The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-06-14
ALL TROUBLES PAST.
The Rainbow Of Promise
Given to Mankind
by God.
A Christian Life Cannot Be
Made Out Of Sun
shine Alone.

er the sermon. The subject OF DIR. Faimagef
discourse was "All Troubles Past,' and the
| text, Revelation ": 8, There was q rainbow
round about the throne" Following is the
sermon:
As. d ter d night OF fearul tempest at sea,
| one ship, more ataunch than another, rides
| on unchanged among the fragments ofspars
| and hulks TINT float about, SO old q
ark, at the close ofthe deluge floats On over the
wreck oil adead world. Looking outofthe win
dow Of the ark, you seesthe. planks OF houses,
and the sheares Of wheat, and the carcasses O
cattle, and the corpses of men,. No towe IS
left to toll the burial; no mourners to orm
in line OF procession; no ground in which to
bury the dead. Sinking IN a line q feet long
you just touch the tops OF the mountains
| GhastIiness and horrorl The ark, instead Of
walking the sea, like a modern ship, in ma
jesty and beauty, losses helplessly; no helm
to guide; no sail to set; no shore to steer for
| Why protract the agony Of the good people
in such a craft, when they might in one dash
of the wave have been put out OF their mis-
cry?
But at yonder spot in the horizon we see
colors gathering in the sky; adjust the oppo-
| site point in the horizon other co'ors are
gathering. / find that they are the two but
tresses of an arched bridge. The yellow, the
red, the orange, the blue, the indigo, the yio-
let are, mingled, and by invisible hands the
whole structure is hunginto the sky, and the
| ark has a triu,nphal arch to sail under. An
| Angel of Light swings his hand across the
sky, and in the seven prismatic coiors he
paints with pencil Of sunbeam the everlast-
ing covenant between God and every living
creature. God lifted up that great arched
bridge, and sat it over His own head in the
hen ven. John saw il, for he says: "There
was q rainbow round about the throne
1 notice that none but the people who were
in the ark saw the rainbow. 1t cast It's
shadow clear down into the water where the
people were buried, and lighted up the dead
faces with O strange radiance, but they could
not sec it. So ,nly those who are at last
found in Christ, the Ark. will see the over
spanning glories of tHM tthrone. Hence,
you had better get into the Ark! Az
YOU call your family out at the close OF the
shower to show them the sign in heaven, so |
want YOU at last to see the grander rainbow
round about the throne. Look therel' says
Noah to his vie, eat that bow in the clouds;
and Shem and Japhet, look! look!-the
green. the yellow, the red, and the orange!"
| should not wonder if some OF your children
in the Good Land should after q while call
out TO you, look, idGhef. looh InoGheI! tHete
is q rainbow round about the throne!" You
had better get into the Ark, with all your
families if you want to see 1t.
/ notice also that the chief glory of God
comes after tho rain. No shower, no rain
how: no trouble. no brightness OF Christian
consolation. Weaver are sometimes, by
reason of their work, dusty and rough in
their apparel; and so it ia the coarse-clad
TEMPEST, whose hand and foot swing the
ahuttle,, that weaves the rainbow. Many
Christians are dull, and stupid, and useless
because they have not had disaster enough
to wake them up. The brightest scarf that
heaven makes is thrown over the shoulders
of the storm. You Gun not make athorough
Christian live out Of sunshine alone. There
are some very dark hues in the ribbon of the
rainbow; you must have in lie the blue as
well as the orange. Mingling all the coiors
Of the former makes q white light; and it
takes al the shades, and sadnesses. and
vicissitudes o. life to make the white lustre of
u pure Christian character.
Your child asks you, Father, whatm makes
the rainbow?' md you say. sit is the sun.
light strikingtllroughth the raindrops." There
fore l wondered how there could be q rain
bow in heaven, since there were no storms
there; but then / conclude that that rainbow
must be formed by the striking OF heavens
sunlight through the falling tears of earthly
sorrow. When We see a man overwhelmed
I'll ' ouol "tlu Alo q ANSo IN blc
property goes, and his friends go, / say,
Now, We shall see the glory of God in this
GOOD man q delivernnce." AZ at Niagara
Falls / saw, one day. 10 rainbows spanning
the AWFUL plunge of the cataract. SO over the
abyss of the Christians trial hover the rich
hued wings of all the promises.
4 notice that the most beautiful things OF
his world are to be preserved in heaven.
When you zee the last color fade out from
the rainbow OF earth, you need not feel sad.
fory o will see the rainbow round about the
throne. That story about the world burn.
ing up has given me many a pang. When |
read that Paris was besieged, / said: Nov
the pictures and statues in the Louvre and
Luxembourg will be destroyed: all those
faces of Rembrandt, and those bold dashes
OF Ru bens, and those enchantnents q.
Raphael on canvas, and those statues Of
CnnoYa." But is it not q more melancholy
thought hat rNin is to come upon this great
glory of the earth, in which the mountains
are the chiseled sculptures, and upon the sky,
in which the '.transfguration" ofsunrise and
sunset is hung with loops and tassels. of fire?
/ was relieved when | found that the pictures
lad been removed from the Louvre and the
Luxembourg, and / am relieved now when I
think that the best parts OF this eurth are
to be removed or pictured in the good land.
The trees must twist in the last fire-the
oaks, and the cedars, and the naples; but in
heaven there will be the trees o fife on the
bank Of the river, and the palm-trees from
which the ~conquerors shall pluck their
branches. The Hudson, the ST. Lawrence
and the Ohio shall boil in the last fame,
but we shall have more than their
beauty in the river OF life from under the
throne. The daisies, and the portulacas,
and the roses of earth will wither in the hot
sirocco of the Judgment, hut John tells OF
the garlands which the gloriied shall wear;
and there must be flowers, or there could be
no garlands.
The rainbow on our sky, which is only the
but then, glory be to Godl ssthere is rain.
bow round about the throne; ] have but
to look up to the radiant arch above the
throne of God to assure myself that the
most glorious things Of earth are to be pre-
served in heaven. Then let the world burn;
oil that is worth saving will be snatched out
OF the FIRE.
/ see the same truth set forth in the 10
foundations OF the wall of heaven. st. John
announcer the IL foundations Of this wall to
be, the first, of jasper-yellow and red; the
second, OF sapphire-a deep blue; the third,
q chn!csdony-a varied beauty; the fourth;
emerald bright green color; the fifth,
sardonyx-a BLUSH white; the sixth, sardius-
red and fiery. the seventh, chsysoIite-
golden-hued; the eighth, beryl-n blnish
green; the ninth, topaz pale green mixed
with yellow; the tenth. chrysoprasus--a
golden blush tint; the eleventh, ;acinth-
fiery rs the sunset; the twelfth, amethyst.
But these precious stones are only the ioun-
dation of the wall Of heayen-the most in.
ferior part Of IL. On the top ofthis founda-
tion there rises a mighty wall of jasper-of
brilliant yellow and gorgeous crimson.
s~Stupendous cataract OF cOlort Throne or
splendor and sublimftvl
AYou Gee that the beautiful cOlors which are
the robes of glory 10 our earth nro To ~ for
&-..--N--~A--.,~l 80 1.s~ S.-AA 20 Ia-.sZ-sERAH ~ EMs