The Seal of Victory

The Change

When the Lord Jesus comes for His church at the time of the rapture, the bodies of believers will “put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:54). This body of humiliation and limitation wastes away. It dies and goes into the grave. But 1 Corinthians 15 has the body in view, not the soul. When the believer is resurrected at the coming of Christ, he will be given an immortal body. What a tremendous expectation!

We are hampered by our mortality today. Disease inevitably strikes. The process of decay is the inheritance of mankind. But at the rapture of the church, this “lowly body” as Paul called it (Phil. 3:21), will be replaced by a glorious, incorruptible, immortal body.

The hymnwriter, Ada Habershon, said:

Weakness will change to magnificent strength,
Failure will change to perfection at length,
Sorrow will change to unending delight,
Walking by faith change to walking by sight![1]

Victory

The Christian today has the blessed reality of victory, and he can be delivered from the power of sin. Even in death we “fear no evil” (Ps. 23:4). But when the church is caught away, is missing from this earth, the seal of victory will be ours in Christ:

Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Cor. 15:54-55)

This means that the child of God will experience one eternal morning.

The prophet Isaiah cried,

Watchman, what of the night? (Isa. 21:11)

The watchman replied,

The morning comes, and also the night. (Isa. 21:12).

The church of Jesus Christ, composed of all true believers, has a title to glory. We are “children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

Not so with the unbeliever. His title is to darkness and eternal death. If you have never received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you face not only the first death, but the second death, which is eternal (cf. Rev. 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).

The first death, separation of soul from body, means one is out of sight of man. But the second death, separation from God, means one is out of sight of God.

Revelation 21:8 lists those who experience the second death,

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Did you notice, friend, the ones who head the list? If we wrote a catalog of those we thought should experience eternal separation from God, we would probably begin it with the murderers. But the One “who sits on the throne” (Rev. 4:9) started the list with the cowardly and unbelieving.

Fearful (Rev. 21:8, KJV)—it means timid, to be afraid of someone. You may fear today what companions, fellow workers, or family would think of you if you began to live for Jesus Christ. You may fear that you could not hold out. And the unbelieving—what a host of people that takes in! All other sins flow out of this.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)

If Christ would come today to catch away His church, would you be prepared to meet Him? I know of no prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before Christ can come for His own. The rapture is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar. My friend, you can be in that company of people who will rise to meet the Savior. Receive Christ today. Believe His Word; accept His grace. Then together with His saints we will see His face and be forever with our Lord.

One Final Question

One final question remains. Have you stepped out of darkness into light by receiving Christ as your Savior? If you do not know Christ, or are unsure of Him, you can become a Christian today. If you, by an act of faith, will accept His finished work on Calvary’s cross as the sole basis for your salvation—recognizing yourself to be a sinner and unable to save yourself—you will receive, this moment, the gift of imputed righteousness.

This gift makes it possible for God to bring to your heart His indwelling Holy Spirit by which you are born again and receive eternal life.

The gospel is the wonderful message:

That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:3-4)

No other basis will serve as the grounds for eternal life, for “all other ground is sinking sand.”[2] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today and you will receive forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.

Dr. Dave Breese (1926-2002) was an internationally known speaker, teacher and author. He founded the ministry of Christian Destiny in 1963, and through it proclaimed the gospel on weekly radio and television programs and in numerous books and booklets. In 1987, he also became the president and Bible teacher on The King Is Coming telecast, a role that he filled until his death in 2002. Other organizations that Dr. Breese served during his distinguished ministry career included Youth For Christ, Awana, Back to the Bible, National Religious Broadcasters and National Association of Evangelicals. A frequent conference speaker and a master at explaining the relevance of Bible prophecy, he was also known for his wisdom and wit. It is a great honor to include him as part of the inaugural class of Revived Classics authors for Dispensational Publishing House.

This article originally appeared in the May 2010 issue of Destiny Newsletter.
Copyright © 2010 Christian Destiny, Inc. All rights reserved.
The article is reprinted here by permission of Christian Destiny.
For more information regarding Christian Destiny, go to www.ChristianDestiny.org.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

[1] Ada Ruth Habershon, “Soon Will Our Savior from Heaven Appear,” 1905 (public domain); <http://www.hymnary.org/text/soon_will_our_savior_from_heaven_appear> Internet; accessed 1 April 2017.

[2] Edward Mote, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less,” 1834 (public domain); <http://www.hymnary.org/text/my_hope_is_built_on_nothing_less>; Internet; accessed 1 April 2017.