Avoiding the Plague upon the Spirit of the World
“They were one and all filled with the holy spirit and were speaking the word of God with boldness.”—Acts 4:31.
1. What is Jehovah’s judicial decision regarding what Babylon the Great is to experience before her destruction?
RELIGIOUS Babylon the Great has the spirit of the world. She will be destroyed the same as ancient Babylon on the Euphrates was. God’s judicial decision is that before she is destroyed she must suffer plagues or blows from him. In ancient time he dealt Egypt a string of terrible blows or plagues because that ancient world power mistreated his people. He said to Egypt’s king or Pharaoh who refused to let Jehovah’s people go free from unjust slavery: “At this time I am sending all my blows against your heart and upon your servants and your people, to the end that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have thrust my hand out that I might strike you and your people with pestilence and that you might be effaced from the earth. But, in fact, for this cause I have kept you in existence, for the sake of showing you my power and in order to have my name declared in all the earth.” (Ex. 9:13-16) Likewise, seven plagues are dealt to the modern system of things.
2. What actually are those seven plagues?
2 Those seven plagues are judicial blows, the adverse expressions of judgment, that Jehovah God deals to the present system of things before Babylon the Great, the world empire of Babylonish religion, is destroyed.—Rev. 15:5 to 16:21.
3. (a) How has Babylon the Great conducted herself toward peoples and kings? (b) What has she felt for some years, and what can any reader of The Watchtower do about it?
3 As pictured in the vision to the apostle John, Babylon the Great sits oppressively upon peoples, crowds and nations of whatever language, and this at great material expense to the poor misled people. She also exercises a “kingdom over the kings of the earth.” With them she commits religious fornication, mixing religion with politics, in order to keep in good standing with political rulers and have their protection and support. With them she shares in bloodguilt before Jehovah God. For some years now she has felt the plagues, the judicial blows that he has been pouring out upon her. Possibly you who are reading this issue of the Watchtower magazine have complained about these divine plagues and have objected to them, because you belong to that world empire of Babylonish religion. Because the plagues are from the Most High God Jehovah, nobody on earth has been able to stop them from being poured out through his angels. What, then, can you do about it?
4. What does the voice out of heaven say to do, and why that without delay?
4 You can do as the apostle John says: “I heard another voice out of heaven say: ‘Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.’” Her final plagues will be death and mourning and famine, and her death will be by burning with fire, “because Jehovah God, who judged her, is strong.” (Rev. 18:4-8) In order to avoid the plagues now being visited upon her and in order not to suffer the final destructive plagues with her, you will have to get out of her. Do so without delay, for as if “in one day” her final plagues will bring total ruin upon her.
5. What does getting out of her mean for one?
5 To “get out of her” means that you will have to become one of those whom God calls “my people,” Jehovah’s people. You will have to worship him, just as the patriarch Noah did right after the flood and kept on doing even after his great-grandson Nimrod set up Babylon with its false religion.—Gen. 6:9; 8:18-20; 9:28 to 10:12.
6, 7. (a) Why can one take courage in not being alone in this course? (b) Basically, what are these people, and how are they known now?
6 However, take courage. Already hundreds of thousands of God-fearing persons have obeyed that voice from heaven and have come out of Babylon the Great. They refuse to let her sit upon them and exploit and enslave them any longer. These lovers of religious freedom are found in most parts of the earth; we have reports from them in 194 lands and they speak and read 162 languages.
7 They have turned from the world empire of Babylonish religion and have taken up the worship of the one living and true God, the God of the Holy Bible, the One who alone bears the name Jehovah. (Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; 26:4) They are Christians, but not the kind that Christendom produces. They look to Jesus Christ and imitate him as their Leader and Model, since Jesus Christ is the foremost worshiper of Jehovah as God. He proved himself the “faithful and true witness” of Jehovah and thus he was the chief one of the long line of witnesses from the first martyr Abel down to the Christian witnesses of our Common Era. (Heb. 11:4 to 12:3; Rev. 1:5; 3:14; John 18:37) Today these God-fearing people who have come out of Babylon the Great (including Christendom) are known as the Christian witnesses of Jehovah.—See Isaiah 43:10-12; 44:8.
