MLJ explained what it means to put on the truth of scripture. In the process, he clarified in a variety of ways what that truth is and how many in the church have erred via Liberalism and other ideas of men.
I added points to those that were provided by MLJTrust because I had numerous comments to make about false systems of belief that MLJ did not take the time to get into. I have posted on such things elsewhere, but thought I’d do that for readers who haven’t seen those posts.
Also added was a video reading of 1 Corinthians 15 and the complete text. It was an important part of his message so I thought I’d add it to the post.
This post is much longer than my usual post, because I thought it best to keep all the material together.
The sermon of this post is from the YouTube site, MLJTrust, linked below:
Feb 11, 2025
A Sermon on Ephesians 6:14 https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book…
“Armor of God” playlist: • Introduction ― A Sermon on Ephesians …
“Dare to be a Daniel. Be ready to stand if necessary, alone when the edicts come down from some king or council or church and tell you that you mustn’t do this and you must do that. Just go on as if you haven’t heard them.” ―Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness…
Sermon Description [by MLJTrust]:
What is truth?
In a world where truth is twisted into what people want it to be, how does one know what is really true versus what is distorted to fit certain views?
Knowing the truth of God’s word is essential. This is why when Paul speaks to Christians about the armor of God, he urges believers to gird themselves with truth.
In this sermon on the belt of truth from Ephesians 6:14 titled “Girded With Truth,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks on what it looks like to gird oneself with the truth of God’s word.
He explains how truth is not something one should hold onto lightly, but is something that must be sought after and fought for. The Christian must diligently search for truth no matter the cost and never let it go once it has been found.
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains how Christians need to intentionally search the Holy Scriptures for the truth to build their lives upon, not just read through the way one would a newspaper.
But most importantly, he emphasizes the fact that they must never compromise the truth no matter the cost, but instead must fight for it, because without girding oneself with the truth, the Christian cannot stand in the day of battle.
Sermon Breakdown [by MLJTrust]:
- The first point Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes is that we must have a close attachment to the truth, not a loose one. We must “gird” ourselves with truth.
- We must realize the importance and vitality of truth. Truth is essential to the Christian life.
- We must take time and effort to understand truth. We must understand terms like justification, sanctification, and glorification. We must understand the whole of Scripture.
- We must be honest with the truth. We must not change the meaning of biblical terms or only accept parts of the truth we like.
- We must apply the truth to ourselves. The truth must govern our whole lives, even if it is painful.
- We must hold onto the truth at all costs. We must not be afraid of scholarship, persecution, being called “narrow” or a “fool.”
- We must not compromise the truth. We must not compromise for the sake of unity or peace. Compromise is a “prostitution of the truth.”
- We must “fight” for the truth. We must “dare to be a Daniel” and stand up for the truth.
- We must follow the example of Peter, John, and Paul who stood up for the truth in the face of persecution and did not compromise.
Additional points by Michael A:
I was mostly concerned with noting points MLJ made from the 24-minute mark to the 42nd minute mark. I added a few more when I listened to the sermon again.
That section of his sermon was very important imho because he cited examples that described numerous false religions and religious movements in the process of his sermon. He didn’t say much at all about them, since the main focus of this blog is to describe false systems and the true way, I wanted to magnify his words a bit for those who might want to know.
MLJ quoted the following lines from Hamlet at the 6-minute mark of his sermon and referred to the metaphor throughout his sermon; he used the metaphor to indicate how a believer should hold on to the truth of God; how one should bind it to oneself:
POLONIUS:
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledged comrade. (1.3.66–69)
Polonius is saying that Laertes should hold tight to his proven friends and keep them close to him but also to be wary of would-be friends until they’ve proven their loyalty.
Polonius uses the slightly hyperbolic metaphor “hoops of steel” to describe how Laertes should hold onto his real friends by exaggerating the bond that Laertes should feel toward them.
