This little word FOR is an important one, it is a peg on which it all hangs.
For I bear... What did Paul mean?
This..."Look here, you people have been saying very unkind and cruel things, and acting very cruelly, saying things that are not true to make me suffer. "
I warn you....
If you fight against me, I bear branded in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus...
And if you fight me, I have a Master I belong to, who is a very great and powerful Master,...
And in the long run you will be called to book and will have to meet Him and answer for what you did to me.
This means not only ownership but PROTECTION.
God says: "You will have to reckon with Me sooner or later, you be careful...in touching that one you are touching Me" (1 Chron. 16:22; Zech 2:8).
And Paul adds, "Why you are not to heap trouble on me is because you will have to reckon with God".
If you have suffered for Him woe betide those who put their hands on you, you are precious to the Lord.
Those who are branded are very precious and dear to Him.
Paul would say to the Galatians, "I bear the brand and that means protection."
The day of reckoning is coming.
The Lord may be very patient and wait but sooner or later you will have to face Him and answer for it.
The brand means belonging to Him and everyone can see.
Can they hear and see it in us?
If we are wholly His and His mark is seen on us, and we are ready to suffer, He will look after us.
We are very precious to Him and when other hands are on us, they are touching Him, fighting against Him.
Many have tried it, but the end is terrible if they fight against the Lord or against us because of Him.
What is the good of it?
It would be like hammering your head against a brick wall.
The strongest man hitting against God has to give it up.
His marks mean protection...
They mean that the Lord is on our side...
That the Lord is our Master...
And the Lord is going to look after His own.
For the rest of our lives we are going to bear the marks of the Lord Jesus...
And if others fight against us they will discover they are fighting against the Lord...
And the Lord will look after and protect us.
~T. Austin Sparks~