[SPEAKER_01]: Ephesians chapter 6, we're going to read verses 11 through 17.
[SPEAKER_01]: We read this last week.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to dive into it again today.
[SPEAKER_01]: Last week I kind of laid a foundational message.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll recap over some of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: as we go this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says, put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil.
[SPEAKER_01]: For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
[SPEAKER_01]: This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything to take your stand.
[SPEAKER_01]: Verse 14, stand there for, with truth like a belt around your waist.
[SPEAKER_01]: righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandled with readiness for the gospel of peace.
[SPEAKER_01]: In every situation, take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flame, flaming arrows, excuse me of the evil one.
[SPEAKER_01]: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're taking notes this morning the title of today's message is, get you some truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Get you some truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Turn to someone and tell them, say, get you some truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tell them what some sass, some, you know, I don't know, put something behind it.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, praise the Lord.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, let's pray this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: Father, we thank you, Lord, for your Word.
[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you, Father, for teaching us something new today, God.
[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you for the revelation of your Word.
[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you, Father God, Lord, for your spirit that is here in this place.
[SPEAKER_01]: We love you today, Father, and we're so grateful, Lord, for everything that you're doing Lord.
[SPEAKER_01]: And God, we just want to take this opportunity in this time in the service, Father, God, to receive your Word, to learn something from you, to listen to what you would speak to us today.
[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you, Father.
[SPEAKER_01]: Give us ears to hear.
[SPEAKER_01]: What you would say unto us this morning, in Jesus' name, everybody said, Amen, amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I want to begin this morning by really recapping last week's message.
[SPEAKER_01]: Last week, like I said, was the foundational message for this series as we go into it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I told you last week, you know, when when you're growing up and children's church, you learn all about the
[SPEAKER_01]: And you hear all about it, and you're told as a child, if you grew up in a Christian home, or if you went to church or anything like that, you're told to put on the armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I begin to realize as I got older, what is the purpose of the armor?
[SPEAKER_01]: Why do I put on the armor?
[SPEAKER_01]: What is the armor?
[SPEAKER_01]: What is the armor even stand for?
[SPEAKER_01]: What isn't even about?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I thought, you know, it's so important for us to really fully grasp the revelation and the truth of what's behind every piece of armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's it's important because I believe in this day and this hour and the season and the culture that we're living and we've got to be equipped and ready.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got to be equipped for battle, meaning spiritually speaking.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got to be able to be equipped.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got to be able to be ready to have a spirit of readiness, same in, and that comes and that begins by what we read in Ephesians 6, when Paul tells us, hey, we've got to put on the full armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's great.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it, but what is it?
[SPEAKER_01]: What does it even mean?
[SPEAKER_01]: What does it mean for me?
[SPEAKER_01]: How do I even do it?
[SPEAKER_01]: How do I accomplish that?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so when we're talking about this, I told you that Ephesians, the Book of Ephesians specifically, is really one of the greatest books in the Bible because it contains so much truth and revelation for the believer as your for your identity.
[SPEAKER_01]: It tells you about your identity and who you are in Christ, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And remember, I told you this last week that the book of Ephesians will teach you two things who you are in him and who he is in you.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need to know as a believer who you are in him, but you also need to know who he is in you.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's one thing to know that you are a child of God, but do you know that you are God's child?
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, do you know that he loves you, that he cares for you, that he protects you, that he watches over you.
[SPEAKER_01]: What does that all mean?
[SPEAKER_01]: What does that even entail?
[SPEAKER_01]: And the book of Ephesians really begins to teach us that.
[SPEAKER_01]: So in chapter 6, we begin to see this phrase that is mentioned several times by Paul as he's riding and he says, put on the fool or the whole some of your versions may say, armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the truth is that there is no sense of true protection and no sense of true victory if you only put on part of the armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's no sense of true protection or victory or anything if you only put a portion of the armor on.