8. What is the experience of these obedient ones regarding the plagues being poured out?
8 All those who have obeyed the command from heaven and have got out of the world empire of Babylonish religion do not feel the plagues that Jehovah God has commanded to be poured out upon this system of things before Babylon the Great is destroyed. In fact, now they themselves help in pouring out the symbolic plagues.
9, 10. (a) Under whose control are those plagues put, and what do they bespeak? (b) Why are they blows to worldly people?
9 According to the vision given to John in Revelation, chapter fifteen, the plagues are seven in number and are put under the control of seven angels who come out from God’s heavenly sanctuary or temple. In our time, in fulfillment of the prophetic Revelation, the seven plagues are not actually poured out from literal bowls and do not produce in a literal way the effects described in Revelation, chapter sixteen. As the bowls are said to be “full of the anger of God,” the plagues are expressions from God that bespeak his anger at the things upon which the plagues are poured out. They are God’s judicial decisions against such disapproved things.
10 The plagues are adverse judgments, which expose what such bad things really are, how they really appear in the eyes of God as Judge, and how people who favor, support and seek benefits from such things are really affected from God’s judicial standpoint. Such judicial decisions run contrary to the viewpoint of the world of mankind who are misled by the “ruler of this world.” So when the divine judicial decisions are poured out by worldwide publication, they are like plagues, blows, to people of this world.
11. (a) By whom must the publishing of God’s judicial decisions be carried out, and why? (b) Historically, who are the publishers?
11 As these bowls full of plagues were entrusted to seven angels under God’s command, the making known of these judicial expressions of God’s anger must be under the invisible care and direction of holy heavenly angels. These angels do not materialize in flesh and appear to human eyes. Hence the work of publishing the divine judicial decisions against this system of things must be carried out by the faithful followers of Jesus Christ, such as the apostle John was in his day. The publishing work must be done by those on earth to whom the heavenly angels are “ministering spirits” or “spirits for public service.” (Heb. 1:13, 14, AV; NW) According to the facts of the case as recorded in modern history, the publishers are the Christian witnesses of Jehovah, who have obeyed his command and have got out of Babylon the Great!
POURING THEM OUT
12. When did these begin pouring out the message like the first plague?
12 Go back to the year 1922. Consult the written record of that year, and you will find that then these dedicated Christian students of the Bible began pouring out a message upon organized human society that was trying to heal and steady itself by the League of Nations. It was a message from God’s Word that corresponded with the plague that the first angel poured out according to Revelation 16:2. It began with the Resolution adopted by those Bible students at their international assembly at Cedar Point, Ohio, in 1922, and the effect of it was as described in the prophecy.
13. When and where did the further plagues begin to be poured out?
13 For the next six years, without interruption, international or general assemblies were held—at Los Angeles, California (1923); at Columbus, Ohio (1924); at Indianapolis, Indiana (1925); at London, England (1926); at Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1927); and at Detroit, Michigan (1928). At these important assemblies also resolutions were courageously adopted for worldwide distribution in print in many languages. In these resolutions or in material linked with them, messages of divine judgment were proclaimed that corresponded with the rest of the symbolic plagues, whose effects are described in Revelation 16:3-21. Those resolutions, seven in all, together with related material in such years, were the spearhead for the pouring out of complementary judgment messages, the pouring out of which has not ceased to this day.
14, 15. (a) When did a tremendous affirmation of those plagues occur, and where? (b) What made such assembly gatherings one continuous round-the-world assembly?
14 The year 1963 is now passing out. But during its summer there occurred a tremendous affirmation of the contents of the seven plagues of Revelation, chapter sixteen, that has literally resounded around our earthly globe. A chain of assemblies featured by the title “Everlasting Good News Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses” was held during the ten weeks from June 30 through September 8, on the continents of North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and islands of the Pacific Ocean north and south of the equator. The first of such assemblies was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the final one in Pasadena, California, both of eight days’ length.
15 What made these assemblies all one continuous round-the-world assembly was not just the program for the platform but also this: Beginning with the New York assembly at Yankee Stadium (the second assembly of the series) an organized band of 583 conventioners flew eastward around the globe, stopping at all assembly points and taking part in the local gatherings of Jehovah’s witnesses. They stopped even in Greece, Lebanon and Jordania, touring places of Biblical interest and mingling with the local witnesses of Jehovah, although the law of those lands allowed the holding of no public general assembly.
