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 Sermon > Cell Bible Study |
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Title |
Lesson 21-[2013 Cell Group Service] God''s Standard of Measurement for Answers ?Seven Spirits (1) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
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Date |
2013-06-03 |
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Reading Scripture: Revelation 5:6
Verse to Memorize: John 4:24
Reference: James 4:2-3
Goal: to help believers gain clear understanding on the features the seven Spirits assess and receive answers and blessing in accordance with justice
'The seven Spirits' refer to the heart of God (Ref: John 4:24). In order to receive answers, we need to understand the heart of God and ask in His will. The seven Spirits represent the heart of God and is a 'yardstick' for receiving answers. Here, 'seven' does not indicate that God has seven Spirits in number. The number '7' spiritually symbolizes 'perfectness', so the seven Spirits signify that they are spiritually perfect and complete.
God sent out into all the earth the seven Spirits that are the heart of God to search for all mankind (Revelation 5:6). The seven Spirits investigate all men's hearts and deeds and according to the result God gives answers and blessings to people who have met the standard. As we pay money per pound of meat at the butcher's, the seven Spirits are like the scale God uses to give us answers.
What do the seven Spirits of God measure?
First, the seven Spirits measure one's faith.
The Bible tells us, "It shall be done to you according to your faith" (Matthew 9:29). If you haven't received answers, though you say you believe, it means that your faith is not a spiritual one but a fleshly one that has been stored as only knowledge. It is not that you can be given faith just because you have the knowledge on faith and profess your faith with your lips.
The kind of faith God acknowledges is spiritual faith with which you can unquestionably believe even things that are invisible in reality or things that do not agree with your thoughts or learning. With the faith, you can believe that something can be created out of nothing. Such spiritual faith is not the kind of thing that is given to you just because or when you want. God gives us spiritual faith from above to the extent that we cast away sin and evil and become sanctified.
What do we need to do to possess spiritual faith? We must keep God's commands in action. We must do what God tells us to do and not do things God tells us not to do. Also, we need to throw away things God commands us to throw away and keep things that God tells us to keep. When we practice the truth that way, we can have confidence before God because our heart does not condemn us. Then, God gives us answers to whatever we pray for and He gives us blessings.
As written above, spiritual faith is always accompanied by deeds. Unless we act in accordance with the Word of God we cannot have spiritual faith. In addition, spiritual faith does not come upon those who have committed sins no matter how many times they say with their mouths they believe. Only when they repent of their sins and walk in the Light can spiritual faith be given to them.
So then, why do the seven Spirits measure one's faith as the first of all the criteria? This is because the criteria of the other measurements are different according to each one's measure of faith. The God of justice sets different standards for receiving answers according to each person's measure of faith. So, it measures faith first and then applies different standards in the rest six features in accord with each one's measure of faith. So, if you want to receive an answer to a rather big problem you need to show the deeds of faith that are beyond your own measure of faith. Then, your faith can grow up more quickly.
Second, the seven Spirits measure one's joy.
Joy is one of the typical evidences that are borne by the saved children of God. Because God's children are moved from the eternal death of Hell to eternal life in Heaven, we cannot but rejoice always. Before you accepted the Lord you may have lived a painful life in tears, sorrow and anxiety due to varied problems. But you have become God's child and received His love and grace and heavenly hope, and now joy is overflowing in you.
Some people might say, "I was living in joy even before I came to believe God." But they were joyful only when they had some reasons to give thanks for. When they fall into a predicament they quickly become sad and joy immediately disappears. Their joy is something that is conditional and changeable and that springs up only when things going around appear beneficial to them.
Meanwhile, a Christian with spiritual joy can rejoice without regard to situations and conditions. This is because they have gained eternal life that is more precious than anything else in the world and Heaven fills their hearts. Of course, they sometimes lament for the kingdom of God or grieve over souls who are going the way to death, but joy never vanishes from deep in their hearts. Such spiritual joy is a privilege that only God's saved children can enjoy. Through this, we can distinguish Christians from the worldly people.
