Matt. 6:19-20 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

It is clear in Matthew 6:19-20 that the Lord commanded us to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and we have learned in the article entitled “THE TREASURES IN HEAVEN” that we are considered by our Lord as His Treasure and that someday, we will appear to be like precious stones who will make up the Holy City, New Jerusalem which the Apostle John saw in Revelation 21:2, which means that our spiritual characteristics/attributes appeared to be like those precious stones, the treasures. We are those treasures that cannot be corrupt or rust.

However, we must remember that the Lord commanded us to lay “treasures” and not just “treasure”. This means that we can have more than one treasure in heaven. We have already identified one treasure that cannot be corrupt or rust and that is us, our spiritual attributes. Now we need to identify what is this other treasure that we can store in heaven.

Remember also that the word treasure means a deposit. This only means that this treasure must be something that we can store (deposit) in heaven right now while we are still here on earth. So what is this other treasure that we can store now in heaven while we are still here on earth? It should be something that we can have there right now while we are still here.

This treasure must also have connections with our future spiritual attributes because it is our future spiritual attributes that are seen by the Apostle John. Remember also that we are on our Glorified Body when the apostle John saw us on that state. We will have that glorified attributes. So our appearances which look like precious stones are greatly affected by our glorified body.

With this in mind, we have now an idea what is this treasure that will contribute to our glorified body someday. It is also the one that we can store in heaven right now while we are here on earth. Since this treasure will have something to do with the appearance of our glorified attributes someday (which will look like precious stones), let us then first study one factor that directly affects the attributes of our glorified body – our Celestial Body. Knowing It first will eventually lead us in answering our question: How can we store or lay treasures on heaven while we are still here on earth?

To begin with, let us know what the Bible is telling us about a Body.

Body – a House

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Our physical body is our house, we are cloth by it (2 Cor. 5:1, Cor. 5:4) But after we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, it is no longer us who lives in it but our Lord (Gal. 2:20). That’s why in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul emphasized that our body is the temple (tabernacle) of God. A temple is a place where God’s resides. In other words, our body is a House of God. That’s why in verse 20, Paul reiterated that our body is not our own, it is of God’s. He bought it with a Price -His own life and He lives in it.

The Two Kinds of Bodies

The Apostle Paul also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:40 that there are two kinds of bodies:

“There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”

We have the Terrestrial (Earthly) and the Celestial (Heavenly) bodies. These two have their own glory, and the glory of the former differs to the glory of the latter. The former is sown as a natural body (physical) while the latter is raised as a spiritual body. There is a natural and a Spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44).

The terrestrial body is our physical (natural) body, the one that we have now while we are living here on earth. Even though this terrestrial body is corruptible, it has still its glory for God resides on it. And the Apostle Paul urged us to offer this body as a living sacrifice to God so that He may live on it (Rom. 12:1). Consider this verse also:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

Celestial Body

2 Corinthians 5:1-3 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.”

Aside from our terrestrial body, we have “a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” which is no other than our Celestial Body. This Celestial body is made in heaven by the Lord himself, hence the world celestial (some people think that it will not come from heaven, the Bible tell otherwise).

When a saint of God dies, his soul leaves his earthly body to return to Heaven to pick up his “house not made with hands” – a celestial body, while his earthly body returns to the dust of the earth. The Bible refers to our celestial body as our eternal house. It is because we will be cloth by It.

(Note: Some Endtime Message people call this body a “Word body” or “theophany body” because Bro. William Branham mentioned it on his sermons without them realizing what he meant. Calling the celestial body a “Word body” is appropriate because it is made up of the Word and made by the Word Himself. But calling it a “theophany body” is far from the truth.

The word “theophany” is theological term used by scholars and is not present in the Bible. It comes from the Greek word “theo” which means “god” and “phaneia” which means “to appear”. Combining these words we have “theophany” which means “god appears” or “the appearance of god”. We know that we will all manifested to be “gods” because we are the children of God (Pslm 82:6, Jhn. 10:34). But this manifestation will only happen after our Celestial body fused with our terrestrial body giving us the Glorified body (1 Cor. 15:53). This only means that celestial body alone cannot make us to appear like “gods”. It needs to become a Glorified body to be called “the appearance of god.”

