The Seven Key Truths

A young brother in the local assembly here kept asking God to give him understanding as to what to study. He realized that many were "majoring" on minor truths, thereby missing the effect of most of God's Word.

One Sunday night after prayer around the altar, the Holy Spirit spoke these words quite strongly to his ear. "There are seven key truths which, when a person or an assembly understands and appropriates, they can go anywhere and face any emergency, and I will give them victory. One of these is the meaning of the Tabernacle and another is understanding the spirit and soul. Just as when man was dividing the atom, so I was teaching the group here how to divide the spirit from the soul. Just as one is important to man's material progress, so the understanding an applying of the other is equally important to his spiritual progress."

Very happy, this brother arose and determined, as Mary of old, not to mention but merely ponder these things in his heart. So on the front porch ten minutes later, talking to some new converts, still another young brother, Jerry Cooty, with face aglow interrupted him. "God has just shown me that He has seven key truths which, if one understands, he can open the Bible at any place and properly explain what it is talking about. One of thse is the Tabernacle Truths and another is Spirit and Soul Truths!" Now the miracle of it was that in the pastor's message, he had not said one word to make anyone even think about such a thing.

It was too much for the first brother then to keep quiet, and as I am he, I am passing a further explanation on to you know. We cannot do these seven truth justice, only to mention them. They are also divided into their seven parts. The Seven Key Truths that God revealed are the following.

1. The Tabernacle Truths -- showing a picture of how Christ Himself came to fulfill all the Law and the Prophets in God's Divine Order, setting a pattern for the individual (righteousness), and for the Church as a whole.

2. The Rest Message -- the Rest of Faith, which deals with appropriating the many promises while we rest in faith (Heb.4:1)

3. The Overcoming Truths -- This is seen in Christ's Pattern Life. One of the approaches to this is, "The Seven Calls of the Spirit" in the life of Christ.

4. The Calvary Message -- Calvary's seven covenants from the seven sufferings seen in Isaiah chapter 53, and His benefits as seen in Psalms 103:3-6.

5. Dominion Message -- Just as a policeman has legal dominion over his captive, as seen in his badge, but has to enforce by his club -- one is through authority, the other through ability -- so is the message (Gen.1:26).

6. Threefold Salvation -- for a Triune Creation -- Justification (past tense due to new birth), Sanctification (mostly present tense, and deals with fellowship), and Glorification (future tense) ("Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed," Roman 13:11). One, once for all, gave us deliverance from the eternal penalty of sin (hell). The next delivers us daily from the power of sin, and the last will deliver us from the presence of sin (2 Cor.1:10)

The spirit is that part of man, as the Holiest of Holies is to the Tabernacle, which can only be occupied by the High Priest, Christ. Being empty is the sinner, and him feeling that vacancy, he seeks in vain to fill it in pleasures. When truly filled in the believer, it is as "the foundation which remains sure," Christ, the inner most man (1Cor.3:11), that is born of God and cannot sin (1Jn.3:9)

The soul, unlike the spirit, can sin and is as the first room entering the tabernacle. it has a daily work tha tmut be done in it -- one of "renewing". Just as this room housed three pieces of furniture, namely the table that held the bread, the candlestick for the light and the incense altar for the incense -- so likewise is our soul. The intellect hold God's Bread, the will is to shine the light, and our emotions, from ou r heart, send forth sweet incense of worship. For the soul is a mental, social, and emotional being.

While the spirit is God-Conscious, the sould by nature is self-conscious or self-centered. Since we are made in the image of God, and all part of the human family, the soul is also sociable, and "others" conscious. This is seen in that Adam longed for a "help meet for him." This shows how important for the self is the right relationship with others. Sanctification makes it God-conscious, too, conforming it daily to Christ's perfection. The body is world-conscious, it is as the tabernacle building that houses the rest (2 Peter 1:14).

When one understands the threefold salvaiton, past, present, and future, then he will understand othersiew seeming contradictions. For instance in 1 John, it states that "we shall be like Him" (3:2). Then below that, (and permeating through the rest of the chapter), it shows that we are being made like Him (2:3b-3), while later (4:17) it shows since "as He is so are we, in this world" that already God counts us like Him. Yes, one deals with our reborn spirit, justification; the next with sanctification of our soul; and the last with glorification of our body. Much more could be added here, but for the sake of the present theme we will go on.

7. Dispensational Truths -- The over-all picture of time and it's prophecies fulfilled. These reflect God's progressive revelation of Himself to mankind.

By the Spirit's guidance, one afternoon was spent dividing each of Paul's "Church Epistles" into their various themes. It was discovered that these "Seven Key Truths" were contained in each epistle. They must be important. And if his gospel is what we are to be judged by and established by, (Rom.2:16) then the Spirit should quicken these to us. We need to study them and to seek the Spirit's revelation of them, even as a studen would before his final exam in college.

The first key truth, understood and applied PLACES us in His will. The second gives PROOF that we are in His will. The third gives us the PROTECTION of His will. The fourth gives PEACE of His will. The fifth gives the POWER, the sixth, the threefold PURPOSE, and the seventh, the PREEMINENCE, or supremancy, through His will. Joseph and Daneil by interpreting dispensational truths aright, were elevated to the throne. Wisdom's sevenfold ministry is executing these key truths (Pr.9:1-3).

God taught Israel these truths. At Sinai God gave them the Tabernacle Divine Order Truths (Ex.25:8). Israel's wilderness journey under the Cloud was God's way of teaching them Rest under the most adverse circumstances (Is.63:14). Then the Overcoming Truths were practiced when they overcame Canaan, The Calvary Truths, redemption from the opressor, were seen in Judges. The Dominion Truths were seen in that the Kingdom expanded under the kings. But Jesus "Yeshuah" or "Salvation," and His witnesses (even today) have declared Salvation Truths to Israel. And one day Israel will understand the "plan of the ages," (God's Dispensations) and their part in it, when they look on Him Whom they have pierced (Zec.12:10). "Even so, come Lord Jesus." (Rev.22:20)