HOFC Sermon Archive: Full Armor of God Part 4 – Belt of Truth Rev. Bruce A. Shields

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Full Armor of God

Part 4 – Belt of Truth

Rev. Bruce A. Shields

This document is a Sermon Outline. You may hear the full audio of the sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this and other Full Sermon Audios. For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth Digest on Facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on Facebook at House of Faith Church. #worship #godheals #newtestament #jesuslovesyou #churchfamily #godsword #loveoneanother #holy #godislove #church #jesus #god #bible #christian #love #faith #worship #jesuschrist #gospel #prayer #christ #christianity #pray #holyspirit #godisgood #hope #blessed #armorofgod

SERMON TIMELINE

1. Introduction

2. Strength of the Lord

3. Put on the Armor

4. Belt of Truth

INTRODUCTION

Today is Sunday. October 29^th, 2023

We began our look into what it means to be a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, and how God enables and equips us to serve Him. By learning the difference between the Luke 5 and Matthew 28 disciple, we see that the Lord calls us to service and gives us a portion of His Holy Spirit to empower us.

With salvation comes the indwelling of God’s very own Spirit, and with the Spirit, we receive the Fruits of the Spirit, which is the character of God Himself shown through us and produced in our lives, as long as we do not quench the work of the Holy Spirit.

The second thing we are endowed with is the Full Armor of God to withstand and win the spiritual battles in this realm. This is the focus of our latest series, after which we will look at the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are specialized and unique abilities given to the members of the Body of Christ to edify, strengthen, and build the church.

We’ve examined Ephesians 6, looked at the instruction to live in the strength of the Lord, and put on the Full Armor of God, and now we will break down each piece and discover its meaning.

SCRIPTURE READING (Legacy Standard Bible)

The previous chapter of Ephesians encourages us in 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”

Ephesians 5:1 to Ephesians 6:10 tells us how to be imitators of God. The scriptures then tell us about what the Lord has done to prepare us for spiritual battle by giving us the Full Armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10-18

10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength.

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth,

and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

16 In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one,

17 also receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

18 praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit,

and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints

Today’s Topic: the Full Armor of God – Put on the Belt of Truth

TODAY’S MESSAGE

I. WHAT TYPE OF ARMOR IS PAUL REFERRING TO?

a. Who was the greatest military force at the time?

i. The Roman Army was one of the most successful in the history of the world, and its soldiers were rightly feared.

ii. Two thousand years ago, Rome ruled the world.

iii. From England to Africa and from Syria to Spain, one in every four people on earth lived and died under Roman law.

iv. Latin and Greek were the dominant languages of the Roman Empire.

v. Like American English today, most around the world at the time knew how to speak some Greek.

vi. This is why the New Testament was written in Greek as opposed to the native tongue of the authors, Hebrew.

vii. If you want the world to know about Christ Jesus, then you write in a language most could read.

b. Were the readers of Ephesians familiar with Roman Armor?

i. Of course. At the time, everyone in the world was

ii. Which makes it perfect for illustrating the power of God and the Holy Spirit for the real fight, Spiritual

c. The Roman Cingulum

i. Today, we will focus on the piece of Roman armor known as the cingulum.

ii. The cingulum is a belt around the waist.

iii. Girding your loins meant fastening a belt around your waist to attach your armor if you were Roman, and in other cultures, such as the Hebrew soldiers, it referred to the belt being used to pull your garments through to prepare yourself for battle.

iv. Either way, the cingulum is the most essential part of your armor.

II. WHAT EXACTLY IS THE BELT FOR?

a. Girding

i. If you were a Roman soldier, nearly all your armor and weapons were fastened to your cingulum or belt.

ii. The same is true for Hebrew soldiers as well.

iii. Your sword, dagger, cloak, and breastplate (usually with pauldrons and a bevor or gorget) were all attached to the cingulum/belt.

iv. Without a belt, there was no sheath for your sword or dagger and nothing to fasten your breastplate to… they relied upon your cingulum.

b. Holding all parts together or used by itself

i. The cingulum was so important they wore it even without their armor on.

ii. Always wearing a sword.

iii. What about the Hebrews?

1. Remember when Jesus scolded Peter for being the aggressor and drawing his sword in the garden to attack the servant, cutting off his ear?

2. Yes, the disciples wore swords for protection and defense.

iv. However, Jesus made it clear in scripture that we are not to be the aggressors

v. Though God allows us to protect ourselves, our families, the innocent, women and children, and our land, we must never be the ones bringing violence where there is peace.

vi. In fact, Ephesians 6 tells us that the feet of the Christian soldier are covered with “preparation of the Gospel of Peace.”

1. In other words, we bring peace and the gospel of Christ Jesus with us wherever we roam.

c. Made of leather for strength

i. The cingulum was made of strong leather because much was being asked of it.

ii. If you were to take a leather belt in your hands and try to rip or break it, you could not.

1. Not the pleather or cheaply made modern belts which say 100% leather, but in reality are two less than paper thin strips glued to something to resemble a leather strap.

iii. I worked with leather for years in my leather shop, and I will tell you, I could not tear a 3 oz leather strap, let alone a 10-12 oz used for belts.

III. GIRDING YOURSELF WITH TRUTH

a. Listed first among the Full Armor of God

i. The first part because it is the most important

ii. Truth is of the utmost importance.

iii. God’s word is Truth.

1. John 17:17-19 Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. “As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. “For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

2. John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” – Jesus is the Word

3. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”

iv. The word of God is truth. Jesus is the word. Jesus says I am the truth.

v. The Belt of truth is the truth of scripture and the truth of Jesus, which binds everything together, and where we get the Ephesians 6:10-11!

1. “be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

b. Holding all other parts together

i. Just as the cingulum is leather, rugged, unbreakable, and strong enough to hold the other pieces of armor in place and hang your weapons from, so is the truth of Jesus and the word of God.

ii. What does this mean in a practical sense to us?

1. The wearing and usage of the Full armor of God in Ephesians 6 is based upon the truth of God’s Holy Word.

2. The Greek word used for truth is alētheia (Strongs225), and can be defined as:

a. Unveiled reality

b. Evidence in relation to facts

c. Purity from error or falsehood

d. With sincerity of heart, not merely with external rites

3. If we do not act in sincerity of heart, we are lying and behaving in a hypocritical way.

Ephesians 1:13 “In Him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”

Ephesians 4:14-15 “so that we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ,”

Ephesians 5:6-9 “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of that light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),”

c. The belt was worn at all times.

i. Knowing what we do now about the cingulum and its function, we can see why Paul refers to it as the Belt of Truth because Truth is where we draw our strength and from which the other parts of the armor are fastened.

1. Without the belt of truth, we have no strength.

2. Without the belt of truth, there is nothing to fasten our breastplate of righteousness to

3. Without the belt of truth, there is nowhere to hang the Sword of the Spirit.

ii. All we have, hold, give, and do in speech and deed, MUST be done wearing the Belt of Truth!

CONCLUSION

Understanding Ephesians 6, and the modern equivalent, will help us understand the purpose of the Full Armor of God, and why it is essential if we are to serve Christ effectively. We are at war spiritually, and thus, need to be armed and protected spiritually as well.

Knowing the first and most crucial piece to the Full Armor of God is the Belt of Truth, all things are held together with it, and even in our leisure, we must wear it, keeping the Sword of the Spirit by our side at all times.

1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

3 John 1:4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

Truth is something we walk in. Our actions and truth show others love, and when we base all things upon the Truth of God’s word, all things are strengthened and righteous.

Next week:

The Full Armor of God Part 5: THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS