The Murderer

Nature ever has a voice for those who will hearken to her teaching. The glorious sun, enlightening all with his cheering beams, reminds us of the Dayspring from on high, who came "to give light to those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death."

The bright moon, reflecting as it does the light of the sun, reminds of the true Church of Christ.  The moon above, the Church below, A wondrous race they run; But all their radiance, all their glow, each borrows of its Sun. The countless stars shining overhead, remind us of the eternal glory of the children of God.

The birds of the air teach us their lesson of daily dependence upon the care of the great Provider. Luther, we are told, was once in much distress about provision for those whom he had gathered under his roof but was comforted as he hearkened to the note of a little songster. It seemed to him in its note ever to be repeating, again and again Mortals, cease from care and sorrow; God provides for the morrow.

The lily of the field has taught us, through the lips of Christ, that our Father forgets not to clothe His children. The vine and its branches have taught us much of the mystery of grace. It shows to us the necessity of ever abiding in Christ by faith and prayer; and assures us that all grace and strength flow from Him, the Living Stem, into the hearts of His believing people.

Let us learn from the book of nature another lesson, very different from any of these. Our teacher shall be a remarkable plant, that grows very abundantly in the forests of Brazil. It bears the name of the Sipo Matador and has been thus described: "Its stem is at first so exceeding slender, that it has no natural support in itself. It entwines and creeps along the ground until it reaches some lofty vigorous tree then its mode of growth is most peculiar. It lays hold of it with a clinging grasp, and spreads itself, like a flattened bark-like stem, over one side of the trunk, cleaving to it with the greatest tenacity: from both the edges of this bark it sends out very delicate arm-like tendrils, exactly opposite to each other. 

They grow on until they meet, encircling the tree, round which they become a solid ligature, never to be removed. These arms are sent forth at regular intervals as the Murderer mounts upwards, until the trunk of its supporter is clasped by numberless inflexible rings. These rings grow larger, and clasp tighter as the parasite ascends. Up, up it climbs, one hundred feet one hundred and fifty-one hundred and eighty; at last, it mounts to the very top and then, as in triumph, forms a vast flowering head above all the surrounding forest, opens its blossoms to the sun, ripens its seeds, and scatters them over the soil below.

The supporter, by this time, is strangled and dead; and the strange spectacle remains of the strangler clasping in its arms the lifeless and decaying body of its victim, in which wood-boring beetles have already commenced their operations. It soon crumbles in rapid decay; and the parasite which destroyed it, having flowered, fruited, and continued its kind, falls to the ground, a shapeless mass, involved in one common ruin with its supporter."

What is the lesson this plant may teach us? Is it not this; The mysterious power of sin, and the danger to which its victim is exposed? Only carefully ponder the description of the plant which is given and then trace the striking analogy.

The very name suggests it. It is the "Sipo Matador" or "the Murderer".

The child frequently bears the name of the parent. The author of evil is spoken of by Christ as "a murderer from the beginning." Such also is sinning a destroyer a murderer!

O sin, sin! what have you done? How many, through you, have had to pass through the gloomy chamber of the grave! What multitudes, in all ages, through you, have forfeited the peace and salvation of a soul!

[George Everard]

Psalm 19:1-5 ... The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

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Divine Purpose of Affliction

Affliction, in some of its many and varied forms, is the lot of all the Lord's people. Indeed, if we do not have it, then we lack evidence of our true sonship, for the Father chastens every son whom He receives. Every believer is refined in the furnace of affliction.

To every follower of Jesus, how strong is the consolation flowing from this truth. God's afflictions are loving and parental towards His redeemed people; whereas towards His enemies, they are judicial and punitive. God refines His saints in the furnace of affliction, for their purification; but He places the ungodly in the furnace, for their destruction. The believer can welcome and patiently bear sickness, bereavement, and poverty; knowing that God's fatherly chastisements are not judgments, and His afflictions are not condemnations.

