Genesis Lecture 8 (Division of Spirit 5)
Bible passage: Genesis 1:1
“ In the beginning God created heavens and the earth”
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. All saints from branch churches, and local sanctuaries. GCN viewers and all children of God who attend the worship online.
This is the 8th Lecture on Genesis. Continuing from the last lecture, I'm going to tell you about the Seven Spirits, which is one of the divided entities of God the Father. I told you that the seven spirits are the heart of God, measuring people in view of the 7 fields. If they pass the measure by the seven spirits according to their measure of faith, answers are given to their prayers.
Dear brothers and sisters Those of you who have not received answers to your prayers, I hope you will listen carefully to today's message and understand why your prayers are not answered. I also said the standard to pass it is not the same for all, but different according to each individual's measure of faith. That's why the seven spirits measure their faith first, and the standard for the other 6 fields are set according to their own measure of faith. "Joy" is the 2nd attribute that the seven spirits measure. 'Joy' is one of the most significant evidence possessed by those who are saved. Now, what did the first measurement say? trust. I explained it last week.
Today is joy, joy is the representative evidence of those who have been saved. If you truly met God, and know there is judgment, Hell, and Heaven, and if you know you are saved and have become a citizen of the heavenly kingdom, don't you think you ought to have joy! Before you met God, you might have lived a life that was full of tears, sorrows, pain, worries, and death. You may have lived a life without joy. But after you were saved and became the children of God, you lived lives with hope for Heaven in the love and grace of God. Isn't it natural that you become full of joy? Some of you may say that you were happy even before you met God But I'd like to ask you whether the joy was true. How much joy was that? It was probably just a short-lived joy You were delighted only when there was something to be joyful about. However, when you encountered a problem or a trouble, the joy disappeared. It was a conditional joy that only existed when situation was beneficial to you in accordance with your feelings. It was an incomplete joy that could change according to your situation.
However, those who possess spiritual joy in faith can always rejoice regardless the situation. The joy always comes from the bottom of their heart because they gained the eternal life, filled with hope of heaven. Of course, they may mourn spiritually for the souls and for the kingdom and righteousness of God. But, the joy that is from the depth of the heart never disappears. This spiritual joy is the privilege that only the saved children of God can enjoy. It is also a standard that differentiates Christians from other worldly people. Additionally, joy is evidence that you have faith. When you have firm faith given by God, the joy comes from your heart even if it seems difficult in reality. Your joy is proof that you have faith and it is bound to follow your faith.
Your confession 100 times, saying “I believe” is not recognized as the spiritual faith. Again, faith should be proven that it’s true, and this joy is the evidence of faith. The presence of joy in your life is proof that you believe in God and the Lord and in heaven. people those are joyful look different when they receive my prayers No matter how hard or difficult their problem is, they receive my prayers joyfully without any worries or worries. They feel heartfelt joy because they believe that their problems will be solved by receiving the prayer. And sooner or later after receiving my prayer, they surely testify that they've received answers. However, among those who were thought to have faith, there are some who lost the spiritual joy.
They may smile outwardly, but it is not truly from the depths of their heart. In this case, chances are that, they may have lost their love and fervor for God, and their faith has cooled down. Why is it that their fervent faith has cooled down like this? It is because they loved the things of the world that have attracted them away from loving God. 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Our hearts should be filled with the Father's love, but as much as you love the world, the Father's love is not in you. Because you do not love God the Father, you love the things of the world, and as much as you love the world, this is proof that the Father's love is not within you. If you love God, you will cut off worldly affairs. As you cut off one more thing, you will want to become like the Lord. If you love the world and seek after the world, a wall of sin arises between you and God, and then spiritual joy disappears.
In this case, even if you've been a Christian for a long time and have titles, you cannot receive answers to your prayers. Since you are short in the measure of the fruit of joy according to the measure of your faith, you cannot pass the measure of the seven spirits. Dear brothers and sisters. Joy also comes from peace. You should first be at peace with God the Father, and then you should make peace with your neighbors. Also, if you are in peace with yourself, joy will always pour out from you. If you are in peace with God the Father, at least, the joy will not disappear from your heart. To be in peace with God the Father, you should never make any wall of sin. In other words, you should live in the Word of God. Now, check yourself.
