DECEMBER 2008

Theme: Theme: White As Snow

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

 though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18).

Sins Washed White ~ Earl Singleton

Are you burdened with the cares of life and weight of sin so much that your mind has locked the Lord out of your life? Does either of these situations fit you?

·   I’m just too bad and have these bad thoughts and this problem nobody knows about but me.

·   Problems of life have bothered me a long time—in my sleep.

·   I’m even bothered when I go to the church meeting.

·   My turmoil turns over and over in me.

·   There is no evidence that I’m a child of God. 

·   I have doubts as to whether the Bible is the word of God.

·   I even question whether there is a God. I don’t know.

·   I’m about ready to give up and go on to where God would send a sinner like me.

Don’t give up, little child of God. God is greater in goodness than we are in badness. The fool in your heart is speaking; the same heart of which Jeremiah spoke. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:9). I’m afraid that some of these feelings continue to exist in the child of the Lord while we live. Maybe some are not bothered as much as others, but watch out when you brag about how good you are—having no problems, no sin. Here’s what the Bible says about that? “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn. 1:8). “Though your sins be as scarlet…[You say, “How bad must our sin be to be scarlet? The answer is: “Obvious.”] Now, here is the answer which should provide relief: “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Here’s a song for your heart:

Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.

Elvina M. Hall, 1865

“Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow” is the part that fits my text. Did He really do that? That’s the conversation; the reason between the Lord and His little erring child when He tells us “Come now, and let us reason together.” The reason has turned around to something other than what you thought it would be. The Lord surprised you with something better. You know what I believe? By clearly seeing what I’m talking about, nobody would ever need to say to you:

·        thou shalt not kill,

·        thou shalt not steal and

·        thou shalt not bear false witness.

In our hearts if we realize God is wonderful God, we’d have more power to live a Christian life rather than needing laws, rules and regulations to go by. Though weak and feeble as I am. I feel blessed to talk about it.  We lose sight of Who and What our Lord is but know it’s impossible for finite creatures like us to realize His greatness. Even so in His eternal purpose long before the world began, God gave us grace to reason with Him. Here I express in my way God’s reasoning with us:

I know I am greater than you, but you are mine; I’ve chosen you in Christ before the foundation of the world. I know you and want you to know Me. I’d like for you as my child to communicate with Me—reason with Me. I’d like to feel your touch.

And, He did just that! 

Sometimes we human beings like to wrap ourselves in the negative, worldly things; even imagine that God is bad. God is not bad! He is good but He is severe. “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off” (Rom. 11:22). Do you know we are less prone to look at the goodness of God than His severity, His awfulness, His terribleness, His wrath, His hate than to look at all those things that are good about Him? It was His pleasure to make us so that He can show us His goodness. Assembling in worship service is one of the ways of His talking with us. “Come now, and let us reason together…[Come and talk with Me]...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”  How did He do that? He did that not without bringing down the wonderful, glorious, precious person of Jesus Christ. God, the infinite God, condescended—came down here to where we are. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He became flesh and dwelt among us, and, as that Person says: “Come now, and let us reason together.” We can talk with Jesus, the same as talking with God. Jesus depicts this very attribute. He continues to put this very wonderful characteristic of God into living action as the Word made flesh, and He is known to be the best “fellow” ever to live. I say “fellow” because He is one of us in our humanity. Sometimes we sing:

And He walks with me, And He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own.

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3). I have given all that was required to take your guilt away whereby your scarlet sins were washed white as snow and thereby release God “to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

Adapted from a sermon preached to Faith Church on 9-03-2000

Whiter Than Snow  ~ H. S. Perkins

Blessed be the fountain of blood to a world of sinners revealed;
Blessed be the dear Son of God; only by His stripes are we healed.

Though I’ve wandered far from His fold bringing to my heart pain and woe
Wash me in the blood of the Lamb, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Chorus:

Whiter than the snow, Whiter than the snow
Wash me in the blood of the Lamb and I shall be whiter than snow.

Thorny was the crown that He wore and the cross His body o’ercame:
Grievous were the sorrows He bore, but He suffered thus not in vain.

May I to that fountain be led made to cleanse my sins here below;
Wash me in the blood that He shed, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Father, I have wandered from Thee often has my heart gone astray;
Crimson do my sins seem to me: water cannot wash them away.

