Christian Warfare - Pt. 2
Ephesians 6:14-18
In our previous study, we saw that we are engaged in a spiritual war. All of the forces of evil are arrayed against us to keep us from knowing the true God and to prevent us from doing His divine will. We learned that Christ Jesus does not send us out on our own, unequipped, to resist and fight against temptation and error On the contrary, He has provided us with powerful spiritual resources that can enable us to achieve victory over the forces of evil.
We noted that the Roman army was, at the time of Paul’s writing, the most powerful military force in the world. The Roman soldier‘s superior armor and weaponry was largely responsible for the Roman military‘s might and success. Paul likens God’s powerful spiritual resources or virtues for we Christian soldiers to the battle armor and weaponry of the Roman soldier.
The reasons why most Christians do not have strong victorious spiritual lives is because (A) They do not know what their spiritual armor and weaponry consists of and, (B) if they know about their armor and weaponry, they simply fail or refuse to use them.
In today’s study, we will begin to examine our armor and weaponry in detail.
I. The Belt.
The first piece of equipment that Paul mentions is the belt. Around the waist, a Roman soldier wore a wide belt. Strictly speaking, one could assert that the belt is not truly armor. However, the belt was essential because it had two vital purposes: (1) the belt held the rest of the armor in place and supported the sword (therefore, it was the first piece to be put on), (2) the belt acted as a girdle which collected together the soldier’s long under-garments about the waist. This ensured that the under-garments wouldn’t trip-up the soldier in combat and it provided needed support and additional strength.
II Truth (Sincerity).
Now, Paul says that our belt is "truth". The Greek word translated "truth" is aletheuo. Aletheuo can be understood as objective truth or subjective truth. As objective truth, it would refer to spiritual facts or knowledge. The information received through Divine revelation or inspiration Subjective truth is personal truth. It is being genuine, without hypocrisy. We call it sincerity.
I believe that Paul is saying that our belt is spiritual ‘sincerity’ rather than spiritual ‘facts’ or ‘information’. The reasons why I believe this is that (1) Paul says, in verse 17, that spiritual facts or truth is the Christian soldier’s "sword"; (2) sincerity for the Christian soldier performs exactly as the belt did for the Roman soldier. Before we examine how sincerity corresponds so well to the soldier’s belt, let’s get a better grasp of what is meant by spiritual sincerity.
When the Scriptures speak of sincerity, it means a genuine and singular desire to please the Lord. It means that our heart’s one longing and our mind’s one aim is to serve the Lord and promote His glory. God has always desired and required this virtue of sincerity in His people.
Under the Old Covenant, this was clearly expressed:
Deuteronomy 10:12-13," And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?" Joshua 24:14, "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
Psalm 51:6, "Behold, You desire truth (sincerity) in the innermost being"
Jesus clearly stated that to be one of His followers, it requires a complete commitment of heart and will:
Matthew 10:37-39, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it" Luke 14:26-27, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."
In Hebrews 10:22, we are beckoned to "draw near [to God] with a sincere heart."
And in 1 Corinthians 5:8, Paul likens the Christian life to the Jewish Feast of Unleavened Bread. He exhorts us to "celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Sadly, there has always been those who have professed religion but who have been devoid of true spiritual devotion to God. These individuals who profess something that they are not are called ‘hypocrites‘.
There are those who talk spiritually and act righteously when they around other Christians; however, when they are away from fellow Christians, they talk and conduct themselves in an ungodly manner. Titus 1:16, "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed."
There are those who act religious just to impress others who have religious values rather than to please God. Matthew 6:1-6, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you…. Verses 16-18, "Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Similarly, there are those who conceive of Church involvement as nothing more than a means to receive applause or achieve prestige and status. Philippians 1:15-17, "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, …The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely."
Some work their way into the good graces of the Church only in order to fleece it and those in the Church. They are freeloaders who want only to be supported financially and materially. Paul describes these, in 1 Timothy 6:5, as "men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain." Jesus dealt with these individuals during His earthly ministry. John 6:26, "Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."
Then there are some who become Christians and attend services and join in performing good works only to please their families or friends. Or, they belong to a Church only because it is a family tradition. They have no desire to have a relationship with the Lord nor to serve Him It’s just a duty to be performed.
There are many hypocrites who carry-on their religious acting role for many different reasons. There are few things more damaging to the Cause of Christ than hypocrites Matthew 24:51 reveals to us the Lord’s opinion on hypocrisy. He says that there will be a place for hypocrites and a place with "weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Examine yourself. Why did you become a Christian? Why did you come to worship services, this morning? What motivates you to perform good deeds? Is your genuine aim to please, serve, and glorify the Lord or are you merely pretending? Is it real or is it just an acting performance? 1 Peter 2:1, let us dedicate ourselves to the Lord, "putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy."
