The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-04-09
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVlNE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Angels."
TEXT: And the angel did toondrously."

Fire built on rock. Manoah and his
wife had there kindled the flames for sacri
flee in praise of God and in honor of guest
whom they supposed to be man. But as
the flame rose higher and higher thei1
stranger guest stepped into the flame and by
they knew that he was an Angel of the Lord
1.-THE angel did wondrously."
Two hundred and forty.eight times does
the Bible refer to the angels, yet never
heard or read sermon on Angelology. The
whole subject is relegated to the realm
mythical, weird, spectral and unknown.
Such adjournment is unscriptural and
wicked. or their life, their character, their
habits, their actions, their velocities the
this prolonged and absolute silence concern
ing thems Angelology is my theme.
There are two nations Of angels, and they
are hostile to each other; the nation of good
angels and the nation of bad angels. OF the
former chiefly speak today. Their capital,
their headquarters, their grand rendezvous,
is heaven, but their empire is the universe.
They are distinct race of creatures. Nc
human being can ever join their confrater.
nifty. The little child who in the Sabbath
school sings, ~ want to be an angel" will
never have her wish gratifed. They are su.
perhuman: but they are of different grades
and ranks. not 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-celes-
tial, celestial and sub-celestial. Dionysius, the
Areopagite, guessed, and divided them into
three classes-the supreme, the middle and
the last-aud each of these into three other
classes, making nine in all.
Pbi1o cai5 Sbat ha oppnlc yrprp rolatpd tn
God, as the rays to the sun. Fulgentlus said
that they were composed of body and spirit.
Clement said they were ineorporeal. Au.
! gustine said that they had been in danger Of
falling, but now are beyond being tempted.
/ But the only authority on this subject that
7 respect says they are divided into Cheru-
BIN, Seraphim, Thrones, Dominations, Prin-
cipalities, Powers. Their commander-in-
chief is Michael Daniel called him Michael.
St. John called him Michael. These 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 morn
ing 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 Covenant, who is the
Lord Jesus, open our eyes, and touch our
tongue, and rouse our soul, while we speak OF
their deathlessness, their intelligence, their
numbers, their strength, their achievements.
Yes, deathless. They had cradle, but
will never have grave. The Lord remenl-
bers when they were born, but no one shall
ewes see their eye extinguished, or their mo-
mentum slow up, or their existence term
mate The oldest of them has not a wrinkle,
OF a decrepitude, or hindrance; 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 angels" Yes, death
less are these wonderful creatures of whom l
speak They will see world after world 60
out, but there shall be no fading of their own
briliance Yea, after the last world has
taken its last flight they will be ready for the
widest circuit through immensity, taking
auadrilion of miles in one sweep rs easy as
pigeon circles dovecot. They are never
sick. They are never exhausted. They need
no Sleep tor they are never tired. At Gods
command they smote with death, in one
night, one hundred and eighty-five thousand
of Sennacherib's host but no fatality can
smite them. Awake, agile, multipotent,
deathless, immortall
A further characteristic Of these radiant
folk is intelligence. The woman Of Tekoah
vas 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 nos
tril and touch; but those beings have no
physical encasement and hence they are all
senses. A wall five feet thick is not solid to
them. Through it they 60 without disturb
ing fake of mortar or crystal of sand. Knowl-
edge! II flashes on them. They take it In at
ali points. They absorb it. They gather it
up without any Underwent. No need OF
literature for theml 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 ealaxies. The pictures Of their books are
sunrises, and sunsets, and midnight auroras,
and the Conqueror on tho 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 some
thing millions Of miles away, for instantly
they are there to inspect and explore it. All
ASTRONOMERS, all geologies, all botanies all
PHILOSOPHERS at their feet. What an oppor-
tunity for intelligence is theirs! What facili-
ties for knowing everything and knowing 1t
right away.
There is only one thing that puts them to
their wits end, and the Bible says they have
to study that. They have been studying 1t
all through the ages, and yet warrant they
have not fully grasped 1.-THE wonders OF Re-
demption. These wonders are so high, so
deep, so grand, so stupendous, so magnificent,
that even the intelligence of angelhood is con-
founded before it. The apostle SAYS: Which
things the angels desire to look into." That
is subject that excites inquisitiveness on
faculties to their utmost That is higher than
they can climb, and deeper than they can
dive. They havea desire for som nething too
big for their comprehension. (Which things
the angels desire to look into" Bu: that does
,ot discredit their intelligence. No on, but
God Himself can fully understand the Won.
iers Of Redemption. II all heaven should
study it for fifty eternities they would get no
further than the A B G of that ine1haustible
subject But nearly all other realms of
knowledge they have ransacked and explored
and compassed. No one but God can tell
them anything they do not know. They have
last page of the last volume of investigation.
And what delights me most is that all their
intelligence is to be at our disposal, and, conf
ing into their presence they will tell us i'll
Eve minutes more than we can learn by one
hundred years of earthly surmising.
A further characteristic of these inn
mortals is their velocity. This the Bible
puts sometimes under the figure of wings,
sometimes under the figure of flowing gar
meut, sometimes under the figure OF naked
feet. As these sunerhumans are without
DOuleS GheSe eAplessiohs aio VI Sout 90 ny,
ative, and mean swiftness. The Bible tells
us that Daniel was praying, and Gabriel flew
from heaven and touched him before he ggot
up from his knees. How far, then, did
the Angel Gabriel. have to fly in those
moments of naniels prayer? Heaven
is thougn... to he the center of the unit mi
ge'*e Our sun and its planets only the
rim OF the wheel OF worlds IN mo
ment mel 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 antelope
or wing of albatross could equal that. veloG
ity: Law of gravitation, which grips oil
things else, has no influence upon angelic