Jesus, to that fountain of Thine leaning on Thy promise I go
Cleanse me by Thy washing divine, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Public Domain

Purity: White as Snow~ Leonard Davis

God blesses His people with many abundant mercies. But without excuse we let many of these blessings go unnoticed or unacknowledged. We sing hymns to honor and glorify the Almighty and gracious God—the Master of our lives and as well as our great Redeemer. We are accepted in His love and see and know Him as the powerful Creator—our Maker, our Defender and our best Friend. We repeat His name as the sweetest name on earth, and it yields sunshine to a dark world. We beckon each other to come and worship together in the bonds of love fellowshipping in Christian spirit and the joy that comes with it. Seldom do we consider how God works His wonders among men. He displays His never-failing skill each and every hour we live amidst the clouds of sorrow and woe. Oh, what joy the light of day brings as we walk in the Spirit of the Lord and view His handiwork.

Seasons come bringing with them change which we not only see but also experience. God’s creation displays His work to our wonder and amazement such as the colors of autumn that we have just experienced. These visible wonders are a testament to all mankind. Then, as time moves on the natural beauty fades away bringing sadness of what use to be but no longer exists. The cycle we observe such as the fallen leaves remind us of the penalty of sin, which is death. Our life will soon fail fading away to just a lingering memory. Yet, God sends us little mementos of this experience here in life, if we will just take notice. Many don’t like wintertime because everything seems bland and dead—a gloomy season they want to avoid.

It’s sad, for God is speaking to us in His own way through His very creation. Just watching the snow falling this past week brought a change to the picture of those bland, gloomy things to life. The snow made the trees, the ground and all things surrounding appear as though now wearing a different robe—one of brightness, and the stillness of its falling, brought joy. God was dressing His creation for us to behold beauty in things refreshingly changed even though once appearing as dead. The snow brought a revived appearance again, even if it was but for a fleeting moment. It scattered the darkness so things seemed to come alive with light and beauty.

It was the wonder of the hour, spreading joy in a way much as how love covers and triumphs over all. The whiteness of snow denotes purity in the handiwork of God signifying the purity of the blood of His Son over the stain of sin—an expression of extended mercy that comes from the ever-flowing fountain of the redeeming love of our Lord. In the words of Isaiah 1:18 God spoke to us,  “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

First, God says, “Come now,” meaning we must get with Him to behold, looking and listening, to know from whence our blessing come. Many people walk through this world never seeing the beauty of God, because they are not looking at the road ahead that they are traveling. They travel the broad road of the world, instead of the one that requires walking in faith being led by wisdom given of Spirit of God.

The Lord beckons us to “reason together” with Him and not try to carry our burdens by ourselves. When we approach His throne, we see the wisdom of God thru His work as a sweet peace and a heavenly delight that comes over us. But, by refusing to pay attention and trying to carry our burden alone, we become cast down in spirit and strength. Just like “the gloom of winter” looks cast down and destroyed, we soon see it revived with life abounding once again. We, too, become cast down but are not destroyed as long as we look to God. God says that even “though your sins be as scarlet” [and we don’t want to acknowledge our sins] there is hope. God gave us a glimpse in the falling snow—so silent, so graceful, so beautiful, covering everything—of a purifying robe. To me this glimpse expresses the purifying effect of the Lord’s love and sacrifice for each of His children. What is there in man even in the entire world that can bring the dirty, grimy and ungodly sins of man to naught other than the blood of Jesus Christ?

With our inability to neither escape sin nor seek righteousness by ourselves, God said, “let us reason” because the source and power to remove sin must come from something other than ourselves. (Even the colors, red and scarlet result in stains that are rather permanent and noticeable.) They depict the impossibility of removal of man’s sins within himself but require a greater power. God was able and in fact did remove the scarlet stain of sins to make them be “white as snow.” God even went one step further and said, “though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool,” the whiteness of a lamb’s fleece. Even when to man it seems impossible, with God all things are possible.

King David in Psalm 51:7 wrote, “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be white as snow.” Hyssop is a plant having blue and reddish flowers with a fragrant aroma used in Jewish purification rituals. I believe David may be saying, though I am cleansed with hyssop, its fragrance can but cover up for just a moment the stench of my sins, but the blood of Christ washed with a through cleansing throughout. Making one “whiter than snow” is the sign of the purifying power of the blood of Jesus. Just as snow signified purity in biblical times, it still depicts purity only God can provide to His people here in this world. Just as God’s glory outshines the brilliance of the sun, the purity of the blood of the Lamb is as the whiteness of the snow. This is why God can look upon His children and see them pure in Jesus Christ, not just covered but removed. His blood  washed us “whiter than snow”  making us priests and kings in the eyes of God because our High Priest sacrificed Himself shedding His blood to cleanse all His Father gave Him. Let us come and reason with God, acknowledging that our hope lies in the blood of the Lamb, as the only power that washed us “whiter than snow.”

