Please open your Bibles to Ephesians 6. So we work through the penultimate section, Paul's address to the believers on how they are to live in a manner worthy of the gospel in the context of a fallen world system over who is Satan, the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world, how they are to live in the climate of spiritual warfare and oppression. Verse 10. By the way, you're going to have to be very nimble with your phones, so if you prefer, you can just grab a pew Bible. I think we're going to be doing a lot of page turning. I had anticipated working through three parts of the armor this morning, but late last night, I sensed a different direction, and we're going to deal primarily with the belt of truth, but I did want to sort of work through the Bible and show the importance of this foundational piece of equipment, the belt of truth. But let me just read verses 10, because it is a section that should be read and interpreted as a whole, as a piece, as a section. Finally, be strong in the Lord, or as we saw last week, be strengthened, be made strong, present tense, in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand an evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. This is where we pick up this morning. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, To this end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. And also for me that words may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. C. H. Spurgeon, perhaps my favorite preacher, and thus an apt way to introduce the sermon, said the following, speaking to believers, as soon as you have been washed in Christ's blood and clothed in His righteousness, you must begin to hew your way through a lane of enemies, right up to the eternal throne. Every foot of the way will be disputed, not an inch will Satan yield to you. And as we saw last week, By Paul's three-fold repetition of the word stand, we realize and recognize and are reminded that we're in a war. That to become a Christian means to be enlisted into a war. And I was thinking of Satan's great ploy, at least in our materialistic North America context and culture, is that he would rather we pretend he not exists. And one of the worst ways you can die apparently is by carbon monoxide poisoning. You know what its nickname is? It's the silent killer. And I think that's sort of what Satan has adapted for himself in North America. That we would just think of this foolish little devil with a hat on, with horns and a pitchfork and a tail. And really that's just for the lower intellects to believe in some kind of spiritual evil. And he loves to have it so. But Paul, as he keeps reminding us that there are schemes being hewn and thrown at us, that we must, as Christ's people, navigate our way through this fallen world, armed and equipped with the full armor of God. Okay? Last week, we saw why we need the full armor of God. Why do we need it? For our foe is great. We're not wrestling against literally blood and flesh. We're wrestling, we're battling, we're warring, we're fighting against a formidable foe. One who is almost infinitely stronger than us. One who is a ruler and authority, who is a cosmic power. We realize that we need the full armor of God because without it we cannot stand against Satan or his schemes. This week and for the next three or four weeks possibly, we're going to look at what the armor is. Yeah, we need it, but what is it? I know I need to put it on, but what do I need to put on? And so what Paul is going to do is he's going to focus a little more closely upon six, perhaps seven, armaments or pieces of clothing that we need. The first is the belt of truth. The second is the breastplate of righteousness. The third, the shoes of peace. Fourth, the shield of faith. Fifth, the helmet of salvation. And sixth, the sword of the Spirit. There will be some overlap. If we try to make this too neat, we're going to lose what Paul's really getting at. And he's basically saying, put on all the facets of the Gospel. Appropriate the Gospel in all of its vast array. Look at it from every angle. Plumb the depths of the Gospel. And put it on. And keep it on. And having it on, fight. Don't put it on and sleep. You put it on and fight. Okay, so there will be some overlap this morning with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This morning we're dealing with the belt of truth. This is the fourth mention of the word stand. Look at verse 14. Therefore, which makes us glance upward to the previous verse, that we need to withstand in an evil day, and withstand against a nasty enemy. One who is very strong. Therefore, because he is so strong and you're living in an evil day, stand therefore. How? It's what you call a past participle, which means nothing to anyone but nerds like me. It means that you can't stand until you've put this on. Put this on before you stand. You can't stand without your belt on. And so for some of us, the belt is maybe a fashion accessory and not really integral to our wardrobe or our outfit. But to a Roman soldier, the belt was essential. And you couldn't stand or withstand all the flaming darts of the evil one. You couldn't fight against him. You couldn't prevail in the evil day unless you had first girthed about yourself this belt, girded up the loins. with a belt. Why does Paul mention the belt first? Because it's what was put on first. I don't know if any of you have ever played hockey. Back in the old days when I lived in Winnipeg, that's all we could do. It was too cold to do anything else, so we just played hockey. And you needed to put your belt on, your garter belt they called it. Because it's basically what everything would be attached to. And if you didn't have your belt on, everything would be loose and jangling around. Important things like your jock, and your shin pads, and your pants. Trust