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BIBLE TRUTH IN I.C.U

A couple of months ago we had a dark Wednesday here at the Voice of Prophecy the likes of which I hope we don’t repeat anytime soon. One of our workers had a phone call come in that chilled our entire ministry family. “Your dad was struck by a hit-and-run driver,” the message said. “Riverside Community Hospital. You better come right now.”

Well, there was a heart-rending ride from Simi Valley to Riverside, about a two-hour drive. The cell phones were going the whole time, because the victim, a Christian minister, had four sons, and they all had to get to that ICU unit, one driving clear over from Phoenix. They got there, and their dad was hovering between life and death, his heart and lungs so severely traumatized by the blow. And it was such a foul act: from all appearances, an unidentified man had just steered his pickup truck deliberately up onto the sidewalk, hit this quiet, gentle retiree on his regular morning walk, and then sped away unscathed.

For several hours, Ken lingered in ICU, doctors doing their heroic best. But at about 8:40 that evening, he slipped into eternity, and our good friend and fellow worker had to call us and share the devastating news. What a heartbreaking night for everyone, and for groups of Christians all around the world, as the Internet quickly shared the sorrowful headline. This man had been an actor as a kid, appearing in those old black-and-white “Our Gang” comedy pictures, so major newspapers here in the U.S. all had the story.

But what I want to tell you today is this. Ken had a wife who now has to carry on. They were married for 51 years; she was the spouse of a Christian minister. All four sons — get this, because it’s really quite incredible — all four of his sons are preachers in my own Adventist denomination. At the memorial service ten days later — in fact, it was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend — all four got up before a packed church, 1400 friends and supporters, and shared from their hearts about what their dad meant to them, how his ministry would continue, overseas where he had been a missionary, and here in the United States.

And at a time like this, you have to ask yourself: what makes people able to regroup and go on, to have confidence instead of despair, forgiveness instead of bitterness? Friend, borrowing from this wonderful book of Ephesians, and the metaphor of the “full armor of God,” it’s really one thing: the belt of Bible truth.

Paul talks here in chapter six about the reality that Lucifer will attack us. And the onslaught to this grieving family was so overwhelming. Husband gone. Dad killed in a senseless crime. Nine grandkids left bereft of a wonderfully warm, gentle, loving friend. What happened to these people was a satanic attack — just as many of you have endured too, I know. We’ve all been to funerals that hurt deeply. And our struggle . . .

“. . . is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

So these fallen armies come up onto the sidewalk where innocent Christians are going about God’s business, and they attack. They come into our homes. They invade our marriages and our office relationships. And what does the man or woman of God need to do? Paul gives the answer:

“Stand firm then,” he writes, “with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.”

What exactly does this mean, then, as we try to move beyond metaphors and poetry and “cute”? I mentioned how we sometimes read this as a “cute” passage, but poems and Hallmark cards don’t bring back the victim of a hit-and-run. What does it mean here to wear the belt of truth? Friend, it means simply this: we get to know the Bible’s truths, and the Bible’s promises, and the Bible’s plain statements about God’s intentions for this world of sin. We study God’s Word and we pray over it and we build our lives on its promises. When you’re standing at the bedside of a dying father, and the doctors have just told you and your three brothers that within a half an hour, this person you’ve loved will have their fluttering heart rate finally go to zero, I want to tell you something: you had better know where I Thessalonians chapter four is. You better know to go to that page, right then, and read it aloud, through your tears, with your family, and remind yourself that “the dead in Christ will rise.” You better know how to get yourself over to Revelation chapter 21, where it says:

“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

We’ve appreciated so much the Tyndale New Testament Commentary, and here in the Ephesians 6 passage, author Francis Foulkes also refers us to the book, Three Lectures on the Epistles to the Ephesians, by H. L. Goudge. Notice what he writes about this “girdle” or “belt of truth”:

“As ‘the girdle . . . gives ease and freedom of movement,’ so ‘it is the truth which gives this freedom with ourselves, with our neighbors and with God. Lack of perfect sincerity hampers us at every turn.’”

And what he’s saying here is that both KNOWING the truth, and living sincerely BY the truth, gives a person freedom. Instead of a clanky suit of armor which immobilizes a person, the Christian’s armor begins with this comfortable but protective basic article of clothing: the belt or girdle of truth.

Let me share — going back to this hard story — a way this can work. Your loved one has been killed, and the police have no leads. To find this hit-and-run driver would be a “needle-in-a-haystack” miracle, you’re told. Naturally you’re angry; you want to obsess about it, and fantasize about revenge. But you know the truths of the Bible. What does the Word of God say in Romans 12?

“DON’T insist on getting angry,” writes Paul. “That’s not for you to do. ‘I’ll do the judging,’ says God. ‘I’LL TAKE CARE OF IT.’”

Can you see how knowing Bible truth helps set a Christian free? Certainly you continue to have a concern for justice. You want this person found. But you no longer obsess over it; you can get on with your life. What’s more, as you know ALL the truths of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, you come to understand more and more about God Himself. Does He keep His Word? Can we let Him do the judging and the punishing? We can’t really have this liberty, this “ease and freedom of movement” Dr. Goudge wrote about, until we really glimpse the reality of God’s omniscient power. And that when He says, “I’ll take care of it,” He’s able to do so.

You know, just in this one radio series, just in these six chapters of Ephesians, we’ve made some life-changing discoveries. If you’re stuck in some destructive habit like drug abuse or promiscuity, Ephesians 2 has a “belt of truth” for you to wear. If you tend to argue with people from other churches, or look down on all denominations but your own, Ephesians 2 has a “belt of truth” you should try on. If you sometimes are assailed by doubts, and aren’t sure God can be trusted to always keep His promises, then move to Ephesians 3 and ask this sales clerk named Paul to let you try on the “belt of truth” hanging there in chapter 3. If you struggle with pride, or if you have fits of impatience, then there’s a whole rack of good belts in chapter 4. In fact, chapter four is a whole men’s department (women’s wear, too) of belt, belts, and more belts. False-doctrine protection belts. Belts against anger. Belts against a lying tongue. Belts against gossip, and against X-rated conversations. Even belts against belting your neighbor, if you’ll forgive the play on words. And here at the close of chapter 5 and so recently here in the first part of 6, we’ve found wonderfully fitting belts of truth that help husbands and wives forge a powerful team of unity, that help parents raise good kids and kids appreciate good parents.

You know, I didn’t get to attend that sacred memorial service at La Sierra University Church, but when David got up to give his homily, he shared how this special man had, for 72 years, eight months, and one week lived a life that was, as he put it, “perfectly ordered.” God was first. Wife and family and job and friendships and hobbies came after, because God was first. The things of God were first. The truths of God were first. One Bible commentary pointed out that you put on this belt, this article of clothing, FIRST . . . and then all the swords and spears and helmets and shields next. But the truths of God are the first thing we put on, because they protect a man or woman for all eternity, until Resurrection Morning and forever beyond.