Satan's Stragegy to Disarm us of our Breastplate...

Chapter Seventeen:

In order to have this breastplate of righteousness, it must be built upon a sure foundation. Having a heart, that has been changed by God's sanctifying power, is that sure foundation, and our desire to become holy must be the very first brick that is laid upon it.  Being new creatures in Christ, we have developed a new attitude towards sin, the same attitude that God has towards it. Our innermost desire, what motivates us to press on despite any and all obstacles, is our commitment to become more like Christ.

When we walk and live in holiness, making it clear we intend to live godly in Christ Jesus, we have openly declared our allegiance to God alone. It is by our wearing our breastplate of righteousness, the righteousness that is given to us by way of Christ's atonement from our sins, that shows we are openly defiant against the ruler of this world, Satan. 

Satan hates that believers have the ability to walk holy before God and with God. Walking in holiness can bring peace to our troubled hearts, and the times of temptation that Satan so enjoys stirring up within us can be quickly brought to an end when we bring our thoughts and actions into line with God's Word. Satan sees the positive influence believers have on those around them, and this angers him greatly.   

                             

He watches believers live out their lives before the unrighteous. He sees a chosen people who are showing by the way they live that they don't have to be under his control. By watching us choosing to shun even the appearance of doing evil, those who don't know God see what it is like to live with a clear conscience, something many of them can never hope to achieve. Satan hates it when nonbelievers watch our godly conduct, as we have been given the ability, through Christ and prayer, to walk away from sin, rather than being  tied to it by its shackles. 

And they see that true followers of Christ are quick to mourn over those sins that they do commit. Unbelievers are repeatedly reminded that they lack the power to keep a tight reign over their corrupt hearts. But Satan doesn't just sit back and remain satisfied with those who still follow him. He has an all-consuming fury that drives him to try to bring all believers back under his control and so he goes after their armor, particularly the breastplate.  So, how does he try to disarm us of our breastplate of righteousness?  

Gurnall warns us that Satan will try to disarm us of our breastplate by trying to set up several traps, in the hope that we will fall into one of them. The first trap he tries to set is to convince us that by walking in holiness we are depriving ourselves of the pleasures of life. He'll try to convince us that by living a life of holiness and following God, we will be living a bleak, joyless life. Given how the world is so caught up in enjoying all types of pleasure, it can be easy to feel as if we are somehow missing out. 

However, if we look at the enticement of these pleasures, they are usually sought after as a way to make one's self feel better, to help escape the emptiness that one feels that is the result of living for self, and are temporary and fleeting in their ability to satisfy.  What Satan can't understand is the joy that comes from following God and being in His presence. Our developing a closer walk with God and becoming more like Christ has a joy that no pleasure in this world can replace. However, we need to be on guard as our desire to enjoy the carnal pleasures of this life, even if for a brief moment, has the potential to undermine the very strength of our breastplate.

The second trap is that Satan will try is to convince us that in living a righteous life we lose any chance of being prosperous. If you want to live a holy life, God will make you give up everything you own, all your wealth, even your place of position that you have worked so hard to attain is what this deceiver will say.  Satan's lie is that only by living in poverty do we show that we are truly God's children.  Sadly, some erroneous Christian prosperity teachings of the past few decades have not helped in defeating this lie, but have actually helped fuel it. 

Many believers have been convinced by false teachers within the Church that God does want them to live big, affluent lives and if they're not living that way, then it's evidence they don't have enough faith.  Both of these views are lies. God has no problem with our owning possessions, it's when our possessions own us that He finds fault. He gives wealth so that we can help others and promote the spread of the Gospel. He doesn't demand we live in poverty. As a loving Father, He wants to make sure our needs are met.  The difficulty comes when we feel we deserve or want more than we possess, which can lead to envy, jealousy, dissatisfaction and strife. 

The third trap that Satan will try to use is the fact that we will face persecution from the world if we insist on living holy, righteous lives. Christ warned us that if He suffered persecution then those who follow Him would also face persecution.  And we have seen it play out, not only in times past but in today's world, particularly in certain parts of the world. Satan tries to convince us that we will lose our friends, the respect of our neighbors and family if we take this Christian thing too far. Satan is fine if we keep our walk with Christ hidden away from the view of the public, and we're not very serious about it,  but he gets irate when we openly live it out in view of all to see.

