By Wendell Tenison
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There is a time clock somewhere within us that starts the motion of growth from birth and continues through to make changes as we advance through life. A simple comparison would be like the washing machine timer clock going through its various cycles and finally spinning to the last mode of drying. The same might be said of us after going through the aging cycles are hung out to dry.
Eccl 3:1-2 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:.....A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;"
There is a specific time for every soul to be born in his generation and God be thanked that those of us now living in this free nation who have the testament of Christ in its fulness.
Heb 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
As there is a time for all to be born, so is there a time to die and after this the judgment of Christ.
Job 14:1-2 "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble......He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not."
It is not going to happen to us, but to the next guy.
Job 14:5 "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;"
Like it or not, God has set the bounds of our habitation, but the masses ignore this message from God.
Job 14:14 "If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come."
After the aging time clock has completed its cycle, we will be changed and live again either in the presence of God or the company of Satan in everlasting fire. .
Psa 90:10 "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
In our present generation there are a great many who exceed eighty years, but 70-80 is the average.
Eccl 8:8 "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it."
There are two things in this verse that cannot be reversed; man has no power to retain his spirit in the day of death, nor will the powers of Satan deliver the wicked out of God's hand.
Zep 1:18 "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land."
There are countless men and women who would give millions even all that they have for just one more breath. Neither, all of the money in the world can spare the wrath of God upon the wicked.
Ezek 18:23 "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?"
Ezek 18:31-32 "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?.....For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."
The message to us is that God does not delight in the death of the wicked and therefore, they will face him in the judgment.
There are a great many in this world who deny that there is a God and those who hate him because his word does not comply with their wishes. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments, John 14:15; why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say, Luke 6:46.
God put eternity in every heart of man and in spite of his rebellion, he cannot get it out. Oh the sleepless nights that many have, because the eternity in their hearts will not go away.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Eccl.3:11 NKJV
There are not enough medical doctors in this world who can find out where God put eternity in the heart, because the spiritual heart is not flesh and blood, but implanted in the body by God.
Psa 22:26 "The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever."
The heart of man will live forever, because it is spiritual. There are millions who believe that when we are dead, we are dead all over. We came from eternity and eternity is where we are bound.
Luke 20:37-38 "Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob......For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him."
All live unto God, even Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive in their hearts and spirits of the soul.
Eccl 12:13-14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man......For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
This is why the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments, because he will live forever in eternity.
No one has to tell a little child good from evil. This is one of the instincts that God has placed within them, but they have to be taught the difference and what is acceptable to God. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it, Proverbs 22:6.
Gen 3:5 "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
Gen 3:22 "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:"
This is one of the characteristics that Adam has passed on to man. There have been tribes and peoples who never heard of the word of God, who formed their own laws of right from wrong. Instinctively all men know what is good and evil, but that does not stop them from sinning against God.
Rom 7:9 "For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died."
The apostle Paul is saying, when he was a child he was not aware of right and wrong from the standpoint of sin. When he became of the age of accountability, the law of God convicted him of sin. All children are safe in the arms of Jesus until they comprehend that evil is sin. Those who reach the age of accountability do not need the law of God to aquaint them with sin; they know it by the sealed instructions that God has implanted within them.
In this last dispensation of time commonly called the Christian Dispensation, God has spoken unto us by his Son whom he has appointed heir of all things and by whom also he made the worlds, Hebrews 1:1-2. However, God spoke differently to those of the first dispensation of time commonly called the Patriarchal Age. They did not have a written word as we do, but God sealed their instruction deep into their minds and hearts while they were in deep slumber. The point is, God began that practice of sealing instructructions in the heart and mind after the fall of Adam and man cannot get them out.
Job 33:14-17 "For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not......In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;.....Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,.....That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man."
To put in simple terms, God said, if I told you once, I told you a thousand times and it went in one ear and out the other. These are the indelible instructions within us.
It is no strange thing that a man and woman dating or engaged to be married do not feel that they are locked together in holy wedlock. It is only when God joins two together that they begin to know that they are one flesh. Marriage is defined by American law as a contract and not until both have made an agreement to be one, they are not married in God's sight. We read as far back as 400 years before Christ as to marriage being a covenant in the third to the last prophet to the Jews, Malachi.
Mal 2:14 -15 "Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant......And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth."
Gen 2:23-24 "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man......Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
How man and woman are one flesh is a great mystery, but none the less true.
Mat 19:5-6 "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?.....Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Only God can join a man and woman together and not a preacher, nor the state. Likewise, only God can disolve a marriage and not the state. Statutory law can disrupt a marriage, but cannot undo it in God's sight. You can take that to the bank.
Eph 5:29-32 "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:.....For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones......For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh......This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
Spiritually speaking, we are married to Christ, Romans 7:4, 2 Corinthians 11:2. As the literal marriage is a mystery, so is the spiritual marriage to Christ. We are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh spiritually speaking.
