Gird Your Loins With Truth

Ephesians 6, we're going to read verses 10 through

20. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the

strength of his might. Put on the full armor

of God so that you will be able to stand firm

against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle

is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers,

against the powers, against... the world's forces

of this darkness against the spiritual forces

of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore,

take up the full armor of God so that you will

be able to resist in the evil day, and having

done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore,

having girded your loins with truth, and having

put on the breastplate of righteousness. and

having shod your feet with the preparation of

the gospel of peace. In addition to all, taking

up the shield of faith with which you will be

able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the

evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and

the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of

God. With all prayer and petition, pray at all

times in the Spirit. And with this in view, be

on the alert with all perseverance and petition

for all the saints. And pray on my behalf that

utterance may be given to me in the opening of

my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery

of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in

chains, that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly

as I ought to speak. Let's go to the Lord in

prayer. Father, we come to You this Lord's Day.

Father, we thank You for Your Word. And Father,

we thank You for the fact that You have given

us truth in the Gospel. Father, You have given

us revelation to know who You are, to know who

Christ is, to know what is true of the world

around us, to know what is true of ourselves.

Lord, to know what is true concerning eternity.

Lord, to know what is true concerning spiritual

realities. Spiritual forces and enemies that

oppose the church. Father, we ask tonight that

you would bless our time in the word of God.

Lord, that you would make us to be a people of

truth. We ask these things in Christ's name.

Amen. We live largely in a world that is highly

characterized by falsehood and deceit and manipulation,

crooked agendas, error. People trying to malign

other people. These are commonplace in the unbelieving

world that the church exists in. But the church

is meant to be very, very different than the

world around it. Unlike the world that is characterized

by falsehood. The church of Jesus Christ is meant

to be characterized distinctly by truth. The

truth of God that he has given to us in the word

of God. One of the primary means and reasons

why the enemy of God's people, the devil, and

spiritual forces of wickedness, has such free

reign in the unbelieving world, is because he

works efficiently through error and falsehood.

But again, the church is meant to be different,

a place of truth, where it is known, where it

is exalted, where it is valued, where it is propagated,

where it is thought on, where it is part of us,

where it forms us and shapes us. The truth, if

we think about it, is that thing that distinctly

makes the church different in this world. So

tonight, we're going to consider... Spiritual

warfare again. We're going to consider verse

14, which says this. Stand firm, therefore, having

girded your loins with truth. Now, as we consider

this, there's three things that I think we have

to consider with regards to this piece of armor.

The truth as part of the armor. or where it fits

into the armor, its place in the armor that God

has given to us, then we have to consider the

truth as something to be girded with, to be wrapped

in, to be attached to us, to be bound to us.

But we also have to consider truth's role in

this warfare. So first, considering the truth

as part of the armor. I think it would be helpful

for us to first consider how we define and what

we consider truth to be. So we'll work our way

through Ephesians here for a few minutes and

see what Paul conveys truth to be throughout

the book of Ephesians. We read in Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 1:13

1, Verse 13, in him you also, after listening

to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation,

having also believed, you are sealed in him with

the Holy Spirit of promise. So in Ephesians 1

.13, truth is the message of the gospel. It's

not abstract. objective. It is the truth of the

gospel message. It's the reality of Christ made

known in God's self -revelation that he has given

to his people in the gospel, which we find inscripturated

in the Bible, ultimately, with a closed canon.

Now, we also read in Ephesians chapter 4, Verse

Ephesians 4:15

15. We see truth. Mentioned again. We will start

reading in verse 14. As a result. We are no longer.

To be children. Tossed here and there. by waves

and carried about by every wind of doctrine,

by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful

scheming. Now notice that Paul is characterizing

these realities which keep a person in immaturity,

that keep a person from growing in the faith.