[SPEAKER_01]: The Bible says you must put on the whole armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: Every bit of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Paul says in verse 13 he says, this is why you put on the armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: He says so that you may be able to resist in the evil day.
[SPEAKER_01]: that is why you want to know why you put on the armor that's it right there so that you may be able to resist in the evil day remember Paul is not talking about just any old given day but he's addressing the fact that there are going to be tough days that you will absolutely need the armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when that word there that you say, when we see that it says the resist and the evil day, the word evil there, if you remember is the word Panero switch means labor, pain, sorrow.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he says, you need to put on the harm or God, why do you put it on you?
[SPEAKER_01]: You put it on so that you can resist in the days that are laboring.
[SPEAKER_01]: In the days that are painful, the days that you feel sorrow, where sorrow is eaten at your door.
[SPEAKER_01]: Those days, those days are when you need to put on the armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Paul says, guys, I need you to put on the former God because in this walk, you will definitely have days of victory, you will definitely have days of blessing, you'll have days of breakthrough, you'll have great days, but there will also be some days when it's a little bit more challenging.
[SPEAKER_01]: when it's a little bit more frustrating, when things are a little bit chaotic.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you remember last week I shared with you that the armor of God was given for two reasons in the evil day according to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13 it says number one to resist.
[SPEAKER_01]: And number two to stand.
[SPEAKER_01]: That word resist, remember I told you last week, is that word antihistomy, which means to withstand to set against.
[SPEAKER_01]: I gave you the example of allergy medicine.
[SPEAKER_01]: How allergy medicine has antihistomy in it, which is a blocker for allergens.
[SPEAKER_01]: You cannot take an allergy pill once your allergies are affecting you because it won't do you any good.
[SPEAKER_01]: You have to take an allergy pill before the allergens are present, so it can block the allergens from affecting your body.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so he says, you need to resist.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need to withstand, he is set against in the evil day.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when Paul says that, he says, put on the armor, God, so that you can resist what he is saying, is that there is an armed force that's moving forward when you encounter evil, wickedness, when you encounter those evil days, those hard laboring, sorrowful, painful days,
[SPEAKER_01]: It can't touch you because it's blocked by a supernatural resistance.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, it cannot touch you because it's blocked by a supernatural resistance.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, somebody say amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so then it goes a step further.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says, resist, but he says, also so that you can stand.
[SPEAKER_01]: In the word, stand, you drop the first part of that, answer his to me, and off you drop that first part of answer, and you take that off, and you just have his to me, which means to cause to stand, to set in place, to set in place, to be firm.
[SPEAKER_01]: So resist says, the attack is coming, but I'm not given an inch.
[SPEAKER_01]: But then stand says, I am fixed, I am set in place, I cannot be moved, come on, I cannot be swayed, I cannot be pushed down, I cannot be ran over, but I am firm, come on, I am firm upon the foundation of the Lord.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can resist and I can stand.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I want to continue today where we started going in the direction of last week.
[SPEAKER_01]: I told you I would take each week as an opportunity to teach you about each individual piece of armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so last week I began to talk to you about the belt of truth and I kind of talked about it just a little bit but I want to dive deeper into the belt of truth today.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down.
[SPEAKER_01]: three truths about the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Number one is this is that the truth holds everything together.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth holds everything together.
[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about this last week.
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you look at Paul's life and you look at his journey up until this point in Ephesians, where he's riding to the church of Ephesus,
[SPEAKER_01]: husband many days locked up behind jail cells where he would have the opportunity to not just be there for the sake of punishment, but it was his opportunity to write.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was in the jail cell that Paul was able to write some of these amazing books that we can read today.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's observing what's happening around him.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you can only imagine as Paul, kind of a field loge, and as he is, is sitting there in that jail cell taking advantage of the time that he has a way of observing the Roman soldier.
