The Murderer! # 1

The Murderer # 1

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world" (Psalm 19:1-4).

Nature ever has a voice for those who will hearken to her teaching.

The glorious sun, enlightening all with its 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 sin - 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~

(continued with # 2)