to serve him. Turn with me, if you would please, on this first day of 2017 to the sixth chapter of Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. And I want to talk with you today about how to put your girdle on. How's that for a New Year's sermon title? Talk with you today about how to put your girdle on. That's exactly what we're going to talk about today. We've been learning, of course, all about a vicious spiritual war that we're in as believers in Jesus Christ. We've covered some ground already. We've heard the call to battle from the Apostle Paul in verses 10 to 13 of this chapter, and we're currently working on the next four verses that we're calling the Believer's Defensive Strategy. Now in the earlier verses, Paul has already told us twice that God's provision for us in this war that we're in is the full armor of God. And in verses 14 to 17 now, what he's doing is unpacking all the details of that armor piece by piece by piece. As you've looked ahead, we've read the text several times, you know that there are six individual pieces of armor that make up the full armor of God. Last time, we've had a hard time getting started on this. We've had snow days and we've had Christmas and we did get one week, I think it was two weeks ago now, where we actually got started on this full armor of God. But anyway, we're back together now and we're going to jump in and hopefully we can get in the groove here and begin to unpack this tremendous truth that Paul has for us. There are six individual pieces of armor that make up the full armor of God. Last time, which was two weeks ago now, we got started on the first one, which is a foundational piece. We're talking about the girdle of truth. With your Bibles open now, would you pick up with me please this morning in Ephesians chapter six and verse 14, as I read from there down through verse 17, and then we'll zero in again today on the girdle of truth. We'll actually finish our discussion of that particular piece of armor today. Paul says this beginning in verse 14, 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 all 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. Let's ask the spirit of God to be our teacher and our guide today and to protect us from the enemy, actually, as we study this very subject of the enemy and how to deal with him. Father, we, we love you and we thank you. And we praise you for this opportunity to open your word. And we ask you to guide us and teach us today. We ask that you would protect us from the enemy who very much doesn't want us to understand how to deal with him. And so father, we need that protection. We need that illumination and we need that help that only can come from you a father. change our lives today because we have opened your word. And we'll give you the thanks and the praise and the honor for it, Father, in Jesus name. Amen. Well, there's the text. That is our provision for victory in this war. And as we opened it last time, the first thing we noted, was that Paul is using a running analogy in these verses to describe the various pieces of armor that make up the full armor of God. And what is that analogy? That analogy is the armor that was worn by Roman soldiers in his day. And so think about that with me for a minute. In the sovereign plan of God, here we have the apostle Paul finding himself under house arrest as a prisoner in Rome, as he sits down to pen, this letter about this subject under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. For all of that time, while he was penning this letter, Paul was guarded by a Roman soldier who had been assigned to him. And probably for much of that time, he was actually chained to that Roman soldier. And so what do we have here? Of course, Paul, we have Paul with lots of time to study all the details of what? The Roman soldier's armor. There he is. That's why we have this analogy, but please don't think, don't ever think as we study that this analogy is just here because it was the most convenient one for Paul to use. It certainly was that. But I want you to understand that it was that folks in the sovereign plan of God, he is sovereign over everything, isn't he? It was that convenient analogy in the sovereign plan of God. And so what does it make that? What does it make? What does that make this analogy? It makes it not just a convenient analogy. It makes it folks, the perfect analogy. This is the perfect analogy. God is the one who put this whole thing together. God is the one who arranged the circumstances by which Paul would write. And God is the one who breathed these very words that we're studying today out of his mouth through the pen of the apostle Paul. Would you please understand a side note here? God is sovereign over everything that touches your life. Sovereign over everything. Now, whenever there's an analogy used in the scriptures to teach a spiritual truth, what do we do? We always have to start, on the physical or the earthly side of that analogy to nail down what we already know about that thing, whatever it is, because what we already know about that thing is what will then serve as the basis for understanding the other thing, the spiritual thing that the analogy is trying to teach us. And so in this case, we've seen those analogies. I gave you examples last time. In this case, what I'm trying to say is this, before we can understand the spiritual soldier's girdle, what do we have to understand? if they're saying at least a little bit, some basic things about the Roman soldiers kernel, right? Because that's the analogy. That's how Paul is teaching here. And so that's where we started last time. I'm not going to spend much time on this because we did last time, but I will give you a brief review on that this morning. Joel actually has a picture if you'd like to see it. He showed me this morning. He has a picture of that Roman soldier's girdle. And I know that you've looked in books and you've seen pictures. Some of your study Bibles would have a picture, but let me describe it for you briefly. The Roman soldier wore a wide leather belt around his midsection. And that wide leather belt had leather straps hanging down in the front, making it look more like an apron really than a belt. And that's one of the reasons why we're calling it a girdle. The way it functioned for him is the other reason why we're calling it a girdle. It had three basic functions. We talked about them last time. Number one, The primary piece of article of clothing for the Roman soldier was a gown, right? Big piece of material with holes cut out for the head and the arms, basically all it was. And so that thing would flop all over the place, and so number one function for the belt was to pull that together in the middle, to bind that together, because you can't You can't be a very effective soldier at a war with a gown flopping around, right? So pull that together in the middle. Number two, with the leather straps going down on the front, it guarded, protected, and covered his loin area. That was the second thing it did. And then number three, It apparently had some sort of clips on it to secure the bottom edge of the breastplate, and then it also had a hook on it that he could use to attach the sheath for his sword. And all of that to say again what I stopped to emphasize last time, and that is the fact that this breastplate was a foundational piece of armor, right? Mark that. The