Sermons
A Rainbow
Sun, Sep 25, 2016
Teacher: Tom Blackford Series: Sunday Sermons PM - 2016 Scripture: Genesis 9:8-13
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A Rainbow
Genesis 9:8-13
Intro:
Let me take you to Genesis chapter 9 and read just a few verses beginning at verse 8. Genesis 9:8 - “And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.”
I. There was a radio program on BBC called Desert Island and it is now available on CD. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Program in 1942. The premise being that each week a “guest” on the show was told to think of themselves as being a castaway and to choose eight recordings, a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were cast away on a desert island.
A. The show turned out to be so popular that as of March 4th this year there have been 3068 episodes. The “guest” was typically a well-known person, at least in the UK though there have been a number of Americans such as Stephen King, Whoopi Goldburg, Bob Hope and many other. In recent years the program has been placed on CD, as I mentioned and is also available as a podcast.
B. If you listen to a number of these podcasts it is not very long before you start to imagine what you might take with you if you happened to be shipwrecked and given the privilege of taking things along.
II. This may sound strange since you all are fairly aware I can not carry a tune, but I imagined what I would take if I could take some hymns with me to have with me for the rest of my life. I don’t think that I would have any trouble in choosing those hymns.
A. One of them would be one that, to my knowledge, we never sing here. It would be hymn number 265 in our hymnal, “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go”. For me there is no doubt that this hymn written by George Matheson is one of the most meaningful, the most beautiful, hymns that has ever been written.
B. Before I go any farther let me read the words of this hymn to you.
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O light that follow’st all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
III. It might surprise you to learn that before this hymn could be used by the congregation, it had to pass the scrutiny of a hymnal committee. It was discussed and examined by these notable gentlemen and no doubt they regarded themselves as experts as to what constituted a good hymn, the words and the music. They had to decide whether the hymn was fit to be used by their denomination. This was the Church of Scotland because that was where the hymn was first used.
A. Have a look at the third line in the third verse:
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
B. That is not exactly what George Matheson wrote in 1882. He didn’t write: “I trace the rainbow through the rain”. He wrote: “I climb the rainbow through the rain”. Can you imagine the dilemma that faced this rather staid Scottish Presbyterian hymnal committee with a line like that? Can’t you just see them there, Calvinist that they were over one hundred years ago, rather stern, rather staid, and very, very prim and proper and here they are, these men, discussing the deep spiritual merits of the hymn?
C. They come across a line that says, I climb the rainbow through the rain. Well, they couldn’t have that at all—climbing the rainbow. Surely not. That’s carrying poetic license a bit too far.
1. You might have it in a children’s story, people climbing the rainbow. You know, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. By the way, there could have been some Calvinist that would even question if we have the right to tell our children fairy tales and talk about climbing the rainbow or anything else like that.
2. Let’s allow for a moment that we’re allowed to talk about climbing the rainbow as we talk to children. Can you imagine these staid Presbyterian gentlemen, old gentlemen and prim ladies singing, I climb the rainbow? The mind boggles at the very idea. The very idea is ludicrous, isn’t it?
D. Or so it seems to me. So the hymnal committee said sorry, Mr. Matheson, it just doesn’t pass the scrutiny of the committee. The third line will have to be changed. No doubt they went on to suggest what to them seemed like very valid reasons for making the change. They might have even suggested the line that eventually found itself in the hymn. I trace the rainbow through the rain. I don’t know what George Matheson thought about this whole business because I’m perfectly sure that it’s not recorded anywhere.
E. I imagine though that he was less than happy with the change. He certainly wouldn’t have been enthusiastic about it because a hymn writer or poet never is happy when people change the things he writes. In all probability the only reason why he agreed to the change was that he didn’t see any way in which he could make those people understand just why he wrote what he had written and what it meant to him or why he said I climb the rainbow through the rain.
F. I suspect that today we are better equipped to understand the difference between a symbolic statement and a metaphysical one.
IV. No doubt that the hymnal committee thought that a rainbow was so nebulous, so unsubstantial, so intangible a thing that it didn’t make sense to sing about climbing the rainbow. Nor did they ever come to understand how solid and substantial and real the rainbow was to George Matheson in those days. I’ll tell you one thing that I am sure of. I’m sure that it would never have occurred to Matheson, left to himself, to write I trace the rainbow.
A. I can think of two good reasons why not. First of all, the line really doesn’t say anything worth saying. “I trace the rainbow through the rain”. What is special, what is the meaning, what is the significance of a line like that? What would you mean when you sing it? I won’t go so far to say that its nonsense, but I must admit that it doesn’t say anything to me. I trace the rainbow through the rain.