Whiter than snow, the beautiful snow, wonderful story, can it be so?

Tell me again as onward I go, Jesus has washed me whiter than snow.

                                                                                                            Elder J. Harvey Daily

If we His little lambs are called by His name, we must humble ourselves, seek His face, turn from the wicked ways of this world and pray to His honor and glory thanking Him for the forgiveness of sins whereby we are washed “white as snow.” Amen and Amen.

Excerpts from:

Exceedingly Great and Precious Promises ~ Joseph Alleine (1634-1668)

Attend, O My children, unto the blessings of your Father; hear and know the glorious immunities and the royal prerogatives that I here confirm upon you.

Here I seal to you your pardons. Though your sins are as many as the sands and as mighty as the mountains, I will drown them in the deeps of My bottomless mercies (Mic. 7:19). I will be merciful to your unrighteousness. I will multiply your pardon (Heb. 8:12; Isa. 55:7); where your sins have abounded, My grace shall super abound; “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Is. 1:18). Behold, I declare Myself satisfied and pronounce you absolved (Job 33:24). The price is paid, your debts are cleared, your bonds are canceled (Is. 43:25; Col. 2:13-14).

Whatever the law, conscience or the accuser has to charge upon you, I here exonerate and discharge you. I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My name's sake. Who shall lay anything to your charge when I acquit you? Who shall impeach or implead you when I proclaim you guiltless (Rom. 8:33-34)? Sons, daughters, be of good cheer; “your sins are forgiven you” (1 Jn. 2:12; Mk. 2:9). I will sprinkle your consciences and put the voice of peace into your mouths (Ez. 36:25; Heb. 9:14; 10:22 Is. 27:4-5; 57:19), and they shall be your registers in which I will record your pardon, and the voice of guilt, wrath and terror shall cease.

Here I sign your release from the house of bondage (Rom. 6:17-18; 1 Cor. 7:22). Come forth, you captives; come forth, hope; for “I have found a ransom” (Job 33:24). I “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isa. 61:1; 42:7). Behold, I have broken your bonds, shaken the foundations of your prisons, and opened the iron gates (Lk. 4:18). “[B]y the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth the prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water” (Zec. 9:11). Arise, O redeemed of the Lord; put off the raiment of your captivities, arise and come away.

The dark and noisome prison of sin shall no longer detain you (Jn. 8:34-36). I will loosen your fetters and knock off your bolts. “Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Rom. 6:14). I will heal your backslidings, I will subdue your iniquities (Jer. 3:12; Mic. 7:19), I will “sanctify you wholly” (1 Thes. 5:23-24), and “will put my fear in your (their) hearts so that you (they) shall not depart from me” (Jer. 32:40). Though your corruptions are strong and many, yet the aids of My Spirit, the cleansing virtue of My Word, and the medicine of My corrections shall so work together with your prayers and endeavors that they shall not finally prevail against you, but shall surely fall before you (Eph. 5:26; Isa. 27:9).

From the strong and stinking jail of the grave I deliver you. “O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hos. 13:14). My beloved shall not ever see corruption (Psa. 16:10). I will change your rottenness into glory, and make your dust arise and praise Me (Dan. 12:2-3; Isa. 26:19). What (the body) “is sown in corruption; it is raise in incorruption... it is sown in weakness; it is raise in power; It is sown a natural body, I will raise a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44). This very flesh of yours, this corruptible flesh, shall put on incorruption; and this mortal flesh shall put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53). “Death shall be swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54) and “mortality...of life” (2 Cor. 5:4).

The cross shall be taken off your backs, and you shall come out of your great tribulations and wash your robes, “and make them white in the blood of the Lamb;” and you shall be “before the throne of God, and serve him night and day in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among you (them),” and you “(They) shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on you (them), nor any heat” (Rev. 7:14-16).

The load shall be taken from your consciences. Sins and doubts shall no more defile or distress you (Rev. 21:27). I will make an end of sin and will knock off the fetters of your corruptions. And then you shall be a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish.

