STAND!
(The Girdle Of Truth)
01/28/03
Chris Cromwell
Background
EPHSIANS 6: 10-20
Text
EPHSIANS 6:14
“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
(Stand) We know sometimes in our life we all must make a stand. There are many different issues in life that we stand up for. When we stand in one place we are securing the spot that we are standing on. Likewise when stand up for a particular ideal we are securing our position on that particular matter. There comes a time in our life when we must take a stand. We may have to stand up for our property. Sometime we may have to stand up for our family. We may have to stand to protect ourselves. Ultimately we will have to stand up for a principle in our life. Yes, we must take a stand.
In the previous text, verses 10-14 stand is mention three times. And it’s associated with standing against Satan and his host. First we must know why we must take a stand against Satan, and the reason is that Satan is the enemy of the church and of God. We know through the scripture that, God the Father and creator of all things threw Satan out of Heaven because of his pride in himself. Which can be read in the 14th chapter of Ezekiel 28: verse. Every since then, Satan have been seeking opportunity to discredit God, and to turn away all that seek him. 1 Pet. 5:8 say, “The devil walks about like a roaring lion seek whom he may devour.” It was Satan who deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was Satan who touch the life of Job, even to the point that he curse the day he was born, it was Satan who tempted Jesus the Son of A Living God in the wilderness, it is Satan who will reap havoc on the Church in the tribulation period which is to come, and it is Satan who ultimately will be cast into the lake of fire in the end times. So this is the one who we must stand against.
Satan isn’t flesh and blood like you and I, albeit he may use man sometimes to do his bidding, but he is spirit. The scripture describe our fight in verse 12 like this “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickeness in heavenly places. And in order to stand we must take the whole Armour of God that we may stand in that evil day. What does it mean to stand against Satan? I believe that James 4:7 whole a major component to this answer, which says “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” It’s through allowing God to lead us in our life that we can make a stand against Satan.
(“Have your waist girded about with truth”)
When I think about the word girded girdle comes to mind. To my understanding, at that time the girdle was apart of the soldier’s uniform. Though it may seem like a small insignificant part, but it play an important role in the life of the soldier. It was the girdle that binds together or held in places the central parts of the soldier’s uniform. It wasn’t just used for that particular reason only, but it was used to hang the weapons upon. If you were a bowman he would hang the girdle across the chest and hang the quiver, which supported the arrows from the girdle. If you were in the infantry he would secure the sheath, which contain the sword from it at the waistline. The soldier also wore robs, which aren’t mention in this text, as being apart of the armor. When they had to move quickly, they would tuck the hymn of the rob into the girdle to keep from tripping on it. You may have heard the term gird up the loins of your minds. This term stem from the tucking of the robs into the girded. But it has been transform to mean making or getting your mind ready for Christian service. In today’s life as we put on the whole armor of God, it’s essential that we miss not one piece. It’s ironic how such a small insignificant piece can have so much value to the soldier. It’s upon this girdle that the weapons are secure. It’s upon the girdle that the rob is tuck to make rapid advancement in the war. It’s the girdle that wholes the components of the armor together. And is the Girdle that supports the strength areas of the soldier as we stand against the wiles of the devil.
(Truth)
In this spiritual warfare the first piece of armor that is mention is the Girdle of Truth. There are many different commentary on this subject, but for all simplicity I like to define this as “a true commitment to the divine word of God.” In Isaiah 11:5 it was prophesied that “Righteousness shell be the belt of his loins and faithfulness the belt of his waist”. This prophecy was spoken of about Jesus. As we look into the life of Jesus we can see through the scripture that Lord Jesus Christ was totally committed to doing the will of God. It’s through our faithfulness that we have balance in our life. It is the truth that gives us strength against Satan’s attacks.
What is truth? The bible declares that Jesus Christ is the truth. In St. John 8:31-32 Jesus said to his disciples “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” In St John 14:6 Jesus declared to these same disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Not only that He also said in St. John 14:17 “ The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” It’s when we put on Jesus Christ (who is the truth) and is faithful to the divine word of God we receive power to stand against Satan.
One of the biggest deceptions of Satan is to deceive the world concerning Jesus Christ, and to deny that he is the Son of God. He has gone thru great length to deceive us. He knows without Jesus (whom is the truth) in our life we have no true defense against Satan. When we stand on our own account Satan will eventually ensnare us with his tricks. We must not forget that we are men who are in a fallen state due to Adams act of disobedient. And our thought process is fallen. So even at our, best we are no match for Satan. But think God, for all those who believe in Christ have receive the Spirit Of Truth, Which will lead us in to all Truth and Righteousness. Which will lead us in the time of attack to victory if we listen to his divine counsel. That’s why we must study the words of God. Because it’s the Spirit of Truth (The Holy Ghost) that bring to our remembrance the word of God. It’s the truth that binds the pieces of the armor together.
How can we effectively weir the breastplate of righteousness if there isn’t any truth (which is Jesus Christ) in our life or don’t have knowledge of how the Lord desires us to live. How can we use the weapon of the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God If we don’t know what the word of God say or if there is no word in us that the spirit of truth could us to bring to our remembrance in order to fight the temptation of Satan, and how could we use the word in our defense if we are not committed or faithful to Jesus concerning his word? How can you “gird up” the loins of your mind if that isn’t a true desire to live for Him? So when we put on truth we are putting on Christ who overcame the world. It is Christ who is the center point of our armor. It is Christ who is the divine truth. And it is Christ who has proven he is able to stand against Satan. We must put on Christ to be an effective soldier in the army of the Lord.
