“Combat Training 3” – Ephesians 6:10-18 – Belt of Truth

Don’t make a big deal out of it but turn and glance at your neighbor on your right.  See that person? Now, turn and look at the person on your left.  Just a glance is all you need. I want you to know that person is not the enemy. Now, if you are married, it may seem that way at times but I promise you that person is not the enemy.

Your neighbor down the street that walks his dogs through your yard…not your enemy. Your boss that steals your ideas and gets a raise for it…not him either. Oh, make no mistake. We are in a battle and the enemy is real but it is not North Korea or Iran or Russia or Isis. Those are not our true enemies.

The Bible tells us that our enemies are spiritual. Now, when I say that, some of you might relax and think I am talking about mythical enemies or ghosts with white sheets over their heads but the word “spiritual” does not mean fairy tale no matter what some people think.

I read a poll from the Barna Research Group that showed nearly 2/3 of American adults believe that Satan is not a living being but a symbol of evil. It said that even among evangelical Christians, 52% deny Satan’s existence which explains why one of the largest battlefields is in the American church. We have seen just in this church how Satan will tempt us to sin or cause bad things to happen to us just because we are believers and Satan hates us.

We have seen and we know the cycle. You remember the cycle. God blesses. The people are obedient…and what happens next? Satan attacks. It’s all through the Old Testament and into the New Testament and into our lives as well. It is a battle and we are on the front lines. So far, we have gone through Boot Camp and learned the basics. Now we are in Combat Training where we have seen that we are fighting a spiritual battle but since we are physical we have to fight in God’s power and His strength as it says in Ephesians 6.

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 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. 

Finally, 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. As we saw last week, 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" 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. 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 Sunday School directly relates to what is later said in the sermon?  And how what is said in the sermon directly relates to something we learn on Wednesday night and 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.

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."