Do you truly have overflowing joy in your heart? Do you rejoice in any situation? Did you rejoice a few months ago, or a few weeks ago? yesterday and are you rejoicing now? If you rejoice all the time, you must be in peace with all others. In other words, you must be in peace with God the Father as well as with others and yourself. If you are in peace with all, the Holy Spirit will also rejoice, and He will give you the joy of heaven. This joy from above cannot be taken away by anyone, not even by the enemy devil and Satan. However, if you are not overflowing with joy like this, please check yourself where the peace is broken. For instance, do you disregard a traffic regulation as something trivial and violate it? No matter how small it is, breaking public law is breaking the peace. When small acts of lawlessness add up one by one, the Holy Spirit mourns, and your joy also disappears. Moreover, if you violate the commandments of God, it is no less than breaking peace with God and you lose your joy. In other words, there is no way that God can give us joy, and peace from above. This means that the Holy Spirit is not happy in you because the peace in you with the Father has been broken. So, God the Father cannot give you peace. Your heart will be troubled with anxieties, worries, and fear.
Those who easily fall asleep during worship services or prayer meetings are among those who don't have joy. So, instead of worshiping in spirit and truth, they hope the worship end quickly.’ This is something that disappoints God. While listening to the word of God, you should naturally be joyful, happy, and thankful. Even during long worship services, you should feel the word of God as sweet as honey. Otherwise, how disappointed would God be? Those who are full of the joy of heaven listen to the word of God with happiness, and offer fervent prayers. However, those who don't rejoice don't receive grace when they hear the word, and they force themselves to pray. And so, their believing lives are not fun; They habitually lead a religious life. A life of faith should be joyful and enjoyable.
However, there are people who know it through knowledge and because they know that God sees, they live a religious life out of a sense of duty, by force, or habitually. If you think you fall into this category, please cut yourself off from the things of the world first. Worldly things cannot give me true happiness. The more you cut it off, the more God from above gives you true happiness. Then true joy and peace will overflow within you. Because you cut off the world. If you forsake worldly things and take on spiritual things, the Holy Spirit within you is pleased and gives you heavenly joy. And also, please find where the peace is broken, and make peace. May you be full of the joy of heaven y doing so, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. As the third measure, the Seven Spirits measure "prayer." What is the first that the 7 Spirits measure? What is the 2nd one? Belief, joy respectively.
The Seven Spirits measure whether you pray without ceasing ,according to the will of God. Just because you pray for a long time does not mean you pass this measure. Even if it is a short prayer, you should make it proper according to the heart of God. What prayer is worthy to Father God? this is a prayer that you decide to do regularly. Just as the Lord tells you to pray without ceasing, you must give prayer that becomes habitual by practice every day. Only those who pray like this are awake all the time in spirit. If you are spiritually awakened, you will not fall into temptation. The Lord tells us to watch and pray so that we may not fall into temptation. Prophet Samuel said he would not commit the sin of ceasing to pray. The Bible says It is a sin to stop praying to God, so Samuel said he would not commit such a sin. Also the Bible says to always stay awake and pray and cry out to God in pray. But if you disobey, it is a sin How many Christians live in this sin? And yet they say, “I believe” Going back to the main topic, if you are spiritually awake, you will not fall into any test. Even if you face a problem or a trial, you will be able to quickly pass through it.
When you pray, your prayer is piled up in heaven like a "saving account.' You will be happy to see the money you save in the bank grow. People who know this joy save money and do it again because they feel happy when they look at their bank account. Just like saving money, prayers are accumulated in heaven. Therefore, those who are awake and pray all the time, they can receive the answers easily even in urgent situations. Why? They’ve accumulated their prayers. It is like withdrawing money that you have saved in your saving account. On the other hand, what if you haven't prayed much? How much and how long do you have to pray to solve a problem or to receive answer?
