The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1902-05-15
THE CLOUD GOD CAST
HIS BOW.


sun must be shining: we have this coadl-
ton met in the fact that God is light. and
in Him there = no darkness at ali. inlrd,
the rain must he falling. We nave this i'll
Isaiah 80: 10. ll-'Fc: "a the rain comcth
down. and the snow from heaven, aud re-
turneth not thither. but wajercth the
earth. and maketh it bring forth and bud,
that it may 81 seed to the sower. and
bread to the eater: 50 shall Ny Word be
that goeth forth out OF My mouth; II shall
not return unto Ne void, hut 1t shall ac-
compl;sh that which Please. and Il shai!
prosper in the thing whereto J sent Ii.
Or, we might pu: it-frSt. in order that
We may be saved, we must acknowledge
ourselves to be sinners. This is the cloud.
Second. we must have some conception OF
Gods hatred OF sin. This is the light.
Third. we must be persuaded that He
loved us and gave Himself for Us. This Is
the rain. With these conditions met. the
bow of promise spans the cloud OF sinful
life.
III.-THE SEVEN COLORS.
II should hold prism in my hand ard
the light of day should touch 1t, there
would be refracted at once seven ce.orS.
as follows: Red. orange yellow, green,
blue. INDIGO and violet. There never has
been a rainbow in this world but these
have been seen in more or less prominence.
In my message now. the prism! IS the cross.
and tie light is Gods truth. As it strikes
this long prism 1t breaks up into seven
co!ors The seven together give us the
rainbow
First, forgiveness. Psa'm 50: l.-"BIessed
is he whose tTansgress!on Is forgiven,
whose sin is covered
The word forgiven means taken off.
What a wonderful thought it IS On,
what load of sin we had to carry. How
j. did weigh us down! How day and ni@ht
we went crying aload, saying, on.
wretched man that | am. who shall denver
me-" Resolution never !iited il particle.
Reformation only seemed to make it hear
icr. Then lie came and stopped down, or
whispered 20 Us Just one sweet word.
"Forg.ven." and when we realized 1t the
burden was taken off. To receive all OF
this We have hut to We'd TO God. Trying
to make ourselves better only adds to the
c,oud and deepcns our despair.
TIE second color is cleansing. Psalm 81:
7-'purce me with hvSson. and | shall he
clean: wash me, and l shall De white: than
snow
The little bunch Of hyssop carries us
back TO the Passover night, when the
lamb was slain and it's blood collected. 1t
was not said that ore should take brush,
but bunch of hyssop, and dip It in the
blood and sprinkle the posts of the door.
The commonest thing that grew IN the
East was hyssoD. 1t represents faith. One
had but to step to the door of the cottage
and stoop down to pluck bunch OF hys-
SOD. The commonest thing in all this
world is faith We have faith in each
other. whether we express it in this word
or not; and the faith that one has in his
mother, in his father, in wife or husband,
u turned toward Jesus Christ would save
his soul. 1t is one thing to be forgiven. but
the color deepens. and the truth sweetens
when we know that because of the shed
blood of Jesus Christ we may be made
c,ean THE blood of Jesus Christ His
Son ciean.eth us from all sin"
The third co'or Is justification: no
mans 4: 25-"Who was delivered for our
offences, and was raised again for our JUS
tiication.'
One might be perfectly sure of his for
civeness. and know that it meant sins
taken off. and might be confident of his
cleansing. but there is the memory OF the
old life of failure which is ever to him like
il snackie when he would run to God. JUS
tiication is sweeter by far than anything
we have yet learned. When Christ rose
COR our justification He stood before God
as a kind OF receiy.t (as John Robertson
mas saidl. and when God looks upon that
receipt He knows the bill is paid.
Jesus paid it all. All to Him l owe.
Sin had left bitter stain, He washed it
white as snow.
But justification is even better to me
than this, for when one is justified before
God he actually stands as il lie never had
Sinned.
The fourth color ls-sins covered by the
sea. Micah 7: l9-"He will turn again, He
will have compass sion upon us; He will sub.
due our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all
their sins into the depths OF the sea"
1t is very comforting to know that there
are some depths in the ocean so deep that
they can never be sounded. Our sins must
have gone as deep.
There is also another thought OF com.
fort; if body is cast into the ocean where
the waters are not very deep, when the
storms come and the ocean Is IN Jury,
the storm, as if with giant hands, takes the
dead body and casts IL upon the Shore.
Hut there are depths in the sea so great
that no STORM that has ever yet swept across
the face OF the deep has stirred the waters.
Thanks be unto God. our sins may be sunk
so deep N the sea that they Will never be
cast up against us again. The coo; Ceep-
chs and the truth grows sweeter stli.
The fifth co.or lS-sinS removed: 80, IN
lo3: l2-".As FAR as the cas- Is rom the
west. so far hath He removed our trans-
@re>Sions from lis.
We have an idea that. although our sins
have been forgiven and we may have oeen
justified, when the great day OF judgment
comes we NAV be obliged to meet them all
again. But this Is not true. Once and
for all hath He put away sin By tnc sac
rif;ce of Himself. and the sins ci our lives
shall rot again be mentioned TO IL.