Those who people are using the word theophany for the reason that “the prophet used it also” without even realizing what brother Branham meant and where did he refer it to. When the Bible and the Apostle Paul called It a Celestial Body, why call it a theophany body? Is the Bible not our Absolute now? If there is word in the Bible that was used to refer to it, then why used a term which is not in the Bible? When the Bible call in that way, then we must not change or add on it.)

“IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS”

John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

The Lord assured us that in His Father’s House, are many mansions. He also assured us that He will go and prepare a place for us there and that He will come back for us. These mansions are no other than our Celestial Bodies prepared for us by our Lord. He will be the One Who will create those bodies.

However, contrary to what many believe, these celestial bodies are not a living entity in heaven. They are not hanging there in heaven right now and are waiting to catch a spirit-soul that just leaves the terrestrial body. Those houses are not separate beings from the Word. It is part of the Word. Our celestial bodies are waiting there in the Word. It is not a separate entity as yet. It does not exist outside of THE WORD OF GOD until we come to IT in death or in the rapture. Just like when we are still part of our fathers when we are not yet being conceive.

Glorified Body

1 Corinthians 15:52-54 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

According to the revelation of the Apostle Paul given by our Lord to him, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump (which is the moment before the Rapture), this corruptible (terrestrial body) must put on incorruption (celestial body), and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53).

This only means that before the Rapture, our celestial body will fuse with our terrestrial body giving us a Glorified Body. This is the time where the corruptible turns into incorruptible and the mortal turns into immortal. We are on our Glorified State when we are seen by the Apostle John in Revelation 21:11 which he referred as “like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.”

But how will He do it? Let’s take a look at Philippians 3:21 in English Standard Version:

“Who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

It is by using “the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” This only means that He will be the One to work in us for us to have that body. He will subject us to Him. If we will let Him work in us, He will turn us unto precious stones. This is the reason why no work of us can turn us into those precious stones, it will only be the work (power) of the Lord.

In some he will “gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability (Mat. 25:15a)”. These will be all according to our ability as He had known it. That’s why in the New Jerusalem, not all of us is gold, not all is sapphire and not all of us is jasper. There are gold, there are sapphire, jasper, etc., all according to our ability. For not all of the members of Body of Christ (the Church) are eyes or hands. Some are feet, some are ears, some are fingers and so on, all according to our ability.

The Power of the Word

But how can the Celestial body turn our corrupt (sinful and wicked) terrestrial body into an incorruptible one?

Simple, the answer lies on the power of the Word “that enables him even to subject all things to himself (Phil. 3:21b)”. Our Celestial Body which is made by the Word is also made up of the Word. That’s why it is called “The Word Body”. Whenever the Word is put or applied on sin, or sin is put on the Word, the Word always wins. No sin can corrupt the Word. It just like you put Light into darkness. Light always wins. It takes away the darkness, that’s why the Lamb of God (Word of God) takes away the sins of the world (Jhn. 1:29).

This is also the reason why even though we are still dead because of sin, after receiving the Word, our Spirit was revive and sin was defeated. Same with the transformation of our soul. Our souls were once full of sin but after we received the Word of God, our mind was renewed, our soul was transformed (Rom. 12:2).

Someone asked me before why I don’t believe in the destruction of our soul. My answer is thius: It is because it is the sin in our soul that is destroyed by the Word and not our soul itself (Heb. 10:39). When our spirit receives the Word, did it destroys the spirit? No. In fact, It revives the spirit from the state of being dead and destroyed the sin. When our terrestrial body receives our celestial (Word) body, will it destroy our terrestrial body? No. It will only destroy the sin that corrupts the body so that the corruptible will become incorruptible. So if our spirit and our body will not be destroyed by the Word but only the sins that’s in them, why would the Word destroy our soul and not only the sins in it? God forbid.

Our Terrestrial Body – A Vessel of Treasure

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

Our terrestrial body today is a vessel of Treasure, and that Treasure is the Spirit of our Lord in us – the Word of God which is planted and grows in us. We will become a treasure someday because we let that Treasure work on us today. One day, we will be one with the Treasure that is present in our earthen vessel today. That is also the day when we became a treasure ourselves because we have already acquired the attributes of that Treasure in us today.