The furnace of affliction is needed in the process of sanctification:  to consume the dross which adheres so closely to the precious ore, to purify the heart, to center the affections on Jesus, and to wean the soul from enticements of this vain world.

The hour of affliction is the hour of softening, where: the hardness of the heart yields, the callousness of the spirit gives way, the affections become heavenly, and the conscience is made more tender. It is a season of holy meditation, of prayer, and of withdrawal from the world and from creature delights; while the soul is more closely shut in with Jesus.

Through these trials, the Holy Spirit comforts the afflicted soul by unfolding the deep and unchangeable love of Jesus, showing the believer that his sorrow is the fruit of Divine love, sent to draw the soul nearer to Himself. The Comforter opens the believer's ears to hear the voice of God's chastening rod, causing the disciplined heart to return from its wanderings and seek the wounded, bleeding, suffering Savior more eagerly than ever. In the furnace of affliction, the believer attains a deeper knowledge of God's all-sufficiency, and a truer knowledge of his own spiritual poverty and unworthiness.

In each season of affliction, the believer must turn from all creature sympathy, and look to Jesus, who was preeminently the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief and suffering; making Him able to sustain and sympathize with His afflicted people.

In every stormy wind, in every darksome night, and in every rising fear, the voice of Jesus is heard saying, "Take courage, it is I! Do not be afraid. Your affliction did not spring out of the ground but came down from above; a heaven-sent blessing clad in a robe of ebony, sent entirely in love."

As you grow deeper into the loving heart of Jesus: sorrow shall wound you less deeply, affliction shall press you less heavily, and tribulation shall affect you less keenly.

[Octavius Winslow]

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Isaiah 48:10 ...  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Romans 8:28 ... And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

2 Corinthians 4:17 ... For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; ❤

Like a Fire

When our Father uses the word “argue," clearly, He’s not implying we’re to verbally fight with Him to have our own way. For its every evil thing, NOT YHWH, that dwells with strife and self-ambition. (James 3:16) Instead, we’re to “plead and argue” our case with Him just as attorneys do in earthly courtrooms. And since we know attorneys need to research the world’s laws before arguing their cases, how much more should we research YHWH’s Laws before arguing a case before Him? For example, can we successfully argue in Heaven’s Court that the curse of poverty, disease, or confusion is bound (declared unlawful) in our lives, then loose (declare lawful) YHWH’s Laws of prosperity, health, and wisdom? Yes! Those Laws to name a few are found in: Matthew 18:18; Galatians 3:13-14; Deuteronomy 28; 1 Peter 2:24; Jeremiah 30:17; James 1:5; and Colossians 2:2-3.

But remember, we must always remain careful in our representation of the Kingdom of Heaven; we should never use our Yah-given power to “bind” and “loose” in vain by commanding laws that He DID NOT give, nor for our own selfish reasons. Otherwise, then we become the one who is actually illegal and, thereby, become exposed to all the wiles of the devil without the protection of YHWH’s Word to stand on. If the Judge of the Universe is to rule in our favor and grant our petitions, He must first determine that we are in compliance with His Law. Therefore, because YHWH watches over HIS Word, not ours, to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12), let us first research His Word for all the Laws, He’s given that specifically apply to whatever case we’re bringing before Him, then line up our prayers to agree with them, line upon line and precept upon precept. (Isaiah 28:10)

We cannot imitate what we do not know, and what we do not know has the power to destroy us. (John 7:49; Hosea 4:6) However, by studying and imitating the example Yeshua, The Word of YHWH (John 1:14; Revelation 19:13) came to give us, we’re able bring our case before His Throne of Grace EXPECTING to be proved right! And even if a case should prove to be too hard for us, never fear. For our merciful, loving Father is Elohim, Creator and Judge of the Universe, and has promised to argue that one for us.

