The Belt of Truth

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Well, I invite you to turn with me again to Ephesians 6. We're dealing with the passage that addresses the armor of God. And you know, it's appropriate on this Sunday as we celebrate Reformation Sunday that we'd be looking specifically at a piece of armor that deals with the truth of God.

Most of us here this morning have never worn body armor, but for policemen and soldiers, it is absolutely crucial to their preservation and safety. Today there are primarily two types of body armor that protect men and women who serve. One was first developed in the 1960's. It's an advanced fiber, woven fiber, commonly known as Kevlar. The other type that, one of the types of armor that the soldiers use in the military is hardened ceramic plates that are inserted into a soldier's vest before and behind.

But because munitions and bullets continue to advance, the military is always looking to create a better body armor. Right now, scientists around the world are desperately working on the next generation of materials that will be used. In fact, I read this week that scientists at M.I.T. are currently working on a rather interesting kind of body armor, a liquid body armor – essentially a pouch-filled clothing would be filled with this liquid. The fluid consists of small iron particles suspended in a silicone oil. When a magnetic field or electrical current is applied to that fluid, it transforms in milliseconds from a fluid to a solid. The current causes, and I'm about to tell you something I don't understand, but the current causes the iron particles to stack up on top of each other in that fluid, and it creates in a millisecond or in milliseconds an impenetrable shield.

Apparently, it would even be equipped with a kind of radar that would sense a ballistic threat and electric current would flow through this fluid-filled outfit, and immediately it would become an impenetrable shield. Another group of M.I.T. scientists are trying to build a body armor built on the same principle as fish scales. That ought to be interesting to see.

But whatever it might be, there will be, for our soldiers in the future, a better armor. As Christians, we have already access to a spiritual armor that has worked successfully for Christians like us for two thousand years. And rightly understood and rightly put on, it will work successfully for us throughout our lifetimes in warding off Satan's attacks. But tragically, most Christians have no idea of the armor that is truly available to them or what to do with it or how to put it on.

Paul explains though for us in Ephesians 6 and as he explains, he gives us a straightforward command. Put it on, he says. Put on this armor. This is what we need to learn how to do because Paul promises us here that it will guard us; it will protect us; it will enable us to stand firm. Let me read for you again Ephesians 6:10, the section begins, and the paragraph really runs down through verse 20, but I'm going to read just through verse 14.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH….

Paul wanted the Ephesian Christians, and he wants us, to understand that we are in a war. The Christian life is a constant war, and it will be a war until you die, or Christ returns. It's a war not only against our own flesh, but here we're told it's a war against hostile, demonic forces. We don't usually think of our lives that way. We don't think of there being people, entities, beings, who hate us and are trying to do us harm, but that is exactly the reality Paul describes here. And in this war, we can only stand firm against the relentless attacks in the strength of Christ and with His armor. Notice in verse 10, "… be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (how? Verse 11). Put on the full armor of God (and why do we need this?) so that (verse 11 says) you will be able to stand firm against the schemes (or the tactics, the strategies) of the devil."

Now what are his most lethal schemes? We studied that some time ago, but let me just remind you. There are primarily three of them.

He attacks the Word of God – that is, the truthfulness of it, the sufficiency of it, our obedience to it.

He intimidates with fear and persecution.

And thirdly, he seduces with a stream of personal temptations - external temptations that appeal to our own fallen flesh.

Verse 12 tells us that Satan carries out these strategies, these tactics, through an army of demons. And so, verse 13 reiterates that we better take up or put on the armor of God. Paul's point here is that the enemy we fight every day in hand-to-hand combat – that's the idea between the word, behind the word "struggle" in verse 12 – that enemy we fight in our thoughts and in our minds is too powerful for us. No amount of effort on my part will make me successful. I can only stand strong in Christ's own strength.

The sixty-four-million-dollar question is how. How can I receive Christ's own strength? Paul answers that question in the form of an extended metaphor using soldiers' armor. We can only be strong with Christ's strength when we put on what he calls here the full armor of God, whatever that means, and we're about to begin to see that unfold. So, a couple of weeks ago, we began to examine verses 14 - 17 and the details about the armor itself. This is really the second part of the passage. And here Paul tells us that if we're going to be successful in the war for our souls, we must put on God's armor, put on God's armor.

