Sunday – August 25, 2013 “Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of Truth”

August 25, 2013 – Read the Word on Worship

Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of Truth from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Jesus Christ is the truth. When we turn away from the truth we are turning away from Him. As important as the other garments are, the foundation of all of them is truth because that is who Jesus Christ is. He is the way, the truth and the life. Being rooted in Him is what prevents us from being taken captive by philosophy or empty deception. He is also what we are to grow into, with Christ being head over all. The world is constantly changing, declaring new fads and fictions to be the truth because someone wrote a book or spoke at a conference. We do not live in such a shifting landscape as so many do in this generation. We live completely secure in the bedrock foundation of Christ’s truth. Join us this week as we continue our series on Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God as we look at “Girding Our Loins with Truth”.


Word On Worship – August 25, 2013 Download / Print

Ephesians 6:14
Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH…”

We all dress in a certain order. We begin with our ‘foundation garments” because other garment will be layered over them. Usually we finish with putting on our shoes, because putting our pants on after our shoes proves to be very difficult. The armor of God is to be put on in a certain order as well, and the first step is to gird our loins as we prepare for spiritual battle. In the Bible, the girding of the loins is the first step but it also prepares us for further action. As Peter wrote, we are to “gird our minds for action” as we act like the One who called us (1 Peter1:13-16).

Truth is the grid through which all information can be filtered. It gathers up the loose ends of information and processes and conforms it all to legitimacy and goodness. James reinforces the importance of truth in our salvation when he wrote in James 1:18 “He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” It is by the truth that we are sanctified and brought to maturity in Christ. The question we must be able to answer then is how do we arrive at truth? Is it based upon our experience, the rules of society or even the laws of government? Or does truth come from a different source altogether? The line we use to measure truth is the question that must be answered before we can rightly chart a course for our decision-making.

Christ prayed for His disciples in the upper room in John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” Any decision we make on what is good or right for a situation or response must be seen through the grid of Scripture. The human response is to measure good or bad by how it benefits us. But the Word of God calls for us to die to ourselves and our interests, to subject ourselves to the government and to love others as we have been loved by God. The truth is the basis for Christian unity that builds up and edifies the church. This is completely opposite to the world’s way of thinking and is only learned through the truth of Scripture.

Jesus Christ is the truth. When we turn away from the truth we are turning away from Him. As important as the other garments are, the foundation of all of them is truth because that is who Jesus Christ is. He is the way, the truth and the life. Being rooted in Him is what prevents us from being taken captive by philosophy or empty deception.  He is also what we are to grow into, with Christ being head over all. The world is constantly changing, declaring new fads and fictions to be the truth because someone wrote a book or spoke at a conference. We do not live in such a shifting landscape as so many do in this generation. We live completely secure in the bedrock foundation of Christ’s truth.

What do you think?