Bookstore Two
The Girdle of Truth is the first thing a Christian puts on in warfare, holding the entire assembly together. If you think a Playtex girdle that can shape a rebellious figure into an hourglass figure is powerful, you haven't seen anything yet. In time of battle, soldiers would tuck their war skirts into their belts so that they would be ready for a fight. Tuck your war skirt in the Girdle of Truth and get ready for a fight.
The word "truth" from the Girdle of Truth is ἀληθείᾳ (alētheia), meaning sincerity or not being hidden. Sincerity comes from two Latin words, "sine" and "cera," meaning "without wax." In the time of Paul, statues that did not have a hairline crack were priceless. When a crack developed in a statue, the owner took wax and rock dust and poured them into the cracks, making the statue appear perfect. The solution for the purchaser was to take the statue outside and let it sit in the sun until all the wax ran out of the cracks, obviously manifesting the hidden imperfections. Many of you look great on the outside but have hairline cracks with wax, and underneath the cosmetology of the heart there is hidden, secret sin. God is turning up the heat and exposing the fakes, the phony, the pompous, and the religious stuffed shirts. Walking wax Christians are covered in wax-put them in the heat and see how sincere they are.
What is the difference between a Playtex girdle and the Girdle of Truth? One is cosmetic, and the other is the real deal. Are you a cosmetic Playtex Christian, or are you the real deal? Are you wearing a miracle Playtex girdle or the Girdle of Truth? Are you real? Are you sincere? Are you rebellious, or are you righteous? Are you a counterfeit, or are you consecrated? Are you artificial, or are you actual? Are you a pretender, or are you a possessor? Are you a buff for flakes and fruit theology? Are you a cookie-cutter, counterfeit Charismatic? Are you attracted to the ritual, or are you redeemed? Are you attracted to the ceremony, or are you attracted to Jesus Christ? Are you singing about a heaven you are never going to see? Do you want to feel good without being good? Are you trying to get into heaven while trying to live like hell?
Do you receive the truth with sincerity? Sincerity without truth is deception. Many are sincere about their false doctrine but are leading the hordes to hell. Deliverance ministers dialoguing with fake, made-up Charismatic spirits are sincere but are in the blows of deception. Charismatics looking for plastic in each other's ears are sincere but are in deception. Spiritual people blowing bubbles, trying to communicate with goldfish, are sincere but are in a watery deception.
Secular humanism is a doctrine of deception; man is not the answer. Secular humanists hate the Word of God, and if Christians lived like them, they would too. New age is deception. You can't hum into crystals and commune with God. Harmonizing with a glass of crystals will get you laryngitis, not the Lord of glory. New agers worship everything but God. New age is tolerant of every religion but Christianity, because Christianity has the Bible, and the Bible is not tolerant toward sin. And the new age is tolerant toward every sin. The sin of the new age is being intolerant of anyone based on a moral basis. Neo-paganism and flower-sniffing environmentalism-the worship of mother earth with all her earth spirits and dream catchers-is a demonic deception. Pagan momma earth and momma nature dupe the biblical illiterates and are in deception. Eastern philosophies where man is god are a deception.
Paul puts his pen to parchment and writes, "Put on the whole armor of God." This is tailor-made, God-manufactured armor. It's not Baptist armor. It's not Assemblies of God armor. It's not Calvinism armor. It's not Nazarene or Lutheran armor. It's not Methodist armor or armor from the Roman Church. Why did Paul say, "Put on the whole armor of God"? Because there are plenty of phony manufacturing companies that have a false design to protect you but will, in fact, lead you to the loins of hell. This armor has been imitated, but it cannot be duplicated. Each of the implements of the whole armor of God is the manifest presence of Jesus Christ.
The Girdle of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Gospel of Peace
The Shield of Faith
The Helmet of Salvation
The Sword of the Spirit
You will notice that there is no back piece to this armor. The army of Jesus Christ is never in retreat; we are always on the offense to destroy the works of the devil. Every one of these elements is essential for the bride of Christ to be victorious. Going to war partially prepared is absolutely dead.
God commands us to put on the whole armor; it is not a request. Saint Paul writes, "Fight the good fight of faith; we are more than conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ." The outcome of this spiritual warfare is based on God's performance, not our skill. This supernatural war is a fight to the end. Many people assume that the armor of God is some cookie-cutter, charismatic cliché that they can applaud and make them feel all happy-clappy. Putting on this armor will determine whether you make it or not (live or perish). You must literally, physically, and spiritually put it on and wear it at all times. If you do not put on the armor, the negative things in your life will continue to consume you. If you are dominated by sin, the flesh, addictions, hatred, bitterness, negativity, worry, or fear, these weapons will keep dominating you day in and day out until you put on this armor. Saying monumental, memorized prayer mantras from a Charismatic deliverance warfare pamphlet, is not putting on the armor. The armor of God is not an imaginary, symbolic prototype you pray on. The armor of warfare is battle-ready machinery that you walk out in all truths, in season and out of season.