me, when a puck is coming at you, you want everything to be in its right place. In the ancient world, Soldier's belt served two primary purposes. Okay, so Paul lists it first and this belt to the Roman soldier at least served two primary purposes What if it was wide enough? It would function kind of like a girl to protect his kidneys and vital organs So like a big weightlifters belt and then if you see the pictures at various little pieces that could also protect their thighs So it would serve to protect But even more importantly, and secondly, it was used as sort of an anchor. What I have in my mind is one of those storage closet units. It keeps everything in its right place. It would keep the soldier's armor intact, and it would keep it where it needed to be. Without this undergirdle, without this belt, all the soldier's armor would shift, especially when in motion or in fighting. Okay? Having armor hanging loose would be a serious disadvantage to any soldier. Remember, you're wrestling. It's not long distance. It's one-on-one combat, and you want everything to fit rightly. You don't want to be like David, as it were, with Saul's equipment on. Remember, David went to go fight Goliath, and Saul's like, here, put this on. It just didn't fit. He wasn't comfortable. He wouldn't be able to maneuver. So David put it all aside. You need to have your belt so that everything is where it ought to be. I almost think of like a police officer. That belt is very important. Yes, it keeps his pants up, but so he has his baton and his gun and his pepper spray and other things. I'm not going to attack them with jokes about donuts or anything like that. For the Roman soldier, it was where he put his sheath for his scabbard or scabbard for his sword, which we're going to look at. He needs your belt. If your belt's around your ankle, you can't grab your sword. It just doesn't make sense. But also what anchored is breastplate firmly in place. If your breastplate is kind of off like that, well, you're exposed to arrows and attacks. You need to have truth. Otherwise, righteousness makes no sense. Truth is foundational. As it were, it defines all the other pieces of armor. And it's foundational just to the Roman soldier. Truth is foundational. to us as Christians. Just as you needed that belt for everything to be where it should be, you need truth. Because you know what? If you go into many churches, they have all kinds of various definitions of salvation, and of righteousness, and of gospel, and of peace. It must be defined by truth. If you don't have the truth right, what are you basing the definition of righteousness on next week? If you don't have your truth settled, what does peace mean? But it's gospel! Truth is therefore foundational. He put his sword there, anchored his breastplate, but it's also what he would tuck his skirt into, or tunic, but I just think of it as a glorified man's skirt. We don't see these in our culture, we just have skinny jeans, which I loathe. We have everything nice and clean, like spandex when Matt is biking. He doesn't have to worry about wearing a tunic because it caught in his chain. But back then, I would encourage you to Google it. Wait until the service is done before you start doing that kind of stuff though. The tunic is basically a glorified manskirt. And as I walk to work down 13th, I walk by the mosque. The people of that culture still wear tunics. Look at pictures of people going to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. People of those cultures still wear those tunics. Even in India, the women wear suris, and even some of the men wear those skirts. When I was in my second year of university, I had a roommate from India, and he wore his tunic all the time. Now, I've never worn a skirt, and that's the truth, but I can't imagine what it would be like to fight in one. And so what that soldier would need to do is actually bring his tunic up and tuck it in under his belt. Okay, so he has a skirt, And to free up his legs, he has to tuck it in. Otherwise, he's hopeless and helpless. The belt was essential. You need that tunic. That's what they wore every day. But when fighting time came, you try to run at somebody. You try to kick somebody with the tunic on. It's not going to be pretty. A man kicking with a kilt or a tunic on is never pretty. But you know what I mean. This is why the belt must be put on first. It is our anchor. We must be anchored in truth. You can't stand in the evil day, you can't withstand against the wiles, the schemes, the methodological attacks and assaults of the evil one, unless you are firstly grounded, anchored in the truth. There's three interpretations of what Paul means by truth here. The Greek word is aletheia. It's where Leah gets her name from, Rodinoni's girl. Truth, aletheia. And the first one is taken in the objective sense, namely the Word of God. You can't fight unless you put on the Word of God, unless you know the Word of God, and that's true. Others believe it's to be interpreted in a subjective sense, namely truthfulness. That if you're not living truthfully, that there's hypocrisy in your life. if there's error in your life. If you're living in contradiction, you can't fight against Satan. So it's either some say, no, you need the Word of God, or some say, no, you need to be living truthfully. Men like John MacArthur, right? Some of you listen to that long, drawn-out series. He would hold that the belt of truth means living honestly and with integrity, and that you can't wage war, and you can't be productive or fruitful in the Kingdom of God unless you're living truthfully. Which one is it? Is it the indicative? The truth? Or is it the imperative? Walk truthfully. It should be both, because that's how Paul has used this word all throughout Ephesians. And this is how Paul works. He gives you the truth, the