A HEAVENLY GrUAED. DR. TALMAGE ON THE MISSION THE ANGELS. " OF Ther Have Much to Do Witn tbe JEv erydar Affair of Life, Say tbetbls- ; tlnffniabed Preacher A Guardian Angel For Every One. Coprriirht, Loufi Klopsch, 1899. 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 xiil, .19. "And the angel did wondrously." . - Fire built on a rock. Manoan and bis -wife had there kindled the flames for sacrifice in praise of God and in honor of a guest whom they supposed to be a 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. "The angel did wondrously. " Two hundred and forty-eight times does the Bible refer to the angels, yet I never heard or read a sermon, on angel-' ology. The whole subject is relegated to the realm mythical, weird, spectral and unknown. Such adjournment is nn-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 them ? Angelology is my theme. There are two nations of angels, and they are hostile to each other the na tion of good angels and the nation "of bad angels. Of the former I chiefly speak today. Their capital, their head quarters, their grand rendezvous, is heaven, but their empire is the uni verse. They are a distinct race of crea tures. No human being can ever oin their confraternity. The little child who in the Sabbath school sings, "I want to be an angel," will never have her wish gratified. They are superhu 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 inferiors and equals. I pro pose no guessing on this subject, but take the Bible for my only authority. Plato, the philosopher, guessed and di vided angels into supercelestial, 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 Thilo 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 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 respect says they 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 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 Xiord Jesus, open our eyes , and touch our. tongue and rouse cur soul while we j speak of their deathlessnessi their in telligence, their numbers, their strength, their achievements. A Cradle, bat JSo Grave. . Yes, deathless. They had 1 a cradle, but will never have a grave. The Lord Temembers when they "were born, but no one shall ever see their eye extin guished cr their momentum slow up or their existence terminata The oldest of them has not a wrinkle or a decrepi tude or a hindrance, as young after 6,000 years as at 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." Yes, deathless are these wonderful creatures of whom I speak. They will see world after world go out. but there shall be no fading oi their own brilliance. Yea, after the last world has taken its last flight they will be, ready for the widest circuit through immensity, taking -a quadrillion of miles in one sweep as easy as a pigeon circles a dovecot They are never sick. They are never exhaust cd. They need no sleep, lor they are never tired. At God's command they smote with death in one night 185,000 of Sennacherib's host irat no fatality can smite them. Awake agile, multi potent, deathless, immortal I - 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 fWe mortals take in what little we know through eye and ear and nostril and touch, rot those beings have no physic al encasement, and hence they are all senses. A wall five feet thick is not solid to themu Through it they go with out disturbing flake of mortar nr rrvstol of sand. Knowledge! It flashes on them. They take it in at all points. They ab sorb it They gather it up-without any iinderment 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 constellations. The paragraphs of their books are galaxies. The pictures of their books are sunrises and sunsets and midnight auroras and the Conqueror on me wmie uurse wim me 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 astronomies, all geol ogies, all botanies, all philosophies, at their feet What an opportunity for in- icuigcuv-o xa bueirsi tviiUb lacilllies IOr knowing everything and knowing it right away! There is only one thing that puts Bible They! have been studying it all through the ages, and yet I warrant they have not fully grasped it the wonders of re-; demption. These wonders are so high,! so deep, so grand, so stupendous, so magnificent, that even the intelligence: of angelhood is confounded' before it j The apostle says, "Which things the angels desire to look into. " That is a subject that excites inquisitiveness on their part That is a theme that strains' their faculties to the utmost That is higher than they can climb, deeper j than they can dive. They have a desire for something too big for their compre-: hension. "Which things the angels de-! sire" to look into." But that does not discredit their intelligence. No one but God himself can fully understand the wonders of redemption. If all heaven: should; study it for 50 eternities, they would eret no further than the ABC of that inexhaustible subject But near ly all other realms of knowledge they have ransacked and explored and com passed. No one but God can tell them anything they do not know. They have