The bible says that to stop praying is sin. It may take a long time just to break the wall of sin of not praying. Therefore, you should always pray without ceasing and make it habitual. Next, you should kneel down when you pray. When you pray, you can sit on a chair or lie down, but why does God want you to kneel when you pray? The Lord also knelt down when He prayed and there are many scenes of people kneeling and praying throughout the Bible. So, of course, we must obey the Word and kneel down and pray. The Lord, the only begotten Son of God, did the same. Not only the prophets in the Bible, but Jesus also knelt down when he prayed. If you are seeking something that cannot be done by human strength, you should have to kneel before the Almighty God.
There may be circumstances when you cannot kneel down. Except in such situations, if you kneel down when you pray, it is very biblical. And, you must pray not according to your will, but God's will. Jesus also prayed like this as written in Luke 22:42, where He prayed to God, "yet not My will, but Yours be done." You must pray not for your own will or sake, but for the will of God. James 4:2-3 says, "You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." In many parts of the bible, God the Father promises to you that He will give you if you ask. The reason you ask and do not receive is that you ask with wrong motives to spend it on your pleasures. If you asked with wrong motives and received, you would take the world and commit sin. If you would eventually commit sin, how could God give you answer?
In Matthew 6:33, the Lord said, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." When you pray, you should pray for God's kingdom and righteousness before personal matters. God sees that you have faith and blesses you. Even if you work, can you call it loyalty if you do your personal work first and do God's work next? Those who are faithful to God always place the righteousness of His kingdom first. If you don't seek your own benefit, but the kingdom of God first, your prayer will be proper in the sight of God. Then, God will give answer to your prayer for personal use. I hope that all of you will pray according to the will of God like this. Now, you must cry out fervently in your prayer. Jesus was "praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." Even if you don't pray like Him, you should at least pray fervently enough to sweat.
It is also a spiritual principle to receive answers. This is the law of the spirit world. It is the law of the spirit world that you must pray according to God the Father’s will, not according to your own will, but to receive an answer only when you cry out in prayer according to God’s will. If something goes against the Father’s will, no matter how much you pray, it is useless. Genesis 3:19 says “ By the sweat of your face, You will eat bread,” This means that you get plants by sweating. Everyone who works, whether farmers or fishermen, sweats and gets food. There is no income without sweat. This is the word of God. Just as you should toil with sweat to eat, in order to receive answer to your prayer, your prayer should be fervent. This means that before Adam disobeyed, there was no sweat and toil like this in the Garden of Eden. He just lived by eating only what God gave him when he was spiritual being and obeying God. He was able to live like that, eating whatever he wanted and not getting sick.
However, he disobeyed the word of God and turned into a man of the flesh. He was transformed into a man of the flesh and had to sweat to eat. So that he could get some fruit. When you reach Heaven, will you be a spiritual or fleshly person? We will be people of spirit who are done to be cultivated. So there, you can just eat and live as God gave you and live happily without sweating. However, this means that people of the flesh must sweat and eat. God also tells you many times in the bible to cry out in your prayer. Jeremiah 29:12 says, "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." God does not listen just because you pray unconditionally. Our prayers must meet the conditions God desires. The bible says “ cry out in pray to Me.” In other words, you should come before God and cry out in prayer, then God will hear you. Jeremiah 33:3 also says, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
He tells us that if we call out to God and pray, He will show us great and mysterious things that we do not know. Since Jesus knew such will of God, He cried out loudly when He prayed. When He revived Lazarus who had been dead for 4 days, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." Lazarus was already dead. It had been four days since he was buried, and there was already a rotting smell. When a person dies, the smell begins to emanate even after just one day. So, all the holes in the body are blocked. Because rotten water comes out Why did the Lord have to pray out loud over this dead body? He's already been dead for 4 days, so wouldn't it be okay to just quietly pray? it would have been enough for people gathered there to hear. However, the Bible says the Lord shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Even when He was hung on the cross, He cried out with a loud voice in His prayer. The Lord was very exhausted. Several times a night, the Lord was dragged around by high priests and King Herod, starved, scourged, ridiculed, and suffered all kinds of hardships. Wasn't He exhausted?
