Ephesians 6:14a
The Belt of Truth
Scripture Readings:-
Isaiah 11:1-9
2 Corinthians 4:1-12
Ephesians 6:10-18
Sermon Text
Ephesians 6:14a
Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
In the Macquarie Dictionary the word "truth" has 10 different definitions.
• “Truth” can be a description of actual facts.
• “Truth” can refer to a state of genuineness.
• “Truth” also plays a major part in integrity.
So when we buckle on the belt of truth what are we doing? Are we buckling up a set of facts? Are we talking about being genuine Christians? Is it an issue of being people of integrity?
The concept of truth has so many applications that we need to understand what it means before we can understand how to use this piece of the armour. We need this understanding because we are in a battle. It is not a battle against flesh and blood; it is a spiritual battle. Part of winning that battle is to know what the belt of truth is and how to use it. So let’s be willing to learn what it means to be equipped as God’s warriors.
(Point 1) Examining the Belt
To be able to examine the belt properly we have to put aside our 20th century perceptions and put ourself into the first century.
In the first century when you got dressed you would put on your “loin cloth” – which was like an oversized nappy. Then you would put on your undergarment, which was basically a long baggy shirt. After that you would put on your cloak. Basically this process meant you had all this baggy clothing hanging off you. Which is why you needed your belt. It would be used to gather all that lose clothing and hold it in place so that the clothing would not get in the way when you were walking around. Belts were important, even for ordinary citizens. But for those who were military officers the belt also served to hold the bottom of breastplate in place, and also to hold the sheath for the sword.
If the belt was not in place you would always be in danger of tripping over your own clothing. And, for a soldier, if the belt was not in place, you also would not be able to get ready for battle. The belt needs to be trustworthy otherwise the rest of the armour is useless. That is the significance of the belt in a literal sense. But let’s remember what Paul is doing here. This is not a commentary on military fashion items. Ephesians 6:14a is talking about a belt which has spiritual significance. When it comes to understanding the spiritual significance of this piece of equipment we see that trustworthiness and dependability is the key.
In the spiritual battle God needs soldiers who are properly equipped to fight the battle. Which raises a very significant question. How trustworthy and dependable are you as you seek to be a soldier for God? It is a significant question, but it isn’t always a comfortable question.
It isn’t a comfortable question because I’m not asking how much knowledge you have about the truth. Knowledge about the truth is necessary. And we should be people who read and study the Word of God. But if all we are doing is gathering knowledge without also being willing to be engaged in the spiritual battle, then we are not really acting as trustworthy and dependable soldiers.
How trustworthy and dependable are you? It isn’t a comfortable question because I’m not asking you about the truth of your relationship to Jesus. And of course that relationship is necessary. We need Jesus as a Saviour. We have to trust in the fact that His blood was given so that we could be saved. Indeed we will not even realise that we are in a spiritual battle until we are brought into God’s family by Jesus. A relationship with Jesus is essential. But if we are not willing to fight the same fight as Jesus did then we are not really acting as trustworthy and dependable soldiers.
As we examine the belt of truth we are being asked to examine our commitment to kingdom work. And that raises the question:- How trustworthy and dependable are you as you seek to be a soldier for God? The belt of truth is not primarily focussing on the truth which comes out of God’s Word. The belt of truth is not an example of the truth of your confession about Jesus and your need for His grace. The belt of truth is asking you about your priorities. Are you willing to put on the belt of truth which demonstrates that you truly want to be committed to Jesus and have solidarity with Him?
Now it is true, and it always will be true, that we are saved by grace. In Christ we have been liberated and set free. Through the blood of Jesus we are assured that our sin has been paid our sin. By grace we are accepted as a member of God’s family and an heir to eternal life. Paul believed this and taught it to the churches. “It is by grace you have been saved … not by works so that no one can boast”. That is what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9. But it is also true that we need to be willing to put on the armour which God has provided. We need to show our solidarity with the cause of Christ by taking up the belt of truth.
But the sad fact is that many Christians don’t show their solidarity. And that truth brings us to our second point where we consider Satan’s Strike Below the Belt. You see Satan is a liar - indeed Jesus calls him the father of lies. And what Satan does is make us think we are fighting the cause of Jesus when, in reality we are not. Indeed it may come as a surprise to know that this is quite a common occurrence in the church.
We see it happening in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Paul addresses this letter, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy” (1 Corinthians 1:2). It is clear that Paul is writing to people who have confessed Jesus as Lord. But these are not people that are willing to stand side by side with Jesus in the spiritual battle. Instead these are people who are very poor soldiers.
What are some of the issues Paul addresses in the Corinthian church:-
• divisions and lack of unity.
• sexual immorality.
