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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upper room, of great importance for His disciples, for all who follow<br />
Him. He clearly speaks the words forming 'the great commission',<br />
the commission for world evangelization, a message of salvation for<br />
soul, spirit, and body, a gospel wanting to appeal to the whole human<br />
existence in order to renew it And in these few directives Jesus<br />
includes: 'They shall speak with new tongues'!<br />
Have we a right, friends, not to honour and obey these words?<br />
May we follow our own feelings, our taste, our intellectual<br />
considerations, is it not an insult to the Word of God to submit to our<br />
censorship? Who are we? What we think of the holy and divinely<br />
appointed things in the Kingdom is not decisive, is it? It is not<br />
important or even interesting. The only importance is what God says<br />
of it, for this only counts in His Kingdom. We ought to give our<br />
critical prudence into death. 'I thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven<br />
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and<br />
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes' (Matt 11 : 25-26).<br />
'Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little<br />
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven' (Matt<br />
18: 3). 'Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the<br />
weakness of God is stronger than man' (1 Cor. 1 : 25).<br />
Children which are not critical, but accept the things of God<br />
without further ado with open hearts and open hands, receive<br />
blessings of God. They do not oppose these things, they accept them<br />
without criticism out of the hands of God. The values of the<br />
Kingdom cannot be put on a level with those of the world; God<br />
follows a totally different, incomparable logic. We should always<br />
remember this. Paul said: 'I would that ye all spake with tongues'<br />
(1 Cor. 14: 5). When God desires it, when Jesus puts it as a sign in<br />
His great commission, when Paul thanks God for it, let us no longer<br />
maintain that it is unnecessary.<br />
On one of his great missionary journeys Paul arrived at<br />
Ephesus, and there he found a group of disciples, no infidels, but<br />
believers, converted people, followers of Jesus, but they were not<br />
filled. This was very unusual in the first churches at that time.<br />
Pagans repenting and turning to Jesus Christ were mostly baptized<br />
in water and at the same time they also received the filling with the<br />
Holy Spirit After his address on the temple square on the first day of<br />
. Pentecost Peter said: 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in<br />
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall<br />
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and<br />
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