The Washington weekly post., 1899-10-31

Rev. DR.. T. De Witt Talmage found the
text for discourse on ''Angelology" yes
terday in Judges. kills: And the angel
did wondrously.'
The object OF the sermon is to show
that the brilliant beings supposed by some
to be Imaginary are real. and have nueh
10 DO with our everyday life DR.. Tai
mage said.
Fire bult on a rock. Manoah and his
wife had there kindled the flames for
sacrifice In praise of God, and in honor
of guest whom they supposed to be a
man. But as the flame rose higher and
higher. their stranger guest stepfed into
the flame and by one red leap ascended
into the skies Then they knew that he
was an angel Of the Lord. The angel did
WondrouSly.'
Two hundred and forty-eight times
does the Bible refer to the angels, yet how
little discourse upon 'Angelology.' The
whole subject is relegated TO the realm
mythical. weird. spectral. and unknown.
such adjournment is unscriptural and
wicked. OF their life, their character,
their habits. their actions. their velocities,
the Bible gives US full-length portraits,
lence concerning them? Angelology is my
theme.
There are TWO nations of angels. and
they are hostile to each other, the nation
of good angels and the nation of bai an
gels. Of the former / chiefly speak to-
day. Their capital, their headquarters,
their grand rendezvous, is heaven, but
their empire is the universe They n-e a
distinct nf M hrr n
being can ever join their confraternity.
The little child who in the Sabbath-sckool
sings, I want 10 be an .ngel, will Eever
have her wish gratified. They are super
human; but they are of different grGdes
and ranks, not all on the same level, OF
the same height. They have their 5u-
periors and interiors and equals. l pro-
pose no guessing on this subject, but take
the Bible for my only authority. Plato.
the philosopher, guessed ali divided ar
gels into super-celestial, celestial, and
sub-celestial. Dionysius, the Areopagite,
guessed and divided them into three class
es-the supreme the middle, a.ld the last
and each of these into three other class
es, making nine in al. Philo said that
the angels were related TO God. as the
rays TO the sun. Fulgentius said that
they were composed of body and spirit.
Clement said they were incorporeal. Au-
gustine said that they had been in danger
of falling, but now are beyond being
tempted. But the only authority on this
subject, that 1 respect, says they are
divided into Cherubim, Seraphim. Thrones.
Dominations, Principalities. Powers. Their
commander-in-chief is Michael Daniel
called him Michael, st. John called him
Michael.
Swifter Than a Cyclone.
''These supernal beings are more thor
oGghly organized than any army that ever
marched They are swifter than any cy-
clone that ever swept the sea. They 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 in the universe except God May
the Ansel of the New Covenant, who is
the Lord Jesus, open our eyes and touch
our tOlgue and rouse our soul while we
speak of their deathlessness. their intelli-
gence, their numbers, their strength, their
achievements.
Yes, deathess. They had a cradle. but
will never have a grave The Lord re-
members when they were born, but no one
shall ever see their eye extinguished or
their momentum slow up or their exist
ence terminate The oldest of them has
not wrinkle or decrepitude or a him
drance; 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, deathless are these Won
derful creatures of whom / speak. They
will see world after world go out, but
there shall be no fading of their own brill
lance. Yea. after the last world has taken
its last flight they will be ready for the
widest circuit through immensity, taking
a quadTiilion of miles in one sweep as
easy as pigeon circles a dovecote. 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 eighty
five thousand of Sennacherib's host, but
no fatality can smite them. Awake, agile,
multipotent, deathless, immortal!
"a further characteristic of these radi-
ant folk is intelligence. The woman of
Tekoah was right when she spoke 70 King
David of the wisdom of an angel. We
mortals take in what little we know
through eye and ear and nostril and
touch. but those beings have no physical
encasement, and hence they are all senses
\ wall five feet thick is not solid to them
Through IL they go without disturbing
flake of mortar or crystal of sand Knoyl-
edgei II flashes on them. They take il
in at all POINTS. They absorb il. They
gather IL up without any Underwent No
need of literature for JhemI The letters