ARMOUR OF GOD
In his letter to the church at Ephesus Paul points to her high responsibility, her special place in the plan of God. She has been called to victorious life in her risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, victorious life in the spiritual warfare against invisible and perilous powers of Satan, continuously opposing her on her way to perfection.
In his letter to the church at Ephesus Paul points to her high
responsibility, her special place in the plan of God. She has been
called to victorious life in her risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
victorious life in the spiritual warfare against invisible and perilous
powers of Satan, continuously opposing her on her way to perfection.
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elieve, for what I believe. 'According to your faith be it unto you'<br />
(Matt 9 : 29). Not faith in myself, but in Jesus Christ, the<br />
Revelation of the power of God. I am not what I feel to be, nor what<br />
the symptoms say I am, what intellectually I think to be, nor what<br />
others say I am, what Satan, the accuser, says I am; but I am, may<br />
be, can be, what I believe in God. 'According to your faith be it unto<br />
you.'<br />
'The just shall live by his faith' (Hab. 2 : 4; Heb. 10: 3). Mind<br />
you: by his faith! Not by the faith of others, but by his personal faith.<br />
He is what he believes, he can receive as many things as he has faith<br />
for in God, no less. Faith can never expect too much. 'Thy faith hath<br />
made thee whole' (Matt. 9 : 22; Mark 5 : 35, 10: 52; Luke 7 : 50,<br />
8 : 48), that is what Jesus said. In the upper room He told Peter:<br />
'Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may<br />
sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not'<br />
(Luke 22: 31-32), that your shieldoffaith might not break to pieces.<br />
Peter was a desired target for Satan's offensives, and how could<br />
Peter protect himself?<br />
Battle broke out against this impetuous servant of the Lord.<br />
Could he be sufficiently vigilant? His Highpriest, his Advocate, his<br />
Intercessor prayed for him, for his faith, for his shield of faith.<br />
Another squire of God, S tephen, stood firmly in the Lord. It is<br />
written of him: 'Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy<br />
Ghost ... full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles<br />
among the people' (Acts 6: 5, 8). Stephen, the deacon, was filled<br />
with the Holy Spirit He had known a mighty pentecostal experience<br />
in his life, he knew who he was in Jesus, he knew what he could do by<br />
Him, he knew how to take victory power from the Lord and how to<br />
use it, to the glory of His name. Only spiritual people, filled with the<br />
Holy Spirit can see these things; there is no natural way of understanding<br />
(1 Cor. 2 : 14).<br />
The Sanhedrin, the great Council of Pharisees and scribes, to<br />
whom Stephen had to give account, took offence at his action and his<br />
witness. When Stephen gave his address, without fear, in the power<br />
of the Holy Spirit, he concluded with an accusation: 'Ye do always<br />
resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye ... When they<br />
heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on<br />
him with their teeth' (Acts 7 : 51, 54).<br />
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