[Tracie Justice]

Deuteronomy 1:17  ... Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

Isaiah 43:26 ...  Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. ❤

A Love Stroke

Dear Madam,

You thought right that I should pity you, when I knew the cause of the lameness of your hands. For whom that loves can forbear the greatest pity to a worthy friend who was used most cruelly? Cruel treatment was this from the creature but a love-stroke of God your Father! You have hereby seen the wonders of His infinite goodness which He has wrought for you in that support under and deliverance from those many and great distresses which at present are to your wonder, joy and praise, and shall be to the advance of your felicity in eternal glory and to God's honor, unto endless ages!

I think my afflictions are nothing if compared with those which you have passed through. Afflicted in body, from head to foot severely terrified in soul so exceedingly brought to the very brink of death and the grave in the former, and, as it were, into the belly of hell in the latter; and yet, everlasting arms underneath you in all this, the consolations of God given to your heart, and great deliverance to your body from its sore distress as an answer to social prayer how great, how wondrous was the grace! And when a little raised up yourself, to be so soon plunged into distress by the awful affliction of your dear sister, and ever since to be exercised with such various scenes of distresses through which you have been called to pass, and yet maintained in life in the life of nature and in the life of grace, and favored with the use of your natural and spiritual senses, how bright towards you have been the displays of the Lord's excellent loving-kindness! You may well say, "in deaths often; troubled on every side."

But when you shall have come up at last out of all great tribulations having washed your robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb and are presented faultless before the throne of God how sweet, how ineffably sweet, will be your eternal glory-rest! Then you will reflect with the highest pleasure upon all your past sorrows, and in unknown transports of joy and praise forever adore that wise grace which conducted you safely and advantageously through all the terrors and dangers of the wilderness. Most surely, your joy and glory, and God's joy and glory in yours, is to be exceeding great, or you would not have met with such great miseries and griefs in the present state.

I am glad that you long, dear Madam, to devote yourself and you're all unto God, and to be of special service to His praise, who has shown towards you such wonders of grace. And let the Lord's past appearances for you, in your great and sore troubles, encourage you to trust in Him for delivering grace, even to the last of your distresses. For He who said unto you, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God" is still the same. And so, He will be through all your earthly-necessities, and to an endless eternity. It is His covenant with you to "work marvels."

And think, O woman of sorrows, think, and think again Christ, the tree of life, is cast into all your deaths, and will not He well sweeten these bitter waters. Oh, what is Christ, your Christ? "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!" He is God in your nature, a Father, a brother, a Husband, a Friend, that ever lives and ever loves! For love, in all relations, His is immense and endless; for life, He is the Lord of it an immensity, an eternity of life dwells in Him for you, to perpetuate and perfect your life of grace, and to ripen it into the life of glory! Yes, to maintain your unknown felicity to a boundless eternity. And having Him, who is love, who is life, your love and life with you in all your deaths will not He make every bittersweet, and swallow up all your deaths in the infinity of His love and life? Yes, verily, He will for you, both in soul and body, swallow up death in victory, in state and maintain you in a glorious immortality to a blessed eternity. And so wondrously will He work for you, that He will bring life, and an increase of it, out of every death that passes over you.

Is it not better, infinitely better to have Christ with you as your own Lord Jesus, amid ten thousand deaths, for this small moment of time, who will swallow them all up in perfect victory and eternal glory in the world to come than to be surrounded with all the outward felicity of the present state, with all the splendors of a worldling's honors and pleasures those ‘glow-worm glories’ which will suddenly be no more and sent away from Christ at last, with a "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire?" May you be enabled to rejoice then in your portion, your soul-sustaining, your soul-satisfying, your life-giving portion, and walk worthy of your portion, by a constant dependence on Him, and a joyful expectance from Him, until you are fully blessed with the complete possession of Him who fills all in all, and will fill you brimful of light and life, of joy and glory, endless and unknown!