objective truth, the indicative. This is who you are. Now live. And so what should we choose? We should say it's both. Fasting on the belt of truth thus refers here to both knowing and appropriating the gospel, as well as developing and cultivating gospel living. Fasting on the belt of truth means acquainting yourself with the truth, on the one hand, but also living it out, living truthfully, which we're going to see. Ephesians 4, 22-24, put off the old man. Remove the spirit of your minds, put on the new man. What does the first 25 say? Therefore, having put off, what? Of falsehood. Let us deal truthfully with each other, for we are neighbors one of another. So I'm going to look at both the objective sense as well as the subjective sense. What does it mean to put on the belt of truth? Firstly, we fasten on the truth of God's Word. That's the objective sense. Put on God's truth. Put on the truth He has availed His people with. Without objective truth anchoring us, we will be tossed to and fro by the evil one. I promised there would be some page turning, so turn back a page to Ephesians 4. There is in Christ who has conquered the foe, and as the general leading a procession in the army is throwing out gifts to his people. Some of these gifts are teachers. Why is Christ throwing out teachers to his people? Because these teachers are to teach the truth. Why do they need the truth? Verses 11 to 16 are going to show us. Remember, Satan is trying to impede the growth of the church. If that church is not founded upon the anchor, the truth of God's Word, it will not grow. It might grow numerically, you might have megachurches, but it is not growing in the eyes of God, and it is not accomplishing any spiritual good in the world. All you're doing is entertaining ghosts. There's plenty of churches that aren't building upon the foundation of the truth of the gospel. So Paul says, this resurrected Christ who has vanquished His foes and is giving gifts that He might fill all things. Verse 10 says in verse 11, And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to do what? To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, that's interchangeable with the truth. How do you resist Satan, 1 Peter 5? Resist him, steadfast in the faith. Resist Satan, steadfast in the truth. So He gives these vessels, these teaching ministries, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Here it is. So that we may no longer be what? Children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of false doctrine, by human Cunning. You know what word that is? That's schemes in Ephesians chapter 6. You want to stand against what? The schemes of the devil. Well, Paul uses the same word when it comes to false teaching. So he gives the church teachers who teach the truth. Why? Because without people learning the truth, they're like children. They're being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather speaking what? Speaking the truth and love. What happens when we speak the truth and love? We grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ. What is the prerequisite to the church growing? What is the prerequisite, Christian, to you growing? What is the prerequisite to you standing firm when Satan is attacking you? You need the truth. Speaking the truth and love, we grow up. into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, you can't work properly without the truth, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. This is why Paul says first, you must fasten on the belt of truth, because only by Understanding and knowing and marinating in the truth will we be able to detect and resist and flee, if necessary, from Satan's schemes, from his false and damnable doctrines. This shouldn't surprise us, should it? The devil by his very nature is a liar. Look in John 8.44. I could quote it to you, but I like hearing the pages of a Bible turning. It's alright to see you scrolling and stuff like that. But turn to John 8, verse 44. Satan is just carrying out his nature when he tries to deceive us, when he tries to distort the truth. And so, if you don't have the belt of truth on, you're easy pickings for him. Misses the application, but while you're turning, are you immersing yourself in the truth of God's Word? How else are you going to know whether or not the church you're sitting in is preaching to you truth? Truth is not established by a man in the pulpit. It is established by the book in the pulpit and when it is preached. John 8.44, Jesus says, He, the devil, was a murderer from the beginning. And here's where it fits in. And has nothing to do with what? The truth. Because there is no what in Him. No truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of most lies. No, he's the father of all lies. So how is Satan going to try to dupe you, Christian? You're fighting against him. You might not think you are, but when he's offering you false doctrine, that's satanic and that's spiritual warfare. When He wants you to believe a lie, He's attacking you. What's the best way to fight against a lie? With the truth. So gird up your loins with the truth. Go to Genesis chapter 3. The reason I took you to John first is because this is Satan's nature. He's not being different. He's not putting on a mask when he tempts us with falsities. When Satan tries to get believers to believe lies, It's just who He is. It's consistent with His very nature as the fallen archangel. Okay, so we have the beautiful narrative of creation. God made all things good. And then the plot thickens in chapter 3. Now the serpent, and in Revelation the serpent is defined as Satan. Now, the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He was very what? Crafty. What does Paul say in Ephesians 4? Craftiness in deceitful schemes. False doctrine is no trifling matter. No, no, doctrine doesn't matter. Now, post-Monterey, whatever