breastplate, or this, not the breastplate, we're talking about the girdle. The girdle was a foundational piece of armor. That's a key thought for us on this one. What a foundation is to a house, the girdle of truth is to the full armor of God. It was the first piece of armor that the soldier would put on. It's also the one upon which all the other pieces depended. And with that very brief review of the Roman soldiers girdle, let's go ahead and cross the bridge again now. And what I want to do is finish our study this morning of the spiritual soldiers girdle. This of course is the one. that I believe Paul wants us to spend most of our time on. We do need to understand the physical analogy. Yes, but we need to spend most of our time here. As I said last time, Paul's goal here is not to teach us how to be good Roman soldiers, right? His goal here is to teach us how to be good spiritual soldiers now. And so let's get back to that. We're understanding the spiritual soldier's girdle by asking and answering four questions. Two of them are down and two of them are yet to go for this morning. And really, I need to preface this now. I'm going to review the first two, but I need to preface this now by saying that what I have to share with you this morning, I believe is very, very important. I'm having a little hard time talking, so overcome that. Forget about that. We're going to make it. We're going to make it work. What I have to say this morning, I believe, is very, very important insofar as you're understanding an application of this particular foundational piece of armor. And so let's review now the first two questions. Question number one, what is this girdle on the spiritual soldier's side of Paul's analogy? We took that question last time, if you recall, in two parts. What is it made of and what does it cover? The spiritual soldier's girdle is not made out of leather. It's made out of what? Tells us right in the text. Spiritual soldier's girdle is made out of truth, right? Not leather, it's made out of truth. Having girded your loins with truth, Paul says in verse 14. And this girdle that we're talking about now, the spiritual soldier's girdle doesn't cover and protect the loin area of the spiritual soldier's body. What does it cover? Well, Peter gave us some insight. Remember last time, Peter, taught us in a very insightful cross-reference last time that the loins that get covered by this girdle are the loins of the mind. Remember 1 Peter 1.13. I'm not going to go there now, but you can jot that down if you missed that. That's a very insightful cross-reference from Peter in light of what we learned earlier in this study, by the way, about where the devil focuses his efforts. Do you remember that? We spent a long time talking about that because the devil knows that what's in our minds will ultimately determine and dictate our behavior gets where he focuses. That's where he focuses efforts, right? What does he do? Remember, we went through all kinds of illustrations of this and detail on this a number of weeks ago. What does he do? He influences your, the battle is fought on a battlefield, which is your mind. What does the devil do? He influences your mind. I gave you examples that, and he even one day we even went this direction. He even builds and maintains strongholds there. Second Corinthians chapter 10. And so now in the design of God, think about this. And now in the design of God, we have a piece of spiritual armor that protects and girds the spiritual loins that Peter says are the loins of our minds. God is good, isn't he? worship him with me. God is good. He is good. Our God is good. He gives us exactly what we need. Everything pertaining to life and godliness. Okay, so there's question number one. That's still review. Question number two is still review. From there, we move down to a second question in this discussion. And this one, if you recall, I emphasized to you as being a very important one. Much is at stake on this one. You see it printed there in your outline. We talked about it last time at length. Much is at stake here on this question. If this girdle, which is the foundational piece of armor is made out of truth, then we better, would you agree with me? We better know exactly how Paul intended that word truth to be defined in the context of this verse. And the problem on that, of course, is that there are two valid options, two valid options. However, The two options are going to take us down two entirely different roads insofar as understanding how this girdle works and how to apply it and how to put it on and all of that sort of thing. Two different options, two entirely different roads. Now, as I shared with you last time, here are the meanings, two different meanings that this word truth can have, both of which have already been used right here in Ephesians. I gave you the examples a couple of weeks ago. Option number one, here's our options. Option number one, the Greek word for truth can refer to truth in an objective sense, referring to that body of absolute truth. Whenever we think of that, what do we think of? Right? That objective, that absolute body of truth that is outside of me, right? The word of God in that objective sense, we always think of that of truth in that sense as being, or as referring rather to the written word of God. But then there's also option number two, The word truth, aletheia, can also refer to truth in a subjective sense. And in that case, it would be referring to not that body of truth that is outside of me, but in that sense, it would be referring to the truthfulness of my life, to the truthfulness of my life, to my sincerity, my integrity, my truthfulness as a believer in Jesus Christ. And certainly we would have to say that all of those things should be manifested in our lives, right? And will be manifested in our lives when we are born again and filled with the spirit of God, Ephesians 5, 18. And so we still have the $64,000 question out on the table, which one is it, right? What did Paul have in mind here when he penned this word? Did he have objective truth in mind or did he have subjective truth in mind? Again, I contend that much is at stake in how we answer that question. Now, I told you what I think it is, and I'm going to tell you again. My conviction, as I shared with you last time, and can I say something about that? My conviction that I shared with you last time is a conviction that just keeps getting stronger and stronger and stronger. the longer I study and meditate on this text of scripture. My conviction is this. My conviction is that Paul intended the truth of this verse to mean truth in its objective sense. The truth of the word of God that is absolute and 100% true, eternally true, and that is outside of me. The truth of which this girdle has made people is that objective, absolute and eternal truth that is found in the written word of God, the Bible, and in the living word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, John one, one, who is the truth personified. And all of that hopefully will become clearer and clearer to you as it keeps becoming clearer and clearer to me, the more we study this text. And with the review of those first two questions out of the way now, that's all ground we've already covered. Now let's move on for new material this morning. Let's go on and finish our study this morning. this first piece of armor by asking the