Let us turn again to God's Word
in the New Testament in the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians and
chapter 6 and reading at verse 11 following Ephesians chapter
6 verse 11 and the following verses put on the whole armor
of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take on to you the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having
your loins girt about with truth. We have previously, a few weeks
ago, considered something of the believer's stance as it is
spoken of here, as the apostle gives the exhortation with regards
to that armor, that spiritual armor that God has provided for
his children, that they are to put on, that they might engage
in the great conflict of faith. And as I say, we've previously
considered from these verses something of the believer's stance. There in verse 11, "...put on
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil." And again in verse 13, Wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Now the believer is to stand
and the believer is to withstand. And there in verse 13 he says
that she may more literally in order that ye may be able to
withstand. What is this withstanding? It is to stand opposite. It is to be in opposition. It is to resist. And that's what
we see here, of course, how the believer is to resist in the
evil day. James says, resist the devil
and he will flee from you. What are we to understand then
by this reference in verse 13 to the evil day? We're not necessarily to think
of this evil in moral terms, more particularly the word that
is being used here as reference to the day of toil. the toil that comes through trial
and through troubles. That's the particular word that
is being used. It's literally the word to toil. something that is toilsome, painful,
and that is the case, is it not, wherein the believer finds himself
in the midst of so many troubles in this world. Isn't that the
believer's lot? Persecution. The Lord Jesus says
in the world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world. The guy in the Apostle echoes
those words of the Savior when he says that we must, through
much tribulation, enter into the kingdom. We have to think
then of the evil day in these terms. It is all that conflict,
that conflict that is So Tolstoy at times to the child of God
that is being spoken of and in it all the believer is to withstand,
he is to oppose all the assaults that are made upon him and made
upon his faith. He is to be one then who will
withstand but then also we read here of the need to stand and
having done all He says at the end of verse 13 to stand. The believer is prepared and
he is ready for this conflict only as he is looking to God,
only as he recognizes his complete and utter dependence upon God. He cannot stand of himself, he
cannot stand in his own strength. Remember the language of the
psalmists back in Psalm 20 and there in that particular psalm
in verses 7 and 8. Some trust in chariots and some
in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought down and fallen But we are risen and stand upright. How does a believer stand upright? It is only as he is trusting
in the name of the Lord his God. He recognizes his utter dependence
upon God. And so we have it there in verse
11, do we not put on the whole armor of God? that he may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Only as this armour
that is of God, supplied by God, only as the believer makes use
of that that God has provided, is he able to stand against that
great adversary of his soul, against the devil himself. But
Tonight I want us to turn more particularly to these words at
the beginning of verse 14. I want us to commence really
a consideration of the various parts of this spiritual armour. And here at the beginning of
verse 14 again we have this word stand. And here the particular
word that's used literally means to stand firm, to stand fast,
to be immovable really, to stand one's ground. Stand therefore
having your loins girt about with truth. The first piece of
the believer's armour for this conflict is the girdle of truth. And so that's what I want us
to consider this evening. The girdle of truth. and simply
to consider what we're to understand by this reference to the truth
and what we're to understand by the good or what it is to
be girded for this great conflict, this great warfare, the good
fight of faith. First of all then to say something
with regards to the truth. Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth. Now, we're not here to think
of truth in an objective sense. What is the truth? Well, the
Lord Jesus himself informs us that it is the word of God. Thy
word is truth. We read in John chapter 17. And
that great objective truth that is the Word of God is of course
covered later on in the provision that God is making in what we
read at the end of verse 17, the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. It is the sword that is representative
then of the great objective truth which is Holy Scripture. What then of the truth that is
being spoken of here in the 14th verse? We're not, I say, to think
of it in those objective terms as the truth of Scripture but
more particularly it has to do with the child of God and that
sincerity that is really the mark of the Christian. In Joshua, in Joshua chapter