And our challenging and encouraging others to develop a stronger walk with God is despicable in his eyes. He wants us to cower, to be afraid of sharing our faith with others and letting others see that they, too, can have a close walk with God.  Given many of us have a tendency to worry about what others think, he will try to use that to deter us from being open about our faith. He would rather we worry about what others think about us rather than our focusing solely upon God's opinion of us. He will try to use fear, worry and the concern about being persecuted to cause us to stumble .

The last trap that Gurnall brings to our attention is Satan's trying to get us to fall back on believing that our own good works, good deeds and clean living is what will actually get us into Heaven. He wants us to downplay the necessity of Christ's having to die for our sins. Be assured that Satan will do everything He can to try to get us to revert to walking by our own self-righteousness.  Satan loves it when we walk in self-righteousness, as it immediately makes our breastplate vulnerable.

Gurnall warns us, "This quarrel will never end as long as Satan is around to persecute those who live godly lives (Second Timothy 3:12). Our godliness is the target at which Satan levels his arrows. ...He considers it a triumph if he can strip away our armor and bribe us away from steadfastly holding to our holiness."  

We must also be sure to walk by unselfish motives. If we allow our carnal nature to raise its ugly head, even for an instant, our sense of self-righteousness can have us believing we have this grand breastplate because of our own, difficult hard work. Self congratulations and boasting soon follow the one that believes he has somehow contributed to his ability to walk holy before God and man.

Knowing that Satan desires to cause our breastplate to lose its strength and vitality, what is a believer to do?  We must determine to live a holy life, while being aware of Satan trying to set the aforementioned traps.  Knowing that his sole purpose is to destroy our walk with God and the positive influence we have for His Kingdom, we must make sure that our breastplate is kept securely attached and capable of deflecting any blows. If we ever need to remind ourselves as to what it means to walk holy, all we need to do is look at our finest example, Jesus. The Apostle Paul reminded us how we should walk when he said in First Corinthians 11:1, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." He knew that Christ is the example we must follow. 

Gurnall warns us, "Your holiness is what the devil wants to steal from you. He calls no gain victory until he makes a Christian lose his righteousness. And he will allow a man to have anything, or be anything, rather than be truly and powerfully holy. It is not your riches and worldly pleasures he covets, it is your holiness....And the lifeblood of holiness is what this hellish murderer hungers to drain from the Christian's heart...It is not the name but the new nature itself which brings this lion out of his den."   Do not allow Him to steal from you that which cost Christ His life to attain.   Your breastplate of righteousness is that important!

The Breastplate of Righteousness...

Chapter Sixteen:

The second piece of the armor that Gurnall discusses is the breastplate , and the "metal" it is made of is righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). Our righteousness must come from God alone as it is very easy for us to feel righteous in our own right.  In fact, Martin Luther said he scarcely ever preached a sermon without preaching against the righteousness of man, and yet, he said, “I find that I still cannot preach it down. Still men will boast in what they can do, and mistake the path to heaven to be a road paved by their own merits, and not a way besprinkled by the blood of the atonement of Jesus Christ.”  As you can see, it is so very important that we not look at our own self righteousness and what we can do, but to look at the righteousness that comes from Christ alone.  Romans 3:10 tells us, "There is none righteous, no, not one."  In God's eyes "...all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).  No matter how good we think we are, or what pure lives we think we live, it is nothing more than filthy rags in the sight of God.

Gurnall tells us that our righteousness from God is two-fold, it is imputed and imparted.  Imputed righteousness refers to what Christ did for the believer, the justification we have because of His sacrifice which allows us to stand righteous before God.  Imparted righteousness, however, refers to the ongoing righteousness that we are told to seek after, as Christ continues to work in us, as we walk with Him and grow to be more like Him.  As Gurnall points out, "The righteousness therefore which is compared to the breastplate here is the righteousness of sanctification imparted by Christ into the spirit of the believer. This gift is a supernatural principle of life planted in the heart of every child of God by the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit. It is the only way we can perform what His Word requires us."

