The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-05-29


excites inquisitiveness on their part
That is theme that strains their facul-
ties to the utmost. That is higher than
they can climb, and deeper than they
can dive. They have a 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. If all
Heaven should study it for fifty eterni-
ties they would get no further than the
A b G of that inexhaustible subject.
But nearly all other realms of knowl-
edge they have ransacked and explored
and eompassed. No one but God can
tell them any thing they do not know.
They have read to the last word of the
last line of the last page of the last vol
ume of investigation. And what de-
lights me most is that all their intelli-
gence is to be at our disposal, and,
coming into their presence, they will
tell US in five minutes more than we
can learn by one hundred years of
surmising.
A further characteristic of these i'm
mortals is their velocity. This the
Bible puts sometimes under the figure
of wings, sometimes under the figure of
flowing garment, sometimes under the
figure of naked feet. As these super
humans are without bodies these ex-
pressions are, of course, figurative, 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,
did the angel Gabriel have to fly in
those. moments of Daniels prayer?
Heaven is thought to be the center of
the universe. Our sun and its planets
only the rim of the wheels of worlds
In a moment the angel Gabriel flew
from that center to this periphery.
Jesus told Peter he could instantly
have sixty thousand angels present if
He called for them. What foot of ante
lope or wing of albatross could equal
that velocity? Law of gravitation,
which grips all things else, has
no influence upon angelic mo-
mentum. Immensities before them
open and shut like fan. That
they are here is no reason why they
should not be quintillion of miles
hence the next minute. Our bodies
hinder US, but our minds can circle the
earth in minute. Angelic beings are
bodiless and have no limita ton. God
may with His finger point down to some
world fpnu b1o IN thu OJ7{,9 Nof 70
of creation, and instantly an angelic
cohort are theFs to help it. Or some
celestial may be standing at the fur
thermost outpost of immensely. and God
may say Gomez and instantly it is in
His bosom. Abraham, Elijah, Hagar,
Joshua, Gideon, Manoah, Paul, st. John,
could tell of their unhindered locomo-
ton. The red feet of summer light
ming are slow compared with their he
giras. This doubles up and congresses
infnitudes into inffnitesimals. This puts
all the astronomical heavens into space
like the balls of child's rattle. This
mingles into one the here and the
there, the now and the then, the be-
yond and the yonder.
Another remark have to make con-
corning these i1lustrious immortals is
that they are multitudinous., Their
census has never been taken, and no
one but God knows how many they are,
but all the Bible accounts suggest their
immense numbers. Companies of them,
mountain tops haloed by them; skies
popnlous with them. John speaks of an
gels and other beings round the throne
as ten thousand times ten thousand.
Now, according to my calculation, ten
thousand times ten thousand are one
hundred million. But these are only
the angels in one place. David counted
twenty thousand OF them rolling down
the sky in ehariots. When God came
away from pthe riven rocks of Mount
Sinai the Bible says He had the COM
panionship of ten thousand angels. 1
think they are in every battle, in every
exigency, at every birth, at every
pillow, at every hour, at every moment.
The earth full of them. The heavens
full of them. They outnumber the
human race in this world. They out
number ransomed spirits in glory.
When Abraham had his knife up-lifted
to slay Isaac. 1t was an angel who ar
rested the stroke, crying:
Abraham! Abraham
1t was stairway of angels that Ja-
cob saw while pillowed in the wider
ness. We are told an angel led the
hosts of Israelites out of Egyptian serf-
dom. 1t was an angel that showed Ha-
gar the fountain where she filled the
bottle for the lad. 1t was an angel that
took Lot out of doomed Sodom. 1t was
an angel that shut up the mouth of the
hungry monsters when Daniel was
thrown into the caverns. It was an an
gel that fed Elijah under the juniper
tree. 1t was an angel that announced
to Mary the approaching nativity. There
were angels that chanted when Christ
was born. 1t was an angel that strength
ened our Saviour in His agony. It was
an angel that encouraged Paul
in the Mediterranean shipwreck.
1t 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. It was an
angel that John saw flying through the
midst of Heaven, and an angel with