Many of us have been wounded because we forgot the truth. We have forgotten to include Jesus in Our day today plan. We walk thru life not making a distinction of who side we are on. We rely on our own inner strength as though we don’t need Jesus. As if he is just something we worship with lip service.
There is a church, which was spoken of in the bible, which was wounded by Satan and I believe they didn’t even know it. You may have heard of the Church of Laodiceans. Well this was one of the seven Churches of Asia minor to which John was commanded to write. This church was very prosperous and felt like they didn’t need anything. They had a form of religion but no real commitment or no real power. They were self-reliant. Wounded by Satan and didn’t know it.
There are several different interpretation of these seven churches of Asia Minor The one I would like to talk about is the futuristic interpretation. Scholars after doing a study of church history found that church history could be broken up in to seven different periods. And each church represents a period in church history. Getting to the point. The church of Laodicea, which is the last period, is the period, which I believe, we are now in.
We can’t deny the fact that there is a lot of similarity to this church. The first and the far most likeness is the prosperity of the church. Know one can deny that this is the most prosperous time in church history. When we look around, we can see million dollar churches and men’s of God making millions of dollars off the gospel. There have even been reports of atm machines in the lobby of churches. The other likeness is the doctrine that is been preach. Which are the doctrine of prosperity, and the doctrine of the anointing of the holy spirit in which the Holy Spirit remain the center of attention. And in this doctrine it all about what I can get for myself, from the Lord and primarily focus on getting a blessing rather than being a blessing, and it lack putting true emphasis on the chief subject of Christianity which is loving God thru loving your brother.
I believe that we are in the last church age. The chief trick of Satan is to draw attention away from the truth, which is the doctrine of salvation through Christ in which he is always the center of attention. But because we have been trick by Satan to believe in self-dependence and to trust in our riches, we have develop a form of religion were Christ is no more the center of attention. Wounded and don’t know it. Because we deny the truth of God. It may seem like we are having a glorious time in the Lord but what do the Lord have to say about it. This can be broken down to our individual life. The Lords says in so many words that you have been wounded and don’t even know it. He says “ You say I am rich have become wealthy and have no need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. But he goes on to say ‘behold I stand at the door and knock.’ Wounded and don’t know it because we deny the truth in our life. Jesus Christ is the truth.
Lets look at some other who declares him true. There was John the Baptist who was baptizing in the Jordan River repentance for the remission of sin. When he look and seen the lord coming Said behold the Lamb of God who cometh to take away the sins of the world. God the Father him self declared him true. After being Baptist by John the bible say the heavenly were open and the Holy Spirit descended upon his shoulder like a dove and then a voice from heaven spoke and said this is My be love Son in whom I am well pleased. Isn’t this the truth? The demons declare him true. Mt.8: 28 said “When he had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that none could pass that way. 29 say and suddenly they cried out, saying ‘what have we to do with You Jesus Son of God?” Isn’t this the truth? Peter declared him true. Mt.16 says, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples who do men say that I am? Some said say you are John the Baptist, some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.’ He said to them who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter answered and said Thou art the Christ the Son of a living God.” Isn’t that the truth? Just one more witness. After Jesus was delivered up to the cross, to suffer our pain our guilt and to bare our sin, having done great works throughout the land, and never having sin, still some refuse to believe. Just like today some still don’t believe. But there is one more witness who can declare him to be true. At the monument of his death on the cross Mt.27: 50 say And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up the ghost. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quacked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that had happened they were greatly afraid saying truly this was the Son of God!” isn’t this the truth.
After three days in the grave the truth is he was raised from the grave. Mary and Martha can attest to this. On the first day of the week they came to see the tomb of Jesus and found the stone roll back and the angel of the Lord sitting on the tomb. He said to them come to the place where the Lord laid. And go tell his disciples. Mt. 28:9 say as they went to tell his disciples Jesus met them on the saying, rejoice! So they came and held Him by his feet and worshiped Him. Isn’t this the truth? He appeared to of his disciples on the road to Emmaus as they talk together on the way. They were restraint so that did not know him, but as they walk Jesus begin to share the word beginning at Moses and all the prophets. He expounded all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. As they drew near to the city they constraint him saying abide with us for it is evening, the day is far spent. Luk 24:30 says Now it came to pass as He sat at the table with that he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 then their eyes were opened and they knew Him and he vanished out of sight. Isn’t that the truth? Thomas can witness to the resurrection of Christ. It was Thomas who said, He wouldn’t belive unless he touched him. As the deciples met in the house Jesus appear to them. And having called Thomas to himself alouded thomas to touch his wounds. Yes Jesus lives, and He is sitting now at the right hand of the Father. He also lives in the heart of every believer. Just one last truth that I would like to share with you all, and that is He is coming back, and every eye will see Him and every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess his name. So if you don’t know Him for yourself, it would be wise to come to know him in the pardon of your sin. Therefore Stand having on The Girdel Of Truth (Which is Jesus Christ).