B. Here you are on a lovely summer day sitting at home in your living room and suddenly a cloud comes over the face of the sun and before you know it the rain begins to fall down and the storm is on you, then the sun shines through. You go the window, “Oh, there’s a rainbow.” You look at it and you come away saying you traced the rainbow, and that’s it. “Why?” You don’t spend time looking at the rainbow for the simple reason that you’ve quite likely seen hundreds of them. In no time at all the rainbow is dismissed from your mind because it doesn’t mean anything to you.
C. I say to you that it would never have occurred to George Matheson to put a line as trite and as insignificant as that into this hymn.
V. There’s another reason why George Matheson didn’t write this. He couldn’t see a rainbow. He couldn’t see anything else for that matter because George Matheson was a blind man when he wrote this hymn. He was blind when he wrote this line: I climb the rainbow through the rain.
A. At this time in his life George Matheson wasn’t looking at a rainbow through the living room window, from the warmth and coziness of a sitting room. He was out in the storm. He was enduring one of the hardest periods in his whole life and he was there with the rain mingling with the tears that rolled down his face.
B. As a boy Matheson had had problems with his eyesight. He determined at an early age to devote his ministry to the Church of Scotland. He had just come to the end of years of training and study. Years of hard work were behind him. Even then, with defective eyesight, he had to depend on his two sisters and friends at the university.
C. But he finished his course, and now he was about to embark on what he believed was his life’s ministry, the ministry that he had looked forward to for so long. Then double tragedy struck him. Suddenly he became completely blind. Can we understand what a setback this was? How could he possibly continue the ministry? How could he possibly do the work of the ministry? How could he possibly study to preach and to teach? It almost seemed that his life lay at his feet in pieces. His plan was destroyed.
D. Now if what I understand is right, to make matters worse, the girl to whom he had been engaged decided she couldn’t spend the rest of her life with a blind invalid and she broke off the engagement.
VI. It must have seemed to Matheson that he was a blind, useless, unwanted thing. As the storm beat about him and as he struggled to face what had happened to him, he remembered the word of God and what God said in Genesis: I set my bow in the cloud. He knew that although he couldn’t see it, the bow was there because there’s a rainbow behind every storm.
A. It was that assurance that (although he could never trace the rainbow) he knew that it was there. The one thing on which he could always depend—the faithfulness of God—and the promises of God which are absolutely sure. In his blindness this man saw himself reaching out and grasping the rainbow, the promises of God, and holding onto them and climbing the rainbow through the rain.
B. You see to him, that rainbow wasn’t the flimsy, intangible thing that it was to the hymnal committee. To him it was real. It was the only real thing he had to cling onto, the fact that God had promised never to desert him. The rainbow was there to be reached and touched and grasped and climbed… I climb the rainbow through the rain and feel the promise is not vain. That morn shall tearless be…
C. It was at that time, knowing the promises of God are sure, that helped him to retain his faith and perhaps even to retain his sanity.
VII. We all know the lovely story of the rainbow there in Genesis chapter 9. It’s there that we see the emblem of the faithfulness of God given to Noah after the flood. Which of those two lines would you choose? I trace the rainbow or I climb the rainbow because you know, they represent two very different ways of looking at the promises of God.
A. There are some people that simply trace the rainbow. You know, they look at it up there in the sky. They’re impressed by the beauty, transient beauty, because that is what it seems to be. Then they turn away and forget all about the rainbow, it’s a thing of the moment. There are people that treat the promises of God in very much the same way. Oh yes, they read about them in the scripture. They may be able to quote them by heart. You know, my God shall supply all your needs. I will never leave thee or forsake thee. All things work (oh, we love this one) all things work together for good to those who love God. They know it all. They even say they believe the promises, but they never actually climb them. They never grasp them. They never lean on them. They never trust them as this man did in his blindness. To them the promises of God are poetic and paint a pretty picture, but they don’t put their trust in them.
B. Then there are other happy souls that have the faith of George Matheson, the faith that climbs rainbows. The faith that trusts what it cannot see. There are brothers and sisters who know what it is to be out there in the storm with the rain beating in their face. They know the difficulties of life and they know that the promises of God are as real as God Himself and they are as trustworthy as God Himself. They believe that the promises there in the word of God are to be grasped and gripped and climbed in a time of storms.
VIII. Do we realize that the quality of our Christian life right now might be depending upon which of these two attitudes we have adopted toward the precious promises of God? Or as Peter calls them in II Peter 1:4 - exceeding great and precious promises.
A. It’s the rainbow of God. If we view the promises of God as only to be admired and discussed and preached about and treated like beautiful butterflies with flimsy wings that break the moment you touch them, then they worthless to us.
