The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-01-10

marriage ring. Now, that Is not
within of mine Hosea ii:19): 81 will
betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, 1
will betroth thee unto Ne in righteous
ness. and in judgment, and in loving
kindness, and in mercies." At the
wedding altar the bridegroom puts
ring upon the hand of the bride, signi-
flying love and faithfulness. Trouble
may come upon the household, and the
carpets may go, the pictures may go,
everything else may go-the last thing
that goes is that marriage ring, for it is
considered sacred In the burial hour
it is withdrawn from the hand and kept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 thousand
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
blossoms, you set that ring on the
round finger of the plump hand, and
that hour when at the close of the ex-
haustive watching, when you know
that the soul had fed, you took from
the hand, which gave back no respon-
sive clasp, from that emaciated 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 luster comes back, and you
can see in it the fash of eyes that long
ago ceased 20 weep. Oh, it is not an
unmeaning thing when tell you that
when Christ receives q 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 on earth or hell to
effect enforcement after Christ and
the soul are united. Other kings have
turned out their companions when
they got weary of them, and sent them
adrift from the palace gate. Ahasuerus
banished Vashti; Napoleon forsook
Josephine; but Christ is the husband
that is true forever Having loved you
once, He loves you to the end. Did
they rot try to divorce Margaret, the
Scotch girl, from Jesus? They said:
You must give up your religion"
She said: 81 can't give up my religion"
And so they took her down to the
beach of the sea, and they drove in a
stake at low water mark, and they
fastened her to it, expecting that as
the tide came up her faith would fail.
The tide began to rise. and came up
higher and higher, and to the girdle,
and to the lip, and in the last moment,
Just as the wave was washing her soul
into glory, she shouted the praises of
Jesus.
Oh, no; you cannot separate a soul
from Christ! 1t is an everlasting mar
riage. Battle and storm and darkness
cannot do it. Is it too much eXulta-
ton for man who is but dust and
ashes like myself to cry out this mo-
ment: Il am persuaded that neither
height, nor depth. nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor
shall separate me from the love of God.
which is in Christ Jesus my Lord?"
Glory be to God that when Christ and
the soul are married they are bound
by u chain-a golden chain-if might
say sO-a chain with one link, and that
one link the golden ring of Gods ever
lasting love.
go a step further. and tell you that
when Christ receives a soul into His
love He puts on him the ring of fes-
tivity. You know it has been the GUS
tom in all ages to bestow rings on very
happy occasions There is nothing
more appropriate for birthday gift
than a ring. You delight to bestow
such a gift upon your children at such
a time. 1t means joy, hilarity, festiv-
ity. Well, when this old man of the
text wanted to tell how glad he was
that his boy had got back, he ex-
pressed it in this way. Actually, be-
fore he ordered sandals to be put on
his bare feet; before he ordered the
fatted calf to be killed to appease 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 for
giveness! What a splendid thing it is
to feel that all is right between my
God and myself. 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 of again. Pollution
all gone. The prodigal home. Put a
ring on his hand"
Every day 1 find happy Christian
people. l find some of them with no
second coat, some of them in huts and
tenement houses, not one earthly COM
fort afforded them; and yet they are
as happy as happy can be. They sing
Rock 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 re-
Iigion makes US, Did it make you
gloomy and sad? Did you go with
your head east down? l do not think
you got religion, my brother. That is
not the effect of religion. True reli-
gion is a joy. Her ways are ways