The purpose of the breastplate in war is to protect the vital organs of the soldier, as a wound to the heart is more dangerous than to another part of the body. The critical parts of a soldier, his soul and conscience, are protected by righteousness and holiness. Gurnall tells us that "Righteousness and holiness are God's protection to defend the believer's conscience from all wounds inflicted by sin." This breastplate also gives the soldier a sense of boldness as he ventures out to the front lines. Our knowing we are in right standing with God gives us the courage we need in the face of danger. Our righteousness is our breastplate, which symbolizes our ability to withstand the temptations of Satan to sin and to become a righteous (holy, set apart) person for God. It's crucial that there be a strong alliance between truth and holiness, and that this alliance must work together in order for the breastplate to sufficiently protect us. 

 

 

After we have received Christ, the Holy Spirit begins to work with us, leading us toward a sweet and powerful disposition that inclines us toward holiness (Romans 8:14). This is what helps us to walk in God's righteousness and not our old, selfish sense of self-righteousness. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:9 that we have not the Spirit of Christ if we are in the flesh, in an unholy lifestyle, and we cannot be His if we have not the Spirit to sanctify us (dedicate us).  There are also many who pretend to be dedicated to God but are not. God will not accept any except those who Christ prays that His Father will accept.
 

We must walk with truth and holiness strongly linked to one another if our breastplate is to remain strong.  We cannot pretend to be sincere and yet live unholy lives. In order to reach the worthy end of all our actions, which is the glory of God, we must walk in sincerity and do so by following the path His Word sets before us.  It is absolutely necessary that every believer keeps on their breastplate of righteousness. If we intend to be a Christian, we must keep the power of holiness and righteousness in not only our lives, but in our conduct. "Holiness and righteousness is the sincere man's path, mapped out by God Himself as the causeway on which he is to travel, both to glory God and to be glorified in Him. Anyone who tries to take a shortcut is opening himself up to pain and defeat. If he finds a new way of glorifying God, which God has not charted, then he must find a new heaven which God has not prepared!" warns Gurnall.

We can only maintain holiness by living it out in our daily lives. We cannot allow negligence or presumptuous sin to loosen our breastplate. In the early days of Christianity a believer was set apart from worldly people by his consistent holy walk before God. We read of Zacharias and Elisabeth being both righteous before God and walking blameless before man (Luke 1:6).      Acts 24:16 tells us of Paul's daily diligence, " So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." It should be our earnest desire to walk before God as they did, and follow their example of walking before God and men in holiness and righteousness. 

Our attitude needs to be not our will, but God's will be done. If we are to be reliable soldiers, God must know that if we are properly attired in the armor He provides, that He can depend upon us to carry out His wishes. We can have no personal ambitions and our sole purpose must be to find and do "...the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2b). As Gurnall tells us, "It took the death of Christ to restore to us the ability to walk in holiness. It was man's lost holiness Christ came to recover. Neither God's Glory nor man's happiness could be attained until this holiness was restored. As God is glorious in the holiness of His own nature and works, so He is glorified by the holiness of His people's hearts...When's man's carnal nature bows to the influence of sin, can he give God glory and defy Him at the same time? If Christ's purpose had been merely to forgive man but not to restore his holiness, man would have unrestrained freedom to dishonor God," says Gurnall.  

The Apostle Paul brought a heavy charge against unholy persons in that "they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." (Philippians 3:18). A loose Christian, if indeed he can be called a true believer, denies the Lord that bought him and gravitates to his old bondage from which Christ ransomed him. It is only if we allow God to exchange our hearts of stone for hearts of flesh that we are made righteous and have the right to wear His breastplate of righeousness. We need to remember that we live in a holy temple, and we cannot act otherwise. As believers we are considered being consecrated (dedicated) to God and we cannot allow our sinful, natural state of carnality to rob us of the glory that God wants to give us and to which we are indebted to Him. The Holy Spirit has set us apart and in doing so gives us new life from God, and that life has to be walked out in righteousness and holiness. 

The Apostle Paul blamed the Corinthians for living below their calling, like men of the world, in corrupt passions. First Corinthians 3:3 explained their behavior, "... for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?"  We need to look to God's Word for the food that we need to nourish the holiness that God desires to reside within us, and must reside within us if we want our breastplate to protect us. 