He characterizes them in ways that are in accordance

with the workings of the devil. Craftiness, trickery,

every wind of doctrine, deceitful scheming. Remember,

the devil, his method is schemes, subtleties,

perversions, tricks, craftiness. But listen to

verse 15. But speaking the truth in love, We

are to grow up in all aspects into him who is

the head, even Christ. So, the church is not

to remain in immaturity. The church is to grow

up. And how does the church grow up? Through

the truth being spoken. Through the truth being

present, being conveyed. being communicated in

the midst of the church. It is a means of the

church growing into the fullness and maturity

of Jesus Christ in this world. So here we find

that truth is the means of bringing maturity

into the life of the church, into the life of

God's people. Now, if we jump down to the next

section, We'll go ahead and start reading in

verse 20 of the same chapter. But you did not

learn Christ in this way. If indeed you have

heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as

truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your

former manner of life, you lay aside the old

self, which is being corrupted in accordance

with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed

in the spirit of your mind, and put on a new

self, which in the likeness of God has been created

in righteousness and holiness of what? Of the

truth. So here, we find that truth is that thing,

That our regenerate part of our self is in accord

with. Where we are conformed more into the image

and likeness of Christ. Who is the living embodiment

of truth. So truth is that which defines the

regenerate part of the believer. The new man.

The new self. the new creature that is in accord

with the person of Christ. But if we go on, then

we read in Ephesians 6 .14, where Paul says this,

Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins

with truth. So when Paul says that the believers

at Ephesus are to gird their loins with truth.

He's speaking about objective truth, the Word

of God. He's speaking about the message of truth.

He's speaking about the reality of who Christ

is, the reality which grows the church in maturity.

But he's also speaking about the fact that truth

is to be a defining characteristic among the

community of God's people. It's that which is

spoken, that which is conveyed, that which is

enjoyed. It's part of the atmosphere of the church,

you could say. So when we think about this, we

have to think primarily about the truth being

objective and outside, separate from us, something

to be laid hold of, something to be taken and

applied to ourselves. So truth... in this context,

as that which we are to gird our loins with,

is the first piece of armor. It comes before

the breastplate. It comes before the shotting

of your feet with preparation of the gospel.

It comes before the shield of faith. It comes

before the helmet. It comes before the sword.

It comes before prayer, brothers and sisters.

In a sense, we could say that everything else

is built on this piece of armor, truth. It's

foundational and essential to the Christian life

in standing firm in this spiritual battle that

we are part of. Just as a thought experiment,

consider living the Christian life without truth.

How would you do that? How would you live the

Christian life if you didn't know what was true?

If God hasn't given us the Word of God, if He

hasn't given us the truth, if He hasn't given

us this deposit of revelation, how would we know

who we ought to be in Christ, what Christ has

done, what the church is to be, how we are to

live, how we are to behave, how we are to act,

how we are to think? We could not do it. Truth

is essential and foundational for the Christian

life and for this spiritual battle. But we also

see that truth is something to be girded with.

Now when we think about this, it's important

that we understand the metaphor that the Apostle

Paul is using. Before we get to that, let's look

at a couple verses briefly. Look at Luke chapter

Luke 12:35

12, verse 35. Luke 12, 35 says this. Be dressed

in readiness and keep your lamps lit. That word,

dressed in readiness, be girded. Have your loins

girded. Be ready. Be prepared. It has to do with

readiness for something that is coming. Preparation

for something in the future. It's preparation

that you might be able to do something. It frees

you to be aware, to be ready to respond, ready

to react, ready to act, ready to take action.

Now, we also see this same word in 1 Peter. In

1 Peter 1, verse 13, we read this. Therefore,

1 Peter 1:13

prepare your minds for action. Keep sober in

spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace

to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus

Christ. Here, the mind is to be girded, prepared,

readied, brothers and sisters, to live the Christian

life. So when Paul says that Christians are to

be girded with the truth, he's saying they are

to be prepared and readied with the truth. Now

the metaphor. In that day and age, men would

typically wear long tunics. Very similar to dresses.

Now, if that man was going to fight, if that

man was going to have the freedom of movement

to engage in some activity, he didn't want the

flowing tips of his tunic to be an encumbrance

upon his movement. He might move to the left.

and step on his tunic. He might move to the right

and get his leg caught in the tunic and fall

over. It was a hindrance. It was an encumbrance

to the activity which he wanted to engage in.