[The above quotation came from: https://www.enotes.com/topics/hamlet/questions/explain-how-the-statement-grapple-them-to-thy-1961291 ]
- 9 Minute mark: We live in an indolent age, we like an easy gospel that does all the work
- That is the antithesis of “grappling it to us with hoops of steel”
- 10MM: Edmond Burke noted that nothing is as fatal to religion as indifference, which is at least half infidelity”
- Indifference: lack of concern about doctrine; knowledge of truth; definitions of doctrines such as ‘Justification’
- Problem today: professed Christians say that nothing matters except the general spirit of good will, friendship, doing good, holding certain views on war…
- MLJ referred to 1 Corinthians 15, how the apostle Paul emphasized knowing doctrine and contrasted that to holding views of false teachers [1 Cor 15 video reading and complete text are pasted in after sermon bullet points]
- Examples of indifference: one holds a belief in the virgin birth, another does not (MLJ also mentioned Christ’s resurrection; Christ’s atoning work; miracles Jesus performed…)
- Those not believing Bible doctrines hold that Jesus was just a good man put to death by cruel Romans…
- Today, “we’re all Christians, it doesn’t matter”
- The apostle Paul said it is absolutely vital:
- 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures… [the apostle Paul began to receive revelation from the risen Christ on the Damascus road, in Acts 9]
- =Put on the girdle of truth (Paul is indicating, per MLJ)
- =Take the time and trouble to acquaint yourself with the truth of scriptures
- =A call to diligence
- [Pentecostalism, per MacArthur’s book, Strange Fire, was founded on the lies of a group of religious students in Kansas, chiefly Agnes Ozman; and her teacher, Charles Fox Parham, Methodist Holiness minister – the Pentecostal movement was born out of the lies of these two. I compare it to the division of the Kingdom of Israel: the northern 10 tribes NEVER performed worship acceptable to God because it was founded on lies, the two locations of the golden calves were their houses of worship]
- [The Theological Liberal movement, seemingly began in the days of Spurgeon, but in the early 20th century, most of the professors at Princeton Theological Seminary rejected supernatural elements of the Bible, stuff already noted]
- [Machen confronted Liberalism in his book, Christianity and Liberalism. He proved that the latter is not Christianity, but some other religion. The only problem is that liberalism has infiltrated most of Christianity today, many churches do not preach the Bible or hold to its doctrines]
- [Such churches have gone further in our time and have incorporated CRT; LGBTQ…therefore, MLJ’s message is a call to the old path of scripture]
- [Jeremiah 6:16Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’]
- Knowing the definitions of such doctrines as justification or sanctification and being familiar with the whole of scripture can’t be done in a short time like reading a newspaper
- People who belong to cults and come to your door selling books, they know the details of their message… and quote the Bible
- If you do not, then their perversion of biblical text could cause you to become a member of their organization
- For the past 100 years [Theological Liberals] have used Bible terms such as ‘salvation’ in their conversations with you, but they have assigned that term a different meaning
- [That is a trick used by progressives; progressive Christians and progressive leftist dems]
- Many Christians do not want to know the truth; they have a vague spirit of tolerance and believe things like, church membership saves one
- The biblical meaning of “Savior” is that Christ died on the cross for the sins of those who believe in Him and that His righteous life is also applied to them by God the Father via justification
- To Liberals, ‘Savior’ means that Christ was merely a good Man and left us an example to follow that we might be saved… [If you studied Romans, you would discover that no man can be saved without the righteousness of Christ being applied to him, Christ is the only One who kept the laws of the Bible]
- [Brian McLaren, for example, calls the biblical account of Christ’s atoning work on the cross, “Cosmic Child abuse.” I’m not sure how he explains salvation, but it is not biblical, and is therefore, worthless to you; or a better word, “fatal” to your soul]
- MLJ spoke of the Higher Criticism movement in passing, noting that it is dishonest because it undermined the true meaning of scripture [I believe that this movement was the largest force behind the theological liberal movement]
- Because of the above movements, today in the church, a pastor could be ordained and not believe the resurrection; the atonement; the virgin birth…
- [If your pastor does not, then your soul will suffer because of it; it will certainly come out in his teaching/preaching]
- Another very common example of Liberalism is preachers that preach on the love of God and deny His wrath against sin, even though the Bible frequently describes it
- [Romans 1:16-32, he brought up some texts from that passage]
- He noted an example of a Dr. of Theology that preached against sin
- People sitting under his teaching can certainly not gird on the truth of scripture
- NEW SECTION OF SERMON ABOUT APPLICATION OF TRUTH; he noted that one may know the Bible well, but has not really girded oneself with truth if he is not applying it to himself
- Like Augustine’s prayer asking God to make him holy and clean, but not yet [apparently early in his faith walk]
- We are to evaluate our lives per God’s truth
- Psalm 51:6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart
- New views of scripture that have come about in the past 100 years have no bearing on biblical truth [such as, Dispensationalism; Theological liberalism and Pentecostalism for example; then there are cults like JW’s and the Mormons – what those groups have is NOT biblical truth. Read the Bible to find out]
- Don’t be afraid to stand for truth even if it is against an ordained minister who has been to college and you have not [spending time in it, the Holy Spirit will teach you…, that is, to stand for truth, you must know it. Many seminaries teach Liberalism… these days]
- You will be called narrow, fool, ignorant, [racist, hater, bigot…] by those who hold to new modern Christian views
- You have something they do not have, which enables you to understand life; to be holy; to look into the face of death… [see John 15]
- Do not compromise the truth for peace or unity [the false movement of ecumenism: tosses out doctrine because it prohibits loving others, they believe; it “divides”]
- True biblical unity is a unity wherein all agree that the doctrines of the Bible are the truth; a unity based on truth [MLJ stated in another sermon]
- MLJ quoted Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (October 25, 1811 – May 7, 1887), who started the Missouri Synod of the Methodist Church, about 100 years after Christians were compromising on biblical truth:
- The tendency to compromise on the truth had begun a 100 years or so before Walther; people were saying that you mustn’t believe the Bible; but you must be governed by the consensus of opinion in the church; the latest advances of knowledge; the assured results of higher criticism, is to be the standard of the churches, Walther objected and wrote:
- “The moment the church does that, she is inverting the true position, the true position even of Protestantism; that’s to go back to Roman Catholicism. Whenever you put anything before this authority, you’re going back to something else. This is the daughter of Rationalism wearing a Christian garb; it is the sister of Romanism with a Protestant mask.”
