That hymn has some very good
words in it, especially those that Bill changed. But when we
sing about the blood and righteousness of Christ, we can't go wrong. Isn't that right? We can't go
wrong singing about his precious blood and his righteousness that
is imputed unto all who believe. Let's turn tonight, if you will,
into Ephesians chapter six again. beginning in verse 10 through
verse 18. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of his might. 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 take unto you the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to withstand 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 you shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying
always with all prayer and supplications in the spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. We are continuing
tonight to look at this final section in Paul's letter of Ephesians. Part of what we considered last
week was the number of times that we have the word stand,
and then we have the word withstand. In verse 11, he said that you
may be able to stand. Then verse 13, that you may be
able to withstand and having done all to stand. And then once
again in verse 14, stand therefore. I listened this past week to
an interview with a Christian pastor who was imprisoned in
another country for almost two years for preaching the gospel. And the man who did the interviewing
asked him this question, how is it that we as believers in
this country may prepare for persecution if it should come? And he named these three things. First of all, he said we should
begin now. before the persecution begins,
we should begin now to talk about the possibility. And I thought
of this passage in John chapter 16 and verse 33, when the Lord
Jesus told his apostles, these things have I spoken unto you,
that in me you might have peace in the world, you shall have
tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world." So this man thought, number one, that
we should begin to talk about the possibility that we may suffer
persecution in this country for the gospel's sake. Number two,
he said we should determine now that we will not deny the truth,
that we will not compromise the truth. We should determine now.
And I see that in this word here in verse 13, when Paul said,
having done all to stand. And then his third suggestion
was that we should cultivate more love for Christ, that every
one of us, we should cultivate more love for Christ. Now, I
know that sometimes people accuse anyone who would say that of
mysticism, but I believe that what he said is certainly true,
that we should love Christ. We love the doctrines. We love
the truth. And the truth reveals Christ
to us. I understand that. But we should
love him. And I thought about when Peter
was commissioned again to preach the gospel after he had denied
the Lord three times, you remember. The Lord asked him three times,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? So I thought those were good
answers myself that he gave. Begin now to talk about the possibility
of persecution. It may well come. Determine now
not to deny the truth, whatever it costs. Stand, having done
all, to stand. And number three, to love Christ
more each day. To love Him, the person Jesus
Christ, our Lord. How are we to stand? We see that
the apostle tells us several times to stand, but how are we
as God's children, as believers, to stand? Well, we are to stand
fully armed, fully armed. Take unto you the whole armor
of God. One of the writers that I read,
I forget which one, He mentioned that this last word, stand, means
like an army that is standing in their position. You've got
the companies, you've got the the different orders of soldiers. If they're just all in a mix
and some of them are out of place and many of them are not under
the command of the man that they should be under, then you've
got an army in disarray and it's a weak army. And so we should
stand in the place where God has put us. And God has put each
and every one of us tonight who are saved. He has placed us in
the body of Christ. And He has placed us in the body.
We're not all ears. We're not all mouths. We're not
all feet. We're all members of His body. And He has placed us in the body
where we should be. And we should stand in that position. We should be in the place and
not trying to be in some other place, some other position, where
He has not placed us. Tonight, I want us to look at
the first thing that is listed here. The Apostle lists first,
and that is, we are to have our loins girt about with truth. Notice that, if you will, in
verse 14. Stand therefore, having your
loins Gird about with truth. Number one, what is meant by
our loins? What does that mean, our loins?
Well, physically, physically, the term loins is that part of
our bodies from the bottom of the rib cage to the hips. And
it is considered by men as that part of the body which is the
source of the man's strength. His strength, his power is there
in his loins. And when I read this, I think
of those weightlifters. You've seen those men that lift
those weights, you know, hundreds of pounds, and most all of them
have a belt around their They're midsection, don't they? Well,
that's kind of a type, not a very good type. I understand that,
as we will see. But that's what I always think
about, having your loins girt about with the truth. But we know that the apostle
is using these physical truths as pictures of the spiritual
truths. Because in verse 12 he had said,
we're not wrestling, we're not engaged in warfare against flesh
and blood, but our enemies are spiritual. And we saw last time,
I believe it was, that this refers to that kingdom of darkness.
All of these terms that are used here, that kingdom of darkness
in which all of us resided at one time. All of us was in the
kingdom of darkness until by the grace of God, God translated
us. I like that word, don't you?
