Revelation 1:4
4 John[Ioannes] to the seven[hepta] churches[ekklesia] which[ho] are in[en] Asia:[Asia] Grace[charis] be unto you,[humin] and[kai] peace,[eirene] from[apo] him which[ho] is[on],[ho on kai ho en kai ho erchomenos] and[kai] which[ho] was[en],[ho on kai
ho en kai ho erchomenos] and
[kai] which[ho]
is to come[erchomai];
[ho on kai ho en kai ho erchomenos] and[kai] from[apo] the seven[hepta] Spirits[pneuma] which[hos] are[esti] before[enopion] his[autos] throne;[thronos] KJV-Interlinear
4 John to the seven churches that
are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to
come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; NASB
John, the writer of this letter, addresses the
seven churches in Asia.But as there
were many more churches in the region, by identifying only seven, which is the
number that represents the completion of the work of God, then this letter is
addressed to all believers everywhere, throughout history.
But this letter is also addressed to the seven
trends of spiritual attitude, within the population of believers in the Church
Age.These trends of attitude will be
spelled out over the next couple of chapters.
The number seven keeps popping up throughout the Bible and in life in
general.We have seven days, seven
continents, and now seven spirits ever present before the throne of God.
Spirit, ‘pheuma,’ here means
breath, or the inhale, exhale function of ones
breathing.It is your activity
associated with your spiritual growth.
And we have seven phases which make up your spiritual growth process. Often times we call this the circle or cycle
of the attainment of wisdom and spiritual completion.
But are these seven spirits actual creatures or
something else?And to answer that
question we have to go to Isaiah for the answer. Actually the answer is disclosed in various
ways throughout the scriptures, but only in Isaiah is it detailed in one
location.
There is a chart on the web site, which presents a
picture of the seven spirits of spiritual learning and growth, and that is what
we have here.You should print off that
chart and include it in your notebook.
In Isa. 11 the seven spirits refer to the pattern
of spiritual growth.They begin with the
Holy Spirit who is the conduit through which spiritual food moves. A believer must first be in fellowship with
God in order to have any kind of interaction with God. The Bible often refers to this as washing of
oneself, or the removal of the shoes, and so forth. We cannot come before God if we are dirty,
and sin in our life is dirt.So we have
to remove that dirt in a manner specified by God, before we can come before God
in any part of our life.
The mechanism for doing this (cleansing) is
confession of sin to God and to no one else, and I might add, in private. Your life in no ones business except that of God. So public confession is taboo, confession to
friends, to priests, to grandma, to idols, to the moon and such are all
taboo.They gain you nothing. They are not God and only God can grant you
access to Himself.
I cannot get you in the back door to see God. No one can.
Details of this confession process is spelled
out in 1 John 1:9, and throughout the Mosaic Law.
By utilizing this confession process, we gain
access to the first spirit of the seven.
We gain admittance into the court of God and therefore can now be heard,
and can now hear as well.This is where
we need to be in order to learn Bible doctrine, in order to learn and grow up
spiritually, in order to pray.In
fellowship, or in Gods presence, is where we need to
be living our life constantly, for that is the location where Gods protection
and blessings emanate.In fellowship is
the same as being in His castle, in His fortress, behind His shield, in His
throne room, in His temple.All this is
located within the confines of your soul.
The alternative to being in fellowship is being out
of fellowship, and that is a place outside in the dust of the world, outside
Gods protection, under the influence and control of your sin nature. When you are in fellowship you are placing yourself voluntarily
under the control of the Holy Spirit.When
out of fellowship you are placing yourself under the control of your sin nature
and its deceptions and degenerate slavery.
And that is not a place you should be in your life.
We are not independent of our sin nature nor of God.So the
thought of being independent and free of all outside influences in life is a
deception.Only fools pursue this kind
of thinking.Your sin nature does not
serve your best interests, only God does that.
Once you have attained your presence with God,
fellowship, then your learning and growth process can
move forward, through the rest of the seven spirits, which are, knowledge,
understanding, counsel, might, wisdom, and fear or respect.
These are listed on the 'seven spirits' chart, and
so I won't go over them all here.But
basically they represent your daily study and advancement through doctrine,
until you reach a point of completeness, or spiritual maturity, having command
of all that God has taught you.
Grace and peace come to us all from God through the
seven spirits, your spiritual growth process.
God provides us with doctrine, we have to want to
learn it and then learn it through the procedure God has given us. This has been the process since the beginning
of time, and remains so.Adam learned
doctrine this way, and so do we.This
process stands before Gods Throne as the only authorized method of interacting
with God and learning Bible doctrine.
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End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.