third and fourth questions that you have there in your outline. The spiritual soldier's girdle is made out of truth and the truth in question that Paul has in mind here is that precious objective body of absolute and eternal truth we have in the written Word of God. Building on all of that now, our third question is a more practical one. How do you put it on? How do you put this girdle on? How do you gird your loins with truth. That's the question that I really want to zero in on today. We will get one more toward the end of our time, but this is the one I really want to zero in on. And I really want you to think about even beyond our time together, take it home with you. I really want you to think about these things. How do you put this girdle on? Now I told you a few minutes ago that how we define truth in verse 14 is going to make a radical difference in the way we understand and apply this girdle. And let me give you an illustration of that now. Let me start this third question with an example of what I mean by that. Most of the commentators that I read, got about a dozen or so, maybe more, that I read on a regular basis, and they're all very, very good ones. I like the older ones. Most of the commentators that I read answered the how to put it on question this way. They started out, of course, by saying, by disagreeing with me, they started out by saying that this girdle is made out of that subjective kind of truth instead of the objective kind of truth, which made it then quite easy for them to answer the, how do you put it on question? Think of this. Now, if the girdle that Paul is talking about here is that subjective kind of truth, then to put it on, all you have to do is be truthful, right? If that's what it is, then all you have to do is be truthful. When your life exhibits sincerity, when your life exhibits truthfulness and integrity, problem is they didn't tell us to what degree, when your life exhibits sincerity, truthfulness, and integrity to some undefined degree, that according to them equals putting this girdle on. And would you think with me through, I hope you can see right away the problem in that. I hope you can see right away the reason why I have had to reject that very common interpretation. And let me start with a fact. Your truthfulness and your integrity will never be perfect this side of glory, right? Everybody agree? Is there ever a day when your subjective truthfulness, yes, God works in and through you and I'm not downplaying the fact that you ought to be truthful. Believe me, I'm not. But is there ever a day on any given day of the week you're at the most spiritual height mountaintop you've ever been on, is there ever a day when your truthfulness is perfect? No. The answer to that is no. I'm going to answer for you. If you don't want to answer, I'm going to answer for you. No. Because I know that for me. I know that for you. The answer is always no. And so if the girdle is your truthfulness, then we would have to ask this follow-up question, wouldn't we? just how truthful do you have to be in order to keep the girdle on? That make sense? We don't know where that is, right? We know that it's never perfect. Our truthfulness is never perfect. And so we would have to ask the question, just how truthful would you have to be in order to keep the girdle on? Where is, I mean, if I'm going out to fight the spiritual battle, don't you think I have a right to know where that line is that I would cross that drops my girdle? I would need to know that, right? And then let me ask you this question, folks. When you think about that, do you really think, do you really think that that's how God intended this armor to work? I don't think at all that that's how God intended this armor to work. And again, when I say this, please understand that I'm not in any way downplaying the importance of sincerity, truthfulness, and integrity in your life. Not even a little bit. Other people are able to see Christ in you through those things. Your walk becomes a worthy walk through those things. And God is glorified in your life through those things. Truthfulness in your life, people, is a very important Christian virtue. But that having been said now, I'm also going to say this, that is not what this girdle of truth is made out of. That is not. You see, this girdle is a perfect and sufficient girdle that's been provided for you by God. It is not an imperfect and insufficient girdle that gets produced through your life. That's my contention this morning. Bringing us now right back to our question again, if this girdle is that objective body of absolute truth that is outside of us and not in any way affected by our faithfulness or unfaithfulness, which I believe it is, then we have the question open before us again. How do you put it up? How do you put it on? How do you do this? As you can see by your notes, I'm going to give you three things to write down today in answer to that question, but don't start writing yet. Before we even get to the first one, let me preface it with this. Let me preface it by saying this. How do you put this girdle on? Well, the first thing that I have to say in answer to that question this morning is that you can't put it on. You can't put it on. How do you put it on? You can't put it on. Now, I know that that's probably not the answer that you were looking for, and I also know that it might be an answer that is kind of frustrating to you, but that is the answer we need to start with, and if you will hear me out, I think you will see why this is the answer that we need to start with. If you're going to understand how to put this first piece of armor on, the first thing you're going to need to understand is that you can't put it on. All right? You can't. It's impossible for you to put it on. And if you're not frustrated yet, now I'm really going to frustrate you. I'm going to frustrate you even more. After you understand that you can't put it on, then you also need to understand that you must put it on. Right? Should I duck? You can't put it on, but you must put it on, okay? The whole point here in Ephesians 6.14 is to say that you cannot stand firm against the schemes of the devil without it, right? You can't put it on, but you must put it on. Before you start throwing things at me, let me say to you that there, there is a beautiful answer to the scriptural paradox that I just presented to you. And I'm going to try to unpack it for you this morning. But before I start unpacking this paradox, let me preface my explanation by saying that it's very similar to the paradox that Jesus unpacked one time for a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus in John chapter three, regarding his salvation. And by the way, by the way, if you're beginning to see a little glimmer of something here, you'll see it more and more as we go. But as we look at these first three pieces of armor, they're synonymous with what? Salvation. They're synonymous with salvation. This paradox that needs to be unpacked is similar to the one that Jesus unpacked for Nicodemus. Do you remember, You remember that account in John chapter three, don't turn there because we go there so often, you know, this account, let me just remind you of a couple of things about it. You remember what happened? Jesus came by night or Nicodemus rather. I meant to say came by night to seek out Jesus. He was a Pharisee, right? He was lost. He was