you believe is fine. That's a lie from the pit of hell too. We need truth. We die, we perish from a lack of it. He's crafty. He thinks that truth is relative. You believe the lie. Truth is not relative. Truth is as God has defined it. And so this crafty fiend enters into the scene and he says to the woman, did God actually say you shall not eat any of the tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the tree in the garden. But God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die. Okay, so the truth is established. Chapter 2, God gives her command. Don't eat from it. What does Satan do? In his craftiness and in his schemings, he begins to work and he begins to challenge and he seeks to distort and add to what? The truth of God's Word. And Eve, who didn't have the belt of truth on, nor Adam, the coward beside her, didn't catch what Satan was doing, because she started to add to the Word, didn't she? She says, not only did he tell us not to eat it, but he told us not to touch it. Satan loves to either have us omit the Word, distort the Word, or add to the Word. And here we see that he's seeking to work against God's people by attacking the truth. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. What did God say? When you eat of the fruit of the tree, you will surely die. What does Satan say? God's word is not true. The reason why it's not true is he's lying to you because he has ulterior motives. So he attacks God's word and he attacks God's character. Is it any different in Ephesians 4 and in Ephesians 6? Is it any different when I read the book of Colossians, or when I read the book of Galatians, that whenever a work of God is taking place, Satan rears his ugly little head and he burrows it in, and he begins to sow cares? He always does that. He did it in the beginning with Adam and Eve, and he's been doing it ever since. He always has attacked God's people at the level of the truth. And I would ask you, Are you standing, having fastened on the belt of the Word, the belt of truth? Girding our minds with the truth must be the Christian's first line of spiritual defense against the schemes of the devil. First thing you gotta do, you gotta gird up your loins, which is really another way of saying, get God's Word into your brain and into your heart. Some of you have read John Bunyan's allegory of the Holy War. Where do the inhabitants of Mansoul need to put the most defenders? At which gates? Eye gate and ear gate. Why? Because that's where Diabolus attacks most ruthlessly. Where he attacks most vehemently. Where he attacks with all of his power. He tries to get in to Mansoul through ear gate and through eye gate. If you haven't gird up the loins of your mind with the truth of God, Satan will easily enter in with all of his crafty lies, and you will begin to believe them. And as we're going to see, that if you believe a lie, you begin to live a lie. Right? What you believe actually influences how you live. Right living, based on truth, ought to lead to the right thinking, sorry, based on truth, ought to lead to right living. But the opposite is just as true. Wrong thinking, built upon believing a lie, leads to what? Wrong living. So let me give you an example. It just comes to my mind now. I don't know if it's good or not. You can tell me after. Some Christians believe in evolution. If evolution is true, and we're just glorified monkeys, we can kill babies, can't we? No? Our ideas and our beliefs do have consequences. So gird up the loins of your mind. Stand having fastened on the belt of truth. Get your mind filled. Renew your mind, Romans 12 says. Don't fit in to the mold of this world. Rather, renew your minds with the truth. Renew your minds, Paul says in Ephesians 4. Because if you don't, you're easy pickings. Look at 1 John chapter 2. You can turn there because I want to go to 1 John chapter 3 after. 1 John chapter 2. I want to show you the importance of truth in this war that we're engulfed in, that we're embroiled in. 1 John chapter 2. By the way, as you're turning there, if I was fighting, pretend it was me versus John and Marvin. And pretend John had his belt pulled up. You know, he's the good electrician. He knows he's got his belt on. Marvin's like, not a big deal. And so they're both running at me and Marvin's equipment's flying everywhere. He's tripping over his skirt. Who do you think I'm going to attack first? I'm going to go for Marvin first. Because everything's in disarray. He has no anchor. He has no standard. It's just his opinion. Satan loves to ask Christians what they think, rather than what God says. What do you think this means? Good. You've already duped. 1 John 2 verse 21 says this, I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Let me give you a paraphrase from the NLT. OK, so I'll read the ESV again one more time. John says, I'm writing to you as believers, not because you don't know the truth. I'm writing to you because you do know the truth and because no lies are the truth. Let me read the NLT. I think it's quite helpful. I am writing to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know the difference between truth and lies. That's great. I want to ask you, do you know the difference between truth and lies? How do you know the truth versus a lie? How do you know the difference between the truth and lie? How do you know genuine from counterfeit? And I say this a million times. When people are trained to detect counterfeit money, what do they have them study? The true money. So the only way to detect if there is error, if you're being assaulted with lies or deception or crafty schemes and human cunning, is to know this book. I don't think there's ever been an age, maybe there has been in the dark ages, but I just think of our modern world, we're so busy doing everything but engulfing ourselves in the