It got in the way. So what did the man do if

he needed to engage in the activity, to be prepared

and to be ready to fight, to be in battle? Well,

what that man would do is he'd grab the tips

of his tunic, he'd take them up, he'd tighten

them real tight around his thighs, and then he'd

tuck them into a sash or a belt, and he'd tighten

that around his waist. So we get the image, don't

we? The tunic is out of the way, and he is free

to move and act. And engage in a manner where

he is no longer encumbered by his tunic. This

is what the author wants us to see. This is what

Paul wants us to understand. That we are to take

truth and gird ourselves with it. So that we

are freed from encumbrances. and we are ready

and prepared to engage in battle. So that we

are ready to fight, so that we're not going to

trip over ourselves. So that we're not going

to catch the corner of the tunic and tumble and

be incapable of doing battle. He wants us to

be ready and to be prepared. But here's the important

part. This is an action, isn't it? If we are

to gird ourselves with the truth, It means taking

action. It means that something is required of

us. So let's consider the nature of this action

very briefly. If we as Christians are to gird

ourselves with truth, then this necessarily involves

dealing personally with the truth itself. If

I'm going to take truth, which is sitting over

here, and I'm over here, and I'm going to gird

myself with that, that means I have to personally

and intimately take hold of this and bring it

over here and apply it to me. We have to deal

intimately and personally with that. So we cannot

gird ourselves with truth and be ready for this

warfare that Paul is talking about. If we are

unwilling to deal intimately with the truth of

God's Word. If we are unwilling to give ourselves

to dealing with the truth of the living God in

such a way that something is required of us.

Now, that's the first part. We cannot do this

if we don't deal intimately with the truth. But

it's not just dealing intimately with the truth.

If we are to gird ourselves, this also means

dealing intimately with what? Ourselves. And

how must we deal with ourselves? With the truth

in hand. So we have to deal with the truth and

we have to deal with ourselves. That means taking

the truth. And dealing with the truth in our

own hearts, our own minds, our own thoughts,

our own longings, our own desires, our own lives.

I cannot take the truth and shove it in somebody

else's chest and make them appropriate that reality,

brothers and sisters. But you know what I can

do? I can deal with the truth and I can deal

with myself personally. And I can pray and ask

God to apply it to my heart and I can receive

it by faith. That's what we're called to do here.

It's interesting that here at the beginning of

the list of armor, the first way that Paul tells

us to deal with warfare out here, is to deal

with the truth and ourselves right here. If we

want to fight, then brothers and sisters, we

must first deal with the demons in our own hearts

and our own minds. If you want to stand firm

against the onslaughts of the devil and spiritual

forces, then you must deal with the issues of

your own heart and apply the Word of God to yourself.

faithfully, consistently, and regularly. We must

take up the truth. In a sense, grab the sword

and plunge it within our own chest, right? To

deal with the corruption, the remnant of sin,

the heartache, the pride, the struggles in our

own life. So we must Deal with the truth personally.

And we must deal with ourselves. I really think

this is a hiccup for a lot of people, brothers

and sisters. I think many people are unwilling

to take time to wrestle with their own hearts.

To slow down and to think through their own issues.

Their own struggles, their own problems. Why

is this occurring in my life? Why is this happening

to me? Why do I keep getting the same outcome?

Why is this struggle? Why is this temptation?

Why is this trial? Why is this sin so prominent?

Whatever it might be, I really believe that men

and women today really struggle with the fact

of sitting down, taking time, and intently dealing

with their own hearts with the truth. In a sense,

this is the first step, brothers and sisters,

to standing firm against the schemes of the devil.

Don't think you can fight in this war if you're

unwilling to battle your own hearts. That's the

first step that we must take. And sometimes that's

not that pleasant, is it? Sometimes we just don't

reign in our minds. And give enough diligence

to thinking about ourselves. And our own sin.

And our own issues. When in reality. This is

what is required of us brothers and sisters.

If we are to put on the truth. If we are to gird

ourselves with the truth. Now because this involves

truth. I believe that. this piece of armor chiefly

corresponds to the mind. I believe the truth

in Scripture chiefly corresponds to the mind

of the believer. So when Paul says, gird your

loins with truth, the armor does not necessarily

correspond with the metaphorical placement of

it on the armor bearer in Ephesians 6. So if

we are to gird ourselves with the truth, it means

girding our minds and our thinking, our thoughts,

our understanding with the truth of the scriptures.