Now last time as we began this section, we made some general observations about this armor. And I'm not going to go through these in detail, but let me just briefly remind you of them. If you weren't here and you need to get up to speed, you can go back and listen.

But some general observations about this armor – first of all, we observed that there is an intentional order in how he presents the armor, and we'll see that even beginning today.

Secondly, the metaphor is flexible. In other words, it's not so much that a particular piece of armor has to be linked to a particular spiritual reality. In other places, he mixes those around. The main point here is that all of these spiritual realities are essential to our spiritual protection. Together, they make up the armor that protects us from Satan's tactics.

A third observation we made is that Paul's illustration of this armor comes from two sources. It comes from the Roman soldiers that he had seen. In fact, he may have at this very moment been chained to one. He writes Ephesians while he is in prison in his own rented quarters, the end of Acts tells us. During those two years, that's when he writes this book. So, he may have been actually chained to one or at the very least, there was one either standing before him there at the door of the entrance to his own rented quarters or standing just outside and with whom he interacted often.

The second source of the illustration comes not only from the Roman soldier he interacted with, but from the Old Testament. As you can see in the English text, verses 14 - 17, a number of those words are in all capitals. That means they're taken from the Old Testament, specifically from Isaiah.

Fourthly, we observed that it's the armor of God. It comes to us from God, and it is God's own personal armor. Specifically in light of the Isaiah passages, it's the own, it's the personal armor of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity.

The fifth general observation we made is that whatever this means, the meaning of the metaphor of armor must be interpreted consistent with the context. That means whatever the armor is, it has to be Christ's strength given to us (verse 10); it can't be our own resources. It must protect us from all the tactics of the devil (verse 11). And it must be able to protect us from the power of supernatural forces (verse 12). What's going on here?

Paul, as he's sitting there, looks at the soldier chained next to him or across the room at the door of his own rented quarters, and as he sees that soldier and the pieces of armor on that soldier, his mind apparently goes back to the pieces of armor that in the Old Testament passages in Isaiah are described as Jesus' own personal armor. And there as he sees this through the work of the Spirit, it occurs to Paul that we are engaged in a battle against Satan, and our only hope for winning is if we actually put on Jesus' own personal armor.

We ended our last time by making this conclusion. Jesus' personal armor refers to objective truths about Jesus or acts He has done that we have to understand and apply. In other words, it's not something that's true about us. It's not something we are. It's not our righteousness. It's not our truth. It's not our gospel. It's something He is and that He has done that we need to understand and apply to our lives. That's our armor. It's understanding truth and applying it.

Now with that background in mind, I want us today to begin to look at the specific pieces and specifically at an explanation of the armor piece by piece. Now the first piece, and this is all we'll look at today, is the belt of truth, the belt of truth. Look at verse 14. "Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth."

Now to really understand this, you have to have a picture of the Roman soldier. So let me describe it to you because this was one of the sources I think of this metaphor. The main article of clothing for a Roman soldier was a one-piece tunic that covered his body. It was usually made either from wool or from wool and linen. Sometimes it was left its natural off-white color. Other times it was dyed red. You've probably seen both represented in pictures or in movies and various things. This outer tunic, this tunic that he wore as the foundation for everything else, was sewn kind of like a key bag - a hole in the bottom of course so his body could fit into it and then with simple slots at the head and the arms.

In modern terms, think of this like a one-piece dress that's pulled on over the head. If a soldier was resting or was away from the front lines and danger, then typically the soldier would simply let this tunic just hang freely on his body. The soldier's tunic would typically hang freely to just below his knees. By the way, the civilians' clothes often went lower, even down to the ankles. And so, you read about them gathering their robes, their long-flowing robes, and sticking them in the sash that bound it all together. But for a soldier, it was a little shorter. It hung a little shorter before he did anything because of the nature of what he did.

When a soldier started to prepare for battle, the very first piece of armor that he would put on was a belt. In Latin, it was called the "cingulum". It was made of leather or metal or often a combination of both. And I've seen pictures of them, actual artifacts that have been recovered and they were very ornately carved. This was a special piece of equipment that was a treasure to that soldier and there was a lot of flexibility in what it could look like, the marks it could bear – very ornate.

