The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-04-03


strengthened our Saviour in His agony, II was
an angel that encouraged Paul in the Med.
iterranean shipwreck. Ii was an angel that
burst open the prison, gate after gate, until
Peter was liberated. 1t was an angel that
stirred the Pool OF Sloan where the sick
were healed. 1t was an angel tha6 John saw
flying through the midst OF heaven, and an
angel with foot planted on the sea, and an
angel that opened the book, and an angel that
sounded the trumpet, and an angel that
thrust in the sickle and an angel that poured
out the vials, aud an angel standing in the
sun. II will DO an angel with uplifted hand.
swearing that time shall be no longer In
the great final harvest OF the world the
reapers are the angels. Yea, the
Lord shall be revealed from heaven
with mighty angels, Oh, the numbers
supernals Fleets Of thsml Squadrons OF
theml Host beyond host! Rank above
rankl Millions on millions! And all on our
side II we will have them.
This leads me to speak Of the offices OF
these supernals. To defend, to cheer, TO res.
cue, to escort to give victory to the right
and overthrow the wrong, that il their bust
ness. just as alert to-day and efficient as
when in Bible times they spread wing, or
unsheatbed sword, or rocked down peniten-
tiaries, or filled the mountains with horses of
fire hitched to chariots OF fire and driven bv
reinsmen of fire. They have turned your
steps q hundred times, and you knew it not.
You were on the way to do some wrong
thing, and they changed your course. They
brought some thought OF Christian parent
age or of loyalty TO your own home and
that arrested you. They arranged that some
one should meet you at that crisis, and pro-
pose something honorable and elevating, or
they took from your pocket some ticket to
evil amusement, ticket that you never
found. 1t was an angel of God, and perhaps
the very one that guided you to this service,
and that now waits to report some holy
impression to be this morning made
upon your soul, tarrying with one foot
upon the doorstep Of your immortal spirit
and the other foot lifted for ascent info the
skies. BY some prayer detain him until he
can tell of a repentant and ransomed soul!
Or you were some time borne down with
trouble, bereavement persecution, bank
ruptcy, sickness and all manner Of troubles
beating their discords in your heart and life.
You gave up; you said: ~ cannot stand it
any longer. I believe will take my life.
Where is the rail train or the deep wave. or
the precipice that will end this torment of
earthly existenceg' But suddenly your mind
frightened Courage came surging into
your heart like oceanic tides. You said:
"God is on my side AMI all these adversities
He can make turn out formy good" Sud-
denly YOU felt peace, a deep peace, the
peace Of God that passeth all understanding.
What made the changer A sweet, and
mighty, and comforting angel of the Lord
met you. That was all.
What an incentive to purity and righteous
ness is this doctrine that we are continually
interchangeable observationl Eyes ever on
you, so that the most secret misdeed is COM
mitted in the midst of an audience of im-
mortals No doors so bolted, no darkness SO
INN ariop no To bipdnr fhat rpol ava
sight. Not critical eyesght, not jealous
eyesight, not baleful eyesight but friendly
eyeSght sympathetic eyesight helpful eye
sight. Confidential clerk Of store, with great
responsibility on your shoulder, and no ono
to applaud your work when you do it well,
and sick with the worlds iugratitude, think
of the angels in the counting-room raptured
at your fidelity Mother of household, stitch
ing, mending, cooking, busting, planning, up
half the night or all night with the sick child,
day in and day out, year in and year out
worn with the monotony of life that no one
seems to care for think Of the angels in the
nursery, angels in all the rooms of your toll
ing, angels about the sick cradle and all in
sympathy!
Railroad engineer, with hundreds of lives
hanging on your wrist, standing amid the
cinders and the smutch, round the sharp
curve and by appalling declivity, discharged
and disgrace1 if you make a mistake, but not
one word of approval if you take all the
trains in safety for ten years, think of the
angels by the throttle valve, angels by the
roaring furnace of the engine, angels looking
from the overhaugiug crag, angels bracing
the racing wheels off the precipice, angels
when you mount the thunderbolt of train
and angels when you dismount Can you
not hear them louder than the jamming of
the car coupling, louder than the bell at the
crossing, louder than the whistle that sounds
like the scream of flying iiend, the an.
gelic voices saying: You did it well!
Of engineers it is because l ride SO much
with them. always accept their invitation
| to join them on their locomotive, because l
| not only get to my destination sooner, but
because they are about the grandest men
alive.
| Men and women of all circumstances, only
partly appreciated, or not appreciated at all,
never feel lonely again, or unregarded asainl
| Angels all around; angels to approve, angels
to help angels TO remember. Yea, while all
the good angelsare friends of the good, there
is one special agent your body guard. This
idea, until this present study of angelology,
supposed to be fanciful, but find it clearly
stated in the Bible. When the disciples were
| praying for Peters deiverance from prison,
and he appeared at the door Of the prayer
| Meeting, they could not believe it was Peter.
They said: ut is his angel" So these dis
clples, IN special nearness to Christ, evidently
believed that every worthy soul has an angel
Jesus said of His followers. Their angels be.
hold the face of My Father" Elsewhere it
is said: HE shall give His angels charge over
thee, to keep thee in all thy ways" Angel
shielded, angel protected, angel guarded,
| angel canopied, art thou No wonder that
Charles Wesley hymned these words:
Which of the petty Kings OF earth
Can boast a guard like ours,
| Encrcled from our second birth
with all the heavenly powers?
| Valerius and Rufinus were pus to death for
| Christs sake in the year 2S7, aud, after the
| day when their bodies had been whipped and
| pounde1 into a Jelly, in the night in prison,
and before the next day when they were to
| be executed, they both thought they saw
angels standing with two glittering crowns
| saying: 'Bs of good cheer, valiant soldiers
| of Jesus Christ! little more Of battle and
| then these crowns are yours" And l am
| glad to know that before many of those who
| nave passed through great sulferings in this
| life some angel Of God has held blazing
| coronet Of eternal reward.
| Yea; we are to have such guardian angel
| to take lis upward when our work is done.
| You know we are told an angel conducted
| Lazarus to Abraham's bosom. That shows
| that none shall be so poor in dying he cannot
| afford angelic escort 1t would be a long way
10 80 uOle, ant up pabuS we nhVe uoFtT
| trod, and amid blazing worlds swinging in
| unmaginable momentum, out and on through
| such distances and across such intnitudes of
space, We should shu1dar at the thought Of
| going alone. But the angelic escort will
| come to your languishing pillow or the place
of your fatal accident and says: Hail, inn
| mortal onel All is we'll; God hath sent me
| to take you home;' aud without tremor or
slightest sense Of peril you will ava and
upward, further on and further on until
| after awhile heaven heaves in sight, and the
| rumble of chariot wheels, and the roll of
| mighty harmonies are heard in the dis
| lance. and nearer you come aud nearer
| still, until the brightness is like many morn
| ings sufused into one, and the gates lift and
| you are inside the amethystine walls, and on
| the banks OF the jasper sea, forever safe, for
| ever free, forever well, forever rested, for
ever united, forever happy. Mothers, don't
| think Jour little children go alone when they
| quit this world. Out of your arms into an
| gelic arms. Out of sickness into health. Out
| Of the cradle into Saviours bosom. Not an
instant will the darlings be alone between the
| two kisses the last kiss OF earth and the first
| kiss of heaven. snow, angels, do your
work. cried an expiring Christian.
Yes. a guardian angel for each one OF you.
| Put yourself now i'll accord with him. When
he suggest the right, follow it. When he
| warns you against the wrong, shuu it, Sent
ii hall hat