Connecticut western news., 1899-11-02

NearS ul earthly SurnllSlngs
 Velocity of ImmortaIs.
 A further characteristic of these i'm mortals is their velocity. This the Bible puts sometimes under the figure of wings, sometimes under the figure of a flowing garment, sometimes under the figure of naked feet. As these superhu- mans are without bodies, these express sions are of course figurative and mean swiftness The Bible tells us that Daniel was praying and Gabriel flew from heaven and touched him before he got up from his knees. How far, then, did the Angel Gabriel have to fly in those moments of Daniels prayerf Heaven is thought to be the center of the uni verse, our sun and its planets only the ment the Angel Gabriel flew from that center to this periphery. Jesus told Peter he could instantly have 60, 00e angels present if he called for them.
 What foot of antelope or wing of al batross could equal that velocitys Law of gravitation, which grips all things else. has no influence upon angelic mo mentum. Immensities before them oper and shut like fan. That they are here s 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 minute. Angelic beings 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 God may say "Comei" 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 infnitudes into in finitesimals. This puts all the astro- nomical heavens into space like the balls of child's rattle. This mingles now and the then, the beyond and the wonder.
 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 but God knows how many they are, 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 tion, ten thousand times ten thousand are 100, 900, 900. But these are only the angels in one place. David counted 2O. 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. I think they are in every battle, in every exigency, at every birth, at every pillow, at every hour, at every moment, the earth full of them, the heavens full of them.
 ostnumber the Human Race.
 They outnumber the human race in this world. They outnumber ransomed spirits in glory. When Abraham had his knife uplifted to slay Isaac. it was an angel who arrested the stroke, cry ing. "Abraham, Abrahamln 1t was 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. It was an angel that showed Hagar the fountain where she filled the bottle for the lad. It was an angel that took Lot out of doomed Sodom. It was an angel that shut up the mouth of the hungry monsters when Daniel was thrown into the caverns. It was an angel that fed Elijah under the juniper tree. It was an angel that an nounced to Mary the approaching na- tivity. They were angels that chanted when Christ was born. It was an angel that strengthened our Saviour in his agony. It was an angel that encouraged Paul in the Mediterranean shipwreck. It was an angel that burst open the prison, gate after gate, until Peter was liberated. It was an angel that stirred the pool of Siloam, where the sick were healed. It 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 vials, and an angel standing in the sun. It will be an angel with uplifted hand swear ing that 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 su- pernals-feets of them. squadrons of them, host beyond host, rank above rank, millions on millions, and all on aur side if we will have theml
 This leads me to speak of the offices of these supernals- To defend, to cheer, to rescue, to escort, to give victory to the right and overthrow the wrong that is their business-just as alert to- day and efficient as when in Bible times they spread wing or unsheathed sword or rocked down penitentiaries or filled the mountains with horses of fire hitch ed to chariots of fire and driven by reinsmen of fire. They have turned your 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 some thought of Christian parentage or of loyalty to your own home, and that arrested you. They arranged that some one should meet you at that crisis and propose afh F. IL they took from your pocket some ticket to evil amusement, ticket that you never found. It was an angel of God, and perhaps the very one that guided you to this service and that now waits to report some holy impression to be made upon your soul, tarrying with one foot upon the doorstep of your i'm mortal spirit and the other foot lifted for ascent into the skies. By some prayer detain him until he can tell of re-