If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
In Corinth the believers themselves were the seal of apostleship, for their reception of the truth and their transformed lives testified to the ministry that had formed them. More generally, souls brought to faith through a minister's labor — souls won — are the seals and evidences of that ministry. Faithful servants of Christ aim to have such souls as the seal of their ministry. A minister's usefulness is measured by the results of his labor, so that those who live out the truth and reflect Christ strengthen the testimony to his work, while lives marked by traits opposed to Christ's character give a sad testimony about the spiritual influence that formed them.
To gain such seals a minister must work with as much determination as Satan uses in his arts, without failing, without discouragement, and without doing halfway work in the Lord's service. That work requires more than convincing of sin in a general way; the minister must lift up Christ before hearers, make plain Christ's claims upon them, urge them to decide at once to be on the Lord's side, and labor personally by speaking timely words that call for decision on the basis of the weight of evidence already presented. This urgency exists because it is the Holy Spirit who convinces the soul of its need of Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour, and those who are merely convicted but are not led to identify themselves with Christ let the decisive opportunity pass and drift farther and farther from truth and from Jesus without taking their stand on the Lord's side. Where the Spirit of Christ is present there will be spirituality, earnest appeals, and activity and zeal on behalf of Christ.
In Corinth the believers themselves were the seal of apostleship, for their reception of the truth and their transformed lives testified to the ministry that had formed them. More generally, souls brought to faith through a minister's labor — souls won — are the seals and evidences of that ministry. Faithful servants of Christ aim to have such souls as the seal of their ministry. A minister's usefulness is measured by the results of his labor, so that those who live out the truth and reflect Christ strengthen the testimony to his work, while lives marked by traits opposed to Christ's character give a sad testimony about the spiritual influence that formed them.
To gain such seals a minister must work with as much determination as Satan uses in his arts, without failing, without discouragement, and without doing halfway work in the Lord's service. That work requires more than convincing of sin in a general way; the minister must lift up Christ before hearers, make plain Christ's claims upon them, urge them to decide at once to be on the Lord's side, and labor personally by speaking timely words that call for decision on the basis of the weight of evidence already presented. This urgency exists because it is the Holy Spirit who convinces the soul of its need of Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour, and those who are merely convicted but are not led to identify themselves with Christ let the decisive opportunity pass and drift farther and farther from truth and from Jesus without taking their stand on the Lord's side. Where the Spirit of Christ is present there will be spirituality, earnest appeals, and activity and zeal on behalf of Christ.