is something done to the Christian continually by God.
But notice we are to be strong “in the Lord and His mighty power.” How strong you are is irrelevant. Our strength comes from our union with Christ.
The Christian’s Adversary
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 2:11)
This is a command - put on the armor now, don’t delay! This refers to the full preparation of a foot soldier for offense and defense.
Paul says this armor will help you “stand against” the devil’s schemes. The Greek words mean, “hold your ground,” “hold your position,” and “don’t give the enemy an inch.”
Pastor Watchman Nee writes:
“We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory. We do not fight to win but because in Christ, we have already won. Overcomers are those who rest in the victory already given to them by their God.”
He is called by many names - satan, the serpent, the accuser, the deceiver, the evil one. He was an angel who lusted for God’s throne and was cast out of heaven along with one-third of the angels who now do his bidding.
He is a created being, so he doesn’t have the “onmi’s” of God. He is not all-knowing, all-present, or all-powerful.
He is clever, insidious, merciless, has no love for God or you, and wants to kill, steal, and destroy your life, your dreams, and your future. He wants to discourage you, tempt you to doubt God, and damage your testimony.
The word “schemes” is where we get our word “methodical.” He is a determined enemy and he is always looking for a way to hurt us. He’s had thousands of years to watch humans and learn our weaknesses.
The Christian’s True Struggle
“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. (Ephesians 6:12).
Paul wants us to understand that we are in a war and most of the battle is in the unseen, spiritual realm.
The word struggle means “wrestle,” literally “hand-to-hand combat.”
It can seem like we are in a war against evil people - human traffickers, the makers of pornography, genocidal warlords, and abortionists.
But Paul says they are not the true enemy. The true enemy is the one behind their evil actions.
Ray Pritchard says it this way,
“We are all foot soldiers in a vast invisible war that stretches across the cosmos. There is no release from the battle. If we go AWOL, we simply find a bigger battle on the other side.”
You can not be neutral in this conflict. That’s why Paul tells the believers to make sure we have on the armor of God.
The Christian’s Supply in the Day of Evil
“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.” (Eph 6:13)
There will be times when evil will be encountered in our Christian lives. Notice that he writes when the day of evil comes, not if. That will be the time to stand.
The Roman soldier’s shoes had spikes on the bottom for digging in.
Strong temptation will sweep in and threaten to overwhelm us. But on that evil day, we will not fight alone and we do not fight in our strength. But we fight in the strength that Christ gives us.
John Stott writes:
The emphasis on “standing” shows the Apostle’s concern for stability. Wobbly Christians have no strong foothold in Christ and are easy prey to the devil.”
The Christian’s Armor
In verses 14-17, it seems like Paul took a long look at the soldiers guarding him and thought that their armor would make a great word picture for his readers.
But Paul does an interesting thing. All the imperatives in these verses are plural. Yes, we need to individually put on the armor of God. But even more, we need to collectively, as the body of Christ, need to don the armor for the battle is real.
He lists six parts of a Christian’s armor and each of them is vital to standing our ground in the battle.
* The Belt of Truth
* The Breastplate of Righteousness
* The Shoes of Peace
* The Shield of Faith
* The helmet of salvation.
The Sword of the Spirit
If you weren’t here last week, you can always listen to or watch the sermon on our YouTube page, website, FaceBook, or Twitter.
Turn to Ephesians 6.
Prayer
The Belt of Truth
Paul is finishing his letter to the Ephesian church and wants to warn them to be armed and ready for attacks of the evil one. He was probably chained to a Roman guard and started staring at his armor and thought, “That would make a perfect word picture for what I’m trying to communicate!”
The first piece of armor that Paul tells us to put on is the belt of truth.
Roman soldiers wore tunics and would tuck their tunics into their belts when they would go into battle.
But this was more than a belt like we wear. The King James says to “gird up your lions.” This was like a girdle or a modern-day weight belt.
The soldier’s gear weighed about eighty pounds so he had to have strong back support. The belt was more of an apron that covered the midsection. The breastplate would connect to it and one’s sword would hang from this piece of the armor.
The belt had leather straps hanging from it and soldiers would put medals and other awards on the end of them.
The belt protected the midsection and lower abdomen.
The belt was foundational to the armor. It held everything together.
Paul makes the case that the foundation of our spiritual armor is truth.
What is Truth?
Over half of Americans agree that there is no absolute truth. And more than half believe that religious beliefs are not founded on objective reality.
With all the lies, misinformation, and crazy conspiracy theories, people are asking the same question that Pilate did:
You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. (John 18:37-38)
The Greeks defined truth as “an accurate perspective on reality.”
The Romans defined truth as “a factual representation of events.”
But in this post-truth culture, truth has become a little squishy.
