The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1899-12-07

cial nearness to Christ, evidently be-
lieved that every worthy soul has an
angel. Jesus said of his followers:
Their angels behold the face of my
Father" Elsewhere it is said: He
shall give His angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways" Angel
shielded, angel-protected, angel-guard-
ed, angel-canopied, art thou! No won-
der 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?
Va1erius and Rufnus were put 10
death for Christ's sake in the year 2sT,
and after the day when their bodies had
been whipped and pounded into jelly.
in the night in prison and before the
next day when they were to be executed,
they both thought they saw angels
standing with two glittering crowns.
saying: BE of good cheer, valiant sol-
diers of Jesus Christ! A little more
of battle, and then these crowns are
yours" And / am glad to know that
before many of those who have passed
through great sufferings in this life
some angel of God has held blazing
coronet of eternal reward. Yea, we are
to have such guardian angel to take
us upward when our work is done. You
know, we are told an angel conducted
Lazarus to Abraham's BOSOM. That
shows that none shall be so poor in dy-
ing he cannot afford angelic escort. 1t
would be long way to &c alone, and
up paths we have never trod, and amid
blazing worlds swinging in unimagina-
bic momentum, out and on through
such distances and across such infini-
tudes of space we should shudder at
the thought of going alone.
But the angelic escort will come to
your languishing pillow or the place
of your fatal accident and say: "Hail,
immortal one! All is well. God hath
sent me to take you home" And with
out tremor or slightest sense of peril
you will away and upward, farther on
and farther on, until after awhile
Heaven heaves in sight and the rumble
of chariot wheels and the roll of
mighty harmonies are heard in the dis
tance, and nearer you come, and nearer
still, until the brightness is like many
mornings suffused into one, and the
gates lift, and you are inside the
amethystine walls and on the banks
of the jasper sea, forever safe, forever
free, forever well, forever rested, for
ever united, forever happy. Mothers,
do not think your little children GO
alone when they quit this world. Out
of your arms into angelic arms, out of
sickness into health, out of the cradle
into a Saviour's bosom! Not an in-
slant will the darlings be alone between
the two kisses-the last kiss of earth
and the first kiss Of Heaven. s'Now,
angels, do your work." cried an ex-
piring Christian.
Yes, guardian angel for each one
of you. Put yourself now in accord
with him. When he suggests the right,
follow it. When he warns you against
the wrong, shun it. Sent forth from God
to help you in this great battle against
sin and death, accept His deliverance.
When tempted to feeling of loneliness
and disheartenment, appropriate the
promise: "The angel of the Lord en-
.campeth around about them that fear
Him and delivereth them.' Oh, 1 am
SO glad that the spaces between here
and Heaven are thronged with these
supernaturals taking. z tidings home
bringing messages here, rolling back OBJ
stacles from our path and giving us de.
fense, for terrific are the forces who
dispute our way, and if the nation OF
a the good angels is on our side the ma.
tion of bad angels is on the other. Paul
i had it right when he said: "We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against
principaities, against powers, agains,
the rulers of the darkness Of .thil
world, against spiritual wickedness il
high places" In that awful fight may
God send us mighty angelic reinforce
ment! We want all their wings on oul
side, all their chariots on our side.i
4 Thank God that those who are fol
us are mightier than those who ar,
Iagainst us! And that thought make,
tme jnbilant as to the final triumph
Belgium, you know, was the battle
ground of England and France: Yea
Belgium more than once was the bat
tle-ground of opposing nations. 1t s,
Happens that this world is the Belgium
or battle-ground between the angelo
nations, good and bad. Michael, th
commander in chief. on one side; Lu
cifer, as Byron calls him, or Mephia
3 topheles, as, Goethe calls him, or Satan
Is the Bible calls him, the commando
Il in chief on the other side. All pnr
angelhoods under the one Leadership
, and all abandoned .angelhood unde
. the other lead ersAip, Many skirmisl
! have the two armies had. but the grea
!. and decisive battle is yet to be fough1
Either from our earthly homes or dow,
from our supernal residences. may "
come in on the right side, for On tina
side are God and Heaven and victory
Meanwhile the battle is being set /
array, and the forces celestial and d,
A