B. But if we realize that the promises are real, and as Matheson’s hymn says, to be climbed, I think we will find ourselves outlasting the storm and coming out in the sunshine on the other side.
IX. Are you facing the storm? Then see the rainbow, God’s promises—the promise of unfailing care, and climb the rainbow. As I said Matheson would have told you that it saved him from despair when calamity struck. This faith in the sure promises of God. II Peter 1:4 – “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
A. Think about the promises of which we are reminded by the rainbow. Going back to the original setting, Genesis 9, you’ll see first of all, the rainbow reminded Noah and his people of the physical, the material promises of God. God’s covenant first of all established that God would never again destroy mankind by a flood.
B. To this there is added the further promise that while the earth remains, the seed time and harvest, cold and heat, day and night shall not cease. I realize that that may be a promise of God we never spend much time thinking about. We take it very much for granted that there’s going to be day and night, that there’s going to be changing seasons.
1. A farmer does more than trace the promise, he climbs it. He acts upon it because the farmer knows that there’s going to be a time to sow the seed and there’s going to be a time to reap the harvest. He goes out and prepares his ground. He sows his seed and he waits for the harvest because he believes the promises of God.
2. Don’t we sometimes forget that our physical and material lives depend upon God’s faithfulness to keep His promises? The changing seasons, the fertility of the land itself, the sureness of light and heat and moisture, the movements of the planets to bringing spring, summer, autumn, winter—these are the promises of God. We depend upon them, and we’re reminded of them when we see that rainbow.
X. There’s something else too. Let’s go on to the New Testament for just a minute. Further promises concerning material things are brought to our attention by the Lord Jesus Himself starting at Matthew 6:25 – “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
A. Is that just a collection of beautiful words? Like a rainbow? Does it mean nothing? Or is it the statement of eternal unfading, unfailing, abiding promise? Is it a rainbow to be traced or to be a rainbow to be climbed? Is God true?
B. Read what Paul says in Philippians 4:19 – “… my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This verse has to do with material things. You read it and you’ll satisfy yourself in this life. The Philippians have had, as Paul said, once and again sent to his necessity. He turns to them and says to them, my God will supply all you need, every need of yours.
XI. I wish I had the time this evening to dwell on the meaning of that word, supply, my God shall supply, because the Greek word plā-ro'-ō, , doesn’t mean that God will give you bread and water. This word for supply is the word used to describe provision made by a rich man for his guest from the table weighed down with the evidence of his benevolence and bounty, his rich abundant provision. My God shall provide richly and abundantly for every need of yours, Paul says.
A. I want you to think about is this: Is that a text to be embroidered on linen and framed and hung on a wall? Or is it a text to be enshrined in your heart and lived by? Is it a rainbow to be traced or a rainbow to be climbed?
B. Let’s thank God that His promises are sure. His material promises are ours for the taking. Jesus says that if you being evil, less than good, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him. That’s asking, that’s the climbing of the rainbow.
XII. There are spiritual promises too. The scriptures are full of them as you very well know. They’re to be taken and they’re to be used. Take this promise which I think is especially rich for a Christian when they feel lonely or alone or deserted, Hebrews 13:5-6 – “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”… Notice the basis of the promise. The writer says; Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have (and that’s the hard bit); for he has said, “I will never fail you nor forsake you.” Hence we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
A. You see how this writer takes the promise of God and climbs it? He first of all takes the promise of God, God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you and this man believes that. He says then with confidence the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
B. There’s not only a ring of confidence in the words, he throws out a challenge. He says who is there that can dare to harm me? What CAN man do to me, because the Lord is my helper?
Conclusion:
I could probably take more time and bring a lot more promises from the Word of God to your attention this evening, but I don’t intend to do that. I will make a suggestion, you might like to try, you might like to go home (It’ll prove a blessing to you, if you do.) go home and remember what I have been trying to say this evening about climbing the rainbow instead of just tracing it. Remember that the promises of God are there to be grasped, not just to be admired, and then take a piece of paper and from memory, without going to your Bible, without looking at the text, from memory sit down and write all the promises of God you can call to mind.
All the promises of God which you ever heard, the promises you’ve heard preached about or discussed or sung about, put them down on that piece of paper. Then look at what you’ve written. Never mind if the quotations are not exact, not word perfect. It’s the meaning. It’s the heart of the promise that matters. It’s the heart of the promise that interests me anyway. Look at the promises that you’ve collected. Look at your own personal collection of the promises of God to you… Then ask yourself, how many of them are real to you? How many of them do you honestly believe and trust and more important, how many do you live by?
Stop tracing rainbows and start climbing them. There’s no other way to treat a promise of God, but to make it your own.
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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.
Reference Sermon from Frank Worgan
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