The Penn's Grove record., 1896-01-10
REI. DR.. TaLuaGE.
The Eminent Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
Subject: "Keturn of the ProdIsaI
Son."

", 90.
/ will not rehearse the familiar story o
the last young man of the parable. Yor
know what a splendid home he left. You
know what a hard time he had. And yoU
remember how, after that season OF vaga,
bondage and p~rodigality, he resolved to &c
and weep out his sorrows on the bosom o
parental forgiveness. Well, there is great ex.
element one day in front of the door of tue
old farmhouse. The servants come rushing
up and saw: WHATS the natter What Is
the natter" But before they quite arrive The
old man cries out. put a ring on his hand. =
What a seeming a~bsurdityl What can such
wretched mendicant as this fellow that is
trampiDg on toward the house want with 4
ring? Oh. he is the prodiRal son. No more
tending OF the swine trough No more long.
ing for the pods Of the carob treei No more
blistered feet! on with the pagsl On with
the robe! Out with the ring! Even so does
God receive every one of US when we come
back. There are gold rings, and pearl rings,
and emerald rings. and diamond rings, hui
the richest ring that ever flashed on the Wis.,
ion is that which our Father puts upon a
forgiven soul.
among some people that religion bemeans
and belittles a man; that it takes all the
sparkle out OF his soul; that he has to ex'
change a FOSTERING Independence for an &c.
clesiastical straitjacket. Not so. When a
man becomes a Christian, he does not "a
down. He starts upward. Religion multi
plies one by ten thousand. Nay, the multi.
plier Is in infinity. 1t Is not a blotting out,
It is a polishing; IT is an arborescence; 1t fs
an efiorescence: 1t is an irradiation. When
a man comes into the kingdom of God, he is
not sent into a mental service. but the Lord
God Almighty from h palC ees Of heaven
calls upon the messenger angels that wait
upon the throne to fly and ''put a ring or his
hand" In Christ are the largest liberty, and
brightest Joy, and highest honor. aud richest
adornment. "Put a ring on his hand"
] remark, in the first place, that when
Christ receives a soul into His love He puts
upon him the ring OF adoption. While In my
church in PHILADELPHIA there came the repre-
sentative of the Howard Mission of New
York. He brought with him eight or ten
children of the street that he mad picked up,
and he was tryiDgto 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 q great hearted
wealthy man came upand said, "Tll take this
little bright eyed girl n I'll adopt her as
one Of my own children" And ne took her
by the hand, lifted her into 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 a
bundle under her arm and she said: ''There's
my old dress. Perhaps some Of the poor
children would like to have IT," while she
herself was in bright and beautiful array,
and those who more Immediately examined
her said she had a ring on her hand. 1t was
q ring of adoption.
There are a 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 q duke. or a prime minister, or a king.
But when the Lord, our Father. puts upon
us the ring OF His adoption we become the
children of the Ruler OF all Nations. 'Be-
hold what manner Of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us. that we should be called
the sons of God" 1t matters not how poor
u garments may be in this world, or how
scant our bread, or how mean the hui we
live in, II we have that ring OF Christ's adop-
ton upon u hand. we are assured Of eter-
nal defenses.
Adopted! Why, then, we are brothers and
sisters to all the good of earth and heaven.
We have the family nams, the family dress,
the family keys, the family wardrobe. The
Father looks after us, robes us. defends us,
blesses us. We have royal blood in our
veins, and there are crowns in our line. II
we are His children, then princes and prin.
cesses. 1t is only a question of time when
we get our coronet. Adopted! Then we
have the family secrets. 1.-The secret OF the
Lord Is with them that fear Him." Adopted!
Then we have the family Inheritance, and in
the day when u 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 oil 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 Yves
ley, that prince Of hymnmakers, 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 have been told that when any OF the
members Of any of the great secret societies
II this country are in a distant city and are
In any kind OF trouble, and are set upon by
enemies, they have only to give a certain
signal and the members of that organization
will flock around for defense. And when
any man belongs to this great Christian
brotherhood, IL he gets in trouble, in trial.
AR p0ASCtukAOAS al SlnPIAllOh hu lhD OhAJ ~
show this ring Of Christ's adoption, n ali
the armed cohorts of heaven will come to
his rescue.
Still further, when Christ takes a soul into
His love He puts upon it a marriage ring.
Now, that is not a whim Of mine (Hosea H.,
19), 81 will betroth thee unto Me forever;
yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in right
e~ousness, and In judgment, and in loving
kindness, and In mercies.' At the wedding
altar the br. degroom puts a ring upon the
hand OF the bride, signifying love and faith
iulness. Trouble may come upon the house
hold. and the carpets may go, the pictures
may 60, the plano may go, everything else
may go-the last thing that goes Is that
marriage ring. for 1t is considered sacred.
In the burial hour 1t is Withdrawn from the
hand and kept in q casket, n sometimes
the box Is opened on an anniversary day,
and as you look at that ring you see under
Its arch a long procession of precious mem
cries. Within tue golden circ e Of that ring
there Is room for a thousand sweet recollec-
tons to ~revolve, n you think OF the great
between the hour when, at the close
Of the wedding march, under the flashing
lights and amid the aroma of orange bios
loms, you set that ring on the round finger
Of the plump hand, and that hour when at
the close of the exhaustive watching, wnen
you knew that he soul had fed, you took
hon the hand, which gave back no respon-
sive clasp, from that emaciated finger. the
ding that she had worn SO long and worn so
we'll.
On some anniversary day you up that
ding, and you poiisn It Until all me Old luster
comes back, and you can see in 1t the Rash
Of eyes that long ago ceased to weep. oh, II
Il not an unmeaning thing when 1 tell you
that when Christ receives a soul into HIS
keeping He puts on 1t a 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, In
hope.
There is no power on earth or hell to efec,
a enforcement after Christ and b soul are
united. Other kings nave turned out their
companions when they got weary OF them
and sent them adrift from the palace gate.
Ahasuerus banished Yashti; Napoleon for.
sook Josephine, but Christ is the husband
that Is true forever. Having loved you once,
He loves you to the end. Did they not tt9
to divorce Margaret. the Scotch girl. from
JesusY They said. "You must give up your
religion" She said; u can't give up my
RELIGION And 50 they took her down TO
the beach OF the sea. and they drove in q
stake at low water mark, and they fastened
her to 1t, 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 mo-
pept iust ~ thu was washing he.