every child of God in this world
is constantly at war on three fronts, constantly assaulted
by the world, all the care of the world, all the allurements
of the all of those things that entice our carnal appetites,
constantly assaulting us, driving us, if possible, away from Christ,
His worship, His glory, His will, and His purpose. And we're constantly
assaulted by the flesh that dwells in us. The flesh that's in us
by nature, what we are by nature is in complete agreement with
all that is in the world. I pause because I want that to
soak in. All the evil that's in the world, all that is in
us by nature is in complete agreement with it. And we're constantly
assaulted by that inner man, that inner man who yet hates
God and hates Christ and hates righteousness and loves self
and loves iniquity in every way. And we're constantly assaulted
by the devil himself. by Satan who goes about as a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, who with every effort
of his being strives to drive us away from our Savior, to turn
us from looking to Him, trusting Him, adoring Him, rejoicing in
Him and walking with Him. Therefore we are admonished and
admonished with great clarity in the sixth chapter of Ephesians
to take on the whole armor of God. In this sixth chapter of
Ephesians, as Paul brings his epistle to its conclusion, he
ends this book in a rather unusual way, calling us to war, to war
with the world, the flesh, and the devil. The old soldier knew
that the battle would soon be over for him. He knew he would
soon join the ranks of the triumphant. And for himself, that was a delightful
prospect. In anticipation of that time
when his last breath would be taken upon this earth, the apostle
wrote to Timothy and said, the time of my departure is at hand. I'm about to die and I'm happy
I am. I've fought a good fight. I've
finished my course. I've kept the faith. Henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but unto all them also that love his appearance. But
this man, who was such a mighty, influential leader in the army
of heaven, was concerned for those he would leave behind,
you and me, soldiers on the battlefield, into whose hands the battle falls,
generation after generation. Therefore, he calls us to courage. Courage in the midst of battle.
Always beware of the warfare. Don't ever shut your eyes to
it, not for a moment, but never be timid because of it. He identifies
the enemy in verse 12. The rulers of the darkness of
this world, principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness
in high places and the devil himself. And he assures us throughout
his epistles over and over again, though the battle is long and
hard, victory is sure. And then he tells us that we
must be properly prepared for battle. And the only way you
can be properly prepared for battle is to take unto ourselves
the whole armor of God. Let's begin reading at verse
10 and through verse 16. Finally, my brethren, be strong,
be strong, be strong. He's not talking about mustering
strength. He says, be strong in the Lord and in the power
of his might. Be strong, trusting him who has
all might and all power. Put on the whole armor of God
that you 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 taken
to you the whole armor of God for this purpose, that you may
be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness,
and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Here, Paul enumerates
the various pieces of armor God's prepared for us. Those who go
to war under the banner of the cross, under the banner of the
Lord of hosts, dare not do so in any armor except that which
God has forged. Human strength, human might,
human wisdom, Human ability, human devices are nothing for
this battle. They are not suitable for our
warfare. The arm of flesh will fail you. It doesn't matter which arm of
flesh it is. The arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust
your own. Therefore, Paul carefully shows
us what the armor of God is, describing it piece by piece.
