service at transfer points. Revenue stamps are used for tax purposes for official papers. Postage due stamps are used to collect additional postage. God has special Christians for His special purposes. First Corinthians 12 gives the Holy Spirit’s enumeration of some of these gifts. George Mueller had the gift of faith for the care and education of 4,000 orphans. David Livingstone had the gift of faith for opening up Africa for the Gospel. John G. Paton had the gift of faith for entering the South Sea Islands among wild canni bal tribes, leading them to the Sav iour. Have you ever asked the Lord what your special purpose in life is? Stamps are made to use. The glue on a stamp is placed there to enable it to stick to the job until the end of its journey. The Lord expects His peo ple to have this characteristic. Those who are unstable are not much use to the Lord. Stability, persistence and de pendability should characterize every Christian worker. Some stamps are at a premium. The government may print only a small issue of them. God does not make many Spurgeons or many Moodys. These men of exceptional value God chooses to do a special work for Him. Stamps retain their value. It matters not where the stamp was printed, its value remains unchanged so long as the government retains its power. When we purchase stamps we do not ask them when they were printed. If we should find one, as long as it has never been cancelled, it is still usable. So with the believer. Once he receives the imprint of heaven he remains the Lord’s property forever. The stamp value is imputed to it. The paper on which it is printed has almost no value whatever. A 5c stamp is printed on paper worth less than one tenth of a cent. So it is with the Word of the living God which makes a common man a Christian. Christ pro nounces the sinner “forgiven”; the Holy Spirit imprints upon the trusting soul the stamp of heaven’s life. So righteousness is imputed to each person (Continued on next page) 30
T h e collection of postage stamps has always interested me. Not only is it a good hobby, but also from them we may gain some wonderful spiritual lessons. The stamp always bears the imprint of the country from which it comes. The Christian should be like that. We need to bear the print and the marks of heaven. One who has been bom again will be stamped or sealed by the Holy Spirit. The stamp bears the mark of its value. Two may be of the same size but they may be marked with an entirely different price. The 5c stamps do what the lc stamps cannot do. All Christians do not have the same value to society and to the church. Some can usher at' the door while others can hold a large audience spellbound for God. Some take notices around the neighborhood inviting friends to the service, while others go to Africa and invite the natives to Christ. We show the different values in the Christian life by the way we talk and act. Stamps are of various colors: red, yellow, green, purple, all colors. God has chosen five great colors for His children on earth. Some stamps have special purposes. The special delivery is used for extra handling to expedite receipt by the sender. There is also the special han dling stamp which is placed upon packages to insure rapid and special
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