• an abuse of Christian liberty
• an abuse of the Lord’s Supper
• pride about spiritual gifts
• a lack of love
Paul calls them holy, but their lifestyle choices are far from Holy. Paul needs to bring them to their senses to make them understand that they are fighting the wrong battles.
Paul isn’t the only one. John the Apostle does the same in the book of Revelation. This book is written, “To the seven churches in the province of Asia” (Revelation 1:4). Again it is written to people who know Christ and put their hope in Him. But there are a lot of soldiers in these churches who do not want to put on the belt of truth ad stand in solidarity with Christ.
What are some of the issues John addresses as he writes to the seven churches:-
• they have forsaken their first love and commitment to Jesus.
• they commit sexual immorality.
• they do not teach that Christianity is the only way of salvation.
• they were doing works that were dead.
• they are lukewarm.
Once again Satan has hit the church; indeed here it was five out of the seven churches. Satan has hit below the belt because there are so many believers who are not willing to put on the belt of truth and stand in solidarity with Jesus.
It was happening in Corinth. It was happening to churches in the days of John. We can point to many churches and see it happening there. The question for us congregation is: To what extent is it happening in our own church? To what extent are we ignoring the need to stand in solidarity with Jesus? Have we been sucked in by Satan’s distortions?
You may never come out and directly say that you do not what Jesus to be in authority over your life. But how many of us come to church because we are expected to do so? Expected by our parents? Expected by our spouse? Expected to do it because we have always done so? Maybe we only come because we are afraid of what others will think if we don’t? We believe. We have faith. But the belt of truth is hanging pretty lose around our waist because we have not seen the important connection between having faith in Jesus and having fellowship with Him and His people.
We would never come out and say that the standard of obedience which Jesus sets is too hard. But the issues which Paul dealt with in Corinth, and the issues which John confronted the seven churches with, are real issues in our church.
• divisions.
• lukewarmness.
• a lack of priority for Jesus.
• a lack of love.
• being self absorbed.
• preoccupation with material possessions.
They all happen. Which means the belt of truth is sitting loosely around some of our spiritual waists.
We would never directly say that the lost and the not-yet-believers are unimportant. But when we look to Jesus and see how much focus He gave to such people - and then look at our own lives and see how much focus we give - well there certainly can be times when it is fair to say that there is not a lot of solidarity between Jesus and ourselves at that point.
As soon as we confess Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we are drawn into a spiritual battle. It is a battle where eternal death or eternal life is at stake. It is a battle with one who is 100% committed to drawing us away from God. It is a battle that calls us to make the spiritually lost a priority as we stand in solidarity with Jesus. Is this the battle that we are winning?
In examining the belt have we discovered that our belt is securely in place, or is our belt hanging very loosely around our waist? You need to answer the question for yourself.
• It is not a question of whether you believe or do not believe. It is a question of being trustworthy and dependable in the battle.
• It is not a question of going to heaven or not going to heaven. It is a question of how you are going to live while you wait for heaven to come.
As we seek to answer that question we come to the last point this morning where we want to see How To Secure the Belt in Place. The answer to securing the belt in place comes back to our understanding of who Jesus is and what He came to do. Because Jesus came to save us, but He also calls us to follow Him.
We look to Jesus and we see a Saviour who was willing to give up everything:- heaven, earthly comforts, the esteem of others, life itself. He was willing to give up everything in order to fulfil His ministry. If we are to follow Him as dependable and trustworthy soldiers then we need to be willing to make sacrifices:- our time, our financial resources, our esteem in the eyes of others. We need to make sacrifices. Not because we are trying to earn spiritual brownie points; but because our eyes and hearts and minds are set on following a Saviour who did exactly the same for us.
We look to Jesus we see a Saviour who was willing to mix with the lost, the outcast, the unwanted and the sinners. Indeed the focus of the ministry of Jesus was to “seek and save the lost”. Even when other people had a go at Jesus for mixing with such people He still persisted. If we are to follow as trustworthy and dependable disciples our focus also needs to include the lost and the lonely. And it might mean spending less time with our extended family. And it might mean making time to build relationships with people who we would not naturally mix with. But we do it because we know that we, at one point, were just as lost. And we, like everyone else do not deserve to be a part of God’s family. We act this way because we follow a Saviour who did exactly the same for us.
Putting the belt in place is a sign that we want to be soldiers who are in solidarity with the ministry of Jesus. Do you really want to fight for God? Are you sincere about spiritual warfare? It’s not just a matter of saying "I believe in Jesus Christ". It is a matter of following consistently and unswervingly the footsteps of One looked at each one of us and knew we were destined for an eternity of separation from God … and then who did something about it by giving His life.
Through Jesus we can be equipped for the battle. Being equipped for the battle means putting on the belt of truth and being serious enough to make the changes in our lives that enable us to become more like Jesus Christ. The question is, “How keen are you to be involved in the battle?”.
Amen.
