The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-05-28

!. follows: Red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, indigo and violet. There never naS
been a rainbow in this world but these
nave been seen in more or less prominence.
In nv message now. the prism Is the cross,
and the light is Gods truth. As 1t strikef
this long prism it breaks up into seven
colors. The seven together give Us tne
rainbow.
is he whose transgression Is forgiven
whose sin is covered"
The word forgiven means taken on.
What a wonderful thought it il! Oh,
what a load of sin we had to carry! How
L did weigh us down! How day. and night
we went crying aloud, saying rOh,
wretched man that am, who shall deliver
me?" Resolution never lifted it . particle.
only seemed to make 1t heav'
ier. Then He came, and stopped down, q
whispered to Us just one sweet WORD,
'Forgiven!" and when we realized it the.
burden was taken of. To receive all OF
this we have but to yield to God. Trying
to make ourselves better only adds to the
cloud and deepens our despair.
The second color is cleansing. Palm 81:
7-'Purge me with hyssop. and l shnll be
clean, wash me, and I shall be whittier than
snow"
The little bunch Of hyssop carries 10
back to the Passover night, when the
lamb was slain and its blood collected. It
was not said that one should take orush,
blood and sprinkle the posts OF the door.
The commonest thing that grew in the
East was hyssop. 1t represents faith. One
had but to step to the door OF the cottage
and stoop down to pluck q bunch OF hys'
SOP. The commonest thing in all this
world is faith. We have faith in each
other, whether we express 1t in this word
or not; and the faith that one has IN his
mother, in his father, in wife or husband,
IL turned toward Jesus Christ would save
his soul. It 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
clean. The blood Of Jesus Christ His
Son c!eanseth US from al sin."
The third color Is justification. Ro
mans 4: o5-"Who was delivered for our
offences. and was raised again for our JUS
ti6cation."
One might be perfectly sure OF his for.
civeness. and know that it meant sins
taken of, and might be confident Of bis
cleansing. but there is the memory OF the
old life OF failure which il ever to him hike
a shackle when he would run to God. JUS
tifcation is sweetcr BY far than anything
we have yet learned. When Christ ross
for our justification He stood before God
as kind of receir. (as John Robertson
has 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 bitter stain, He washed it
white as snow"
But justification is even better to mo
than this, for when one is justified before
God he actually stands a. If he never bad
sinned.
The fourth color is-sins covered BY the
sea. Micah Z: l9-"He will turn again, Dc
will have compassion upon Us; de will SUB.
due our iniquities; 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 50 deep that
they can never be sounded. Our SINS must
have gone As deep.
There Is also another thought Of com
fort; il 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 il with giant hands, takes the
dead body and casts it upon the shore.
But there are depths in the sea 90 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 n-sins removed. Palm
lo3: l2-"As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our trans
gressions from Us.
It has been proved that the distance
from east to west could never be meas
ured. This ia certainly inspiring. But
there Is something better for me than this
in the fifth color, for when I am told that
my sins are as far from me as the east is
from the west ! know that the east and
the west can never be brought togetheri
nor can the saved sinner and his pardoned
sins ever meet again,
The sixth color is Isaiah a: 2-'I have
blottcd out, as a thick cloud, thy transgres.
sions, and, as q cloud. thy sins; return un-
to Ne, for / have redeemed thee.
A man cannot blot out his own SINS:
Some have tried il with their tears, and
have lost their reason: Some have AZ.
tempted it by works Of mercy, and have
given up in despair. But God can easily
90 il. For sins to be blotted out may
mean the same as for mans account to be
blotted out. I may have . bull charged
against me on the books, but il on the op..
posite side is credited sufficient sum OF
money to meet the Indebtedness, it 10
blotted out But the expression must mean
more than this. II means that when ones
sins are blotted out by God they are as u
they never had been. -.
The seventh color seems the climax. OF
ali. Ezekiel So: l6-"Nope OF his sins that
he hath committed shall be mentioned un:
70 him: he hath done that which Is lawful
and right; be 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 judgmers
comes we NAV be obliged to meet them az
again: But this Is not true. Once ana
for all hath He put away sn by the sac.
rifice of Himself. and the sins Of our lives
shall not again be mentioned to US.
Iv.-GOD'S COVENANT.
The bow was Gods covenant then. Now
tbis Word we ma, depend. Notice the
OF times God uses the expression,
IL will" in Exodus 9: 6-8:
"Whereforc, say unto the children OF
Israel I'm the Lord, and will bring you
out from under the burdens OF the Egypt
ians. and / will rid you out OF their bond,
ace, and | will redeem you with stretched
out arm. and with great judgments; and I
will take YOU TO Ne for people, and VII!
be TO Won q God; and yc shall know that 1
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 l did swear
to give it to Abra ham. to Isaac and 20
Jacob; and ! will give You 1t Tor an MERIT
age: ! am the Lord" a.,
He ever waits to fill 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-
lieye God: whatever our feelings may be,
We mus, believe: second. believing God,
we must act as il we believed Him. The
one gives us life. The other gives Us JOY In
life's possession. -