Ephesians 6:10 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.
I have touched on these powers of the dark world before, suggesting that these powers are not merely disembodied spirits, but powers working through real flesh-and-blood human beings. The Apostle Paul writes next how we are to deal with these rulers and authorities and spiritual forces of evil:
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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
The very first defense we have is truth. The Apostle Paul offers this even before righteousness. But it gets more interesting thereafter:
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Next comes the gospel, faith, and finally, salvation. But first of all comes truth – a commodity sorely lacking in our world, and one few rulers and authorities speak today. It is not found in the media, not in politicians, not in business leaders. But Paul offers that it must be found in those in the Lord.
The spoken word is to be guarded, above all else. God created the world through words; in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God; it is not what goes into one’s mouth that defiles him, but what comes out.
Truth comes first. When it comes to our armor, it is our first defense.
Absolutely true!
ReplyDeleteIn a discussion last night at the church I attend, the question was posed to the pastor about what he would say in a sermon about abortion if he knew that a woman who had previously aborted was in the audience. His answer, in essence, was that he had to speak the truth regardless of the consequences, but that he would try to be respectful. This led to a follow-up question concerning the presence of practicing homosexuals, to which he responded in the same vein.
I spoke up and condensed his reply into the following words. "You have to be careful HOW you present the truth, but you HAVE to present the truth."
Speaking the truth is imperative. Speaking the truth in wisdom, compassion, and common sense is learned behavior. I have been there.
The NASB says "having girded your loins with truth" in the 1995 version. That means to ready yourself for action and to be aware of the coming threat. Without understanding what is true you will be taken unaware. Or you could call that being deceived.
ReplyDeleteThank you, bionic - for another post which advances the ball forward. I used your previous Floating in the AEther post from September to build my case in a November Connecting Dots post in DaLimbraw Library (for Deplorables:) entitled Are We Governed by Humans - https://crushlimbraw.blogspot.com/2020/11/are-we-governed-by-humans.html?m=0
ReplyDeleteThanks again, as we keep trudging ahead - slowly - but surely!
Thanks, Crush.
DeleteSlowly...is correct. This work is done with no assurance that improvement will come in one lifetime. But the work has to be done, and I am grateful for the many people doing the work and contributing to the truth.