The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-01-17
SUBSCRIPTION: Sl.0O Per Year.

ring of Christ's adoption, and all the
armed cohorts of Heaven will come to
his rescue.
Still further, when Christ takes a
sUul into His love He puts upon it a
marriage-ring. Now, that is not a
whim of mine. (Hosea 2:19) 81 will be-
troth thee unto Me forever; yea, will
betroth thee unto Me in righteousness,
and in judgment, and in loving kind
ness, and in mercies." At the we'd
ding altar the bridegroom puts ring
upon the hand of the bride, thus sig
nifying love and faithfulness. Trou-
BILE may come upon the household, and
the carpets may go, the pictures may
go, the piano may go, everything else
may go-the last thing that goes is
that marriage ring; for it is consid-
cred sacred. In the burial hour it
is withdrawn from the hand and
kept in caslSet, 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 a
thousand sweet recollectio1s to re-
volve. and you think of the great con-
trast 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 exhaustive watching, when you
knew that the soul had fled, you took
from the hand, which gave back no re-
sponsive 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 flash of eyes that long
ago ceased to weep. Oh, it is not an
unmeanirg thing when tell you that
when Christ receives a 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. Ahas-
uerus banished Vashti; Napoleon for
sock Josephine; but Christ is the hus-
band that is true forever. Having
loved you once, He loves you
to the end. Did they not try
to divorce Margaret, the Scotch
girl, from Jesus? They said: F'You
must give up your religion" She said:
81 can't give you my religion" And so
they took her down to the beach of the
sea, and they drove stake at low-wa
ter 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 shout
ed the praises of Jesus.
Oh, no, you can not separate a soul
from Christ! 1t is an everlasting mar
riage. Battle and storm and darkness
can not do it. 1t is too much exulta-
tion for a man, who is but DUST and
ashes like myself, to cry out this mo-
ment: 81 am persuaded that neither
height, nor depth, nor principalities,
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 chain-if might
say so-a chain with one link, and that
one link the golden ring of Gods ever
lasting love.
go step further, and tell you that
when Christ receives soul into His
love He puts on him the ring of festiv-
ity You know that it has been the
custom in all ages to bestow rings on
very happy occasions. There is nothing
mere appropriate for a birthday gift
than ring. You delight to bestow
such 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 a |
ring on his hand"
Oh, it is 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 God |
and myself. What a glorious thing it |
is to have God just take up all the sine |
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. |
Darkness all Illuminated. God recon |
ciled. The prodigal home. ''Put a
ring on his hand"
people. / 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 |
iewelry in their life but one gold ring, |
and that was the ring of Gods undying J
affection. Oh, how happy religion !
makes us! Did it make you gloomy
and sad? Did you go with your head
cast down? do not think you got re-
Iigion, my brother. That is not the eff
feet of religion. True religion is a
joy. "Her ways are ways of pleasant
ness, and all her paths are peace.
Why, religion lightens all our bur-
dens. It interprets all our sorrows.
1t changes the jar of earthly discord |
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 this hour |
TO up from the swine-fceding and try |