The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-04-09


T. Dewitt 1almage's recent discourse
in the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
After the opening exercises, which COM
menced with the singing of the hymn,
Heaven is my fatherland
Heaven is my home"
the famous preacher announced as his
text, Judges xiii, 10, "And the angel
did wondrously." Following is YER
batim report of the sermon:
Fire built on a rock. Manoah and his
wife had there kindled the flames for
sacrifice in praise of God, and in honor
of guest whom they supposed to be a
man. But. as the flames rose higher and
higher, their stranger guest stepped into
the flames and by one red leap assembled
into the skies. Then they knew that 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 relegated
to the realm mythical, weird, spectral,
and unknown. Such adjournment is I'M
scriptural and wicked. OF their life,
their character, their habits, their
actions, their velocities, the Bible gives
us full-length portraits, and why this
prolonged and absolute silence concern
ing 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 headquar-
ters, their grand rendezvous is heaven,
but their empire is the universe. They
are distinct race of creatures. No hui
man being can join their confraternity.
The little child who in the Sabbath
school sings, 81 want to be an angel"
will never have her wish gratifed. They
are superhuman, but they are of differ
ent 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
celestial, celestial, 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
that the angels were related to God, as
the rays of the sun. Fulgentius said
that they were composed of body and
spirit. Clement said they were in
corporal. Augustine said that 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, Domino
tions, Principalities, Powers. Theil
commander-in-chief is Michael. Daniel
called him Michael, St. John called hin
Michael. These supernal beings an
more thoroughly organized than any
army that ever marched. They are
swifter than any cyclone that ever sweep
the sea. They are more radiant thar
any morning that ever came down the
sky. They have more to do with YOU
destiny and mine than any being in the
universe except God. May the angel O
the new covenant. who is the Lore
Jesus, open our eyes, and touch oul
tongues. and rouse our soul, while w
speak of their deathlessness, their in
telligence, their numbers, their strength
their achievements.
Yes, deathless. They had cradle
but will never have grave. The Lore
remembers when they were born, but nj
one shall ever see their eye extin
guished, or their momentum slow up, o
their existence terminate. The oldes
of them has not wrinkle, or decrepi
tude, or hindrance; as young after 81,
thousand years as at the close of thei
first hour. Christ said of the good il
heaven, Neither can they die any more
for they are equal unto the angels.
lures OF whom l speak. They will Sc,
world after world 60 out. but there shall
be no fading Of their own brilliance
Yes, after the last world has taken it
last fight they will be ready for tn
widest circuit through immensely, tax
a quadrillion of miles in one sweep a
easy as pigeon circles dovecote. The
are never sick. They are never ex
hausted. They need no sleep, for the
are never tired. At Gods command the
smote with death, in one night, one hun
dred and eighty-five thousand of Ser
nacherib's host, but no fatality can smit
them. Awake, agile, multipotent, death
less, immortal!
A further characteristic Of these rad
ant folk is intelligence. The woman G
Tekoah was right when she spoke t
King David of the wisdom of an ange
We take in what little we know throug
eye and ear and nostril and touch: bu
those beings have no physical encast
ment and hence they are all senses.
wall Ave feet thick is not solid to then
Through it they 60 without disturbin
fake of mortar or crystal of sand. Know
edge! 1t flashes on them. They take
in at all points. They absorb it. The
gather it up without any hindermen
No need of literature for them. tn
letters of their books are stars. tn
dashes of their books are meteors. Tn
words of their books are constellation
The paragraphs of their books are ga
axies. The pictures of their books ar
sunriscs, and sunsets, and midnight a,
roras, and the conqueror on the whit
horse with the moon under his feet, an
seas of glass mingled with fire. The
library is an open universe. No need ,
telescope to see something millions ,
miles away. for instaE civ thew are the,