The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-01-15

LillSSi, S.AS LII t.i'aI SAiN 1iSll< "OL IL 81
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 flash Of eyes that long
ago ceased to weep. Oh. it is not an
unmeaning thing when I tell you that
when Christ receives a soul into ms
keeping he puts omit marriage ring.
He endows YOU from that moment
with all his wealth. You are one
Christ aud the soul-one in sympathy,
in affection, one IN hope.
There is no power on earth or hell
to effect divorcement after Christ
and the soul are united. Other kings
have turned oct their companions
when they got weary of them and sent
them adrift from the palace gate
Ahasuerus banished Nashti. Napoleon
forsook Josephine, but Christ IS the
| husband that's true forever: Having
loved YOU once, he loves you to the
end. Did they not try to divorce Mar.
earet, the Scotch girl, from JesusI
| They said, You must give uo your
religion. p" She said, 1 can't give up
nv religion And SO they took her
down to the beach OF the sea, and they
drove in 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 wash
ing her so:i into glory, she shouted
the praises Of Jesus.
Oh, no, you cannot separate soul
from Christ. 1t is an everlasting mar
riage. d. Battle and storm and dark
ness cannot do it. ISit too much eN-
ultation for man, who is but dust
and ashes like myself, to cry out this
moment, Il am persuaded that neither
height nor depth nor prlnclpahues
nor powers nor 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:" Glory be to God that when
Christ and the soul are married they
are bound by a chain, a golden cham,
if might say so-a chain with one
link, and that one link the golden
ring OF Gods everlasting love.
goa step further and tell you that
when Christ receives soul into MS
love he puts on him the ring of festlvl-
". You know that it has been the
custom in all ages to bestow rings on
very happy occasions. There is moth
ing more appropriate for birthday
gift than ring. You delight to be-
stow such a gift upon your children
at such a time. It means JOY, hilarity,
festivity. Well, when this old man
of the text wanted to tell how glad ne
was thathis boy had got back, he eS-
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 a
ring On his hand"
Oh, it's merry time when Christ
and the soul are united. Joy OF for
giveness What a splendid thing It is
10 feel that all is right between my
God and myself. Whata 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.
Pollution all gone; darkness all illu-
mined; God reconciled; the prodigal
home. "Put a ring on his hand"
Every day I find happy Christian
people. I find some of them with no
second coat, some of them in huts and
tenement houses, but 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 iewelry in their lie but one gold
ring, and that was the ring of Gods
undying affection. Oh. how happy
religion makes US. Did it make
YOU gloomy and sad2 Did you go
with your head cast down? lido not
think you got religion, my brother.
That is not the effect of religion. True
religion is JOY. Her ways are ways
of pIeasantness, and all her paths are
peace
Why, religion lishtens all our bur-
dens; it smooths all our way; it inter
prets all our sorrows; it changes the
Jar OF earthly discord for hepeal 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 this hour to come
up from the swine feeding and try this
religion. All the joys of heaven would
come out and meet you, and God
would cry from the throne, ''Put a
ring on lis hand."
You are not happy seeit. There is
no peace, and sometimes you laugh
when you feel great deal mere like
crying. The world is a cheat. It first
wears you down with its follies; then
It kicks you cut INTO darkness. It
comes back from the massacre of l.
100000 souls to attempt the destruc-
ton of your soul today. No peace
out of God, but here is the foun-
tain that can slake the thirst.
Here is the harbor where you can drop
safe anchorage.
Would J on not like, I ask you-not
perfunctorlly, but as one brother
might talk to another-would you not
like to have a pillow of rest to put
your head on2 And would you not
like, when you retire at night. to feel
that all is well, whether you wake up
tomorrow morning at 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 today and all
is well. lion your way home some
peril should cross the street and dash
your life out, itwould not hurt yoI.
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 night some sudden