What was the function of this belt? Well, there were actually several functions for this belt for the soldier. The flowing cloth of his tunic actually hung too low to do serious work or for marching and certainly for battle. His legs would be restricted by the cloth. And so, in order to prepare for battle, the first piece of armor was this belt, and it was used to cinch up the tunic, to hike up the tunic. The soldier would put on the belt, and then underneath the belt, he would pull the tunic up through the belt. When the tunic was the right height, he would cinch the belt tight, and it would hold it at that height. So, when he was done, the soldier's tunic then would, would hang several inches above the knee. That allowed his movements in battle not to be restricted in any way. He could now run. He could climb without the tunic getting caught on anything, without it becoming a restriction of any kind. This was called girding up your loins.

By the way, this was referred to even in civilian life. If you were to look, and we won't turn there, but if you were to look at Luke 12:35, 1 Peter 1:13, you look at the marginal reading in the NAS, and it'll tell you that in both cases it's translating something like "gird up your loins". It meant taking, in the civilian's case, the long flowing robe, pulling it up and tucking it into the sash. In the soldier's case, it meant putting on the belt, pulling the tunic up through it and then cinching it down where the tunic was at the right height for action.

In addition, on this belt, hanging off of this belt, would have been a small scabbard with a little dagger. Typically, it hung on the left side of the Roman soldier and his larger sword on the right. By the way, this dagger isn't mentioned here by Paul in the text, but it was typical for a Roman soldier to carry it on his left side. It was used as a knife, and only in the most desperate of situations used as a weapon to defend himself.

Also hanging down from this belt that's cinching up the tunic, off of this belt and clinging to it would have been a series of leather straps about twelve inches in length and somewhere between three quarters of an inch and an inch in width. These leather straps would hang down about a foot and attached to them typically were little round coin-looking pieces of brass or tin. And sometimes these leather straps hung only in the front to protect the groin area. Other times, they covered the entire lower body from the waist down about twelve inches. You've probably again seen drawings or pictures of both.

In addition, this belt served another purpose. After it was on, the tunic was cinched up, comes the breastplate. We'll talk about that Lord willing next week. Often the bottom of the breastplate would be attached to the belt. It helped hold the breastplate in place as well. It was the anchor point for the rest of the armor.

This was the Roman soldier's belt. Paul says if you and I as Christians are going to prepare for the battle with Satan and his forces, we must begin also by putting on a belt. That's the first piece of armor. Look at verse 14, "Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth", having put on the belt of truth.

Now what does Paul mean here by truth? That's a key question. Some have taken this to mean the believer's own truthfulness or integrity or sincerity. You need to be sincere in the faith and that will help ward Satan's attacks off. There are men I love and appreciate who take that view. I can't go there. I can't believe that because that is no protection against Satan's attacks. If you doubt that, look at some of the most righteous men in Scripture, and you see that it's not.

In addition to that, I think you have to look at the context of Ephesians. How has Paul used the word "truth" in the book? Let me show you. Turn back to chapter 1 and look at verse 13. As he ends that great doxology of praise in chapter 1, in verse 13, he says, "In Christ, you also, after listening to the message of truth, (and what exactly is this message of truth? It is) the gospel of your salvation." It's the good news that brought you salvation. There clearly the truth is a reference to God's truth and specifically, the truth of God as recorded in or as found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This same trend continues in the next passage. Look over in Ephesians 4, the next time the word "truth" occurs in this book. We'll start in verse 14. Paul has just explained that, how the church is to function. Gifted men have been given by Christ to the church. They teach the saints. They train them, equip them, to do the work of service. The saints do the work of service. And when all of that happens, the church is built up (verse 13) into "the fullness of Christ. As a result (of that whole process working, verse 14), we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming."

In other words, he's saying stop being children and grow up. That happens, he says, when the church is functioning like it ought to function. And how are children described? Well, here in verse 14, they're described as those who are easily tricked, and in this case, by false teaching, by Satan's schemes, using false teachers to bring them this way and that. Some new teaching comes, and they go here, and then they're blown there. That's how spiritual infants are. So, he says grow up, but how?