Comedian Steven Colbert coined the term “truthiness” in 2005 to describe “a truthful or seemingly truthful quality that is claimed for something not because of supporting facts or evidence but because of a feeling that it is true or a desire for it to be true.”
“I want the truth! ” Tom Cruise yelled at Jack Nicholson in a “Few Good Men.” Jack’s famous response? “You can’t handle the truth!”
It seems most people today have a hard time “handling the truth.”
Tony Evans defines it this way:
“Truth is the absolute standard by which reality is measured. It’s God’s view on everything. God has spoken and He has not stuttered.”
Jesus said that truth has the power to set you free from the lies that steal your joy:
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
If you are taking notes, let’s look at B.E.L.T.
Believe the Truth
We live in a postmodern world where we are told daily that truth is relative. I have my truth and you have your truth and both are
equally valid.
But that’s not how truth works. Webster's definition of truth is “the absolute standard by which reality is measured.” 1 + 1 = 2. That is true. You can argue with this, you can claim alternative facts, but that doesn’t change the fact that 1 + 1 = 2.
If you visit London, I’m told that you will see people looking up at Big Ben. The famous clock is the standard time in London. If your watch is off, you adjust it to Big Ben’s time.
?We also need to understand that A cannot equal B. In other words, if Christianity is true, then every other world religion is false. There is only one truth.
And that truth is where we stand. We believe that:
* God the Father is the Truth
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” (Duet 32:4)
* Jesus is the Truth
Truth isn’t just an abstract precept or principle. Truth is a Person.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
F.F. Bruce wrote:
“All truth is God’s truth, as all life is God’s life, but God’s truth and God’s life are incarnated in Jesus Christ.”
John wrote in His prologue:
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)
And
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (I John 5:20)
I took a group of students to a conference once and we were staying in a hotel. Early one morning, the students who got up early got to eat breakfast with the band that was leading worship for the conference - Plumbline.
I’ll never forget watching these young, very cool, guys explain what a plumb line is to these high school students.
[By the way, if you don’t know, it’s a string that you can use to make sure something is “plumb” or straight]
He explained that Jesus is our plumb line. He is the line by which we evaluate the trueness of everything.
Jesus is the truth that reveals the Father’s heart.
Do you evaluate everything through the plumb line of Jesus?
* The Holy Spirit is the Truth
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:12)
* The Word of God is the Truth
All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. (Psalm 119:160)
God the Father and the Son will be with us in truth and love.
Tim Keller wrote these words:
"Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot hear it.
God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance move us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.”
In this age of moral relativism, when people all around us talk about their truth and our truth, we need to know the truth of the Gospel, we need to love the truth of the Gospel, and we need to live out the truth of the Gospel.
Engage the Truth
How do we engage truth? By being in the Word of God every day.
The Biblical illiteracy in today’s churches is astounding. Many people, who claim to be Christians for decades, don’t know the very basics of the Word of God.
According to Barna, only 18% of people who claim to be born-again Christians know enough of the Word to form a coherent Christian worldview.
Members of the Secret Service are tasked with finding counterfeit money. For the first weeks of their training, they only handle real bills. They learn the feel, the weight, and even the smell of real bills. They know the real thing so well that when the trainers introduce fake bills they find them immediately.
Remember, we don’t get brownie points for reading/listening to the Bible each day. God isn’t mad or disappointed with you if you didn’t read this morning.
But in a world of overwhelming noise, we need to quiet our hearts and listen to God’s voice each day.
When I do camps in the summer, sometimes I ask for a volunteer. Last time it was a high school girl. She came up front and I told her that the only thing she had to do was follow my voice. What she didn’t know was that I had set up a group of about 15 guys to surround her and yell at the top of their lungs.
I stood and whispered follow me. But she couldn’t hear me through the noise. I got close and said follow me. She figured out quickly that she had to stay very close to me to hear my instructions over the yelling and chaos.
Mark Hall of Casting Crowns wrote these words:
“But the voice of truth tells me a different story / the voice of truth says do not be afraid / and the voice of truth says this is for my glory / out of all the voices calling out to me / I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.”
If we truly believe that God’s Word is truth then It’s important to put on truth in times of trial and temptation because Satan is a liar. Those lies can get in our heads, and our hearts, and lead us to despair.
According to Paul’s words in Ephesians:
Once we were Now We Are
Dead (2:1) Alive (2:5)
Under the dominion of satan (2:2). Seated in the heavenly realm (2:6)
Objects of wrath (2:3) His glorious inheritance (1:18)
Separate (2:12) Brought Near (2:13)
Foreigners (2:19) Fellow Citizens (2:19)
Infants (4:14) Maturing in Christ (4:15)
Old Self (4:22) New self (4:24)
Darkness (5:8) Light (5:8)
God’s Word is truth and one of the ways we can “put on the belt of truth” is to “hide His Word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him.” (Psalm 119:11)
If you have trouble reading, then listen with us at Daily Audio Bible.