If Christians are joyful, it proves that they have faith. If you trust God completely and believe He will give you answer, you can rejoice even if the reality may seem to be tough. Such people try to live by the Word of God and think about and practice what is pleasing to God. So, they can keep peace with God, all men around them, and even with themselves. By doing so, they can have joy that springs up from their hearts.
Third, the seven Spirits measure one's prayer.
The seven Spirits measure things related to prayer such as whether or not one prays without ceasing and if he prays in the will of God. Our prayer meets the standard only when we pray according to the heart of God. Though we pray for just a short while like this, it pleases God, and it is not just because we pray a lot.
The kind of proper prayer in the sight of God is a prayer of habit offered up every day just as God tells us to pray without ceasing. If you pray without ceasing, you can spiritually remain sober and you will never fall into trials and tests. Even if you are faced with trials, you can pass through them quickly.
Also, you have to pray on bended knees. Jesus as well as the prophets in the Bible prayed on bended knees. It is very natural for us to pray on bended knees when we ask God the Almighty for things impossible to be achieved by human power.
Next, we must pray according to the will of God, not according to our own will. Jesus also prayed in the will of God just as He said in Luke 22:42, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." In other words, we should pray not in our own will but in God's will.
James 4:2-3 reads, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." If you ask with wrong motives, it is against the will of God, so you cannot receive an answer. Just as Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, we must seek God's kingdom first before we ask for something that is beneficial to us.
Then, we have to pray very fervently crying out in prayer. Luke 22:44 describes how Jesus prayed: "And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." Even if we do not shed blood, we should pray fervently enough at least to sweat. This is the spiritual law to receive answers.
Genesis 3:19 reads, "By the sweat of your face you will eat bread? As we can eat bread by the sweat of our face, we can receive answers by the sweat of our face. That is why God let it written in many verses of the Bible that we should cry out in prayer (Ref: Jeremiah 29:12, 33:3).
Jesus fully understood this will of God, so He cried out in prayer. For instance, when He called Lazarus who had been dead four days, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." Even when He was on the cross He prayed with a loud voice.
Luke 23:46 says, "And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last." Jesus always cried out loud in prayer according to the will of God the Father.
Additionally, we have to pray with our hearts. God does not look at the outer appearance but at the heart. To pray with our hearts is to ask God what we earnestly desire and say it with our lips. We must pray to God in the truthfulness of heart because no matter how eloquently we pray with holy words God looks at our hearts.
Lastly, we must pray with faith and love. James 1:6-7 reads, "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts are like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord." You cannot receive an answer if you doubt thinking, 'Can it really be answered? What if it does not happen?' Only when you believe the living God will answer you and pray with love for Him will He accept your prayer joyfully.
If you pray without faith and love, it cannot be offered up as the aroma that is fragrant enough for God to accept. Therefore, even though you pray for a short while, you have to pray with faith and love and with all your heart. By doing so, I hope you will receive answers quickly.
* Evaluation and Application
1. Fill in the blanks.
The seven Spirits refer to the ( ) of ( ).
The seven ( ) represent the heart of God and is a 'yardstick' for receiving answers.
2. Why do the seven Spirits measure faith first of all measures?
3. What do the seven Spirits measure secondly?
4. What do the seven Spirits measure thirdly?
* Weekly Assignment
Read pages 156-159 of Fundamentals of Christianity and high-light important sentences.
* Let's Learn about It!
What is 'Justice'?
'Justice' refers to God's nature or attribute that awards a prize to men of goodness or inflicts punishment on evil men in a fair way. Here, the standard to discern between good and evil is the 66 books of the Bible which is the truth itself. God is true and righteous, and He is unwavering without hypocrisy. He governs the world with the justice according to the law and the order He had set in the beginning. While cultivating mankind, God impartially judges men between good and evil and gives prizes or punishment. |
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