The intelligencer., 1890-03-29
TIE ANGELIC HOSTS.
Dr. Talmage Discourses on an In.
terestlng Theme.
How the bible Refers to the AngeIs-rhsIr
Superhr':,sn Intelligence and Eternal
E1iAtsncs-Alwsys by the side
OF MortaIA.

~ @luu Iuo HnRel ulO
wondrously." He said:
FIRE built Oh rock. Manoah and his
"uo LAD there kindled the flames for
sacrlnce In praise OF God, and In honor
OF guest whom they supposed to be @
man. But as the flames rose higher and
higher, their stranger guest stepped into
tne names and by one red leap ascended
INTO the skies. Then they knew that
ne was an angel of the Lord THE
angel did wondrously"
: Two hundred and forty-eight times
does the Bible refer to the angels, yet !
never heard or read sermon on angel
loiogy. The whole subject is relegated
70 the realm mythical, weird, spectral
ana unknown. Such adjournment ia
unsoriptural and cked. OF their life,
their character. their habits, their
action, their velocities tho Bible gives
tull length portraits and why this pro-
longed and absolute silence concerning
them7 Angelology is my theme.
There are Swc nations OF angels and
they are hostile to each other-the ma.
ton OF good an rels and the nation Of
bad angels Of tho former / chiefly
speak to-day. Their capital, their head.
quarters, their grand rendezvous 10
Heaven, but their empire is the uni.
verse, They are q distinct race OF
creatures No human being can ever
jon their confraternity. The little
ch Id who in the Sabbath school sings
81 want to be an angel" will never have
her wish gratifled. They are super
human, but they are of different grades
and ranks, not at all on the same level
or the same height. They have their
superiors and interiors and equals- I
propose no guessing on this subject, but
take the b BILE for my only authority.
Plato, the philosopher, guessed and
divided angels into super-oeiestial, CO.
lestial and sub-celestiaL Dionysius,
the Areopagite, guessed and div ded
them into three classes4-the supreme,
the middle and the last-and each of
these into three other classes, making
nine in all Philo said the angels were
selated to God, as the rays to the sun.
Fulgentius sa they were composed Of
body and spirit Clement said they
were incoporeal. Augustine said they
had been In danger of falling, but now
are beyond being tempted. But the only
authority on this subject that respect
says they are divided into eherubim,
seraphim, thrones denominations, prin-
oipalities, powers. Their commander
1n-chtef ts Michael. Daniel called him
Michael, St John called him Michael.
These supernsl beings are more thor
oughly organized than any army that
ever marched. They are swifter than
any cyclone that ever SWEET the sea.
They are more radiant than any morn
Ing that ever came down the sky They
have more to do with your destiny and
mine than any being in the universe ex-
cept God. May the Angel Of the New
Covenant, who is the Lord Jesus, open
our eyes and touch our tongue and rouse
our soul, while we speak OF their death
lessness. their Intelligence. their num-
bers. their strength. their achievements.
Yes. deathless. They had q cradle
but will mover have q grave. Tho Lord
remembers when they were born, but
no one shall ever see their eye ex-
4inguished. or their momentum slow up,
or their existence terminate. The old
est Of them has not wrinkle, or de-
crepitude. or n hindrance; as young
after 5000 years as at the close Of their
drst hour. Christ said of the good In
Heaven: "Neither can they die any
moro, 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
brillianoe.
A further characteristic Of these rs-
diant folk is intelligence Tho woman
OF Tekosh was right when che spoke TO
King David OF the wisdom Of an angel
We take in what little we know through
eye and ear aud nostril and touch; but
those beings have no physical encase-
mont and hence they are all senses A
wall five feot thick is not solid TO them.
Through IL they go without disturbing
fake of mortar or crystal of sand,
Knowledgei Ii flashes on them. They
take 1t in at all points. They absorb It
They gather 1t up without any hinder
ment No mood OF literature for themi
The letters of their books are stars.
The dashes Of their books are mo.
teors. The words Of their books are
considerations The paragraphs OF.
their books are gslaxies The pictures
Of their books arc sunrises, snd sun
sets. and midnight auroras, aud the
couqueror on the white horse with the
moon under his feet, and seas Of glass
mingled with FIRE. Their library is an
open universe. No need Of telescope to
see something millions Of miles away,
for instantly they are there to inspect
and explore 1t All astronomies, all
Teologies, all botanies. all PHILOSOPHERS
ct their feet What an opportunity for
Intelligence .is theirs, What fscilities
for knowing every thing and knowing 1t
right awayl
There 10 only one thing that puts
them to their wits end, and the Bible
ssys they have to study that They
have been studying 1t through all the
ages. and yet warrant they have not
fully grasped its-the wonders of re-
dempt!on. Those wonders are SO high.
% deep. 80 grand, SO stupendous, 80
magnificent that even the intelligence
OF angelhood IS confodnded before It
The apostle says: (Which things the
sngels desire TO look into" That Is Q
subject that excites inquisitiveness on
their part. That Is theme that strains
their faculties TO tho utmost That Is
higher than they can climb, and deeper
than they can dive. They have desire
for something too big for their compre-
hension, (Which things the angels de-
sire TO look into" But that does not
discredit their intelligence No one but
God Himself can fully understand the
wonders Of redemption
A further characteristics OF those inn.
mortals is their velocity. This the Bible
puts sometimes under the figure Of
wings, sometimes under the figure Of Q
lowing garment sometimes under the
figure of naked feet. As these super
humans are without bodies these ex.
pressions are Of course hgurative and
mean swiftness. The Bible tells US that
Daniel was praying and Gabriel few
from Heaven and touched him before he
got up from his knees How far, then,
diA che angel Gabriel have TO hy in those
moments Of Daniels prayer Heaven 10
Thoughts to be the center OF the uni
verse. Our sun and It's planets only the
rim OF the wheel OF worlds. In mo-
ment the angel Gabriel few from that
center TO this periphery. Jesus told
Peter He could instantly have sixty
thousand angels present II He called |
tor them. What foot Of antelope or |
wing OF batrosS could equal that ye- |
locityi Law Of gravitaton, VIII Gu grips |
AL tn ngs else, has no influence upon |
angelic momentum. lmmensit 81 be- |
fore them open and shut like fan.
That they are here Is no reason why |
they should not be a quntillion Of |
miles hence the next minute. Our |