Food
for Thought: The
Belt of Truth
Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist...
Dr. Mark Ruppert
September 14, 2003
Ephesians 6:10-17
A little trivia-what was the first radio station ever? A little
hint- the city where this radio station is found is a little over
100 miles away. Well, in case you didn't know KDKA radio in Pittsburgh
was the first radio station ever. Well, over there in Pittsburgh
there used to be a radio personality whose name is John Signa.
John has been retired for a few years now, but he used to do the
morning show for KDKA radio. For years John Signa was opposed to
a Pennsylvania State Law which required motorcyclists to wear helmets.
A while back, he had a motorcycle accident that could have killed
him if he had not been wearing the protective helmet required by
Pennsylvania law. John Signa has had a change of heart, a change
of mind about that law. Following his accident he now supports
the law. That law was designed to protect motorcyclists, like John
Signa.
I wonder how many of you religiously wear your seatbelts. Maybe
you really don't like the law and you even intentionally do not
hook up some of the time. And yet we hear how seatbelts have saved
lives. Seatbelts protect people.
Speaking of protection-- Some people seek to protect their homes
by having an alarm system installed to go off in the event of intruders.
Many people install smoke detectors and radon detectors to protect
us. We protect our children by installing safe locks so that they
do not get into the cabinet under the kitchen sink with all those
poisonous chemicals.
Do you know that God wants us protected? God wants the best for
us and He wants to protect us from the enemy-Satan. We read in
I Peter 5:8 "Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring
lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone
to devour."
In order for you and me to be protected, God has given us Spiritual
armor to wear.
We began our series last Sunday talking about the fact that we
are in a battle against an invisible enemy. Paul says in Ephesians
6:12, "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and
flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against
the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places." You see, we are fighting
against an invisible enemy that is at work through the flesh. The
enemy is the spiritual powers of Satan and his evil hosts. We are
not engaged in a physical battle where we can fight with physical
weapons. But rather we are involved in a spiritual battle that
demands new weaponry. We are engaged in spiritual warfare and spiritual
warfare demands spiritual weapons. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt
spiritual warfare was going on around you or that you, yourself,
were involved
in spiritual warfare? I certainly have and I have experienced
it not
only inside the church but also outside the church. I'll never
forget a person in a previous church who was in a leadership
position when I arrived. I sensed from the beginning that there
was something
wrong. I'll never forget the first time I met her and her two
children, her children were cowering behind her and as I got
down to greet
them since they were young children, they clutched tightly to
their mother's legs. In no time at all I began to see a divisive,
evil
side to this woman that tried to undercut the leadership. She
even put anonymous notes in other elders' mailboxes at the
church and
tried to stir up trouble by calling members who came to me and
told me she was being devious. I remember sitting in session
meetings when elders were furious with her and some of the
things she did
and said.
It was at the time that I was involved with my doctoral
studies and I was writing a paper on conflict management. When
I sat down
with the professor to discuss the paper, which focused on the way
this person was relating with other leaders, his comment to me
was "I wonder if she was abused or traumatized in some way.
There is something terribly wrong here." There was something
very devious about this woman and when she saw she was not going
to disrupt the unity of the leadership and the church she left.
I truly believe that there were evil forces working through this
woman who, at the time I arrived at the church, was in a very important
position. She served as and elder and was the Clerk of Session
and believe me, it was not a pleasant time. But once she was gone
there was this sense of peace and relief. At times, it was as if
we were fighting against an invisible enemy that worked through
the flesh.
Which brings us to our first piece of armor. The Belt of Truth.
Paul is using a symbolic or figurative language as he puts forth
an analogy between the Roman armor and what the Christian needs
in the battle with the hosts of darkness. The Roman soldier back
in Paul's day would have put on his belt first because all of his
equipment would have been attached to it. That belt helped to hold
the rest of the armor in place. Now I know that our belt is metal,
but back in Paul's day it would have been leather and from his
belt, the Roman soldier would have hung his sword. His belt would
have also secured his tunic and armor so that he would have been
unimpeded in battle. Dr. J. H. Jowett says, "Loose armour
was troublesome and disturbing, making the soldier feel soft, and
awkward, and unready, giving him a sense of going to pieces.
