Our text, this afternoon, dear friends, is found in Paul's epistle to the Galatians, 6th chapter, verse 17: "From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." We want to talk about the marks of the Lord Jesus. Not only the Apostle could say that, but you and I can say that, and when today we come to comprehend what the marks of the Lord Jesus are, we will find we have those marks too. The statement of this text is based on a well-known experience that was quite common in the days of the Apostles. In those days slavery was very general, and it was a usage for masters to brand their servants, their slaves. Some men who were cruel and indifferent would brand them in the forehead and cheek, somewhat in a conspicuous manner as they would brand cattle today. Those more thoughtful about the welfare of their servants would brand them in less conspicuous places; probably on the back or arm, so that in case that one should ever be given his freedom, it might be possible for him to conceal his marks, indicative of the fact that he was once a slave. But you will find that these servants or slaves, to a large extent, met with mistreatment; their rights were largely ignored. Very often it was the case, or the occasion would rise, when some of these slaves would be going along a road and coming to a place where a man was building a house, this man might speak to the slave and say, "I want you to help me with my work." The slave might say, I can't; I am very busy; I am engaged in my master's business." The man would say, "Don't you reply to me; you help me." And the slave would say, "I can't; I am very busy; my master's work demands haste." But the man would say, "I want you to help me." The poor slave would be compelled to ignore his master's business to help that one build his house.

But sometimes the man that attempted to interfere with the duties of the slave would meet with a sharp surprise. He would demand that this servant would help him, and say "I want you to do so and so for [PE282] me." And the servant would say, "I can't at this time do it." The man would say, "You help me; I will strike you if you don't." The servant would then roll up his sleeve and show him his brand, and say, "Don't strike me; I bear in my body the marks of the emperor." And the man would have to let him alone.

And the Apostle says, "Brethren that is my position; 'From henceforth, let no man trouble me.' Don't you think that I am an ordinary slave; that I am an ordinary slave like the large majority of the human race; that I am a slave to sin; that I am a slave to pleasure; that I am slave to wealth or the fleshly interests; or to worldly longing. 'From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.' I am His servant; I am His slave; He is the One who gives me my instructions; I can't take any orders from you."

And now, dear friends, we are trusting, hoping that these conditions are applicable to us. The Apostle reminded us in the epistle to the Romans: "His servants ye are whom you obey." We are all servants-there is no man actually his own master. Some claim to be masters, but really they are the greatest of slaves. Some are slaves to selfishness; some slaves to bondage; some slaves to their own stomachs; some slaves to sin; some political slaves; some slaves to business; some slaves to amusement; but, dear friends, we hope we are the slaves of Jesus Christ. This is really the thought of the word that is translated "servant" in the New Testament. In the Greek language quite a number of words are used to designate a servant, but this word used here means a slave, and the Apostle seemed to designate himself thus: "Paul, a bond-slave of Jesus Christ." The real thought is: a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. It seems to me, too, dear friends, that when we get this matter properly before our minds we will find that there is no bondage nor servitude so sweet as the servitude of Jesus Christ. We see people in the world seeking for investments. Some say, I am going to invest in bonds; another man will say, I am buying municipal bonds; but the safest investment is to invest all we have in Jesus Christ. These bonds are not quoted very high in the markets of the world at the present time, but you will find that for all eternity you will draw an interest on those bonds that none of the earthly bonds could begin to pay. When the bonds of the world have lost their value, no one would have any value to attach to the most desirable and highest interest-paying bonds issued, by men today but when that time comes, the bonds of Jesus Christ will be recognized in their proper place, and the proper value will be attached to them.

Now let us come to consider these bonds of Jesus Christ; what these marks are that designate this heavenly bondage. "From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body, the marks of the Lord Jesus." [PE283] Let us see if we can understand something about what these marks of the Lord Jesus are. We may say that the marks of the Lord Jesus could be viewed from three different standpoints. First, it would imply the marks the Lord Jesus himself bore. If you and I bear the marks He bore, then we would bear the marks of the Lord Jesus. If you and I have the prints of the nails in our hands and in our feet, and if we have the spear wound in our side, and the crown of thorns on our head, then we have these marks our text speaks of. In the second place, the marks of the Lord Jesus would be the marks our Savior referred to as the marks by which we might know the true disciples, and be instructed as about those marks, and He Himself set the value upon those marks; and in the third place, dear friends, the marks of the Lord Jesus would have reference to character marks. We recognize in our Lord's life certain marks of character, traits of character, which designated Him as separate and beyond all the rest of the human race. If we have these character marks, we have the marks of the Lord Jesus.