24 and verse 14, we find the man of God giving this exhortation,
Therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth. It is that truth, you see, that
is joined to sincerity that is being spoken of here. And isn't
sincerity also often indicated, revealed, where there is a true
heart? Again, in Scripture, the language
of Scripture, in Hebrews 10, 22, Paul says, let us draw near
with a true heart. What is a true heart? A true
heart is a sincere heart. A true heart is a heart that
is not divided. as a divided heart is something
that is an abomination to God. A heart that is running partly
after the world and partly after the things of God. It is that
that God hates. We are to draw near to Him always
with a true heart and of course God is able to read our hearts. The sacrifice of God is a broken
heart. A broken and a contrite spirit
God does not despise. All this truth then it has to
do with sincerity, it has to do with that wholeheartedness,
it has to do with that singleness of heart. the words of the Lord
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, if therefore thine eye be single,
he says, thy whole body shall be full of light. To have a single
eye, an eye simply for God, an eye only for the glory of God. This is what we're to understand
by truth here, I say. It's His graces that will be
evident in the child of God. That guilelessness, is it not
the mark of the true Israel of God. Remember the words of the
Lord Jesus concerning Nathanael there at the end of the opening
chapter of John's Gospel. He says, Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom there is no guile. Oh, what a mark it is then of
the Child of God, the Israel, that is the spiritual Israel
of God, the true people of God. They are guileless they are those
who are true and sincere in all their dealings in all their dealings
with God in all their dealings one with another we go back in
this epistle to chapter 4 and verse 15 we read but speaking
the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ, we are to be true to Christ, speaking
the truth in love. And then again at verse 25 he
says, Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth
with his neighbor. For we are members one of another,
as we are true to God, so we are also to be those who are
true one to another. It is that sincerity then that
is being spoken of here that's covered under this figure of
the girdle. Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth. Now, observe the position that
this part of the believer's armor occupies in this list. It is
that that stands in the first place. It's the first part of
that armour that is being spoken of here. Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth. And then he moves on to speak
of other parts. The breastplate, the feet, the
shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and so forth. First
of all, what is mentioned is the girdle of truth. And how appropriate it is, isn't
this where we have to begin, with that sincerity. God says,
you shall seek me and find me, when you shall search after me
with all your heart. How we are to come, you see,
to God and to seek Him at the beginning in a wholehearted fashion. Our affections must be altogether
set upon God, set upon the things that are above. We must come
with that singleness of heart. We must come in that godly simplicity. We must be those who are guileless
even as we begin to seek after God. It's only as we seek Him
with all the heart that those half-hearted seekers will never
find Him. God is the one, you see, who
so deals with His children and when He will bring them to Himself
that He deals with them in this fashion that they have a passion
and their great passion is that they might know this God and
they want only to know Him and they seek after Him and He must
come and He must reveal Himself to them. Again, what does David
say in his great penitentiary psalm, Psalm 51? He says, Behold,
thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Oh, it's this truth, you
see, truth in the inward parts. It's those who are real in their
desires towards God. And this, I say, appears in the
very first place here on the list of the various parts of
the believer's armour. But think also of the place that
this occupies on the body. It's that girdle, or that belt,
in a sense, that is holding everything else together. If a person, you see, would want
to give themselves to some business, they must gird themselves. We
see Elijah doing this. There, at the end of 1 Kings
18, Elijah girded up his loins and ran before Ahab. And now
he ran, but his loins had to be girded, everything had to
be held up together, as it were, by his gird. It holds everything
together. Great work, of course, on the
believer's armour is that Puritan classic by William Gurnall, The
Christian Incomplete Armour. And Gurnall's an interesting
man in many respects. He was a Puritan, but he was
one of those Puritans who conformed to the Church of England. At
the Great Ejection in 1662, when Charles II sought to impose the
Book of Common Prayer. There were those who had had
liberty, of course, during the Commonwealth period under Oliver
Cromwell, and now there was an attempt by the King, by the Crown,
to enforce conformity, and they were to use only the Prayer Book.
