National Republican., 1888-03-19
ADOPTED, OF THE LORD.
" VIZ ARE HIS CHILDREN WE ARE
PRINCES AND PRtNCESSES
Earthly Ancestry Relegatcd to OBJ
scurity, and the. Only Royal Insignia
to be Courted should be That of Eter-
nal Glory.

TalmageFof the Brooklyn IN. W Tabernacle
tcoi-for his subject. "The Decorationof the
soul,' and his tea, was, Luke, XIV: es-"Put
ring on, his hand" He said
will not rehearso thefaminr story of the
Sst sgg@nSs %Sh Of boe tine ssf Yo KNOW
what a hard time he had. And you remember
how after that season OF yagaPsndage md
Well, there Is great excitement one day in
front of the door Of thu old farm house The
servants come rushing up and say, What's
fore they quite arrive the old man cries ont,
PUT Q ring on his hand What a seeming
absurdity What can such a wretehed men
ward the house want with a ringt Oh, he. is
the prodigal son. No more tending of the
swine trough; ., no more more longing for
biistered feet. on with the rags
on with the robe! out with the ring Even
SO does God receive every, one of us when we
rings, and carnelian rings, and diamond rings.
but the richest ring that ever flashed on the
vision Is that which our Father puts upon
know that the impression Is abroad among
some people that religion bemeans and belit-
ties man; that II takes all the, sparkle out OF
his soul; that'h has TO exchange q registering
independencos for an ecclesiasticalR strait
Jacket. Not so. When q man Becomes a
Christian, he does not go down. he starts up.
Il.
Nay, the multiplicr. Is in ininty. II Is.
not a blotting out-it Is polishing, IL is an
arborescencc, i is an effiorescence, II Is an
Rsom Of os sfn he ap eio nIS %ea h
service, but. tho Lord God Almighty from the
palaces of heaven calls upon the messenger
angels ng that ns wait The throne Ss to y aps t6
largest liberty, and brightest JOY, and highest
honor and richestadernment, Put ring on
Tremark, in the first place, that when Christ
receives q soul into His love lie puts upon
him the ring OF adoption In my church In
Phadelphia there ,i came the represSSnta1tive, Of
brought with him eight or ten children Of the
street that he had picked up and he
Iva Sas ttryns to find for th then Christ
stood on the pulpit and sung our hearts
melted within us, AT the close Of the services
a ,great,hearted, wealthy, man came up and
dren;" and he took her by the hand, lifted her
into his carriage, and went away. ,,
gathering up garments for the poor of New
York, this little child came baok with bun
die under her arm, and she said: There's my
would like to have IT, while she herself was
in bright and beautiful array, and those who
more closely examined her said that she had
q ring onher hand. II was ring of adoption.
There are greatm many persons who pride
themselves on their ancestry, and they glory
over the royal blood that pours through their
arteries. arteries. In their line there was lord, or 9
when the Lord, our Father, puts upon IL. 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 MS, that we should be called the sons df
God" II matters not how poor our garments
may be in this world, or how scant our bre9h,
that ring of Chrlst's adoption upon our HIND
we are assured OF eternal defenses.
Adopt! why, then, we are brothers anl sis
have the family name, the family dre2s, the
family keys, the family wardrobe The Father
looks after us, robes us, defends U.S. {blesses
there are crowns in our line. If we Are Ills
children, then princes and princesseS. 1t Is
only question Of time when we get o1T coro-
Secret tS of the nave hTd sng Is be@
that fear him." Adopted Then we flA the
family inheritance, and in the day, wheN our
shall take our share Of the mansions and par,
aces 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 aud all priyi
lege; Now we can take the words Of Charles
Wesley, that prince OF hymn makers, and sing:
Come, let us join our friends above,
Who 10, have .sa obtained .,a ,,!,.it the prize,
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 when any of the members
of any of the great secret societies OF this
country are Id n distant city and are In any
kind of trouble, and are set upon by enemies,
they have only to give certain signal and the
members ofthat organization will flock around
for defense. And when any man belongs to
this great Christi an brotherhood, If he gets In
trouble, IN trial, In persecution, In temptation,
he has only to show this ring of Christs adop'
ti9n, and all the armed cohorts OF heaven
Still further, when Christ takes a soul into
Ills love He puts upon 1t q marriage ring.
viii betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, will
betroth the unto Me In Righteousness. and In
judgment, and In loving Kindness, and In mer'
cies.n A. the wedding altar the @ bride groom room
Ing love and faithfulness. Trouble may come
upon the household, and the carpets may CO.
tse dps pai9b tb,nw may ga soes sysFy
ths iasS for It trs' Is eonsderea @ red sacred acre
In the burial Ii II Is withdrawn from the
bSR bSRd a1S sas asH Sd as
you lookat that ring you see under Its arch a
long procession of precious memories. Within
the golden, circle OF that ring there Is room for
a thousand sweet recollections to revolve, and
you think of the great contrast be-
OF the wedding March" under the
blossoms, 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 has fled, you took from
The hand, which gave back no responsive
clasp, from that emaeiated finger, the ring she
had worn so long and worn so well.
ring n and sSS yoa reposR Il unt % ali the i"S old III @
comes back and You can see In 1t the flash of
eyes that long ago ceased to weep. oh, II Is not
% an 9nmeanpg thing when @ LIE tell y yon tn4t when I,
on 1t "a marriage ring: lie endows You from
that moment with all His wealth. You
are one-Christand the soul-one IN sympathy,
There Is no power in earth or hell to effect a
enforcement after Christ and the soul are
united. Other kings have taned out their
companions when they got weary OF them and
sent them adrift from the palace gate: Aha
suerus banished Nashti; Napoleon forsook
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 JesusY They
said, You must give up your, religion She
% thsy took her down low to to the beach Of the sea
and they drove In stake at low-water mark
and they fastened her to 1t, expecting Us the
tide came up her faith would fail The tide
began to rise, and came up higher and higher,
and to the grdle, and to the hip, aud In the
last moment, just as the wave was washing
her soul into glory, she shouted the praises of
oh, no, you cannot separate soul from
Christ. 1t Is an everlasting marriage. Battle
and storm and darkness can not do II, II Is
too much exultation for a man, who Ii but
dust and ashes like myself to cry out to-day
II am persuaded that neither height, MOI
depth, nor prineipalities nor powers, nol
things present, nor things to come, nor any
other creature shall separate me from the love
of God which is In Christ Jesus, my Lord y
Glory be to God that when Christ and the SOU
are married they are bound by q chain, a gol
den chain-if ! might say so-a chain with ont
link, and that one link the golden ring of God''
everlasting love.
Igo step further, and tell you that wher
Christ receives u soul into His love lie puts oI
him the ring of festivity. You know that Il
has been the custom In all ages to bestowrlng,
on very happy occasions. There Is nothing
more annronriatp for n birthday uift than i