The Penn's Grove record., 1899-11-03
I. j., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1899.
DR.. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE Blythe NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject; A Hen rly Guard-Mlssion of
the Angels Much to Do With
the Every-J fairs of Life-A Guard
ian Angel h. Every One.

WASHINGTON, D. C.-The brilliant beings
supposed by some to be Imaginary are by
DIR. Talmage In this sermon shown to be rea
and to nave much to do with our everyday
life. The text is, Judges xiii, 10, "Ant
the angel did wondrously."
Fire built on Il rock. Manoah and his
wife had there kindled the flames for sac,
rifica in the praise of God and in honor oil
n guest whom they supposed to be a man
But as the flame rose higher and higher
their stranger guest stepped into the fame
md by one red leap assembled into the
skies. Then they knew that be was al
angel OF the Lord. "The angel did won
drously.o
Two hundred and fofty-eight times does
the Bible refer to the angels, yet I never
| neard c- read 4 sermon on angelology
The whole subject is RELOCATED to the
realm mythical, weird, spectral and un-
known. Such adjournment Is un-Seriptura
and wicked. OF their life, their character,
their habits, their actions, their velocities
the Bible gives us full length portraits, and
why this prolonged and absolute silence
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 bad an
gels. OF the former l chiefly speak to-
day. Their capital, their headquarters,
their grand rendezvous, is heaven, Tut
their empire is the universe. They are a
distinct race Of creatures. No human be-
ing can ever join their confrat ernity. The
little child who In the Sabbath school
sings, II want to be an angel" will never
have her wish Grati6ed. They are super
human, but they are of different grades
and ranks, not all on the same level or the
same height. They have their superiors
and interiors and equals. | propose no
guessing on this subject, but take the Bible
for my only authority. Plato, the philoso-
pher, guessed and divided angels into
supercelestial, celestial and subcelestial
Dionysius, the A~reopagite, guessed and
divided them into three classes, the SUI
preme, the middle and the last, and each
of these into three other classes, making
nine in all. Philo said that the angels were
related to God, as the rays to the sun.
Fulgentius said that they we're composed
OF body and spirit. Clement said they
were i%ncorporeal. Augustine said that
they had been in danger OF falling, but
now are beyond being tempted. But the
only authority on this SUI ject that | re-
spect says they are divided into cherubim,
seraphim, thrones, nominations, principal
tiles, powers. Their commander in chief
is Michael. Daniel called him Michael.
st. John called him Michael. These
supernal beings are more thoroughly or
ganized than any army that ever marched.
They are swifter than any cyclone 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 aud mine than any being In the
universe except God. May the Angel of
the New Covenant. who is the Lord Jesus,
open our eyes and touch our tongue and
rouse our soul while we speak OF their
deathlessness, their intelligence, their
numbers, their strength, their achieve
ments.
Yes, deathless. They had a cradle, but
will never have q grave. The Lord remem-
bers when they were born, but no one
shall ever see their eye extinguished or
their momentum slow up or their eXistehGe
terminate. The Oldest Of them has not a
wrinkle or a decrepitude or u hindrance.
as young after 5000 years as at the close of
their first hour. Christ said of the good
in heaven, "Neither car they die any more,
for they are equal TO the angels" Yes,
deathless are these wonderful creatures of
whom / speak. They will see world after
word go out, but there shall be no fading
Of their own briliianee. Yea, after the last
world has taken its last flight they will be
ready for the widest circuit through I'm
mensity, taking a quadrillion OF miles in
one sweep as easy as Il pigeon circles a
dovecot. 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 1856 900
Of Sennacherib's host, but no fatality can
smite them. Awake, agile, m~ultipotent,
deathless, immortal
A further characteristic OF these radiant
folk Is intelligence. The woman of Tekoah
was right when she spoke to King David of
the wisdom of an angel. We mortals take
In what little VIC know through eye and
ear and nostril and touch, but those beings
have no physical encasement, md hence
they are all senses. A wall i've feet thick
10 NOT solid IN t1,pro Thr6nnh n fhau 90
without disturbing fake OF mortar or crys-
tai Of sand. Kuowledgel 1t flashes on
them. They take it in at all points. They
absorb it. They gather 1t up without any
Underwent. No need of literature for
them. The letters of their books nre stars.
The dashes OF their books are meteors. The
words OF their books are consultations.
The paragraphs of their books are galax-
les. The pictures of their books are sun
rises and sunsets and midnight auroras
n the Conqueror on the white horse with
the moon under his feet. Their library lie
an open universe. No need of telescope TO
see something millions OF miles away, for
instantly they are there to inspect aud ex-
plore 1t. All ASTRONOMERS, all geologies, all
botanies, all philosophers, at their feet.
What an opportunity for intelligence is
theirsi What facilities for knowing every
thing and knowing it right away
There Is only one thing that puts them
" tutlT wills Gnu. ana lut Dlplt SHyS lucy
have to study that. They have been study
ing it all through the ages, and yet Lwar-
rant they have not fully grasped 1.-THE
wonders OF redemption. These wonders
are SO high, SO deep, so grand, SO stupen-
dous, 50 magnificent, that even the in
telligence of angelhood is COMPOUNDED be-
fore 1t. The apostle says, (Which things
the angels desire to look into" That Is Il
subject that excites inquisitiveness on their
part. That is II theme that strains their
faculties to the utmost. That is higher
than they can climb, deeper than they can
dive. They have u desire for something
too big for their comprehension. (which
things the angels desire to look into"
But that does not discredit their intelli-
gence. No one but God Himself can fully
understand the wonders Of redemption.
II all heaven should study it for fifty
eterDities, they would get no further than
the A b O of that inesbaustible subject.
But nearly all other realms of knowledge
they have ransaeked aud 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 In
vestigatlon, and what delights me most is
that all their intelligence Is to be at our
disposal, and, coming into their presence g,
they will tell us In Ave minutes more than
we can learn by 100 years OF earthly sur
missing.
A further characteristic OF these immor-
tails Is their velocity. This the Bible puts
sometimes under the figure OF wings, some-
times under the figure of a flowing gar
ment, sometimes under the figure OF naked
feet. AS these su%perhumans are without
bodies, these expressions are Of course fig-
uratiye and mean swiftness. The Bible
tells us that Daniel was praying and dah7
Ttel few from heaven and touched hlmsoe-
fore he got up from his knees. How far,
then, did the Angel Gabriel have to fly in
in those moments Of Daniels prayerg
Heaven Is thought to be the center OF the
universe, our sun and its planets only the
rim of the wheel of worlds. In n moment
the Angel Gabriel few from that center to
this periphery. Jesus told Peter he could
instantly have 60 1000 angels present il he
called for them.
What foot of antelope or wing of alba
tross could equal that velocity? Law OF
grayitation, which grips all things else.
has no influence upon angelic momentum.
Immensities before them open and shut
like a fan. That they are here is no reason
why they should not be a quintlllion of
miles hence the nex minute. Our bodies
hinder us, but our minds can circle the
earth in a minute. Angelic beings are