[SPEAKER_01]: And observing his armor, observing how he moves, how he works, how he operates.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's during those times that Paul begins to receive
[SPEAKER_01]: And so he begins to write about it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And what's interesting is that you have to understand that there is always a reason for why the word is written, why it's written, the way it's written, excuse me, why it's written.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that is it's written in order, chronological order.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are things that are in order that are very important that we have got to understand.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it comes to the same thing when it comes to the armor
[SPEAKER_01]: The armor of God is written in a specific order for a specific reason.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the first thing that is listed is the belt of truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: The belt of truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Paul understood that the first thing that needed that you needed to have before anything else was the belt of truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's because the belt of truth was the item, was the tool, was the resource that held
[SPEAKER_01]: Much like our, you know, belts today, remember they hold up our pants.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: But for the armor of God, the Roman soldier, his belt is what held all of his armor together.
[SPEAKER_01]: The breastplate connected to the belt.
[SPEAKER_01]: his legs and what he would have to cover his feet at all attached to the belt.
[SPEAKER_01]: Everything was connected to the belt.
[SPEAKER_01]: The belt was so important without the belt, he couldn't carry a sword because the sword needed a place to be attached to and so it had to be attached to the belt.
[SPEAKER_01]: The belt was holding every piece of armor together.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not only that, but remember I told you this that last week is that for the Roman soldier, it was the belt that identified his rank in position.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was the belt that symbolized and showed what kind of level of authority he walked in.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, we would say today like a general or a commander or, you know, a this or a that, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, for back then, it was on the belt that identified what kind of position he held.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so Paul understood the importance of the belt first and foremost, really above any other piece.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because before you can get anything else, you have got to make sure you know the truth and you have some truth in your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: He says, put on the belt of truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because before you can have righteousness, before you can have anything else that is listed, you have got to have the truth of God's word.
[SPEAKER_01]: You got to know the truth of who God called you to be and who he says you are, and you got to know the truth of who he is.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he says before you attach anything else upon your body, before you go to war, before you go to battle, you need to make sure
[SPEAKER_01]: And let me just tell you something, we all know how this is, but before you can go fight a fight, you gotta have some truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, before you can fight, you gotta have some truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: You gotta know what God has called you to do.
[SPEAKER_01]: You better know who you are in him.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's in that place and in that position, when you understand who you are and who he is and you that you obtain the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he says, before you put anything outside, put on the belt to truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: For it is the truth that will hold everything else together in your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: When all hell is breaking loose, it's the truth that will keep you stable.
[SPEAKER_01]: When everything is coming against you, it is the truth that will keep you firm.
[SPEAKER_01]: When all hell is waging war against you and your family and your finances and your career or whatever it may be, it is the truth of God's word that will keep you in that firm, stable position where you can resist and you can stand.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: The belt is the belt of truth for a reason because the truth holds everything together.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth holds everything together.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was reminded last week and I'm just going to say it because I want to because it's funny.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was reminded last week of a story when we were leaving lunch.
[SPEAKER_01]: We went to eat and Melissa brought this story up and I thought, man, if I would have shared this on, you know, during the sermon, it would have been great.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm like, I'm going to save that for next week.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I remember years ago, back at my grandfather's church, we had a celebration of sorts, and I don't remember exactly.
[SPEAKER_01]: anniversary, okay, service of some sort, you know, or whatever, and we're celebrating and having, you know, good time, and several folks are coming up and sharing about, you know, my grandparents may be in the church, and you know, just all these kind of things, and, you know, it's a great service, and all this stuff is happening.
[SPEAKER_01]: And there was a gentleman, God rest his soul, I loved him with all my heart.
[SPEAKER_01]: There was a gentleman named Dan McBrayer,
[SPEAKER_01]: Damic Breyer was known as the rubber band man.
[SPEAKER_01]: He would walk around every day with tons of rubber bands on his wrist.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not for fashion, not because somebody told him to, but because he always wanted to be ready and prepared for when food came his way.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'd go to the restaurants, you know, and I remember being young and sitting there in the restaurant and watching everybody eat or whatever and brother Dan would get all the to go boxes.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he'd take everybody's food that they left on their plate and he'd scrape it into the to go boxes.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he'd pull off his rubber band and wrap those things up because they were full.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he'd walk out of there with a bag full of everybody else's leftovers.
