The Yale expositor., 1899-11-10


his wife had there kindled the flames
for sacrifice in praise of God, and in
honor of guest whom they supposed
to be man. But, as the flames rose
higher and higher, their stranger guest
stepped into the dame and by one red
leap assembled 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
/ never heard or read a sermon on
Angelology. The whole subject is
relegated TO the realm mythical, weird,
spectral and unknown. Such adjourn
ment is unscriptural 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 CT angels,
and they are hostile to each other;
the nation of good angels and the ma
ton of bad angels. OF the former
|
their headquarters, their grand rem
devious, is heaven, but their empire is
! the universe. They are distinct race
of creatures. No human being can
ever join their confraternity. The lit
tie child who in the Sabbath school
sings, lwant to be an angel" will
never have her wish gratihed. They
are superhuman, but they are of diff
ferent grades and ranks, not all on the
same level, or the same height. They
have their superiors and interiors and
equals. l propose no guessing on this
subject, but take the Bible for my only
| authority. Plato, the philosopher,
guessed and divided angels into super
celestial, celestial and sub-celestial.
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 related to
God, as the rays to the sun. Fulgen-
| thus said that they were composed OF
| body and spirit. Clement said they
were incorporeal. Augustine said that
they had been in danger of falling,
but now are beyond being tempted.
But the only authority on this sub
ject, that l respect, says they are di-
vided into Cherubim, Seraphim,
Thrones, Dominations, Principalities
Powers Their commander-in-chie 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 sky. 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 our soul, while we speak OF
their deathlessness, their intelligence,
their numbers, their strength, their
achievements.
Yes, deathless. They had a cradle,
but will never have grave. The Lord
remembers when they were born, but
no one shall ever see their eye eX-
tinguished, or their momentum slow
up, or their existence terminate. The
oldest Of them has not wrinkle, or
decrepitude, or a hindrance; as
young after six thousand years as at
the close of their first hour Christ
said of the good in heaven, Neither
can they die any more, for they are
equal unto the angels" Yes, death
less are these wonderful creatures of
whom l speak. They will see world
after world go out, but there shall be
no fading of their own brilliance.
Yea, after the last world has taken its
last flight, they will be ready for the
widest circuit through immensely, TAX
ing quadrilllon Of miles in one sweep
as easy as a pigeon circles a dovecot.
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 nos
tril and touch; but those beings have
no physical encasemeIt and hence they
are all senses. A wall five feet thick is
not solid to them. Through it they go
without disturbing fake of mortar or
crystal of sand. knowledge. 1t flash
es on them. They take it in at all
points. They absorb it. They gather
it up without any Underwent. No
need of literature for them! The let
tiers of their books are stars. The
dashes of their books are meteors.
The words of their books are constella-
tions. 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 I'M
der his feet Their library is an open
universe. No need of telescope to see
something millions of miles away, for
instantly they are there to inspect and
explore 1t. All ASTRONOMERS, all geolo-
gies, all botanies, all PHILOSOPHERS at
Siseir feet. What an opportunity for