How are we to grow up? Well, verse 15 begins with a participle that explains how: "speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up." Speaking the truth in love, we're to grow up. This expression, and we developed this when I went through this text several months ago, (probably more than a year ago now, maybe a couple of years ago, I don't remember) but when we went through this text, I explained to you that the word "speaking the truth", that expression, could be translated "confessing the truth".

Paul is saying you grow up by continuing to confess or to hold onto the truth in love. That explains how truth is connected to spiritual growth. We could read it like this, "holding onto the truth in love, grow up". You see, one of the key factors that influences our spiritual growth is a growing knowledge of truth. That's what Paul is saying here.

But he's not done. Look down in verse 20. He talks about our becoming Christians. Learning Christ - that's becoming His disciple. "Indeed (verse 20) if you have heard Him (as we developed that when we went through it, that's hearing Him at the moment of salvation, hearing Him in the gospel calling us to Himself) and (the next phrase) have been taught in Him (that's systematic instruction after salvation about Jesus, but notice how he ends verse 21), the truth is in Jesus." We could translate it "as truth exists in Jesus". Christ is the only source of saving truth. You cannot find any truth that will rescue you spiritually or will change you apart from Jesus Christ.

Listen, I don't want to assume that everybody here this morning is a Christian. I don't want to assume that everybody here this morning who claims to be a Christian is a Christian. Listen, the only truth that will change your life, the only real truth you can be certain of, is found in Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Truth is only found in the historical person Jesus of Nazareth. That is exactly what He claimed, isn't it? Remember in John 14:6, what did He say to His disciples? "I am the way, the truth, the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me." Listen, your only hope of ever seeing God, of ever being delivered from your sins, is in Jesus Christ. He is the truth.

Now there's one other mention of truth over in chapter 5 that I'll call to your attention. I'm sorry, the end of 4:25. "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor." Here, because of the work of truth that we've embraced, we're to speak the truth.

But you see the overall context of how Paul uses truth in Ephesians is the truth of God, the truth that's found in the gospel, the truth that's found in Jesus Christ, the truth of God, the whole truth of God. So, I think then it's reasonable to say that in Ephesians 6 by belt of truth, Paul is not referring to our truthfulness or our integrity. He's referring to a knowledge of the truth about Jesus and that comes from Jesus.

Now if you're a thinking person, you're saying now wait a minute. How can that be? That can't be right. Isn't the last piece of armor about God's truth? I mean, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God? Well in reality, the first piece of armor and the last piece of armor are related, but they're also different. I'm not going to develop it now, but let me just give you this thumbnail. We'll look at this in more detail when we get there, but the Greek word translated "the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God", the Greek word there is not the normal word for the Bible. It's a special word. As we will learn, the sword of the Spirit is not referring to the entire Bible. It's not that this is the sword of the Spirit as a whole. Instead, it's referring to individual propositional statements from Scripture like the ones Jesus Himself used. You remember when He was tempted? That's the sword of the Spirit – taking individual truths from the Scripture and using them in defense of Satan's attacks.

But this first piece of armor is referring to truth as a whole - God's truth contained and revealed in the Scripture and lived out through Jesus Christ. Lloyd-Jones writes: "The word 'truth' in this context means a belief in, a knowledge of, the truth that is in Jesus Christ. It is the objective truth which I possess in a subjective manner." In other words, I could put it like this, "I master the truth of God's Word and the truth of God's Word in turn masters me." It's not merely academic. It's not intellectual. I have put it on. I have girded myself with God's truth, the whole sweeping truth that is in Jesus. Let me again make sure you understand. What is the belt of truth? It is a knowledge of biblical truth, a knowledge of biblical truth, a growing knowledge of the truth God has revealed in His Word.