Oh, dear Madam, you are straitened in me, a little babe, a little child, who cannot speak; but you are not straitened for immense and eternal bliss in your Jesus. The tongues of angels and archangels, in all their innumerable armies, can never, never tell a thousandth part of His infinite fullness, beauties, and glories! What then can an earthworm, the least, think or speak of that infinitely glorious Lord? When all is said that can be uttered by the greatest of men, it may be fitly said of their most comprehensive speeches concerning Him, "There was the hiding of His glory!" Yes, when the Lord Himself is set forth in the bright display of His power, it is said, "And there was the hiding of His glory!" What, in the display of it? Yes, with regard to the infinity of it in His own immense and unsearchable essence!

But it is enough, Madam, to make you inconceivably blessed, that in Him, this infinite Him, you have an entire and eternal interest. God grant you the joy of this ineffable felicity. I mourn that I can say no more of this vast and endless storehouse of blessings. Confusion covers me that I have thus veiled Him, when I would gladly have given you a glimpse of His glory. God grant you "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" to your unspeakable joy!

~ Anne Dutton

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Prayer at All Times!!

Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour of trial and temptation but we too much forget that we have need to use this prayer at all times. There is no moment of our life, however holy in which we can do without His constant upholding. Whether in light or in darkness, in communion with Him, or in temptation we alike need the prayer, "Do not forsake me, O Lord!" "Hold me up and I shall be safe!" (Psalm 119:117)

A little child, while learning to walk always needs the parent's aid. The ship left by the navigator drifts at once from her course. We cannot do without continuous preservation from our God!

Let this be your prayer every day:

"Do not forsake me, O Lord! Do not be far from me, O my God!

 Father, do not forsake Your child lest he fall by the hand of the enemy.

 Shepherd, do not forsake Your lamb lest he wander from the safety of the fold.

 Great Gardener, do not forsake Your tender plant lest it wither and die!

 Do not forsake me now, O Lord! And do not forsake me at any moment of my life.

 Do not forsake me in my joys lest they absorb my heart.

 Do not forsake me in my sorrows lest I murmur against You.

 Do not forsake me for without You I am weak, but with You I am strong.

 Do not forsake me for my path is dangerous and full of snares.

 Do not forsake me for I cannot travel without Your guidance.

 The hen does not forsake her chicks. O Lord, give me refuge under Your wings.

 Do not be far from me, O Lord, for trouble is near and there is none to help.

 Do not forsake me, O Lord! Do not be far from me, O God of my salvation!"

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Psalm 38:21 ...  Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me.

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Our Anchor

Our hope in Jesus is our anchor!!

Hebrews 6:19 ... Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; ❤

The Sun and It's Creator

The sun will burn your eyes from 92 million miles, and you expect to casually stroll into the presence of its CREATOR?!

Exodus 33:20 .... And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. ❤

Seeking God ...

Scripture demands that our seeking God should be done with all our heart. There are several ways of seeking God which must prove to be utter failures:

One is to seek him with no heart at all. This is done by those who take their book and read prayers, never thinking of what they say; or who attend a place of worship, and hear others pray, but never enter in. This is done by those who bend the knee in the evening, and mutter pious words, but never think; or those who rise in the morning and read sacred sentences but never consider; or those who with regard to divine things, are as little concerned as if the gospel were all a legend or an old wives' tale, not worth a moment's thought.

When I have been traveling, I have sometimes seen women reading those trashy novels. I have seen them waste their tears on some imaginary heroine or hero and yet they and others hear about the majesty and the love of God, without emotion. They read of Heaven and Hell, and Christ and God, with scarcely a thought.

Dear friend, you will never find the Lord if you seek him in a heartless, unthinking manner. God is not mocked. If any of you have fallen into a formal religion and seek the Lord without your heart, then your seeking is in vain.

Some seek God with a false heart. Their piety is a transient feeling, and not deep soul-work. It is mere sentimentality, and not the engraving of God's Spirit upon the heart. Beware of a false religious excitement of being borne up with religious gas as some are, inflated like balloons by a tear-jerking sermon, only to burst by-and-by when most they need something to support them. May God grant us to be saved from a lie in the heart, for it is a deadly canker, fatal to all hope of finding the Lord.

