The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-10-31
''MARKS."

Text: II bear in my body the
marks Of the Lord Jesus" Gala tions
GILT.
Perhaps no boy or girl present
could say with truth II bear no marks
on my body" Scars seem to be the
lot Of most people and lot of people
Fave them. l have scar on my
forehead. one on my thumb and one
on the back of the head. The first
two are honorable ones but l won't
tell anv body how | got the last. In
ancient times slaves bore in their
bodi.s the name or stamp OF their
Masters and every where they went
these branded bodies gave silent wit
ness to the fact that they belonged
to some owner. l have read Of
slave who was sent with an impor-
tant message to distant place but
before he went his master shaved his
head and caused the message to be
pricked into his scalp and then de.
taining him only until his hair grew
sent him in that perfect disguise on
his mission Of danger. TO his dy-
ing day he borein his head tnat mes.
sage from his master.
Now Paul bore in his body brand
marks Of the Lord Jesus, not marks
in any ideaized sense but in a very
literal sense, actual body marks. He
does not mean characteristics Of the
Master but literal branding. Won.
der how he got those marks? Scrip.
ture tells US. He got them by per.
sccutlon (Acts 1850, by stoning
(Actsl4:l9), by scourging Acts l6:22.
24), by ship wreck (Acts 27:43.4t,
by a snake bite lActs 2S:3, by i'm
prisonment (Acts 2s:2O). All this
he bore for Jesus without murmuring
Hear him say In stripes above
measure, in prisons more frequent,
indeaths oft. OF the Jews five times
l received forty stripes save one.
Thrice was beaten with rods, once
was | stoned, thrice suffered ship.
wreck, q day and night | have
been in the deep in journeyings Of
ten, in perlis Of waters, in perils of
robbers, In perils by my own country
men, in perils by the heather, In
perjls in the city, in peris in the will
derness, in perls in the seas, in peri's
among false brethren, in weariness
and panfulness, in watchings titen,
in cold and nakednes,. y llCor. liz:
23.27). No wonder he bore in his
body the marks Of the Lord Jesus.
Most people are marked people.
We do not need a microscope to de.
tect the man-his mark speaks for
him and often against him. And
this true not only Of men and women
but also Of boys and girls. We are
known by our mark. Now | am 80.
ing to describe several persons with
out naming them, and see if you can
tell me who they are. For instance
here is boy who comes to school
and in the presence OF several chl'd.
rem takes out an apple and cats it
while they all look on with eyes and
mouth both open. lie eats tie Whole
apple and core and both. Here |, a
man on a street car reading a paper
and in comes two ladies' They are
Door and tired. He never looks uI
from MS paper, and they stand and
ride for squares until when at las1
they do reach their destination they
are almost ready to drop from shceI
exhaustion. What kind OF a man is
this man: what kind of DO? is thi
boy? Selfish All right, that Is hi:
mark.
Here are two men on the stree
corner. They are gesturng earnest
and speaking empha.icalIy. Present
ly one Of them lifts his tS, ant
strikes the other to the ground. lOt
do not need to be told that the mari
OF the one is where the fist of Tho
other landed ard the mark OF Tho
Other was anger. Here is boy ol
the way to school, He is a tri4
early as lie triiles. Two little boys
much smaller tnan he are playing o
the street. lie Scl2cS the hat of on
and throws it down the sewer, an
grabs the lunch OF the other an'
hides it in an alley, and thea rnn
on TO school and pushes over Il litt'(
girl as lie goes in the cate what
his mark? UnkindnesS. All right
Here is a young man employed by
large business firm as clerk. On
night he is called into the privat
office and asked to explain seemtn
blunder OH the books. 1t was but
blunder and could have been rect
fed at once by frank confession
mistake, but he was proud and co
ceted and with great emphasis d.
MED any mistake aud vchemently a
firmed that the books we're all RICH
What was his mark: 'ntruthlunes
Very well.
Here is a man who sits down
the table with Lis children and ii
FIRST thing he does is to selle u
carving knife and begin to carve u
meat. No ben ling Of the head: no
looking Of the eye: no recognition
the source OF the blessings OIL &
table What is his mark: and y
answer -IuthankluneSs. Here IS
young lady standing before tac m
ror. She has ust donned h