Young People's Group

BEING GIRDED WITH THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD

by Pastor Mitch
May 09, 2004

The Challenge To Stand

There is the prospect for each one of us to be spiritually strong. Sometimes, we feel that we are so spiritually weak, we doubt whether we will ever be strong. How wrong we can be! The Lord God has provided for us a complete spiritual armour that when employed, will enable us to be solid Christians. We do not need to live as defeated Christians. The challenge is for us to put on the armour of God and stand.

“Stand therefore…” 
Ephesians 6:14

Having knowledge that we can stand strong against the evil one is not enough. We have to actually get down to putting on the whole armour of God. It is a command for us to stand against the evil one and his wicked army. In obedience, we must put it on.

Putting On The Girdle Of Truth

The first piece of armour is the girdle of truth.

“Having girded your waist with truth…”
Ephesians 6:14

The Roman soldier always wore a tunic, an outer garment, as his primary clothing. It was a large square piece of material with holes cut out for the head and arms. It was draped loosely over most of the soldier’s body. Before the soldier engaged in hand to hand combat, he must tuck the loose tunic into a heavy leather belt. If his tunic was loose, it would get in his way in close combat. Girding one’s waist was a mark of preparedness. The Christian must be ready to defend himself and his Church with knowledge of God’s truth. The need is for us to be equipped with Biblical truths.

No Longer Tossed To And Fro By False Doctrine

“That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting…”
Ephesians 4:14

The danger of being deceived by false doctrine is so real. Paul exhorted the Ephesian Church to move from spiritual immaturity to spiritual maturity. They should no longer be swept away by any form of false teaching. There were deceptive teachers who infiltrated the Church with their devious schemes and they tricked people into believing their false doctrines. Young people, we must learn not to be swayed by these heresies. The devil will use these false doctrines to deceive Christians into believing falsehood.

Knowing And Speaking The Truth

“But speak the truth in love” 
Ephesians 4:15

Our challenge is to defend ourselves with the truth of God’s word. We must be deeply schooled in the ways of God. We must know the truth so well that we can edify others with it. False teachings threaten to make us weak. We must know and speak the truth in love. Let’s do our part to stand up for the truth. Let’s be prepared with the knowledge of God’s truth that we may stand against the teachings of false prophets and teachers.

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