Perhaps, we became a Christian for the right reasons. Perhaps, our motivations and intents - at least, in part - were genuine. However, we lack that part of sincerity which is a complete surrendering of our heart and will to the Lord. Pleasing Him, serving Him and glorifying Him is a priority but not always our top priority. That consistent total commitment is not there as it must be.
Jesus says in John 13:13, "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other."
In other words, Jesus is saying that either He is Master over all of our life or He is truly not our Master at all. A true and sincere servant cannot have divided loyalties.
Paul speaks of this truth when speaking of the role of the godly servants to their masters in Colossians 3:22-23, "Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters…in singleness of heart…And whatever you do, work heartily." Also, Ephesians 6:5-6, "be obedient to those who are your masters… in the sincerity of your heart,…doing the will of God from the heart."
Does our life - inside and out - reflect the attitude, not my will but Thy will be done?" Do we give the Lord Jesus our best or just our left-overs?
Do we order our time schedule in such a way that it reflects the Lord’s priorities or of that of our fleshly priorities.
Do we give our relationship with Him our best time or just our spare time? In our monetary giving to support the Lord’s work and cause, do make a sacrifice or give Him only what we think we can spare?
Do we perform His work when we feel most energized or do we use our best strength and energy serving our fleshly desires in worldly activities?
Does He occupy most of our thought-life or does He only enter our minds when we are bored, can’t think of anything else to focus our minds on, or only when we need something?
Do we seek opportunities to do good and glorify Him or do we wait to do good until our conscience can no longer allow us to ignore a need or opportunity?
Do we invite Him to be part of our life at the beginning of each day and throughout the day or just spend a moment with Him at the close of our day….if then Is He the Alpha and the Omega of our lives?
Another Scriptural analogy should be considered here. It is found in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”
The professional soldier, to be what he must be, must devote himself entirely to the soldier’s life, giving up civilian or worldly affairs. He must make sacrifices. He must keep himself fit. He must dedicate himself to learning how to maneuver and handle his weapons with skill. He does this to satisfy his commanding officer (and for his own survival).
So likewise, as good soldiers of Christ Jesus, we must not allow things to distract us from our profession. We must be willing to part with anything that keeps us from an undistracted service to our Commander-in-Chief, Jesus. We must be willing to spend the time and energy it takes to get in spiritual shape and to learn (through knowledge and practice) how to perform successfully in our spiritual combat against our fleshly nature, the world and the Devil.
Thus, we see the necessity of singleness of heart and mind in our commitment to please the Lord.
Now, we are ready to see how sincerity in a Christian performs like a belt of the Roman soldier.
III The Belt of Truth.
We noted that the Roman soldier’s belt had two primary purposes.
First, it was the first piece of equipment to be put on because it held the rest of the armor in place, including the sword.
Brethren, if you don’t first have a genuine desire to do what is right and to serve the Lord, you will not bother to make the effort to take-up and put-on the rest of the armor of God and to learn how to use the sword of the Spirit. Rarely will the hypocrite, the pretender, take the time and exert the energy to improve themselves spiritually. They do not have a desire to spiritually grow; therefore, they will not grow. On the other hand, the sincere will earnestly desire to take-up and put-on the full armor of God. Sincerity will hold everything in place. They want to grow and be victorious for the Lord’s sake as well as their own Spiritual matters are their pre-occupation.
Secondly, the belt acted as a girdle which collected together the soldier’s long under-garments about the waist. This provided needed extra support and additional strength in the time of battle.
True spiritual sincerity will often give extra support and strength to the Christian when the going gets tough. When our heart’s one longing and our mind’s one aim is to serve the Lord and promote His glory, it breeds determination
It is noteworthy that in the Parable of the Sower, found in Luke 8:11-18, that the characteristic which was specified as being had by those who thrived and bore fruit for the Lord as opposed to those who fell away during a time of temptation, persecution and trial was having heard and obeyed the Gospel "in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast." Without a sincere love for and a sincere faith in the Lord, the lightest of persecutions, temptations or trials will sidetrack and subdue the professor.
As we close, let me pose some questions -
Do you have sincerity?
Are you fully devoted to serving and pleasing the Lord Jesus?
Are you totally committed to your relationship with Him?
Are you eager, no matter what the cost, to pursue spiritual growth and to put on the full armor of God?
Do you have on your belt?
On the whole, the sacrifice of our Redeemer is the strongest inducement or motivation for our sincerity. For, How sincere a regard did He show for our welfare in dying for us!
2 Corinthians 5:14-15, "For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all;… And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them." 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth."