Our Celestial Body – A Treasure in Heaven that cannot be Corrupt

Luke 12:33-34 “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

While our terrestrial body is a vessel of Treasure, our celestial body on the other hand, is “a bag which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not” and cannot be corrupt or stolen by thieves. It became a treasure itself! A bag which is a treasure and will housed a treasure!

Why is it that our celestial body is considered a treasure itself? This is because this body is also made out of a Treasure – the Word (Spirit) of God. That’s why it is called The Word body. Remember that it is the Word of God that we have received and It is the one that housed and grows in us. It is the one that converts us for us to become a treasure also someday.

This Treasure is the one prepared by our Lord for us in heaven while we are still here on earth. It is made out of the Word that works in us. It is the “Mansion in the House” prepared by our Lord for us (John 14:2-3). Why a Mansion and not just a simple house? This is because our celestial body is a Treasure. It should be splendid because it will housed a treasure, which is us, that’s why it should itself be a treasure. A precious stone will be put on It that’s why the bag that will hold the stone should be also a treasure. A treasure can only be contained by a treasure. As what Matthew 9:17 is saying:

“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”

Since we are new, our bodies must also be new. Because we have become a treasure, our new body must also be a treasure.

A DEPOSIT

Remember, the word “Treasure” came from the Hebrew word “Genez” (greek: thesauros) which means “a thing stored” or “a deposit”. So our celestial body is the treasure which is a product of our “deposit” in heaven while we are still here on earth. Why a deposit? And how can we deposit in heaven when we are still here on earth?

Just like depositing in a bank, what we deposit today directly affects what we will going to withdraw tomorrow. If we are depositing big amounts, we will definitely reap big amounts tomorrow. If we are only depositing small amounts, of course, we will also withdraw small amount tomorrow. Much worst if we are not depositing at all, we have also nothing to withdraw tomorrow.

Our treasure in heaven is also like this. Our treasure depends on our deposit. The treasure is our celestial body which we will going to withdraw tomorrow. The status of our celestial body whether it will be like jasper, sapphire, gold or amethyst, depends on what we deposit today and how much we deposit.

Our Initial Deposit

Our Lord had given us an initial capital (goods, talents) to be invested (deposited) in heaven (read Matt. 25:14-30). These goods are all the things that we have receive from our Lord while here on earth. Unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability (Matt. 25:15). If He had given us five talents and we have deposited all five of it, we will surely withdraw a celestial body worthy for that five talents we have deposited. If He had given us two talents and we have deposited or store them in heaven, we will surely receive a treasure (celestial body) worthy of that two talents we deposited.

However if He had given us either five, two or one talent but none of it we have deposited in heaven, then we will also receive no celestial body in heaven. Yes brothers and sisters, some will be found naked during the Judgment day. This is the reason why the apostle Paul “groaned and earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked (2 Cor. 5:2-3).”

Those who have not deposited anything will also not receive any celestial body. And they will be “cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30).”

Saints of the Lord, this is the higher calling that our Lord had given unto us – for us to be a part of His Holy City, the New Jerusalem, His Bride. We are living in the hour which calls for a higher level of spirituality. It is in this hour that God will going to meet His Bride for their Marriage. Just like the apostle Paul and the saints of old, we should also earnestly desire this higher status in the body of the Lord.

In Psalm 27:4-5 King David wrote:

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

For in time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock”

King David who is a type of the Bride of Christ seeks to dwell in the House of the Lord to behold the beauty of the Lord. Indeed! How wonderful it is to dwell in the City of The Lord, where the Lord tabernacled with His Bride. We can only achieve this if we are one of those precious stones in the Holy City, New Jerusalem.

King David also added in Psalm 84:10

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Truly, a day in God’s “courts” (New Jerusalem) is better than a thousand years in any other place, and even to be the least (as a doorkeeper) in His House is better than to be found in an assembly of wicked people. Praised be to God! This description of King David on the court of the Lord is indeed true! We should desire this place and we should start by storing treasures in heaven!

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