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by sheer force, are damned beyond hope (Revelation 14 :9-11)— is so fraugh t w ith terro r, and’therefore perhaps none should move us towards holiness w ith a more trem endous force. There are counter-m arks w ithout which we can not be saved. “At P ing Yang pu,” says M. Fullerton, “ I saw two old people, man and wife, who in the Boxer time were spared th e death stroke, b u t be cause of th e ir faith had a cross marked deeply on th eir foreheads; and th eir faces glowed w ith th e light of heaven." Godly refugees from Russia to-day come w ith backs scarred, and ankles and w rists grooved by chains, even as Paul says.-T-^'I bear in my body the m arks” — th e word means the stamp of the branding-iron— “of the Lord Jesu s” (Galatians 6 :1 7 ), th e weals where the Apostle had been whipped. Do we bear the “m ark s” th a t prove us indelibly the property of the Lord Christ? Not physical m arks necessarily, though these may come; bu t the shining face, the confessing mouth, the bounteous hand, the heavenly walk? F o r upon such only will be God’s physical mark a t last. As the 144,000 bear the name of the Lord Jesus, and of th e ir F ath er, imprinted on th e ir faces (Revelation 1 4 :1 ), so of all th e redeemed it is w rit ten a t last,— “and His name shall be on th eir foreheads” . (Revelation 2 2 :4 ).
But in our own century we are con fronted w ith an instance of almost in credible horror. In th e Daily Mail for Ju ly 24, 1902, the following communi cation appeared from P aris: T h e R o m a n C a th o lic C h u rc h in F r a n c e is c o n s ta n tly th r e a te n e d b y a lm o s t c o u n t le s s d a n g e r s , b u t b y n o n e m o re p o w e rfu l th a n b y ’ t h a t e x tr a o r d in a r y s e c r e t s o c ie ty k n o w n to its m e m b e rs a s th e “F.D .L .C .',” w h ic h , b e in g in te rp r e te d , s ta n d s f o r “L e s F r e r e s d e la C o te " (T h e B r o th e r s o f th e C o a s t). F e w E n g lis h m e n , a n d n o t m a n y F r e n c h m e n e ith e r, f o r th e m a tte r o f th a t, h a v e e v e r h e a r d o f th is r e m a r k a b le s o c ie ty . I t s m e m b e rs , to th e n u m b e r o f tw o a n d a h a lf m illio n s, c o n s is t e n tir e ly o f b o y s fro m th e a g e s o f fo u r te e n to tw e n ty . T h e s o c ie ty h a s tw o o b je c ts in v ie w . F ir s t a n d fo re m o s t, th e y a r e b o u n d to g e th e r fo r th e , p ro p a g a tio n a n d e n c o u r a g e m e n t o f a th e is m a n d th e d e s tr u c tio n o f th e p o w e r o f th e P a p a l C h u rc h . O n th e a rm o f e a c h m e m b e r is ta tto o e d in , la r g e p r in t th e le tte r s “A .D .,” s ig n if y in g A n ti D ie u . So f a r , th e p r ie s ts h a v e b e e n p o w e rle s s to ' p u t d o w n th is e x tr a o r d in a r y , th is te r r ib le in s titu tio n , w h ic h is w in k e d a t, if no't a c tu a lly s u p p o rte d b y th e F r e n c h G o v e rn m e n t, w h o s e g r e a t o b je c t is to d e s tr o y th e R o m a n C a th o lic C h u rc h in F r a n c e . E a c h m e m b e r, in a d d itio n to h a v in g h is a rm b ra n d e d w ith th e le tte r s “A .D .,” w e a r s a b a d g e in th è s h a p e o f a re d m o o n , a n d th e lo c a l c h ie fs b e a r d is tin g u is h in g ta tto o m a r k s on th e ir r ig h t h a n d s . T h e S o c ie ty a ls o p o s s e s s e s s e c r e t s ig n s a n d " g rip s ." No fact th roughout th e prophetic pages for all who receive the m ark volun tarily, as distinct from being branded
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GET TO THE WATCH TOWE7. The following words fr^m Mr. Spurgeon were printed many years ago in Dr. Jam es H. 1 ..es' magazine, ‘T ru th ” : |E T the new theologians have liberty to preach w hat they like on th e ir own ground, b u t not in our pulpits. Alas! th e leading members in many churches are Christians w ithout backbones, molluscous, spongy; snails I would call them , only they have no t th e consistency of th e snail’s shell. They are ready to swallow any m ortal thing, if th e preacher seems clever and eloquent. Cleverness and eloquence— away w ith them ! If it is no t th e tru th of God, th e more cleverly and eloquently it is preached th e more damnable it is. W,e must have th e tru th , and nothing b u t th e tru th , and I charge th e fathers in Christ all over England and America to see to this. Get ye to your watch-tower and guard th e flock, lest th e sheep be destroyed while ye are asleep.”
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