Sharp County record., 1890-04-10
ANGELIC D0INGS.
Discourse by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage About Angels.
Classical and Secular Theories ADout the
Heavenly Hosts COmbated-Ihe
Angel World Divided and
Classified.

DtlllHs
And the angels did wondrously.-Judges
Kill, 49,
Fire built on rock ManOah and his
wife had there kindled the flames ior
sacrifice in praise of God, and in honor
of a guest whom they supposed to be a
man. But; as the flame rose higher ana
higher, their stranger stepped into the
flame and by one red leap ascended ln'o
the skies. Then they knew that he was
an angel of the Lord.
The angel did wondrously.
Two hundred and forty-eight times
does the Bible refer to the angels yet L
never heard or read a sermon on angel
ology. The whole subject is relegated
to the realm mythical, weird, spectral
and unknown. Such adjournment Is
unscriptural and wicked. OF their lIIe'
their character, their habits, their ac-
tions, their velocities, the Bible gives
US fuIl-length portraits and why TINS
prolonged and absolute silence concern
ing them? Angelology is my theme
There are two nations Of angels and
they are hostile to each other; the ma
ton Of good angels and the nation
Of bad angels. Of the former l chlehy
speak to-day. Their capital, their head
quarters, their grand rendezvous IS
Heaven, but their empire is the uni
verse. They are a distinct race OF
creatures. No human being can ever
Join their confraternity. The little
child who in the Sabbath-schooL Sings
81 want to be an angel" will never
have her wish gratified. Ihey are
superhuman; but they are of different
grades and ranks, not all on the same
level, or the same height, They nave
their superiors and interiors aud equals
| propose no guessing on this SUBJECT
but take the Bible for my only author
ity. Plato, the philosopher, guessed
and divided angels into super-celeStlaI'
celestial and sub-celestial. DionysluS,
the Areopagite, guessed, and divided
them into three classes-the supreme,
the middle and the last-and each OF
these into three other classes, making
nine in all. Philo saia that the angels
were related to God, as the rays to the
sun. Fulgentfus said that they were
composed of body and spirit. Clement
said they we're incorporeal. Augustine
said that they had been in danger OF
falling, but now are beyond being
tempted.
But the only authority or this sub
iect that l respect says they are
divided into Cherubim, Seraphlm,
Thrones. Dominations, Principalities,
Powers. Their commander-in-chief is
Michael. Daniel called him Michael,
supernal beings are more thoroughly
organized than any army that ever
marched. They are swifter than any
cyclone that ever swept the sea. They
are more radiant than any morning that
ever came down the sky. They have
more to do with your destiny and mine
than any being in the universe except
God. May the Angel of the New Cove
nant, who is the Lord Jesus open our
ewes and touch our tongue and rouse our
soul while we speak of their deathless-
ness, their intelligence, their numbers.
their strength, their achievements.
Yes, deathless. They had a cradle,
but will never have a grave. The Lord
remembers when they were born, but
no one shall ever see their eye extin-
guished. or their momentum slow up, or
their existence terminate. The Oldest
of them has not wrinkle, or decrepl-
tude, or a hinderance; as young after
six thousand years as at the close OF
their first hour. Christ said of the good
in Heaven, Neither can they die any
more. for they are equal unto the an
GELS" Yes, deathless are these wonder
full creatures of whom | speak They
will see world after world go out, but
there shall be no fading Of their own
brilliance. Yea, after the last world
has taken its last fight they will be
ready for the widest circuit throughout
immensity, taken quadrillion of miles
in one sweep as easy as pigeon circles
dove-cote. They are never sick. They
are never exhausted. They need no
sleep, for they are never tired AtGod's
command they smote with death, in one
night, one hundred and eighty-fve
thousand of Sennacherib's host but no
fatality can smite them. Awake, agile,
multipotent, deathless, immortal.
A further characteristic of these
radiant folk is intelligence. The wom-
an of Tekoah was right when she
spoke to King David of the wisdom of
an angel. We take in what little we
know through eye and ear and noStril
and touch; but those beings have no
physical encasement and hence they
are all senses. 4 wall five feet thick is
not solid to them. Through it they go
without disturbing flake Of crystal of
sand. Knowledge 1t flashes on them.
They take it in at all points. They
absorb it. They gather it up without
any hinderment No need of literature
for them. The letters of their books
are stars. The dashes of their books
are meteors. The words of their books
are consultations. The paragraphs of
their books are galaxies. The pictures
of their books are sunrise, and sunsets,
and midnight auroras, and the Con-
oueror on the white horse with the moon
under His feet, and seas of glass mingled
with fire. Their library S an open