Word of God, immersing, saturating ourselves, marinating ourselves in the Word of God. It's no wonder to see Christians doing the stupidest things. It drives me crazy just watching what a lot of these cults do. And people just take it hook, line, and sinker. You know why? Because they can't differentiate between truth and lie. It feels good, it seems right, must be true. Never do they say. Okay, so there's this guy named Stephen Furtick. I was on YouTube for some reason, and I Google. Well, the reason I was on is because it said that he built a 1.6 million dollar mansion. He's so popular, he'll never listen to this, so I don't mind naming him. And all of his followers, his elevators, they're like, it's all good. It's all good. Don't judge him. He can build a 1.6 million dollar mansion. I read all the YouTube comments. Guess how many references to scripture there were? Zero. They probably thought I was being a self-righteous bigot, but I just said, here's all the scriptures, I'm not judging him, but here's what scripture says about the allurement of wealth. Where your heart is, where your treasure is, there your heart is. Took him to 1 Timothy 3, took him to Jesus. No scripture. They're defending this guy because they think it's alright for him to live that way. Acts 17, 11. Paul comes and he's preaching to the Bereans. He's chased out of Thessalonica and he's bringing the Gospel with him. And it says this, that the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonicans. You know why? Because they searched the Scriptures to see if what Paul was preaching was what? True. Was so. John says, I'm writing to you because you know the difference between truth and lies. And I would ask you, do you know the difference between truth and lies? But the heretic came up into this pulpit, I pray to God that you would know the truth so well, you would chase him out. He'd be running away naked like the sons of Sceva. You wouldn't even give him a chance to gird up his skirt. How do you spot the difference? And thus being able to stand firm against the lies of the devil, knowing the truth. Look at 1 John 2.14. Okay, so it should be on the same page or maybe a page back. I write to you, Fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong. Paul says that we need to be strong, we need to be strengthened, okay? I write to you, young men, because you are strong. And, at the exegetical, why are they strong? Because the Word of God, what? Abides in you. That's a very intimate language. It's not like it's an accessory you put on. It's part of you. It's an organic part of you. It abides in you. Just like in John 15 where the branch abides in the vine. There's a living reality. This Word is a part of your fabric. It's not a Sunday phenomenon. This Word lives in you. It's a part of you. You can't separate it. But He doesn't stop it. I write to you along the way because you're strong. Why? Because the Word of God abides in you and You have what? Overcome who? The evil one. Who is? Satan. See why this truth is so important and why Paul lists it first? It's not like those cheesy belts when Christina went out for supper on Friday, and I'm getting old, and there's this guy, he's dressed, and he thought he was all tough, and it was, he had this tight shirt on, and it was only tucked in at the front, and he had this white plastic belt buckle. Not even a cowboy, just the ugliest thing. I got even pointing, like, Christina, is that stupid? And she said, yes, so then I wouldn't buy it. That's not the kind of belt, it's not an accessory, it's essential. That belt makes that guy foolish. The belt of truth makes us wise. And we need it. And it's not optional. Put on the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand, that you might withstand in the evil day. Dear listener, are you taking great pains to let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly? Because Jesus says that after He leaves, many false prophets and even false Christs will come in His name, speaking lies, that if possible they might deceive the very elect, if that were possible. Are you taking great pains to let the Word of God dwell in you richly? That it might abide in you, be a part of you? I'm reading the screw tape letters. And this is interesting. It's an allegory as well. But Screwtape is sort of a higher-up demon, and he's training, as it were, Wormwood, who has a subject, a man who has just been converted. And he said this to him. It's funny, Screwtape says to Wormwood. It's funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds. In reality, our best work is done by keeping things out. I just thought that was very interesting. You will fall for the lies of the devil if you are not putting the Word of God in. We do our best work by keeping things out. He warns in other chapters, don't get this human to start thinking, because thinking is a gift of God, and thinking rightly should lead us to God. Not only are you renewing, but are you meditating on it? Are you thinking through the implications? What does justification mean? Quoting that I'm justified by faith, that's great, but what does it mean? We'll see it next week. But you need to think. Let it abide in you. Let justification really sink in deep and let it challenge and change you. If we don't have our belt girded with truth, with the objective truth of God, we are like the soldier whose pants are falling down. Have you ever heard the expression, caught with your pants around your ankles? How many Christians are like that? Wrong thinking leads to wrong living. Which leads me to the second use of the word truth. So yes, gird up your minds with truth, truthful thinking. But now you also need to gird up your loins or put on the belt of truthfulness. You need both. You can't have either or. And that's the danger. I know a lot of truth. That's great. But are you living