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No matter what the world throws at us each day–anxiety, fear, confusion, temptation–we have a choice of how to respond. We can either concede defeat or overcome the forces of evil by putting on the armor of God.
Study Gateway's First Listens: Find your next Bible study! Join host Shelley Leith as she curates first sessions of Bible studies on various themes each season, taught by some of the world’s most influential Christian authors, teachers, and pastors. To learn more, visit https://StudyGateway.com.
First Listens Season 3: Episode 3
Overcomer
By Dr. David Jeremiah
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH: Hi there everyone! Welcome to First Listens! I’m your host, Shelley Leith, and every week I get to bring you first listens of the first sessions on Study Gateway so you can find your next video Bible study.
We’re in Season 3 of First Listens, which is all about the Key Bible Passages Everyone Should Know. In this season, we’re hearing the first sessions of Bible studies on the seminal Scripture passages that are important for every Christian to understand, such as Jeremiah 29:11 (everyone’s favorite verse), the Fruit of the Spirit, the Armor of God, the Sermon on the Mount, the Prodigal Son, the Promises of God, and the Lord’s Prayer. I hope that you’ll enjoy these episodes so much you’ll say, I’ve got to go watch that whole Bible study and learn about the rest of that passage!
Today’s episode is from one of the most powerful Bible teachings we have on Study Gateway – on any subject. Today we’re hearing from master Bible teacher Dr David Jeremiah, and he is teaching on the Armor of God in his study called Overcomer. In this study, Dr. Jeremiah shows us how each part of the armor helps us overcome a powerful force that threatens us:
• the belt of truth overcomes falsehood
• the breastplate of righteousness overcomes evil
• the shoes of the gospel of peace overcomes anxiety
• the shield of faith overcomes fear
• the helmet of salvation overcomes confusion
• the sword of the Spirit overcomes temptation
Let’s join Dr Jeremiah for Episode One, Overcoming Falsehood with Truth.
[MUSIC PLAYING] DR. JEREMIAH: Imagine for a moment that you are living in the time of the apostle, Paul. You and your people, along with the rest of the known world, have lived your entire existence under the rule of a foreign government, the mighty Roman Empire. The customs of these people are different from your own.
They serve many gods and have built their temples in your homeland. They collect taxes from you to build their empire. They install rulers in your land to keep the peace and crush the hint of any rebellion with an iron fist. They allow you to worship the one true God and follow your customs, but it is clear you are living under their rule.
You are reminded of this every day as you walk the streets or visit the market place. On the corner, in every public place, you see the embodiment of this power-- the Roman soldier outfitted in the armor of war. Every piece of gear he wears communicates power and strength.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
You know just by looking at him that he is in control and you are not. When we consider the impression the Roman soldier made on the people of Paul's day, it is little wonder he chose the image when instructing believers on how they need to be equipped to stand against their enemy, the devil.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
Just as the Romans crafted elaborate pieces of armor to protect every part of the soldier in every situation, so believers in Christ need to take up the elaborate armor of God to protect against every strategy and tactic of Satan. Paul's instruction to his readers hold true for us today. I mean, we need to be ready to stand against all attacks.
But how do we do this in a practical way? What does it actually mean to equip each piece of spiritual armor that God provides? This is what we will be discussing during the next six weeks as we walk through Paul's words in Ephesians 6:10 through 6:18.
And as we do, it is my hope you will discover that God has given you everything you need to recognize your enemy, defend against his schemes, and even go on the offense against him. For the truth is that with God on your side, and by equipping the armor he has provided, you can overcome any attack of the enemy.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
As we begin this study, I want you to notice how Paul begins the passage we will be looking at in Ephesians. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Paul is clear that we face a real enemy. And Jesus said, "This enemy does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." John described him as "the deceiver of the whole world." The apostle, Peter, wrote of him, "Your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
As followers of Christ, we're under continual attack from an enemy who wants to destroy our faith, our families, our very way of life. This is why we need the armor of God. We need to be prepared to face the reality of the enemy's opposition with strength. And Paul's challenge to the Ephesians to be strong in the Lord is one we find throughout the Bible.
When God called Joshua to lead the nation of Israel, he told him to be strong and of good courage. And David said to Solomon, "Be strong and of good courage," and "do not fear nor be dismayed." An angel of the Lord said to Daniel, "Oh man, greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong!"