read to the last word of the last line of the last page of the last volume of in vestigation, and what delights me most is that all their intelligence is to be at our disposal, and, coming into their presence, they will tell us in five min utes more than we can learn by 100 years of earthly surmising. Velocity .of Immortals. A further characteristic of these im mortals is their velocity. This the Bible puts sometimes under the figure of; wings, sometimes under the figure of a flowing garment, sometimes under the; figure of naked feet As these superhu-i mans are without bodies, these expres- sions are of course figurative and mean; swiftness. The Bible tells us that Daniel was praying and Gabriel flew from! heaven and touched him before be got; up from his knees. How far, then, did! the Angel Gabriel have to fly in those: moments of Daniel's prayer ? Heaven is thought to be . the center of the uni-j verse, our sun and its planets only the. rim of the wneel or worlds, in a mo ment the Angel Gabriel flew from that center to this periphery. Jesus told Peter he could instantly have 60,000 angels present if he called for them. What foot of antelope or wing of al batross could equal that velocity ? Law of gravitation, which grips all things else, has no influence upon angelic mo mentum. Immensities before them open and shut like a fan. That they are here is no reason why they should not be a quintillion of miles hence the next min ute. Our bodies hinder us, but our minds can circle the earth in a minute. Angelic beings are bodiless and have no limitation. God may with his finger; point down to some world in trouble onj the outmost limits of creation, and in- j stantly an angelic cohort is there to j help it, or some celestial may be stand-1 ing at the farthermost outpost of im mensity, and God may say ' 'Come I " ! and instantly it is in his bosom. Abra ham, Elijah, Hagar, Joshua, Gideon, j Manoah, Paul, St. John, could tell of their unhindered locomotion. The red I feet of summer lightning are slow com- j pared with their hegiras. This doubles j up and compresses infinitudes into in- j finitesimals. This puts all the astro- j nomical heavens -into a space like thej balls of a child's rattle. This mingles; into one the here and the there, the; now and the then, the beyond and the yonder. Another remark I have to make con-! - cermng these illustrious immortals is j that they are multitudinous. Their cen-j sus has never been taken, and no one; but God knows how many they are, but all the Bible accounts suggest their! immense numbers companies of them, S regiments of them, armies of them, i mountain tops haloed by them, skies j populous with them John speaks of 1 angels and other beings round the; throne as ten thousand times ten thou- j sand. Now, according to mycalcula-j tion, ten thousand -times ten thousand! are 100,000,000. But these are only the angels in one place. David counted 20,-1 000 of them rolling down the sky in! chariots. When God came away from ! the riven rocks of Mount Sinai, the I Bible says he had the companionship of 10. DUO angels. I think they are in every ! battle,, in every exigency, at every; birth, at every pillow, at every hour, j at every moment, the earth, full of them, the heavens full of them. Outnumber tne Human Race. They, outnumber the human race in! this world. They outnumber ransomed j spirits in glory. When Abraham had j his knife uplifted to slay Isaac, it was an angel who arrested the stroke, cry ing, "Abraham, Abraham I" It was a j stairway of angels that Jacob saw while ! pillowed In the wilderness. We are told j an angel led the hosts of Israelites out of Egyptian serfdom. It was an angel j that showed Hagar the fountain where j she filled the bottle for the lad. It was I an angel that took Lot out of doomed Bodom. It was an angel that shut up the mouth of the hungry monsters when Daniel was thrown into the caverns. It j was an angel that fed Elijah under the : juniper tree. It was an angel that an nounced to Mary the approaching na tivity! They were angels that chanted when Christ was born. It was an angel that strengthened our Saviour in his agony. It was an angel that encouraged Paul in the Mediterranean shipwreck. It was an angel that hurst open the prison, gate after gate, until Peter was liberated. It was an angel that stirred the pool of Siloam, where the sick were healed. It was an angel that John saw flying through the midst of heaven, and an angel with foot planted on the sea, and an angel that opened the book, and an angel that sounded the trumpet and an angel that thrust in the sickle, and an angel that poured out the vials, and an angel standing in the sun. It will ben angel with uplifted hand swear ing that time shall be no longer. In the great final harvest of the world the reapers are the angels. Yea, the Lord shall be revealed from heaven with mighty angels. Oh, the. numbers and them to their wits' end. and the BftVB thev have to study that the might and the glory of these su pernala fleets of them, squadrons of them, host beyond host rank above rank, millions