16. (a) What was adopted at the public assemblies and also in Greece, Lebanon and Jordania? (b) How many all together thus adopted it, and how is it being circulated?
16 At each of the public assemblies, after an introductory talk to the conventioners on “Why We Should All Join in a Resolution,” a strongly worded resolution was adopted with the greatest enthusiasm and earnestness. Think of it: at Milwaukee 53,112 adopted the Everlasting Good News Assembly resolution; at New York, 84,890; at London, 39,663; at Stockholm, 22,009; at Munich, 91,748; in Milan, 16,262; in Manila, 24,508; in Melbourne, 9,427; in Auckland, 4,293; in Pasadena, 81,082. In Greece, Lebanon and Jordania copies of the Resolution were distributed to the local congregations, in their languages, and they adopted it after hearing the introductory talk. All together, in this manner, there was a grand total of 454,977 that adopted this identical resolution viva voce. And now this Resolution is being presented and adopted by national assemblies in still other lands. It has also been published in the Watchtower issue of November 15, 1963, in an edition of 4,200,000 copies in 66 languages, for circulation all around the earth.
17. What did this single resolution embrace within itself, and what did it put before earthly society?
17 With the introductory talk, this sweeping resolution took within its area of discussion the essence of all seven plagues of Revelation, chapter sixteen. Thus it included and covered the judgment messages that had at the first been spread out in seven successive resolutions and related material, over the seven years from 1922 through 1928. Uncompromisingly this single Resolution put the hard facts before all organized earthly society, let the effects be what they may. What were these hard facts? The following:
18. What was the first hard fact?
18 Man’s ignoring of God’s promised kingdom and man’s favoring the worship of the present political organizations will not preserve the man-made system of things on earth. In God’s sight the backers of this are plagued with a hurtful, malignant “ulcer” that they cannot heal but that spells death to them.
19. What was the second hard fact?
19 Radical political movements and organizations of restless men are likewise under the plague of an angered God. His judicial decision declares such radical efforts to be like spilled human blood that has congealed, unable to impart or sustain life.
20. What was the third hard fact presented?
20 The preference of men for drinking in what human sources have to say, teach, preach and publish instead of drinking in the teachings and counsel from Jehovah God, the Fountain of life, has proved to be death-dealing. It has resulted in terrible bloodshed. Instead of drinking in life-sustaining water, men will at last drink their own blood in death at the hand of the great Judge.
21. What was the fourth hard fact?
21 Men have refused to recognize the Creator Jehovah God as the great spiritual Sun of life, light and healing. They have elevated men and women to their political, economic, social and religious heavens and look to these prominent humans for illumination and warmth. This has resulted in a plague from God; they have been scorched by their own chosen lights. As they suffer from the burning heat of oppressive human lights, they blaspheme God’s now revealed name and show no repentance toward him. So they get no shade from him, only a plague.
22. What was the fifth hard fact?
22 The political institutions on earth, from the kingdom of Nimrod onward, have sprung, not from God the Creator, but from his adversary, Satan the Devil! The seat or throne from which the whole human political system rules over the people represents a bargain made with God’s chief adversary. (Rev. 16:10; 13:1-4; Matt. 4:8-10; Luke 4:5-8) So God withholds the light of His blessing, and man’s kingdom is one of darkness, with the politicians not knowing any man-made way to get out of the world’s increasingly dark situation.
23. What was the sixth hard fact?
23 Babylon the Great, the world empire of Babylonish religion, has dominated the peoples as ancient Babylon did the Euphrates. It has kept the people from seeking first the kingdom of God. Jehovah God and his deputy King Jesus Christ will see to it that Babylon the Great is drained of her “water” defenses, leading to her destruction. The militarized “kings” or political rulers of the earth, with whom she has committed spiritual fornication, have fallen prey to demons. Under demon influence they are being led on to an Armageddon disaster, in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty.” They will all lose their national sovereignties.
