NATURE OF THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD

Part 6

 

 

December 09, 2022

 

Let me begin today by extracting some quotes that Holy Spirit gave to me when I was writing a book titled, EKKLESIA, THE PREPARATION OF THE BRIDE.

 

Truth -- the genuine article -- can only come by the Spirit of Truth, which is one of the seven Spirits of God.  The Spirit of Truth takes facts, takes history, takes events which have occurred -- either in our lives, or in the lives of others -- or, takes verses of scripture and applies them in a manner which brings life.

 

The Spirit of Truth takes that life and transmits it into the core of our beings.

 

Satan has been a past master at utilizing facts, factual events, history -- and especially Scripture -- in order to pervert the truth.  He especially delights in making those facts, those events, those scriptures, a lie which will divert us from the purposes and heart's desire of the Lord Jesus Christ by simply adding his "twist" to them, or -- as he did with Adam and Eve in the Garden -- causing us to see facts in such a manner as to question the purpose, the integrity, and the desire of the Lord.  Witness, for example, the way in which he twisted scriptures in order to tempt Jesus while He was in the wilderness.

 

Our study is not an effort to put together a collection of historical facts in order to prove a point.  It is not just a collection of scripture quotations.  It is my hope to put together a compilation of events which have occurred with Della and me, and others, as we have lived Ekklesia. 

 

For us, it is truth!  But it is truth because the Spirit of Truth has applied our understanding and research of history, as well as the events which have unfolded in our lives, to scriptures which He has put into action -- not because we have studied history, and not because we have memorized scriptures.

 

Unless He, The Spirit of Truth, also reveals this to you, it too will be just a collection of facts, a recitation of historical findings, the reporting of events which have unfolded in our lives, and the quotation of  scriptures to support our particular "doctrine."

 

John 16:13-15: Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. 

 

He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that He (the Spirit of Truth) shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.

 

Sixth in the list of the Seven Spirits of God is the Spirit of Truth.  John is the only one of the NT authors who quotes Jesus’ references to the Spirit of Truth, but he mentions Him four times.

 

Here again is a list of the Seven Spirits of God – all of which are a part of the central character and makeup of the Lord Jesus Christ – LOVE!

 

The Spirit of Judgment & Burning (Isaiah 4:4)

 

The Spirit of Wisdom &Understanding  (Isaiah 11:1-5)

 

The Spirit of Counsel and Might  (Isaiah 11:1-5)

 

The Spirit of Knowledge and the Fear of the Lord  (Isaiah 11:1-5)

 

The Spirit of Grace &Supplications  (Zechariah 12:10)

 

The Spirit of Truth  (John 15:26)

 

The Spirit of Glory  (I Peter 4:14)

 

Before we get into all of the characteristics and operations of the Spirit of Truth, let’s first take a look at the remaining references in John’s Gospel and the one in his first epistle.

 

 John 14:15-17: If ye love me, keep my commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

 

John 16:7-14: Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 

 

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  Of sin, because they believe not on me;  Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 

 

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

 

I John 4:1-6: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 

 

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

 

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

 

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us.  Hereby know we the Spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error.

 

To these Scriptures we add the following introduction by John of Jesus:

 

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.

 

Truth is mentioned not less than 90 times in the New Testament, but John uses this term 47 times (or more than half) of all its occurrences in the NT.  There’s good reason why John is the dominant writer concerning Truth: he, of all the disciples, had the closest bond of love with Jesus during the 3 ½ years of Jesus’ ministry.

 

It is in love – agape love – that Truth, the Spirit of Truth is revealed.  Right after John says, “Hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error,” he writes the following:

 

I John 4:7-13:  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

 

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 

 

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

 

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.  Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

 

Now, let’s see if we can extract from these Scripture references the character and nature of the Spirit of Truth.

 

1. He shall guide you into all truth. (John 16:13)

 

2. Whatever He hears (from the Father), that shall He speak. (John 16:13)

 

3. He will show you things to come [give prophetic revelation]. (John 16:13)

 

4. He glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ [only]. (John 16:14)

 

5. Whatever Jesus says and gives, He [The Spirit of Truth] declares and announces to those who hear and believe. (John 16:14)  The Greek word, “anangello” occurs in this verse giving the sense that when we have angelic visitations where truth is revealed, it is the Spirit of Truth which has sent them.