The belt bound everything together giving the soldier a sense of
firmness, making him feel secure, and able to meet the enemy's
attack with confidence." There was security in the belt.
Here in our passage the Greek word for "truth" may be
understood in two ways. First, the word or the passage has the
truth of God for its content. Second, the word or passage has truth
for its characteristic. So in this passage we can focus on the
truth of God and the fact that the truth of God lives in the believer
so what we say or do has truth as its characteristic. When our
passage speaks of fastening the belt of truth what Paul has in
mind is girding oneself in God's truth as revealed in Jesus Christ.
In essence, we are "putting on" Jesus. The image here
is that truth holds all the other virtues together and makes them
effectual in the life of the believer.
William Barclay put it this way, "It was the belt which girt
in the soldier's tunic and from which his sword hung and which
gave him freedom of movement. Others may guess and grope; the Christian
moves freely and quickly because he knows the truth." (The
Letter to the Galatians and Ephesians, Barclay, p. 183)
Paul is calling the believer to be consistent. He is calling the
believer to live and act in conformity to all that God's Word requires
of him or her. It is as if Paul is saying, "Show me a Christian
who is daily seeking to bring their whole life under the authority
of God's truth and I will show you a person who has put on the
belt of truth. With the truth of God in a person's heart they can
begin to live a life of the truth of God. The truth referred to
is the inner integrity and sincerity by which the Christian fights
evil. What are two of the enemy's tactics? Lying and deceit are
two of his tactics. So Paul is telling us to have inner truth which
will show forth integrity and sincerity in a world that is filled
with just the opposite.
So figuratively speaking, what will this belt of truth do for the
believer? The belt of truth will bring stability: stability to
our temperament, stability to our thoughts, stability to our speech,
stability to our actions.
When we wear the belt of truth we put on the truth of Christ. We
affirm the absolute truth that Jesus is the one He claimed to be
and that He is "the way, the truth and the life."
When we wear the belt of truth we affirm that the knowledge of
biblical teachings are essential and that without knowledge of
God's Word we're only leaving ourselves open to error and sin.
When we wear the belt or truth we affirm that truth never changes.
Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today and forever. He is the truth and even if there are those
who do not believe in Him, truth is truth and it never changes.
All we have to do is turn to the Bible to read about people who
wore the belt of truth and how it sustained them in life and
those who allowed the belt of truth to be loosened or even removed.
There
was Joseph when he was in Potifer's house. Joseph who did not
allow Potifer's wife to seduce him and lead him into adultery.
But there
was also Samson who was seduced by Delilah which lead to him
telling her the secret of his strength, his hair being cut and
his unfortunate
death.
And so just like the belt giving the Roman soldier stability,
so for the Christian, the belt of truth gives us stability
in life
to walk boldly forward in the path of God's Word, not deviating
to the right or the left. As we go throughout our daily life,
let us gird ourselves with the belt of truth and never take
our eyes
off of Jesus.
Key Points
Ephesians 6:10-17
Introduction: The first radio station
Do you know that God wants us protected? I Peter 5:8
Spiritual warfare
The first piece of armor-The Belt of Truth
"Truth" may be understood in two ways:
First, the word or passage has the truth of God for its ______
Second, the word or passage has truth for its ____________
The "truth" referred to is the inner _______ and _______
by which the Christian fights evil
What are two of the enemy's tactics? ________ and _________
The belt of truth will bring STABILITY:
When we wear the belt of truth we….
Conclusion: As we go throughout our daily life, let us gird ourselves
with the belt of truth and never take our eyes off of Jesus.
Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.)
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