Commit to be in church to hear the Word preached every Sunday.
Read the quote on the pulpit.
Live out the Truth
Strong temptation will sweep in and threaten to overwhelm us. But in that evil day, we will not fight alone and we do not fight in our strength. But we fight in the strength that Christ gives us.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (I Cor 10:13)
Jesus gives us a beautiful example of how to walk in the truth of God’s word to deal with temptation.
Luke four begins, with Jesus, still dripping wet from the baptism, being “lead by the Spirit into the desert, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil.” (Luke 4:1)
Although Jesus was tempted the entire forty days in the wilderness, we are given three specific temptations that satan throws at Him. These temptations are the same areas of temptations that he still tries to hook us with even today.
The Devil begins with the same temptation strategy that he used in the garden against the first Adam.
Look at verse three:
“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Luke 4:3)
If you are…
Satan was saying, “Jesus, are you sure about this thing? Are you sure God really loves you? Are you sure about the mission you’ve been sent on?”
Jesus had not eaten in forty days. Although He was fully God, He was also fully man. Jesus was hungry.
Jesus could do this. He turned water into wine not long after this event. But there was something deeper going on than just bread.
There is nothing sinful about eating bread. But the temptation is real because the stuff is so good! Think of Jesus’ day and what they ate. Jesus probably ate bread daily. He probably could close His eyes and smell the aroma of warm bread cooking over the fire. It was a legitimate desire.
But, Satan wanted Jesus to use His powers to satisfy his hunger. He wanted Jesus to see God as a means to an end.
Adam and Eve had obeyed him, now he was expecting Jesus to do the same.
Jesus’ answer is powerfully simple:
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.” (Luke 4:4)
Jesus recognizes that man does live on bread. He knows the pangs of being hungry. He knows that we have strong desires. But He also knows if we don’t fulfill these desires in God’s way, then they can become very destructive. That’s why He added the word, “alone.”
Adam was in a Garden. Jesus was in a desert. Adam was surrounded by food. Jesus hadn’t eaten in forty days. Adam took the bait. Jesus did not!
He quoted Scripture. Not off an index card or out of a concordance. From deep inside His soul, Moses’ words bubbled to the surface.
Jesus did not take the bait. What’s the bait?
To try to fulfill our desires outside of the way God intended them to be fulfilled. Food is good but can lead to gluttony. Sleep is good but can lead to slothfulness. Sex is good but can lead to broken hearts and broken lives.
?The second temptation seemed to follow right on the heels of the first one.
“The devil took Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:5-7)
?Satan controls this present age, and he offers Jesus a cut of the power. Satan made Adam an offer and he bit, literally. Satan made Jesus the same offer.
“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” (Luke 4:8)
Again, there is something much deeper going on here than just who is going to over some earthly kingdoms. It is all about the worship issue.
Satan is offering Jesus a kingdom without the cross. He’s saying, “This “whole dying on the cross for everyone’s sins” thing is too much for you. It’s not fair that your Father would ask you to do that. Forget that and rule with me.”
Satan knew that the cross was his defeat and he would offer Jesus anything to keep Him from going to the cross and winning us back!
He still baits this hook today. Again, as I said above, it is a worship issue. Satan wants us to worship him. He offers us the world on a silver platter; the only cost is our souls. He wants us to be dazzled by the lights and miss out on the cross. He’s like a great magician; great at misdirection.
Forget the suffering path, he whispers, take the party path.
The last temptation takes place on the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem:
“If you are the Son of God…throw yourself down from here. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands; so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Luke 4:9-11)
Jesus and satan stood on the top of the Temple building in the heart of the bustling city of Jerusalem. Satan then does a very scary thing – he quotes Scripture! Specifically, he quotes Psalm 91. This Psalm is a Messianic Psalm and points to a Savior that God will protect.
Satan says, “Ok, I know you think you are the Son of God. Let’s put it to the test. God says that he will not allow you to be hurt. So, prove it! Jump!”
There’s another, more insidious, temptation here that every one of us has experienced at one time or another – the desire for vindication.
Satan whispered in Jesus’ ear: “Look at all those poor people down there. They don’t know you are the Messiah. They are going to mock you once you go public. It’s going to be brutal. Why not give them a show? Why not throw yourself off this roof and let them see the angels catch you? Then you could say, ‘See I TOLD you I was the Messiah!!!” They would just have shut up after that, wouldn’t they?”
Jesus answered his whisper with a deafening yell, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” In other words, “I will do it my Father’s way. I do not need to vindicate myself. I believe God will do that, in His way, in His time, for my good, and his glory.”