And the armor makes up a complete suit, furnishing the believer
with everything he needs to take the field against the world,
the flesh, and the devil. In our text, Paul tells us that
we must take the field, wearing the girdle of truth, Look at
verse 14. Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth. The soldier's girdle, the very
important part of his armor. We would think, describe it as
a wide, heavy belt. It was used to join the upper
parts of armor to those in the lower parts of the body. It was
used to hold the sword. It was also a beautifully crafted
part of his suit. It was an ornament as well as
a weapon. The girdle was designed to give
strength to the rest of the body, to give a man strength to stand
and to carry on the warfare, to give him agility to move about. It wasn't really a weapon at
all, but here it's listed first. above all, not above all the
weapons, but before all the weapons. Because this girdle, this belt,
kept all other things together. The soldier in the field of battle
must have this girdle to give him the support and agility to
conduct his warfare. It braces him up for conflict. It gives him that strength that
Paul admonishes. He says, be strong. And the way
to be strong is to take on you the girdle of truth. Paul's doctrine
is obvious. It is our responsibility to stand
against the wiles of the devil, and the only way to do so is
to have your loins girt about with truth. Let me try to approach
the message in three ways tonight. First, I'll talk about our responsibility,
and then our strength, and then some brief direction, instruction
about putting on this girdle of truth. First, let me show
you that it is our responsibility to stand against Satan's resistance,
temptations resisting him at every point. Specifically, Paul
tells us that we must stand against the wiles of the devil. As I
was preparing the message, I realized that I almost made the mistake
of presuming that you would think of these things as being real
urgent. The fact is you probably don't. We're inclined almost
to be influenced by Hollywood and philosophy and so on. The
devil's not really real and all the things associated with the
devil and witchcraft and sorcery and demonism, those things aren't
real. They couldn't be more real. And
the subtlety of Satan, the wiles, the methods by which Satan would
destroy are so crafty and so subtle, he makes you think they're
not even existent. Satan is real. His influence
is real. His power is real. Unrelenting,
unrelentingly subtle. unrelentingly opposed to us and
altogether beyond our imagination. His wiles, his methods, his strategy
of the sort is crafty, subtle, and always hidden. Always hidden. Always hidden. He never comes. with a pitchfork
in his hand and horns on his head. Never, never, it's always
crafty, subtle, and hidden, seeking to keep us from being prepared
for it. Stand, therefore. In verse 13,
this word stand has the idea of standing triumphant and victorious
when the war is over. but here it speaks of our position
in the field of war. It's a military expression. The
word is a command implying our duty, something required of us. God, the Holy Ghost here by Paul,
says to you and I, whom God has planted on the rock, Christ Jesus,
plant your feet firmly on the rock and stand. Don't be moved
by anything or anybody anytime. Stand. Stand. I want very much
to be the kind of man in every detail of my life that you who
know me know exactly what to expect of me. I want you to be
able to anticipate how I will respond to anything. I want my
wife, my daughter, my family, I want you who are here in this
congregation, everybody who knows me to anticipate accurately exactly
what I'll do in any situation. God, give me grace so to stand
with my feet firmly planted on the immovable rock, Christ Jesus. Let there be no cowardly retreat,
no treacherous yielding to the methods of evil by which Satan
would devour. When a captain sees his men beginning
to shrink in battle, beginning to think that battle is lost,
he will give them orders. Stand men, stand, hold your ground,
don't be moved. That's the sense of Paul's words
here. Children of God, Satan must be stoutly resisted and
never yielded to. For this we have the express
command of Holy Scripture. Listen to the word. Resist the
devil and he'll flee from you. Whom resist steadfast in the
faith, stand against Satan. That takes courage. And that's
what the girdle of truth gives. Courage to stand in the heat
of the battle. Sometimes resisting Satan may
cost dear. The apostle tells us in Hebrews
12, you have not yet resisted unto blood. Some have. Some have. You've not yet resisted unto
blood striving against sin. Paul implies by those words that
such may be the case with many. Those who name the name of Christ
carry his honor into the field with them. And for Christ's sake,
we must resist the adversary. God give us grace to be like
Job. A lot of folks find a lot of
fault with Job, and Job was a man just like you and me, and it's
easy to find fault with such things as we are. But Job was
a remarkable man. When Satan dared to say to God,
Job serves you for what he can get out of you, Job was sorely
tempted in his family, in his health, in his wealth, in his
honor, and then by his pretended friends. But Job stood firm,
resisting Satan's assaults. He said to his accusing friends,
I will hold fast my integrity. I will not be moved from my righteousness. The root of the matter is in
me. Now fault him as you will for
whatever attitude you may perceive in him. Job said, I will hold
my integrity. I will not let go of my righteousness. The root of the matter is in
me. and he worshiped God. And God
gloried over Job before Satan. This is how God spoke of him.