Some seek him, also, with a double heart. They have a heart towards God, and they have a heart towards sin. They have a heart towards the pardon, but they have also a heart towards the transgression. They would gladly serve both God and Mammon. They would build an altar for Jehovah and still keep Dagon in his place.

If your heart is divided, then you will be found lacking. Those prayers will never get to Heaven, which only fly upward with one wing. If one oar pulls towards earth and the other towards Heaven, then the boat of the soul will revolve in a circle of folly but never reach the happy shore. Beware of a double heart.

Some seek God with half a heart. They have a little concern and are not altogether indifferent. They somewhat think when they pray, or read, or sing but their thoughts are quite trivial and inconsequential. Superficial in all things, the seed is sown in stony ground, and soon it is withered away because there is no depth of earth. May the Lord save us from this.

Now, you who are seeking Christ, remember that if you would find Him, then you must neither seek Him without heart, nor with a false heart, nor with a double heart, nor with a half heart. But "You shall find Me," says the Lord, "when you shall search for Me with all your heart."

If your hearts are not right with God, then you must take your place with the wicked in Hell. Lost man! What will you do when you go down to eternal Hell?

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

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Jeremiah 29:13 ...  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Acts 17:27 ... That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

Mark 4:16-17 ... And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. ❤

Glittering Unrealities

People are badly cheated in this world. They often imagine that gold, silver, houses, lands, and stocks are the real treasures. So, they toil for these things and gather them into their possession and pile up what they supposed to be wealth. Thus, they live like princes in their fine houses and call themselves rich.

But one day their supposed riches take to themselves wings and fly away like eagles to the skies. Or they may keep their wealth, perhaps, and die in the midst of it, and have a fine funeral. But then they find that they cannot carry a penny of it with them!

"How much did he leave?" was asked about a rich man who had recently died.

"He left all of it!" was the answer.

If men only knew that there are other things far more worth setting their eyes and hearts upon things which will never fly away, they would pass by these glittering unrealities, to lay hold of the true riches!

[J. R. Miller]

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Proverbs 23:5 ... Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Proverbs 8:18-19 ... Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. ❤

Come Now ...

Argue your case in God's court.

Isaiah 43:25-26 ...  I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.  Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Isaiah 1:18 ... Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ❤

Incomparable Book!

The whole of Scripture is but one entire love letter, dispatched from the Lord Christ to His beloved spouse!

Oh! the mysteries, the excellencies, the glories which are in this incomparable book! There are none so useful, none so needful, none so delightful, none so necessary to make you happy and to keep you happy as this!

Ah! the Word of the Lord is a light to guide you, a counselor to counsel you, a comforter to comfort you, a staff to support you, a sword to defend you, a physician to cure you!

The Word is a mine to enrich you, a robe to clothe you, a crown to crown you, bread to strengthen you, wine to cheer you, a honeycomb to feast you, music to delight you, a paradise to entertain you!

Oh! therefore, before all and above all: search the Scripture, study the Scripture, meditate on the Scripture, delight in the Scripture, treasure up the Scripture!

There is no wisdom like Scripture wisdom, no knowledge like Scripture knowledge, no experience like Scripture experience, no comforts like Scripture comforts, no delights like Scripture delights, no convictions like Scripture convictions, no conversion like Scripture conversion!

I exhort you to a speedy, serious, diligent, and constant study of the Scripture. Ah! you do not know how soon your blind minds may be enlightened, your hard hearts may be softened, your proud spirits may be humbled, your sinful natures may be changed, your defiled consciences may be purged, your distempered affections may be regulated, and your poor souls may be saved by searching into the Scriptures, by reading the Scripture, and by pondering upon the Scripture.

Ah! if you do not in good earnest, give yourself up to the reading, to the studying, to the pondering, to the believing, to the practicing, to the applying, and to the living up to the Scripture: Satan will be too hard for you, the world will be too hard for you, your lusts will be too hard for you, temptations will be too hard for you, deceivers will be too hard for you, and in the end you will be miserable!

[Thomas Brooks]

Psalm 119:97 .... O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

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