The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-04-04
THE ANGELIC HOSTS.
Dr.. Talmage Discourses on an In.
teresting Theme.
How the Bible Refers to the Angels-Theil
Superhuman Intelligence and Eternal
Extstencc-Always BY the Side
OF Mortals.

In recent sermon at Brooklyn Rev
I. De Witt Talmage took his text from
Judges xii. 10, ''And the angel dit
wondrously." He said:
Fire built on rock. Manoah and hi
wife had there kindled the flames fo
sacrifice in praise of God, and in hono
OF guest whom they. supposed to be /:
man. But as the flames rose higher ani
higher, their stranger guest stepped intt
the flames and by one red leap assembled
into the skies. Then they knew thai
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
never heard or read sermon on angel
ology. The whole subject is RELOCATED
to the realm mythical, weird, spectral
and unknown. Such adjournment is
unscriptural and wicked. OF their life,
their character, their habits, their
action, their velocities the Bible gives
full length portraits and why this pro.
longed and absolute silence concerning
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 / chiefly
speak to-day. Their capital, their head
quarters, their grand rendezvous is
Heaven, but their empire is the uni
verse. They are . distinct race of
creatures No human being can ever
join their confraternity. The little
child who in the Sabbath school sings
II want to be an angel" will never have
her wish gratified. 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.
propose no guessing on this subject, but
take the Bible for my only authority.
Plato, the philosopher, guessed and
divided angels into super-celestial, ce-
lestial and sub-celestial. Dionysius,
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 said the angels were
related to God, as the rays to the sun.
Fulgentius said 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 cherubim,
seraphim, thrones, denominations, prin-
cipalities, powers. Their commander
in-chief is Michael. Daniel called him
Michael, St John called him Michael.
These supernal 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 a cradle,
but will never have grave. The Lord
remembers when they were born, but
no one shall ever see their eye ex-
or their momentum slow up.
or their existence terminate. The old
est OF them has not wrinkle, or a de-
crepitude. or hindrance; as young
after 6, 900 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
H., |
full creatures of whom 1 speak. They
will see world after world go out, but
there shall be no fading of their own
brilliance.
further characteristic of these ra-
diant folk is intelligence. The woman
of Tekoah was right when she spoke to
King David of the wisdom of an angel
We take in what little We know through
BYE and ear and nostril and touch; but
hose beings have no physical encase-
nent and hence they are all senses. A
wall five feet thick is not solid to them.
Through it they go without disturbing ]
lake Of mortar or crystal of sand. 4;
knowledge! 1t flashes on them. They
AXE it in at all points. They absorb it. {
They gather it up without any hinder ,
nent- No need of literature for them! ]
The letters of their books are stars.
The dashes of their books are me- {
eors. The words of their books are
onstellations The paragraphs of &
heir books are galaxies. The pictures {
Il their books are sunrises, and sum I
cts, and midnight auroras, and the '
onqueror on the white horse with the i
noon under his feet, and seas of glass G
mingled with fire. Their library is an !
pen universe. No need of telescope to +
ee something millions of miles away, '
or instantly they are there to inspect
nd explore it. All ASTRONOMERS, all S
eologies, all botanies, all PHILOSOPHERS /
t their feet What an opportunity for l
is theirs! What facilities 4
Or knowing every thing and knowing it t
light away! t
There is only one thing that puts v
hem to their wits end, and the Bible e
avs they have to study that. They e
ave been studying it through all the b
ges, and yet warrant they have not il
ally grasped 1.-THE wonders of re- c
emption. Those wonders are so high, II
deep, so grand, so stupendous, so G
lagnifcent that even the intelligence '
angelhood is COMPOUNDED before it. n
he apostle says: (Which things the n
ngels desire to look into" That is a
inject that excites inquisitiveness on RI
leir part That is theme that strains a
leir faculties to the utmost That is Il
igher than they can climb, and deeper 81
ian they can dive. They have desire o
n something too big for their compre- $,
ension, (Which things the angels de- t,