and some 2,000 Puritan ministers seceded, well, didn't secede,
they were forced out of the Church of England, but there were a
few of the Puritans who did conform and Gurnall was one of them,
ministering there at Lavenham in Suffolk and he wrote that
great classic the Christian incomplete armor. And he makes this observation
concerning sincerity, the girdle of truth. He said, Saints, graces
are not so close, nor is life so exact, but in the best there
are found infirmities, which are so many gapings in his armor,
but sincerity covers all, sincerity holds all. The girdle, you see,
holds all together. Here are those who are sincere
in their desires towards God. How it is necessary then to bring
all these things together, the girdle of truth, but then also
the girdle is that that will strengthen the stomach, will
it not? It's interesting that weightlifters
often have a leather girdle about them when they're lifting weights,
in order, I suppose, to protect themselves, that they don't suffer
ruptures and the like. They wear a girdle, and the girdle
does bring strength to that part of the body. Job says, in Job
chapter 12 and verse 21, that God weakeneth the strength of
the mighty." God weakeneth the strength of the mighty. Well there, in the margin we
read that the Hebrew literally says, God looseth the girdle
of the strong. Job 12 and verse 21, as I said
on previous occasions, it is often very instructive to Consider the margin readings.
And that is the case certainly there in that twelfth chapter
of Job. God looseth the girdle of the strong. The girdle is
that that gives strength. Again, look at the language of
the Psalmist in Psalm 18 and verse 39. He says, Thou hast
girded me with strength unto the battle. The girdle then,
it also is that that brings strength. And how is that? Because if it's
a girdle of truth, if we, those who are sincere, we're looking
to God as the one who grants us that strength, who enables
us. The truth here then, that is being spoken of, I say again,
it's not to be understood in terms of the body of truth, which
we have here in the Word of God. Thy Word is truth. We have to
think more particularly in terms of that grace of the Holy Spirit,
that work of God in the heart of a man, whereby the man is
an Israelite indeed, he's a guileless man, he's a sincere man. There's
a reality in this man. He's true to God. He's not one
who is half-hearted, he's whole-hearted, he has that singleness of mind.
He comes to God with a godly simplicity. It's sincerity. and how vital it is, friends,
ought to be those whose religion is a real religion. And we can
only have that real religion if it is God himself who has
wrought it in our souls. But let us turn in the second
place to think more particularly about what the girdle is for.
The girding, as it were. What is the significance of this
particular figure? Well, we read that first chapter
of Peter, because I wanted to direct your attention to those
words that we find there in verse 13, where Peter gives this exhortation,
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, he says. Be sober,
and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Remember, the whole language
that we have here, of course, in Ephesians 6 is figurative
language. We are not soldiers in a real
and a literal sense. We're not those who are armed.
It's a spiritual armor that is being spoken of. And so, this
girding is the girding of the mind. Gird up the loins of your
mind, says Peter. Be sober. Well, what is the girding
of the mind? What is it to gird up our minds
if we're going to indulge in this great conflict with Satan,
if we're going to be engaged in this awful warfare against
the great adversary of souls? We need to have our minds, or
the loins of our mind, as it says there in Peter, girded. What is it? Well, we are to think
here in terms of what is really a lost art. And we did touch
on it a little this morning. It is that art of meditation,
the girding up of the loins of the mind. I'm sure you're very
much aware that in Evangelical circles in general today, there
is a great emphasis always upon activism. There must be a constant
doing of things. When you look at a notice board
outside such a church or Maybe you visit a website of an evangelical
church and you see that there are a whole variety of events
happening, things going on all the time. There's a great deal
of doing. And I remember some years ago,
I think it was Mr. Randalls was talking and he referred
to one of his wife's relations. I suppose we're going back 50
or more years and as this particular man walked past an evangelical
church and looked at the notice board he observed that there
seemed to be some event on every single night of the week always
meetings to be attended and he remarked that they were so busy
that they had no time at all to examine themselves, no time
at all really to seek to be in the solitary place with God and
to meditate upon the things of God. Well, if that was the case
50 years ago, how much more is that the case in our day? There's this constant emphasis
upon activity, doing, doing, doing. It's almost like a works
religion. But what does the Bible say concerning
the man who is blessed? Remember how the psalmist in
the very first psalm, this is how the book of Psalms opens
with a description of the blessed man. Now there are in the book
of Psalms of course a variety of texts that are descriptive
of that man who is blessed, that man who is truly happy. the thinking
of the opening words of the book of Psalms and I'm sure you're
familiar with it. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but is delighted in
the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and
night. There's the blessed man his delight is in the law of
the Lord and in his law in God's law he is meditating day and
night this is how he is girding up
his mind you see as he comes to God's word as he reads God's
word as he contemplates God's word and what is it to be meditating
in the word of God well as is often the case, and I do find
this a useful exercise, it's good to look at the word, and
to try to understand something of the etymology of the word.