If we truly want our breastplate to protect us, we must walk in truth and holiness. When you put on the breastplate of righteousness through faith in Christ, it symbolizes that you are protected by the righteousness of Christ.  But, protected from what? From the accusations of Satan before God about your sin, your faithless life, your faults, your lack of commitment. Satan is the “accuser of (the) brethren” (Revelation 12:10).  In the next chapter, we will look at how Satan tries to disarm us of our breastplate of righteousness.

How we Damage our Belt of Truth...

Chapter Fifteen:

After Gurnall tells us what the belt of truth means for us as believers, he goes on to instruct us that it can be damaged, sometimes, beyond repair. And the culprit behind this is hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy is defined as:  the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform;  one acting or pretending to hold certain beliefs. Hypocrisy is always at odds with truth, and a divided heart is the mark of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is very serious in God's eyes and He will not tolerate it. And any hypocrisy that separates us from the truth that is found in God's Word is found despicable in His eyes.

In this section, Gurnall is particularly hard on those who are evangelists, preachers and others who hold a place of leadership within the Church. They speak into people's lives, but not out of a heart of concern and love, but from a heart of hypocrisy. They pretend to be concerned believers but have selfish motives for all that they do.  Gurnall says of those who hold places of responsibility within the Church but are hypocrites, people pretending to be something they are not, " The abomination of hypocrisy lies in the fact that it walks around in spiritual robes and claims a personal relationship with God...Woe to the man who dishonors God under the name of honoring Him."  Pray that if you are in a position of leadership and influence that you are not found to be a hypocrite!      

However, as the majority of those reading this blog are not in those types of positions, we will look at how a believer needs to carefully, and prayerfully, search their own hearts to see whether any hypocrisy is to be found there. It is important to remember that while we may fool other people into thinking we are one way, God is not fooled.  God looks upon the heart, not the outward appearance.

The best way to identify hypocrisy is to look at how it conducts itself. For example, we are being hypocritical when during a religious service by way of our behavior or words we try to look like we are more earnest than those around us.  Or maybe we casually tell another how much we donated to the church as our desire is to impress them. Or we yield to temptation that we can commit in secret, thinking we are safe from sight.   These are just a few examples, but at the root of it all the hypocrite is driven by selfish motives, the desire to build a reputation, and enjoy what this world has to offer. While they profess to know God, by the way they talk and live, they deny Him. They will be among the ones to which the Lord says, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:23).  

Unfortunately a hypocrite does much more damage to the Church than he does to himself. It is the accusers of Christianity who are quick to point out a hypocrite within a church, and then reason that the whole group of believers are just like him. What the hypocrite doesn't realize is the damage he is doing is not only to himself and his local Church, but to God's reputation and Honor, and God will not allow that. When we act the hypocrite, we are mocking God, but God will not be mocked.  God will unmask those who are hypocrites in order to protect not only His name, but also His children. There is no hiding from God when hypocrisy lives in our hearts.  

And, sadly, hypocrisy can reside in our hearts and we may not even realize it. That is why it is so important that we pray and ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light on any areas within us that are hypocritical.  Thankfully God does not want us to retain any degree of hypocrisy, so in His mercy He has provided a remedy. There is an antidote for hypocrisy, and that is sincerity.  Sincerity is that quality of being free from pretense or deceit. We are open to being known for who we truly are, as humility and honesty are close friends with sincerity. And our motivation for doing or saying something comes from a transparent heart.  Gurnall tells us, "If you wonder whether or not you are sincere, consider this: do you have a new heart?  Has God ever cast you into His furnace? Has His Word, like fire, taken hold on you and refined your impure spirit so the unbelief, pride, and hypocrisy have been made visible and been separated like dross from gold? Only then are you free to sever sin from your soul and confess what a wretched person you have been, even though your spiritual condition appeared attractive in man's eye."

A sincere heart is a simple heart. It has no pretenses, and it takes keeping itself unblemished very seriously. Besides self searching in a diligent way, the sincere heart, when confronted with clear evidence, is ready to pronounce judgment upon itself. It forgets self-pity, lets conscience have free rein, and will not be put off by sentiment.  It knows the hypocrisy that has lived there in the past and has determined that it will not live there again. It sets a keen eye out for the slightest hint that hypocrisy is trying to return and sends it swiftly on its way. It will not make excuses so that even a little hypocrisy is allowed to make its home there again. A sincere heart is a heart that is honest with itself about what evil it's capable of returning to, and seeks God's help to keep it ruled by sincerity.  Walk by sincerity and you will surely guard your heart!