it? Are you a hearer and knower of the word? The doer of the word. There's a big difference. Go to 1 Timothy 2. I told you I'd take you all over the place. I know it's a little more topical. I'm down with that. 1 Timothy 2. Timothy is stationed where? In Ephesus. False teachers have come in. Look in verse 14. In verse 12 he says, this is why you need to have men as elders only. I know it's very unpalatable, very distasteful. noxious in our mouths but we actually believe God's Word and He says the reason why ye have to have male elders is verse 13 for Adam was formed first then Eve and Adam was not, here's the word, deceived but the woman was what? Deceived. Adam was deceived too but what I want you to get is he was deceived and what does the next little clause say? The woman was deceived and what? You see the link? Does transgression come first, or does deception come first? But I'm thinking now, 1 Thessalonians says that they believed and loved a lie, and then they began to live it. So Satan attacks. And if you don't have a right mindset, you will have a wrong living. And if you're not living right, then maybe your thinking is not right. We need to fasten on not just God's truth, but we need to now fasten on our truthfulness. Fastening on the belt of truth for battle also means that believers are to put on, to fasten on truthfulness, honesty, and purity. The word aletheia can mean to hide nothing, sincerity, honesty, transparency. Listen very carefully. Some of you have a lot of good doctrine. And Satan is having his way with you. Because you have unconfessed and unrepented sin in your life. Because you're living a double life, a double standard. You come here quoting lots of doctrine on Sunday, and you're living in sin the rest of the week. So you're loving my first point. Yes, you do need to have that truth. But oh how many reformed people, who have all their T's crossed and their I's dotted, are getting ravished by the evil one. Because they think it's just enough to have a good doctrine, and to have the truth right on a piece of paper. No, no, no. You need to have it right here first, but then you need to apply it. Do you have any unconfessed sin this morning? He who tries to conceal his sin will not prosper, says Solomon. He who confesses and forsakes it will obtain mercy. 1 John. We've all sinned, so let us confess our sin. And if we do confess our sin, Christ is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's enough to know that truth. It's great, but are you confessing it? Because if you're not confessing it, Satan has lots of ground to start screwing with your mind. If you're not living truthfully, he's going to start to attack the breastplate of righteousness, which we'll look at next week. It's not enough to know the truth, you must put the truth into practice. Is there hypocrisy in your hearts? If there is, everything comes undone. Everything is not anchored. You're living a double life. One commentator says this, as believers buckle on this piece of the Messiah's armor, they will be strengthened in God's truth revealed in the gospel and as a consequence. Okay, so my first part, objective truth must lead to subjective change. The truth of the gospel must not only inform your mind, but it must change your lives. Please don't put a divide where scripture doesn't. I don't want you to be right and still go to hell. He says, as we do this, as the truth begins to permeate the believer's mind, they will display the characteristics of the Messiah in their attitudes, language, and behavior. In this way, they resist the devil, giving him no opportunity to gain an advantage over them. Go to Ephesians 4. So you've got Ephesians 1-3 going on in your head. But you're being a jerk to your wife. You don't think Satan is going to try to exploit that? Then quote scripture to him. Your life is a hypocritical refutation of the truth you so adhere to. Look in verse 25. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Then he goes on about the thief and how we speak. Do not grieve, verse 30, the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Here it is, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Forgive one another, be kind to one another. Are you walking in integrity? Is there honesty in your life? Is there sincerity? Can you say with Paul that I serve God, I make it my aim before God and man to have a clean conscience? Because if you don't have that clean conscience, Satan's going to attack you. You're not going to be able to stand against his assaults. So it's knowing the truth, but it's also living the truth. It's living truthfully, honestly, a life of integrity. Another commentator says this, believers must also conduct their lives in a manner consistent with the truth of the gospel. Lying and deceitfulness can no longer have any place in the life of a believer. They are an affront to the God of truth. Romans 2. You preach the truth that we're not supposed to steal. We're not supposed to covet. We're not supposed to commit adultery. You of all idols, do you rob them? Do you preach against us? Do you not do this? All day long the name of God is blasphemed among you truth-upholders. You understand, Christian, that if you're living this way, it's an affront to the God of truth to whom you claim to belong to. This is why believers must take off falsehood and put on truth. It's why we must bear the fruit of light. Remember chapter 5? You once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. What's the fruit of this new light? Righteousness, truthfulness. Goodness, righteousness and truth. You need to be living truthfully. Part of putting on the new self amounts to appropriating truth, to living truthfully. Okay, so let me just apply this quickly. I've got four points. Almost going to be done before noon. Stand therefore. Stand firm therefore, having put on the