How do you affect a person's life? How is your

life affected? How is your life changed and transformed?

What is it that influences our hearts? What is

it that leads and guides our affections in life?

Brothers and sisters, what's the gateway? What's

the window into all those things? What's the

door you have to go through? It's the mind, brothers

and sisters. So Paul is calling us to take the

truth and bring it into our life through... Our

minds. To think about these realities. To think

about who Christ is. To think about who we are

in Christ. To think about what he has done. To

think about what is true. Of redemption. What

is true of me. And what will be true of me. What

the church is. What is required of me of the

church. All of these realities contained in the

word. These are the things that are supposed

to. be girded to the Christian's mind. It's the

mind, heart, will, affections. That's the order,

brothers and sisters. The mind, heart, will,

and affections. So, if the devil wants to lay

hold of a person, If the devil wants to influence

a person's affections, if the devil wants to

influence a person's heart, their desires, their

longings, if the devil wants to change a person's

behavior and their actions, where does he go

first? The mind. He distorts and he perverts

and he twists the truth so that our thinking

is all wrong. Thinking is perverted. And then

he's got the person. So what must a believer

do? The believer must combat the lies of the

devil and the errors of the world that he works

so thoroughly through with truth. The people

of God must gird themselves and their minds with

truth if they are to stand in the face. Of the

father of lies. Who works through deception and

deceit and error and false doctrine. So it's

the mind. What is it that shapes you more than

anything else? I'm not talking about what should

shape you more than anything else. I want you

to do an inventory of your life, brothers and

sisters. Think about what you are feeding on.

What is influencing you? What is it that your

mind is being filled with? Is it the truth of

God's Word? Is it the Scriptures? Is it Christ?

Is it the glory of God? Is it the revelation,

the deposit of revelation that God has given

to us? Is it the Word, brothers and sisters?

Is it your Bible? The Word of God is that thing

which ought to preeminently influence our minds

and shape our hearts and drive our wills and

lay hold of our affections so that we love the

things that God loves and we hate the things

that God hates. And the devil knows that. He

knows that better than you know that. He understands

that reality better than you do. That's why he

tries to pervert so many believers' minds with

false doctrine and untruth and half -truth and

error. Because he can direct the life through

the mind of a person. He can destroy a person's

life and the whole trajectory of their life if

he can just lay hold of their mind and their

thinking. Because then he's got the heart. and

then he's got the will, and then he's got the

affections. What is shaping your thinking? What

informs the way that you think about your brothers

and sisters in Christ? What is it that informs

the way you view the world around you? What is

it that informs How you view yourself in Christ.

It ought to be. And it must be brothers and sisters.