a religious guy, but he was lost. And he came to Jesus and they had a little dialogue. And Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be, born again if you want to see the kingdom of God." We all remember that, right? You must be born again. That's the John 3 Nicodemus account. You must be born again. To which Nicodemus understandably now replied, he's not a dumb guy. He's a very smart guy. Jesus said, you've got to be born again, Nicodemus, if you want to see the kingdom of God. And so what does Nicodemus say? How in the world am I going to do that, right? How am I ever going to do that? I'm an old man. How can I go back a second time into my mother's womb and be born again? And Jesus said to him, kind of frustrated him, like maybe I just frustrated you. Jesus said to him, no, you can't do that, Nicodemus. You must do that, but you can't do that. You must be born again, Nicodemus. That's the only way you're ever going to see the kingdom of God. But oh, by the way, Nicodemus, as you obviously already know, there's not anything, there's not one little thing you can do to make that happen. It's out of your, it's out of the realm of possibility for you to make that happen. Nicodemus, you didn't participate. Think about when you and I were born. We didn't have anything to do with that, did we? You didn't do anything to participate in your first birth, Nicodemus. There's nothing you can do to participate in this second one either. And really what Jesus was saying to him is this, Nicodemus, you're helpless and you're hopeless on this deal, get this now, unless God does something for you that you cannot do for yourself. You are helpless on this deal, Nicodemus, unless God intervenes, unless God steps in to do for you what you cannot do yourself and we ought to worship him again hadn't we that's what Jesus was telling him and then he went on to tell him a little give him a little illustration about the wind you know how that went right he said it's kind of like the wind Nicodemus you can hear it but you can't see it right it's kind of like the wind Nicodemus basically what he told Nicodemus was this the divine wind has to blow in your direction, Nicodemus. You need to be born of the Spirit. And why did I say that? Because I think it applies here. We come face to face this morning really with that same paradox as we answer the question, how do you gird your loins with truth? How do you put this girdle on? How do you put this absolute truth on? You can't put it on, but at the same time, you must put it on. And let me try to unpack that paradox for you now in three steps this morning. Take these with you. Think about them all this week and it'll bless your heart. I promise you as a first step in understanding with the snow days, I've had lots of time to think about this and it's been good. That's good. Really. As, as the, as a first step in understanding how to put this girdle on, would you jot this down now in your notes behind that letter a there, God has made his truth known by revelation. God has made his truth known by revelation. And we get to the end here and I think you'll understand how, how this, how you get this girdle on. God has made his truth known by revelation. The point here now is to say that the substance of which this girdle is made is available. It's here. That truth is here. We have that objective body of truth. We have the written word of God because, and only because God has chosen to reveal it to us. Can I give you a little lesson on that? We've looked at this lesson before, but let me remind you. Flip over to 1 Corinthians 2 for a minute, and I'm going to briefly remind you of how that body of truth got from him all the way down to us. Tim and I were actually talking a little bit about this this morning on a different subject, but this same body of truth here. 1 Corinthians 2, and I want you to see how that body of truth, that revealed truth got from God all the way down to us. I'm not gonna spend as much time on it as we have on other occasions, but I want you to see it again. 1 Corinthians 2, when you get there, pick up with me please in verse eight. 1 Corinthians 2 in verse eight. What is the subject matter here? Paul is talking about the truth and the wisdom of God in this chapter, and this is what he says if you're there in verse eight. This wisdom of God, Paul says, is the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age is understood. What is, what is he saying there? He's saying, well, the world's smart guys, the world's powerful people, the rulers, the world's wise guys know absolutely nothing about this truth and wisdom of which I speak. Paul says, and let me tell you now how I know that they don't know anything about it. For if they had understood it, look at this. For if they had understood it, They would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Talk about the, you talk about the ultimate demonstration of ignorance, huh? There it is. They would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And then it goes on verse nine, but just as it is written things, which I has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man. All that God has prepared for those who love him. Now, For many of you, this is going to be redundant and boring because I say this every single time we intersect with this verse. But if you will allow me, I'm going to say it again. Contrary to how you may have heard this verse spoken of verse nine, first Corinthians two nine is not talking about the wonders of heaven. It is not talking about the wonders of heaven. This verse is not saying that heaven is beyond your comprehension, even though the truth is that heaven is beyond your comprehension. You can scan this chapter from the beginning to the end, and you will find no mention of heaven anywhere. This chapter is not talking about heaven. And so what is Paul talking about then in verse nine? He's talking about the substance of our girdle. That's why we're here today. He's talking about the truth of God that was given by revelation from God to the chosen writers of scripture. And go on with me to verse 10 now, and you will see that that point is made abundantly clear. What are those things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man? What are those things that God has prepared for those who love him? Those things are the eternal things contained within the Holy Scriptures. And how did God deliver them? Look at verse 10. For to us. Now right there, a lot of people go wrong. For to us. That doesn't mean to us, right? Paul's saying for to us. What does he mean by that? To Paul and the other writers of scripture. Paul and the other apostles. For to us. God revealed them through the spirit for the spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. What is Paul talking about? Paul is talking in verse nine about the truth that God revealed in verse 10. And what he's saying about that truth in verse nine is that you can't, it's cannot be humanly discovered. You cannot just go out there and discover God's truth. You cannot just go out there and discover God's truth with your human eyes. You can't discover and discern God's truth with your human ears. Eyes not seen and ears not heard, nor has it entered the heart of man." What does that mean? Well, that means you cannot discover God's truth or figure it out through human logic or reasoning either. That's what that means. God's truth only