The Yale expositor., 1899-11-10

angels desire TO look into" But that
does not discredit their intelligence,
No one but God himself can fully I'M
derstand the wonders Of Redemption.
If all heaven should study it for fifty
eternities they would get no further
than the A c of that ineXhaustible
subject. But nearly all other realms
Of knowledge they have ransacked and
explored and comprised. No one but
God can tell them anything they do not
know. They have read to the last
word Of the last line of the last page
Of the last volume Of investigation.
And what delights me most is that all
their intelligence is to be at our dis
posal, and, coming into their presence,
they will tell us in five minutes more
than we can learn by one hundred
years Of earthly surmising.
Another remark ! have TO make con-
corning these illustrious immortals is
that they are multitudinous. Their
census 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 thousand. Now, according
to Iy calculation, ten thousand times
ten thousand are one hundred million.
But these are only the angels in one
place. David counted twenty thousand
of them rolling down the sky in char
lots. When God came away from the
riven rocks Of Mount Sinai, the Bible
says he had the companiorship OF ten
thousand angels. | 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.
They outnumber the human race in
this world. They outnumber ransomed
spirits in glory. When Abraham had
his knife uplifted to Stay Isaac. it was
an angel who arrested the stroke, cry
ing, Abraham! Abraham" 1t was
q SleAli dy Vi dASClo bAoN otANSD 80
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 that took
Lot out of doomed Sodom. 1t was an
angel that shut UP the mouth of the
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 announced
to Mary the approaching nativity.
They were angels that chanted when
Christ was born. 1t was an angel that
strengthened our Savior 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 the sick
were healed. II 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 thrust in
the sickle, and an angel that poured
out the Walls, ard an angel standing
in the sun. 1t will be an angel with
uplifted hand. swearing 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 super
mails! Fleets Of them! Squadrons OF
them! Host beyond host! Rank
above rank! Millions on millions!
And all on our side if we will have
them.
Men and women Of all circumstances.
only partly appreciated, or not appfe-
ciated at all, never feel lonely again
or unregarded again! Angels all
around; angels to approve, angels to
help. angels to remember. Yea, while
all the good angels are friends Of the
good, there is one special angel your
bodyguard. This idea, until this pres
ent study of angelology, l supposed to
be fanciful, but l find it clearly stated
IT. the Bible When the disciples were
praying for Peters deliverance from
prison, and he appeared at the door of
the prayer meeting, they could not be-
lieve it was Peter. They said. 1T is
his angel" So these disciples, in spe-
cial nearness to Christ, evidently be-
lieved that every worthy soul has an
angel. Jesus said OF his followers:
Their angels shall behold the face OF
my Father" Elsewhere 1t is said:
HE shall give his angels charge over
thee, to keep thee in all thy ways"
Angel-shielded, angel-protected, angel
guarded, angel-canopied. art thou! No
wonder that Charles Wesley hymned
these words:
Which Of the petty kings OF earth
Can boast guard like ours,
Encircled from our second birth
With all the heavenly powers?"
Valerius and Rufinus were put to
death for Christ's sake in the year 2S7,
and after the day when their bodies
had hppn wRinpad and noundpd into n