In 1993, the US military was involved in the Battle of Mogadishu. The movie "Blackhawk Down" was based on this conflict. It was civil war in Somalia and the US sent Special Forces in to capture the leader of the opposition. The entire operation was estimated to take no longer than 30 minutes. Most of the 160 men involved did not bring all their gear. They thought since it was only going to last a short while during the day they wouldn't need their night vision goggles nor would they need extra food or water or even all their ammo. I mean, what could go wrong? Well, right off the bat two of the Blackhawk helicopters were shot down and several others damaged. In trying to save the soldiers in the downed helicopters, several brave men lost their lives. Several had to wait overnight to be rescued while trying to hold off the enemy. In what turned out to be a battle lasting 2 full days, 18 American soldiers were dead and 73 wounded. While it may have been a poorly planned offensive, how many lives could have been saved if those soldiers had brought all their gear to the battle? And how much more do we need to bring all our spiritual weapons and armor to the battle we are in?
We face a spiritual enemy that wants us to be not only
spiritually but physically dead. Did you hear what I
said? Our spiritual enemy wants us to be spiritually and even
physically dead. Now, when I say that, some of you may be thinking
I'm being a bit dramatic because surely spiritual enemies only fight spiritual
battles, right? How do you think Job would answer that? In Job
chapters one and two, Satan actually approaches God and basically asks for
permission to afflict Job with all sorts of physical problems. He
kills his children. That's pretty physical. He afflicted
him with sores from head to toe. That's pretty
physical. And he kills all of his livestock. Those are
all very physical problems. Yes, it affected him spiritually but it
was a physical attack.
What is the very first reaction of Job? Does he
curse God? Does he make excuses? Does he claim to know
the problem or the answer? Does he blame somebody
else? Does he allow his emotions to dictate his
thoughts? No. The very first thing Job does is what Paul
later tells us to do and that is Job buckled the belt of truth around his
waist. In Job 1:21 the first thing Job says is, "The
Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away."
Job here is falling back on truth. He could have
justified any other response but he made the decision to, as some versions say,
gird his loins with truth. What Job is saying is that God is
sovereign. He allows or even causes all things. All
things have to cross the desk of God and get his approval. Job
doesn't lie and say it is ok or that he understands why it happened but the
first thing he does is realize, believe and hold on to truth. Turn to Ephesians
6:10-18. I want to focus on just one part of verse 14 this
morning but it is important that we read the whole passage to remind ourselves
of the context in which it was written.
10Finally, be strong in the
LORD and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you
can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that
when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you
have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth
buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in
place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds
of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying
for all the LORD's people.
Read 14a again. After reading this, I want us to see
just two things: What is truth? And why does it matter? I
first want to think about why Paul used the Roman soldier's uniform as this
analogy. I mean, it fits perfectly but what brought this to his
mind? I have an idea that being chained between two Roman guards
night and day would give you a pretty good opportunity to see firsthand what
all was involved with getting suited for battle. Paul says later in
the chapter that he is an ambassador in chains.
Can you imagine getting assigned to guard Paul as a Roman
soldier? "Oh, no! Not that guy
again! All he wants to talk about is Jesus." Well,
obviously, Paul noticed how these soldiers were dressed as he was being guarded
and makes use of them in this illustration. Our idea of a belt doesn't do this
word justice. The Roman soldier's belt was actually a thick and wide
leather piece that not only was used to tuck in his tunic so he could move
around easily, it was also used much like a modern policeman's belt to hold
some of his weapons. It also provided support for his lower back and
abdomen. The breastplate was then fastened to the belt as
well. The belt was not just an adornment, but an essential piece of
the armor that held everything else together.
It’s actually not surprising at all that the first piece of
armor that we are to put on in preparation for our battle with Satan is the
belt of truth. Satan is a liar and his main weapon is his deceitful schemes.
The truth is the primary weapon that we use to stand firm against his lies and
deceit.
We have talked about this before but what is
truth? The original Greek word for this truth is "aletheuo.” It
is slightly different from the word Jesus used when He said in John
14:6, "I am the way, the truth,
and the life..." This "truth" (aletheuo)
means to know and speak reality. Paul uses this exact same word
in chapter 4 of Ephesians when he tells us to speak the truth in
love. Barna Research Group took a survey and that survey showed in 2002
that only 1/3 of Christian adults believed in absolute truth and only 9% of
Christian teen-agers. So, what am I talking about when I say absolute
truth?
I remember years ago talking to a lady about how to be
saved. I told her that Jesus was the only way and that when we
accept Him into our lives to be Lord he will forgive our sins and we can have a
relationship with Him and spend eternity in Heaven. I remember she
said she was glad that I had that and she was sure that was true for me but she
preferred to get to Heaven another way and that was her truth. No, no,
no. I told her the absolute truth. I told
her aletheuo. Absolute truth is truth that is true for you and
for me and for everybody yesterday, today and tomorrow. Some
examples of absolute truth include
• God is the all-knowing and all-powerful creator of the
universe who still rules it today; • Jesus Christ never sinned
• Satan is real • Salvation is received through faith in Christ, not by good
deeds • Every follower of Christ has a responsibility to share their faith with
non-believers • The Bible is accurate in all that it teaches
There are many others. When someone comes to you and
says they are living in a lifestyle that is contrary to what God approves of
what do they always say? "I do this and that BUT it's ok
because of ..." or "I don't do this or that BUT it's
ok because...". I cheat on my wife because she doesn't love me. I
have to work on Sundays or I would come to church. I had to lie to
her or she would be mad. I had to steal that because I can't afford
one and he can.