Still he holdeth fast his integrity. Never a man since that day except
the son of man who was so assaulted as Job. And still he holdeth
fast his integrity. It is our safety to stand against
the wiles of the devil, to resist Satan at all times. Our armor
is described here for us as armor for fighting. And yet the armor
described, all of it, is defensive weaponry, except for the sword
of the spirit. That's the only offensive weapon
that's described here. Those who enlist under the banner
of the cross must burn their bridges behind them, refusing
to go back, making no way to go back. Burn your bridges and
thus stand. This standing against Satan is
Might be well expressed as just being perseverance. The just
shall live by his faith, but if any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him. The just stands believing God. The just stands trusting Christ. The just stands trusting the
Redeemer, and that's all. The meaning of that text is just
this. The believer stands to his faith. And standing to his faith, he
comes off with life. But those who recoil, those who
turn back, those who run from their colors, God has no pleasure
in them except the just execution of his wrath upon them. Satan
is such an enemy that the only way to deal with him is resisting
him. He roars like a lion, but he's
a coward at heart. He knows he has but a short time. Believe this. Believe this, I've
written it down and I'm gonna give it to you just like I've
written it down because I want myself to believe what I'm telling
you. Satan trembles at the faith of God's elect. A believing man,
he can do nothing with. A believing woman, he cannot
harm. A believing one is constantly
under Jehovah's care. Satan is an enemy that encroaches
little by little never out front all of a sudden The Apostle says
in Hebrew in Ephesians 4 verses 26 and 27 Let not the Sun go
down upon your wrath neither give place to the devil that
implies that Satan gets the advantage of us little by little and Give
in a little here, give in a little there, you'll give in a little
more and you'll give in a little more. He encroaches little by
little. We must therefore resist him
at all times and in all things. Satan is an accuser. He's the
accuser of the brethren. When he accuses us, the way we
resist him, is by laying hold of Christ, the Lord our righteousness. When he raises Moses up and would
speak condemnation to us, we look to Jesus Christ, our great
high priest, our great savior, our great Joshua, and we trust
his blood, his righteousness, and his grace. Not only must
we stand against Satan resisting his temptations, we must stand
in our place. God appoints the place for his
people. He appoints the place where he
would have you serve him, walk with him, and serve his kingdom.
Stay in your place. It's the soldier's responsibility
to hold his station. Some have been executed for leaving
their station. Though they were successful in
their efforts, MacArthur was a very famous military leader
and one with whom most experts that I've read after say his
judgments were better than those of his commander. But he was
relieved of his duty because he refused to obey his commander. Let everyone wherein he is called
therein abide with God. 724. And what he's saying, he said,
Merrill, if you're born a free man, serve God as a free man. If you're born in slavery, serve
God as a slave. If you're born rich, serve God
with your riches. If you're born in poverty, serve
God in your poverty. Don't strive to leave your place,
but serve God where God puts you with the gifts God gives
you, where he places you in his providence by his grace. We can
do nothing acceptable to God except in the place of our calling. Uzzah, I have no question, had
the best of intentions. It was his purpose to keep the
Ark of God from falling into the ditch. But that wasn't something
God required of him. He was not a priest. He wasn't
to touch it. If a man leaves his post without
God's bidding, he leaves the promise of God's protection.
The wise man Solomon writes, a bird that wandereth from her
nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place. The fact is you and I are not
charged for not doing what God's appointed for somebody else.
We're not charged to do what somebody else is to do, and we're
not charged with not doing what God's appointed for someone else.
Every man must give account of his own stewardship. You see,
God has a place for every man, every woman, and every child
in his kingdom, a place to serve him. I have said this before, I say
it again now, It'll bear repetition. I have known since the first
day I came to Danville, this is the place God has for me to
serve Him. No other place is a place for me to serve Him.
No other place. No other place. This is the place
God's put me. But no man has the leave to choose
his own place. Sadly, preachers, particularly,
like to climb the ladder. Place of more prominence, more
money, more people, climb the ladder. That's not for me to
choose or for any man to choose. I have often had preachers, fellows
who thought they were preachers, wanted to be preachers, come
to me, wanted to preach. Well, would you be interested
to go here? Well, I couldn't go there. No, I couldn't go there. Well,
go back slopping hogs, do something useful. God's servants can't
choose their place. Korah died under the wrath of
God because he desired Moses' place. Saul's sacrifice was an
abomination to God because he took the place of God's priest.