He still baits that hook today and tempts us to run ahead of God and trust our plan instead of His.
Satan still uses these temptations:
* The temptation to misuse human desires in ways that do not honor God
* the temptation to take the easy way out, avoid suffering, and worship satan for the fleeting gifts of power and glory.
* The temptation to want to be vindicated, to be proven right, instead of trusting God’s plan for us.
The first Adam failed the test miserably. Jesus, the second Adam, won the victory by walking in the truth of God’s Word. (I Cor 15:45)
Tell the Truth
This is truth. We must live in this truth. This must be the air we breathe.
Practically, this means speaking with integrity and sincerity. We must “put off falsehoods and speak truthfully to one another…” (Eph 4:25)
The Apostle John wrote in his second letter:
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. (2 John 1:4)
Truthfulness is one of God’s top ten.
The prophet Zechariah wrote:
These are the things that you shall do: speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace…(Zech 8:16)
Truthfulness should characterize Christians. Our word should be able to be trusted.
We have to traffic in truth. We have to stay away from conspiracy theories and misinformation like the eclipse was caused by climate change.
On Facebook, there are so many fake posts that Christians quickly repost without ever even checking to see if they are true.
For the past few years, there has been a fake post claiming that Mark Zuckerberg wouldn’t allow the Lord’s Prayer to be posted. This is not true. It’s been going around for years. Facebook has said it isn’t true. Multiple people, including Mark Zuckerberg, have said it isn’t true. But people keep reposting it.
Just this week, three people, all Christians, that I know reposted it.
We have to do better. If you aren’t sure if it’s true, don’t repost it. If you have questions.
We also have the opportunity to point out lies and point others to the truth.
In Rosaria Butterfield’s book, “5 Lies of our Anti-Christian Age” she writes:
“God calls us to live our Christian lives with courage, tell the truth, and fear God and not man.
Can we with Jesus sing Psalm 118:6: “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
I know. You can think of a long list of things the world can do to you.
Your son, who calls himself Julie, won’t talk to you. You will be fired from your job if you don’t put a rainbow sticker on your door. Your neighbors will hate you when they learn that you believe in the God of the Bible.
All of this may be true, and still, this verse calls us to put things in perspective, specifically the Lord’s perspective as seen in Hebrews 11, where we see firsthand that God uses our faith whether we live or die.” (p. 32)
We also get the honor of telling others the truth of the Gospel.
We must also tell ourselves the truth daily. Why? Because we so easily forget.
We must remind ourselves daily of the truth that, as Christians, we are extravagantly and unconditionally loved, that God is holy, righteous, and good, that Jesus died on the cross and rose again, and that Jesus is praying for us right now, that the Holy Spirit has sealed us, and that all things work together for the good of those who love God.
When satan whispers his lies into your ears, you remind yourself of these truths:
I am beloved
“That you may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19)
I am wonderfully and purposefully made - a masterpiece
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)
I am chosen
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…” (Eph 1:4)
I am Forgiven
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col 2:13-15)
I am a New Creation
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here. (2 Cor 5:17)
I am a Child of the King
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! “ (I John 3:1)
I am Free From Condemnation
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Rom 8:1)
I cannot be separated from the love of God
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39)
Mooned
On Monday, I drove to Terre Haute, Indiana to see the solar eclipse. Terre Haute was in the path of totality and a friend told me that the difference between 98% and 100% was the difference between night and day. Boy was he right.
In totality, the sky went dark, the stars were visible, the temperature dropped, and the sun’s cornea was exploding from behind the moon. It only lasted two and a half minutes where I was but it was spectacular!
Eclipses happen when the moon comes between the sun and the earth.
Satan is always trying to blot out the light of the Son of God. He tries to come between us and God. He tells lies and tries to get us to our our eyes away from the Son. But even when he succeeds in casting a shadow on God’s goodness, mercy, grace, and love, His glory explodes all around that satanic shadow overwhelming the forces of darkness and bathing us in His extravagant love.
Jesus is our Armor
It is not our armor but God’s armor we put on. And ultimately, all of these pieces describe Jesus! He is our armor. He is our victory.
Warren Wiersbe writes:
“In one sense the 'whole armor of God' is a picture of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Truth (John 14:6), and He is our righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) and our peace (Eph. 2:14). His faithfulness makes possible our faith (Gal. 2:20); He is our salvation (Luke 2:30); and He is the Word of God (John 1:1, 14).
I want to go back to telling the truth. We have to stop pretending that we are happier than we are, that our marriages are better than they are, that we don’t have doubts, that we don’t get sad, and that we are less sinful than we are.
Ending video: Truth be Told by Matthew West
Belt of Truth prayer