He translated us. He picked us up. There we were
in the kingdom of darkness under the power, the authority of Satan. Our eyes were blinded. We could
not see the truth. And the Lord translated us into
the kingdom of his dear son, into the kingdom of Christ. So
these weapons are spiritual weapons. He uses physical things. That's true. Many believe that
Paul was maybe chained to a Roman soldier and could see the Roman
soldier as he was dressed in each of these pieces that he
spiritualizes, I should say. Well, look with me over just
a few pages to 2 Peter. The loins, he said, we ought
to have our loins girt about with the truth. In 2 Peter chapter
one, And verse 13, the apostle Peter writing to believers, wherefore,
gird up the loins of your mind. The loins of your mind. These are spiritual things. That's the point I wanted to
make. We ought to have our loins girt about with the truth. Now, men, when Paul wrote this
letter, Peter wrote his letter. Men wore robes. They wore robes. And they were fine. They were
fine when a man was relatively at ease. A robe was fine. But when it came time to travel,
when it came time to run, when it came time to work, and especially
when it came time to go to battle, He needed to gird up that flowing
robe around him. His long robes then would be
a hindrance to a soldier in battle. They used what we would call
a girdle, a girdle. A simple explanation and definition
of what a girdle is used for, it is used for service. That's what a girdle would mean. It was something that was located,
put on the body for service. A man who was not in service,
whatever kind of service it might be, would not need the girdle. His robe, his long flowing robe
would be fine. You know, in the dress, many
of you have studied and heard others teach and preach on the
high priest dress, the high priest dress that God gave the instructions
to Moses concerning Aaron, the high priest. And you know, one
of the things that he would put on first was a girdle, the girdle. And why was it? Because he was
to serve. The girdle was for serving. I know the dress was beautiful,
but it wasn't all for show. It wasn't all for show, was it?
The girdle especially served for service. Look with me in
John chapter 13 just a moment. In John chapter 13. And with verse one, now before
the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was
come, that he should depart out of this world unto the father,
having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end and supper being ended. The devil having now put into
the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son to betray him. Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and
that he was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper,
laid aside his garment, and took a towel, and girded himself."
Now, why did he gird himself? because he was going to perform
that service that he performed in washing the feet of his disciples. So a good explanation or definition
of what the girdle was, it was necessary, it was very needful
for service. It was prophesied of Christ that
he would be girded. Turn back with me to Isaiah chapter
11. It was prophesied of him that
he would be girded, but not with the type of girdle that the Apostle
Paul is speaking of. Here in chapter 11 of Isaiah,
in verse 5, we read, And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. He was girded, think
about this, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was girded with righteous,
his loins were girded with righteousness. What does that mean? It means,
first of all, he loved righteousness. He loved righteousness. Number
two, he did righteousness. He did righteousness. He did
nothing but righteousness. And number three, it means he
worked out an everlasting righteousness, which is imputed unto all who
believe. And then not only was his loins
girded with righteousness, but notice faithfulness. Faithfulness
was the girdle of his reins. The reins would mean his heart,
wouldn't it? His heart. the mind and the will
and his affections was girded with faithfulness. He was faithful
to him who called him, faithful to his father, faithful to perform
every work that the father gave him to do. So Christians, you
and I are engaged in a spiritual warfare and a girdle is necessary. It's absolutely necessary And
it is a very, very important part of our armor. For a Roman soldier, the girdle. Now, this is the reason I said
a few minutes ago, I think of that weightlifter's belt. But usually those are made of
leather, I believe. But this girdle that the Roman
soldier would put on was not of leather, but rather of steel
or iron. and it was girded about him,
and the main purpose of the girdle was to hold every other piece
of armament in place. It was to hold every other piece
of his armor in place. That was the purpose of the girdle. You see why it was so important. to keep the shield of, not the
shield of faith, but rather the breastplate of righteousness
and these other things that girdle held everything into place. So we must gird our minds with
truth, with truth. There it is. Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth. What is meant by the truth? Believers,
we say, we're to be girt, rather, about with the truth. When our
Savior, when the Lord Jesus Christ stood before Pilate, he spoke
these words. Pilate asked him if he was a
king. And our Lord said, to this end was I born, and for this
cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
hears my voice." Can you imagine Pilate, this Roman judge, and
he asked the prisoner, after the prisoner who stood before
him, the Lord Jesus Christ, said, I am come for this purpose, to
bear witness to the truth. Pilate said, what is the truth?
What is the truth? I'm sure he was a very educated
man for the standards of that day. But you know, you can go
through all the universities, even until today, and never hear
or learn the truth. What is the truth? He had been
involved in politics, intrigue that went along with that, being
an authority under Caesar. What is the truth? I'm sure he
had seen a lot of shenanigans and everything else that had
taken place by men, politicians, leaders. What is the truth? But you know, according to the
word of God, he didn't wait for an answer, did he? What is the
truth? The Lord Jesus Christ the night
before had answered his question. when he was praying in his high
priestly prayer in John chapter 17. He had answered that question. What is truth? Sanctify them
with thy word. Thy word is truth. All the written word of God.
Now it may contain some lies. Some of those friends of Job,
Their counsel, he said, you're foolish and not worthy to be
speaking wisdom. Some of the things that are recorded
here, men, lost men, may have said some things. They're recorded,
but what they said, the recording is true. What they said may have
been a lie. But this word, the written word
of God is the truth. Every part of it is the truth. It's a true witness, true testimony
to what has been said by men, even though some of those men
may have made some statements which were not true in themselves. But the recording of what they
said is true. So we've got the written word
of God. Our loins are to be girded about
with the truth First of all, the written Word of God, but
we know that the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the living Word. He's the
living Word, isn't He? In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word,
the living Word, became flesh and dwelt among us. He's the
living Word, and yes, He is the truth. He said, I am the way,
The truth. I am the life. He is all three,
the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes unto the Father
but by Him. Well, I believe that our answer,
when we see that we are to have our loins girt about with the
truth, our minds girt about with the truth, I believe that our
answer from this verse may be more specific in just saying
the Word of God. That's certainly true. We need
to be in the Word. We need to hear the Word of God.
