and heaven. We have the family name, 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. If we are His children, then princes and
princesses. It is only a question of time when we get our coronet.
Adopted! Then we have the family secrets. "The 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 prince 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."

I have been told that when any of the members of any of the great
secret societies of 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, if he gets in trouble, in trial, in persecution, in
temptation, he has only to show this ring of Christ's adoption, and
all 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: "And I will betroth
thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in
mercies." (Hosea ii: 19.) At the wedding altar the bridegroom puts a
ring upon the hand of the bride, signifying love and faithfulness.
Trouble 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 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the burial hour it is withdrawn from the hand and kept in a casket,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 a l