24. What was the seventh hard fact?
24 For the past four thousand years an atmosphere has been created for the world of mankind, and in it and by it the world has lived. This atmosphere or “air” does not have the blessing of Jehovah God, who, on the second day of creation, produced the atmospheric expanse for the life of breathing creatures on earth. The “air” that the nations and cities and Babylon the Great breathe and live by is the “spirit of the world.” It is a spirit emanating from the “god of this system of things,” Satan the Devil. It comes under Jehovah’s judicial attention and receives from him a blow, a plague with all the disastrous effects therefrom.—Rev. 16:17-21.
25. In comparison with the preceding plagues, how does the seventh one affect man most vitally?
25 The first six plagues all affected things that are vital to man’s existence on earth, namely, the earth from which he draws sustenance, the rivers and fountains of waters, the sun with its light, warmth and energy. But the seventh and last plague affects humankind most vitally. It is a blow against the “air” that man breathes. He cannot live for long without it. A plague on it should be most serious and should bring a climax of events. It does!
26. By the adoption of the 1963 Resolution how did Jehovah add greater force to the outpouring of the plagues?
26 Through those 454,977 who adopted the Resolution at the series of Everlasting Good News assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses this past summer, the great Judge of the Universe added greater force to the continued pouring out of all seven symbolic plagues. Hundreds of thousands of those adopting the 1963 Resolution had taken no part in the initial pouring out of the “seven last plagues” in the years 1922-1928 and had little appreciation of the contents of those plagues. Now, by this one comprehensive Resolution, they publicly declared themselves as favoring those plagues from the great Judge Jehovah God and as supporting the outpouring of the plagues that were prophetically pictured in Revelation, chapter sixteen.
27. Thus in one year what did those adopting the Resolution accomplish, and now what must they do?
27 Thus, by one action, in adopting the 1963 assembly Resolution, they knowingly, understandingly, deliberately put themselves behind the pouring out of those plagues. Thus, too, in the one year, they accomplished what it had required earlier assemblies in seven successive years to accomplish. Now, however, they must be true to their spoken word; they must live up to the serious resolves expressed in the 1963 assembly Resolution.
THE NEED OF THE RIGHT SPIRIT
28. (a) Why was this 1963 Resolution very penetrating, as specially expressed in the last two paragraphs of it? (b) What did those two paragraphs resolutely declare?
28 The 1963 Resolution is very penetrating. It directly touches upon the very spirit that permeates its adopters as dedicated, baptized Christians and that moves them to action as Christian witnesses of Jehovah God. This is specially clear in the last two paragraphs of the Resolution, which bear our reviewing here:
THAT, although at present we are obliged to be in this world, we will not breathe in the spirit of this world, for it is not the spirit of God but is the spirit of the devilish “ruler of this world.” Led by the spirit of its unseen ruler, the world of mankind has for thousands of years cultivated the works of the fallen, degraded flesh. Now the world is reaping the results of breathing in the spirit of Satan the Devil and cultivating the works of their flesh, which is at enmity with God. Babylon’s modern religious counterpart has not cultivated in the people the spirit of God, that they might reap the fruitage of God’s spirit to the attainment of eternal life in His new order of things. The world therefore faces an earthquake of world trouble the like of which it has never known, and all its political institutions and its modern religious Babylon will be shaken to bits, even human institutions as imposing and stable as mountains or isolated like islands disappearing;
THAT, therefore, we have immediately ahead of us the most momentous period in the history of mankind; the hour of the execution of God’s righteous judgment is about to strike, and we are in the day of decision. Whereas we see all the nations of this doomed world marching under superhuman demon influence, it is our resolution to remain immovable on the side of the established Messianic kingdom of Jehovah God, ever praying that he will give us more and more of his spirit. And as we endeavor to cultivate the fruitage of the spirit of God and carry on His pure and undefiled worship, we will keep on the full suit of armor of God and continue fighting, not against blood and flesh, but against the “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places” until the satanic “ruler of this world” and his demons are abyssed for the thousand years of Christ’s reign. We thank Jehovah God for the ministry of his holy angels under Jesus Christ in our behalf. With their help and with the help of his holy spirit and Word we will continue to declare to all peoples without partiality the “everlasting good news” concerning God’s Messianic kingdom and concerning his judgments, which are like plagues to his enemies but which will be executed for the liberation of all persons who desire to worship God the Creator acceptably with spirit and with truth.
