Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1890-03-28

is their velocity. This the Bible puts some
times under the figure Of wings, sometime,
under the figure of a flowing garment, some
times under the figure of naked feet. A,
these superhumans are without bodies thest
expressions are of course flgurative and
mean swiftness. The Bible tells us that Dan
lei was praying, and Gabriel few from heav
en- and touched him before he got up from
his knees. How far, then, did the angel Ga.
bricl have to hy in those moments of Dan
leT5 prayer! Heaven i, thought to be the cen.
ter of the universe. Our sun and its planet.
only the rim of the wheel Of worlds. In mo-
ment the angel Gabriel flew from that center
to this periphery Jesus told Peter he could in
stnntly have sixty thousand angels present il
he called for them. Whit foot Of aute1ope
or wing of albatross could equal that veloc-
ityi Law of gravitation, which grips all
things else, las no influence mon an
gelic momentum. lnmenslties befOse them
open and shut like fan That they
are here Is no reason why they
should not be quintiilion OF miles
hence the next minute. Oar bodies hinder
Us, but our minds can circle the earth in q
minute Angelic beings are bodiess and have
no limitation God may with his finger point
down to some world in trouble on the outinost
limits of creation, and Instantly an angelic
| cohort are there to help il. Or some celestial
may be standing ut the Furthermore outpost
OF immensely and God may say Gomez
and instantly it is in his bosom Abraham.
Elijah, Hagar, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah,
Paul, st. John, could tell of their unhindered
locomotion. The red feet of summer light
ming are slow compared with their hegiras.
This doubles up and congresses iniinltulcs
into infnitesmalS. This puts all the estro-
nomcal heavens into a space like the balls Of
childs rattle. This mingles into one the
Here and the There, the Now and tho Then,
/ the Beyond and the Wonder.
Another remark | have to make concern
/ ing these iiiUstrlous immortals is that they
are multitudinou,. Their census has never
been taken, and no one but God knows how
many they are, but all the Bible accounts
suggest their immense numbers Companies
of them, regiments of them, armies of chem
mountain tops halocd by them, skies popu-
lous with them. John speaks of angels and
other beings round the throne as ten thousand
times ten thousand Now, according to nv
| calculation, ten thousand times ten thousand
are one hundred million. But these are only
the angels In one place. David counted TWEEN
~ thousand of them rolling down the sky in
charlots. W hen God came away from tho
rlven rocks of Mount Sinai, the Bible SAYS ne
had the compdnunship Of ten thousand an
gels l think they are in every battle in
every exigency, at every BIRTH at every pill
low, 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 IN.
listed to slay Isaac, it was an angel who ar.
rested the stroke, crying, Abraham! Abra-
ham" 1t was stairway of angels that ia
cob saw while pillowed in tho wilderness
e are told an angel led the hosts of Israel
lies out of Egyptian serfdom. 1t was an an
gel that showed Hagar the fountain where
sue filled the bottle for the lad 1t was IN
angel that took Lot out of doomed Sodom
IL was an angel that shut up the mouth of
the hungry monsters when Daniel was thrown
INTO the caYerns. 1t was an ANGEL that fed
Elijah under the juniper tree Ii was an an.
gel that announced to Mary the approaching
nativity. They were angels that chantad
when Christ was born. 1t was an angel tina,
strengthened our Saviour in his agony. It
waSan angel that encouraged Paul in the Med
itarrauean shipwreck. 1t was an angel that
hdiat open the prison, gate after gate, until
Ieter was liberated. 1t was an angel that
STIRRED the Pool Of Sloan where the sick
were healed. II was an angel that John saw
living through the midst Of heaven, and an
angel with foot planted on the sea, and an
anger tAat opened the book, ami an angel that
sounded the trumpet, and an angel that
thrust III the sickle, and an angel that poured
Out Inc NlalS, ana an angel Standing in the
sun. IL Will he an angel with upliiicl hand.
swearing that lime shall be no longer. In the
great final harvest Of the world. the reapers
are the angels Yea, the Lord shall be re
vealed from heaven with mighty angels Oh.
the numbers and the might and tho glory of
these supernals Fleets of them! Suuadrons
OF them! Host beyond host Rank above
ranil Millions on millions! And all ON our
side If We will have them.
THEY ARE MINIsTERING SPIRITS
This leads me to speak of the Offices of
these supernals. To defend, to checr To res
cue, to escort, to give victory to the right,
and overthrow the wrong; that is Their bust
ness Just as alert today and efficient Us
when In Bible times they spread wing. or I'M
sheathed sword, or rocked down Dpuiten-
tiaries, or filled the mountains with horses of
fire hitched to chariots of fire and driven by
reinsmen of fire. They have turned vour
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 come thought Of Christian parent
age or OF loyalty TO your own home. and
that arrested you. Thoy arranged that some
one should meet you at that crisis and bro
pose something honorable and eevating. or
they took from your pocket some ticket to |
evil amusement, a ticket that YOU never |
found. 1t was an angel Of God, and perhaus |
the very one that guided YOU to this ser |
vice, and that now waits to report some |
holy impression TO be this morning made |
upon your soul, tarrying with one foot |
upon the doorstep Of your immortal spirit.
and the other foot lifted for ascent into the |
skies. BY some prayer detain him until he |
can tell Of repentant and ransomed SOUL |
Or you were some time borne down with
trouble, bereavement, persecution, bank
ruptcy, sickness, and all manner Of troubles
beating their discords in your heart and life
You gave up; you said; ~ cannot stand it
any longer. | believe ! will take NV life
Where Is the rail train, or the deep wave. or
the preclplce that will end this torment of
earthly existencer But suddenly your mind
frightened. Courage came surging into
your heart like oceanic tides. You said:
God is on my side, and all these adversities
he can make turn out for my goodn Sud
denly you felt IA peace, a deep pcace the !