The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-04-09
one hundred years Of earthly surmis-

ing.
A further characteristic of thes
| immortals is their velocity. This tn
Bible puts sometimes under the tig
ure of wings, sometimes under the
figure of allowing garment, ,sometlme
under the figure Of naked feet. A.
these superhumans are without bod
les these expressions are OF course
| fgurative, and mean swiftness. The
Bible tells us that Daniel was pray
ing, and Gabriel flew from HEAVIER
| and touched him before he got "
from his knees. How fan, then, did
the angel Gabriel have to tiym those
moments of Daniels prayer? Reav'
en- isthought to be the centre OF the
universe. Our sun and its planets
only the rim of the wheel Of worlds
In a moment the angel Gabriel flew
from that centre to this periphery
Jesus told Peter he could instantly
have sixty thousand angels present Il
he called for them. What foot OF an:
telope OF wing Of albatross could
equal that velocity? Law of gravlta-
ton, which grips ali things else, has
no influence upon angelic momentum:
Immensities before them open and
shut like fan. They are here IS no
reason why they shonld not be g
ouintilhon of miles hence the next
minute. Our bodies hinder us, but
our mindscan circle the earth IN a
minute. Angelic beings are bodlless
and have no limitation. God may
with his finger point down to some
world in trouble on the outmost linn
its of creation, and Instantly an an
geic cohort are there to help it. Or
some celestial may be standing at the
furthermost outpost Of immensely,
and God may say ''Come" and IN
stantly it is in his bosom. Abraham,
Elijah, Hagar, Joshua, Gideon, Ma
noah, Paul, st. John, could tell of
their unhindered locomotion. The
red feet of summer lightning are slow
compared with their hegiras. This
doubles up and congresses inhnl-
tudes into infnitesimals. This puts
all the astronomical heavens into q
space Like the balls of q child's rattle.
This mingles into one the Here ard
the There, the Now and the Then,
the Beyond and the Yonder.
Another remark I have to make
concerning these iQustrious immor-
tails is that they are multitudinous.
Their census has never been taken
and no one but Got 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 populous 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 twenty thousand Of them
rolling down the sky in charlots.
When God came away from the llven
rocks OF Mount Sinai, the Bible says he
had the companionship of ten thousand
angels. I think they are in every bat
tie, in every exigency, at every birth,
at every pillow, at every hour, at ev-
cry moment. The earth isful Of them.
The heavens are full Of them
They outnumber the human race IN
this world. They outnumber ran
somed spirits in glory. When Abra-
ham had his knife uplifted to slay
Isaac. it was an angel who arrested
the stroke, crying Abraham! Abra-
ham." It was stairway Of angels
that Jacob saw when pilowed in the
wilderness. We are told that an an.
gel led the host of Israe]ites out OF
Egyptian serfdom. It will be an an
eel withe upIfted hand, swearing
that time shall be no longer. In the
great final harvest of tn world the
reapers are the angels. Yea, the
Lord shall be revealed from heaven
with mighty angels. Oh, the NUM-
Der and the might and the glory OF
these supernals! Fleets Of them!
Squadrons of them! Host beyond
host! Rank above rank. Millions
on millions! And all on our side If
we VIII have them.
This leads me to speak of the offices
of these supernals. To defend, to
cheer, to rescue, to escort, to give
victory to the right, and to overthrow
the wrong; that is their business.
Just as alert today and efficient as
when in Bible times they spread
wing, or unsheathed sword, or rocked
down penitentiaries, OF filed the
mountains with horses Of fire hitched
to chariots of fire and driven by reins-
men of fire. They have 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 parentage, or OF
loyalty to your own home, and that
arrested you. They arranged that
some one should meet you at that
crisis, and propose something honor
able and elevating, or they took from
your pocket some ticket to evil
amusement, a ticket that you never
found. It 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 door
step of your immortal spirit, and the
other foot lifted for ascent into the
skies. By some prayer detaln him
until he can tell Of a repentant and
ransomed soul. Or you were some
time borne down with trouble, be
reavement, persecution, bankruptcy
sickness and all manner of troubles
beating their dscords in your heart
| and Life. You gave up; you said: i
cannot stand itany longer. I believe
Will take nv life. Where is the