on millions, and all on our side if we will have them 1 This leads me to speak of the offices of these supernals. To defend, to cheer, to rescue, to escort, to give victory to the right and overthrow the wrong that is their business just as alert to day and efficient as when in Bible times they spread wing or unsheathed, sword or rocked down penitentiaries or filled the mountains with horses of fire hitch ed to chariots of fire and driven by reinsmen of fire. They have turned your steps a hundred times, and you knew it not You were on the way to do some wrong thing, and they changed your course. They brought some thought of Christian parentage or of loyalty to your own home, and thataarrested you. They arranged that some one should meet you at that crisis and propose something honorable and elevating, or they took from your pocket some ticket to evil amusement a ticket that you never found. It was an angel of God, and perhaps the very one that guided you to this service and that now waits to report some holy impression to bo made upon your soul, tarrying with one foot upon the doorstep of your im mortal spirit and the other foot lifted for ascent into the skies. By some prayer detain him until he can tell of a re pentant and ransomed soull Or you were some time borne down with trou ble, bereavement, persecution, bank ruptcy, sickness and all manner of trou bles beating their discords in your heart and life. You gave up. You said: "I cannot stand it any longer: I believe I will take my life. Where is the rail train or the deep wave or the precipice that will end this torment of earthly existence?" But suddenly your mind brightened. Courage came surging into yourheart like oceanic tides. You said, 4 4 God is on my side, and all these ad versities he can make turn out for my good.". Suddenly you felt a peace, a deep peace, the peace of God that pass eth all understanding. What made the change?. A sweet and mighty and com forting angel of the Lord met you. That was alL , An Incentive to Risrhteouaneaa. What an - incentive to purity and righteousness is this doctrine that we are continually under angelic observa tion! Eyes ever on you, so that the most secret misdeed is committed in the midst of an audience of immortals. No door so bolted, no darkness so Cim merian, as to hinder that supernal eye sight Not critical eyesight, not jealous eyesight, not baleful eyesight, but friendly eyesight, sympathetic eyesight, helpful eyesight Confidential clerk of store, with great responsibility on your shoulder and no one to applaud your work when you do it well and sick with the world's ingratitude, think of the angels in the counting room raptured at your fidelity 1 Mother of household, stitching, mending,' cooking, dusting, planning, up half the night or all night with the sick child, day in and day out, year in and year out, worn with the monotony of a life that no one seems to car for, think of the angels in the nursery, angels in all the rooms of your toiling, angels about the sick cradle, and all in sympathy 1 -I Railroad engineer, with hundreds of lives hanging on your wrist, standing amid the cinders and the smutch, round ing the sharp curve and by appalling declivity, discharged and disgraced if you make a mistake, but not one word of approval if you take all the trains in safety for ten years, think of the angels by the throttle valve, angels by the roaring furnace of the engine, angels looking from the overhanging crag, angels bracing the racing wheels off the precipice, angels when you mount the thunderbolt of a train and angels when you dismount 1 Can you not hear them, louder than the jamming of the. car coupling, louder than the bell at the crossing, louder than the whistle that sounds like the scream of a flying fiend, the angelic voices saying,, 4 You did it well you did it well?" If ;l often speak of engineers, it is because I ride so much with them. I always accept their invitation to join them on their loco motive, and among them are some of the grandest men alive. Guarded by Ansela. Men and women of all circumstances, only partly appreciated or not appre ciated at all never feel lonely again or unregarded again 1 Angels all around, angels to approve, angels to. help, angels to remember. Yea, while all the good angels are friends of the good, there is bne special angel your bodyguard. This idea until this present study of angelolo gy I supposed to be fanciful, but I find it clearly stated in the Bible. When the disciples were praying for Peter's de liverance from prison and he appeared at the door of the prayer meeting, they could not believe it was Peter. They said." "It is his angel" So these disci ples, in special nearness to Christ evi dently believed that every worthy soul has an angel Jesus said of his follow ers, "Their angels behold the face of my Father." Elsewhere it is said, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. " Angel shielded, angel protected, angel guard ed, angel canopied, art thou! No won der that Charles Wesley hymned these words: WhichTof the petty kings of earth Can boast a guard like ours, Encircled from our second birth With all the heavenly powers T Valerius and Rufinus were put to death for Christ's sake in the year 287, and after the day when their bodies had been whipped and pounded into a jelly, in the night in prison and before the next day when they were to be ex ecuted, they both thought they saw angels standing with two glittering crowns, saying: "Be of good cheer, valiant soldiers of Jesus Christ I A lit tle more of battle, and then these crowns are yours. " And I am glad to know that before many of those who have passed through great sufferings in thi life some angel of God has held a blaz- tAHKIII 10 Hills Make I -, RANKIN. 