So when we read Paul's words to the Ephesians to be strong, we're not surprised. I mean, this is God's call to action. Logically, we then assume Paul is commanding us to be strong so we can fight. After all, this is a military passage, and military people fight.
But what Paul is calling us to do is to stand. We are not told to fight because Christ has already defeated Satan at the cross. As Paul writes, "In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." God does not call us to be strong to win the battle, but to stand strong in the victory that has already been won. We are not fighting for victory, we're fighting from victory. Paul's instruction is to stand, therefore, in that victory, "having girded our waist with truth."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It may seem strange Paul mentions the belt or girdle first in his list. I mean, the belt was not actually a piece of armor at all. It was a part of the dress of all Romans, whether soldiers or not.
In Paul's day, soldiers wore a tunic, which was a square piece of material with holes for the head and arms. And when a soldier went to fight, he pulled up the corners of his tunic through a belt. This was known as girding your loins. It gave him mobility for combat.
And this is why Paul begins with the belt of truth. Satan's major attack against believers is falsehood. He is the great deceiver.
And Jesus said, "He does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. He is a liar, and the father of it." Satan has been effective in his attacks against God's truth. And today, we live in a culture where people think they can interpret their own individual truths.
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH: Yes, how often do we hear someone say, “I’m living my truth,” or “it might be true for you, but it’s not true for me.” Dr David Jeremiah is helping us see the fallacy of that kind of thinking in this first session from Overcomer, which is published by HarperChristian Resources and it streams on Study Gateway. Study Gateway is a streaming video service, and we’re the only one that has a subscription plan especially for small groups. For our First Listens listeners, we offer you an exclusive rate on our small group plan. When you use the promo code FIRST at studygateway.com, you’ll get a 20% discount on a small group plan for up to 20 people, and that discount lasts for the life of your subscription! And, for a complete experience with Overcomer take advantage of our publisher-direct pricing on the essential Bible study guide designed to be used with the videos. You’ll get the group discussion questions and leader materials, the Scripture text and key ideas, and personal Bible study and reflection exercises to do between sessions. Get all the details at Studygateway.com.
And now, let’s return to Dr Jeremiah. Remember he just said we live in a culture where people think they can interpret their own individual truths. Here’s a story that illustrates how that plays out in our society.
[MUSIC PLAYING] DR. JEREMIAH: It's like an example I heard of three baseball umpires discussing their philosophies of calling pitches. The first umpire says he calls balls and strikes the way they are. The second says he calls them the way he sees them. The third guy says there's no such things as balls and strikes unless he calls them as such.
These umpires represent three ways people decide on what is truth. First is objective truth-- it's there to be discovered. The second is relative truth-- what is truth is based on your perspective. And the third is the postmodern position. It says truth is what you create for yourself.
But truth is not about our perceptions. It corresponds to what actually is. And this is why truth is found in God. When the Bible says, "In the beginning, God--" it defines ultimate reality. God is the self-existent one, the creator of all that exists. He is called "the God of truth." And because Jesus is God, he is justified in his claim to be "the way, the truth, and the life."
The belt of truth holds everything together. It is what fits us for the life of an over-comer. It allows us to pull up and constrain all that encumbers us by the truth that is in Jesus Christ. When we know the truth we can move quickly without always looking over our shoulders. We have confidence and courage to face our enemy and stand against him.
So what are some of the ways to equip the belt of truth and be over-comers? Well, the first is by seeking the truth found in God's word. The Psalmist wrote, "Let the proud be ashamed, for they treated me wrongfully with falsehood. But I will meditate on your precepts."
To do battle with the enemy, we need to know the truth about God, about Christ, and about the Bible. When Jesus encountered Satan in the wilderness, He used the truth of God's word to withstand the enemy's attacks. Each time Satan tempted Jesus he answered, it is written, and then He quoted a passage of scripture.
I think this is a clear call for us to diligently search the word of God. If we were to make the knowledge of God and His word the pursuit of our lives, we would thwart Satan's every effort to divide, deceive, and destroy.