[SPEAKER_01]: Somebody else say that's gross, but you know, hey, it is what it is.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he'd go home and he'd eat off of that thing during the week.
[SPEAKER_01]: He'd eat everybody else's food, he didn't care, he'd mix it all together, pile it all on top, wrap a rubber band around it, and be on his way, and he was happy, let me tell you.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, every time he got somebody's leftovers, any time you handed him your plate,
[SPEAKER_01]: He lit up, and he pulled off that rubber band and he wrapped them suckers around it, and he took it home.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, brother Dan was a mighty man to God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he learned a lot from him over the years.
[SPEAKER_01]: Back when I was real young, he had a television show.
[SPEAKER_01]: And on a Christian television, and I remember being a part of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I remember when I got a little bit older and became a teenager, and he relaunched his show a little bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: I remember being on the show, and all that kind of thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Every time you'd see him, whether he was wearing a suit jacket or not, he always had the suspenders on.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that poor man, that Sunday that we were having that celebration service, was standing up there at the pulpit.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now mind you for those that were there back in the day, and the pulpit was large.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was very big, very big, very wide, and it was all glass so you can see straight through
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's standing up there and he's got the microphone and he's just a talking and he's just saying all the wonderful things that he's saying and all of a sudden, old brother dance pants, hit his ankles.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now mind you, there's hundreds of people in the room.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're live on social media, we record services for television at that time.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're on TV on several different networks.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Brother Dan is standing up there just a going away and he don't even realize that his pants had fallen down.
[SPEAKER_01]: The whole sanctuary from the right to the left, from the front to the back is laughing hysterically.
[SPEAKER_01]: And brother Dan just thinks that they're just going with what he's saying.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's up there, and older gentleman, he keeps a going.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's just soaking it all in.
[SPEAKER_01]: And my grandfather realizes what's going on.
[SPEAKER_01]: And back in those days, the pastor's set in the chairs on the stage.
[SPEAKER_01]: And my grandpa looks over there, it's like everybody's like.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so he goes over there, and he comes behind him,
[SPEAKER_01]: and he lifts them up.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Brother Dan says, oh, thank you, Brother Bill, you know, like then he even realized it and helped some snap his suspenders back together.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I began, we were reflecting on that last week and we were laughing about it because if you were there, I mean, like I said, it was hysterical.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it just goes to relate so much so that, man, if you don't got something holding you up, you're going to fall apart.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you what it also teaches.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't have the truth in your life, you're going to expose some things that you don't want to expose.
[SPEAKER_01]: So you've got to have some truth in your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because if you don't have some truth, then we're going to find out.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to find out.
[SPEAKER_01]: So number one.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: Holds everything together.
[SPEAKER_01]: It holds everything together.
[SPEAKER_01]: Number two is this.
[SPEAKER_01]: Without the truth, you don't have anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you could say, well, I've got money and I've got family and I've got this and I've got that, but yeah, without the truth, you really don't have much at all.
[SPEAKER_01]: All of those things, quite frankly, are actually added benefits to the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need the truth first and foremost.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you're going through it, you need the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need to know what the Lord says about you and about your situation.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not only that, but you need to know who you are and who he's created you to be and how
[SPEAKER_01]: So listen, church, too many people get smacked upside the head in the midst of battle and they retreat.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the only reason that they retreat is not because they can't fight, it's because they don't have truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth of the word of God that says, I am more than a conquer.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth of the word of God that says, I am the head and not the tail.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth of the Word of God that says, I am above and I am certainly not beneath.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is the truth of God's Word that will allow you to stand firm to fight no matter what your wager war against.
[SPEAKER_01]: And remember, I told you last week there was a reason why you didn't have armor on your back side.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's because you were never created to turn around and retreat.
