The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-11-10

passed. None but God can tell thsm
they do not know, They Have
read the last WORD or the last nne oil
the last page of the last volume OF In
vestigation, and wnat delights me most
is tha all their intelligence is 10 be a
our disposal, and, coming into their
presence. hey Will tell US in five min
utes more than we can learn in LOO
years of earthly surmising.
VELOCITY OF IMMORTALS.
A further characteristic of these i'm
mortals is their velocity. This the
Bible puts sometimes under Gn= figure
OF wings, sometimes unuer the Inquire OF
a flowing garment, sometimes unde the
figure OF naked feet. AS these supernu-
mans are without bodies, these expires
sions are of course fgurative and mean
swiftness. The Bible tells us hat Daniel
was praying and Gabriel flew from
HEAVIER and touched lin before he got
up from his kness. How far, then, did
the Angel Gabriel have to fly i nthose
moments of Daniels prayer? Heaven Is
thought to be the center Of the uni
verse, sun and its planets only the
rim of the wheels of worlds. In a mo-
ment the Angel Gabriel Aew from that
center to this periphery. Jesus told
Peter he could instantly have $1,000
angels present If he called for them.
What foot of antelope or wing of al
DdIIOSS COuId SAudl thd( SCAoSAly Ia"
of gravitation, which grips all things
else, has no influence upon angelic mo-
mentu I~mmensities before them open
and shut like a fan. That they are here
is no reason why they should not be a
quintillion of miles hence the next min
ute. Our bodies hinder US, but our
minds can circle the earth in a minute.
Angelic being 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 is there to
help it, or some celestial may be stand
ing at the farthermost outpost of i'm
mensity, and o may say Comet"
and instantly it is in his bosom. Abra-
ham, Elijah, Hagar, Joshua, Gideon,
Manoah, Paul, ST. John, could tell Of
their unhindered locomotion. The red
feet of summer lightning are slow COM
pared with their hegiraS. This doubles
up and congresses infinitudes into in
fnitesimals. This puts all the astrO-
nomical heavens into a space like the
balls of a chilo S rattle. This mingles
into one the here and the there, the
now and the then, the beyond n the
yonder.
Another remark I have to make con-
corning these illustriOuS immortals is
that they are multitudinous. Their CEN
Sus has never been taken, and no one
u 1co A~H SOJ 1897
but all the Bible accounts/suggest their
immense numbers-companies OF them,
regiments of them, armies of them,
mountain tops haloed by them, skies
%populous with them. John speaks OF
angels and other beings round the
throne as ten thousand times ten thou
sand. Now according to my calcula-
ton, ten thousand times ten thousand
are 100, 900, 900. But these are only the
angels in one place. David counted TO-
900 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
10. 900 angels. l think they are in every
battle, in every exigency, at every
birth, at every pillow, the earth full of
them, the heaven full of them.
OUTNUMBER THE HUMAN RACE.
They outnumber the human race in
his 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, abraham, Abraham!" 1t 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 fountain where
she filled the bottle for the lad. 1t was
an angel hat took Lot out of doomed
SOdOm. Lit was an anger IndC SMUT up
the mouth of hungry monsters when
Daniel was thrown into the caverns. 1t
was an angel that fed Elijah under the
juniper tree. 1t was an angel that an
nounced to Mary the approaching ma
tivity. They were angels that chante
when Christ was born. 1t was an angel
that strengthened our saviour in his
agony. 1t was an angel that encouraged
Paul in the Mediterranean Shipwreck.
1t 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 h sick were
healed. 1t was an angel 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 that, thrust in the sickle, and
an angel that poured out the Walls. and
an angel standing in the sum-. It will
be an angel with uplifted hand swear
ing tina time shall be no longer. In the
great final harvest Of the world the
reapers are the angels. Yea, the Lord
shall be revealed from heaven with
mighty angels. Oh, the numbers and
the might and the glory Of these SUI
pernals-f1eets Of them, s%quadrons Of
them, host beyond host, rank above
rank, millions on millions, and all on
our side IL we will have them!
This leads me to speak Of the offices