Stand Series

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.