[SPEAKER_01]: You were always created to look at the face of the enemy and fight whatever is coming your way, and take your stand and to resist against the evil.
[SPEAKER_01]: When the midst of all hell, you better know what God has said about you.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the midst of hell, you better know who God says you are.
[SPEAKER_01]: You better know the truth of God's Word.
[SPEAKER_01]: And let me just take a moment and just teach you about the truth for a minute.
[SPEAKER_01]: because we got people all over the place that are taking truth and they're twisting it and they're distorting it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, it quite frankly, the reason why they're doing it is it, so that they could feel better about themselves.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so you take the truth of a situation, you take the truth of a law or the truth of this or the truth of that and you got people that are twisting it for their own pleasure.
[SPEAKER_01]: And hear me today, and listen loud and clear, truth doesn't ever take sides.
[SPEAKER_01]: Truth is his own side.
[SPEAKER_01]: Truth doesn't ever take sides.
[SPEAKER_01]: Truth is its own side.
[SPEAKER_01]: And listen, you don't get a chance to change truth to make you feel better.
[SPEAKER_01]: You get to experience grace that brings you into alignment with God's truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm thankful for the grace of God that will get a hold of me and say, hey, you're off there on what you're believing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me get you back into the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you don't have the right in the permission to change the truth for you.
[SPEAKER_01]: To change the truth to fit your needs to fit, your feelings, your circumstances, you don't have the right to do that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But thank God you got the grace that will get you back into alignment with his truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah, and so the last thing that you need is a God, that you bring down and that you dumb down and reduce his truth to accommodate your defeated lifestyle.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need a God with a high standard.
[SPEAKER_01]: One that can't reach on your own, but one that he pulls you into the grace of his
[SPEAKER_01]: that he'll reach down and he'll draw you in unto him.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't need the form of God that you can remold and shape and shift the way that you want him to be.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need a God who is loving, righteous, merciful, graceful, faithful,
[SPEAKER_01]: That will say, I know that's what you're going through right now and I know that's how you're feeling.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know that's how you want me to handle it right now, but let me be God because my ways are unlike your ways.
[SPEAKER_01]: And my ways are far better than your ways.
[SPEAKER_01]: So instead of trying to change who I am, let me change who you are.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me come in and change the things of your life and change your mindsets and your attitudes and your this and your that.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can form you into who I am creating you to be, which is perfect in my sight.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you don't know the truth, let me tell you, you can't even be free.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because the Bible says you shall know the truth and the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth shall make you free.
[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't say it will hopefully make you free.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says the truth shall set you free.
[SPEAKER_01]: No questions asked, no strings attached.
[SPEAKER_01]: But the truth will make you free.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because, well, anyways,
[SPEAKER_01]: Because even when it hurts, even when it offends you, you need to understand that it's for your good.
[SPEAKER_01]: Truth my hurt.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you ever had a parent tell you that, you know, when you were growing up, truth hurts sometimes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, the words don't lie, tell the truth, let's, well, get this spaken's taken care of right now because the truth hurts sometimes, but then we're gonna move on and learn from it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, get out the real belt, hello.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
[SPEAKER_01]: And listen if if if if if I don't preach to you and your soul doesn't get offended by the truth and I'm not doing my job right I might as well just hang it up and call it a day But I got to preach the truth of the word of God
[SPEAKER_01]: And I've got to trust that God will use His truth to fix you, to fix me, to take care of all of the things because we trust in His truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: We depend upon His truth, they men.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm grateful today that the truth brings conviction.
[SPEAKER_01]: That the truth just doesn't get me excited about who I am and who God's called me to be, but the truth also brings conviction in my life.
[SPEAKER_01]: When I'm making mistakes, when I'm acting a fool and I'm doing things I'm not supposed to do, it's the truth of who he is that will set me straight.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm grateful for the conviction.
[SPEAKER_01]: Some people say, I don't want to be convicted.
