The Angelic Life
A Sermon
(No. 842)
Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, November 22, 1868, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
at the [49]Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
"For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in
marriage, but are as the angels of God in Hea ven."
Matthew 22:30.
WE must, all of us, develop one way or the other. Manhood, as we see it
here, is but the green blade, or, at the best, the corn in the ear–the
full corn in the ear will only be seen in the world to come. We must
either descend or ascend– none of us can remain in the position which
he occupies today. Some are sliding every hour downward, descending by
the force of evil habits. More and more do they become the serfs and
slaves of Satan, and by consequence, more and more developed into his
image. They can find their doom written in these words, "Depart into
everlasting fire in Hell, prepared for the devil and his angels. You
followed Satan, you grew more and more like he is, and now receive the
heritage appointed for him."
On the other hand, he who by repentance and faith is brought into the
fellowship of the Gospel, receives Grace upon Grace–he advances from
glory to glory, in a more perfect resemblance to heavenly beings. And,
at the last, angels having rejoiced over his repentance–angels to whom
he had become as–carry his soul into the bosom of God! Which shall it
be with you, Man? Will you ripen for the golden sickle and for the
harvest-home of Heaven, or will you blacken for the scythe of iron
which shall mow you down to be bound up in the bundle with your fellows
and consumed as tares? One or the other it must be.
O may infinite Grace overcome our natural tendencies and may we be
among those who go from strength to strength until they ascend into the
hill of the Lord and are made like the angels! Without further preface,
the subject of this morning's discourse will be in what respects the
life of spirits before the Throne is like that of angels. And then,
secondly, we may have, perhaps, a few practical thoughts about the
commencement of the angelic life while yet here below.
I. First, then, IN WHAT RESPECTS ARE THOSE SAINTS WHO HAVE PASSED THE
STREAM OF DEATH LIKE THE ANGELS? The likeness, though it lies in many
points, more or less prominently may be seen, I think, distinctly in
five particulars.
1. The saints of God are like the angels as to the qualities of their
persons. In one matter they always were alike, namely, that both angels
and saints are creatures of God and must, by no means, be looked upon
in any higher light. A false church has commanded its votaries to pay
religious homage to angels, contrary both to the example and the
express precept of Holy Writ. The angels are no more to be adored than
saintly men, and neither the one nor the other can be worshipped
without incurring the sin of idolatry.
Take two parallel cases. When John, seeing an angel, taking him for his
Lord, bowed down to worship him, the answer was, "See you do it not,
for I am of your fellow servants, the Prophets. Worship God." When the
heathens, at Lystra, brought forth bullocks and sheep and were about to
do sacrifice unto Paul and Barnabas as unto Mercury and Jupiter, these
holy men tore their clothes and declared that they were men of like
passions with others. Angels and holy men refuse all kinds of
worship–they unanimously sing, "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto the
name of Jehovah be all the praise." Oh, the longsuffering of God in
tolerating that apostate and accursed church which has dared to set up
both saints and angels, men and women, and I know not what besides, as
objects of reverence in rivalry of the Lord of Hosts!
That is but incidental, however. The saints of Heaven are like the
angels in their persons in the fact that sex is forever obliterated
there. "They are neither married nor given in marriage"–from which I
do not gather that so much as may be spiritual in the feminine
character, or anything that is mental in the masculine character will
be destroyed–but that in the bodily frame all that which divided the
sexes will be no more.
I imagine that saints before the Throne of God may, some of them,
exhibit that exquisite tenderness, that heroism of affection which will
indicate them to have been holy women here below, and that other
spirits in their special force and vigor, courage and zeal may reveal,
even in Glory, the fact that in the Church militant they were among the
valiant men of Israel. Why not? Yet all else that is carnal in male and
female must be gone and we shall be one in Christ Jesus–in whom there
is neither male nor female.
Marriage will be out of the question. This is linked with a further
likeness, namely, that the spirits above are like to angels in their
immortality. They cannot die. Such a thing as a funeral knell was never
heard in Heaven! No angel was ever carried to his grave–though angels
have been in the sepulcher–for there sat two, at the head and the
feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They were visitors, not
dwellers there. There is nothing about angels upon which the death-worm
can feed. No sepulcher could encase their free spirits and the bonds of
death could not hold them for a moment.
So is it with the freed ones who have passed through the grave and are
now with Christ–they cannot die. Ages upon ages may roll on.
Eternity's ceaseless cycles may continue, but there shall be no gray
hairs of decay upon the heads of the immortals! Celestials shall never
decay. For this reason, therefore, the population of yonder realms
needs never to be repaired by births. Here it is a perpetual
struggle–life contending with death–death marking its universal
victory, scarring the face of the earth with tombs. But life triumphant
still, ever sending little children to gather flowers above the graves.
The flood of life, though apparently drunk up by the Behemoth of death,
still rolls on, a broader and deeper torrent than before.
Therefore are they like the angels in Heaven, since there is no death,
and consequently no necessity of birth to repair the waste of
population. We have reason to believe, also, that since these spirits
before the Throne are like the angels even when the resurrection
trumpet shall be sounded, and the spirits, disembodied for a time,
shall be again clothed upon, they shall be like the angels in the fact
of the maturity of their being. In Heaven babes will be no longer
babes. He who was a babe here shall be fully developed there. Neither
shall there be in Heaven the weary old man tottering on his staff–he
shall not carry, there, his failing eye and trembling knee. He shall be
in the glory of his purified manhood, and feel no decay.