Now in case you think that I'm standing out here alone on this one because I know this is different than maybe what you've heard in various places, let me quote none other than the great American commentator, Charles Hodge, the Princeton theologian. He writes of this passage and the belt of truth,

It means the knowledge and belief of the truth. This is the first and indispensable qualification for a Christian soldier. To enter on this spiritual conflict ignorant or doubting would be to enter battle blind and lame. As the belt gives strength and freedom of action and therefore confidence, so does the truth when spiritually understood and believed. Let not anyone imagine that he is prepared to withstand the assaults of the powers of darkness if his mind is stored with his own theories or with speculations of other men. Nothing but the truth of God clearly understood and embraced will enable him to keep his feet for a moment." [He goes on to say that] "reason, tradition, speculation, dead orthodoxy," [he calls them] "a belt of spider webs. They give way," [he says,] "at the first onset. Truth alone, as abiding in the mind in the form of divine knowledge, can give strength or confidence in ordinary conflicts and in the really evil day.

Understand this. Truth then, the truth of God in His Word, is a foundational piece of armor. We must know it, affirm it and believe it.

You know, many Christians fail in their battle with Satan and temptation because they start with the wrong belt. They start with the wrong armor. Their preparation, their first piece, their foundation, is human reason. Temptation comes, and what do they do? They start reasoning in their minds. You ever done this? I've done this. You start saying, "Well, you know, the truth is I need to do this. And if I do this, then this will happen." And we start coming up with our own reason or our own human methods or pop Christian psychology. Or we think the key is our will power and resolve. "I'm not going to do it again. I'm not going to do it again."

We think isolation from the world will help us. "You know, if I can just get away from the influences, that will help me." Or asceticism, as we'll talk about it a little bit tonight. Rituals – things that I do are going to somehow give me greater victory. Invoking the aid of angels or saints or Mary, celibacy, volunteer poverty or in the day when monasticism is becoming more popular even among evangelicals, they think that's going to help. Many of those issues are addressed in Colossians 2, but in the end, Hodge calls those things "a belt of spider webs." Instead, we need to put on the belt of God's truth. It will truly protect us from Satan's strategies.

Now an important question to ask is how. How does truth protect us from Satan's strategies, from his attacks on the Word of God, from his intimidation with fear and persecution, from his personal temptations? How does a growing knowledge of God's truth protect us?

Number one – the truth is what saves us and rescues us from slavery to sin. The truth frees us from slavery to sin. Look at John 8. This is what Jesus said to a group of people who professed Him. John 8:30, "[As Jesus was teaching that day], as He spoke these things [John 8:30 says], many came to believe in Him [probably best here to understand they made a profession because later in the chapter, it becomes clear they didn't really believe. They professed faith in Him.] So, Jesus was saying to them (verse 31, to those who had made such a profession), 'If you continue in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.'" You're not truly disciples yet. That hasn't been proven. You've made a profession, but if you continue in My Word, then are you truly disciples of Mine "and you will know the truth (how? through His Word), and the truth will make you free."

And they misunderstand. They also have this sort of collective amnesia because they say, "'We are Abraham's descendants, and we've never been enslaved to anyone.'" Huh? The Romans right at that point were in control of Israel. Jesus answered and said to them, "Look, I'm not talking about politics." "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." That's the freedom I'm talking about. Verse 36, "… if the Son makes you free [from your slavery to sin], you will be free indeed." And how does that happen? It happens through a knowledge of the truth that comes through the Word of Christ.

The truth is also the means of our sanctification. It's the means by which we become more like Jesus Christ. Look at John 17. This is how it works. This is why it becomes such an important piece of armor. The truth is what frees us from slavery to sin. The truth is what makes us more like Christ. Verse 17 of John 17, Jesus is praying in this great High Priestly Prayer. I love this verse and bring you here often because it's absolutely crucial. He says Father, I want you to sanctify them. I want You to set them apart from sin to Yourself. I want You to make them progressively more holy in, or literally by means of, the truth.

The truth is what you're going to use, Father, to make them progressively more like Me. And where is this truth? "Your word is truth." The truth of God is the Word of God. The belt of truth is a knowledge of and belief in the truth of God contained in the Word of God. It frees us from slavery to sin. It is the means of our sanctification.