29. (a) By what means are those plagues poured out? (b) What does it require to take part in pouring out the plagues?
29 The adverse judgments, the judicial decisions, in the seven symbolic plagues of God’s anger are not expressed and published in only the Assembly Resolution of 1963. They are declared and poured out in all the publications of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, which Society Jehovah’s witnesses everywhere use as their administrative and publishing agency. For one to take part under invisible angelic guidance in this pouring out of the “seven last plagues,” it takes courage, boldness. It requires boldness to take a stand against the nationalistic worship of the political state and against the associated worship of the international organization for world peace and security, the United Nations of 111 members. The first plague directly strikes at this political worship.
30. (a) In democratic Western lands why may it be easy to be against the symbolic “sea”? (b) Yet even in such lands what must a true Christian stick to?
30 In lands where radical forms of political government are unpopular and are legislated against and kept out of power, it may be easy for a person to be against the symbolic “sea” that rages against the stable symbolic “earth” of older, settled, traditional forms of government. But even in the “democratic” lands of the West a true, dedicated, baptized follower of Jesus Christ must stick to absolute neutrality toward all the political controversies of this world of mankind. He recognizes from where the symbolic wild beast, the visible political organization of the whole earth, got its seat or throne of authority. As shown in the fifth plague, the “wild beast” thrones over a kingdom of darkness, and its subjects blaspheme the God of heaven. Revelation 13:1-4 reveals that the political “wild beast” got its seat or throne of authority from the same source and on the same basis as Nimrod the “mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah” got his throne.—Gen. 10:8-12.
31. In all lands to what must they be subject, but in what may they not participate?
31 In Romans 13:1-7 these neutral followers of Jesus Christ are commanded to be subject to the “higher powers” or “superior authorities” of this present earthly system of things. Yet they must be like their Leader Jesus Christ. They must be “no part of the world,” taking no part in the world’s political system and no part in its bloodshed, to which the third plague calls attention. (John 15:18, 19; 17:14-16) On this account the world hates them.
32. (a) In the sixth plague how is the militarism of the world shown? (b) What do the Christian witnesses refuse to do and why, and with what consequences to themselves?
32 Today, under slogans and propaganda inspired by devilish demons, as pictured in the sixth plague, all the earthly “kings” or political rulers and their armies are on the march. They are marching to a position like that at Har–Magedon, for a showdown fight with the Creator, the Sovereign of heaven and earth. The battle there is called “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” What chance do such “kings” and their armies have against “God the Almighty”? Jehovah’s Christian witnesses know that those militarized opposers of His universal sovereignty do not have any chance of winning against the all-powerful God. The Christian witnesses refuse to march with people who want to do battle with the Lord God. Still, for a fact, it is popular among the nations to march with those political rulers and their battle forces. For this reason the Christian witnesses of God the Almighty suffer criticism. In a number of lands they are forbidden by law to preach the good news of God’s kingdom and even to meet together for united worship with fellow Christians. There they have to go underground.
33. What preaching is there to be done today, and despite what fact are Jehovah’s Christian witnesses hated by all nations?
33 There is preaching to be done today in all the inhabited earth and to all nations without exception. With the force of a command Jesus Christ said to his true followers in his prophecy concerning the ending of this system of things: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:3, 14) The end of this system of things with its political rulerships does not mean the end of government over mankind, a state of anarchy. When imperfect human rulerships end at Har–Magedon, Almighty God’s kingdom by means of his Son Jesus Christ will take over fully for the everlasting blessing of all men of goodwill. Yet despite preaching such good news Jehovah’s Christian witnesses are hated by all nations, as Jesus foretold.—Matt. 24:9-12.
34. (a) But what do Revelation 13:10 and Re 14:12 say would be required of true Christians now? (b) Why do we want to avoid the seventh plague that is poured out?