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to live my life.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, then you don't have truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you gotta allow truth to be the conviction in your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when it comes to the belt of truth, let me say it this way, the truth is what will always hold you together because if you don't have the truth in your life, you will always fall apart.
[SPEAKER_01]: You will always fall apart.
[SPEAKER_01]: So number one,
[SPEAKER_01]: Number two, without the truth, you don't have anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: And number three is this, the truth puts you in position to advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: The truth puts you in position to advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, how many are grateful that as a believer, as an armed force, as an armed force, as a God, we are always advancing and we're always moving forward.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: We cannot be defeated.
[SPEAKER_01]: We will not be defeated in Jesus' name, but the truth puts us in a position to advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: Have you ever heard the phrase in church or in the Word of God, or you heard somebody mention it before?
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, that's just kind of as an interesting thing to say.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, you think, grew it up your loins that kind of makes you kind of funny sounded, you know.
[SPEAKER_01]: But when you break down a feet in Ephesians chapter six when it begins to talk about the pieces of armor and it starts with put on the belt of truth, when you actually dive deep into that, what it's actually saying is,
[SPEAKER_01]: get up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: So what does it mean to gird up your loins?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because several riders in the Bible make this statement, including Paul here in Ephesians chapter 6, gird up your loins was the first command given to someone getting ready to fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: It would be the first thing that was mentioned to the soldier when we're getting ready to go out on the battlefield when we're getting ready to put on the armor and go
[SPEAKER_01]: They would hear the command, grown up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: Soldiers, grown up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: They'd be the first command that they hear.
[SPEAKER_01]: The Roman soldier underneath all of that armor, underneath the breastplate and the shoes and the helmet and all of these things, underneath all of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: The Roman soldier actually wore a tunic.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a long robe that went down almost to the ankles.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when they would say, gird up your loins, what that meant was, gather up all the extra fabric of that long tunic.
[SPEAKER_01]: And what they would do is they would pull it and they would wrap it around their legs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Almost like they looked like they were in a diaper.
[SPEAKER_01]: And what they would do from that point is that they would then tuck it and put it underneath the belt.
[SPEAKER_01]: The belt would hold the tunic from falling down to the ankles.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they would tuck the extra fabric into their belt.
[SPEAKER_01]: So in other words, if your tunic is down over your legs, you're not going to be able to move properly to fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're not going to be able to run, you're not going to be as agile, you're not going to be able to do the things that you need to do because you have a material that is in your way that is preventing you from being able to move properly.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they'd be commanded, gird up your loins, get ready to fight and they take that tunic and they bring it up and they tie it up into their belt and see when you get ready to
[SPEAKER_01]: And you gird up your loins, you're now free to fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: Before that, you can be tripped up on your very own self.
[SPEAKER_01]: But once you gird up your loins, now you're free to move.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're free to get into position.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're free, let me say it this way, you're free to advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: You see, some people have not girded up their loins because they don't want to mess with their tunings.
[SPEAKER_01]: Or watch this.
[SPEAKER_01]: Some folk haven't girded up their loins because they're too fearful to reveal what's hidden underneath the tunic.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tell your neighbor, it's time to gird up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know there would be some laughs there, but that's okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: It sounds funny.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's time to gird up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me say it this way.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care what your tunic looks like, but I do care that you advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not interested in seeing if you have it all together.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just want to know that when the commander says it's time to fight, are you going to be ready to fight?
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if your tunic is in a mess right now, and maybe you're stepping all over it, and it's a little bit messy, and it's a little bit dirty, and you can't quite move the way that you used to move.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care if it's like that, but if the Lord says it's time to go, are you gonna be ready to fight?
[SPEAKER_01]: And I heard the Lord say when I was writing this message this week, he said, tell the people,
[SPEAKER_01]: that in order for them to advance, they got a gird up first.