Truth is also the means of our spiritual growth in different wording. Look over at 1 John 2. And we've looked at this text before. I'm not going to take you through it carefully, but I just want you to see what it says about young men. As we develop spiritually, as we grow in, into maturity, notice 1 John 2:13, "I am writing to you, young men (you are now no longer spiritual infants, you are spiritual young men), because you have overcome the evil one (you are no longer succumbing to Satan's attacks). How does that happen? Look at verse 14. "… I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and (here's how it happens) the Word of God abides in you, and (therefore) you have (been able to) overcome the evil one." It's through the knowledge of the truth that our souls are shielded from Satan and his lies and by which we grow up into spiritual manhood.

Now do you remember Satan's schemes? We talked about them at length. Satan attacks the Word of God by questioning its truthfulness, by questioning its sufficiency, by perverting what it means, by promoting our disobedience to the Scripture. Listen, there are many of these attacks going on today in evangelicalism, attacks on the Bible. Some of those attacks are attacks like those that come from N.T. Wright and others in the "New Perspective on Paul" movement who redefine biblical terms. Justification doesn't mean what the church has said it's meant for two thousand years. It means something different.

Some develop a new way of interpreting the Bible that undermines its clear meaning. They just say, "Oh, I believe the Bible, but really, I'm going to interpret it a little different way than it's been interpreted. I have a new tool to interpret it." This is a huge problem, by the way, right now in Christian colleges and universities today as we speak. Others like the men connected to BioLogos try to force the Bible to fit the theories of modern science.

Well, there are a lot of different attacks that come from Satan ultimately, but Paul wants us to know here that a growing knowledge of the truth of God's Word protects us from those attacks against the Scripture. A growing knowledge of Scripture will convince us that the Scripture is truthful, that it is sufficient. We'll know what it means. We'll understand the importance and blessing of obeying it.

What about temptation? Satan brings personal temptation through a world system that appeals to our cravings, through specifically personally tailored circumstances designed to appeal to our own personal lusts and by turning our personal trials into temptations. How does a knowledge of the Bible, a knowledge of the truth, help there? Well, a growing knowledge of the truth will help you to see your own sinful heart. It'll help you to see Satan's system for what it is. It will remind you when you're tempted to let a trial become a temptation that God intends to use that trial for good in your life.

So, put on the belt of truth. This is preparation for the battle. This is foundational to the other pieces of armor. You say how? How do I put on the belt of truth? Folks, this is really quite simple to say, more challenging to do. Read the Bible, study the Bible, meditate on the Bible, read books about the truth, listen to messages about the truth, apply the truth to your life, seek by the power of the Spirit to live out the truth. And as you do that, it becomes a belt that prepares you for the battle and serves as the anchor point for the rest of the armor that we need to put on.

Listen. Brothers and sisters, we will not be able to stand firm against Satan and his forces without an increasing knowledge of the truth. It won't happen. Let me just ask you very personally. How much time have you spent this last week trying to deepen and increase in your knowledge of the truth of God's Word? If it's little to none, don't be shocked that you're losing in the attacks Satan is making on you day in and day out. There is a direct relationship between your increasing knowledge of the truth and your success at warding off Satan's attacks.

The armor begins with the belt of truth. So, commit yourself to the Scripture. Commit yourself to reading it and studying and meditating on it and learning it. Spend your time here. It's where the armor begins. You will never be successful without that. It won't happen. I can promise you that. We must fasten the belt of truth about our waists. That becomes the anchor point for everything else, the preparation for war.

Let's pray together.

Father, thank You for Your truth. Thank You that we have it contained in a book that we can read and study. But Father, forgive us, forgive us for having the armor in our hands and not using it. Forgive us for making everything else in our lives more important than an increasing knowledge of Your truth.

Father, I pray that there would be people here this morning who, by Your grace and by the power of Your Spirit alone, ask You to enable them to have the resolve starting this week to pour themselves into Your book, into Your truth, that it would become armor to their souls.

Father, I pray for the person here this morning who has never discovered the truth that is in Jesus, who's never discovered that He alone is the way, the truth and the life, that no one ever comes to You, Father, except through Him. I pray that today would be the day when they see Him for who He is, the truth incarnate, Your truth, and they would bow their hearts and their knees before You, receiving Him as Lord and Savior.

We pray this for His glory and in His name. Amen.