34 All this calls for endurance on the part of the preachers of the good news in these days of the activity of the symbolic wild beast and its image. But this is what Revelation 13:10 and Re 14:12 foretold would be required of true Christians at this stage of world politics. To show faith and to endure till final victory it calls for them to have a spirit different from the “spirit of the world.” Like a sea of atmosphere the worldly spirit envelops “the great city,” Babylon the Great, and all the “cities of the nations” and the symbolic “mountains” and islands. Because of the “god of this system of things” they are all immersed in this spirit and breathe it in like air. As pictured in the pouring out of the seventh and last plague, the anger of Jehovah God is against that spirit or “air” by which Babylon the Great and the cities of the nations live. This plague leads to disaster upon them all. Certainly we want to avoid God’s plague on that “air.”
35, 36. To avoid that plague and what follows it, what do we have to do according to the words of Ephesians 5:17-20?
35 To avoid this plague of God and his destructive work by means of the symbolic earthquake and storm of huge hailstones, we have to do something. We have to do what is resolved in that Resolution adopted at the Everlasting Good News Assembly round the earth in 1963. The apostle Paul, who wrote against the “spirit of the world,” tells us what to do in this time of the symbolic plagues:
36 “Go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is. Also, do not be getting drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but keep getting filled with spirit, speaking to yourselves with psalms and praises to God and spiritual songs, singing and accompanying yourselves with music in your hearts to Jehovah, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks always for all things to our God and Father.”—Eph. 5:17-20.
37. (a) What is the benefit of getting filled with the spirit of God? (b) What steps can we take to getting filled with it?
37 If we get filled with God’s spirit, it leaves no room in us for the “spirit of the world.” Getting filled with His spirit does not result in any drunkenness, any stupefying of our senses, but it acts as a powerful stimulant in us to induce us to live according to God’s will, thus gaining his approval, not a plague. To get filled we must regularly read and ponder over his spiritual Word, the Holy Bible, and then apply it in our daily living. We need his spirit to help us to understand his written Word and to live in harmony with it. We can ask him for it in prayer. His Son Jesus Christ says: “If you, although being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more so will the Father in heaven give holy spirit to those asking him!” (Luke 11:13) So God is pleased to answer prayer for his holy spirit.
38. How was the keenly felt need of the new Jerusalem congregation for God’s spirit met, and with what effect?
38 We remember how on one occasion the new Christian congregation in ancient Jerusalem keenly felt the need for God’s spirit. Men, the judges of the Jewish Supreme Court, had ordered them not to preach the good news of God’s kingdom by Christ. But God by his Son Jesus Christ had commanded and anointed them to preach such a message. They needed help and strength not to yield to men who were fighting against God. They prayed to Him. For what? For Him to grant them to “keep speaking your word with all boldness, while . . . signs and portents occur through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” How was this prayer answered? The account tells us: “And when they had made supplication, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were one and all filled with the holy spirit and were speaking the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:13-31) God’s spirit helped them to obey him—boldly!
39. How was the effect of the infilling of God’s spirit the same in the case of the prophet Micah?
39 The infilling with God’s spirit had the same effect as that in the case of the Hebrew prophet Micah, who was commissioned by Jehovah God to point out the rebelliousness and sin of the nation of Israel (or Jacob). Micah said: “I myself have become full of power, with the spirit of Jehovah, and of justice and mightiness, in order to tell to Jacob his revolt and to Israel his sin.” (Mic. 3:8) Hence Micah preached despite the nation’s objections.
40. Besides personal Bible study and prayer, what else do we need to do to get filled with God’s spirit, and why?
40 To get filled with the spirit of God we need more than just personal Bible study and prayer. We need also to meet with the congregation of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses, even as the members of the Christian congregation did in Jerusalem back there in the days of the twelve apostles. When we meet with them, as hundreds of thousands did on a great scale in the Everlasting Good News Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the globe in 1963, we come into an altogether different atmosphere, unlike the death-dealing “spirit of the world.” Why? Because the spirit of Jehovah God pervades these congregational meetings and guides them. So at these Christian gatherings we are bound to take into our receptive selves still more of the spirit of God. This is what we need.
41. Why do we need, today, to obey the command to get filled with God’s spirit?
41 Today we need to obey the apostolic command to get filled with God’s spirit, for we want to avoid the plague now being dealt to the “spirit of the world” and we want to go forth and preach publicly and from house to house the “word of God with boldness.”