Middletown transcript., 1922-01-07
SAINTS AND ANGELS
BY f. w. CASWELL

|
of the heavenly host, praising God and
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace. good will to men.
Bishop Matthew Simpson, in dis
course upon this text, said, Il know
not who those angels We're, but | fancy
they were the redee ned Adam and
Eve were there, Moses, Elijah,
David and the Patriarchs, | believe
were with the heavenly host. o." l think
if had lived before the birth of Christ
| and been in heaven, where Christ left
| his throne to come to earth, | would
have asked permission to come down. ;"
Bishop K. S. Foster.in his introduce
ton to the Life of DIR. Nadal, writes,
Though made invisible by death, our
| friends live perennially in our hearts
and still walk the journey of life with
us, both in dreams and walking memoir
les. They keep ever coming to US.
| Death let's go bolt, our friend falls.
| Then first we learn that it was and
angel walking by our side; the ascend
| ing chariot reveals the Elijah. Not
until the vase Is broken do we discover
| the precious ointment 1t contains.
We know that Moses and Elijah. on
| the Mount of Transfiguration, Minis
tered to Jesus and the disciples, as
other angels did in His Gethsememne
agony and at His temptation There
f, fore, departed saints are ministering
| spirits like the angels, which is in
accordance with Chrst's words, They
are as the angels in heaven" Like
them in their ability to become mes
sengers to all the creatures of God, in
all the worlds. The word angel means
messe' ger. We are messengers on
earth in II limited sphere to the brother
! hood of men, the family of God, but
when we join the throng of the innum-
eral company, the sphere of our minister
| ing is widened like the angels to being
everywhere.
The Old and New Testaments record
more than two hundred incidents of
/ angelic ministry, giving strenth, com
! fort and guidance to the pilgrims of the
earth. We can see no distinction be-
| tween the mission of the glorified re-
! deemed of this world, and the angels o.
heaven. All must be included in the
army of the hosts of heaven, the leg
ions which Christ could have called to
deliver him from His arrest, trial and
trdcifiXion Himself He could not
save" is as true as the words "He shall
give His angels charge over thee, to
keep thee in all thy ways
The angels who escorted the Beloved
John through the wonders of the celes-
tal city, giving him the material for
the Book of Revolutions, when John
was about to fall down and worship
Him, the angels exclaimed, 'ree thou
do it not; worship cd; | am a fellow
servant with thee and with thy breth-
rem the prophets" The angel was
doubtless one of the redeemed prophets
VINO proclaimed Christ's first coming
and was selected to chaperone John
! through Jerusalem the Golden. Saints
and angels are words that may be
| used interchangeably among the inbabi-
tants of the heavenlies; all are God $
messengers to obey His will.
Remember Jesus words in the Lord S
| Prayer, "Thy will he done on earth as
it is in Heaven " Who but angels do
/ the will of God in heaven, We, His
earthly children, are to follow their
example, doing His will on earth. We
are candidates for the angelic life, and
begin to practice the life of ministering
here.
We read that there is JOY in the
presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth. The spirits of
just men made perfect are In the
presence of the angels aid must have
the greater joy over loved ones saved
in the earthly life, and we have no
doubt that they are better fitted to
become our guardian angels in hours
of trial and need. Our dull eyes of
sense do not behold them, but they
dwell in our visions. dreams and
memories. Swift as the lightning they
will fly to US for material things are nc
obstruction to their movements.
After Paul, in the Eleventh of
Hebrews had enumerated many of the
Old Testament heroes, he eXclaims.
Wherefore, seeing we are encompass
ed about by so great cloud of witness
es, let US run with patience the race sci
before us" He knew that the depart
ed saints and angels were not only
looking down from the gallaries. of the
skies upon us, but were actively minis
tering to us in the race for the crown.
Are not all created beings brothers r
the one family of the infinite Father
Son and Holy Spirit, who are command
ed TO love and help each other every
where through His universe? The
heavenly company always goes where
, it is sent. while on earth 80 manv refuse
to obey the call
Do not many people avoid the subjec
, of saints ard angels mnistering to thu
race. fearing that it would encourage
: belief in some kinds of spiritualsm, o
purgatory and in the heathenish idea o
the reincarnation of our personality il
5 animals but great truth should no
} be sacrificed to avoid errors that will
t soon perish the truth prevails.