Prayer and Spiritual Warfare – 5
Subject – A Belt of Truth
By Rick Welborne
Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
--Please understand that whenever the Word speaks of the belt of truth or about truth in general, it is talking about Jesus Christ…listen to the Old Testament:
Isaiah 11:1-5 (NIV)
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness (or truth) the sash around his waist.
John 14:6 (NLT)
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
1. We must begin with the premise that Jesus and Holy Spirit are our foundation for the belt of truth.
--I love what Isaiah prophesizes about Jesus… the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
--The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him which is the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of truth.
John 15:26 (NKJV)
26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
--He is armed with the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. No wonder Jesus could say I am the way, the truth, and the life.
--The belt had two purposes -- to hold their weapons and to show others what rank they carry in the Roman Army. And this is exactly what truth does! Truth says that when attacks come, the truth will set us free.
John 8:31-32 (NKJV)
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
--Truth says that when everything else is lost, the truth of what Jesus did on the cross and therefore what awaits us when we die is nothing scary or negative, but a beautiful eternity with our Savior.
John 16:13 (NKJV)
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
--Truth also tells the world our rank in the Army of God -- we are all sons and daughters of God!
John 1:12-14 (NKJV)
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
2. The belt of truth is what holds everything together.
--The belt of truth in the Roman armor would hold his tunic tight so he might be free with his movements.
--Many feel that they are free when they get away from God and far from the church but nothing could be more messed up than that…what they eventually find is the opposite of truth (bondage) and deception. David/Nathan:
Psalm 51:4-6 (NKJV)
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
--The belt of truth also provided a place for the soldier to hang his sword…the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God…if you will walk in truth, you will walk in the Word of God.
--Example of a lady who came to me telling me that even though the Word of God said she was walking in sin, she told me God had spoken something different to her…I told her she was not walking in truth.
Matthew 12:36-37 (NKJV)
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
--The imagery here is that truth holds together all other virtues, making them effective. Putting on God’s truth means living out his Word, being honest and sincere in our faith. It refers to Christian character and integrity.
--The belt of truth is the first of the defensive weapons listed. The mention of this defensive weapon, I believe reveals two ways that Satan may try to attack us.
--First, I think that Satan may try to attack us with false beliefs or untruth. This makes sense as an attack because if we’re on the offensive and we’re building God’s Kingdom then Satan loses.
--But anything that is not for God is against God. So if Satan can get people to fight really hard for what they think is God’s Kingdom or what they perceive as truth but really is not, then he wins.
--You could use Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons as examples.
--The belt of truth can help us hold things together when we are confronted with erroneous teachings or untruths. To the Roman soldier the belt was to keep his robe tied out of the way during battle.
--Paul says we are to run the race…when the soldier needed to run the bottom of the robe was brought up and tucked into the belt to keep him from tripping.
--Most important was the armor hooked to the belt…without the belt the rest of the armor would fall off. Again, it represents Jesus and without Him we would fall.
Jude 1:24-25 (NIV)
24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--
25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
3. The belt is really used for one purpose and that is to keep your pants up.
--And I would propose that’s what the truth does in spiritual warfare. When you don’t wear a belt, your pants may fall down and you’re “exposed” to the world in what is a pretty embarrassing situation.
--And the fact is, that if you allow anything less than truth to reign in your spiritual warfare, you will eventually be exposed and at great cost to God’s kingdom, embarrassed and ashamed.
--However, if you always have the truth by your side, no matter how much Satan wants to embarrass you, he can’t, because you have truth protecting you.
--Paul, as he sat in jail, saw the belt around the soldier’s waist. The soldier’s sword hung from the belt, providing him quick access to his weapon. Even in the dark, he knew just where to reach for his weapon.
--Paul tells us, Fasten the belt of truth around your waist. Other people may guess and grope, but Christians live confidently, because we know the truth…Jesus is the truth (the foundation) on whom we stand.
Psalm 86:11 (NLT)
11 Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.
Psalm 145:18 (NLT) 18 The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.
--Remember the woman at the well who had an encounter with Jesus…what did she who had five husbands and the man she was with was not her husband need? She needed the truth.
--Now days it would be said that all she needed was grace but she would have never found her way to the grace of God until she was confronted with the truth of where she was and Who Jesus was.
--Once she was confronted and admitted her need for Jesus, her life was changed…matter of fact, the truth she received changed her whole town. God, do it again.
John 4:23-24 (NCV) 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.“
John 8:32 (NCV) 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.“
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