I'm sure God in Heaven is saying, "Oh yea, I
wrote those 10 Commandments but if you have a note from your mother I'll give
you a pass. It's not that big of a deal." In the
book of Exodus, when Moses came down the mountain with the 10 Commandments it
says that the people actually backed away and told Moses to talk to them from a
distance because they didn't want God to talk to them or they were afraid they
would die. Today we know what the truth is we just choose to put our fingers in
our ears and say, "nanny, nanny, nanny" as we live
however we want to. We know what the truth is but it's not always
easy and sometimes it makes us uncomfortable. If I hear any more
about comfort I am going to be sick. Everybody wants to be
comfortable. We all have to make sure that nothing we say or do
makes anyone uncomfortable. Talking about Jesus in school makes people
uncomfortable. Standing up for the sanctity of life or against gay
marriage makes some people uncomfortable.
You know why it makes people
uncomfortable? Because it is truth. It
is aletheuo. And when people are living contrary to truth God
allows them to be uncomfortable. Jesus Himself said in Matthew
10:34, "Do not suppose that I have
come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a
sword." Jesus
didn't come to make people comfortable. His coming brought conflict
- conflict between Himself and Satan, as we have seen in this passage; conflict
between His followers and Satan's followers, between light and darkness and
between lies and truth.
We know what the truth is and sometimes it is
uncomfortable. Now let's look at why it matters. Have
you ever noticed how often what is said in Bible Study Thursday night directly
relates to what is later said in the sermon? And how what is said in
the sermon directly relates to something you read in your quiet time on
Wednesday and then relates to what you are going through Friday
morning? Do you know how we do that? Well, the Leadership
Team meets every week with Ben and me and we decide what is going to be taught
and what conversations are going to happen and how the music will relate to all
those things and make it match up to what is happening in your life this week.
And most of you are thinking right now, "He is
preaching on truth and telling a lie!" No, we don't do
that. The Holy Spirit does that when our church preaches and teaches
and sings about truth. When it all matches up then God blesses that
and uses all of that together to bless and encourage and prove what is
heard. Our very unity depends on truth. If somebody comes
in and starts teaching something that is not truth then there will be a
division; something else Paul knew all too well. We want and welcome everybody
in this church. We’re all weird and we are all messed up in our own
ways. Nobody is perfect around here. No offense, Sara. We
hope everybody in the world would come be a part of this church. But
if you want to be a member of this church and have the right to vote on
important matters and the opportunity to teach, then we have to know that you
are a like-minded believer in Jesus because if you don’t teach or preach or
sing what is truth then our unity could be fractured and we can’t have that.
Now, let me tell you another reason why truth
matters. Let's say you are studying your Bible in your quiet time
tomorrow morning and you stumble across a passage that doesn't make sense to
you. So you study it and pray about it and get out a commentary or
two and you realize that this verse is not true. You read in James
5:16, for example, that fervent prayer is powerful and
effective. But in every other place that talks about prayer it says
that it is only good for making you feel good or maybe it is just a ritual that
we are supposed to do. What then?
I'll tell you what happens to me. If I find a
passage, a verse or a word that is not true in the Bible, I become an
Atheist. If there is one word that is not truth, aletheuo, then
how can you believe any of it? But in my studies, I have found
everything written from cover to cover to be absolute truth. I have
learned firsthand that fervent prayer is powerful and effective. I
can give you examples. God continues to reveal to me the depth of
truth in His Word and without truth everything falls apart.
Remember, Paul said this was the belt of
truth. And like a Roman soldier's belt, everything hangs on
it. Without truth then we have lost the sword of the Spirit, the
breastplate of righteousness goes twisting around, the helmet of salvation is
useless if the rest of us is uncovered and we might as well join the other side
before we get a flaming arrow in the heart. But when we put on the belt of
truth before we do anything else we know we will be able to stand because we
know that when God says there are benefits to obedience and consequences of
disobedience, we know it's true. When God says thou shalt not, we
don't make any excuses. When we see the blessings of truth in our
church we accept nothing that isn't.
Knowing truth doesn't mean you will be free from trouble but
like Job, when trouble comes we will be able to say, "God, I don't
understand. This isn't fair. It doesn't make sense but I
know that you are sovereign. You are in control and You love
me. And so I trust You and I will stand in the battle. I
will stand when the enemy attacks. I will be strong in You and in
Your mighty power." But that kind of response is impossible without a
relationship with God the Father through His Son Jesus. If you feel
the Spirit of God drawing you closer to Him today, then today is the day of
salvation! Without Him there is no truth. There is no
eternal life in Heaven. Without Him there is only physical and
spiritual death in Hell. Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and
then turn away from those sins and make Him Lord of your life. Do
that right now as the music plays.
No comments:
Post a Comment