The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-05-16

RAINBOW.
First, forgiveness. Psalm p; l.-".BlesseC
- he whose transgreSsion Is forgiven
whose sin is covered
The word forgiven means taken off
What wonderful thought i; Isl Oh
what a load of sin we had 20 carry How
IL did weigh US down, How day and night
We went crying aloud saying. oh
wretehed man that l am, who shall deliver
mes" Resolution never lifted II particle
Reformation only seemed 10 make IL heav
ier Then He came, and stopped down, oI
whispered 20 us Just one sweet word
Forgiven" and when we realized il the
burden was taken off. To receive all o
this we have but 10 yield 20 God. Tryins
to make ourselves better only adds 20 the
cloud and deepens our despair.
The second color is cleansing. Psalm 81:
Purge me with hyssop, and | shall b,
clean; wash me- and l shall be winter thar
snow"
The little bunch of hyssop carries u.
back 10 the Passover night. when the
lamb was slain and its blood collected. II
was not said that one should take brush
but a bunch OF hyssop, and dip Il In the
blood and sprinkle the posts of the door
The commonest thing that grew IN tho
East was hyssop. IL represents faith. One
had but 20 step 10 the door OF the cottage
and stoop down TO pluck bunch OF hys
world is faith. We have faith in each
other. whether we express il in this word
or not; and the faith that one has in hi:
mother in his father, in wife or husband
II turned toward Jesus Christ would save
his soul. II is one thing To be forgiven, but
the color deepens. and the truth sweeten.
when we know that because of the shed
blood OF Jesus Christ we may be mad,
clean The blood of Jesus Christ Hi.
Son alaaneath ma trnUN all "
The third color is justification. Ro
mans 4: 25-"Who was delivered for our
offences, and was raised again for our JUS
tihcation."
One might be perfectly sure of his for
giveness. and know that 1t meant sin:
taken off, and might be confident of hi:
cleansing. hut there is the memory OF the
old life Of failure which il ever 10 him like
a shaclle when he would run 20 God. Jus
tifcation is swecter by far than anything
we have yet learned When Christ rose
for our justification He stood before God
as a kind of receipt (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 owe.
Sin had left a bitter stain, He washed II
white as snow
But justification IL even better 10 me
than this, for when one Is justified before
God he actually stands as II he never had
sinned.
The fourth color is-sins covered by the
sea. Micah Z: l9-"iie will turn again, He
will have compassion upon us; He will sub
due our inlquities and Thou wilt cast all
their sins into the depths of the sea"
It 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 IL 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 fury
the storm, as If with giant hands, takes the
dead body and casts IL upon the shore
But 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 in the sea that they will never be
cast up against us again. The color deep
ems and the truth grows sweeter still.
The fifth color Is-slns removed. Psalm
l03: Pas far as the east is from the
west, so far hath He removed our trans
gressions from us"
IL has been proved that the distance
from east to west could never be meas
ured. This is certainly inspiring. But
| there IL something better for me than this
| in the fifth color, for when ! am told that
DIV hllh uIt az ldi llbll llt dH Ah' 'hHb ~
| from the west | know that the east and
| the west can never be brought together
| nor can the saved sinner and his pardoned
Fsins ever meet again.
The sixth color IL Isaiah a. 22-'I have
blottcd out, as a thick cloud, thy transgres
sions and, as a cloud, thy sins; return un
TO Me, for | have redeemed thee"
& A man cannot blot out his own sins
Some have tried il with their tears, and
hutta lnst thatr Snfna haya NJ
tempted it by works of mercy, and have
given up in despair But God can easily
do it. For sins 90 be blotted out may
/ mean the same as for mans account 10 be
blotted out. | may have n bill charged
| against me on the books, but If on the op
poste side Is credited a sufficient sum oi
money to meet the Indebtedness, II "a
blotted out But the expression must mean
more than this. II means that when one
sins are blotted out by God they are as II
they never had been.
The seventh color seems the climax oi
all. Ezekiel 33: l6-"None OF his sins that
he hath committed shall be mentioned un.
10 him; he hath done that which is lawful
and right; he shall surely live"
We have an idea that, although our sins
have been forgiven and we may have been
justified, when the great day Of judgment
comes we NAV be obliged 10 meet them all
again. But this - not true. Once and
for all hath He put away sin by the sac
riice Of Himself, and the sins OF our lives
shall not again be mentioned 10 us.
WOODS COVENANT.
The bow was Gods covenant then. Now
Gods covenant Il His Word, and upon
this Word we may depend Notice the
number Of times God uses the expression,
IL will" in Exodus g. G-S:
Wherefore, say unto the children OF
Israel I am the Lord, and | will bring you
out from under the burdens OF the Egypt
ians, and will rid you out Of their bond.
age, and | will redeem you with a stretched
out arm, and with great judgments; and j
will take you 10 Me for people, and / will
be 20 you n God; and ye shall know that ]
am the Lord your God, which brinGeth
you out from under the burdens Of the
Egyptians. And will bring you in unto
the land, concerning the which / did swear
% give II 20 Abraham, 20 Isaac and 70
Jacob; and will give you 1t for an berit-
age. I am the Lord
He ever waits 20 fiL the covenant which
He has made with Christ concerning US.
II we would have the Joy Of salvation, we
need but two things; first, we must be-
heve God whatever our feelings may be,
we must believe; second, believing God,
We must act a. II we believed Him. The
-. ,,;,,as - Ifo Tho othpr giyea ua ioy in