Well, dear friends, we are going to speak about those marks, and we would notice there are eight marks of the Lord Jesus. We find in the first place these are the marks Jesus Himself wore, and in the second place, these are the marks we might know his disciples by. Let us examine them; let us look at ourselves, and measure our position, and see if we really can find in our life and in our hearts these same marks. Our Savior spoke about them, dear friends, in the fifth chapter of Matthew from the third down to the twelfth verses inclusive. Let me read the first mark:

This is the first mark, dear friends. We find that it was one of the marks so manifest in our Lord's life and experience; we find that it was one of the marks that he lay so much stress upon as essential for us. In the third place, it was one of the great character marks. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." This Scripture doesn't indicate that there is a special blessing about any kind of poverty. We find there were some people in the Catholic church who thought there was some virtue about poverty; they thought there was something specially desirable and commendable from the divine standpoint about being poor. We find that all the heathen religions say that poverty is specially commendable. It isn't a question whether a man is poor or rich, but what is the spirit of the heart as he contemplates that wealth. We might say that one man would be rich and pleasing to God, and another man be deficient in this world's goods and be wrong in the sight of God. It isn't the poverty which speaks about how much land we own or don't own, or how many houses we have or don't have, while that kind of poverty wouldn't be indicated [PE284] in our text, yet there is another kind of poverty referred to-"poor in spirit." "Blessed are the poor in spirit." What spirit is it that is referred to? Why, it is evidently the spirit of self. Blessed is the man or the woman who is poor in the spirit of self, and therefore, the poor in spirit would refer to the humble, the loyal.

I am sure that this is one of the most pronounced things in the character and experiences of our Lord Jesus. Think how poor He was in the spirit of self. Think of the Lord Jesus when he was with the Father in glory. Think of what a wonderful being He was. Think of the high station He occupied. Think of the possessions that must have been His. We might think that the wealthiest man today must be very poor in comparison to it. The Lord Jesus had possessions back in that time, and yet we find that the Lord Jesus was so poor in the spirit of self. He came down to this world and became a man and suffered and died in our stead in order that He could redeem us. The Lord Jesus never hesitated to have it so; He humbled Himself and became a man, even to the ignominious death of the cross. I often think how forcibly this is manifested in the second chapter of Philippians, about the 8th verse. There he speaks about the Lord Jesus and says: "Being found in fashion as a man He humbled Himself."

Very few get the force of that thought in being found in fashion as a man. They don't recognize the fact that the thought of being found means that something was lost, and it was found. What was lost? This scripture says that Jesus was lost-that Jesus Himself was lost. You couldn't say that something that was not lost was found. Way Jesus lost? When was Jesus lost? I answer, 1,900 years ago the Lord Jesus, from all the ages of eternity down to that time had been next to the Father. The angels had found such joy and delight in the presence of this One, who was the only begotten Son of God. And the time came, back there 19 centuries ago, that Jesus was lost. The angels looked all thru heaven and they couldn't find Him anywhere. The angels would say, "Have you seen Jesus?" No; He could not be found. Jesus was not anywhere. And we remember the second day came and Jesus was still lost, and then the third day, and they didn't know what had become of Him. Where was this wonderful One? The fourth day went by and still He was lost, and then the fifth day, and then the sixth day, and He wasn't found yet, and then a whole week and Jesus was still lost; and it seem to me, dear friends, that the angels of heaven must have felt very serious by this time. Day after day and the second week went by, and still Jesus was lost, and then the third week and a whole month passed and no one had found Jesus yet. Why, how strange it was. Where was Jesus? What had become of this wonderful One? A second month, and a third [PE285] month, and a fourth month went by, and then the fifth month, and still He was lost, and a half year passed, and Jesus was not found yet. The seventh month passed and still he was lost. The eighth month went by and Lord Jesus was still lost, and dear friends, the ninth month had passed, and they found Jesus. And where did they find Him? Why, they found Him a little babe in Bethlehem. "He was found in fashion as a man" as a member of the human race; and no wonder a whole host of them appeared and sang "Glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth, good will to men." They had found the One that was lost, but dear friends, when they found Him, how humble He was. How remarkable. This glorious One was not as glorious as He had been. He was found in fashion as a member of this weak and fallen race.

