Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-03-28

| 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."
1 have been told that when any of th
members of any of the great secret societie
in any kind of trouble, and are set upon b
enemies, they have only to give certai
| signal and the members of that organize
| ton will flock around for defense. An
when any man belongs to this great Chris
tian brotherhood, if he gets in trouble, i
| trial, in persecution, in temptation, he ha
only to show this ring of Christ's adoption
and all the armed cohorts of heaven vii
come to his rescue.
Still further, when Christ takes soul in
to His love He puts upon ii marriage ring
Now, that is not a whim of mine: "And
will betroth thee unto Ne forever; yea,
will betr tn thee unto Me in righteousness
and in Judgment, and in loving kindness
and in mercies." At the wedding altar tb
bridegroom puts ring upon the hand o
the bride, signifying love and faithfulness
Trouble may come upon the household, ant
the carpets may 60 the pictures may 60
the piano may CO. everything else may g
the last thing that goes is that marriage
ring, for it is considered sacred. In ths
burial hour it is withdrawn from the hant
and kept in casket and sometimes the boz
is opened on an anniversary day, and as yor
look at that ring you see under its arch 9
long procession of precious memories
SC kI.k rs Il
is room for thousand sweet recollections
to revolve, and you think of the great con
trast between the hour when, at the close oi
the ''Wedding March," under the flashing
lights and amid the aroma of orange bios.
SONS, you set that ring on the round finger
of the plump hand, and that other hour
when, at the close of the exhaustive watch
ing, when you knew that the soul had fed,
you took from the hand, which gave back
no responsive clasp, from that emaciated
finger, the ring that she had worn so long
and worn SO well.
On some anniversary day you take up
that ring, and you repolsh it until all the
old lustre comes back, and you can see in it
the fash of eyes that long ago ceased to
weep. Oh, it is not an unmeaning thing
when tell you that when Christ receives a
soul into His keeping He puts on it a mar
riagering. He endows you from that mo-
ment with all His wealth. Yon are one
Christ and the soul-one in sympathy, one
in affection, one in hope.
There is no power in earth or hell to effect
a divorcement after Christ and the soul are
united. Other kings have turned out their
companion when they got weary of them,
and sent them adrift from the palace gate.
Ahasuerus banished Vashti; Napoleon for
sock Josephine; but Christ is the husband
that is true forever. Having loved you
once, he loves you to the end. Did they
not try to divorce Margaret, the Scotch girl,
from Jesus? They said: "You must give
up your religion" She said: 81 can't give
up my religion" And so they took her
down to the beach of the sea, and they
drove in stake at the low-water mark, and
they fastened her to it, expecting that as the
tide came up her faith would fail. The tide
began to rise, and came up higher and high
er, and to the girdle, and to the lip, and in
the last moment, just as the wave was wash
ing her soul into glory, she shouted the
praises of Jesus.
Oh, no, you cannot separate soul from
Christ. 1t is an everlasting marriage
Battle and storm and darkness cannot do IT,
Is it too much exultation for man, who
is but dust and ashes like myself, to cry
out to-day: 81 am persuaded that neither
height, nor depth, nor principalities. mol
powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor any other creature shall separate
me from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus, my LordP' Glory be to God that
when Christ and the soul are married they
are bound by chain, a golden chain-if
might say so chain with one link, and
that one link the golden ring of Gods ever.
lasting love. l go step further, and tel
you that when Christ receives soul into
His love He puts on him the ring of fes
tiviuy. You know that 1t has been the Gus
tom in all ages to bestow rings on very
happy occasions. There is nothing more
appropriate for birthday gift than ring
You delight to bestow such gifs npor
your children at such time. 1t means
joy, hilarity, festivity. Well, when thii
old man of the text wanted to tell how glat
he was that his boy had got back, he ex
pressed it in this way. Actually, before
he ordered sandals to be put on his bart
feet; before ne ordered the fatted calf to bt
killed to appease the boys hunger he com
manded: "Put ring on his hand"
Oh, it is a merry time when Christ ani
the soul are unitedl Joy of forgiveness
What splendid thing it is to feel that al
is right between me and God! What glo
rious thing it is to have God just take w
all the sins of my life and put them in one
bundle, and then fling them into the depths
of the sea, never to rise again, never to be
talked of again. Pollution all gone. Dark
ness all illumined. God 1econciled. The
prodigal home. "Put ring on his hand u
Every day l find happy Christian people
l find some of them with no second coat,
some of them in huts and tenement houses,
not one earthly comfort afforded them; and
yet they are as happy as happy can be.
They sing Crock of Ages" as no other peo
pie in the world sing it. They never wore
any jewelry in their life but one gold ring,
and that was the ring of Gods undying af.
fection. Oh, how happy religion make us!
Did it make you gloomy and sad? Did you
go with your head cast down? I do not
think you got religion, my brother. That
is not the effect of religion. True religion
is joy. "Her ways are ways of pleasant.
ness. and all her paths are peace "
Why, religion ligbtens all our burdens.
1t snooths all our way. 1t interprets all
our sorrows. 1t changes the jar of earthly
discord for the peal of festal bells. In front
of the flaming furnace of trial it sets the
forge on which sceptres are hammered out.
Would you not like to day to come up from
the swine feeding and try this religion? All
the joys of heaven would come out and
meet you, and God would cry from the
throne: "Put ring on his hand.'
You are not happy. I see it. There is
no peace and sometimes you laugh when
you feel great deal more like crying. The
world is a cheat. 1t first wears you down
with its follies, then it kicks you out into
darkness. 1t comes back from the massacre
of million soul to attempt the destruction
of your souls to- day. No peace out ofGod.
but here is the fountain that can slake the
thirst Here is the harbor where you can
drop safe anchorage.
Would you not like, ask you-not per-
fuuctorily, but as one brother might talk to
another-would you not like to have pill
low of rest to put your head on? And
would you not like, when you retire at
night to feel that all is we'll, whether you
wake up tomorrow morning at 6 O'Clock, or
sleep the sleep that knows no waking?
Would you not like to exchange this awful
uncertainty about the future for a glorious
assurance of Heaven9 Accept of the Lord
Jesus to-day, and all is well. If on your
way homo some peril should cross the
street and dash your life out, it would not
hurt you. You would rise up Immediately.
You would stand in the celestial streets.
You would be among the great throng that
forever worship and are forever happy. II
this day some sudden disease should come
upon Won it would not friubtop vo,, tn