It is possible to be a genuinely sincere believer, but the enemy may try to get us to question ourselves. If he does, remind him that if there is any hypocrisy in you that your Heavenly Father loves you enough to show it to you. And as Gurnall reminds us, "Do you think that if your heart were really deceitful he would bother you like this? He never sends troops into a territory unless an enemy is there to offend him. Hypocritical prayers do not bother him any more than no prayer at all. And neither is he kind enough to tell hypocrites about the insincerity in their hearts."  

Know that if you truly desire to be rid of all hypocrisy, then that itself is a good indicator that you are on the right path. If you have prayed and examined your conscience and found hypocrisy to be lurking there, take heart,  as there is an answer.  God does not show us things about ourselves only to leave us to our own devices.  This isn't something that can be dealt with at a later time, or in a lighter manner other than driving a nail straight into its heart. "Hypocrisy seems like a minor eruption on the surface but is one of the hardest wounds to heal because it is hard to find the bottom of it. Your will might promise never to lie or deceive again; but it is an easy thing to be cheated by your intentions: 'He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool' (Proverbs 28:26)," warns Gurnall.   After all, hypocrisy is a very serious thing indeed if it can damage our belt of truth and, as such, it needs to be dealt with sternly if we are to vanquish it.

If you are sincere with God in your request, He will grant it. Just as hypocrisy has the potential to destroy a believer's walk, sincerity brings it strength. Our spirits are strengthened and we are kept safe above all dangers. It is sincere faith which is strong faith, sincere love which is the mighty love. Sincerity keeps our soul pure in the face of temptation and lifts us out of sin. The sincere person doesn't try to hide from God. 

We need to come to terms with the fact that we don't have the ability ourselves to remove deception without the help of The Great Physican. Only God can cure sin, and if you admit you need His help, He is quick to come to your side and help. If you are truly sincere in asking for help, He won't turn you away. The singular thing to ask yourself is simply this, what is your true motive? If it is to clear your conscience, then The Great Physician has nothing to offer. But if it is to truly kill this enemy of truth that resides within your heart, then God has all you need. We must remember that it is God alone who holds us and gives us the strength to walk in sincerity. It is His strength that helps us keep our belt of truth strong.

As was brought to our attention at the very beginning of this blog, the armor is not something we  physically put on, it's something we inwardly become.  I'm sure that by now you're beginning to understand that by walking in sincerity to the best we can, and putting away hypocrisy as soon as it shows itself in our lives, is how we acquire our belt of truth. 

In the next chapter, we will look at the breastplate of righteousness, which needs to attach itself to the belt of truth that we have, the truth that's guarding our minds and spirit continually.

The Belt of Truth...

Chapter Fourteen:

The first piece of armor that is listed in Ephesians 6: 14 is the belt of truth; it reads, "... having your loins girt (secured) about with truth".  Many believers have been taught that the belt was listed first as it was necessary to be put on first, it was the foundational part of the armor to which most of the other parts were attached.  Gurnall has us look at it differently. He focused on the significance of the belt being comprised of "truth", and he believed that truth, itself, is what is needed to hold one's armor together. 

He also clarified what he felt was meant by loins.  In First Peter 1:13 we're told to "...gird up the loins of your mind".  Our loins refer to not only our mind, but also our spirit, both of which wear this belt of truth. Our minds and our spirit must be securely connected to truth.  Gurnall felt that it was very important for every believer, every soldier, to understand the importance of truth being the foundation upon which all the other parts of the armor are secured.

Before I had read Gurnall's teaching on the belt of truth, I thought it meant that we needed to be confident that we believed in the Scriptures, that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. If we did, then we believed in the truth. While this is accurate, Gurnall goes on to challenge us to ask ourselves how we've arrived at what we believe to be the truth, and to judge ourselves to see if we are rooted strongly enough in truth so that nothing can move us. Is our truth truly grounded in God's Word or have we mixed in other ideas to come up with our own version of truth? As the only way to defend ourselves against our enemy is to be deeply rooted in truth, we need to be certain of the truth on which we stand.  We need to understand the necessity of being unshakeable when it comes to standing for the truth.