But, dear friends, there is another thought in that passage. In the third chapter of Philippians we find this word used a second time, and this time it is applied to the church. The Apostle says, that I might "be found in Him." The thought is that some day you and I are going to be lost. The world of mankind are going to come forth from the tomb, and our friends and acquaintances won't be able to find us. We will be lost. They will meet with some of their acquaintances and say, Have you seen so and so? But we will be lost, and we will be found. But where? Why we will be found "in Him," as a member of that glorious class. We recognize that there is a sense in which we will be found every day in Him, but we want to be found in Him then.

But dear friends, we can see something of the poverty of spirit our Lord Jesus possessed. He was willing to come down to this world and become a member of the poor human race. "Though he was rich for our sakes He became poor." But even when the Lord Jesus came down here and became a man, that was not the end of it; but he was tested to the last degree possible. We see some complaining of their poverty. They say, Oh, if I only had more money; how much more I could do. But, dear friends, the Lord Jesus was more poor than you and I. He was born in the midst of the deepest poverty that could possibly be imagined. We have many evidences of it. You remember that when the mother of Jesus, Mary, went to the temple, she offered two turtle doves. The offering for purification was to be a lamb, but if anybody was so poor that they couldn't offer a lamb they would offer a turtle dove as a substitute; but most people could find some way of offering a lamb. Some people would put forth the most strenuous efforts to give a lamb to show their appreciation. When Mary realized what a son she had, how much she must have wanted to offer a lamb. It seems to me they would strain some point in order to have a lamb to offer, but no-they could only offer a turtle dove. Oh, the thing that impresses us is not [PE286] the poverty of wealth, or the poverty of money, but the poverty of spirit that would submit to that. He said to His disciples: "The foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." Oh, how significant that was. What a wonderful fact-that the One that once upon a time had access to the grandest places in the universe, to think that now He had not so much as a place to lay His head.

We not only find it so trying to submit to poverty, but we find it so trying to submit to the natural straits of life. We find the friends complaining about how they would have so many earthly obligations to tie them down. I often think of the Lord Jesus in that respect. All the Scripture seems to indicate that Joseph, the husband of Mary, must have died when Jesus was about fifteen years old. When Jesus went down to the country, where he was brought up, they said, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" Joseph his father, was apparently dead. Joseph was not there. We find that these brothers and sisters seems to refer to children Joseph had by former marriage. Joseph must have been a widower before marrying Mary, and we have reason to believe that the tradition is correct that says that Mary had no children but Jesus. It looks as though Jesus had to support His mother very early in life. Not only did He have to support that mother but it looks as though He had to do more than His share. His brothers and sisters were not very grateful; it seems that they persecuted Him. We think it is so trying to engage in the ordinary duties of life, but how was it with Jesus? Jesus who had made the universe, the sun and moon and stars, was down here building chicken coops. Joseph was a carpenter, and Jesus was a carpenter. We would understand that as a carpenter, the Lord Jesus had very poor kind of employment. Just think how much that must have meant. The Being that once made the universe, down here sawing boards and making things like that. You couldn't ever have imagined that He would be willing to have it so. Ah, dear friends, there was the poverty of spirit you see.