Peter, after the Lord had restored him, we're slow to learn, aren't
we? The Lord had just restored Peter
from his horrible fall, and Peter looked over at John, and he said,
he said, Lord, what's this man gonna do? And the Lord said,
Peter, that's none of your business. That's none of your business.
That's not your responsibility. It's not yours to even know,
let alone determine the place of another. God requires no more
of us than faithfulness in the place where he put us. Faithfulness
in the place where he put us. God moves men and women from
one place to another to do various things, but where God puts you,
where God puts you, serve God in that place, whether it's low
or high. Let us therefore stand against
Satan, resisting his temptations, standing faithfully at our post,
faithfully in the work God's given us, having your loins girt
about with truth. Here's the second thing. Our
only strength against Satan is the truth of God. Our only strength against the
wiles of the devil, against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness
in high places is the truth of God. I take that to be accurately
understood in three ways. First, obviously, Paul is talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ who is truth. Christ is truth, and
we must have him and trust him as the way, the truth, and the
life, without whom we cannot come to God. The law came by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. All truth is
in Christ and comes from Christ. Larry, why is that so hard for
us to get hold of? It's all in Him. It all comes from Him. It
doesn't come from history books, or science books, or philosophy
books. All truth is in Christ and comes
from Christ. Those things Revealed in all
the Law and Prophets as Brother Larry just spoke of as you read
in Isaiah 4, the shadows and tithes. Those were just figures
of the true. Christ is truth. All those things
were just figures of the truth. We get wrapped up in and get
so easily turned aside to frivolity. I had a letter from a good friend
of mine a couple of weeks ago. He will hear this message, I'm
sure. And he was asking me about, he hears a lot of folks using
the word Yeshua. with regard to God. That's the
only word to use. And even some folks who believe
the gospel of God's grace, that's the word to use all the time.
I guess it sounds impressive to some people. But all that
is, is inroads into the Church of God by a cultic group that
doesn't know God from a billy goat. But we get turned aside
with stuff. We get impressed with this and
we start chasing rabbit trails. Don't do it. Don't do it. Truth
is simple. It's plain. It's clear. Christ
is truth. Christ is truth. Anything that
doesn't come from him and give glory to him and direct your
heart to trust him is not truth. Christ is truth. He is the true
bread, the true manna from heaven. He is the brazen serpent to whom
we must look. He is the rock of Israel, the
foundation that supplies all our needs. He's the true ladder
that brings God to us and brings us to God. He's the true ram
sacrifice for us, the true Passover lamb, the true high priest over
the house of God who makes us accepted with God. Christ Jesus
taught the truth while he was upon this earth. He taught the
truth about man, about God, about redemption, about salvation,
about grace. In John chapter six, our Lord
had just fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes. And man, they
followed him around. They were wanting some more fish.
They were wanting another welfare meal. They wanted somebody to
take care of them. And the Lord, Rather than giving
them what they came for, taught them about election, and redemption,
and grace, and salvation by God's purpose, and God's decree, and
God's work, and the multitudes turned and walked no more with
Him. They left Him altogether. Our
Lord Jesus declared plainly the necessity of spiritual worship. He said, God is spirit. They
that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. And
he taught the certainty of the resurrection, of judgment, and
of eternity. In his life, in his death, in
his resurrection, we have the full, final, complete revelation
of God's truth. The glory of God is revealed
in the face of Jesus Christ, nowhere else. It is revealed
by the gospel, the word of God. He is that one who is the express
image of God and he is the word by whom God makes himself known
to men. This one who is the brightness
of the Father's glory. And he is known by this book
of truth. This book of truth. All scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. For reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, all proper doctrine, all proper
reproof, all proper instruction in righteousness comes right
out of this book. And I'm going to tell you a little
secret. This is hard for some folks to get hold of. It ain't
hidden. This is not called the hiding
of God, but the word of God. It's not the covering up of God,
but the unveiling of God. It is not the secret of God,
but the revelation of God. God making his secret known. And the only way you can know
God's truth is by this word. The only way. Let us then not
be inclined any confession, or any creed, or any philosophy,
or any system, but rather the Word of God and that alone. It seems to me that by truth
the Apostle here is speaking particularly of the doctrine
of Christ revealed in Scripture, the doctrine of substitution.
