The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-03-02
CELESTIAL JEWELRY.
CmiSt's Finger Ring Of Love and
Adoption.
The Strong Bond Of Union Between
the Lord and These Ghy . bey
His Commands
r.. DE WITT TALMAGE.
put ring ON his hand."-Luke, xv -.

VIII nOG IelledISe 10 you Jne FAMILIAR
story of the fast young man of the para
BILE. You know what a hard time he had.
And you remember how that after sea-
son of yagabOndage and prOdigality he
| resolved to go and weep out his sorrow
| on the bosom of parental forgiveness.
| Well, there Is great excitement one day
in front of the door of the old farm
house. The servants come rushing up
and say: What's the matter? What Is
the natter" But before they quite ar
| rive the old man cries out: Put ring
on his hand" What seeming absur-
dity. What can such a Wretched mendi-
cant as this fellow that is tTamping on
| toward the house want with a TingP o,
he Is the prOdigal son. No more tending
of the swine trough. No more longing
for the pods of the carOb-tree. No more
blistered feet; OFF with the rags! On
| with the robe! Out with the ring!
Even so does God receive every one of
us when we come back. There are gold
rings, and pearl rings, and cOrnelian
| rings, and diamond rings; but the rich
est ring that ever flashed on the vision
| is that which our Father puts upon a
| forgiven soul.
know that the impression is abroad
among some people that religion be-
means and belittles man; that it takes
all the sparkle out of his soul; that he
has to exchange registering independ-
ence for an ecclesiastical strait-jacket.
| Not so. When man becomes Chris
| lian, he does not go down, he starts up
ward. Religion multiplies one by ten
thousand. Nay, the multiplier is an in
| finity. 1t is not blOtting Quit is
polishing, it is an arbOrescence, it is an
| efflOTescence, it is an iTTadiatiOn. When
man comes into the kingdom of God,
| he is not sent into a menial service, but
the Lord God Almighty from the palaces
| of heaven calls upon the messenger
| angels that wait upon the throne to fly
and put ring on his hand" In Christ
| is the largest liberty, and brightest joy,
and highest honor, and richest adOrn-
ment. "Put ring on his hand"
| remark i'll the first place, that when
| Christ receives a soul into His love, He
puts upon him the ring of adoption.
| Eight or ten years ago, in my church in
| Philadelphia, there came the TepTeSen-
tatiVe of the Howard Mission of New
| York. He brought with him eight or
| ten children of the street that he had
| picked up, and he was trying to find for
| them Christian homes; and as the little
ones stood on the pulpit and sang, our
hearts melted within us. At the close
of the services, great-hearted, wealthy
man came up, and said: 'Pll take this
bright-eyed little girl, and I'll
adopt her as one of my own children"
and he took her by the hand, lifted her
into his carriage, and went away. The
next day, while we were i'll the church,
gathering up garments for the poor of
New York, this little child came back
| with a bundle under her arm, and
she said: There's my old dress, per-
haps some of the poor children would
like to have it," while she herself was
in bright and beautiful array, and those
who more Immediately examined her
said that she had ring on her hand. 1t
was ring of adoption. There are a
,, great many persons who pride them
! selves on their ancestry, and they glory
over the royal blood that pOurs through
! their arteries. In their line there was a
lord, or duke, or prime minister, or a
king. But when the Lord, our Father
puts upon us the ring of his adoption
we become the children of the Ruler of
r all nations. Behold, what manner OF
! love the Father hath bestowed upon u.s.
that we should be called the sons OF
God" 1t matters not how poor our gar
ments may be in this world, or how
scant our bread, or how mean the hut
we live in, if we have that ring of
Christ's adoption upon our hand, we are
assured of eternal defenceS. Adopted
, Why, then, we are brothers and sisters
to all the good of earth and heaven. We
have the family name, the family dress,
| bIlb IdLl1lY Keys, IIlb ldLlllH
The Father looks after us, robes us, de-
fends us, blesses us. We have royal
blood in our veins, and there are crowns
in our line. If we are His children, then
we are princes and princesses. 1t is only
a question of time when we get our cor
Onet. Adopted Then we have the
family secrets. The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear Him. Adopted!
Then we have the family Inheritance,
| nd in 10 xuhan Eothar bo
divide the riches of heaven we shall take
our share of the mansions, and palaces,
and temples. HencefOrth let us boast
no more of an earthly ancestry. The
insignia of eternal glory is our cOat-Of-
arms. This ring of adoption puts upon
us all honor and all privilege. Now we
can take the words of Charles Wesley,
that prince of hymn makers, and sing:
Come let us join our friends above.
| who have obtained the prize;
| And on the eagle wings of love
To joy celestial rise.
LET all the saints terrestrial sing
with those to glory gone;
For all the servants of our king,
In heaven and EARTH are one"
have been told that when any of the
members of any of the great secret So
cieties of this country are in distant
city, and are in any kind of trouble, and
are set upon by enc mics, they have only
to give certain signal, and the mem
; bers of their organization will flock
around for defence. And when any
man belongs to this Christian brother
hood, if he gets in trouble, in trial, in
: persecution, in temptation, and all the
armed cohorts of heaven will come to
his rescue.
Still further: when Christ takes a
soul into His love He puts upon it a
marriage ring. Now that is not q whin
of mine. "And will betrOth thee unto
Me forever; yea, will betrOth thee unto
Me in righteousness, and in judgment
and in loving kindness" Hosea ii. 49,.
At the wedding altar the bridegroom
puts a ring upon the hand of the bride
signifying love and faithfulness., TrOu
BILE may come upon the household, and
the carpets may go, the pictures may
go, the piano may go, everything elst
may go; the last thing that goes is the
marriage ring, for it is considered sacred
In the burial hour it is withdrawn from
the hand and kept in a casket, and some
times the box is opened on an anniyer
| Joxy lnnt of that rim