The Seven Spirits
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November 25, 2007 |
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 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead" (Revelation 3:1).
When God gives you answers and blessings, He always does so in accordance with the law of the spiritual realm. The most essential law of the justice of God for His answers is the law of the seven spirits.
1. What is the Seven Spirits?
The seven spirits represent the heart of God who is spirit. In order for you to receive God's answers, you have to understand the heart of God and ask Him in accordance of His will. The standard of God's heart and answers is decided by the seven spirits.
The number "7" does not mean that God has 7 spirits but that He is "perfect." Just as John 4:24 says, "God is spirit," the heart of God who is Spirit is referred to as "seven spirits." God sees and measures all mankind of the earth by sending the seven spirits (Revelation 5:6).
The seven spirits sees and measures the hearts and deeds of each person, and helps God decide who is proper in His sight and give him the answer and blessing in accordance with justice. It is the same when a grocer measures something we want to buy at the grocery. We can buy it when we pay for the measure of it. In the same way, when our prayers are proper for the measure of the seven spirits, we can receive the answer from our God.
2. Measures of the Seven Spirits
What do the seven spirits measure to make a decision for the answer to our prayers? The seven spirits measure the hearts, thoughts, and deeds of each one without a slightest error as the seven followings.
First of all, they measure our faith.
The Bible tells us, "It shall be done for you as you have believed." If you have failed to receive something, it is because your faith is not spiritual but fleshly. When we have the word of God as knowledge in our brain and confess our faith with our lips, God does not count it as true faith.
With true and spiritual faith, you can believe even what is not seen to your eyes and what does not agree with your knowledge, and that something is created from nothingness. This spiritual faith is given you from above as much as you have thrown away your sins and become sanctified. That's why this spiritual faith is always accompanied with the deeds of obedience to the word of God (James 2:22).
The reason that the first measure of the seven spirits is our faith is because all the other factors are decided with the standard of faith. The God of justice decides different standards of faith for each one according to his different level of faith. God lets the seven spirits measure each one's faith with the different standard and do the other six.
With the same measure of faith, you have to show the deeds of obedience transcending your level of faith in order to receive the solution to serious problems. Thus, you can receive God's answer and improve your faith up to the higher level.
Secondly, the seven spirits measure our joy.
Joy is one of the most outstanding proofs of our salvation. What an incomparable joy it is that we have been saved from eternal hell, gained new life and the right to enter the kingdom of heaven!
We can rejoice in spirit in any circumstances. Joy is the proof of our faith. If you have unshaken trust in God and believe that He will answer your prayers, you can rejoice in any circumstances.
Also, joy comes from peace. If you are at peace with God and the people around you, the Holy Spirit will give you peace and you be filled with joy. Only if you have no barrier of sin against God by living at peace with God, joy will never leave you.
Thirdly, the seven spirits measure our prayers.
We have to pray on a regular basis every day as God tells us not to cease praying. If you pray without ceasing, you cannot only be awake so that you may not fall into temptations, but also pass any kind of trials and receive the answer quickly.
Next, we have to kneel down in prayers. When we a mere creature ask for the things that are impossible by human strength before the almighty God, it is so natural that we should humbly kneel down before Him.
And we have to ask God not for our own benefits but in accordance with His will. The prayers that you offer God with your greed and against the will of God cannot be answered (James 4:2-3).
Furthermore, you should earnestly and fervently pray, and cry out in prayer. And you have to pray to God from the bottom of heart with faith and love (James 1:6-7). If you doubt, saying, "Can I receive answers? I am afraid not" you cannot receive answers. You have to really believe that the living God answers and to pray to Him with the love for Him.
Fourthly, the seven spirits measure our thanksgiving.
If you really believe in God who blesses you with salvation and answers, you have no choice but to give real thanks from the heart. How could we not give thanks to our God who has rescued us from eternal destruction and guided us to the path to eternal life and blessing? How much more thankful you are if you believe that our Father God has allowed us to call Him "Father" and guided us in everything we do!
Not only in the situations of thanksgiving but also in any difficulties should we give thanks to God, and then He will cause everything to work for the good.
Fifthly, the seven spirits measure our obedience to the Ten Commandments.
The Bible tells us to keep many commands recorded in it. The Ten Commandments include all the commands recorded in the Bible, and when we keep the Ten Commandments it proves that we love God (1 John 5:3).
If you love someone, you can do anything that she tells you to. In the same way, if you love and trust God, you keep and obey the commands of God with joy. But if you unwillingly and forcefully keep the commands of God despite your long years of faith, you cannot be deemed to keep His commands.
Sixthly, the seven spirits measure our loyalty.
Our God wants us to be faithful not only in some aspects but also in all aspects. So, when you faithfully carry out not only your God-given duties but also all the others including at home and works, you can be deemed to be faithful in all God's houses. That's why each of you has to be faithful in all aspects as a father, a mother, a husband, a wife and a child.
Some workers abandon their God-given duties in the middle for various reasons. They cannot be recognized by God nor can they pass the measure of the seven spirits. Moreover, when you accomplish the sanctification of heart through the circumcision of heart, and are faithful in the kingdom of God, God will accept it joyfully.
Seventhly, the seven spirits measure our love.
Love plays the role of making the six other factors complete. No matter how fervently you have prayed and fulfilled your duties, and no matter how many works of God you have done, everything you have done will be meaningless unless you love our God and your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Only though faith can you give thanks, rejoice, pray, keep the commands of God, fulfill your God-given duties, and change daily and live the life worthy of being called as the children of God. That's why faith is more important than anything else. Even if you have passed the six measures of the seven spirits, however, everything is meaningless without love, so the sevens spirits measure your love in the end.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
If you fail at least in one aspect of the seven fields of faith, joy, prayer, thanksgiving, obedience to the commands, loyalty, and love, may you fill its measure and pass the measure of the seven spirits in total so that you can receive answers and blessing, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
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