The Russellville Democrat., 1890-04-03
ANGELIC DOINGS.
Discourse by Rev. T. Dewitt Tal-
 mage About Angels.
Classical and Secular Theories About the Heavenly Hosts Combated--The Angel World Divided and
 Classified.

Brooklyn Academy of Music, the tex being.
 And the angels did wondrousiy.--Judg ge' xiii., l9
 Fire built on a rock. Manoah and his
 wife had there kindled the flames foi sacrifice in praise of God, and in honor of guest whom they supposed to be a man. But as the flame rose higher and higher, their stranger stepped into the flame and by one red leap ascended intc 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 a sermon on angel ology. The whole subject is relegated to the realm mythical, weird, spectral and unknown. Such adjournment is unscriptural and wicked. Of their life, their character, their habits, their ac- tions, 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
 
 tion of good angels and the nation of bad angels. Of the former, chiefly speak to-day. Their capital, their head. quarters, their grand rendezvous, is Heaven, but their empire is the uni. verse. They are distinct race oi creatures. No human being can ever join their confraternity. The little child who in the Sabbath-school sings; T want to be an angel" will never have her wish gratifed. They are superhuman; 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. l propose no guessing on this subject, but take the Bible for my only author. ity. 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 to tho sun. Fulgentius said that they were composed of body and spirit. Clemsnt said they were incorporeal. Augustine said that they had been in danger of falling, but now are beyond being tempted.
 But the only authority on this sub ject that I respect says they are divided into Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Dominations, Municipalities, 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 morning 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 Cove nant, who is the Lord Jesus, open our eyes and touch our tongue and rouse our soul while we speak of their deathless- ness, their intelligence, their numbers, their strength, their achievements.
 Yes, deathless They had cradle, but will never have grave. The Lord remembers when they were born, but no one shall ever see their eye extin- guished, or their momentum slow up, or their existence terminate. The oldest of them has not wrinkle, or decrepi- tude, or a intolerance; as young after six thousand years as at the close of their first hour. Christ said of the good tl.ary din more, for they are equal unto the an gels" Yes, deathless are these wonder ful creatures of whom I speak. They will see world after world go out, but there shall be no fading of their own brilliance. Yea, after the last world has taken it's last flight they will be ready for the widest circuit throughout immensity, taken a quadrillion of miles in ore sweep as easy as pigeon circles A dove-cote. They are never sick. They are never exhausted. They need no sleep, for they are never tired. AtGod's 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 wom- an of Tekoah was 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 nostril 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 go without disturbing flake of crystal of sand. Knowledge! It flashes on them. They take it in at all points. They absorb it. They gather it up without any hinderment 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 cancellations. The paragraphs of their books are galaxies. The p&ctares of their books are sunrise, and sunsets, and midnight auroras, and the Con- queror on the 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 something millions of miles away, for instantly they are there to inspect and explore 1t. All astronomies, all geolo- gies, all botanies, all philosophies at their feet What an opportunity for intelligence is theirsl What facilities for knowing every thing and knowing it 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 it all through the ages, and yet warrant they have not fully grasped it--the wonders of redemp- tion. These wonders are so high, so grand, so stupendous, so magnificent that even the intelligence of angelhood is confounded before it. The apostle says: (Which things the angels desire to look into" That is a subject that 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 desire for something too big for their compre- n. Al.