Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-04-04

ment the Angel Gabriel few from that center
to this periphery. Jesus told Peter He could
instantly have sixty thousand angels present
If He called for them. W hat foot OF antelope
or wing Of albatross could equal that yeloc-
itv? Law of gravitation, which grips all
things else, has no influence upon angelic
momentum. 1nmensities before them open
and shut like fan. That they are here Is no
reason why they should not be a quirtillioD
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 limitation. God may with
His finger point down to some world
in trouble On the outmost limits Of
creation, and instantly an angelic
cohort are there to help it. Or some celestial
may be standing at the furthermost outpost
Of immensely, and God may say Come
and instantly it is in His bosom. Abraham
Elijah Hagar, Joshua, Gideon. Manoah
Paul st. John, could tell OF tEc;7 unhindered
locomotiOn. The red feet of summer light
ming are slow compared with their hegiras
This doubles up and congresses infnitudes
into infnitesimals This puts all the astro-
nomlcal heavens into a space like the balls of
a child's rattle. This mingles into one the
Here and the There, the Now and the Then
the Beyond and the Yonder.
Another remark have to make concern
ing these illustriOus 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, regiments Of them, armies of them.
mountain tops haloed by them. skies popu-
lous with them. John speaks of angels 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 twen-
ty thousand Of them rolling down the sky in
0ha rinfS xCTle fho
riven rocks of Mount Sinai, the Bible says He
had the cOmpanionship of ten thousand an
gels. | think they are in every battle, in
every exigency, at every birth, at every pill
low, 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 outnumber ransomed spirits in
glory. When Abraham had his knife up
lifted to Stay Isaac, it was an angel who ar
rested the stroke, crying: Abraham! Abra-
hamw 1t was a stairway of angels that ia
,ob saw while pillowed in the wilderness.
We are told an angel led the hosts of Israel
ties out of Egyptian 5erfdom. 1t was ali an
gel that showed Hagar the fountain where
she filled the bottle for the lad. It 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. 1t was an angel that fed
Elijah under the juniper tree. 1t was an an
gel that announced to Mary the approaching
nativity. They were angels that chanted
when Christ was born. 1t was an angel that
strengthened our Saviour in His agony. II was
all angel that encouraged Paul in the Med
iterranean 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. 1t was all angel that John saw
dying 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 walls, and an angel standing in the
sun. 1t will be all angel with 'Iplifted 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
and the might and the glory of these
supernalsl Fleets of them SGuadrons of
them! Host beyond host! Rank above
rank! Millions on millions! And all on our
side if 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 is their bust
ness. Just as alert to-day and efficient as
when in Bible times they spread wing, or
unsheathed sword or rocked down peniten-
tiaries or filled the mountains with horses of
ire hitched to chariots of fire and driven by
'etuSuleu OIL IRE. tney nave turned your
steps 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, a 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 into the
skies. By some prayer detain him until he
can tell of 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 dlscords in your heart and life.
You gave up; you said Il cannot stand it
any longer. | believe I will take my life.
Where is the rail train or the deep wave or
the precipice that will end this torment of
earthly existence" But suddenly your mind
frightened. Courage came surging into
your heart like oceanic tides. You said:
God is on my side, and all these adversities
He can make turn out for my good" Sud,
peace of God that passeth all understanding.
What made the change? 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
under angelic observation! Eyes ever on
you, so that the most secret misdeed is com
mitted in the midst of an audience of i'm.
mortals No doors so bolted, no darkness SC
Zimmerman as to hinder that supernal eye
sight. Not critical eyesight, not jealous
eyesiCht, not baleful eyesight but friendly
eyesight, sympathetic eyesight helpful eye