There is not a day that passes that man does not exhibit the nature and attributes of God. Some to the glory of him who created him and some to his own shame that portrays the master of sin, Satan. That is, turning the truth of God into a lie.
1 Pet 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."
Prov 20:12 "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them."
Isa 37:17 "Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God."
2 Tim 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;.....And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
Isa 30:27 "Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:"
Rom 14:11 "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."
Gen 8:21 "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."
1 Cor 12:17 "If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?"
Mat 27:34 "They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink."
Job 6:6 "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?"
1 Sam 14:29 "Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey."
Man exists in the image and likeness of God in almost every way except that man has a fleshly body and is limited in his scope of power.
Gen 1:26-27 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth......So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
It is not by the strength of man that he has the dominance over all of the earth, but his intellect after the image and likeness of God. This is confirmed by what the Psalmist said.
Psa 115:16 "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men."
Gen 9:6 "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
Because man is made in the image and likeness of God, he is forbidden to take the life of another as Cain did Abel.
Col 3:10 "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"
After accepting the terms of salvation through obedience to the gospel of Christ, there is a new man renewed in knowledge after the image of Christ who created us.
Eccl 7:29 "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions."
God Almighty is vertical at the very top and in his likeness he created man. Satan is horizonal crawling on his belly eating dirt, Gen.3:14, and man in general whom God created upright, has gone down the scale to be with Satan in the gutter. In addition to his moral decline, man has re-invented the laws of God to justify his evil deeds. As they say, cream always rises to the top and there are many righteous souls at the top with God.
God does have a soul and therefore, in his likeness man has a soul. However, the animals have souls, Numbers 31:28, but are rendered useless after they die, Ecclesiastes 3:20-21.
Lev 26:11 "And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you."
Psa 11:5 "The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth."
Isa 1:14 "Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them."
We only know what God has given us in his word to understand the mind of God. However, we are limited and only the Holy Spirit of God knows all about him. Notice the five divisions of the mind.
1 Cor 2:10-12 "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God......For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God......Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
It is only by his Spirit through his word that we know what we know about him.
Rom 8:27 "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
Rom 11:34 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?"
1 Sam 2:35 "And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever."
Here we see the mind of the Lord and his Holy Spirit.
1 Cor 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Members of the body of Christ, his church, are to have the mind of Christ. Unfortunately many do not.
The spiritual heart of man is not flesh and blood, but as the same as the spirit that will never die. This mystery will never be known as to how and where the heart performs. Jesus said, that the child born of the spirit is like the wind, you can hear it blow, but cannot tell from whence it came, John 3:8. So also is the heart of man. We know that we have a heart and spirit, but no one has ever seen them.
Gen 8:21 "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."
Even as we have a heart as God does, he has given man the option to keep his heart pure after his own heart or to defile it after the working of the god of this world.
Ezek 28:2 "Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:"
Ezek 28:6 "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;"
In vain do some attempt to be a god and have a heart the same as God, but on the otherhand, to seek after the heart of God and his ways is right.
Psa 33:15 "He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works."
The hearts of all of man are fashioned the same, but not all keep their hearts the same.
God is the Father and creator of all spirits, Hebrews 12:9, Psalms 148:1-5. His Holy Spirit is one of the God-Head, 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Christ is the God-Head bodily, Colossians 2:2-9.
Gen 6:3 "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
Any bible student knows how God used his Holy Spirit from the beginning of the creation to the completion of the new testament.
Zec 12:1 "The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him."
Emotions are one of the five divisions of the mind. This characteristic is implanted within us for good reason. However, the over use of emotions can lead to serious health defects and even death.
Gen 6:6 "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."
Eph 5:6 "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."
Prov 6:16 "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:"
Ezek 36:21 "But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Psa 2:4 "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."
Psa 37:13 "The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming."
Psa 59:8 "But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision."
It is only until one is baptized into the kingdom of Christ that he receives the seventh spirit of God which is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, that the world cannot receive the Spirit of God. Also, these seven spirits are all entrenched within the gospel of Christ.
John 14:17 "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."
Isa 11:1-2 "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:.....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 of the fear of the LORD;"
Counting there are seven. These seven are also called the seven eyes of God and we shall see their work at the throne of God and upon the earth.
Rev 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;"
Rev 3:1 "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
Rev 4:5 "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God."
Rev 5:6 "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."
Zec 4:10 "For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth."
Acts 5:32 "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."
Rom 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
Eph 1:17 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:"
James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
Eph 1:18 "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,"
Col 1:9 "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;"
Mat 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
2 Tim 4:2 "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
Eph 3:16 "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;"
2 Cor 10:4-5 "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;).....Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
Gal 1:11-12 "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man......For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Eph 1:17 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:"
Rom 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
2 Tim 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Gen 9:1-2 "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth......And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered."
Eccl 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
There you have it, the seven spirits of God in man.
In view of God's handiwork to the soul of man, by and large, why does the world in general not obey him? The answer is simple.
Psa 50:21 "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes."
Man thinks that God thinks like he does.
© 2008 by Wendell Tenison