Turn back a few pages to chapter 1, chapter 1 verse 13. whom ye also trusted, after that
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation."
The gospel is the declaration of God of redemption accomplished
by the doing and dying of Jesus Christ our crucified Savior.
That's the reason the Apostle says, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The doctrine
of God is that by which we must gird our loins to find strength
for the warfare. We must have our hearts and minds
strengthened with the girdle of truth, the word of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. And truth, this girdle of truth
has something to do with experience. It's not just facts. It's not just believing certain
things, but it is having a God-given knowledge and assurance of truth,
so that we walk before God with the truth and sincerity of a
true heart. Man may go to war being well-trained
and having the best of arms, but he goes to war with great
fear and trembling. And he has no strength for the
battle except he have confidence. And that which gives the believer
confidence is this God-given faith in Jesus Christ our Redeemer
that comes to us by the Word of Truth, revealing Christ in
us. The girdle of truth. The girdle
of truth. If you've ever watched these
Ironman competitions or weightlifting competitions, those fellows put
that wide belt on them and tie it snug around them. to hold
them snug that they can lift the weight with firmness. This is what truth does for God's
people. It gives us the strength to stand. It gives us the strength to stand. Behold, thou desirest truth in
here, in the inward parts. Fear the Lord and serve him in
sincerity and truth. Let us draw near with a true
heart to our God. We who serve the Lord are to
serve him with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Sincerity is nothing in itself. We must have godless sincerity,
a God-given devotion to God, his will, and his glory. a God-given devotion to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let no one imagine that he's
prepared to withstand the assaults of the powers of darkness if
his mind is stored with theories and speculations that he's learned
from others. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2,
he's like, I come not to you. I came not to you with the excellency
of man's speech. He said, I didn't come to you
with logic and laws of rhetoric and expressing great eloquence
and power persuasion. He said, I came to you with simplicity
for a good reason, so that your faith might stand not in the
words of men, but in the power of God. If I can talk you into
believing something, somebody else can talk you out of it.
If I can persuade you something so, somebody else can persuade
you it's not so. But if God persuades you by His
Word, you can't be unpersuaded. If God persuades you by His Word,
folks, you need not talk to Sam Wall. He's stubborn as a brick
wall with this thing. He won't listen to anything.
Good. Good, I'm often accused of being
just that way. You won't listen to reason, not
yours, no. But you don't even want to investigate
this. I'm not going to, I'm just not
going to. Well, how do you know you've
got the truth? Because I've got it. You tell me what I need. I need
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I need His blood, His righteousness,
and His grace. And I frankly am not interested
in anything else, no matter who offers it. I would advise you
to be of the same mind. Nothing but the truth of God
clearly understood and cordially, warmly, heartily, willfully embraced
will enable us to keep our feet for a moment. Now, one more thing. The words, having your loins
gird about with truth, might better be translated, gird yourselves
with truth. You see, God the Holy Ghost is
here telling us something we must do. I know, I'm fully aware,
I think you know I'm fully aware. We can do so only as God the
Holy Ghost himself gives us grace and faith to do so. And yet he
commands us to gird our loins about with truth. So let me give
you some direction for putting on the girdle of truth. Christ
is the truth of God we must put on. Receive him as God's truth. Trust him and any doctrine, any
fable, any vain question, any religious curiosity that turns
you even for a moment from looking to Christ Trust in Christ, follow
in Christ, run from it like you would a coiled up rattlesnake.
Don't get near it. Don't get near it. Anything that
turns you from Christ is not of God. Anything that turns you
from His will, His glory, His calls is not of God. The Word
of God is the truth by which our hearts must be established.
So search the scriptures like the Bereans daily to determine
those things that are true. Study to show yourself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing,
that is, rightly understanding the word of truth. Live, my brother, live, my sister,
upon the truth you profess with sincerity, with an honest heart. Worship God and serve God from
your inmost being in sincerity and truth. And having done all,
stand. Stand. Stand fast, having your
loins braced and held firm with the girdle of truth. For Christ's
sake, amen. Lindsey, come listen to him please.