Our Enemy, the Devil - Pt 6

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. (Ephesians 6:13-18 ESV). Today we begin looking specifically at each piece of armor provided for us in this battle we find ourselves. It is “the belt of truth.” The belt, known as the cingulum or balteus played a crucial role in the effectiveness of a soldier's armor. It was the belt that held the scabbard, without which there would be no place to put a sword. Imagine an overzealous soldier, fired up and charging out into battle, but without his belt, and consequently without a weapon! In addition, from the belt hung strips of leather to protect the lower body; it secured all the other pieces of our armor. There are two things we ought to pay close attention to in our examination of this piece of armor. First, recognize that the ultimate truth is Jesus (cf. John 14:6). For us we find the truth of Jesus in the Scripture. His promises, His commands, His words, they are all truth, plain and simple. If God says something, there is no force that can stop Him from doing it; we can rest assured that it will be done. Second, like a belt, the truth should encompass us. Jesus had some interesting words to say about oaths and vows when examined by the religious leaders of his day: Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil (Matthew 5:37 ESV). Truth is not merely something we utter; it is much more than mere words. The truth should be our lifestyle. It is how we live surrounded by a world that is our enemy. One of the devil’s best weapons is a life of partial truth. I like the story where the Devil was walking along with one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. "What did he find?" asked the cohort. "A piece of the truth," the Devil replied. "Doesn't it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?" asked the cohort. "No," said the Devil, "I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it." Put on the truth… the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You will then stand against the enemy!