You see, the enemy wants to make us feel discouraged and defeated, downcast and depressed. When these attacks come our way, we had better know how to deal with them from the word of God. The Bible contains promises that will help us fight off the adversity so we can become over-comers. As Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
A second way to equip the belt is by speaking the truth. Many politicians today engage in what is called "spin." They try to reinterpret or retell the truth in a way that makes it more palatable to their constituents. Sometimes they hire public relations advisors, known as "spin doctors" to develop deceptive messages for them. The point of all this is to spin the facts to take the edge off of the truth and make it more politically correct.
But God views this as lying. And he is clear in the Bible on how he feels about it. In Proverbs, we read, "A lying tongue and a false witness who speaks lies are an abomination to God."
We also read, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight." Lying starts a destructive process that is very difficult to stop. Even if the effects of the lies can be stopped or reversed, the reputation of the liar is forever damaged.
And Paul says, "Speaking the truth in love, we grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ." The way we speak truth makes all the difference in the world. We are not just to speak the truth, but to speak the truth in love.
When we speak truth without love, there is no compassion. When we love without speaking the truth, there is no core. But when we learn how to speak and receive the truth in love, we grow up in Christ and overcome the lies of the enemy.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
A final way to equip the belt is by living the truth. If we want to be over-comers, we must be clothed with truthfulness, integrity, and sincerity-- no pretending.
Many of us grew up in church learning how to play church. We learned all the right words to say to make ourselves sound spiritual. We learned all the right actions to take to make ourselves look spiritual. We learned just what to do to meet everybody's expectations. We learned how to pretend.
But when we look at Jesus, we see his life illustrating the power of living the truth. When he appeared before the Jewish leaders at his trial, the entire "council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but they found none." No witnesses could be found to speak against him.
Do you know why? Because they did not have anything they could say against him. He was absolutely everything he had claimed to be.
Later on, when Jesus appeared before Pilate, the Roman governor had to concede, "I find no fault in him at all." And when Jesus hung on the cross, the thief next to him said, "This man has done nothing wrong." Why would he say that? Because he saw the reality of Christ.
And when Christ went to the cross, the Centurion who watched him die said, "Truly this was the Son of God." How did he figure that out? He simply watched him.
In 1 Timothy 1:19, Paul urges us to hold on to "faith and a good conscience." Our conscience is a part of our God-given faculties that tells us what we should do, what we believe to be right, and not to do what we know to be wrong.
Today we need to listen to our conscience. We need to equip the belt of truth every day and in every situation. Rather than cover up and give in to falsehood, we need to open up and ask God to see us and tell us what we are. And as we do this, we will begin to know and love truth at the very core of our being. And we will be on our way to being over-comers in Christ.
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH: I love what Dr Jeremiah said – “rather than cover up and give in to falsehood, we need to open up and ask God to see us and tell us what we are.” That is such an important aspect to the belt of truth that I had not considered before. I hope you enjoyed your first listen to the first session of Overcomer, a video Bible study by Dr David Jeremiah, published by HarperChristian Resources and streaming on Study Gateway. Here at Study Gateway you can find your favorite authors, pastors and Bible teachers, all in one place. We’re the only streaming video subscription service that offers a small group-sized plan, AND has user-based pricing for churches, no matter what the size. And don’t forget, you can use the promo code FIRST to get a 20% savings on a small group plan for the life of your subscription. What does 20% mean to your pocketbook? It means you’re going to save $4/month, so instead of $19.99/month, you’ll pay only 15.99/month for your entire small group of up to 20 people, which works out to only 80 cents per person per month!
With Study Gateway, you also get a direct link to our store, where you get publisher-direct pricing on the essential Bible study guide for Overcomer. The study guide gives you what you need to have a great group experience with watching the videos and discussing them, then you have between-sessions activities to help you dig deeper into the Scriptures and apply them to your life. Is Overcomer going to be your next study? Get started right now by going to studygateway.com, click start free trial, choose the monthly small group plan, and use the promo code FIRST.
Make sure you rate and review this podcast so other people can find this show too. And come back next week for our next episode in the season on Key Bible Passages Everyone Should Know. Our next session is by another renowned Bible teacher, Dallas Willard, and he’s going to talk about what he calls the single most influential talk anyone ever gave, the Sermon on the Mount. See you next time on Study Gateway’s First Listens.
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