comes in one way. And that is by revelation. We have it only because he has chosen to reveal it. God's truth was nowhere to be found within this time and space box that we're confined to. And we have it now only because he chose to blast into this box and reveal it. And while we're here in first Corinthians two, let me just take one extra minute or two here and go ahead and give you the final two phases in this process. If you're taking notes, this is not letter B yet, not letter B yet. This is just a further explanation of letter A. In the transmission of God's truth from him all the way down to us, we start with revelation and then we move to inspiration. That's the next step in this process. This is how God's revealed truth got into a book. How did it happen? Well, God revealed his truth to chosen writers who were carried along by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1.21 to write down the very words that were breathed out of God's mouth, 2 Timothy 3.16. And if you would pick up with me in 1 Corinthians 2.11 now, we'll follow that inspiration thought all the way down through verse 13. I could make more comments on this than I'm going to, but at least let me read it. Verse 11, for who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him, even so the thoughts of God, no one knows except the spirit of God, Now we have received, and again now, please understand that that is not Paul, that's not referring to all of us. That's Paul referring to himself and the other writers of scripture. So important you'll miss that entire thought. Paul and the other writers of scripture. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the spirit combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. That's Paul and the other apostles getting that revelation that they penned into a book that we hold in our hands. And so we have revelation and inspiration phase one and phase two in the transmission of God's truth from him all the way down to us. Let me show you one more phase. The third wonderful, wonderful phase of that transmission. Um, phase three is one that we refer to as illumination. And that begins in verse 14, when you, okay, God revealed his truth, the writers wrote it down, when you as a believer pick up that written word of God and read it and study it, the spirit of God who lives within you illuminates that truth for you so that you can understand it. And would you pick up with me now in verse 14, as I read down through the end of the chapter, and this now is illumination. But a natural man, you know this verse well, but a natural man, an unbelieving man, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. You know what that means, right? Unbelievers can read the Word of God, but they cannot understand the Word of God is what that means. But he who is spiritual, verse 15, that is he who is spiritually alive, he who is a true believer appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him, but we have the mind Christ. And so, a little lesson about how that revealed truth got from God all the way down to us. Back to the question, how do you put this girdle on that is made out of that truth? How do you put this girdle on that is made out of God's absolute truth? You begin by understanding what that truth is and how it got here. This girdle is made out of the absolute truth that was literally breathed out of the mouth of God through the chosen writers onto the pages of Holy Scripture. God has made his truth known by revelation. And we're going to go on here. I don't want to get too far off track, but I need to, I do need to make a comment. There's a vicious war being waged against that revealed truth today. Is there not a vicious, vicious war? There are voices coming from even within the church today that are trying to tell us that there is no such thing as absolute truth. That's one of the most recent attacks. One of the prominent cries, you remember that, that recent emerging church, movement, one of their prominent cries was to say that truth cannot be dogmatically defined, that there is no such thing. No one has the right to stomp their foot and say, thus saith the Lord about anything. There is no such thing as propositional truth. There is no such thing as absolute truth. They kept saying those emerging church leaders, you know what they were doing? They were mockingly asking the very same question that Pilate asked Jesus one time in John 1838. Remember that? Remember what he said to Jesus? Ask Jesus, what is truth? Pilate said, what is truth? He posed that mocking question. Think of it. Pilate posed that mocking question to the very one who is, and right while he was looking at the personification of truth. And you know, of course it wasn't really an honest question. He didn't really want to know the answer to the question. That was more of a statement when he asked that question, right? What was it? It was pilot denying the existence of absolute truth. That's what it was. Um, well, I'm happy to report to you today that pilot was wrong. And I'm happy to report to you today that the emerging church was wrong. There is such a thing as absolute truth. And we have that truth folks. I'm so thankful for that. Aren't you? We have that truth in the written word of God and we have it. Why do we have it? only because God has chosen to reveal it to us. That truth is the substance of this girdle and understanding where it came from and how it got here is the first step in understanding how to put this girdle on. Let's move on. Lots of ground yet to cover here. Let's go on to the second one. Now God has made his truth known by revelation. This is really important. Now here's where, here's where it hones in on you as the second step in putting on this girdle. Write this down now behind letter B. God imparts his truth to you through the miracle of salvation. God imparts his truth to you through the miracle of salvation. All right, think about this with me. What Jesus explained to Nicodemus in the terms of being born again, we are now going to understand in the terms of becoming a repository of God's truth. There are lots and lots of different ways that the Bible describes our great salvation. This is one of those ways, one of those many ways. And let me, let me just quickly chase you around in the scriptures just a little bit to make this point and to show you some examples of what I'm talking about. Would you turn first please to first Peter chapter one and look with me at verse 23, first Peter one 23 for you have been born again. Peter says, using, interestingly, using the same terms that Jesus used with Nicodemus. And then he goes on to explain how that new birth takes place. For you've been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable. That is through the living and enduring word of God. What is Peter saying here? He's saying that the spirit of God uses the word of God to bring about the new birth. Now what he's saying, I believe that's what he's saying. Turn next. This one now is real clear. Turn next to first Timothy chapter two and look with me at verses three and four. As I said, the point I'm trying to make is very clear here in the first two verses as you're turning, I'll tell you what it says in the first two verses. Paul says, pray for all men, Timothy, We have a command to do that, by the way, pray for all men, including Kings and those in authority that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives