Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-11-08
SERMON
Rev. DR.. CaInaee


Subject: Heavenly Guard-Mission ot
the Anxeis-Havo Much to Do with
the Everyday Affairs ofLife-A Guard.
Ian Angel For Every Ono.
TCopyright. Louis KIopsch. 1891
WASHINGTON, D., C.-The brilliant being,
supposed by some to be imaginary are by
and to have much to do with our everyday
life. The text is, Judges KILL, 10, "And
the angel did wondrously."
Fire built on a rock. Manoah and his
wife had there klndled the flames for sac
rifice In the praise of God and In honor OF
But as the fame rose higher and higher
their stranger guest stepped into the flame
and by one red leap assembled into the
skies. Then they knew that he was an
angel Of the Lord. ''The angel did won
drously.''
Two hundred and forty-eight times does
the Bible refer to the angels, yet never
heard or read sermon on angeloloRy.
The whole subject is relegated to the
realm mythical weird, spectral and un-
known. Such adjournment Is un-Scriptural
and wicked. or their life. their character,
their habits, their actions, their velocities,
the Bible gives US full length portraits, and
why this prolonged and absolute silence
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 I 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 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 gratified. 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. I propose no
guessing on this subject, but take the Bible
for my only authority. Plato, the philoso-
pher, guessed and divided angels into
celestial and subcelestial.
Dionysius, the Areopagite, guessed and
divided them into three classes, the su-
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 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 I re-
spect says they are divided into cherublm,
seraphim. thrones, nominations, principal.
itie-, powers. Their commander In chief
Is Michael. Daniel called him Michael.
st. John called him Michael. These
beings are more thoroughly or
ganized than any army that ever marched.
They are swifter than anv 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
their intelligence, their
numbers, their strength, their achieve
ments.
Yes, deathless. They had q cradle, -buf.
viii never have grave. The Lord femem.
bers when they were born, but no one
shall ever see their eye extinguished or
their momentum slow up or their existence
terminate. The oldest Of them has not q
wrinkle or decrspitude or a hindrance.
as young after 5000 years as at the close Of
their first hour. Christ SAID of the good
In heaven "NeitheE - rusy die any more,
for they are equal to the angels" Yes,
deathless are these wonderful creatures OF
whom speak. They will see world after
world go out, but there shall be no fading
Of their own brilliance. Yea, after the last
ready for the widest circuit through i'm
taking a quadrillion of miles in
one sweep as easy as a pigeon circles a
1ovecot. They are never sick. They are
never exhausted. They need no sleep, for
hey are never tired. At Gods command
If Senpacherib's host, but no fatality can
mite them. Awake, agile. multfpotent,
leathless, immortall
A further characteristic of these radiant
ok Is intelligence. The woman of Tekoah
vas right when she spoke to King David OF
n what little We know through eye and
'ar and nos,ril and touch, but those beings
lave no physical encasement, and hence
hey are all senses. A wall FIVE feet thick
s not solid to them. Through It they 20
Without disturbing flake OF mortar or crys-
hem. They take 1t In at all points. They
Ibsorb 1t. They gather It up without any
Underwent. No need of literature for
hem The letters of their books are stars. |
The dashes of their books are meteors. The |
words OF their books are consultations. |
es. The pictures OF their books are sun
ises and sunsets and midnight auroras |
md the Conqueror on the white horse with |
he moon under his feet. Their library Is |
n open universe. No need Of telescope to |
ee something millions Of miles away. for /
Su0y 0I0 SuSXo W luSpcCl buu OK. |
lore It. All ASTRONOMERS, all geologies, all
all philosophers. at their feet.
What an opportunity for intelligence is |
heirs! What facilities for knowing every
hing and knowing 1t right awayl
There Is only one thing that puts them
ave to study that. They have been study
ng it all through the ages. and yet I war
ant they have not fully grasped 1.-THE
7onders Of redemption. These wonders
re so high, so deep, SO grand, so stupen-
GUS, SO magnificent. that even the in.
OF angelhood is confounded be-
pre- 1t. The apostle says, (which things
he angels desire to look into" That is a
ubject that excites inquisitiveness on their
art. That Is a theme that strains their
aculttes to the utmost. That is higher
han they can climb, deeper than they can
i've. They have desire for something
DO big for their comprehension. (Which
ut that does not discredit their intellf-
ence. No one but God Himself can fully
nderstand the wonders Of redemption.
all heaven should study it for fifty
they would get no further than
he A B c of that ineAhaustible subject.
ut nearly all other realms of knowledge
,ey have ransacked and explored and
No one but God can tell
hem anything they do not know. They
ave read to the last word OF the last line
the last page Of the last volume OF in.
estigation, and what delights me most Is
lat all their intelligence is to be at our
lsposal, and, coming into their presence.
ley will tell us In five minutes more than
Q can learn by 100 years Of earthly sur.
Using.
A further characteristic of these immof.
lis Is their velocity. This the Bible puts
,metimes under the figure Of wings. some
mes under the figure Of a flowing gar
ent, sometimes under the figure OF naked
'et. As these superhumans are without
odies, these expressions are of course fig
rative and mean swiftness. The Bible
re ho got up from his knees. How far,
len, did the Angel Gabriel have to fly In
those moments of Daniels prayer?
eaven Is thought to be the center of the
inverse. our sun and its planets only the