300 SALES MEM: J. ing ccr jnet of eternal reward. Yea, we are to have snch a guardian angel to take rts upward when out work lis done. You know, we are told an angel con ducted Lazarus to Abraham's bosom. That shows that none shall bej so poor in dying he cannot afford angelic escort. It would be a long way to go alone, and up paths we have never trod, and amid blazing worlds swinging in un imaginable momentum, out and on through such distances and across such infinitudes of space we should shudder at the thought of going alone, j But the angelic escort will come to your languishing pillow or the place of your fatal accident and say : "flail, im mortal one 1 All is well Qod hath sent me to take you home." And without tremor or slightest sense of peril you will away and upward," farther on and farther on, until after awhile heaven heaves in sight and the rumble of char iot wheels and the roll of mignty har monies are heard in the distance, and nearer you come, and nearer still, until the brightness is like many mornings suffused into one, and the gates lift, and you are inside the amethystine walls and on the banks of the jasper sea, for ever sate, forever free, forever well. forever rested, forever united, forever happy. Mothers, do not think your lit tie children go alone when they quit this world. Out of your arms into' an gelic arms, out of sickness into! health, out of the cradle into a Saviour's bosom! Notan instant will the darlings be alone-between the two kisses the last kiss of earth and the first kiss of heav en. "Now, angels, do your work I " cried an expiring Christian. s Guardian Angel For All. Yes, a guardian angel for each one of you. Put yourself now in accord with him. When he suggests the right, follow it. When he warns you against the wrong, shun it Sent forth from God to help you in this great battle against sin and death, accept his deliv erance. When tempted to a feeling of loneliness and disheartenment,! appro priate the promise, "The angel' of the Lord encampeth around about them that fear him and delivereth them." Oh, I am so glad that the spaces be tween here and heaven are thronged with these supernatural taking tidings home, bringing messages here, rolling back obstacles from our path and giv ing us defenses, for terrific are the forces who dispute pur way, and if the nation of the good angels is on our side the nation of bad angels is on the other. Paul had it right when he said, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." In that awful fight may Qod send us. mighty angelic re-enforcement J We want all their wings on our side, all their swords on our side, all their chariots on our side. j . Thank God that those who are for us are mightier than those who are against us I And that thought makes me jubi lant as to the final triumph. Belgium, you know, - was the battleground of England and France. Yea, Belgium more than once was the battleground of opposing nations. It so happens that this world is the Belgium or battle ground between the angelic nations, good and bad. Michael, the commander in chief on one side; Lucifer, as Byron calls him, or Mephistopheles, as Goethe calls him, or satan, as the Bible calls him, the commander in chief on the other side. All pure ' angelhood under the one leadership and all -abandoned angelhood under the other leadership. Many a skirmish have .the two armies had, but the great and decisive! battle is yet to be fought. Either from our earthly homes or down from our su pernal: residences may we come! in on the right side, for on that side are God and heaven and victory. Meanwhile the battle is being set in array, and the STROUD Cent, 10 Cents Hake I Dime, 10 Dimes Make I Dollar AND- taliin; LisiBd Ml- Sewed with Fast Dye Silk, the buttons guar- anteed to remain in place. - . These garments are cut by perfect pat terns, made by experienced labor, and are all in all one of the best values of the season. EXAMINATION FREE. QBIS 90 ni SOUTH ELr.V ST.,. GREENSBORO. W. Crawford, W. II, Rees, II. B. Donncll, Will It. Rankin, J. T. Bee. forces celestial and demoniacal are con fronting each other. Hear the boom of the great cannonade already opened 1 Cherubim, seraphim, thrones, domina tions, principalities and powers are be ginning to ride down their foes, and, until the work is completed, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou. moon! in the