The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-03-23
DIR. TALMAGE IN THE WEST

DIX. lALMAGE LIN HE WESII
AN ELOQUENT SERMON ON 1.-THE
DECORATION OF THE SOUL"
The Parable of the Prodigal son-It
Matters Not How Poor We Are IL We
Christ's Adoption.
FORT ScoTT, Kan, March 1S.-The Rev.
I. De Witt Talmage, ID. D., Of the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, preached here this evening to q
crowded congregation. He took for his sub
ject "The Decoration of the Soul,n and his
text was Luke XIV, %: "Put a ring ON his
| hand.n 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
remember how after that season of vaga-
bondage and prodigality he resolved to 60
and weep out his sorrows on the bosom of
narental forgiveness Well, there IL great
excitement ono day in front OF the door OF
the old farm house. The servants come rush
ing up and say: "What's the matterl What
is the matterr But before they quite arrive
the old man cries out: "Put ring on his
hand" What seeming absurdityl What
can such wretcheS I:endicant as this fellow
that is tramping on toward the house want
| with ring! Oh, he is the prodigal son. Nc
more tending of the swine trough. No more
longing for the pods of the carob tree No
more blistered feet. Off with the ragsl On
with the robe! Out with the ringl Even SO
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 vision is that which our father puts
upon forgiven soul
1 know the impression is abroad among
some people that religion bemeans and BELT
ties man that it takes all the sparkle out
of his soul; that he has to exchange a roy
stering independence for an ecclesiastical
strait jacket. Not SO. When man becomes
a Christian, he does not go down, he starts
upward. Religion multiplies one by ten
thousand. Nay, the multiplier is in infinity.
1t is not blotting Quit is polishing, it is
an arborescence, it is an efflorescence it is an
irradiation. When a man comes into the
kindom of God he is not sent into a 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 a ring on his hand.n In Christ are the
largest liberty, the brightest joy, and highest
honor, and richest adornment. Put a ring
on his hand"
remark, in the first place, that when
Christ receives a soul into his love he puts
upon him the ring of adoption. In my
church in Philadelphia there came the repre-
sentative of a benevolent society in 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 pull
pit and sung, our hearts melted within us.
At the close Of the services a great hearted,
wealthy man came up and said: ''Pll 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 next day, while we were in the church
gathering up garments for the poor of New
York, tn little child came back with bun
die under her arm, and she said; "There's
my old dress; perhaps some of the poor chill
dren would like to have it," while she herself
was in bright and beautiful array, and those
who more Immediately examined her said
she had ring on her hand 1t was ring of
adoption. '~a s-
There are great many persons who pride
themselves on their ancestry, and they glory
over the royal blood that pours through their
arteries. In their line their was lord, or
duke or prime minister, or king. But
when the Lord, our father, puts upon us the
ring of adoption, we become the children of
the ruler Of all nations. "Behold what man.
ner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God. "
1t matters not how poor our garments may
be in this world, or how scant our bread, or
how mean the hut we live in, if we have the
ring of Christ's 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 viens,
and there are crowns in our line. If we are
his children, then princes and princesses. 1t
is only question of time when we get our
coronet. Adopted Then we have the fami-
ly secrets. "The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him." Adopted! Then we
have the family inheritance, and in the day
when our father shall divide the riches of
heaven, we shall take our share of the man.
sions 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;
Far 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 societies
of this country are in a distant city and are
in any kind of trouble, and are set upon by
enemies, they have only to give certain sig
nal and the members of that organization
will flock around for defense. And when
any man belongs to this great Christian
brotherhood, if he gets in trouble, in trial, in
persecution, in temptation, he has only to
show this ring of Christ's adoption, and all
the armed cohorts of heaven will come to his
rescue.
Still further, when Christ takes soul into
his love he puts upon it a marriage ring.
Now that is not within of mine: "And I
will bethroth thee unto me forever; yea, !
will betroth thee unto me in Righteousness,
and in Judgment, and in loving kindness,
and in mercies." At the wedding altar the
bridegroom puts ring upon the hand Of the
bride, signifying love and faithfulness.
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 the marriage ring, for
- Il a
is withdrawn from the hand and kept in a
casket, and sometimes the box is opened on
an anniversary day, and as you look at that
ring You see under its arch long procession
Of precious memories. Within the golden
circle of that ring there is room for thou
sand sweet recollections to revolve, and 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 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
watching, when you knew that the soul had
fed, you took from the hand, which gave
back no responsive clasp, from that ema-
eiated finger, the ring that she had worn so
long and worn so well.
On some anniversary day you take up that
ring, and you repolish it until all the old
Iuster comes back, and you can see in it the
flush of eyes that long ago ceased to weep
Oh, it is not an unmeaning thing when tell
you that when Christ receives soul into his
keeping he puts on it marriage ring. He
endows you from that moment with all his
wealth. You 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
enforcement after Christ and the soul are