The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-04-09
TALNAGE ON ANGELS.
A SERMON RELATING TO SUPsRNAL
EXISTENCE.

The characteristics of the Celestial Beings
as Gathered from Statements IN holy
Writ.
Dr. Talmage on Sunday announced
as his text Judges Xiii, 10: And
the angel dil wondrously.~ Follow
ing is a report OF his sermon:
Fire built on a rock. Manoah
and his wife had there kindled the
flames for sacrifice in the praise OF
God, and il, honor Of a guest whom
they supposed to be man But as
the flames rose up higher and higher
their stranger guest stepped INTO the
fame and by one red leap ascended
into the skies. Then they knew that
he was an Angel of the Lord ''rhe
angel did wondrously."
Two hundred and forty-eight times
does the Bible refer to the angels,
vet I never heard or read a sermon
on angelology. The whole subject
is relegated to the realm mythical,
weird. spectral and unknown. Sucn
adjournment is unscriptural and
wicked. OF their life, their charac-
ter, their habits, their actions, their
velocities, the Bible gives US full
length portraits, and why this pro-
longed and absolute silence concern
ING them? Angelology is my theme.
There are are two nations OF angels,
and they are hostile to each other;
the nation of good angels and the ma
ton of bad angels. OF the former [
chiefly speak to-day. Their capital,
and Their headquarters, Their grand
rendezvous, is heaven, but their en-
pire is the universe. They are a dis
tinct race of creatures. No human
being can ever join their confraternl-
ty. The little child who IN the Sab
bath school sings, Il want to be an
angel" Will never have her wish grat-
lied. They are superhuman; but
they are of different grades and
ranks, not at all on the same level, or
the same height. They have their
superiors and interiors and equals.
Ipropose no guessing on this subject,
but take the Bible for my only au-
thority. Plato, the philosopher,
guessed. and divided the angels into
super-celestial, celestial and sub-ce-
lestial. Dyonysius the Areopaglte,
guessed, and divided them into three
classes-the supreme,t the middle and
the last-and each of these into three
other classes, making nine II all.
Philo said that the angels were re-
lated to God, as the rays to the sun.
Fulgentius said that they were COM
posed of body and spirit Clement
said they were incorporea. Angus
tine said that they had been ID dan
ger of falling, but now they are be-
yond being tempted But the only
authority on this subject that l re-
spect says they are divided into cher
ubim, seraphim, thrones. DONNA
tons, principaGties, powers. Iher
commander-in-chief is Michael. Dan
iel called him Michael, St. John call
ed him Micheal. These supernal be,
ines are more thoroughly organized
than any army that ever marched.
They are swifter than any cyclone
that ever swept the sea- Ihey 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 ID the universe
except God. May the Angel OF the
New Covenant, who is the Lord Je-
sus. open our eyes and touch our
tongue, and rouse our soul, while we
speak Of their deathlessness, their N
telhgence, their numbers, their
strength, their achievements. .
Yes, deathless. They had a cradle,
but Will never have 8 grave. The
Lord remembers when they We're
born. but no one shall ever see their
eve extinguished, OF their momentum
slow up, or this existence terminate.
The Oldest Of them have not wrln-
kle, or O decreptitude, or a hlndrance;
as Young after sis thousand years as
at the close of the first hour. Christ
said of the good in heaven, "Nelther
can thew die any more, for they are
equal unto the angels" Yes, death.
less are these wonderful creatures OF
whom I speak. They will see world
after world so out, but there shall be
no fading Of their own br1lhance-
Yea. after the last world has taken
itslast fight they will be ready for
the widest circuit through lmmenslty,
taking a quadlillon of miles at one
sweep as easy as a pigeon circles a
dovecot. They are never sick. They
are never exhausted. They need no
sleep, for they are never tired. At
Gods command they smote with
death. in one night, one hundred and
eieAty-fve thousand Of Sennacher1b S
host, but no fatality can smlte them.
Awake, agile, multipotent, death!ess,
immortal! A further characteristic
of these radiant folk is intelligence.
The woman of Tekoah was night
when she spoke to King David OF the
wisdom of an angel.
There is only one thing that puts
them to their wits end, and the Bible
saws they have to study that. They
have been studying it all through the
ages, and yet I warrant they have not
fully grasped at the wonders Of re-
demption. These wonders are so
high. SO deep, so grand, SO stupen-
dous. somagni6cent that even the in
telligence of angelhood is confounded
before it. The apostle says, (Which
things the angels desire tolookinto.
That is subject that excites inqrisi-
tiveness on their part. That IS a
theme that strains their faculties to
the utmost. That is higher than
they can climb, and deeper than they
can dive. They have a desire fol
something too big for their compre-
II