He was whipped again and bled, was crucified, and climbed Golgotha Hill, and countless people ridiculed and laughed at him. Moreover, the Lord hung on the cross for several hours. He had no energy at all Nevertheless, the Bible says that the Lord prayed loudly before the Father. 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." The Lord had poured out all his water and blood and was completely powerless to say a word. If you were the Lord, you have no choice but to pray in a very weak and quiet voice. Nevertheless, our Lord cries out and prays to God with all his heart and strength. This means that this is a prayer that will be answered by the laws of the spirit world that God hears. So, our Lord Himself did it all, and all the people of God, the prophets, the disciples, and the apostle Paul cried out and prayed. As written, Jesus also cried out with a loud voice in His prayer according to the will of God the Father.
There are many other reasons to cry out and pray. Angels are listening to us praying. They are recording everything we do. They hear our prayers, convey them to the archangel, and carry the incense and content of our prayers to the Father's throne. But angels cannot hear when we pray in our hearts, so we must cry out and pray. Because God knows our inner heart, He listens even if we pray only from our hearts. However, He does not listen to all the prayers of one billion souls. Angels deliver the content and scent of these prayers. The archangels receive this prayer from angels and place it in a golden jar on the throne of God the Father. For this reason, we must pray out loud, and it is better if we cry out in prayer. Next, you should pray from the depth of your heart.
You should pray from the center of your heart. That's because God looks at your heart and not at your outer appearance. The prayer from the depth of your heart is to pray with your lips for what you truly wish in your heart. This means praying with your lips what you truly desire from your heart. Then, are there people who pray even though their hearts don't want what they ask in prayer? Yes, there are. Especially when praying for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, some people prayer formally, repeating the same contents in their prayer. They still have a heart that blames and hates others while they repeat in their prayer “Please, let me keep peace with others.” In order to make peace with others, they have to change themselves first.
If you wish others to change while they don't change at all, it is not that they truly want to be in peace with others. Therefore, no matter how many times they pray, "Let me be in peace with others," it is not a truthful prayer from their deep heart. It is the same with the prayer for the kingdom of God. No matter how holy you look outwardly and how fluently you pray, what God the Father looks into is the truthfulness in your deep heart. Lastly, you should pray in faith and love. James 1:6-7 says, "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is 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." Praying with uncertainty may not always bring clear or immediate answers from God, If you pray while thinking, "Can I really receive answer? What if I can't?" then you cannot receive an answer.
You should truly believe that God, who is alive, will answer you. You should also pray with love for God. When you pray for your church and souls, if you truly pray in love for the church and the souls, your prayer will turn into truly beautiful incense. The prayer without faith and love cannot become the incense that God can receive. Therefore, even if you pray for a short moment, you should pray in faith and love. So far, I have told you what the seven spirits check when measuring your prayer. When the seven Spirits measure just one field, like faith, they check many things. They don't just check whether or not you pray, or how many hours you pray. By the word of God as the standard, they correctly measure everything from your attitude to your inner heart.
Do you think that the conditions for prayer to be answered are too strict and difficult? There is nothing difficult Do you count your breathing such like how many times you breathe in one minute? Do you breathe thinking about how to breathe? When you eat, do you think about how you have a meal? it has many steps like Picking up fork, place food in mouth and chew it. Are there people who don't eat because the process is complicated? Once it becomes a habit, you just have to do it. If you make it a habit to pray as explained above, then it will become natural for you to do so. It’s not difficult at all. You should not think that this is too much of a burden. You should rather make up your mind, saying, "I will pray more diligently to pass the measure." I hope that you will pray like this and receive answers to the desire of your heart and give glory to God the Father.
