Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-10-30


pen So" By talent, and adroitness and
courage. and unceasing Industry he bas
come TO thu bad eminence. He disputed the
throne of heaven with the Almighty, but
no one has ever disputed the throne OF eter-
nal night with this monarch who Will In the
last battle take the field in person. milton
calls him Lucifer. Goethe calls him Mepnls-
topic es, the Hebrew callj bin Abadoon, tne
Greek calls him Apollyon. He Is the lmper-
sonation OF all malevolence, OF all oppres-
sion, OF all cruelty. The summing up OF all
falsehood In his makeup nothing pad was
left out and nothing good was put In, an
he is to be the General, the COMMUNICATE
Chief of al the forces on the wrong size OF
the great Arnageddon. He has oean III
more battles than you have ever read aoour,
and he has gained more victories than nave
ever been celebrated in this world. But L
guess this old warrior of Pandemonium
will not have an undisputed field. L guess
there will be an army 10 dispute with MS
forces. l have mentioned the supremacy Oh
this world. L guess our TROOPS Will NOT
have 10 run when. on the day nentlo0e1
in my text, ell the Internal batteries snail ne
unlimbered. We have been reviewing II
troops diabolic. We have been measure
the ca!ibres oftheir guns. We have been exc
aiming their ammunition wagons. NO"
let US look at the forces to be marshalled in
the Armageddon on the right side.
First of all, l mention ths Regiments
Angelic. Aasl that the subject OF demon
ology seems better understood than the
subject of angelology. But the glorious
spirits around the throne and all the bright
immortals that fill the galleries and levels
of the universe are TO take part In that last
great fight, and the Regiments Angelic are
the only regiments capable or meeting the
Regiments Piutonic. To show you some
thing Of an ange's power, l ask you to
consider that Just one Of the n slew one
hundred and eighty-Ave thoutand Of Sen
nacherib's hosts in a night, aud 1t is not
tough arlthmetlcal question to rolve, II ono
angel can Stay ono hundred and eighty-f1ve
thousand troops in a night, how many can
five hundred millions OF them s!ay2 The
old Book says that "TheV excel il
strength" 1t is not a celestial mob, but
discip!ed host, and they know Iheir rank.
Cnersbim, seraphim. thrones, princpali>
lies and powers! And tho lead4r OF those
regiments in Michael the ArchanI;el. David
saw Just one group OF angels kweep past,
and they were twenty thousand charioted.
Paul, who in the Canadian college had his
faculties 50 wonderfully developed. con-
f,.sses his .ncapacity to count them by say
ing, Eye are come 10 Mount Zion and an
innumerable company Of angels" 1t each
soul on earth has q guardian angel, then
there must be sixteen hundred million
angels on earth to-day. Beside that,
heaven must be full of angels, those who
stay there; not only the twelve angels who,
we are told, guard the twelve gates, but
those angels who hep in the worship, aud 60
on mission from mansion to mansion, and
help to build the hosannas and enthrone the
hallelujahs aud roll the doxologies OF the
service that never ends, But they all, II re-
1uirel, will be in the last fight between
Holiness and sin. Heaven could afford to
adjourn, Just one day, and empty all Its
temples, and mansions, and palaces, and
bouievards i3to that one battle.
The next regiments that / see marching
into the fight will be the Regiments Ecclesi-
astic. According to the last accounts, and
practically only in the beginning of the gos-
pei movement which proposes to take the
whole earth Tor God, there are four million
six hundred thousand Methodists, three
million seven hundred and twenty-five thou
sand Baptists, one million two hundred and
eighty thousand three hundred and thirty
three Presbyterans, one million two hundred
AMI thirty thousand Lutherans, and Elk
hundred and forty thousand Epscopalians.
But the present statistics of churches will be
utterly swanped when, after all the great
denominations have done their best work,
the slowest OF all the sects will have more
Plumbers than the present enrolment Of ell
denominations throughout Christendom. /
see them moving into the ranks. carrying
standard striped and starred; striped as sug-
costing Him by whose stripes we are hea o {,
and starred as with The promise that those
who turn manyto righteousness shall shine as
the stars. forever and ever. Into that battle
on our side will roll those mighty engines OF
power, the printing presses of Chrlstendom.
Into that battle will also move the highest
telescopes, that shall bring the stars in their
courses to fight for our Goi-
Again. the Regiments Elemental will come
into that battle on the right side. The
winds God showed what He could do with
them when the splintered timbers Of the
ships of the Spanish Armada were strewn
on the rocks of Scotland. Norway and the
Hebrides. The waters! He showed what He
could do with them when He put the whole
earth under them, leaving it subaqueous one
hundred and fifty days. The earthquakes
He showed what He could DO with them
when He let Caracas drop into the open
mouth of horror and the islands of the sea
went into entomDment. The lightnings! He
showed what He could d. with them when
He wrapped Mount Sinai in flame, and we
have all seen their flashing lanterns moving
All the Regiments Elemental will come in ouc
side in the great Armageddon. Come and LET
us mount and ride along the line, and review
the troops OF Emanuel. and find that the
Regiments Terrestrial and Celestial that come
into tina. battle on the right side are. as COM
pared with those on the wrong side, two to
one. hundred 10 one, a thousand 10 one.
But who is the Commander-in-Chie on
In side2 Splendid armies have been
rui1ed, caught traps, flung overp scipices,
aud annhilat through the inc hpetence
OF treachery ~ their general. Nho COM
mands on our side? Jehovah-Jirehl So
called in one place. Captain of Salvation"
so-called in another place. King OF kings.
Lord of lords. Conqueror of conquerors.
Hi, eye omniscient. His arm omnipotent.
He will taxa the lead. He will draw the
sword. He viii. give the command. And
when He plants His foot for The combat, the
foundations of the earth will quake. and
when He shall give the battle shout, all the
gates Of hell will tremble.
But do not let Us shout until after we have
seen the two armies clash in the last strug-
g.e. Oh, my SOUL The battle OF all time and
Il eternity opens Forward" For.
ward!" is the command on both sides given.
The long lines of both armies waver, { &
swing to and fro. Swords of truth against
engines Internal. Black horse cavalry Of per-
dition against white horse cavalry Of heaven.
The redemption of this world and the honor
OF tire throne OF God to vindicate, how ire
mendous is the battlel The army of right
eousness seems giving away; but no! 1t Is
only part of the maneuvre of the infinite
fight, 1t is a dep.oy Of the host celestial.
What meeting in this field OF splendor
and wrath, Of the angels, and of the
diabolic, OF hosanna and blasphemy, of
song and curse, OF the divine and the satanic.
The thunderbolts of the Almighty burst
and blaze upon the foe. Boom! Boom!