Thus shall you be brought to the King all glorious in raiment of needlework and clothing of gold; “with gladness and rejoicing shall you (they) be brought: and (they shall) enter into the King's palace” (Ps. 45:9, 13-15); so shall the beloved of the Lord dwell safely by Him, and you shall stand continually before Him, beholding the beauty of the Lord and hearing His wisdom (1 Cor. 13:12). Then will I open in you an everlasting spring of joy, and you shall break forth into singing. You shall never cease nor “rest not day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy” (Ps. 16:11; Rev. 4:8).

Thus shall the grand enemy expire with your breath, and the body of death be put off with your dying body. The day of your death shall be the birthday of your glories (Phil. 1:23; Lk. 23:43).

“Have faith in God” (Mk. 11:22). Wait but a little, and sorrow shall cease and sin be no more. And then a little longer and death shall be no more (Rev. 20:14 and 21:4). Your last enemy shall be destroyed and your victory completed. Yet a little while and He who “shall come will come,” (Heb. 10:37) and “shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:4). “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11); and, when He comes, He will receive you to Himself, that where He is there you may be also (Jn. 14:3). “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mat. 24:30) and “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him” (Rev. 1:7); but you shall “lift up your heads because the day of [for] your redemption drawth nigh” (Lk. 21:28). Then He shall sound His trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16), and make you “hear his voice” in your dust (Jn. 5:28), and “shall send his mighty angels to gather you from the four winds...of heaven” (Mat. 24:31), who shall carry you in the triumphant chariot “in the clouds, to meet the Lord” (1 Thes. 4:17). And you shall be prepared for Him, and presented to Him, “as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2). “And as you [we] have borne the image of the earthly,  you [we all also] shall bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:49), and you shall be fully conformed both in body and spirit to your glorious Head (Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:29). Then shall He confess you before His angels (Rev. 3:5), and you shall receive your open absolution before all flesh, and be owned, approved, and applauded in the public audience of the general assembly (Mt. 10:32; 25:32-34). And you shall be, with all royal solemnities, espoused unto the King of glory, in the presence of all His shining courtiers (Rev. 19:7-8; 2 Cor. 4:14), to the envy, gnashing, and terror of your adversaries (Lk. 13:28).

So shall your Lord with His own hand crown you (Rev. 2:10), and set you on thrones (Rev. 3:21; Mt. 19:28); and you shall judge man [the world] and angels (1 Cor. 6:2-3), and you shall have “power over the nations” (Rev. 2:26-27), and you shall set your feet upon the necks of your enemies (Ps. 18:40)….

The glorious choir of My holy angels, the goodly fellowship of My blessed prophets, the happy society of triumphant apostles, the royal hosts of victorious martyrs and these shall be your companions forever (Mt. 24:31; Heb. 11:1-40). And you shall come in “white robes, with palms in your [their] hands,” everyone having the harps of God and golden vials full of odors, and shall cast your crowns before Me, and strike in with the multitude of the heavenly hosts, glorifying God and saying, “Alleluia: For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth (Rev. 5:8; 7:9-12 and 19:5-6). “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Rev. 5:13).

From: The Gospel in a Map, http://www.gracegems.org

They Shall Be White As Snow ~ Mrs. Macena Berry

O dear Lord, my sins are crimson; my heart’s sins Thou dost know!

Oh may I claim Thy precious promise: “They shall be as white as snow!”

Yes, dear Lord, my sins are many! My poor lame feet wander so!

But I dare hope in Thy mercy,—Thou hast made them white as snow!

O my soul! how did it happen, that such purity I should know!

It was the blood of my dear Savior that washed me clean, white as snow!

Oh what a kind, gracious Savior! Such love on me to bestow!

For, though my sins were red like crimson, He has made me white as snow!

White as Snow  ~ Mrs. Macena Berry

We are sinners! I suppose nearly everyone will admit that they are sinners. But it is a very superficial admission for many: Oh yes, I know we are sinners, but I am not such a big sinner. I do not commit crimes like some do. I am even better than many who are Christians. Perhaps they do not drink to excess. In fact, such a person may live a very exemplary life. He or she may be proud of his standing before men. He does not have the true concept of sin, of its terrible consequences, if not atoned for. Yes, even such a one is still a black sinner before God. It is a blessing to be prevented from the baser things, but even in this we may sin! We do not give credit nor thankgiving to God for restraining us. In this we commit the sins of pride, and ingratitude to the One Who has so blessed us before men.

