The Opelousas courier., 1890-05-24
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE's SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ANGELS"

Judges xiii, 10. '''o""9'"
FIRE built on a rock. Manosh and his
@te nad there kind.ed the flames for sacri.
lIe an praise OF God and in honor of a guest
whom uhey supposed to be a man Rnt a.
the lame rose higher and higher their
Stranger guest stepped into the hame and by
one que, req leap assembled into the skies. Then
Inc angel did wondrously.n
hundred and forty-eieht times does
the Blbie refer to the angels, vet | never
heafu or read a sermon or Angelology. The
whole subject is relegated to the realm
mythical, weird, spectral and unknown.
SSucn adjournment is unscriptural and
wicked. or their life, their character. their
habits, their actions, their velocities, the
Bihlo gives us full length portraits, and why
thls prolonged and absolute silence concern
ing them? Angelology is my theme.
ihere are two nations of angels, and they
are hostile to each other; the nation of good
angels and the nation of bad angels, OF the
former chiefly speak to-day. Their capital
theif headquarters, their grand rendezvous
Is heaven, but their empire is the ,1nivarco
lucy are a distinct race of creatures. No
human being can ever join their confrater.
MY. The little child who in the Sabbath
senooi sings i want to be an angel" viii
~perhunan; but they are Of different GRADES
anu ranks, not all on the same level, or the
same height. They have their snneriors and
interiors and equals. I propose no e1,essing
on this subject, but take the Bible for mv
only authority. Plato, the philosopher,
guessed, ana divided angels into super-celes.
tial, celestial and sub-celestial. Dionysius tha
~Areopagite, guessed, and divided them INTO
three eiasses-the supreme, the middle and
me last-and each Of these into three other
classes, making nine in all.
Fhtlo. said that the angels were related tc
900, as the rays to the sun. Fulgentiuss said
mat they were composed Of body and Spirit.
2uStine said that they had been In danger Of
falling, but dow are beyond being tempted.
bu5 the only authority on this subject that
respect says they are divided into Cheru-
bln, seraphim, Thrones, D~ominations, Prin-
ci,naiities Powers. Their COMMANDMENT
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 thapany morn
ing that ever came down the sky. TIieyhave
more to do with your destiny and mine than
any being in the universe except God. May
TIE Angel Of the New Covenant, who is the
LORD Jesus, open our eyes, and touch u
tongue, and rouse our soul, while we speak Of
their deathlessness, their intelligence, their
numbers, their strength, their achievements.
Yes, deathle5s. They had g cradle, but
viii never have a grave. The Lord remem-
bers when they were born, but no one shall
ewes see their eye extinguished, or their mo
mentum slow up, or their existence term
mate. The oldest Of them has not a wrinkle,
or d~ecrepitude, or a ~hindrance; as young
after six thousand years as at the close OF
their first hour. Christ said Of the good in
heaven, Neither can they die any more, for
they are equal unto the angels" Yes, death
lose ara 4hoca xs,oplarE,yI o,.nekrrr,c of vufnp !
speak. They viii see world after world go
out, but there shall be no fading Of thetr Owl
b~rilliance. Yea, after the last world has
taken its last fight they will be ready for the
widest circuit through immensely, taxing p
quadrillion Of miles-in one sweep as easy as 6
pigeon circles o doyecot. They are never
sick; They are never exhausted: They need
no sleep. tor they are never tired. At Gods
command they ssnota with death, in one
night. one hundred and eighty-fiye thousand
OF Sennacheribfs host, but no fatality can
smite them. Awake. sgile, m~ultipotent,
death|ess, immortal!
A further characteristic OF these radiant
folk is intelligence. The woman 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 nos
tril and touch; but those beings have no
physical encasement and hence they are all
seuses. A wall five feet thick is not solid to
tnSin. through IL tn6y 81 "ttAoaD u.seuA
ing fake of mortar or crystal OF sand. knoWl-
edgei IL flashes ON them. They take 1t In at
ali points. They absorb it. They gather it
up without any Underwent. No need Of
literature for them! Tho letters of their
books are stars. The dashes of their books
are meteors. The words OF their books are
consultations. Tie paragraphs of their books
are galaxies. Tho pictures of their books are
SURPRISES, and sunsets, and midnight auroras,
and the Conqueror ON the white horse with
iha moon under His. feet, and seas OF glass
Ii. .ngled with fire. Their library is an open
universe. No need Of telescope to see some
thing millions OF miles away, for instantly
t,ey are there TO inspect and explore 1T. All
ASTRONOMERS, ail geoioei les, all botanies, all
PHILOSOPHERS at their feet. What an oppor-
sunity for intelligence is theirs! What facill-
ties for knowing everything and moving ~
right away. y.
There is only one thing that puts them to
their wits end, and the Bible says tney have
TO study hat. They have been studying u
all through the ages, and yet | warrant they
have not fully gias. ed 1.-THE wonders OF tse'
demptiou, These wonders are so high, SO
deep, SO grand, SO s~lupendcus, SO magniheent,
that even the intelligence OF angeihood Is com
founded heforeit. heapostie says Which
things the angels desire to look into" That
is a subject That excites inquisitiyeIiess On
their part. That is a theme that strains theiI
faculties to their utmost. That Is higher than
they can climb, and deeper than they car
dive. They have a desire for something too
big for their comprehension. (which things
the angels desire to look into" But that does
not discredit their inteliigen; &c. No enc but
God Himself can fully understand the won
ders Of Redemption. Ii all heaven SHOULD
study ii for fifty eternities they would get NJ
further than the A q C Of that inexhaustiblt
subject. But nearly all other realms o.
knowledge they have transacted and explored
and compassed. No one but God can tel
Them anything they do not know. They hay
read to the last word OF the last line OF ths
last page of the last volume Of investigation
And what delights me most is that all then
Intelligence is to be at our disposal, and, com
ing into their presence, they will tell us II
lvc minutes More than we can learn by ON
hundred years OF earthly snrmisiag.
Al further characteristic OF these i'm
morials is their velocity. This the Bibl
puts sometimes under the figure OF wing
sometimes under the figure of a flowing gar
meit, sometimes under the figure OF Make
feet. As these superhunlans are w1thou
bodies these expressions are OF course figuT
alive. and mean swiftness. The Bible tell
us that Daniel was praying, and Gabriel iiev
from heaven and touched him Loforo ne 60
up from his knees. How far, then, dit
the Angel Gabriel have 10 fly in thos
moments of Daniels prayer Heavel
is thought to be the center Of the uni
verse. Our sun and Its planets oniy 90
rim of the wheel of worlds. In n me
morst the Angel Gabriel few from that certe
to this periphery. Jesus told Peter He coui
instantly have sixty THOUSAND angels presen
ii He called for them. What footof anfeior
or wing of aibatross could equal that veiot
ity7 Law OF gravitation. which grass 9
things else. has no influence upon angel
momentum. Imlnensities before them ops