ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: NATURE OF THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD Part 5

NATURE OF THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD

Part 5

April 16, 2021

I want to focus on the fifth of these Seven Spirits of God: The Spirit of Grace and Supplications.

The Hebrew word, chen, (pronounced, khane) which is derived from chanan, is both "grace," and "supplications." It represents: grace, graciousness, to have mercy upon, to make entreaty or supplication on behalf of.

It is easy to see this facet of the onomaof Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 7:25: "Wherefore He is able to save, heal, deliver, and make whole all those who approach unto God through and by Him, always living to intercede for them."

To this we add Paul's statement in Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you are saved, healed, delivered and made whole through faith; and this is not of yourselves; this [both grace and faith] is the gift of God." (RAC translation & Amplification)

This is perhaps the best known aspect of agape. It is also one of the most preached aspects of Jesus' character and makeup. Were it not for His grace, none of us would be having this discussion.

We generally think of grace as "unmerited favor." To some extent this is true, although grace goes far beyond the simple extension of His favor to an unworthy people.

The Spirit of Grace and Supplications was at work even before the foundations of the earth were set in place. The Bridegroom well knew that the large majority of the human race, though given the opportunity to choose and enter into an intimate relationship with Him, would for the most part reject His wooing and beckoning. Yet He prepared a plan which would execute His grace to provide an opportunity for their deliverance from the Serpent.

The Spirit of Grace and Supplications was at work even before Adam and Eve exited the Garden, preparing the path, and setting in place the necessary foundations for the redemption of their seed.

Again, it is important that we remember that The Spirit of Grace and Supplications works toward the fulfillment of the Plan of the Godhead, ordained, orchestrated, and set in motion before time began. There is nothing sloppy about the mercy of His grace.

It is precise, and yet encompassing. Everything which unfolds in the development of our lives and our relationship with Jesus Christ has been planned and ordained so that He can receive His purchased inheritance -- a Bride who in every respect fulfills His.

Two words occur in the Greek text of the New Testament to translate out “grace” and “supplications.”

The word, grace, is universally translated from charis. If there ever was a word misunderstood or misapplied, this is it!

Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines this word like this:

(1) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness;

(2) good-will, lovingkindness, favor;

(3) the act of favoring;

(4) the act of kindness of a master towards his inferiors or servants;

(5)charisis used of the merciful kindness by which God the Father, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns them to The Anointed One and His Anointing, keeps, strengthens, increases them in faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of spiritual virtues.

While the concept of “unmerited favor” certainly is incorporated in this definition of charis, that description oversimplifies what Jesus Christ gives to us.

The same is true of the word, “supplications.” Here, the word in the Greek text is deomai. This word is one which comes out of the concept of “Covenant.”

Deomai literally means: to bind oneself to; to present a petition. It comes from the root word, deo, and it means: to be in a bond with, to knit together, to tie, to bind.

This, folks, is exactly how the Spirit of Grace and Supplications works.

This spirit binds itself to us. It exercises the grace and graciousness of the Father towards us. It woos us. It draws us. It makes entreaty for us.

With compassion, this Spirit of Grace and Supplications acts on the behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring us to the place of repentance, acceptance and acknowledge-ment of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Because this Spirit is acting on behalf of the Lord, its primary function is to prepare us as a worthy Bride for our Bridegroom, creating in us and with us that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, and loveliness to God. It is the act of our Master towards us – who first come as undeserving servants – to bring us to Sonship.

The Spirit of Grace and Supplications turns people towards Jesus Christ, the Anointed One – and His Anointing – so that there can be a “full house,” a completed family who is like the Lord in every respect.

This is part of the fulfillment of the Covenant that God made with Abraham. We are being transformed into “friends of God.”

We are having God’s Covenant with Abraham extended towards us in order that we might become heirs, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, and recipients of that same Covenant through faith.

Paul puts it like this:

Galatians 3:6-15: Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

And it is the Spirit of Grace and Supplications which works in us with and because of this covenant in order to ensure that we are recipients of it.

Let’s consider some Scriptures we’ve all heard many times and some likely memorized.

Ephesians 2:5-10:Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Now, let’s back up one chapter in Ephesians and look at a different aspect of the Spirit of Grace and Supplications.

Ephesians 1:3-8:Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

Are you beginning to see something here?

It is by the Spirit of Grace and Supplications that we have been chosen.

It is the purpose of this particular Spirit of God to show us just how rich this grace is that we have received, and to demonstrate the kheseed of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of Grace releases faith to us as a gift in order that we can receive sozo (healing, deliverance, salvation, safety, protection, health, wholeness and prosperity).

Salvation comes to us by and through the Spirit of Grace and Supplications. It is by and through the drawing of this Spirit that we are even able to receive Salvation from sin.

We have been made to sit in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus by and through the Spirit of Grace.

Ephesians 1:3 begins with the statement that the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings.”