Now the particular word that is used there, the word is to
meditate, but when we examine it we discover that the literal
meaning is to mutter, or to chatter. To mutter, to chatter. Now wasn't
that the experience of a most godly king? I think of King Hezekiah,
that remarkable king in Judah, who of course was the king at
the time that the Assyrians came and destroyed the northern kingdom
of Israel and the armies then of the Assyrians came south and
many of the walled cities in Judah fell and there they were
now the armies of Sennacherib at the very gates of Jerusalem
and God appeared for that king. You're familiar I'm sure with
the history of King Hezekiah. It's recorded of course in Kings
and Chronicles but also there's a great deal of detail there
in the middle of the prophecy of Isaiah. Strangely, right in
the middle of that prophetic book, we have events, historic
events, concerning godly Hezekiah. And in chapter 38, we find him
there using that word to meditate. What does he say? Isaiah 38,
14, Like a crane or swallow, so did I chatter. I did mourn
as and the word he is using is the
word to meditate I did mourn I did chatter and what is he
speaking of well Isaiah 38 of course is the chapter that contains
his prayer of thanksgiving after he had been sick and he had recovered
from his sickness and he comes before God and he prays that
remarkable prayer in which he is describing something of what
he had experienced something of what he had felt in his soul
and he says concerning that experience by these things men live and
in all these things he says is the life of my spirit. But what
does he say? He knew what it was you see in
the midst of all that was going on about him with the armies
of the Assyrians surrounding Jerusalem and then a great deliverance
only for the Prophet to come and tell him he must set his
house in order, he's going to die, he's not going to live and
yet he turns his face to the wall and as his life extended
by some 15 years and he says concerning himself in the midst
of those things like a crane or swallow so did I chatter,
I did mourn as I died I like the remark that is made by the
reformer Martin Luther, he says as chattering is the employment
of birds so continual conversing on God's law or God's word is
the employment of the god. That's how we meditate, when
we come to the word of God and we chatter as it were with the
word of God. This God coming to us, speaking
to us, revealing Himself to us in His Word. And shouldn't God's
Word move us to respond? Shouldn't we come and chatter
with God, as it were? What does the psalmist go on
to say there in that opening psalm concerning the godly man? In his law does he meditate,
he says, day and night, and he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. Interesting, the language that
is used concerning this man and his meditation is day and night. And does that bring forth the
fruit in his season? Oh, it speaks, you see, of different
seasons. and it speaks of day and night,
it's the various experiences that this man is passing through.
And how in all of these experiences he is constantly attending the
Word of God. This is how he is girding up
the loins of his mind. He's coming to God's Word. In
that sense we can say it is the girdle of truth. Even objective
truth, the truth of God's Word. But all those different seasons,
and all of course under the sovereign hand of God. The psalmist in
Psalm 78 says, the day is thine, the night also is thine, thou
hast May, summer and winter. All of these things you see,
the various seasons, the different vicissitudes of life, all that
we pass through, all of these things are under God's hands. What are we to be doing? We're
to be like that godly man, like that blessed man in the psalm,
meditating in God's law day and night. desiring to be fruitful
in all the various seasons that God has appointed for us. In all of these things there
will be those who are exercised, those who are girding up the
loins of their mind, those who are coming to the word of God
and as they meditate in it, as God comes and addresses them
so they will speak in turn to God. Again, we have the psalmist
in the 143rd Psalm, and verse 5 saying, I meditate on all thy
works, I muse on the work of thy hands. And of course what
we have there is that parallelism that is a peculiarity of Hebrew
poetry. The mark of the Hebrew poets,
really, is the fact that they use these parallel statements.
