Reading: Psalm 119:1-24 Theme: The Belt of Truth. (Ephesians 6:14a) The ruling power of Paul's day was the Roman Empire. Their success had been won and maintained by the Roman army. Roman soldiers were THE soldiers of their day and were highly trained, disciplined and also heavily armed. Different regiments of soldiers existed. Paul uses the picture in Ephesians 6:14ff of the heavily armed Roman legionary or hoplite going into battle. As Paul addressed the church in Ephesus, realise that he speaks in the plural here addressing the whole church as well as individuals within it, so that ALL OF US need the whole armour of God in place to all use. This imagery of armour is not confined to Paul’s use here. In OT the imagery of weapons, belts, armour is used (Isaiah 11:5, 49:2, 59:17). Paul also alludes to it and to soldiering in other NT passages 1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” 1 Corinthians 9:7; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 2 Timothy 2:3-4. Have no doubt about it Paul had seen soldiers, probably he was imprisoned as he wrote to the Ephesians and was guided by the Holy Spirit to write and compare the Christian life using things known to him and his readers. We are going to look at the first of the 6 pieces of armour listed for us in this passage - the belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield, the helmet and the sword. Of these 3 are attached to the body - belt, breastplate and shoes; they did not hang loose, but were attached, fixed firmly to the body. The shield was upon the arm, the helmet upon the head and the sword held in the hand. It is so easy to look at these pieces of armour and think Paul has just casually described a soldier, yet the very order they are given DEC 17-1-16

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is important to note. The last thing I do when getting dressed to put on my belt and buckle it up, with socks and shoes coming later. Yet for the Roman soldier ordinarily the belt was the first thing he put on (and last he took off) - then his breastplate, which was attached to the belt, then his shoes, then shield, his helmet and then lastly he would take up his sword. Paul does not write of these in a haphazard way, but built on what he observed and saw the soldiers do. As he wrote to the Ephesian church and to all believers, he used these observations to introduce us to the concept of the Christian as a soldier, who needed to be prepared for and be involved in the battle. The first piece of armour introduced is “the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (NIV) or “having your loins girt about with truth” (AV) [a strange idea to our modern minds]. As we come to this piece of the armour, we have to forget our idea of a belt for fashion or to hold our trousers up. We need to have in mind the idea of something like a weightlifter’s belt - wide, strong and that could be pulled tight around the waist. I want us to note 3 things about the belt of truth and see why it is important for us as Christians: 1. It Is Necessary for Readiness. The Roman soldier and most men of that day would wear long flowing robes. They were functional as they were warm at night and cool in the day. This was fine if you were standing, or sitting, or even on a shopping trip and were able to walk sedately around. Yet they were cumbersome and awkward if you had to do heavy manual work, or run, or fight as they would get in the way, snag on things that could trip you up. The custom was to gather the long robes and pull them through and fix them around your waist with your belt - girding up one’s loins. You are then

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ready for action, ready to run, walk, go to harvest, go on a long journey or enter into battle. The Roman soldier would gird his loins ready for battle - nothing to hinder, nothing to trip him up and he would use his tough, strong wide belt to fix his garments. In OT this idea of readiness for action is given (all of these AV) - when the people were leaving Egypt (Exodus 12:11); Elijah running in front of and before Ahab (1 Kings 18:46); Jeremiah also (Jeremiah 1:17). In NT it is applied to Christians also - Luke 12:35; the loins of our minds must be girded also (1 Peter 1:13). This belt was also the foundation garment of his armour - gird his loins ready for action, then his breastplate was also attached to it, as was his scabbard, sheath for his sword. As he pulled the belt tight, so his waist, chest, loins etc were made tight, taught and firm and so adding to his core strength, enabling his muscles to function more efficiently. He was ready for battle, felt ready, firm and stronger simply by putting this belt on and letting it encircle him firmly. Here Paul says to each and every believer that we are to take this belt, girdle of truth, wrap it around us and get ready for action. We are not to have loose ends, not to have things flapping about in our life, but we are to be ready by being encircled by truth both in our lives and our minds. Luke 12:35 (AV) “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;” and NIV says “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning” Peter tells us (1 Peter 1:13) “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,” (AV); “Therefore, prepare your minds for action;” (NIV). As believers we are to realise this belt truth is foundational to our armour and the battle. We need it; it needs to be put on, in a ready and active way. Without it we have nothing to gird our DEC 17-1-16

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loins with, nothing to attach the breastplate of righteousness to, nothing to give firmness and strength to our lives. What then is this belt of truth that is so necessary for readiness? Some say sincerity and truthfulness. Yes it includes that; others say it is an inward truthfulness of the heart that will be shown in our dealings with one and the other and in whatever situation we find ourselves. Truthfulness should be the hallmark of our attitude and behaviour to all people, whether believers or unbelievers. Some say it is gospel truths and that these are to encompass us. This again is true. We need the gospel to have taken hold of our lives, to have encircled our hearts and minds, but it is more than these. From my reading I feel that this belt of truth is an all inclusive term. It encompasses sincerity and truthfulness of heart and life; it encompasses gospel truths. I take it that the belt of truth is the truth of God as revealed to us in and through the Scriptures. God’s word is truth, not merely containing truth, but is truth. In Psalm 119 this is stressed so often. All we know of God, of Christ, salvation, of man is revealed and confirmed to us in the Bible. This is not the objective understanding and use of Scripture as a weapon (this is mentioned later in v17 and is described as the sword of the Spirit), but here it is the foundational basis for our hope, our strength, our understanding that God’s word is the truth, and is the firm foundation for our faith and life. As Christian soldiers we need our minds fixed and firm, ready for action, with no loose ends flapping about. Where will we get such? Not from philosophy, not from science, not from the thoughts of our day and generation or our own experiences in isolation. We are to go to God’s word, which is inspired, inerrant and true. One of the areas the devil has attacked and will always DEC 17-1-16