You see there are serious heart sins! In the very best of us, there are found these black, fatal heart sins! We cannot even guide and control our thoughts! This is the rule by which we are judged by God. Heart sins! Evil, foolish, vain, wicked thoughts! “The thought of foolishness is sin!” God judges by the thoughts. The thought of anger toward another, in God’s sight, is murder! The little “white lie” is sin! There are no white sins! Lying is always black in His sight. One needs not actually commit murder, adultery, or any outward sin to be a sinner in His sight. The wayward, wanton thought is adultery in His sight. He looks upon the heart, and we are judged by what He sees there. Does this not cause each one of us to blush?

It is only when we come to see these heart sins and blush before Him, that we begin to plead for mercy—for a covering before Him before whom we stand condemned. We must be brought to this knowledge of our blackness that we may cry for mercy! Each of us must be convinced and convicted of the secret sins of our heart, to be brought to plead alone for His great mercy.

But oh, thank God! we have found His mercy there! At the end of the plea of any goodness as we find His mercy!

The door of His mercy stands open all day

To the poor and needy who knock by the way!

John Stocker

Such a plea is never denied. That “knock” is always heeded. Such a loving response to us in our sad extremity works in us a deep humility. As we mourn for sin, and in our dire need, we are cast upon Him who alone can deliver us from the fateful consequences of all our outward and inner sins. We are broken, contrite before Him, feeling we are worthy only of His divine wrath. He does not look upon our sins, committed or thought of, but He has sent our blessed, blessed Lord for a covering, so that He sees only His righteousness.

For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that has no helper… He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence (Ps. 72:12,14).

Oh how deceitful is the human heart—“desperately wicked: Who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).

We cry with David then,—when we have come to see sin as before Him—“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7) Think of it! Whiter than snow! This vile sin-blackened heart, whiter than snow? Yes, whiter than snow. O dear Lord, do make me whiter than snow!

When I was a young girl I stood by a bush of snow white roses, and I composed a little song which by now is lost to memory. Only the heavens remember the song of a little girl singing a song to the rose. All I remember are the words of the childish refrain, “Oh to be made as pure as the lovely white rose.” But the snow is even whiter than this! And we are made not only as white as, but whiter than the snow! Yes, even this blessing is ours who have come the path of humiliation, and deep repentance, who has in mercy “changed the heart, renewed the will, and turned our path towards Zion’s hill.”

As we come to walk towards Zion’s hill, we are made to walk ever carefully, very prayerfully before Him. We would not offend one who has shown us such love and mercy. We even cry yet over the heart sins, which are hidden from Him now by the precious blood of our dear Lord. We cry over them in the night hours. How can we have such thoughts, after His great love to us? They buffet us as messengers of Satan, to keep us from exalting ourselves in pride over His restraining love. His love constrains us, and we are prevented—as long as we pray—to be kept back from out-broken sins. The very knowledge of our own sin—weakness and blackness—causes a constant restraint that we walk in love before Him who has shown us such love and mercy.

From Old Faith Contender, Jul-Sep, 1974

 Wash Me, and I Shall Be Whiter than Snow  ~ C. H. Spurgeon

Yet what can be whiter than snow? Snow is not like a whited wall that is but white on the surface: it is white all through. And yet when God washes the believer, He makes him whiter than snow, for the snow soon becomes tainted, soon loses its purity; but we never shall if God shall wash us. There was no provision made for the cleansing of an adulterer under the law. David, therefore, had to look beyond all the sacrifices of the law to the cleansing power of the great coming sacrifice, and he so believed in it that with a brave faith—(I know no more brave expression in all Scripture than this)—he says, “Wash me, filthy as I am, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

from Exposition of Psalm 51

Blood of Jesus ~ C. H. Spurgeon

We must each one say, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." In His blood you must be personally washed; by His blood you must be personally reconciled to God; through His blood you must personally have access to God; and by His blood you must personally overcome the enemy of your souls...Jesus' suffering, bleeding, dying, has procured for sinners the forgiveness of their sins.

The blood of the covenant takes every sin away, be it what it may; there was never a sin believingly confessed and taken to Christ that ever baffled his power to cleanse it. This fountain has never been tired in vain.

It is pardon, freely given, acting immediately, and abiding forever, to that there is no fear of the guilt ever being again laid to the charge of the forgiven one. Through the precious blood our sins are blotted out, cast into the depths of the sea, and removed as far from us as the east is from the west. Our sins cease to be; they are made an end of; they cannot be found against us any more forever...There is absolute remission of sin! The precious blood of Christ cleanses from all sin: yes, turns the scarlet into a whiteness which exceeds that of the newly-fallen snow—a whiteness which never can be tarnished. Washed by Jesus, the blackest of sinners shall appear before the judgment seat of the all-seeing Judge without a spot.

