The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-03-26


so deep, so grand, so stupendous, sc
magnificent that even the intelligence
OF angelhood is confounded before 1t
The apostle says, (Which things the
angels desire to look into" That is Z
subject that excites inquisitiveness OF
their part. That Is theme that strains
their faculties to the utmost. That 1,
higher than they can climb, and deeper
than they can dive. They have desire
for something too big for their compre.
hension. switch things the angels de.
sire to look into" But that does moi
discredit their intelligence. No one but
God Himself can fully understand the
wonders Of redemption. II all heaven
should study 1t for fifty eternities they
would get no further than the A b G oi
that inexhaustible subject. But nearly
all other realms Of knowledge they have
ransacked and explored and compassed.
No one but God can tell them any thing
they do not know They have read To
the last line Of the last page Of the last
volume Of investigation. And what de.
lights me most Is that all their intelli.
gence is to be at our disposal and com
ing into their presence, they will tell us
In five minutes more than we can learn
by one hundred years Of earthly surmis-
ing.
A further characteristic Of these Inn
mortals is their velocity. This the Bible
puts sometimes under the figure Of wings,
sometimes under the figure Of flowing
garment, sometimes under the figure OF
naked feet. AS these superhumans are
without bodies these expressions are OF
course flgurative, and mean swiftness.
The Bible tells US that Daniel was pray
ing, and Gabriel few from heaven and
touched him before he got up from his
knees. How far, then, did the angel
Gabriel have to fly in those moments Of
Daniels prayer? Heaven is thought to
be the center Of the universe. Our sun
and its planets only the rim Of the wheel
OF worlds. In q moment the angel Ga
briel few from that center to this peri
phery. Jesus told Peter he could in
stantly have sixty thousand angels
present II he called for them.
What foot OF antelope or wing Of alba
tross could equal that velocity? Law Of
gravitation, which grips all things else,
has no influence upon angelic momen-
tum. Immensities before them open and
shut like fan. That they are here is
no reason why they should not be a
quintillion 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 in
stantly an angelic cohort are there to
help 1t. Or some celestial may be stand
ing at the furthermost outpost OF i'm
mensity, and God may say "Come!" and
instantly II is in His bosom. Abraham,
Elijah, Hagar, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah,
Paul, st. John, could tell OF their un-
hindered locomotion. The red feet Of
summer lightning are slow compared
with their hegiras. This doubles up
and congresses infnitudes into infini-
tesimals. This puts all the astronomical
heavens into space like the balls Of q
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 con-
cerning these illustrious immortals is
that they are multitudinous. Their
,a,ouo hoe nayar haa,, tol,ar and M ono
but God knows how many they are, but
all the Bible accounts suggest their i'm
mense numbers. Companies OF them,
regiments Of them, armies OF them,
mountain-tops haloed by them, skies
populous with them. John speaks Of an
gels and other beings round the throne as
ten thousand times ten thousand. Now,
according TO my calculation, ten thou
sand times ten thousand are one hun
dred million. But these are only the an
gels in one place. David counted twenty
thousand Of them rolling down the sky
In chariots. When God came away from
the riven rocks Of Mount Sinai, the
Bible says he had the companionship Of
ten thousand angels. think they are
In every battle, In every exigency, at
every birth, at every pillow, 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 uplifted to slay Isaac, 1t was
an angel who arrested the stroke, cry
ing, "Abrahaml Abraham II was a
stairway Of angels that Jacob saw while
pillowed In the wilderness. We are
told an angel led the hosts Of Israelites
out Of Egyptian serfdom. 1t was an
angel that showed Hagar the foun.
tain whore she filled the bottle for the
lad. II was m angel that took Lot out
Of doomed Sodom. II was an angel that
shut up the mouths OF the hungry mons
tors when Daniel was thrown into the
caverns. II was an angel that fed Eli
jah under the juniper tree. II was an
angel that announced 10 Mary the ap-
preaching nativity. They were angels
that chanted when Christ was born. Il
was an angel that strengthened our
his agony. Itwasan angel that
encouraged Paul In the Mediterranean
shipwreck. II 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. It was an
argel that John saw flying 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