belt of truth. Okay, so what are the two ways that this truth is used by Paul? One is the objective sense, the Bible, dig into it. What's the second one? Living it, subjective, living that truth out. Living consistently. Walking in the light. As God is in the light. Not just saying you're walking in the light, but actually walking in it. Because if you do, you have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus' sin cleanses you from all of your sin. It's not just talking about walking in the light, it's actually walking in the light. Let me give you four applications based upon this one piece of armor. Ultimately, the word of truth is the gospel of salvation. Get that from chapter 1. And you, when you heard the word of truth, comma, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in it, you were sealed with the promised spirit. So what is the truth Paul is ultimately talking about? Not about knowing whose Manassas sons were, not knowing where the twelve tribes are located, ultimately the truth of the gospel. that God in Christ is reconciling sinners to Himself through the Gospel? Are you putting the Gospel armor on every day? Are you fastening? Are you pulling up the loose end of your life and tucking it into the Gospel? Is the Gospel defining? Is the Gospel interpreting everything? All the rest of the armor? The truth is not merely Bible trivia, but the saving, changing truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so I pray, inwardly, God, would you save someone? I would ask, it's nice that you don't know if I'm looking at you, but have you believed the gospel? Or are you just believing truths? There's lots of little kids who can memorize scripture, but have you left yourself? Have you run away from yourself to run to Christ? Have you gone outside of yourself to find yourself in Christ? Have you believed this gospel? Have you believed this truth? Has it changed you? The Word of Truth is not facts, per se, but the Gospel fact. We fastened on the Gospel. It's not enough to describe the Gospel, to smell the Gospel, to feel the Gospel, to describe it. You must put it on. And I'm fearful that many People who call themselves Christians know about the Gospel, but have never entrusted themselves to it. Have never wholly leaned upon Jesus' name. They know, they can say Yeshua, or Jesus, and they can articulate justification by faith, but they've never themselves repented and trusted in Christ. Have you? Paul's talking to believers, but to become a believer, you come in through the truth of the gospel. You enter into the kingdom through the truth of the gospel. Second, this gospel must not only be known, but believed. Hebrews chapter 6 is one of the most frightening scripture passages in all the Bible. He talks about people who sit in churches, and they see amazing things happen. They sense the Spirit moving, they see people getting converted, they see lives being transformed. And they're all, as it were, surrounded by people who are living out the Gospel. But they themselves have never appropriated the Gospel by faith. I really do, really do grow anxious about a lot of the children. I pray to God, kids, that you don't just sit here and hear this loudmouth blather on and wonder when he's going to finish, but you actually put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That you would not be like those people in Hebrews 6, who are the reigns of the gospel. It was just constantly, this torrential monsoon, beautiful, growth everywhere, but it says among some people, It produced nothing but thorns and thistles, right? Because they did not mix hearing with faith, the author says in chapter 4. Have you believed the gospel and been saved? I pray to God you have. You will never be strengthened with power in your inner being by the Spirit. Christ will, as it were, never flow out of you unless He is first in you. Is Christ dwelling in your heart by faith? Are you rooted and grounded in the love of Christ? May you take the truths of the Gospel this morning and act upon them by faith. May someone this morning say, Aha! I've got it! I need Jesus Christ. I must flee from religion. I must flee from every other method to be saved. I must run and entrust my entire soul upon Jesus Christ for all eternity. Third application. The verb implies haste. It's often used in context where, well, for example, used in the book of Exodus. So remember, God says to the people, okay, get ready. I'm going to send the final plague on them, the firstborn. Done. I want you to be ready. He says, I want you to be ready with your loin skirt up. So not us. We're just sitting on our lazy boy, or whatever they're called. Just taking it easy, flipping through the channels. We need to be ready now! Moreover, it's an aorist tense, which means it's very crucial now. Don't wait! You have to learn now! And I said it last week, and I wonder, how many of you actually went home on Sunday and got into the Word? Versus how many of you probably just went onto the Internet? Am I a legalist? Maybe. Gird up your wings now. Make haste now. Deliverance has come. Get ready to run. Your enemy is going to chase you down. It's exactly what happened in the Exodus account. I've delivered you, but your enemy is still on your tail. You can't afford to be tripping over your man-skirt. Fasten the belt on now. Get your minds ready for action now, Peter says. You don't know when the enemy will attack, but by the time he does, if you're not ready, it's too late. You need to be ready before he attacks. What does Satan usually do when we're not ready, when our hearts are not prepared? Thought of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 and Mark chapter 4. So I'm preaching the gospel this morning. Throwing the seed out, if you will. Here's the gospel of truth. What kind of heart is it landing upon? Have you geared up your