[SPEAKER_01]: In order for them to advance into fight and to be successful in that fight and to freely move and advance in the direction to progress the kingdom of God in this hour, they have got to learn to not leave their tunic hanging.
[SPEAKER_01]: that we understand this armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we understand the importance of the armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: But let me tell you something, you can have the armor and still have a tunic hanging in your way.
[SPEAKER_01]: When it's time to advance, can you gird up your loins?
[SPEAKER_01]: Paul says, if you're going to fight, if you're going to win this battle, it's time that you stop caring what's underneath and you gird it up.
[SPEAKER_01]: Church is time that you get into a fighting position.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can't be just laying over on the side with your tunic out and just waiting there and just taking on the attacks of the enemy.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's time that you get ready and you fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's time that you're equipped for battle.
[SPEAKER_01]: But the only way that you can be ready is if you gird up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's time that you use the truth, and tuck everything that you know, everything that you thought you knew, all of your flaws and mistakes, but all the good things about you as well is time that you take all of that, and you tuck it into the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: What are you trying to say, Pastor?
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you, it's real simple.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have time for extra baggage right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: All the tunic is without being girded up is extra baggage.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's stuff that's in the way.
[SPEAKER_01]: You, I mean, if anybody in this room doesn't matter who you are, if you put on a tunic, if you put on a dress down to your ankles of some sort, some sort of something like that, you are not gonna be able to run as fast as a person and don't have that on.
[SPEAKER_01]: Cause your legs can't move as much.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're in a more of a stiff position.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Paul understood this.
[SPEAKER_01]: Paul made it very clear when he said, put on the belt of truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: He says, put that truth on, but gird up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: Gird up.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm here this morning to declare over your life that you will advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm here to declare this morning that we are advancing.
[SPEAKER_01]: that the kingdom of God is moving forward.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And in your life and the life of this church and the life of Jesus, his church as a whole, we are moving forward and we are advancing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we don't have time for you to sit back in the back and allow your tunic to hang low because you don't want to show what's underneath.
[SPEAKER_01]: Listen, I don't care, Jesus, don't care what's underneath.
[SPEAKER_01]: As long as you attach it to the truth of God's Word.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah, come on, so you can be a sinner, and you can be set free when you attach it to the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah, come on, you can be as lost as lost gets and gird up your loins, baby, and attach it to the truth, the God's word, and you will be set free, and you'll be able to fight in advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Josh, this is the time church.
[SPEAKER_01]: When we know who we are, and we know who's
[SPEAKER_01]: we are.
[SPEAKER_01]: We know who we are, we know who's we are, and we know who he is in our lives.
[SPEAKER_01]: You are called to advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: You are called to take ground.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, you are called to take ground.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's time that you step away from from from from weak stuff that would just take you out and just put you in a position of not being able to fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you can actually stand up and you can say, you know what?
[SPEAKER_01]: I know what the Word of God says.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I know that He says in order for me to resist, and in order for me to withstand and to stand firm, the first thing that I've got to do is I've got to gird up my loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: In other words, I've got to get my legs ready to run.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because if I'm going to move forward, I've got to have these legs ready.
[SPEAKER_01]: And some of you are shackled in a tunic.
[SPEAKER_01]: hardly being able to move forward, and the Lord, here today, is simply say, it won't take a bunch of steps.
[SPEAKER_01]: It won't take the right this or the right that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It just takes you understanding the revelation of girding up your loins, because I'm calling you to advance.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm calling you forward.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're moving forward.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're progressing.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're taking ground.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're we're standing in the right place of our authority.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're moving into the right position.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you got to gird up your loins.
[SPEAKER_01]: You got to gird up your loins.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's message.
[SPEAKER_00]: We pray you were inspired, challenged, and marked by the word you heard.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this message blessed you today, we encourage you to subscribe to the Church of the City Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: There you can find more faith-filled messages to uplift you and help you on your journey of faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: For more information about Church of the City, head on over to www.cotcdfw.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, remember this, the best is yet to come.