The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-10-30
GUARDED BY ANGELS.
REV. DR.. TALMAoe SAYS THEY KEEP
WATCH OVER MoRTALS.

copyright. Louis Klopsch 1897
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20--The brilliant
beings supposed by some to be imagina.
ry are by DIR. Talmage in his sermon
shown to be real and to have much to do
with our everyday life. The text il
Judges xiii, 10, "And the angel did won.
drousy."
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
man. But as the flame rose higher and
higher their stranger guest stepped into
the fame and by one red leap assembled
into the skies. Then they knew that was
an angel of the Lord. "The angel did
, w0ndrously." su.-srs
Two hundred and forty-eight times
does the Bible refer to the angels, yet
never heard or read 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-
tons, their velocities, the Bible gives US
full length portraits, and why this pro.
loDged 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 chiefly speak to-
day. Their capital, their headquarters,
their grand rendezvous, is heaven, but
their empire is the universe. They are a
distinct race Of creatures. No human
being can ever join their confraternity.
The little child who In the Sabbath
school sings, II want to be an angel"
will never have her wish grati6ed. They
are superhuman, 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 own authority.
Plato, the philosopher, guessed and d.
vided angels into supercelestial, celes-
tial and subcelestial. Dionysius, the
Areopagite, guessed and divided them
into three classes the supreme, the mid
die and the last, and each of these into
three other classes, making nine in all.
Philo said that angels were related to
God, as the rays to the sun. Fulgentius
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 subject that re,
spect says they are divided into cheru-
him, seraphim, thrones, Nominations,
municipalities, powers. Their commander |
in chief is Michael. Daniel called him
Michael. st. John called him Michael.
These supernal beings are more thor
oughly organized than any army that
ever marched. They are swifter than
any cyclone that ever swept the sea.
They are more radiant than any morn
ing that ever came down the sky. They
have more to do with your destiny and
mine than any being in the universe ex-
Cept 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 death
lessness, their intelligence, their num-
bers, their strength, their achievements.
The Dcathless Angels.
Yes, deathless. They had cradle, but
will never have grave. The Lord re-
members when they were born, but no
Que shall ever see their eye extingushed
or their momentum slow up or their ex-
istence terminate. The Oldest of them
has not a wrinkle or a decrepitude or
hindrance, as young after 5000 years
as at the close Of their first hour.
Christ said to the good in heaven, "Nei-
ther can they die any more for they are
equal unto the angels" Yes, deathless
arc these wonderful creatures of whom
speak, They will see world after
world 60 out, but there shall be no fad
ing Of their own brilliance. Yea, after
the last world has taken its last flight,
they will be ready for the widest circuit
through immensely, taking a quadrillion
of miles in one sweep as easy as a pi-
geon circles 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, $4,000 of Sennach-
cribs host, but no fatality can smte
them. Awake, agile, multipotent, death
less, immortal!
A further characteristic of these radi-
Aut 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 whnt little we know
through the eye and ear and nostril and
touch, but those beings have no physical
incasement, and hence they are all
senses. A wall five feet thick is not solid
to them. Through 1t they go without
disturbing fake Of mortar or crystal Of
sand, knowledge! 1t flashes on them.
They take it in at all points. They alb
sorb it. They gather it up without any
Underwent. No need of literature for
them. The letters of their books arc
stars. The dashes of their books arc mete-
ors. The words Of theirbooks are constel-
latons. The paragraphs Of their books are
galaxies. The pictures of their books
are sunrises and sunsets and midnight
auroras and the Conlueror on the white
horse with the moon under his feet, Their
library is IN open universe. No need Of
telescope to see something millions of
miles away, for instantly they are there
to inspect and explore 1t. All astrono-
mics, all geologies, all botanies, all phi
losOphies, at their feet. What an oppor-
tunity for intelligence is theirs. What
facilities for knowing everything and
knowing it right away!
Wonders of Redemption.
There is only one thing that puts them
to their wits end, and the Bible says
they have to study that. They have been
studying it all drought the ages, and yet
warrant they have not fully grasped it
the wonders of redemption. These
wonders are so high, so deep, so grand,
SO stupen6aus, SO magnificent, that even
the intellige, % of angehood is confound.
ed before it.Ny Ne apostle says, (which
things the angpn, desire to look into"
That is a subject that excites inquisitive.
ness on their part. That is q theme that
strains their faculties TO the utmost
That is higher than they can climb, deep.
or than they can dive. They have a de.
sire for something too big for their com.
prehension. (which things the angels
desire to look into" But that does not
discredit their intelligence. No one but
God himself can fully understand the
or redemption. If all heaven
should study 1t for so centuries, they ,
would get no further than the A G Of !
hat inexhaustiblc subject. But nearly
III other realms Of knowledge they have
'ansacked and exatored and comprised.
No one but God Tan tell them anything l
hey DO not know. They have read to
he st word of the last line of the last
n ,ft hr In OF - to, ,