We see it repeatedly in the book of Psalms. And there then we
have two statements that complement one another. I meditate on all
thy works, I muse on the work of thy hands. And again, It's
interesting because the word muse is not dissimilar it's a
synonym really with the word meditate. If the basic meaning
of the word to meditate is to mutter and to chatter well the
word to muse comes from the word to speak. To speak. And as we speak With God in his
word so are we not at times moved also to speak to ourselves, that's
soliloquy that we referred to this morning, that we see so
strikingly in the 42nd and the 43rd Psalms. Why art thou cast
down O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the health
of my countenance and my God." Oh, this is part and parcel of
that girding up the loins of the mind to come and to address
ourselves, to speak to ourselves, to muse to muse in the Word of
God but where can there be such musing or such meditating when
What is taught as Christianity in so many circles today is to
be given over to a life of activism, always do it. Of course there's
things to be done, there's a work to be accomplished, and God's
work requires haste. We are to be about the King's
business, the Lord Jesus Christ himself was very much aware of
that, as he says in John chapter 9, I must work the works of him
that sent me whilst it is day, the night cometh when no man
can work. But I fear, friends, that today
there is a tremendous overemphasis upon activism, as if that is
the sum and substance of what Christianity is about. But it's
not, as is not a religion of works. The great work of redemption
has been accomplished. Oh yes, we are to be those who
would desire to be fruitful in the ways of the Lord. Christ
himself says, by their fruit ye shall know them. We are to attend to the practical
parts of the Scriptures, the practical parts of the epistles.
We were remarking at Agenda only this afternoon how quite remarkable
the epistles of the Apostle Paul are. People say that Paul is
so doctrinal. That's a truth. Certainly it's
a truism, is it not? There is much great doctrinal
truth in the Pauline epistles. He deals with tremendous doctrines,
profound doctrines, and yet we can lose sight of the fact that
this man is also the most practical of the apostles. In all of his
epistles, when we come to the end, we see his concern to be
exhorting and encouraging these young Christians as to how they
are to conduct themselves, how they are to live their lives,
and that there is that work to be done. But it's not just doing, is it? There must surely be that place
for us to be musing and meditating. coming to the word of God and
studying it in a sense I don't like the term Bible study in
some sense because it suggests that a Bible study is simply
an exercise of the mind just informing the understanding we
want more than that we want We want God's Word to become meat
and drink to our souls. Oh yes, we've got to apply our
mind because that's the way God has made us. He's given us this
ability to reason and think. But as we do gird up the loins
of our mind, we want that we might be those who are receiving
from God some spiritual sustenance that will strengthen our souls. and as we come to God's Word
and as we meditate in God's Word and muse over God's Word as I
said we will not only be those who are moved to address God
Himself as He addresses us He comes to us, He speaks to us
and we will respond by speaking to Him, praying to Him but also
be those who are addressing ourselves Remember, as we looked this morning
at the words in that Psalm, Psalm 77, where the psalmist says much
about remembering, remembering God, remembering the works of
God, remembering the ways of God. Remember, amongst other
things, he says there in verse 6, I call to remembrance My song
in the night I commune with mine own heart and my spirit made
diligent search. Doesn't that involve us in this
girding up the loins of our mind to commune with our own hearts
and to make diligent search or to search ourselves and to desire
that God would search us, and that we might be those who are
true in our religion, with those who are sincere that we do bear
that mark of the true Israel of God, Israelites indeed, in
whom there is no guile. It's only as we're made to feel
what we are and our weakness and to see our complete and utter
dependence upon God that we will be able to stand and to stand
firm and to stand fast. Stand, therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth, or God willing we'll go on to
consider next time what he says about the breastplates of righteousness. The Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. and mark the way to his holy
ground and leave a heart upright.