Now, I'm going to talk about the 4th attribute the seven spirits measure. It is "thankfulness." Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. This is written in order In the beginning, faith is the most important thing, faith comes first, then joy, then prayer, then gratitude. Thankfulness is also one of the fruits that you should bear as a child of God. As long as you have true faith, even a little, you will make a confession of thanks in any given circumstance. You cannot but be thankful when you remember you've received the grace of salvation. You were originally destined to suffer in Hell forever, but you are given the grace of salvation.
You are given an eternal life and will live in Heaven forever. How can you not give thanks? Moreover, God of love has become your Father, and He is guiding every footstep in your life. If you truly believe this, you cannot but give thanks for everything. If you're a saved child of God, you can be thankful even if there's nothing special to give thanks. Then, as your faith grows up stronger, God gives you more blessing, and thus you have more reasons for thanksgiving. How many reasons do you have to give thanks just in a day? You should be thankful for being protected in this world where there’s so many accidents. 1 John 5:18 says, "We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him." Are you born of God or of the devil? You would like to say that you are born of God. The verse says no one who is born of God sins.
You who are born of God never commit sins. It's very simple. If you’re sinning, you are born of the devil. If you don't sin, you are a child of God. If we live in the word of God, the evil one cannot touch us and we are protected by God. There are countless diseases in this world. If God doesn't protect you, you may get stricken by such a disease or even two or three. It is because the air and other environmental factors are polluted, and many diseases are newly found. However, as long as you don't commit sin before God, He protects you from any and all of the diseases. How thankful you are! You should be thankful for all our organs in your body function well for many decades. Just how complex are your nerve system and blood vessels in your body from head to toe? If just one blood vessel is clogged, or if just one nerve cell becomes numb, in an instant your body doesn't function properly.
However, most of you have never been to a hospital for years or for decades. God has protected you and you have remained healthy. There are many wealthy people who don't receive healing of diseases but die. Even if they are healed of a disease, they may be stricken by another disease. Many times, the disease they thought they were healed of reoccurs. However, those of you who live by the word of God don't worry about getting sick. How thankful you are! Even if a disease gets into you, you know well how to be healed by God. Moreover, this church has the power of God who can heal any sort of incurable diseases. You can be healed by Father God, receiving the prayer for the sick without expensive treatment costs at the hospital Is it limited only to diseases?
You can also solve your life troubles, business problems, and family matters, and receive blessings. There are uncountable reasons for thanksgiving. Since I accepted the Lord, I have been full of thanks in my heart. There were times when I was poor and troubled. Since I started this church though, I have overcome many difficulties that others think was impossible to overcome. However, the thanks in my heart has grown ever greater in my heart. How is it possible? It is because "the thanksgiving from the depth of heart gives birth to other thanks." I always seek reasons for thanksgiving, and give prayers of thanks to God the Father. Not only prayer of thanks, but also I give thanks offerings to God. In addition to regular thanks-offerings, I look for a special reason for thanksgiving and give thanks-offerings to God. Because I always enjoy finding conditions for gratitude and being grateful, so my joy never stops. Then, Father God constantly gives me blessings including financial ones and grace for which I cannot help but be thankful. Therefore, I hope you also be thankful for everything. No matter what difficulties you face right now, just be thankful and have faith in God. So, I hope that you pass the standards of the seven spirits of God.
But if you only be thankful only when something is good to you, and you complain when something goes wrong, you will fail to pass it. Philippians 4:6-7 says “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” What about you? No matter what environment or situation you are in, are you praying with gratitude? Jonah, who fell into the belly of a big fish, prayed with gratitude, Daniel prayed with gratitude even though he knew he would become food for lions, and Apostle Paul, who was beaten and bleeding and imprisoned in a deep prison, was thankful and prayed.
Likewise the people of God prayed with gratitude all the time. So, the Bible says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Please keep these words in mind, especially elders and brothers in the Lord. No matter how bad your circumstances or conditions may be, please give thanks to God by faith. God will be pleased with your works of faith that are like this, and He will make all things work for good. May you always give glory to God with the confession of thanks, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