We need to read the Word of God. It wouldn't hurt to memorize
the word of God, to have our minds girt about with the truth,
yes. But to be more specific, I have
these two thoughts. First of all, in this letter
of Ephesians, has Paul mentioned the truth before? He tells us
here, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth,
But has he mentioned the truth before in this letter? And if
he has, surely that's what he means. Well, yes, he has. Look back to chapter 1. Chapter 1 and verse 13. In whom you also trusted after
that you heard the word of truth, the gospel. of your salvation. Our minds must be girt about
with the truth, the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. John Gill made this comment here,
and I quote, he said, that imminent one, that imminent truth, that
imminent one. This is what our minds must be
girded about with this truth, that imminent one. Here it is. Salvation alone by Christ for
the chief of sinners. Salvation alone by Christ. for
the chief of sinners. We must be girded with this truth,
that Jesus Christ is the son of God who came into this world
to do for his people what we could not do for ourselves, and
that he finished that work, to do for us what the law could
not do. The law pronounced us cursed,
but the law could not redeem us. The law could not justify
us. Christ came. This is that imminent
truth, that salvation alone by Christ for the chief of sinners. He offered himself as that atonement
for the sins of his people. By the sacrifice of himself,
this is what the writer of Hebrews tells us, by the sacrifice of
himself, he hath put away the sins of his people. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
come into this world to make salvation merely possible. That's
what most so-called Christian preachers are teaching today.
He came, He did something, He made it possible. Now, if you'll
do your part, if you'll make sure whatever it is, and with
His work, then you'll be saved. But no, He did not come into
this world merely to make salvation possible. He came here to save
His people. He did, and he has accomplished
that work. When Satan tempts you, and he
does, or the flesh, whatever, but you're tempted to think maybe
you've had some thought and it's not a good thought, it's an evil
thought, and the temptation is, how could you be a Christian?
How could you be saved and have a thought like that? Well, you're
not saved. How could you be a Christian
and do what you just did, say what you just said? Having your
minds, your loins girt about with the truth, Christ alone
saves sinners. And we don't argue when those
temptations come. We don't deny the fact, yes,
I've sinned. Yes, I don't deserve to be saved. But I'm not trusting in myself. I'm not trusting in my works.
I'm not trusting in my goodness. My hope, as the hymn writer said,
is built on Jesus Christ and him alone. He came into this
world to save sinners, and he has accomplished that feat. We must have our minds girt about
firmly with this truth. Christ is all my salvation. I am accepted in the Beloved,
and that's the only reason I'm accepted with God, because I'm
in Christ. Not for works of righteousness,
which I have done, but according to his mercy, he saves us. And I would say this also, that
is no doubt, as John Gill said, that imminent truth, salvation
alone by Christ for the chief of sinners. But we should also
be girded with the truth of God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty. Because we lose sight of that
truth, of that fact, and then our experience is that we get
upset and we get disturbed. and anxious about things that
are going on around us, forgetting what we believe and what we know
the Word of God teaches that God's in control, that there's
not a sparrow that falls to the ground without His permission,
that everything is under His control and everything is being
accomplished according to His purpose. We should gird ourselves,
our minds with this truth, the sovereignty of God. And we should
also be girded with the truth of God's promise to never leave
us, never leave us or forsake us. That's his promise. Lo, I'm with you always, even
unto the end of the age. And we should also be girded
with the truth of his second coming. Look with me in Titus
just a moment. We should be girded about with
this truth, The Lord's coming again. And we get all comfortable
and all attached to this world, but my friends, we're just passing
through. That's it. Here in Titus chapter
two, beginning in verse 11, the apostle said, for the grace of
God that bring us salvation hath appeared to all men, Jews and
Gentiles, all men. teaching us that denying ungodliness
and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world, looking, looking, are we looking? Are we? Looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works." We should have our minds girded
with this truth. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again. It could be today. It could be
tonight. It could be tomorrow. We do not
know and we won't know until he comes, when we hear the shout,
when we hear the voice of the archangel, then we'll know he's
coming. Don't look for signs, you know.
That's what these preachers that preach all the time on They're always talking about
these signs, the earthquakes and the famines and upheavals. Well, the Lord said those things
are going to continue all through this dispensation. Don't look
for the signs. Look for Him. Look for Christ. He's the one we should be looking
for. And then a second thing about
this truth, I believe, sincerity. That also must be included by
the truth with which we are to be girded. We are to be sincere. The very opposite of sincerity
is hypocrisy, and Christians must be sincere. As the Apostle
said, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether
we die, we die unto the Lord, whether therefore we live or
die. We are the Lord's, sincere, sincere
in loving Christ, trusting Christ, living for Christ, sincere. I
pray the Lord would bless this word and God help you and I,
help me, for my mind to be girded about with the truth. Okay, let's
sing a hymn before we're dismissed.