The Nicodemus cyclone., 1888-03-23
THE SOULS DECORATION.
THE REV. DIR. TALMAGE ON RE-
LIGI0Ns MANY BEAUTIES.


Soul of the Redeemed-Love of Jesus
Eternal and Never Less-Only One Grea'
Test for Admission to Heaven.
The Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, D. D., of the
Brooklyn, n. Y, tabernacle, preached last Sab
bath evening upon the subject, THE Decoration
of the Soul" and the text was Luke xv, %:
Put ring on his hand"
He said: will not rehearse the familiar
story Of the fast young man Of the parable.
You know what splendid home he left You
know what hard time he had. And you re-
member how after that season of vagabond-
age and prodigality he resolved to go and
weep out his sorrows on the bosom of batter
nal forgiveness. Well, there is great excite
ment one day in front of the door of the old
farmhouse. The servants come rushing up
and say; 'What's the matter9 What is the
matterm But before they quite arrive the old
man cries out: Put ring on his hand"
What seeming sbsurdity! What can such .
wretched mendicant as this fellow that is
tramping on toward the house want with a
ringf 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. Off with the ragsl 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 carnelian rings, and diamond rings; but
the richest ring that ever flashed on the Wis
ion is that which our Father puts upon a for
given soul.
WHAT RELIGION REALLY DOES
know that the impression is abroad among
some people that religion bemeans and be-
AIa1 lAl--
his soul; that he has to exchange a royster-
ing independence for an ecclesiastical straight
jacket Not So When a man becomes
Christian he does not go down; he starts up
ward. Religion multiples one by ten thous
and. Nay, the multiplier is in infnty. 1t Is
not blotting Quit is a polishing, 1t Is
an arborescence, it is an efiorescence, it is an
lTadiation. When a 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 are the
largest liberty, and 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 representative
of benevolent society in New York. He
brought with him eight or ten children Of the
street that he 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-hearted, wealthy man
came up and said: "I'll 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.
Thn i1o tn $hn ohm WntN
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; 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
said that she had ring on her hand. 1t was
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 a
duke, or prime minister, or 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 in this world, or how scant our bread,
| or how mean that hut we live in, If we have
that 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 veins and there are
crowns in our line. If we are His children,
| then princes and princesses. 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.
l Adopted Then we have the family inherit
ance, and in the day when our Father shall
| divide the riches of heaven we shall take our
| share of the mansions and palaces and tenn
| pies HencefOrth let US boast no more of an
| earthly ancestry. The insignia of eternal
| glory is our coat of arms This ring of adop-
tion puts upon us all honor and all privilege.
Now we can take the words of Charles Wes-
| ley, 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 societies
| of this country are in distant city and art
IN any kind Of trouble, and are set upon b.
! enemies, lneY nave OnIy 10 give d certain Sly
nal and the members of that organization
will flock around for defense. And when AM
man belongs to this great Christian brother
hood, If he gets in trouble, in trial, in perse
cutiOn, in temptation, he has only TO shov
this ring of Christ's adoption and all the CO
hortS of heaven will come to his rescue.
| CHRIsT's MARRIAGE RING.
| Still further when Christ takes a soul int
His love He puts upon it a marriage ring
Now, that is not a whim of mine: "And
will betroth thee unto Me forever: yea,
will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness
and in judgment. and in loving kindness, an
| in mercies.n At the wedding altar the bride
groom puts ring upon the hand Of the bride
signifying love and faithfulness. Troubl
may come upon the household and III
carpets may GO, the pictures may 60, tn
piano may 60, everything else NAV goth
last thing that goes is that marriage ring, 70
il Is considered sacred. In the burial hour
is withdrawn from the hand and kept in
casket and sometimes the box is opened o
an anniversary day. and as you look at tha
| ring YOU see under its arch long prOcessiO
Of precious memories. Within the golden eli
| Gle of that ring there is room for thousan
| sweet recollections to revolve, and YOU thin
| Of tue great contrast between the hour whe
at the close OF the wedding March" unde
| the flashing lights and amid the aroma