Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-11-04
A HEAVENLY GUARD.
DIR. TAuMAGE ON THE MISSION OF
The ANGELS.

,rhey Have Much to DO With the Ev-
erysiny Affairs of Life. Say. the Din
tInguishcd Prencher-A Gunrdian
Angel For Every One.
copyright. Louis KlOpsch. 1901
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 rock. Manoah and his
wife had there kindled the flames for
sacrifceiin praise of God and in honor
Of a guest whom they supposed to be
man But as the flame rose higher and
higher their stranger guest stepped
into the flame and by one red leap as
cended into the skies. Then they knew
that he was an angel of the Lord. 1.-The
angel did wondrously.
Two hundred and forty-eight times
does the Bible refer to the angels, yet
never heard or read n 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 them2 Angelology is my theme.
There are two nations of angels and
they are hostile to each other-the na-
ton 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 uni
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, 81
want to be an angel will never have
her wish gratiticd They are snpcrhu-
man. but they are of different grades
and ranks. not all on the same level or
the same height They have their su-
periors and interiors and equals. pro-
pose no guessing ON this subject. bnt
take the Bible for my only Authority
Plato. the philosopher. GUESSED! and di-
vided angels into supercclestial. celes-
tial and subcelestial. 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 incorporenl. Augustine said
that they had been in danger of falling.
but now are beyond being tempted.
But the only authority on this subject
that respect says thoy are divided into
cherubim. seraphim. thrones. domina-
tions. principalities. 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 sen 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 cur soul while we
speak of their deathlessness. their in
telligence, their numbers. their strength.
their achievements
A Cradle. but No Grave.
Yes, deathless. They had cradle,
but will never have 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 wrinkle or decrepi-
tude or hindrance, as young after
6. 900 years as Mt 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. y Yes
deathless are these wonderful creatures
of whom speak They will see world
after world 20 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, taking u
uuadrillion of miles in one sweep az
easy az pigeon circles IL dovecot. They
are never sick They are never exhaust
ed. They need no sleep, for they are
never tired. At Gods command they
smote with death in one night 1856. 600
of Sennacherib 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 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 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 uuroras 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 botanies all philosophers at
their feet Whatan opportunity for in
telligence is theirs What facilities for
1y,,o,rinO II