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attack is God’s word, its truth and reliability. We are not to rely on new fashions, trends even in the church and not even on traditions. Charles Hodge wrote “Reason, tradition, speculative conviction, dead orthodoxy, are a girdle [belt] of spider webs. They give way at the first onset. Truth alone, as abiding in the mind in the form of divine knowledge, can give strength or confidence even in the ordinary conflicts of the Christian life, much more in any really ‘evil day’.” The belt of truth and its putting on signifies pictures and unqualified confidence in the truth of Scripture, the Bible. This is the foundation of everything that gets us ready for the Christian life and battle. Paul shows us in v17 how to use the truth, but here he shows us that this truth is necessary, foundational for readiness. Yet: 2. It Is Necessary For Reality. Computer programs are getting more and more sophisticated and we can go into virtual realities where we can appear in 3-D scenes, able to interact with that computer-generated world. In films CGI is getting so good that it is difficult to tell reality from CGI generated things. As we live in this world we have to realise that the devil has deceived all mankind and will even deceive believers and will twist things around from the reality of God to a distorted view, a virtual reality of the devil’s own making. The devil has always done this “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1). Yes God had said, but it was soon distorted. We need to get back to reality and see things as God sees them. We live in a surreal world, where God’s standards are decried, denied and evil is held up as good, acceptable and politically correct. In any situation of life how are we to perceive reality? By having the belt of truth buckled on to us.

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We are to ask ourselves in any situation as to what is true about that situation as God would see it! Asaph in Psalm 73 was in a right old pickle -his faith was wavering and he felt like giving up, but as he went to the temple of God he saw things from God’s point of view and he stood firm. Seeing what God says about the situation enables us to see things the right way round and how we are to conduct ourselves in that situation and so we live righteously - the breastplate of righteousness attached to the belt of truth! Satan would blind us to the truth, wants to dupe us by his generated ‘reality’ so that we will not be able to act correctly or righteously. This is important in many areas of life - consider the whole area of assurance. Do we go by our feelings, by our doubts, our questioning as to whether we are saved? Or do we take hold of God’s promises which tells us then when we trusted Christ, God saved us, He will not let us go and we believe what is written in Scripture about us and our new life even if we do not have the joy of feeling it intensely? We go back to God’s word - God has said it; I believe it; that settles it! God’s truth is to bring reality in our lives and experiences. The truth of God is necessary for this reality so that we are not carried away by false teachings - even if they are accompanied by miracles; we are not to listen to and heed another gospel even if preached by a seeming angel of light. If it is against God’s word, we are to side with God and what He has said. We are to stand firm on the truth of Scripture as our foundation for our Christian life. Standing on it means we are the right way round and able to perceive reality. The devil would turn things upside down so that good is evil and evil is good. Yet grounded, standing firm on the foundation of God’s word and seeing the world around us through its truthful lens, we see things the right DEC 17-1-16

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way. When the Lord Jesus was tempted, He stood on God’s truth and quoted it - not as magic charm, but because He believed it and knew it to be true and this belt of truth encircled Him to see the false and to proclaim the true. The belt of truth is necessary for readiness and reality, but also: 3. It Is Necessary for Righteousness. The wise man built his house upon the rock and his house stood; the foolish man built his on sand and it fell flat. The parable ends with Jesus commanding all to build their lives on His word and teaching. One of the lecturers in Bible College stressed that wrong doctrine and teaching, leads to wrong thinking, wrong lifestyle and living. Those who deny or twist Scripture are soon advocating things prohibited by God’s word. If God’s word is not true, what can we build our lives upon? If He has not set standards for us to keep, then we can do as we feel like and live to please ourselves. If there is no true or false, then we can do as we think or feel! Yet the truth of God’s word should encircle us, pull our flabby and flapping bits together and say that there are restraints, there are things we can and cannot do. Those things are not merely an external conformity to some sort of expected behaviour “I will put on my church talk and actions now!” We will realise that God demands truth in the innermost part of our lives as it says in Psalm 51:6 “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” Righteousness is to be in place in both our visible everyday life and in our unseen everyday inner life. In our lives we are to know the truth, which will make us free and show the truth in our daily living. To fight and not become a

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constant casualty we need the truth known in our head, grown in our heart and shown in our life. Are we ready to fight or are we insincere? The belt of truth needs to be taken and put on. It will mean being absolutely honest with God and ourselves about our standing with Him, our sincerity of heart. It may involve confession of faults to one another also. To live righteous lives we need to apply the whole of God’s truth to our lives, attitudes, actions, thoughts and motives. We are to apply it and live righteously at home, in work and in all our relationships in society and the church. The context of Paul writing about the armour of God is that of marriage, parents, children, employee and employer. To know how to live aright we need to know the truth of God’s word and what it says about our everyday situations. Does this belt of truth encircle every area of our minds, hearts and lives? It should do so because it is necessary in every area of our lives to live righteously before all people and God. What a belt to have firm and secure and buckled on to us! Yet greater, what a loving Saviour to provide it for us! We are to stand then with our loins girt about with the belt of truth, so that we can stand firm, being ready to battle, understanding what is real and so we live righteously to the praise and honour of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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