This word “blessed” and “blessings” comes from the Greek eulogeo, which is very like the concept of “supplications” as it occurs in Zechariah 12:10. It means: to speak over, to declare the Word of the Covenant, to command to prosper.

The OT Hebrew word translated “supplications” istachanun, which comes from the root: chanan, which means: to bless, to bestow favor, to speak prosperity.

With the prefix, tach, added, the word now becomes a request for release of that covenant favor and blessing.

Thus the Spirit of Grace not only blesses and releases blessing and favor, but looks to His companion Spirits of God for release of all they have ready to give.

Because the Spirit of Grace and Supplications was at work during the whole act of Creation, He was involved in the selection and ordaining that we should be placed as full-grown, mature and commissioned sons of God alongside the Lord Jesus Christ as His heirs and joint-heirs.

The word translated “adoption” in the KJV is taken from the Greek: huiothesia. This is the word which denotes the giving and granting of equal status as trusted “sons” legally.

We’ve already discussed this in the past, but the word huios is distinguished from teknon – also translated as “son” and nepios.

A teknon is any son between the age of 12 and 30 who is yet (as Paul describes in Galatians) under tutors and governors “until the time appointed of the father.”

A nepios is a child under the age of 12 who has no recognized voice of experience or authority to speak, and is therefore regarded as “not speaking.”

Huios, on the other hand, designates one who has reached the “time appointed of the father” and is recognized as someone who can speak for the father with his authority and exercise the father’s power.

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Father spoke from Heaven and used the same phraseology the Jews were accustomed to hearing when a son reached “the time appointed of the father.” That phraseology was, “This is my Beloved Son (huios) in Whom I am well pleased.”

The Spirit of Grace and Supplications was being manifested on that occasion since “sonship” was officially granted. Jesus became the officially recognized “Son of God” in that moment.

The Spirit of Grace and Supplications has been tasked with seeing that we are “holy and without blame before Him [The Father] in love.”

His objective is to so work in our lives that we become transformed “to the praise of the glory of His grace” in order that we become accepted, recognized and commissioned as “Sons of God” – heirs and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of Grace was at work in Jesus Christ when He redeemed us from the curse through His Blood, forgave all of our sins and iniquities, and – together with the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation – poured Himself into us in such a way that we would manifest the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

John demonstrates how the Spirit of Grace and Supplications was at work in Jesus in the following statements:

John 1:14:And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:16-17:And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Writing in Acts, Luke tells us the following:

Acts 4:33:And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Writing to the Romans, the apostle Paul says:

Romans 3:21-26: But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Are you seeing the picture? The Spirit of Grace and Supplications was at work in Jesus Christ in order to bring redemption to us. The Spirit of Grace releases and declares the Word to us in such a way that we hear the rhema and faith is generated in us in the Blood of Jesus.

We often quote as our authority for “calling those things that be not as though they were” Paul’s statement in Romans 4:17, but we need to see the context of that statement.

Romans 4:16-17:Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Now do you see it?

Faith is released by the Spirit of Grace and Supplications so that the promise of this authority can be made “sure to all the seed” of Abraham.

The Spirit of Grace and Supplications is the driving force of faith.

Let’s wrap up this part of our discussion with a look at what Paul writes in his letter to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 4:14-16:Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

The boldness that drives our faith – that same faith that enables us to come before the Throne of Grace – is empowered within us by the Spirit of Grace.

The Throne of Grace is that same Throne John describes (and we’ve talked about this before) in Revelation 1.

Remember this statement?

Revelation 1:4:John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

The word translated “before” in the KJV in this verse comes from the Greek enopion, which means: in the place of and occupy.

Thus, the Throne of Grace is the same Throne which all Seven Spirits of God are in the place of, and occupy.

This is why we can come boldly before this Throne and receive the grace we need for any and every situation.

Have you seen by now how the Spirit of Grace and Supplications works yet? Let’s go back to a basic understanding of what grace really is.

There is nothing passive about grace. This is a whole lot more than “unmerited favor.” We quoted this verse earlier today, but here it is again.

Ephesians 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Remember how Paul told us in Romans that “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word (rhema) of God”? So faith is the gift that is given in order for grace to work. Grace, therefore, is the empowerment to accomplish! Grace is given to us so that we can accomplish what God instructs or sets before us.

Now, put that together with Supplications. We’ve already described this word from its Hebrew counterpart as: to speak over, to declare the Word of the Covenant, to command to prosper. We also have this in the root: to bless, to bestow favor, to speak prosperity.

Thus, the Spirit of Grace and Supplications empowers our speaking over (something or someone) the Word of the Covenant that is given to us by Holy Spirit. We know what to speak and how to speak because the Spirit of Grace and Supplications has been revealed and imparted —maybe “infused” would be a better word here — into our beings.

In case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, ourSunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:30AM Pacific. That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings available on video usingZOOM. If you wish to participate by video on ZOOM, our login ID is 835-926-513. If you miss the live voice-onlycall, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later. The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76502

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