And still there was another evidence of poverty of spirit along this line. I remember how I used to look forth to the time when I would be twenty-one years old. When I could start out in the world for myself, and make something out of myself. He had to wait till He was thirty years old-nine years longer. How wonderful was the humility of Jesus that was willing to wait till He was thirty years old. The years between twenty and thirty are the years when a young man's life is full of life. When he wants to do great things and feels full of hopes and plans for the future. Jesus had to lay all those feelings aside and wait. We see this was poverty again. He was emptied of self. He was surely filled with that spirit that wanted to do the Father's will in all things. [PE287]

We comedown to our Lord's experiences after His consecration, after He was begotten of the spirit, and we see how His humility was manifested there. There was not one of the disciples fit for Him to associate with, and yet at the same time, the Lord Jesus was not ashamed to call them brethren. The Lord Jesus was willing to put His whole life amongst them, and how He closed His eyes to their weaknesses and endeavored in every way possible to lift them up to the same view of matters that filled His own mind. I often think how the Lord Jesus was with His disciples; it shows so much of poverty of spirit there.

People today will feel so anxious about their imperfections. "Oh" you say "I wish I had better control of my tongue; I wish I had better control of my hands and of my feet, etc; I wish my body could do perfectly just what I want it to do." I often think that we ought to be thankful that we have not any more imperfections than we do have to trouble us. We sometimes sing: "Oh for a thousand tongues," but I am sometimes thankful that I haven't a thousand tongues. A thousand tongues would put me crazy sure. But Jesus had more trouble with His eyes than we do with ours. He had more trouble with His ears than we do with ours. The trouble we have with our tongue isn't anything compared with His; the trouble we have with our hands isn't anything compared with the things His hands wanted to do. The trouble with our feet would not begin to compare with the trouble He had with His feet. They wanted to go the way He didn't want them to go. "Why," you say, "I thought the Lord Jesus was perfect-that He didn't have any trouble with His hands, with his eyes, with His feet." Why, dear friends, possibly there is a view of the matter you never thought of there. We recognize that we have so much trouble with our body. The trouble with us is we have so much trouble with our literal body, but He had so much trouble with His figurative body. You have only one tongue, but Jesus had twelve tongues. There was Peter's tongue, and Thomas' tongue, and Bartholemew's tongue, and Andrew's tongue. We are trying to control this one tongue, and we make such an awful matter of it, but think of Jesus trying to control those twelve tongues, and how hard it was. We have so much trouble with one pair of hands, but oh, he had so much trouble with his 12 pairs. We have so much trouble with our two feet, but he had so much trouble with His twenty-four feet. We have so much trouble with our two eyes, but He had so much trouble with His twenty-four. We have so much trouble with our own pair of ears, but He had so much trouble with His 12 pair of ears. The only difference is that the imperfections with us are in our physical body, with Him the trouble was in His mystical body.

But Jesus had poverty of spirit. Dear friends, was not that one of the [PE288] marks of the Lord Jesus that manifested Him as so holy, harmless, separate and undefiled? The question is, do we have that Spirit, or on the contrary is it the spirit of pride, of loftiness of mind, etc., that controls us? I wonder how much we resemble the Master there. If you can recognize these marks in yourself, then you can say with the Apostle, "Henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus."

Our Savior goes on to tell us about the second of these marks that we have got to have. He said: "Blessed are they that mourn." I do not think that he meant merely, blessed are those who mourn who have stock in the Pennsylvania railroad market and stock was going down; or that he meant, blessed are those who mourn because their crops are failing, or blessed are those who mourn because they have the stomach-ache or sickness in the family. The Lord Jesus didn't mourn along those lines; you can't call one case to mind where Jesus mourned because He didn't have a good meal to eat or because he had a long hard journey along a dusty road. Why did He mourn? Why, in every case, Jesus mourned because of lack of faith people had in God-because of lack of love for the spirit of righteousness. You remember how He wept over Jerusalem: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." Why did He mourn? Did He mourn because they were going to have trouble? No, no. He knew His disciples were going to have trouble. He mourned because those people of Jerusalem had so little faith, because they had so little confidence in God, so little appreciation for the Divine message. The same thing at the tomb of Lazarus. I do not think Jesus wept simply because Lazarus had died, for many people had died before. I do not think he wept because those people were sorry because of Lazarus' death, but it seems to me, Jesus wept for another reason. He recognized those people were not getting the comforts in their sorrow they might; He wept because they didn't have faith that they might in God, who would raise the dead. And, dear friends, that is the kind of mourning we have got to have, the kind of mourning that has got to fill our souls. He didn't mourn because of any inconveniences He was put to; His mourning was of an entirely different character. You remember that night in Gethsemane when, dear friends, the great drops of blood poured from his brow as the Lord Jesus really wondered if He had done the Father's will in every respect. He was not mourning because He was going to die; He didn't mourn because He was out there in that cold garden that night, but He was mourning because He might have failed in some particular to [PE289] do the Father's will. On the other hand, if you and I have come to the place where we are so anxious to do the Father's will that we will really labor to show our love for our Heavenly Father, then, dear friends, we are mourning like Jesus mourned; then we have the spirit our Lord Jesus had. "Blessed are they that mourn." Our Savior speaks of the third of these marks. He says:

This is another one of the marks of the Lord Jesus. He was meek. He said in that 11th chapter of Matthew: "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." People largely confuse meekness with humility. There is a vast difference between the two. We find that pointed out in these texts. "Poor in spirit" would have reference to humility, whereas, meekness is represented as something entirely separate and distinct. He was not only meek, but in addition He was lowly in heart. People may be meek and yet not be humble. Meekness conveys the thought of gentleness. Meekness can be where humility is lacking. We find in the same way, one might have a spirit of humility and not be meek. We might find somebody who would be willing to bow himself to the ground for the Lord Jesus' sake, but if one would oppress him, he would be likely to pull out a sword like the Apostle Peter. So our Lord was meek. When He was reviled He reviled not again. The Lord Jesus was in this setting us an example, showing us how we should be meek. If we can do this we will have another mark of the Lord Jesus. You remember how John says in the Book of Revelation: "And behold a Lamb." I think that is the most remarkable language I ever heard. "And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah...and I beheld...a Lamb." The lion was a lamb! The lamb had reference to our Lord's purity and meekness. He was told to see a lion, but when John turned and looked he was like a lamb, and so that ought to be the same way with us. We wouldn't think that our duty is to show others how great we may be, but we must be gentle towards all men. He is the great lamb; you and I can be lamb-like too. Let us see the next mark of the Lord Jesus.

Now we recognize this as one of the marks of the Lord Jesus. Ah, how he hungered and thirsted after righteousness! Notice, it is not a question as to whether we have a little interest in righteousness, but it is a question if we are longing and hungering after that thing. For instance, if a man would be thirsting after a glass of water, he wouldn't be satisfied with anything else but water. If we would offer him a piece [PE290] of candy, he would say, No, I don't want it, I want water. Is it a merely superficial matter, or does it really reach down into our hearts? Is it like the spear thrust in Jesus' heart? "And forthwith out came blood and water." That was not merely a little pricking on the surface; that spear went right thru into the heart. And now, dear friends, if you find this love of righteousness has pierced you and went into the heart, you can show your wound and say "I have the marks of the Lord Jesus." It is like the Apostle puts it there in the third chapter of Philippians. He says: "Beware of the concision, for we are of the circumcision." Now although concision and circumcision are related words, they convey such different thoughts. Concision should be translated "incision." Incision means cutting in, circumcision means cutting around. Incision would be just cutting in, while circumcision means that you would cut it around until you cut the whole hand off. Beware of those people who cut a little just on the surface-don't be of that class that make-believe they are hungering and thirsting after righteousness. We want to be of the class of the circumcision who cut around till it is all cut off.

Now, dear friends, the question is, do we have that mark of the Lord Jesus? Has the spirit of thirsting gone into our hearts? We hope we can say like Paul" From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." There is the spear thrust; look at it; it goes all the way into the heart. The master gives the next of these marks:

We see, dear friends, the mark of the Lord Jesus in this respect, too. We see how mercy to him was not merely a sentiment, but mercy was a fact. It was a reality. We see how He was always ready to make an allowance for those who opposed Him; He was so merciful. We think of that in the case of the Apostle Peter. Peter was doing the things the Master didn't want him to do, and then how merciful was the Master with him. When the Lord sent the message to His disciples after His resurrection He said, "Go and tell my disciples, and Peter." Don't let Peter think I have cast him off. The Lord Jesus never scolded Judas in his case either. You remember the words of the Lord Jesus said to him at the last supper: "What thou doest, do quickly." I do not think the Master meant for Judas to go out and betray Him. But the Master saw the trial Judas was having, and He wanted Judas to overcome in that trial, to get the victory quickly and not hang fire that way. You remember when Judas came to betray Him he called him "friend," but that is not the correct thought, as Judas couldn't be a friend any longer. The word that is used in the Greek is "comrade." How merciful Jesus was even here. How merciful all the different features of our Father's plan are. [PE291] How merciful God is. If you and I have that mercy, then we have another one of the marks of the Lord Jesus. If we haven't got that mercy we are lacking in the marks of the Lord Jesus. We have another statement here:

So much might be said on this text. I fear we will not be justified in saying much about it for lack of time. Some of our coming meetings we will have a chance to talk along this line. Our Savior wanted us to understand that we must have our hearts pure; and it is only the holy spirit of God that can accomplish that. When the spirit of God gets into our hearts, it drives out the spirit of the world. It gets us in a purer state, in a purer condition. If anything is wrong in our desires, intentions, then we haven't got the mark of the Lord Jesus yet. Jesus' purity of heart was accompanied by a purity of flesh. We can't have purity of flesh, but we can have pure desires or intentions. If we have got pure desires then we have another mark of the Lord Jesus. He says furthermore:

We find that Jesus was a peacemaker. He was a peacemaker in a great many different senses. He was a peacemaker in the highest sense that could be imagined. He was willing to make any sacrifice and wait a long time that peace might be the result. When is it going to be true that Jesus' work as a peacemaker will be realized! Not until the Millennium is over. But how marvelous that spirit was in Him. You know there are many men who are willing to be peacemakers if they can get piece quickly and get glory out of it. How many would want to be peacemakers if they would be persecuted and maligned? How many would want to be peacemakers under those circumstances? But Jesus was. We realize that Jesus was a peacemaker from God's standpoint. We are thankful that in our Heavenly Father's plan we have the same spirit that Jesus had. In the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians we read: "Though I give all my goods to feed the poor and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." We want to have the privilege of feeding the whole world of mankind in the next age, not with bread and butter, but with life. Like our Master, we will have to be disliked, misunderstood, misrepresented, if we are going to share with Him in the establishment of that peace.

We recognize that here too, was another mark of the Lord Jesus. Look at His persecution. Look at how it was illustrated in His crown of thorns, and how it left marks on His forehead. If we are going to wear the crown of glory, we are going to have to wear the crown of thorns too. We are [PE292] going to wear it because we put it there ourselves. Jesus didn't put the crown of thorns on His head, but His obedience did it. If we can recognize that it was not our foolishness that put it there, not our chastisement, that it was the wrath that He bore. "In the world ye shall have tribulation."

"And in nothing terrified by your adversaries; which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God." So we find persecution that the child of God meets with is another one of the evidences that he is the body servant of Christ, that he bears in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

He goes on and says in the next verse: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad." Many bad people have all manner of evil said against them. Many people in the political world have all manner of evil said against them. But it is blessed when they say these things falsely. It is credit from God's standpoint if they are falsely said. But there is another point. There is no doubt a great many false things are said against the political candidates in the field today, but friends, there is another point: "For My Sake." With them, it is not for Christ's sake. With them it is because of their political stand, because of the side and the cause they have espoused. I feel quite confident that there are a great many of God's dear children who suffer today falsely, and yet it is not always for His sake. If we are striving to do the Master's will, striving to do as He did, to walk as He walked, then we will be bearing the marks of the Lord Jesus.

Some time ago, I saw a brother coming through a train giving out tracts, and I thought I could see the marks of the Lord Jesus in his hands and feet. I said, It is because he has the prints of the nails in his hands and feet that he can walk down that isle. He hasn't got them literally, but he has got them in a figurative sense at least.

Dear friends, I can rejoice that we can say like the Apostle, "From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Let us seek to honor and glorify Him, and at last, if we have borne the marks of His suffering here, we shall bear His marks there. The present are temporary marks, and those will be marks of eternal duration. These are marks of mortal weakness, those will be marks of immortal favor. May we seek to continue to manifest to others that we do bear in our bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus.