Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1888-03-30

60 step further, ana tell you that when
Christ receives a soul into His love He puts
on him the ring Of festiyity. You know that
It has been the custom I'm all ages TO bestow
rings on very happy occasions. There is
nothing more appropriate for birthday gift
than ring. You delight 10 bestow such a
gift upon your children at such a TINA II
means Joy hilarity, festivity. Well. when
this old man of the text wanted to tell how
glad he was that his boy had got back, he
expressed it in this way. Actually, before he
ordered sandals to be put on his bare feet,
before he ordered the fatted calf to be killed
TO appsase the boys hunger, he commanded:
PUT ring on his hand"
Oh, it is a merry time when Christ and the
soul are united! Joy Of forgiveness What
a splendid thing it is to feel that all is
right between me and Cod What a glorious
thing it is to have God just take up 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
IF again. Pollution all gone. Darkness all
lllumined. God reconciled. The pro1igal
home Put a ring on his hand.n
Every day find happy Christian people.
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 people 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 affection.
Oh, how happy religion makes us! Did e
make you gloomy and sadi Did you go with
your head cast down! l do not think gou
got religion, my brother That is not the ef-
feet of religion. True religion is joy. Her
ways are ways of pleasautness, and all her
paths are peace"
why, religion nghtens all our burdens. IL
smooths all our way. 1t interrupts all our
If nhaOUaS tba Jar of earthly dis
cord for the peal of festal bells. In front of
the flaming furnace of trial it sets the forge
ON which scepters are hammered out. Would
you not like to-day to come up from the
swine feeding and try this religion2 All the
joys of Heaven would come out and meet
you, and God would cry from the thrones:
PUT ring on his hand"
You are not happy. l see it. There is no
peace, and sometimes you laugh when you
feel a great deal more like crying. The
world is cheat 1t first wears you down
with its folles, then it kicks you out into
darkness. Itcomes back from the massacre
of million souls to attempt the destruction
of your soul to-day No peace out of God,
but here is the fountain that can Stake the
thirst Here is the harbor where you can
drop safe anchorage.
Woi d you not like, / ask you-not per-
functorily but as one brother might talk to
another-would you not like to have pillow
Vi resi- 10 pun your ueuu Ou! Anu WOulO y Ou
not like, when you retire at night, to feel
that all is well, whether you wake up to-
morrow 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
heaven! Accept of the Lord Jesus to-day,
and all is well. If on your way home 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 amid the
great throng that forever worship and are
forever happy. If this day some sudden dis
ease should come upon you it would not
brighten you. If you knew you were going
you could give a calm farewell to your beau
tiful home on earth, and know that you are
going right into the companionship of those
who have already got beyond the toiling and
the weeping.
You feel on Saturday night different from
the way you feel any other night of the
week. You come home from the bank, or
the store, or the shop and you say: "Well,
now my weeks work is DONE and tomorrow
is Sunday" 1t is pleasant thought. There
is refreshment and reconstruction in the very
idea. Oh, how pleasant it will be, if. when
we get through the day of our life, and we
go and lie down in our bed of dust, we can
realize: "Well, now the work is all done,
and tomorrow is Sunday-an everlasting
Sunday.n