THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Sakkie Parsons
Someone wrote to me as follows:
"I want to ask your advice again. We had a sermon on Sunday about the Seven Spirits of God.
This is what my Pastor says and what another says. Which one is right now? I'm a bit confused.
I believe and know that you can help me, because you always base everything on the Word of God.
My pastor says it is: Spirit of rest, Spirit of wisdom, Spirit of understanding, Spirit of counsel, Spirit of strength, Spirit of knowledge, Spirit of fear.
The other pastor's it is: Spirit of supplication, Spirit of truth, Spirit of holiness, Spirit of life, Spirit of adoption, Spirit of grace, Spirit of glory. "
I'm always so unhappy when I get a letter where people share something that is preached to them, which we do not find in the Word. In fact, I'm not only unhappy, I'm also upset and sad, if satan misuses people so as to waste the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I want to start by saying that we read four times in the Word of the "Seven Spirits of God, namely in REV. 1: 4, REV. 3: 1, REV. 4: 5 and REV. 5: 6.
It is very important that I say this right at the start:
Nowhere in the Word are we told by our Lord, with great respect, who or what these Seven Spirits are.
Therefore, any statement whatsoever about who or what these Seven Spirits are is the speculation of the person who gives the statement.
What is so disturbing is that most people making these kinds of statements and never say that it's how they personally understand the specific part of the Word but they subtly bring people under the impression that they make the statement under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
I just mention it because, like now, it’s just the kind of thing that we have to deal with and then we need to help people understand that God does not speak out of two, and sometimes more, mouths.
What is however for now wonderful to me, is that God's Holy Spirit can live in us in His fullness and wants to be our Helper and Comforter on earth if we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
JOHN 14:16-17
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
What is now important in my understanding is that I read we must obey what we read in this book:
REV 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
The CEV reads as follows:
REV 1:3 God will bless everyone who reads this prophecy to others and He will bless everyone who hears and obeys it. The time is almost here.
To return to the question above:
It's at most the opinions of the two individuals and if one of them makes more of it; like saying it's a biblical fact, in other words, that our Lord state it in His Word, it's like that many statements by so many people these days, just a lie and all lies are originated in satan:
JOHN 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Now, how do I look at this matter, if anyone asks me, who am the Seven Spirits?
There are two parts in the Word that people want to connect with the Seven Spirits. It is now beyond the many so-called inspired ones who, in order to explain, give unbiblical terms and I share it with you soon.
The first we get in Isaiah 11: 2. I quote verse 11: 1-3:
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
The second part is given in ROM 12: 6-8:
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Remember now –
I say, that's what people sometimes use.
I myself find no evidence in the Word to proclaim that one of these two parts can be linked to the Seven Spirits in the book of Revelation.
The number seven is used repeatedly in Revelation and I will not quote every section of Revelation here. You can read it in your own time, but I just name the examples from
Chapter 1 so that you can see what I mean:
Rev. 1: 4, Rev. 1:11, Rev. 1:12, Rev. 1:16, Rev. 1:20 and as I mentioned, this is only in chapter 1.
I also share with you some examples of what we find in the number of seven in Revelation.
We read from seven congregations:
REV 1:11 saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."
We read of seven stars and seven candlesticks:
REV 1:20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
We read of seven seals:
REV 5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
We read of seven angels and seven trumpets:
REV 8:2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
We also read of seven plagues:
REV 15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
What do I want to tell you regarding all this information I shared with you?
We must guard against declaring something from the Word to the people, as if it came from our Lord, when it is only at our best our personal opinion. There are already an abundance of false prophets around us. We must not allow satan to misuse us as well.
I do not know why our Lord has not given us an answer to everything in His Word, but I look at it and all the other things in my life that I do not understand, as my great hero Paul did:
1COR 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
For now, as His child, I have this certainty:
I will know what to know, when I need to know, what to know – if I need to know what I want to know in this life.
At this moment we, who purely proclaims the Word to the best of our abilities, yet do not know from the Word who are the Seven Spirits, but no one will miss heaven as a result of not knowing this.
For now, I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the best of my ability according to His Word, through His Word, as He gave us in His New Covenant and not this or that, that I want to add or even, like some, what want to ignore.
I would like to encourage you:
2TIM 4:2-4
2 preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
You may not be able to preach or do missionary work, etc. – but you have a life that you can live for Christ.
Someone, I think it was Franciscus of Assisi, said and I think I quote it right:
"Proclaim the gospel wherever you go and if necessary, use words as well."
Therefore, let us be obedient to the command that our Lord and Saviour give to us in His Word:
MAT 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Remember now –
You do not have to preach or have the time or equipment to do missionary work but you have a life that you can use to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
No one can better declare this great truth than Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
First, Jesus says:
MAT 5:11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
MAT 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Then Jesus tells us how He wants our daily contact to be with the people around us in preaching His gospel:
MAT 5:13-16
13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Therefor child of God, with the words I have used in the past, I greet and encourage you again:
‘If we believe it, let us live it’ or ‘Let us practise what we preach.’
Greetings,
Sakkie