 

6. Jesus goes on to clarify that everything that He has comes from the Father, and that therefore the Spirit of Truth transmits and conveys that to us. (John 16:15)

 

7. The Spirit of Truth is the Comforter – the Paraklete. (John 14:16)

 

8. The Spirit of Truth will not speak to those in the world because they neither see Him, nor know Him, and they will not receive anything He has to say or to give.  Neither will He reveal anything of the Father or the Son to anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 14:15-16)

 

9. For those who walk in love and an intimate relationship with Jesus, the Spirit of Truth will remain with them in perpetuity (Greek:aion: throughout eternity). (John 14:16)

 

10. For those who walk in love – AND in the Spirit – Jesus’ promise is that the Spirit of Truth will dwell IN us. (John 14:17)

 

11. A primary job of the Spirit of Truth is to reprove, confute, convict and admonish the world of, for and because of sin. (John 16:8-11)

 

12. Along with reproving the world of sin, the Spirit of Truth has the responsibility to convince(Greek: elengcho) the world of righteousness (Greek: dikaiosune: justification and innocence through Christ Jesus). (John 16:8-11)

 

13.The third element of the Spirit of Truth’s primary purpose and mission to the world is to demonstrate that the

 

14. “prince of the world” has been judged by God, convicted, stripped of his authority and sentenced to everlasting hell fire. (John 16:8-11)

 

15. The Spirit of Truth always reveals and shows to those who walk in love the spirit of antichrist, its operation and its presence in the world around us. (I John 4:2-3)

 

At the same time The Spirit of Truth always uncovers the spirit of error and makes clear how the spirit of error is rooted in the spirit of antichrist.  He accomplishes this with a simple question:

 

Will the spirit that is speaking hear the Word of the Lord, or will it rebel against that Word, insisting on having its own way and clinging to its own ideas, thoughts or teachings of man. (I John 4:6)

 

16. When John begins his Gospel, he clearly states that Jesus was full of the Spirit of Grace and the Spirit of Truth – that in Jesus Christ was the Spirit of Grace and the Spirit of Truth manifested in the flesh. (John 1:14)

 

17. The Spirit of Truth only manifests and demonstrates in the presence of agape love. (I John 4:7-)

 

It is the Spirit of Truth that brings to us the confidence and assurance – the “witness of the Spirit” – that we dwell in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He dwells in us. (I John 4:13)

 

For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, the Spirit of Truth is the one who reveals the character and nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the one who convinces us – convicts and reproves in love – of error and misunderstanding.

 

The Spirit of Truth is our Guide in all spiritual revelation.

 

While the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation (Understanding) brings us revelation and shows us what the Lord is up to, it is the Spirit of Truth who applies that revelation in a practical, workable dimension.

 

Let me share the following before we continue on.

 

Some is shared from prophetic insight.  It was given to us by the Holy Spirit.  For it to become life within you will require the same degree of revelation from the Holy Spirit.

 

Before you act on anything contained within this book, you must, of necessity, hear from the Holy Spirit.  It must witness within your spirit.

 

Some things are clearly identified as "musts."  They are identified as imperatives from the Paraklete, and as such must be regarded as the clarion Word of the Lord. Nevertheless, no one can act on these imperatives until they have personally heard them within their own spirits.  My saying so in this study does not mean you have heard it within your spirit.  That is up to the Lord.

 

The whole objective of our pursuit of Truth — and the Spirit of Truth — is intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ.  The whole purpose of our gaining the knowledge of the Truth is to prepare the Bride for the Bridegroom.

 

We are all being led by the Spirit to a place of individual responsiveness, and intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ.  No one can tell you how to respond.  That is between you and the Holy Spirit.