belt? Are you ready to receive with meekness the implanted Word which is able to, what, save your souls? From what? Hell, yes, but also from the attacks of the enemy. You know what Satan does to Christians who have stayed up way too late on Saturday? You know what he does to people who wake up 10 minutes before they come to church, get all ready and have thought nothing of Christ? You know what he does for the most part? You live here unchanged because he's plucked the seed from your stony heart. That's the dangerous thing. And you know how I know? Because I do that. I've lost many a church service. Thinking about the dumbest thing. What this guy's wearing. What she said. What I'm going to have for lunch. I've not. Fasten on the belt of truth. I have not prepared myself for battle. Satan has won. If you leave the service without applying the truth, there will be very little fruit. Very little lasting fruit. Fourthly, and finally, this passage reminds us of the importance of praying for the leaders of your church. Like, what? 1 Timothy 3.15 says that the church of the living God is the buttress and pillar of what? The truth. Christ is building his church, so as the church grows, this pillar is getting bigger, the truth is growing. Satan is going to attack the church, okay? So as the church grows, the truth grows, and Satan hates that. If you were to read the first 11 verses of 1 Timothy 3, I quoted 1 Timothy 3.15, what does Paul deal with in 1 Timothy 3? deals with the leadership of the church, with elders who teach, which links us to Ephesians 4. These elders teach the truth. So if Satan can get a hold of the leaders and have them teach false truths or lies, will the church grow? The church is no longer a pillar and buttress of the truth. So, if you were Satan, who would you attack? I know who I would. I'd go after the guys in this pulpit. I'd go after Tony on Saturday night. I'd go after Ryan on Saturday night and Sunday morning. I'd go after Marvin who was leading. I'd go after the people who are apparently speaking for God. A brother who was not here this morning emailed me said, I was praying for you this week. And I said, I can sense it. Not getting all crazy, I sensed it. I know when God's people have been praying. And so here's a plea. Yes, is it selfish? But I'm desperate. My foe and your foe is great. Please know He is going to attack the leadership of this church. He gets the church leadership, He gets the church. If He gets the church, He gets the apple of God's eye. If He gets the church, God is not going to fill all things in all ways. Ephesians 1, 20, 21. The word of truth, the belt of truth, does three things. Saves us from our sin. Have you been saved? Jesus says, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Have you been set free this morning? Do you know the truth? With all of your soul, do you know it? Have you built your life upon the truth of God's word, upon the gospel of Jesus Christ? Have you been set free? Maybe you've been trying so hard to be religious, You need the gospel. Only the gospel can save you from yourself, from your sin, and from Satan. The word of truth, the belt of truth, saves us from our sin, but it also sets us apart for God's service. Saves us from our sin, sets us apart for God's service. Sanctify your people, Jesus prayed, by your word. Your word is truth. So you're saved by sin. Whoa. You're saved by the truth. You're saved from sin by the truth. How do you grow? How do you grow in usefulness? How do you grow in your sanctification? By being in the Word. Thirdly, Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that we're strengthened against Satan's schemes. Saved from sin, sanctified for service, strengthened against Satan. Very alliterative. It was almost intentional. Have you fastened the belt of truth on this morning? I pray that you would. And I pray that if you have, you would live in a manner worthy of the gospel, to which God has called you in Christ, in all goodness and righteousness and truthfulness. Father, we thank you for the gospel. I pray, Lord, if there's any here who have never believed the saving truths of it, you grant repentance unto life. I pray, Lord, that even as Lydia's heart was opened, as Paul was explaining the Gospel, here was this religious woman, this God-fearer, this religious lady who prayed, who was very devout, and yet she needed to have her heart opened by the Spirit to understand her need of a Savior. Father, I pray you would do that, even for the children. Help us not to be so foolish as to think that only when they become teenagers and adults do they begin to think of themselves as self-sufficient, as their own saviors. Lord, may we see their helpless plight and may you save them even this morning. May the truth conquer them. Father, for those of us who have tasted and seen that your Word is good, I pray that we would have a greater relish for Your Word, that we would clothe ourselves, we would put on and fasten on and we would gird up our minds with Your truth, with Your Word. And finally, Lord, I pray that we would work out what You have worked in, that the truth that has been implanted into our hearts would bear fruit in truthful living. That we would not live a double life. We would not be hypocritical. We would not try to hide things, but we would be open and honest. We would speak the truth and live the truth. We would truth and love. Father, I think of David's prayer in Psalm 25. And we ask that you would lead us in your truth. Father, would you teach us your ways? And Lord, would you protect us as individuals and us as a church from the schemes of the evil one. Oh God, help us to stand in this evil day. Give us a high regard for your word, for your truth, and help us to stand on it, and to withstand in the evil day. We pray, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.