Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, who hath also sealed us—2 Cor. 1:21, 22.
The seal or mark of the true disciple is the possession of the Spirit of Christ. The manifestations of this holy Spirit are threefold: (1) love supreme to God and joyful loyalty to His cause even at the cost of suffering; (2) love for the brethren—unselfish, noble, pure—a desire for their welfare, which is always alert to do them good; (3) love, sympathetic, for the world, prompting to good works, as opportunity may afford, and to a desire and effort always to live peaceably with all men—Z '96, 212 (R 2032).
God's people are continually being adjusted to one another by God as disciples of Jesus. He, also, by the anointing continually developed the members of Christ's Body, strengthening them in their places in that Body. He, likewise, worked in them the seal of the Spirit by bringing their hearts into a sympathetic oneness and co-operation with Him in all His arrangements—P '35, 102.
Parallel passages: Rom. 16:25; Col. 2:7; 1 Pet. 5:10; Acts 10:38; Matt. 3:16, 17; 1 John 2:20, 27; 1 Cor. 12:12, 13; Gal. 2:20; 3:16, 29; Eph. 4:13; 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:13, 14; 4:30; Rom. 8:9, 14-16; 5:5; 2 Tim. 2:19.
Hymns: 201, 4, 74, 114, 105, 198, 249.
Poems of Dawn, 290: My Life Is But a Weaving.
Tower Reading: Z '14, 213 (R 5498).
Questions: Have I experienced this week God's establishing, anointing and sealing work? How? In what circumstances? What did it accomplish?
MY life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me;
He chooses all the colors
And works on steadily.
Oftimes He weaveth sorrow,
And I, in blinded pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver's skilful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
Not till the loom is silent,
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the fabric,
And show the reason why.
"Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, who hath also sealed us."—2 Cor. 1:21, 22.
THE APOSTLE is here addressing the Church at Corinth, recognizing that this congregation are co-laborers with him—accepted of God as members of Christ, the Anointed. Christ is the great One foretold prophetically as the antitypical Prophet, the antitypical Priest, the antitypical King, who is to bless the world by His work of healing, instructing, helping, uplifting. The Apostle says that the One who has brought us into the Body of the Anointed, and has set, or established us, is God. This implies that God does the calling of those who come to Him. It implies that there was a previous invitation—the Apostle says that no man taketh this honor to himself. Even Jesus could not have taken to Himself the honor of being a Priest and King; He could not say, I will be a Priest—I will be a King!
As God called Jesus to be the great Head over this Ecclesia, or Body, so through Jesus He has invited us to become its members. And as we conform to the terms and are made acceptable through our great Advocate, we are then set in the Body—anointed. It is not a happen-so, but we are set. And we shall continue in this position unless, because of some unfaithfulness, we shall be blotted out and the crown appropriated to us be taken away.
He who sets us, establishes us, and has anointed us of the Holy Spirit, and thus made us members of this holy company, is God, the Heavenly Father. It is not the province of even our Redeemer to set us and anoint us. As the Apostle says, "God hath set every member in the Body as it hath pleased Him." All things are of the Father, and all things are by the Son; hence this anointing that we receive comes from the Father. Nevertheless, the Channel is the Lord Jesus. This Holy Spirit which the Father has given to Jesus, He has shed forth upon us. The Father authorizes it, the Son sheds it forth.
SEALED IN THE MASTER'S LIKENESS
And God "hath also sealed us." It is not only important that we be begotten of the Holy Spirit, and set in the Body, but it is another precious thought that we are to be sealed, or impressed; we are to receive a stamp. As we would set a seal into wax to mould the wax into its likeness, so with us who are desirous of knowing and doing God's will; we are impressed by His Holy Spirit into the image of our dear Master; and the channel through which we are sealed is the Truth.
So those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit have a considerable measure of appreciation of the Truth. All the promises come through God's Word; it is a power that is now at work, so that all of God's people in all parts of the world are being impressed through the promises of God. God works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. This sealing is of the Father, because it is through His promises; it is under the direction and care of the Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus, that He may in due time present us blameless and unreprovable before the Father.
"If I in Thy likeness, O Lord, may awake,
And shine a pure image of Thee,
Then I shall be satisfied when I can break
The fetters of flesh and be free."