Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-11-03

Copyright, Louis Klopsch. lso0.l
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29.-The brilliant
beings supposed by some to be imagi-
nary are by Dr. Talmage in this sermon
shown to be real and to have much to
do with our everyday life The text is,
Judges xiii 10, "And the angel did
wondrously."
Fire built 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 fame rose higher and
higher their stranger guest stepped
into the fame and by one red leap as
cended 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 l
never heard or read a sermon on angel
ology. The whole subject is relegated
to the realm mythical, weird, spectral
and unknown. Such adjournment is
un-Scriptural and wicked. OF their life.
their character, their habits their ac-
tions, their velocities, the Bible gives
us full length portraits, and why this
prolonged and absolute silence concern
ing them? Angelology is my theme.
There are two nations Of angels, and
they are hostile to each other-the ma
tion Of good angels and the nation Of
bad angels OF the former | chiefly
speak today Their capital their head
quarters, their grand rendezvous, is
heaven. but their empire is the mi
verse. They are distinct race Of crea-
lures. No human being can ever join
their confraternity The little child
who in the Sabbath school sings. Il
want to be an angel, will never have
her wish gratifed They are superhu-
man. but they are of different grades
aud ranks not ali on the same level or
the same height They have their su
periors and interiors and equals pro-
pose no guessing on this subject but
take the Bible for my only authority.
Plato, the philosopher, guessed and di
vided angels into supercelestial, celes-
tial and subcelcstial Dionysius the
Areopagite. guessed and divided them
into three classes the supreme the
middle and the last. and each Of these
into three other classes. making nine in
all. PhilO said that the angels were re-
lated to God. as the rays to the sun.
Fulgentius said that they were COM
posed Of body and spirit Clement said
they were incorporcal Augustine said
that they had been in dancer Of falling,
but now are beyond being tempted.
But the only authority on this subject
that | respect says they are divided into
cherubim, seraphim. thrones. domina-
tions. principaiities, powers Their com
mander in chief is Michael Daniel
called him Michael St John called
him Michael These supernal beings are
more thoroughly organized 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 shy They have more to do with
your destiny and 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 cur soul while we
speak Of their deathlessness, their in
telligence their numbers. their strength,
their achievements
4 Cradle. but No Grave.
Yes deathless They had a cradle,
but will never have a grave The Lord
remembers when they were born. but
no one shall ever see their eye extin-
guished CT their momentum slow mp or
their existence terminate The oldest
of them has not a wrinkle or a decrepi-
tude or a hindrance, as young after
5000 years as at the close Of their first
hour. Christ said of the good in heav-
en-. Neither can they die any more. for
they are equal unto the angels. Yes,
deathless are these wonderful creatures
of whom | speak They will see world
after world 90 out but there shall be
no fading Of their own brilliance. Yea,
after the last world has taken its last
fight they will be ready for the widest
circuit through immensity, taking a
quadrillion of miles in one sweep as
easy as a pigeon circles dovecot. They
are never sick They are never exhaust
ed They need no sleep, for they are
never tired At God command they
smote with death in one night 1856. 600
of Sennacheribs host. but no fatality
can smite them Awake agile, multi
potent. deathless. immortal
A further characteristic Of these ra-
diant 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 we know
through eye and ear and nostril and
touch. but those beings have no physic-
al encasement. and hence they are all
senses A wall five feet thick is not
solid to them Through it they go with
out disturbing fake Of mortar or crystal
of sand Knowledgel 1t flashes on them
They take il in at all points They alb
sorb it They gather il up without any
hinderment No need Of literature for
them The letters Of their books are
stars The dashes Of their books are
meteors The words of their books are
consultations The paragraphs of their !
books are galaxies The pictures Of !
their books are sunrises and sunsets and
midnight auroras and the Conqueror on
the white horse with the moon under
his feet Their library is an open uni
verse No need Of telescope to see some
thing millions Of miles away for in
stantly they are there to inspect and
explore it All ASTRONOMERS. all geol-
ogies, all botanics, all PHILOSOPHERS, at
their feet Whatan opportunity for in
/ telligence is theirs What facilities for
knowing everything and knowing 1t
right away
There is only one thing that puts
them to their wits end. and the Bible
saws they have to study that. They
have been studying it all through the
ages, and yet warrant they have not
fully grasped 1.-THE wonders of re-
demption. These wonders are so high
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