and all godliness and dignity. God, as we pray, God be sovereign over our leaders and our rulers and our Kings and our presidents and our governors so that we can lead a quiet lives and all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, verses three and four, and watch this now in verse four. who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Did you catch that? While you're looking at verse four, let me ask you a question. What does it mean to be saved? It's another way of putting that. To be saved is to come to the knowledge of truth, right? To be saved means to become a repository of God's truth. And how about if we, Put it this way, for the sake of our study today, to be saved means to gird your loins with truth. It means to put the girdle on. It means to put the girdle on. You won't need to turn there. I've got a couple more I wanna show you. You won't need to turn there because this one's right up here. Isn't that convenient? John 14, six, isn't that great? I can't think of a better one to have there, can you? That's awesome. Jesus said in John 14, six, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father, but through me. Now, what's the point I'm trying to make right now? Trying to make the salvation is synonymous with coming to a knowledge of the truth. Salvation is synonymous with becoming a repository of this truth, this revealed truth of which the girdle is made, right? So what happens right here? I am the way and the truth. That's the girdle and the life. Now, what is this book of Ephesians taught us for several years now over and over again? What does it mean to become a Christian? It means that Jesus Christ comes to live within me. He's in me and I'm in him where he ends and I begin is the line gets blurred, right? He lives within me and I live within him, right? And um, and so you have, what does that mean? It means that you have the truth living within you. as a believer in Jesus Christ. Let me give you one more. That's what it means to have the girdle on. Let me give you one more. John chapter 18. Now I mentioned, um, I mentioned that mocking question a little while ago that pilot asked Jesus. I want to read some of that dialogue for you now, because in it, we're also going to see, uh, another real clear description of what I'm talking about right now. We're going to see salvation defined in these terms of truth. Pick up with me in John 18.33. This is that account. John 18.33. Therefore, Pilate entered again into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, are you saying this on your own initiative or did others tell you about me? Pilate answered, I'm not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. Therefore, Pilate said to him, so you are a king. Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. Watch this next statement now. For this, I have been born and for this, I have come into the world to testify to the truth. And then watch this. Now, everyone who is of the truth, here's my voice. And then interesting little phrase, everyone who is of the truth. While you're looking at John 1837, let me ask you another question. What's another way to describe what it means to be a real Christian or look at one way. What's another way to describe what it means to be a real Christian, to be a real Christian is to be of the truth, right? to be of the truth. Everyone who is of the truth. Here's my voice. Jesus said to be a believer is to be of the truth. And if you're of the truth, you'll be able to hear his voice. When I read, when I thought about that, I thought about another statement. Jesus had made a few chapters earlier in John chapter 10 and verse four. You'll recognize this. Don't turn there. The good shepherd, the good shepherd goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. to become a believer is to become a repository of God's truth, at which point you will know the truth and recognize the truth, and you will follow the shepherd, right? And back to John 18 now, I've come into the world to testify to the truth, Jesus said to Pilate, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And here now is Pilate's mocking question. Pilate then said to him, verse 38, what is truth, right? What is truth? And you almost see him shaking his head when he says that, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I released someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish then that I released for you the King of the Jews? So they cried out again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber and you know all about that account. We're answering question. How do you put this girdle on? How do you gird your loins with truth? Here's the answer so far. You begin by understanding that the substance of this girdle, which is truth, is something that can only come from God and that we have it only because he has chosen to reveal it. And from there, you understand that in order to put this girdle on, you must be a blessed recipient of the miracle of salvation, which as I've just demonstrated for you, is synonymous with becoming a repository of the truth. In order for this to happen, people, God has to do something for you that you cannot do for yourself. God has made his truth known by revelation. God imparts his truth to you through the miracle of salvation. There's one more step involved, one more step involved in putting on this essential girdle. And here now, let me say that you do have a part to play or So it seems on the surface anyway. Step number three is this. You embrace God's truth by faith. You embrace God's truth by faith. And when I say that now, please understand that I'm not just talking about a specific truth within the truth or truths. I'm talking about When I say that you embrace God's truth by faith, I'm talking about the whole word of God. You're embracing the whole of God's truth. To put this girdle on, you embrace by faith, that whole body of objective truth, which is the word of God. You wrap that whole thing. Let's put it in the terms of a girdle. Now you wrap that whole thing around yourself and you cinch it down real tight. And remember now that that's exactly how we've defined this truth. of which the girdle is made. Truth in Ephesians 6.14 is referring to the word of God as a whole. The sword that we're going to get to at the end of this thing, we'll learn about that later. The sword will deal with those cuts. that have to be made with precision, those cuts that have to be made with very specific truths within the truth. But right now, we're talking about the girdle. Right now, we're talking about the foundation for it all, which is the truth as a whole. And let me get very specific now. Let me get more specific about what it means to embrace that whole body of truth by faith. Let me put it to you this way. I'll use myself as an example. I don't understand all the specific truths there are for me to understand in the Word of God. I don't understand them all. That's why I keep studying it every single day. There's a whole bunch of stuff I don't understand in the Word of God. I've been studying this Word for some 30 years now, and I realize more and more that I've barely scratched the surface. I'm overwhelmed with that reality more and more every day, right along with every new thing I learn comes a greater awareness of how much I have yet to learn. There's a whole bunch of truth in the word of God that