Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-04-05
THE SOULS DECORATION.
THE REV. DIR. TALMAGE ON RE-
LIGI0N'S MANY BEAUTIES.

Eternal and Never Less-Only One Great
Test for Admission to Heaven.
The Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, ID. d., of the
Brooklyn, n. Y, tabernacle, preached last Sab
bath evening upon the subject, 'rhe Decoration
of the Soul" and the text was Luke XIV %:
Put ring on his hand"
He said: | will not rehearse the familiar
story of the fast young man of the parable.
You know what a splendid home he left. You
know what hard time he had And you re-
member how after that season Of vaga bond
age and prodigality lie resolved TO so aud
weep out his SORROWS on the bosom Of pater-
nal forgiveness Well, there is great excite
ment one day in front of the door of this old
farmhouse The servants come rushing up
and say; whats the mattcrl What is the
matterW But before they quite arrive the old
man cries out: Put n ring on his hand"
What Il seeming absurdityl What can such
wretched mendicant as this fellow that is
trampng on toward the house want with a
rings Oh, he is the prodigal son. No more
ending of the swine trough No more long
Ing for the pods Of the carob tree. No more
blistered feet. Of with the rags On with
the rObe Out with the rlngl Even 80 does
God receive every one of us when we come
back. There are gold rings, and pearl rings,
and carnelian rings, and diamond rings but
the richest ring that ever flashed on the Wis
ion is that which our Father puts upon for
given soul.
WHAT RELIGION REALLY DOES.
/ know that the impression is abroad among
some people that religion bemeans and be-
Titles a man; that it takes all the sparkle out
his soul; that he has to exchange a royster
ing independence for an ecclesiastical straight
jacket. Not so When a man becomes a
Christian ho 1ons moi yO down. ha sforta I'm.
ward. Religion multiples one by ten thous.
and. Nay, the multiplier Is in intinity. lt Is
not a blotting Quit is n polishing, 1t is
an arborescence, 1t is an etiorescence it Is an
irTadiation. When a man comes into the
kingdom of God he is not sent into mental
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 are the
largest liberty. aud brightest joy, and highest
honor, and richest adjournment Put ring
on His hand"
| remark in the first place, that when
Christ rcceh is a soul into His love lie puts
upon him the ring of adoption. In my church
in Philadelphia there came the representative
OF benevolent society in New York. He
brought with him eight or ten children Of the
street that lie had picked up, and he was try
ing 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 a great-heartco, wealthy man
came up and said: "lll take this little bright
eyed 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 RING OF ADOPTION.
The next day, while We were in the church
gathering up garments for the poor OF New
York, this little child came back with
bundle under her arm and she said: There's
my old dress perhaps 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
hot ehn liaA riT nf,h ar han Nyao
the ring OF adoption.
There are a great many persons who pride
themselves 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 q king. But
when the Lord, our Father puts upon us the
ring of His adoption, we become the children
OF the Ruler of all nations. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should he called the sons OF
God 1t matters not how poor our garments
may be I'm this world or how scant our bread,
or how mean that hut we live in. IL we have
that ring OF Chrsts adoption upon our hand
we are assured of eternal defenses. Adopt
Why, then, We are brothers and sisters TO all
the good Of earth and heaven. We have the
family name, the family dress, the family
keys, the family wardrObe The Father looks
after us, robes us, defends us, blesses us. We
have royal blood in our veins and there are
crowns in our line. If we are His children,
then princes and Processes. 1t is only a
question OF time when we get our coronet
GIVEN GRAND PRIVILEGES.
Adopted Then we have the family
secrets. "The secret OF the Lord Is with
them that fear Him."
Adopted Then we have the family Inherit
arce. and in the day when our Father shall
divide the riches of heaven we shall take our
shair of the mansions ami palaces and tenn
pies. llenceforth let us boast no more OF an
earthly ancesIr The insignia Of eternal
glory s our Coz o: arms This ring of adop-
tion puts uCOu o. oil honor and all privilege.
Now we can sac 'nr words of Charles Wes-
ley, that prince Of fTain-makers, aud sing:
Come. .;9' TON our friends above,
A Who on H , SSisiRf ISg me , pTi x
To Joy celestial rise
Let all the saints terrestrial sing
Fo Mi.h th9sS TO gI4Ty gone one KIN,
In heaven and earth are one.
I have been told that when any of the
members Of any OF the great secret societies
OF this country are in distant city and are
IN any dud of trouble, and are set upon by
enemies, ;hcy have only to give certain sig
nal and the members of that organ lzation
w!ll flock around for defense. And when any
man belongs 10 this great Christian brother
hood, II he gets in trouble, in trial, in persc-
cutiOn, in temptation, he has only to show
this ring of Chris's adoption and all the CO.
horts of heaven will come to his rescue.
CHRIsTs MARRIAGE RING.
Still further, when Christ takes a soul into
His love He puts upon it a marriage ring
Now, that is not within OF mine: "And /
will betroth thee unto Me forever: yea, l
will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness,
and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and
in mercies." At the wedding altar the BRIDE
groom puts ring upon the hand of the BRIDE
signifyipg love and fathfuness. Trouble
may come upon the household and the
carpets may go, the pictures may go, the
piano may go, everything else may go-the
last thing that goes is that marriage ring for
it Is considered sacred. In the burial hour 1t
is Withdrawn from the hand and kept in a
casket, and sometimes the box Is opened on
.,t.fx aoFuH aV and mol az fhat
ring you see under its arch long procession
OF precious memories. Within the golden cir
Gle Of that ring there is room for a thousand
sweet recolections TO reyolve, aud you think
of the great contrast between the hour when
at the close OF the "Wedding March" under
the flashing lights and amid the aroma Of
orange blossoms, YOU set that ring on the
round ringer of the plump hand and that 9th
or hour when, at the close OF the exhaustive
watching, when you know that the soul had
fed, you took from the hand which gave back