How is it that the blood of Jesus effects this? The secret lies in the vicarious or substitutionary character of our Lord's suffering and death. Because he stood in our places the justice of God is vindicated, and the threatening of the law is fulfilled. It is now just for God to pardon sin. Christ bearing the penalty of human sin instead of men has made the moral government of God perfect in justice...This is the great secret, this is the heavenly news, the gospel of salvation, that through the blood of Jesus, sin is justly put away. Oh, how my very soul loves this truth!

Sermons preached in 1887, Vol. xvii, pp. 227-228)

The All-Cleansing Fountain ~ Joseph C. Fisher

There’s a fountain opened in the house of God,

Where the vilest of sinners may go,

And all test the power of the crimson flood,

Of the blood that makes whiter than snow.

Refrain:Praise the Lord, I am washed

In the all-cleansing blood of the Lamb,

And my robes are whiter than the driven snow,

I am washed in the blood of the Lamb.

When that fount was opened in the Savior’s side,

How the thief did rejoice in that day!

And when dying, “Lord, remember me,” he cried,

Oh, the blood washed his sins all away.

“Will you come and reason,” saith the Lord, “with Me;

Though your sins red like crimson do glow,

And if dyed with scarlet stains your heart may be,

I will make it as white as the snow.”

Yes, a broken spirit and a contrite heart

Thou wilt never despise, O my God!

But wilt fully cleanse it now in every part,

Till I’m whiter than snow by the blood.

I have overcome now by the blood of the Lamb,

And I’m clothed in my raiment so white;

And I’m on my journey to that glorious land,

Where forever I’ll dwell in the light.

What are these in spotless robes and whence came they,

As they’re singing with palms in their hands?

These through tribulation gained the victory,

Having washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Public Domain

White as Snow  ~ Gene Herriage, Phoenix, AZ

Sin is contrary to God, which He hates. Sin is disobedience to the divine will. Through the first Adam sin and death passed upon all men, excluding none, save One, Jesus Christ.

From the fall of Adam to the flood of Noah, God dealt with man severely, giving commands, making pleas, administering punishment. With Noah, God made a covenant in which certain relationships between Himself and men were defined (Gen. 9:11-17, read these Scriptures). A more elaborate covenant was made with Abraham and later renewed with Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 17:1-14,19; Ex. 2:24). Men now know what was required of them; hence, violation of the terms of the Covenant was accomplished by a deepening sense of guilt or consciousness of sin. Another great advance came with the giving of the law at Sinai (Ex. 19; Num. 10). Deuteronomy shows love as the motivating principle of life.

The great commandment of Deut. 6:5 was quoted by Jesus Christ, the Lord, to the lawyer in Mt. 22:37-40, “Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” “The law and prophets were until John the Baptist, and since that time, the kingdom of God is preached and every man presseth into it” (Lk. 16:16). The angel announced that, “Jesus shall save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). Jesus taught that sin originates in the heart, not from ceremonial defilement (Mt. 15:11). The Saviour proclaimed He is able to forgive the sins of omission as well as commission. Sin is also represented as bondage.

The first man, Adam, was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven (1 Cor. 15:45-47). “Though our sin be as scarlet...” purple, wounded, corrupted, through our precious Lord, and Saviour, He is also able to wash our inward parts and make them pure and whiter than snow, without spot or blemish, taint, or any other corruptible thing. He will save us to the uttermost! “Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool;” though our robes were as crimson, spoiled and unrighteous.  “And I said unto him, Sir thou knowest, and he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). Wool is the fleece of sheep and maybe some other, but undyed wool of sheep is whiter than snow.

He called His children, “My sheep.” David said, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7). “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and, sprinkled both the book, and all the people. Saying this is the blood of the testament which God hath   enjoined unto you.” “How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:19-20;14).

John was on the isle called Patmos, and he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind him a great voice, as of a trumpet. John describes the Son of Man. He said, “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire” (Rv. 1:14). And I believe him when we get to that eternal city of God, we will be like Him. “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame and his wheel as burning fire” (Dan. 7:9).

When Jesus was transfigured, His “raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them” (Mk. 9:3). Jesus said, “Follow me.” We will follow Him in death, will be raised like Him, enter into the gate and portals of heaven and immortal glory like Christ and be glorified, and all our raiment will be white as snow. May the Lord be with you all.