The Pieces Of The Armor Of God – The Loin-Covering Of Truth

Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, July 04, 2004, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. 
THE PIECES OF THE ARMOR OF GOD
THE STABILITY AND STRENGTH COVERING 
THE LOIN-COVERING OF TRUTH

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By Michael D. O’Neal                         Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church                       Albany, Georgia

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

Text: Ephesians 6:14

Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Introduction: “Prepare for War in 2004.” Are you ready? We have had three families as casualties to Satan in recent months. One family is attending church where the pastor has received rebels from other fundamental churches. One family went to a Southern Baptist church last Sunday night. The other one hasn’t attended church.

You could be next! They weren’t prepared; are YOU prepared?

(By the way, although Satan has overcome some of the saints, God continues to bless! Last Sunday we had one saved, four public professions of faith, and four baptisms! Praise God!)

The GOOD news is that God has provided armor so that we can stand successfully against Satan:

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Today I want to emphasize the need to be SURE that every day your loins are “girt about with truth.”

When we think of truth, we think of
     1. The Savior (John 14:6)
     2. Sincerity and honesty
     3. The scriptures (John 17:17) (God’s truth is not only an essential OFFENSIVE weapon, as the sword of the Spirit, but it is also the defensive girdle of the soldier!)

Your loins are your hip area, where your chest and back unite with your legs.

When I think of the hip area of the body, I think of the body’s stability and strength.

Job 40:16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.

Proverbs 31:17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

It is the center of all activity.

The sword is worn upon the loins and the girdle encircling them (2 Samuel 20:8), so there is a close association with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17).

To meet someone as a man is to gird up your loins:

Job 38:3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

The loins must be protected.

Psalms 38:7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.

This morning I want to give you four advantages, in Christian warfare, to having your loins girt about with TRUTH.

I. GOD’S TRUTH WILL HELP YOU TO KEEP ON SITTING

Isaiah 16:5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

A. In communion with the saints
     1. The blessed man sits right (Psalms 1:1)

B. In calling upon the Savior
     1. In Acts 1 and 2 the disciples were sitting and praying
     2. When you feel faint, sit down and put your head between your knees, in PRAYER!

C. In choosing the scriptures
     1. Luke 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
     2. Loving them is a choice
     3. Living by them is a choice

II. GOD’S TRUTH WILL HELP YOU TO KEEP ON STANDING

Deuteronomy 33:11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.
 
A. Even when you’re weary

B. Even when you’re weak

C. Even when you’re wounded

III. GOD’S TRUTH WILL HELP YOU TO KEEP ON SUPPORTING

Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

A. A burden
     1. Your own labor for the Lord

B. A brother
     1. Are you picking up someone else’s load? (Galatians 6:2)

C. A body
     1. Your personal daily struggles

IV. GOD’S TRUTH WILL HELP YOU TO KEEP ON STEPPING FORWARD

Psalms 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

A. In the warfare
     1. Marching as a soldier
     2. No retreat

B. In the walk with God

C. In the wisdom of God
     1. 3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

D. In the witness
     1. The loins are associated with bringing forth children (1 Kings 8:19)

 

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