I do not yet understand. But would you get this now? That does not prohibit me from putting this girdle on. That does not prohibit me from embracing by faith the whole Word of God out of which this girdle is made, right? Do you see that? To put this girdle on people doesn't mean you have to understand it all. It doesn't mean you have to understand everything there is to understand the Word of God. If that were the case, who would have the girdle on? Nobody, right? No one would have this girdle on. To put this girdle on people is this, it's all about forming a conviction in your heart by faith about the word of God as a whole, not about some specific truth within it, but about the word of God as a whole, the whole word of God. And before I go any further with that, let me stop long enough to ask another important question, right? We're talking about the faith. You need to embrace this whole body of truth as the word of God. Where do you suppose that faith comes from that you will need in order to do that? Well, just like it is with salvation in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, this faith as well is faith that God gives you and faith that God produces through you. And so where are we? Where have we been this morning? God reveals his truth, right? He imparts it to you through the miracle of salvation. And now let's say that God gives you the faith you need to embrace it. And so at the end of it all, where do we end up? Where do we end up? We end up right where we always end up, don't we? The sovereign God does it all, right? Sovereign God, are you involved? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, at the end of the day, the sovereign God does it all. Even though, listen, even though you have much yet to learn about the specific truths within the word of God as a born again repository of that precious truth, you are, you don't know why you are, but you are compelled from deep down within your soul to embrace it all by faith. And so you do. And so you do, it's just part of what it means to be born again. And so you do, and when you do, you put this girdle on. Isn't that a great thing? You put this girdle on. You wrap your mind and you wrap your heart and you wrap your entire life around the absolute, unchanging and eternal truth of the word of God as a whole. Even though I don't understand it all, I fully embrace it all because the sovereign God has given me the faith to believe that the Bible is what it claims to be, the eternal word of the living God. That's what it means, folks. to gird your lungs with truth. Before we take our final question, which won't take us long, I promise. Before we take our fourth and final question for today, let me give you one key scripture on this that I think illustrates what we're talking about perhaps better than any other. Turn, if you would please, to 1 Thessalonians 2. Look with me at verse 13. There's always great stuff that you can read before and after these verses, but there's great stuff you could read in the first 12 verses of this chapter about the way Paul had conducted his ministry of the word among them. But then he says this in verse 13, and that's what I want you to see. Perhaps you're familiar with this verse. First Thessalonians 2.13. For this reason, Paul says, we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, You accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think when Paul said that, do you think these Thessalonian believers understood everything there was to understand and on every page of the Bible? No, no. But let me tell you now what they did understand. They did understand from way deep down within their souls, something that is getting Can I say this? Something that is getting tragically lost in the church today. These folks knew that the word of God was the word of God. They had a respect for the word of God. They understood what it was. They didn't understand it all, but they had wrapped their arms around it all. They knew what it was. They knew that the word of God. And so they received it as such, Paul says, not as the word of God or is the word of men before it really is the word of God. I'm going to go ahead and make this a direct cross-reference today and say that what those Thessalonians believers did in verse 13 was to gird their loins with truth. Let me illustrate this in just one last way. It won't be long, be a little while yet, but it won't be all that long before we're done with this book of Ephesians. We've been at it for quite a while. We've got just little ways to go. We'll be done with this book of Ephesians. And so we need to go somewhere else, right? I don't know where that's going to be yet. I keep asking the Lord to show me and by the time I need to know, he'll make that clear and somewhere we'll land and we'll open another book, right? And we'll start studying the pages of another book. I'm not sure which one yet. But, um, before I even study the first verse of that new book, whatever it is, can I tell you something that I know for sure? Let me tell you what I know for sure. I already know for sure that everything in it, will be absolutely true and absolutely right before I've even studied the first verse. See, you see what I'm getting at? That's what it means to embrace the whole word of God. You, you, you, you put your arms around it. You embrace it. You know that it's true. You don't have to know, understand everything. That's why you keep studying. But let's go on now and get that last question for today. Hopefully you know how to put it on now. It's pretty much synonymous with salvation, isn't it? I really believe that with all my heart more and more as I study this text. Let's get that last question. One more question. Number four, how does this talk a little bit now, and then we're going to quit. How does this girdle of truth work in the spiritual battlefield? We know what it is. We know where it came from. We know how to put it on. We can't, but we must. Now let's talk about how it works on the battlefield. When you are a repository of God's truth, And by the way, you can't, but you must. Aren't you glad that he did? That's it. That's it. At the end of the day, you say, I can't, but I must. And I'm so thankful that he did. I don't know why he did, but he did. And so I don't have to worry about that, right? He did. He made me alive together with Christ. He put his truth within me. When you are a repository of God's truth, who is then also by faith wrapped your mind and your heart and your life all around that truth. When you have, as the reformer said, here's a good way to put it. It's a good way to describe what we're talking about. When you have, as the reformer said, embrace the word of God as your ultimate and final authority for all matters of faith and practice. I always liked that statement. It's a good statement. When you've done that, the question now is this, how is that foundational piece of armor going to work for you on a spiritual battlefield, right? What's it going to do for you? Okay. You got it on, you're out there in the battlefield. How's it going to work? Well, the best way I think I can answer that question is say this, it's going to work for you on the battlefield. like a great big blanket of protection. A great big blanket. It's going to work for you like a foundation wall works for a house. It's going to hold you up when the wind blows, right? The truth is going to