December 2000

[Part Fifty]

“SEALS OF GOD”

[-I-]

All men are sealed by the Living God! “Our true spirit Life is hid with Christ in God!” (Col 3:3) He counsels His sons to “Warn them that are rich in this world not to be highminded or trust in uncertain riches, but to trust in the Living God Who richly gives all things to enjoy! By this they do well and are rich in good works. Then they are ready to distribute the same riches to those who have none; and extend this same counsel to them; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation (“Jesus Christ IS that Good Foundation already laid” 1 Co 3:11) against the time to come whereby they may lay hold on Eternal Life.” (1 Ti 6:17-19)
               Natural man strives to squirrel away a store of acorns against the winter years of his life and we call this wonderful wisdom. However when we hear God’s admonition to the spiritual man: “DO NOT STORE UP TREASURES ON EARTH FOR YOURSELVES for moths and rust to destroy; where thieves can break in and steal! STORE UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES IN HEAVEN where moths and rust cannot destroy; nor can thieves break in and steal it! For WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL BE YOUR HEART!” (Mt 6:19-21)
               Where is your heart, beloved? Is it wrapped up in the things of this world? Father is raising up a corporate Son whose hearts are being “Knit together in love and are already receiving riches of full assurance and understanding to acknowledge the Mystery of God, and of the Father, and of CHRIST IN WHOM ARE HID EVERY TREASURE OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE!!” (Col 2:3) There is no other wisdom or knowledge pertaining to EVERLASTING LIFE than what is hid in Christ; so if we ever hope to possess true wisdom and knowledge, we must come to HIM! This is why Jesus left this legacy, “Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For all who ask shall receive; and all who seek shall find; and all who knock, shall have the door (to those heavenly treasures) opened to them!” (Mt 7:7-8)
             God is telling us that all He sealed away from all natural minds since the first Adam, is “received, found and opened” by the spiritual minds of all in the Last Christ-Adam! “When Moses grew to manhood, he refused, by faith, to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; and rather chose to suffer the afflictions (share the oppression, endure the hardships, and bear the shame) of God’s people of God than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin here on earth! For he considered the reproach (contempt, abuse and shame) peculiar to all who live a Christ Life as greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt; because he looked far ahead to his eternal reward!!” (He 11:26)
               Apostle, Paul, said to the church at Corinth, “Aren’t I free? Aren’t I an apostle?Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? Even should I not be considered by some to be an apostle, at least I am considered such by you; for YOU are the living SEAL (certification, proof and fruitful compensation) of my apostleship!” (1 Co 9:2) Now this may not seem pertinent to us at first; and we may say, “That was nice for Paul, but what has that to do with us today?” If Paul rightly regarded the faith of Christians at Corinth as his seal of apostleship, how much more does God regard the FAITH OF THE WHOLE WORLD as the living Seal of Apostleship upon “His Son, Jesus Christ, the Chief Apostle and High Priest of our profession? !” (He 3:1)
            Is a man a shepherd, who has no sheep? Is a man a king, who has no kingdom? Likewise, is a man who has produced no converts to glory, a true apostle?! The faith of all the Body of Christ is God’s living SEAL on the Work of His Son! Yes, all who have surrendered their lives to Christ are the eternal expression and evidence of His Heavenly Handiwork!

[TO BE CONTINUED]