The Murderer # 5

The Murderer # 5

5. The final ruin that overtakes both the sinner and his sin.  Gradually the tree upon which the Matador has fastened withers and dies. Every leaf fades. Its life is gone. Then the insects which prey upon the tree carry on their work for awhile. At length a terrible crash is heard. The Murderer and its victim fall together, involving in a common destruction many of the trees around.

In the same way, the soul of man withers; all better feelings fade away, all possibility of the soul being restored by grace passes by. Then comes the final catastrophe. There comes a fall from which there is no arising: "Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death!" The sinner and his sin both meet their due reward in the terrible wrath of a holy God. it is a final ruin, and it is an abiding one - and ever-living death.

As the insects within the tree still continue their work after it has fallen, so after death is there still "the worm that does not" - the aching of a heart that shall never have peace, the gnawing of a conscience that never can rest, the agony of an immortal spirit forever separated from the only source of joy.

Such is the close of a life of sin; such, unless grace intervenes, is the sure end of the sinner's path. One who might have flourished like a palm tree in the courts of the Lord on earth, and then have been transplanted by God's own hand to bloom forever in the Paradise above - becomes, through sin, a ruin and a wreck! He becomes a monument of the enduring wrath of God. he becomes as fuel for "the fire that never shall be quenched."

Let us inquire:
Where is our hope?
Who shall deliver us from this cruel tyrant?
Who shall free us from the dominion of sin?

Reader, there is a strong Redeemer, a mighty Deliverer - a Saviour who can meet our case. It is One who is stronger than sin; One who for our sake has fought and conquered the great enemy. His name is Jesus. His arm is powerful; His grace all sufficient; in His love He is ready to stoop down to the fallen and the lost; He can set the captive free; He can unloose the strongest fetters: "The Lord loosens the prisoners." It is His appointed office "to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." Many a chain of darkness, has He broken; many an one "tied and bound by the chains of sin," has the pitifulness of His great mercy loosed.

As we could imagine a hand removing the stem and the rings of the Matador, and setting free the tree upon which it was climbing - so does Jesus with the souls whom He saves.

He bursts the chain of ignorance.  When all is dark within; when there is no light to discover sin, no eye to behold the only Redeemer - then Jesus comes. He opens the blind eyes - He removes the scales of prejudice and self-satisfaction. Then does the sinner awake. He sees himself as the chief of sinners; he sees Christ as the Saviour he needs. Oh! I that every darkened mind might receive light from Him! Oh! that every soul yet blinded by sin would cry, "Lord, that I might receive my sight!"

He bursts the chain of guilt which enslaves the conscience. Oh! what a bondage is it to feel the conscience laden with guilt, ceaselessly accusing the sinner of the evil of bygone years. A conscience ill at ease, drives a man further and further from God. It shuts out the possibility of any holy, happy fellowship with Him, or of any cheerful, acceptable service. But Jesus comes. He bursts this chain also. He speaks to the heart: "Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven!" His atoning sacrifice purges the conscience; His precious blood speaks to us of perfect forgiveness. Then the chain is broken. One drop of blood has touched the ring around the tree, and at once it looses its hold. Then is there a blessed rest: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He set our transgressions from us."

He bursts the chain of every evil habit  - of every besetting sin. True it is, each of these is as a mighty fetter which the hand of man cannot unbind. But what man cannot do - Jesus can. "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Be assured  that the Saviour can deliver you from every sin in every shape. He can by His Spirit overcome the sin which for years has been your chief snare. He can purify the heart from every unholy thing. He can raise the soul long debased by cleaving to the world, so that such a one may long for God's grace as the deer panting after the water-brooks.

~George Everard~

(continued with # 6)