Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-05-04

lhoulLle8 70 % addressed kN0o1 pudaNa-
ing like faculties can address them.
Again, there is manifest propriety IN
CONSIDERING the spirits of human beings
angels, both guardian n ministerial,
From their very nature n constitution
thew are best adapted to the work Of
Guardianship and ministratiOn, snd the
work is best adapted to their growth and
development. Work employment Is
heavens great law Of growth, whether In
the works OF nature as we behold them
in mans natural being, his mental nature,
OF his spiritual development here, and
when be passes into the spiritual world
OF which this is a type. The kingdom OF
grace and the kingdom Of glory are but
one, differing in degree, and the great
principle OF action is, we think, neces-
ssry for development. Man, in the in
naturalization of his spirit, joins upon
the divine, and includes within himself
the last of finite individuality, His moral
dignity will never be known fully until
the eternal world shall reveal it to all
when the Divine image shall be stamped
again upon his redeemed and glOrihed
nature.
The question to be discussed is whether
spirits Of departed human beings of any
character have ever been in communioa
ton with men on earth. The belief that
the spirits of human beings who have left
their earthly forms have been in COM
municstiOn with men In the earthly form
is as universal as faith in the immortality
of the soul. All the ancient doctrines of
necromsucy and divinatiOn attest such
an opinion, and these doctrines, in one
form or other, have been received and
taught as verities among all nations recog-
niziag the existence of a future life.
Jews snd Christians, in their sacred Scrip
lures, have published such COmmUnica-
tions to tbs world as facts not to be ques-
toned. The fact of communication be-
tween spiritual beings and minds in the
BODY is fundamental to all systems of
religious faith. Take away from the
Scriptures all the accounts Of spiritual
manifestations through the insJru-
mentality Of spiritual or angelic be-
ings. and the faith of the world
in the Bible, as a book Of spiritual nan
festatiOns, is at an end. Those who deny
the actua!ity or possibility OF spiritual
manifestations through the agency Of de-
parted human beings, and yet affirm the
Bible is a Yeritable history Of mantfesta-
tions and communications, through the
agency of angelic or spiritual beings,
have, SIS we conceive, misunderstood the
pIainest teachings of that blessed book.
They say, (my friend, Mr.. Graves, in
cluded), the angels are another and diff
fereut class of beings from those who OnCe
lived here and inhabited the human form.
To this I cannot agree, for many strong
and substantial reasons, a few Of which
we propose to notice.
l. Angelic beings, mentioned under eve
ry dispeuastiOn, appear in human form,
speaking the human language, exercising
the faculties of the human mind, both in
respect to thought, feeling and sentiment.
They seem to possess no character which
does not belong to the human spirit. They
nowhere claim any different origin, and so
far as the harmony and uniformity of the
Divine government is concerned, 10 Is inn
possible to conceive of any other method
of creating or forming finite human in
LelligeuCes than that which is involved in
the formation of b human spirit. That
angels, as individual messengers for good
or for evil, are finite beings, no one will
deny; that so far As they have revealed
themselves, or have been revealed, to
the world they are such as human spirits
are capable of becoming, is evident.
It is a resident, living truth. Hence, to
infer that angelic beings are other than
the spirits of those who once inhabited
the human form is unphilOsOphical as it is
uuscripJursl, As we expect to prove 70 8
moral demonstration. That the human
spirit has the capacity of the angels will
hardly be denied by any who have stud
led mans origin, history and destiny,
as revealed in the Bibls-man, as the
son and child of the Infinite. He Is be-
gotten of the highest possible imsge. He
is capable OF coming INTO the highest
with God, his
Father. Angels are The unfolding human
spirits-thOse who have, under the Divine
government, gone before US, Individual
izing in their existence and perfeCting
their characters. They are those who
commenced earlier than ourselves study
ing the character and work of their Father
heaven. They have laid aside their
body and have put On their spir-
itual body Tor inner man, as st. Paul
calls it, In that body they visited the
of men on earth, where they once
lived and labOred, as we are doing. There
is as real and tangible a world around US
to spiritual beings as the material world
is to natural beings. Matter is no Qbstruc-
ton TO spirit; like its type, electricity, it
penetrates and permeates 1t perhaps
throughout the physical universe. The
empty space, as 10 is sometimes called, has
countless mvrlads of living, spiritual be-
ings, some of whom have manifested
themselves to men in Olden times, as We
shall show from the Bible account given
rs.
For these and many other reasons, I
affirm that the angels are the spirits Of
departed human beings; that it is part Of
their mission a. angels to assist by in-
structiOn, and other means, the unfolding
and perfecting of those who need their as
s~istance, and this is a work of love they
are performing, and that which is most
needed for their own development.
God has more use for his
creatures in the spiritual han he has in
the natural world, then they lay aside
their natural body, out Of which comes
their spiri ual body, adapted TO the world
unto which 10 enters. L. Is still engaged
m carrying out the plans OF the Divine
government, in a new sphere, and with
greatly increased facilities for doing the
will Of God in Paradise as they have done
IN this infant, chrysalis state Of being.
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
The Bible, az 1 understand it, teaches
hat mankind, when they put of the clay
tenement, 20 TO what may be called the
intermediate state, or Paradise. They do
not enter into their hnal abiding place,
wait, 50 to speak, till the affairs of
his present state of existence shall have
been consummsted. II I recognized
human opinions OF authority in this dis
,%ussiOn, I could quote the highest OF
human authority, aud say there is moth
ng in the Bible TO warrant such belief.
says one of them 1t is indeed very gem
orally supposed that The souls of good
as soon as thev are discharged from
he body, 20 directly TO heaven; but this
opinion has not the least foundation In
he oraclss of God Another, occupy
the highest position known in Pro-
church, says: n n has eVsr
ret been saved i'm heaven; no one sent to
Our Savior said to the penitent
hief on the cross: "This day shalt thou
% with me in Paradise" After his res
erection, he said to Mary: II have
yet ~asceended TO my Father and your
father" This state may be surrounded /
~ several localities, known
1. In the scriptures as "Outer dark
less." Hence the influence prevailing
.ere is called the "prince of the power Of
he air"
2. A place known as one Of happiness
nd delight, called Paradise, where the
God, the pure and the true are found in
heir appropriate place, and become
sngels-"ministering spirits
ent forth TO minister for them who shall
% heirs of salvation" Heb. 1. IA
3. A place wherein is found that high
exalted condition OF spirit, that can
and realize the Divine presence,
Ot in manifestation only, but ia being
7here those who have been born Of the
pirit, baptized by the Holy Chest into
.hrist, and have put on Cbrist-a place
nd condition called the Third Heaven"
he Paradise of God.
While in this present state OF probation,
70 are fitting ourselves for the one or the
Their of these places. We may become
lied to angels OF the third heaven, or we
debass our natures to the low and de-
radsd condition OF "Outsr darkness"
here there is weeping and wsiling.
1t is e beautiful, glorious truth, hat
nder the Divine government to each man
committed the keys of the Kingdom Of
BY his wi state and condition
3 can determine his own associations and
ieir influence, both here and hereafter.
o makes his own place, and by the great
UNIVERSAL law of affinity, be is attracted
it.
1t is a fundamental principle that man
a spirit as well as an animal his
nature mortal, his spiritual