 

I can only tell you that you must respond -- if you expect to go on beyond your present state of growth -- to His still, small voice.  I can only tell you that you must obey -- Him -- not me, not some pastor, not some church leader, not some evangelist, etc., etc., etc.  This is a call from the Bridegroom -- Himself.  He desires personal, and intimate relationship with You -- not second and third-party -- not through some other individual; and not through something which you read or hear from others.

 

The Law, as it was given by Moses, was intended by God to serve as a governor -- a means by which God's people, Israel, would see that their first and only real priority was their relationship with the Lord.  The first three of the ten commandments, in fact, deal with our vertical relationship with Him.  Jesus noted His approval of the young man who summed up the first three commandments as, "Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."  The last seven He simply tallied as, "and thy neighbor as thyself."

 

Had Israel seen the significance of the first three commandments, history might well have taken a different course.  Unfortunately, the Law became a substitute for that relationship desired by the Lord.

 

The same is true within the world of the church.  This system has been permitted by the Lord -- even though it was never His objective or heart's desire -- to steer people towards the truth.

 

Within the church, people have been introduced to salvation.  They have been introduced to baptisms.  They have been introduced to the miraculous displays of the power of the Holy Spirit, and the available gifts through Him.

 

For a large majority of all Christians, however, there has been an indestructible link between these events and "the church."  The structure and system of the church have -- in the minds of most Christians -- become woven together inextricably with the gifts and calling of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The great majority have not realized that the "system" and "structure" were not ordained by the Lord; that they are a by-product and outgrowth of a doctrine which crept into the Body of Christ late in the first century.

 

John saw this as a deadly doctrine designed to keep people from ever entering into the true place of intimacy with Jesus Christ.  He described it as both the “doctrine and the deeds of the Nicolaitans.

 

As it was revealed to John by the Lord, He described it to John as, "which thing I hate."  It embodied both “democracy” in the church, as well as “hierarchy.”

 

Once you have read the Word of Truth in Scripture, or heard it with your ears, I believe that the Holy Spirit will bring you to a place of decision. You will face choices you have never faced before in your life.  The revelation of Truth in your spirit will bring to a birth in you the absolute and crystal clear knowledge that the Lord desires an intimate relationship with you which is devoid of church structure, doctrine, denomination, position, title, talent and ability, intellectual achievement, etc.  This is a relationship predicated on living in His presence, NOW! -- not at some distant point "when we all get to heaven."

 

Growing up in a more-or-less traditional “church” setting, I was exposed to certain teachings that just didn’t ring with the Spirit of Truth in my inner being.  When the Lord broke me out of the four walls of traditional “churchdom,” I had much more time to be quiet and listen to Holy Spirit.

 

It is a wonderful thing to be in that place.  My thirst to KNOW the Word magnified exponentially.  The time I spent with the Lord in fasting and meditating on His Word opened up revelation in a way I could not have imagined.

 

Old, traditional doctrines and teachings began to fall by the wayside.  I began to see that the general focus of the mainstream Pentecostal and charismatic and evangelical churches was an escapist mentality.  People were praying that the Lord would hurry up and come and “rapture” them “outta here!”

 

The concept of an overcoming body of believers who knew how to rule and reign in this present world just got lost in the shuffle.  One of the first major revelations came some 40+ years ago with the picture of natural Israel being commanded to overcome and wipe out her enemies who occupied the last of promise.  Instead, Israel compromised and did exactly what they were instructed NOT to do.  They allowed their enemies to live, to become their slaves, intermarried with them and began to serve the false gods of those nations.

 

I saw a direct parallel between the seven nations that occupied Canaan, their characteristics and demonic personalities, and that which the body of Christ was instructed to overcome by the Spirit and rule over.  Eight times in the revelation that John experiences, he hears the phrase, “to him that overcometh.”  Each promise that follows that phrase is a sequential positioning of intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, leading to our joining with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  The final promise is as follows:

 

Revelation 21:7:   He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

 

Now THAT’S Truth!  That is what the Lord has been trying to communicate to all of us who would listen to His voice.  Once we hear the Spirit of Truth in our innermost beings, we KNOW where Holy Spirit is leading us.   Now we begin to see the Seven Spirits of God!

 

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

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

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