Gurnall gives us several reasons as to why we need to be firm in what we believe to be the truth.  First, so that we are protected from false doctrines/teachings that have the potential to cause us to walk away from truth, and thus the narrow path that leads to Heaven.  Satan's most powerful tool he can use against a believer is to have us believe false teachings so as to separate us from the powerful truths that we find in the Scriptures.

Since Satan comes to us skillfully concealed in false teachers in order to deceive us in the hope that we will trade truth for error, we must strengthen our ability to discern. In Second Timothy 3:7, the apostle describes the victims of sorcerers as people who are "ever learning" but "never coming to the knowledge of the truth." But to faithful Timothy Paul says, "But thou has fully known my doctrine."  It is as if he had said to Timothy, "I am not worried about you - you are too fully persuaded to be cheated out of the gospel now."

Gurnall believes that there are three types of people who are easily led away from the truth. The first person is one who is seduced by pleasing words and convincing speeches (Romans 16:18). This person means well but lacks the necessary discernment to tell an honest person from a trickster.  The second person is one who has never grown in the Word, has remained a child who continues to need to be fed milk rather than spiritual meat.  He is swayed by the slightest suggestion as he doesn't know enough of the Word of God with which to test what he's  been told.  The third person is the one who is spiritually unstable. False teachers are successful in misleading unstable souls, those whose understanding is not solidly anchored in the Word. They are at the mercy of the wind and drift further down the stream of what's the fashionable and acceptable trend of the times.

The second reason is so that we remain steadfast in the truth. We must make sure that we have an obedient heart otherwise our judgment can become questionable. We must embrace truth with an attitude of sincerity.  As we must live by our own faith, and not another's, it is necessary that we see the truth with our own eyes.  The truth we stand upon must not come from man, but from the Word of God. God believed it so important that we be established in truth that He gave us the Scriptures so that we can learn for ourselves how He would have us live. 

 Humility will help us stay on the path of truth. Gurnall warns us, "Pride can make you a stranger at the throne of grace and turn humble praying for truth into ambitious arguments....What we have (received) from God we cannot keep without Him. Cherish your closeness with Him or truth will not keep her intimacy with you very long. God is light, but you head for darkness as soon as pride suggests that you turn your back on Him."

The third, and possibly most important reason, is so that we can stand up to persecution. Satan tries to use persecution in order to separate us from truth through the fear of danger or even death. Truth is always being challenged, and we need to courageously profess it. "A person becomes unconquerable when he's empowered with a holy boldness from heaven to draw forth the sword of the Spirit....  Paul encouraged us in Hebrews 10:23, 'Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.' He was speaking to those who were avoiding assembling together with saints for fear of persecution, and he believed men who staggered spiritually like this stood next door to apostasy."  We are not to abandon our profession of faith (First Timothy 6:12). We are to put our lives on the line to keep it.  If we are Christians in our hearts, we must also be willing to profess it with our mouths.

Gurnall tells us "Truth is the great treasure which God delivers to His saints with serious instruction to keep it against all that try to undermine it. Some things we trust God with and some He trusts us with. The most important thing which we put into God's hand to be kept for us is our soul: 'He is able to keep that which I have committed upon him against that day' (Second Timothy 1:12). And God trusts us with His truth: 'Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints' (Jude 3)."  We must always be ready for persecution, as it lurks in the hearts of the unrighteous, those who deny God's truth.  

We must develop hearts that are not only aflame with love for the truth but are conformed to the truth. A heart that loves this world cannot have true love for the truth. Truth will transform us by the renewing of our mind and we'll bear fruit,  the result of our having the new nature which the Spirit of God has formed within us. Pray and ask God to give you a love for the truth, His truth. We must let our hearts be continually filled with the love of God, as this will help us develop a love for the truth within us. We must meditate on the qualities of truth, it's purity, and its ability to provide freedom and victory to all who seek it. Pray and ask Him to show you the truth so that you'll find freedom and victory for those areas that still have a hold of you.  We are promised in His Word, in John 8:32 that, "... you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

In chapter fifteen, we will look at the main enemy of truth, that being hypocrisy. Gurnall calls all of us to do a search of our hearts to see to what degree it dwells within us.  It can do serious damage to our belt of truth, and as a result, sabotage the effectiveness of all of our armor.