The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-01-17
TALMAGE's SERMON.
A Discourse on the Parable of the
Prodigal Son.
A NeIl-Worn Theme In New Garb-The
BIessingOf Diving Forgiveness
Religion Lightens All
Our Burdens.

Religion Lightens All
Our Burdens.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage delivered
the following discourse on 1.-The Re-
turn of the Prodigal Son" before his
Washington congregation, taking for
his text:
Put ring on his hand.-Luke xv., %
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 vagabondage and prodi-
gality he resolved to go and weep out
his sorrows on the bosom of parental
forgiveness. Well, there is great ex-
citement one day in front of the door
of the old farm house The servants
came rushing up and say: whats
the matter? What is the matter?'
But before they quite arrive, the old
man cries out: "Put ring on his
hand" What a seeming absurdity!
What can such a wretched mendicant
as this fellow that is tramping on to-
ward the house want with a ring? Oh,
he is the prodigal son. No more tend
ing of the swine-trough. No more
longing for the pods of the carob tree.
No more blistered feet. Off with the
rags! On with the robe! Out with
everyone of us when we come back.
There are gold rings, and pearl rings,
and emerald rings, and diamond rings;
but the richest ring that ever flashed
on the vision is that which our Father
puts upon foreign soul.
know that the impression is abroad
among some people that religion be-
means and belittles man; that it
takes all the sparkle out of his soul;
that he has to exchange a roistering
independence for an ecclesiastical
strait-jacket. Not so. When man
becomes Christian, he does not go
down, he starts upward. Religion
multiplieS one by 10000. Nay, the
multiplier is in infnity. It is not a
blotting QUIT is polishing, it is an
eff1orescence, it is an irradiation.
When 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"
L remark, in the first place, that when
Christ receives soul into His love, He
,%e l. 3
While in my church in Philadelphia,
there came the representative of the
Howard Mission of 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 pulpit and sang, our
hearts melted within us. At the close
of the services a great-hearted wealthy
man came up and said: ''I1l 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 to
his carriage, and went away.
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 chill
dren would like to have it," while she
herself was in bright and beautiful
array, and those who more immedi-
ately examined her said she had ring
on her hand. It was the ring of adop-
tion.
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 there was a lord, or a duke,
or prime minister, or a king. But
when the Lord, our Father, puts upon
us the ring of His adoption, we be-
come the children of the Ruler of all
nations. "Behold what manner 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 that ring OF
Christ's adoption upon our hand we
arc assured of eternal defenses.
Accepted! Why, then, we are BROTH
ers and sisters to all the good on earth
and Heaven. We have the family
name, the family dress, the family
keys, the family wardrobe. The Fa-
ther 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 cor
onet. Adopted! Then we have the
family secrets. 'tThe 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 mansions 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
irince 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
1 hsv4 oeen told that when. any OF
the members of any of the great Sc
cret societies of this country are in a
distant city and are in AM kind of
trouble, and are set upon by enemies,
they have only to give a certain signal
und the members Of that organization
-y{1I aoolr a,.o,,nd for dafauee And