The Armor Of God – Truth Series

The Armor of God – Truth - Teaching

Last week we looked at what the armor is and what is not. Today we are taking a close look at truth, as you may have not thought of it before. Let’s jump right in!

Ephesians 6:14 NKJV

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Truth. The Roman soldier’s belt functioned as a piece to hold the soldier’s tunic in place and also held small weapons. The belt was made of soft leather strips decorated with metal; this was also a symbol of status.

What truth might Paul be referring to that can hold small weapons and be a symbol of status in the spiritual realm? Biblical truth. The greater measure of truth we obtain, the greater our ability to hold weapons and have a higher status in the spiritual realm.

I don’t think this piece should be skipped over lightly. Most often we think, “Yea, I know the truth.” Sometimes what we think is truth, is not truth. (Give an example of what you thought was truth but wasn’t. Mine is below written in 3rd person if you need a story)

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Example: For example, some parents would always quote, “Spare the rod spoil the child.” There were people who actually believed this was scripture. A minister once shared this story, “When I was 12 years old, after searching the lexicon and combing over the Bible, I couldn’t find that scripture anywhere. I cannot explain the joy that filled my heart as I raced to my father, with Bible in hand, to inform him of the real truth of the gospel. He looked at me with shock all over his face, and then said, ‘Well, I’m still gonna hit you when I need to.’ Epic fail.”

Has anyone else been quoted, “Spare the rod spoil the child,” growing up?

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Another popular old wives’ tale that people used to quote as scripture, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Anyone know someone that thought this was in the Bible?

While those are silly examples, not knowing what’s in the Bible can actually ruin our belt of truth. Let’s quickly go through some more serious examples. I’ll read a statement people think is Biblical, and you tell me why it’s not true.

Non-Biblical Sayings:

-Money is the root of all evil

(Answer: The love of money is the root of all evil - 1 Timothy 6:10)

-And this too shall pass

(Answer: September 30, 1859: Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lincoln speaking at the Wisconsin State Fair about America’s future, “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentiment to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride; how consoling in the depths of affliction! ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ And yet, let us hope, it is not quite true. Let us hope, rather, that by the best cultivation of the physical world, beneath and around us, and the intellectual and moral worlds within us, we shall secure an individual, social, and political prosperity and happiness, whose course shall be onward and upward, and which, while the earth endures, shall not pass away.”

-Pride comes before a fall

(Answer: Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. -Proverbs 16:18

Anyone know what haughty means? Hebrew gives the idea of grand and lifted up)

-God helps those who help themselves

(Answer: It helps you to help yourself. God loves you and will help you best He can even when you don’t know how to help yourself, or you’re in the middle of trying to destroy yourself. How many countless testimonies have we heard of people running from God, and God saved them when they should have gotten in a lot of trouble or even died? God also answers the prayers of saints over people that refuse to help themselves. God is love!)

-All good things come to those that wait

(Answer: Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Waiting on the Lord is good, but this doesn’t indicate a looooong length of time. When I hear this statement, it’s normally used in conjunction with people making excuses for not receiving answered prayer from the Lord. It’s just not a Biblical statement. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” 2 Corinthians 1:20 –As for unanswered prayer, this series should answer some of those questions. We don’t have any scriptures where God said, “Wait, just wait, just because..")