valley of AjalonI" Kruffer'i Humor. Half a dozen back country Boers had come to Pretoria to see the wonders of the capital With characteristic famil iarity they paid President Kruger a visit at the" early coffee drinking hour, and later on during the day he showed them over the government buildings. In one of the rooms an electric lamp was burning, and as they were passing out the president, with his hand on the switch or button, asked them to blow out the light from where they stood. One after the other drew a deep breath, blew out his cheeks and sent forth a tremendous puff, but all in vain, the light burning steadily as be fore. Then the president bade them look and, blowing out his cheeks, he slyly turned the switch, blew, and out went the light The Boers were amazed, and as they left the buildings one of them, who had been more observant than the rest, remarked: "The president must have a wonder fully strong breath, for, did you notice, the light was entirely inclosed in a glass I" - " " ' Women's Attractions. 'It Is not . necessary for ja woman during courtship," said a Judge In a re cent case, "to inform her IntendedTbus band of any device or attachment to improve the work of nature In the con struction of her face, form or figure." This was apropos of a charge of decep tion by wearing glasses to conceal a glass eye. J A New Trade. Mrs. FInnegan Bedad, ycr hoosbind drisses as iv be wor a flurewalker er a banker! Phwere Is he wuMkln? . j Mrs. ' Flannagan Sure, he's got an Ulgant job in a horseless livery stable fadin air t' thlm hobomobo troocks! Trained Motherhood. The Reward of Labor. "Bill, have you cut the firewood ?" "Yes, sir." "An' fed the mules?" "Yes, sir." "AnV milked the cows?" "All milked, sir." An ground the corn?" Jest through, sir." ' "An' banked the taters?" "Last one, sir." m j "Well, you're a good un. Now call the dogs an' you kin go an' tree a 'possum for yer supper!" Atlanta Constitution. It is estimated that the cost of taking the census wi.'l come close to 'sixteen million dollars. The enumeration will not be taken un til next June, but. the work of pre paration is going on now at a vig orous rate. It is proposed to baye all the Tolumes completed within three years from the closing of the actual field work. Richmond, Va.. June 10. 13M. Goose Grzasx Linimint CoGbexnsboro.C. Dear Sib Some time ago you sent me one dozen bottles of Gooe Grease Liniment to he used in our stable amongst our horses, and we beg to state that we hare used this exclusively since receiving it, and would state frankly that we hare never had anything that gave us.as good satisfaction. We have used it on Cuts, Bruises, Sore Necks. Scratches and nearly every disease a horse can have and it h&s worked charms. We Deed more at once. Please let me know if you have it out ud in anv larrer bottles or any larger packages than the ones sent us uu muj yiiGva. i ours iruiy. STANDARD OIL COM PANT. - lij I. C. West. . & REES CHOOSE T0OR- DRDGCIST CllEFEl A dmpstistcan do rr.otc birra n p-lra most people jrire him credit .r. Time f-s ferent qualities in drufrjnM tlu"f good, and to he outidor all junLt; g same name The difference Ix-iwhh grade druga and -cheap, inferior itame name, meant tlietliflVmiceU unci-: ing Kick and getting well. When i I.m a prescription, lie means lict )uuhtr. m Rome drupgHts llll a preMTition. tt'jc-i onlv aliout big profit. . . Choose your uriiKgift caitfully. GK W. WAKD, WEALTH IDEAS IN yozr t aen : 7 ;" Safari apj'c J im ef p-.tlls isiissi-ttwj WMblrjta Cit7 ie:t frii s " mm rs '.r m . v V . t' COPP A CO.. r;trAnr-.sn,J;T; Southern Railway IV EFFECT DKCKMBKR t This condensed schedule in vff4 . I . I. ;.,. til villi' formation and i subject to cu noticeto tne puunc. Trains leave Greensboro, X. t.: ?:ua a. m. o. , r, r, i --I. ....... ilt fimlTlUn1' ' .... Pullman Sleeper New yrl 4 :u New York -to ilenudius--New ' Dining Car and Wibule L. t to Atlanta. v 7:37 a. m.-Vo. 11 daily, f-r C UfM and all joints m.th. Con n f:y) Afcheville. Knoxvitlean.t t'"" uleeperNew York toaf.hu. WO a. m.Vo. S la') fur I. L" and locul station. Southwestern V""' i" 1 " points North. Vv- v.i k Washington and ew r( m.-No. 7 daily, l-r an to 8 and . : t ... .r Winston-Salem rintton-oaieiii. f v'-.n-i-0 First . ween p"15 " .;iVehedulei to stop. Joan M. Crir. r7mc Manser. u w B weh tern Limited for charMf. M mingham, Memphis, MontomwT- . , Orleans and JtiZ 11:06 p. m.-.Vo. daily. W'llU:? Mail for Washington, . 1-ry Ncrth. Carrie t'h0rl1" 7" Room Buffet Meeper :.t Jacksonville to New Iwk. " V Meepins Car on .Monday. f f :( Southern Pacific, bun rranci jyl Mail for Charlotte. Allan ' f4 for Columbia. A iiiiM a. . a and-loral italion. -I U""LJ f t'M; ; r Buffet Sleeper New k f V , r r York to Jacksonville; , .B:ua JfV ham; Cbarlo-.te to A ,n Sleeper Wednesday Wa-nm. 6:45 n points. , ,..',:-t. to";'. 0 8-10 a m.-N"o. 8 daily. f"f';H .c, r boro for .Newbern and M- No. 16 leave Greei-'- ; Bileigh. Gold-U.n and L-al f J l5:50p.mo.:2dany.;ru:-- Norfolk. Win,t..n. W;;?i 1 -

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view