hold you up when the wind blows. And then as we think of how this girdle works on the battlefield in this blanket of protection kind of way, how about this? How about if we think of it in terms of a contrast, right? What is this? It's the girdle of what? Girdle of truth, right? How's it going to work? The devil is a, think of it in terms of a contrast. The devil is what? The devil is a liar and he's not only a liar, he's the father of lies, right? He's a liar of all liars. But what have you just girded yourself with? The truth, right? You just girded yourself with the truth. That's quite a contrast, isn't it? How are you going to meet the father of lies? With a girdle of truth, right? Every single one of the devil's attacks and schemes and strategies are going to be somehow based upon and built around a lie because that's what he is by nature. He's a liar. But you now are in a different realm and you're in the realm of truth. You have a different father who has revealed the only thing that can effectively counter the devil's lies. And that is the truth. He has imparted that truth to you through the miracle of salvation, making you now of the truth. And he has also given you the ability to recognize and embrace that whole truth by faith. You've wrapped your arms around it. That's what this piece of armor is that God has provided for you. As a soldier in this war, your loins are not girded with truth and you are ready for whatever the devil and his demons bring. And let me give you just one last scripture now for today. I know my time is waning. Let me give you one last scripture for this morning. where Jesus explained, Jesus himself explained how this girdle of truth is going to work for you on the battlefield. And before you even turn there, let me say that we most often don't think of this text as a spiritual warfare text, but there's a sense in which it really is a spiritual warfare text. Turn with me. This is the last one. One more, a very familiar dialogue. Jesus had one time with the Jews in John eight 31 and 32, Johnny 31 and 32. says this in verse 31. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him, if you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine. That's an important statement, very important statement. Would you note here that there is such a thing as a believer who's not really a believer, right? There is such a thing as a superficial kind of faith that is not really saving faith. And would you also understand that churches are filled with people like that today who have only that empty and worthless kind of faith? And so how do you tell? You know, they say they believe, right? These folks said they believed. How do you tell the difference? Well, if you were here last week, you heard Joel elaborate on how to tell the difference. True salvation, Joel said a number of times last week, is always going to result in a transformed life. True salvation is always going to change your life. If it didn't change your life, it didn't happen. I don't care what you say. If it didn't change your life, it didn't happen. And that's exactly what Jesus is saying here, right? If you, look at what he said, if you continue in my word, if you go on and live for me and follow me and obey me, then you are truly disciples of mine. And watch this next part now. This is the warfare part. This is the girdle of truth part. If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine and you will know the truth. There's that repository of the truth thing. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free. You know, I never thought about this until in this way, until just a few weeks ago when I was preparing this message, true believers will know the truth. Jesus said, that's the same thing we've already talked about today. True believers are always gonna be the ones who know and recognize and embrace the truth because God has imparted it to them. Yet another way to say that would be to say that true believers are always gonna be the ones who have this girdle of truth on. And Jesus went on to say now, one more important thing about that, and this now is what I would like you to take home with you today. Think about this week as a closing thought. When you know the truth. We're talking about the girdle. What does it mean to have the girdle on? What does it mean to wear that girdle out on the battlefield? When you know the truth, when you embrace the whole truth, when you have this girdle on, Jesus said that that truth will make you free. Would you think about that great statement now through the lens of this girdle and the subject of spiritual warfare that we're studying? What does the truth that this girdle is made of make you free from? Now, I could keep reading here if I had time, but I don't, so I won't. Can't take the time to read the rest of this familiar passage for you right now, but I will tell you what it says and I will suggest that you read it on your own sometime this week. What is the truth that this girdle is made of make you free from? Here's the answer. Knowing the truth and embracing the truth and continuing in Christ's word, all synonyms for having this girdle on will make you free people from sin and death and hell is what that passage goes on to say. And it will make you free from those things by making you free from that one who had formerly enslaved you to all of those things. What that passage is all about is making you free from the old master and enslaving you to a new master. You see that same one, it makes you free from that same one who is now your adversary in this vicious spiritual war. You are now free from that enemy and free from the bondage of everything he had formerly enslaved you to. That's what this girdle represents. That's how this girdle will work for you. On the spiritual battlefield, people, the truth will make you free. The truth will poise you for victory. The truth will mark you out as being on the winning side. The truth will identify you as a slave of Jesus Christ and as a child of the living God. With the truth on, the girdle of truth on, dear brothers and sisters, that is now the victorious vantage point from which you will wage all the battles in this spiritual war. Would you think about those things over the week to come? Roll them around. Think about all of these things. And if you do, we'll plan to pick up our study next time. I'm moving on to article number two in this armor. The second piece is the breastplate of righteousness. Lots to talk about on that one. Let's pray. Father, our hearts are thankful to you this morning for the truth. Father, thank you for revealing it. Thank you for imparting it to us through salvation. And thank you, Father, for giving us the faith to accept that word, not as the word of man, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in us who believe. This morning, Father, we've understood that precious truth to function as a girdle, to function as that foundational piece of armor that we so desperately need on the battlefields of the spiritual war. Thank you, Father. with the full armor of God. And we pray now that you would prepare our hearts and prepare our minds to understand the breastplate of righteousness. If it would be your will, Father, for us to gather here again next Lord's Day. Thank you for who you are and what you've done for us. We love you and we worship you. In Jesus' precious, holy, and wonderful name we pray. Amen.