The word of God. The truth. Which sanctifies

us. This is why we have Romans 12 .2. This is

why Paul talks about. Ephesians 4. We did not

learn Christ in this way. This is why he talks

about that the Gentiles also walk in the futility

of their mind. Because a life is led by the mind

and our thoughts, brothers and sisters. So if

we are to obey this command, and we are to stand

firm against the schemes of the devil, that means

girding our mind with truth. So, does that mean

that it's okay to disregard doctrine? Or does

this necessarily imply the significance and the

importance of doctrine and truth? The majority

of the New Testament epistles, the Word of God,

why were they written? To address error. To address

issues in the life of various churches in Asia

Minor in that day, in that age. They are full

of doctrine, brothers and sisters. One of the

best things that a believer can do to combat

the wiles of Satan is to think on doctrine that

is derived from the Word of God. To grow in their

understanding of who Christ is, who God is, and

how He works in this world. To grasp doctrine

in greater ways. and in greater measure in your

life. We don't have some gold standard with regards

to doctrine and understanding and comprehension,

brothers and sisters. What this means is asking

God for help in this task of understanding the

truth of the Scriptures. We cannot do that if

we are not willing to give ourselves to understanding

doctrine in the Word of God. It's essential for

being successful in the Christian life, living

bold and vital Christian lives, and standing

firm against the schemes of the devil. Now the

last thing we have to consider is truth's role

in warfare. I want to give you three specific

ways that I believe the Bible teaches that truth

enables the believer to stand firm against the

schemes of the devil. Now, one of the interesting

things about this text in Ephesians 6, the verb

in verse 14 is stand firm. But then there's a

bunch of participles that modify the verb. And

so, most likely, the verb, stand firm, is being

modified by these participles, gird your loins,

or put on the breastplate. They are modifying

them in a way that they are, it is means. I'm

telling you this for a reason. The way a person

stands firm is through the participles. So if

a person wants to stand firm, then they have

to utilize the means of the participles. So if

a person wants to stand firm, what does that

require of them? that they gird their loins with

truth. If a person wants to stand in the battle

against the devil and this fallen world, that

means they must put on the breastplate of righteousness.

There's no standing if there's no girding. There's

no standing if there's no putting on the breastplate

of righteousness. There's no standing if there's

no taking up the shield of... faith. There's

no standing if there's no putting on the helmet

of salvation. So the means by which a believer

stands in this battle is by utilizing the means

that God has given them to do so. Truth, righteousness,

the gospel, faith, salvation, the sword of the

spirit, the word of God. and prayer. So, the

three ways that I believe truth particularly

helps the believer stand is the means. Well,

it first enables the Christian to recognize false

doctrine and error. If a person doesn't know

truth, If they don't know what is true, then

they can't recognize error and false doctrine.

So, how does the devil work to obtain the mind

of the believer? Through error and false doctrine.

So the believer must give themselves to the truth

so that they can recognize and see. There is

something off about that. doesn't sit well with

what I know about the Word of God. That doesn't

seem to be what Paul means when he says faith.

That's incorrect. The believer must gird themselves

with truth so that they can spot and recognize

error and false doctrine in this world and in

the church. But also, It makes the Christian

see more clearly the lies and deceptions that

are associated with temptation and sin, which

the devil so thoroughly works through. Every

time a believer sins. Every time a believer gives

in to temptation, or they openly commit transgression

against the living God, the reason they are doing

that is because they are believing a lie in some

way. They're caving to the truth in some capacity.

It's convincing you that this is better than

God. That this is better than Christ. It's a

lie. It's not true. So the believer who knows

the truth, who girds their minds with truth,

can come to sin, can come to temptation, and

they know the truth, and they can say, no, God

is better. Christ is more beautiful. Christ is

more enjoyable. Christ is greater and more supreme

than anything I can enjoy or experience in this

moment right now. They must know the truth so

that they can see the deceitfulness of sin. But

also, and this may be the most helpful, I believe,

it enables the believer to utilize the rest Of

the armor that God has given to them. Because

this is foundational. That means that everything

else in a sense is dependent on it. That man

earlier that we were illustrating. Imagine him

having his long flowing tunic out and about.

And putting on his armor around him. He's going

to have the armor but he's going to put his sword

in and it's going to stab through his tunic and

then all of a sudden he's going to go and fight

and he's going to slice his leg. Because he did

not gird his loins. The same is true with regards

to the armor that God has given to us. We cannot

look to the righteousness of Christ if we don't

understand the righteousness of Christ. Brothers

and sisters, we cannot lift the shield of faith

if our faith is not set on truth. We cannot wield

the sword of the Spirit if we don't know the

Word of God. In a sense, all of them depend and

are built on the truth. The devil's playground.

is falsehoods, error, deceit, and lies. Brothers

and sisters, that's where he plays. That's where

he swings. That's where he jumps. And that is

where he climbs. That is where he hangs on to.

So the people of God must be people of the truth.

The devil doesn't get his hands around truth.

Nothing in him is about the truth. Read John

8 and Jesus talking to the Jews. He talks about

how the devil is a father of lies and there is

no truth in him. That he acts and speaks in accordance

with his own nature. Deceit, malice, lies, hatred.

So, brothers and sisters, if we are to combat

the schemes of our enemy, it must be with what?

Truth. If we are to combat and defend against

the arrows and against the falsehoods of the

enemy, it must be with what? Truth. Truth defends

against the father of lies. the deceiver. Truth

combats false doctrine and error. We must be

people of the truth.