- To be a rationalist and talk of a Savior, using Christian terminology = Fraud
- Rome puts the ‘church’ and its ‘tradition’ above scriptures
- This = prostitution of the truth
- Therefore, we must not be afraid [of their college degrees…]; we must not compromise; we must fight for the truth
- Dare to be a Daniel [Like John MacArthur during the Covid lockdowns, for example]
- MLJ cited the following scripture:
- Philippians 1:27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
- Acts 4:18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
- Acts 20:22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
- [Theological Liberalism is based on rationalism I believe, it seems that they only accept what can be arrived at via reason and science]
- [Therein, the ideas of men have replaced the revelation of God. God revealed Himself via the Bible; God is higher than men and men cannot understand His ways or His mind; when they are born again, they have the mind of Christ, but still, not all about God is understandable…]
- [Mat 15:7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”]
- [The consensus, scientific, rational movement above, rejected by Walther was trendy in the 1980’s for a decade or two, I posted on it recently: the Willow Creek Churches, how they failed]
MLJTrust video-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@MLJTrust/videos
Playlist-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@MLJTrust/playlists
LINKS TO POSTS REFERRED TO IN MY COMMENTS ABOUT MLJ’S SERMON ARE AT THE VERY END OF THIS POST.
Below is a video reading of 1 Corinthians 15; below that the ESV passage is pasted in so that one might follow along while listening to the reading:
The Resurrection of Christ
1Co 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
1Co 15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
1Co 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
1Co 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1Co 15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
1Co 15:8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
1Co 15:11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
1Co 15:12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
1Co 15:15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
1Co 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1Co 15:19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1Co 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
1Co 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.
1Co 15:28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
1Co 15:29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
1Co 15:30 Why are we in danger every hour?
1Co 15:31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!
1Co 15:32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
1Co 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
1Co 15:34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection Body
1Co 15:35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”
1Co 15:36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
1Co 15:37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
1Co 15:38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
1Co 15:39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
1Co 15:40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.
1Co 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
1Co 15:42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1Co 15:46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
1Co 15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Mystery and Victory
1Co 15:50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
1Co 15:51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
1Co 15:55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Site information for video:
The Holy Bible – 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 ESV, Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
From the YouTube site, ESV Audio Bible, Dramatize Video
Video-page link:https://www.youtube.com/@ESVHolyBible_dramatizeaudio/videos
Playlist-page link:https://www.youtube.com/@ESVHolyBible_dramatizeaudio/playlists
RECOMMENDED STUDY:
*****THE DECLINE OF PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY HAS IMPACTED YOU TODAY [about Machen and why he took a stand against 1300 pastors and Princeton Seminary]
*****GRESHAM MACHEN’S CLASSIC BOOK CHRISTIANITY AND LIBERALISM – LIGONIER MINISTRIES [teachings about what Machen faught against in the church – liberalism]
*****THE DOWNGRADE CONTROVERSY: WHAT IS IT; ITS IMPACT ON THE CURRENT CHURCH: PART 1 [C H Spurgeon’s fight against the liberalism of his day in the late 1800’s]
*****THE WILLOW CREEK MODEL: WE MADE A MISTAKE – BOB BURNEY [the impact of taking consensus and designing church per that instead of God’s word]
https://sheeplywolves.com/the-willow-creek-model-we-made-a-mistake-bob-burney/