The child shall be as though he were a 100 years old, and the aged man
shall wear more than the honors of his youth. I read not of angels
either as youthful or waxing old–they stand ever in a blessed
perfection–and so shall the saints of God ever be both physically and
spiritually. "You have the dew of Your youth," O Jesus, and that same
dew falls upon all the plants of Your right-hand planting. We suppose,
too, that all the spirits before the Throne are like angels in the
matter of their beauty. The disembodied saints are fair in the eyes of
Jesus, even as they are. And when their spiritual bodies shall rise all
radiant with "the glory of the celestial," then shall their comeliness
be seen of all. "It is sown in dishonor," says the Apostle, "it is
raised in glory."
Whatever of dishonor there might have been in the uncomely features of
the poor creature whom we committed to the earth, there shall be no
deformity to mar the countenance of the nobler thing which shall rise
from the sepulcher at the bidding of God. "It does not yet appear what
we shall be," but that we shall be lovely beyond expression is most
certain, "for we shall be like He when we shall see Him as He is."
There will be a glory about risen saints which will even transcend the
glory of angels, for unto them He has never said that they should be
made like unto the Only-Begotten. But this is the portion of all the
blood-bought and blood-washed–that they be fashioned in the likeness
of Christ when they shall see Him face to face!
As we shall resemble the angels in beauty, so, no doubt, we shall also
equal them in strength. "Bless the Lord, you His angels that excel in
strength." Thus says the Apostle, "It is sown in weakness; it is raised
in power." What kind of power that will be, we may guess. There will be
an enlarged mental capacity, a far more extensive spiritual range. So
far as the new body is concerned there will be an amount of power in it
of which we have no conception. What we shall be, Beloved, in the
matter of strength, we cannot tell. But this we know, that we shall not
need so constantly to stretch our weary frames upon the bed of rest and
to lie half our time in unconsciousness–for we shall serve Him day and
night in His Temple! And this indicates a degree of unweariedness and
physical endurance to which we are total strangers now. We shall in
this, also, be as the angels of God.
Just then, for a minute, let your thoughts foresee that blessed
personality which shall be yours when this present age is past. You
suffer today. You are, today, despised and rejected. But as from yonder
creeping caterpillar, or from this dried up chrysalis, there will arise
a lovely creature with wings colored like the rainbow. So from your
poor groaning humanity there shall come forth a fair and lovely being!
And your spirit, also, shall cast off the slough of its natural
depravity. It shall be rid of all the foulness and damage of its
sojourn here below, and your whole man shall be restored a goodly
fabric–a temple glorious to look upon in which God shall dwell with
you–and in which you shall dwell with God!
2. Now, secondly, there will be a likeness between the angels and
glorified saints in the matter of character. "Your will be done on
earth as it is in Heaven," teaches us that angels do the will of God
perfectly, cheerfully, instantly, unweariedly and with the highest
possible eagerness. So do those blessed spirits to whom it is given to
see Jehovah's face–it is their delight to do the will of their Father
who is in Heaven. Whatever the Lord may charge them to do, it is their
Heaven to perform–for in Heaven the will of the Lord is the will of
His people.
Here below, my Brothers and Sisters, to will is present with us, but
how to perform that which we would, we find not. We would be holy, but
we find another law in our members warring against the law of our
minds. We sigh and cry by reason of the sin that dwells in us, till we
say, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of
this death?" But angels know not what it is to be fallen! They have
never fought with any temptations from within, though once assailed by
the great temptation from without by which Satan and his followers fell
from happiness.
They carry about with them no inbred sin. They find no heavy clay to
clog their celestial ardors. They have not to lament lascivious
desires, or covetous cravings. They have no proud thoughts which must
be cast down, no depressions of spirit, no taunts of unbelief, no
motions of self-will. They serve God without a slur in their obedience.
No thought of sin ever taints their soul. No syllable of evil ever
falls from their holy lips. No thought of transgression defiles their
service. So is it with the saints who dwell in Glory with them. They,
too, are without fault before the Throne of God. They have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, and the Spirit of
God, like a refining fire, has purged out of their nature everything
that is evil! They are this day as pure as God Himself in the
righteousness of Christ, and in the inwrought purity which is the work
of the Holy Spirit.
Do you not long to be with them, if it were only for the sake of this
purity? Deliverance from sin will be an escape from all sorrow, and the
obtaining of perfect holiness will be the climax of delight. Oh, if we
could but perfectly serve God we would make no conditions about place!
Perfection in a dungeon were infinitely better than the least sin in a
palace! If one could be quite delivered from all evil and it were
possible that such a spirit could suffer physical pain, yet the joy of
being rid of sin would make amends for all the torment that could
possibly be heaped upon the body.
Brothers and Sisters, this portion is yours and mine! Fighting today
with sin against deadly odds, and often tempted to fear that we shall
be defeated, we may rest assured that we shall conquer through the
blood of the Lamb! Yonder is the crown–let your faith grasp it!
Persevere courageously, for all things are possible to him that
believes. The most inveterate habit may be broken! The lust that
overcame us yesterday shall overcome us no more if we rest in the power
of the indwelling God, and in the might of the reigning Savior! Only be
of good cheer, for through Jesus you shall overcome, and the crown
shall be yours world without end!
3. Thirdly, the souls of the blessed are like angels as to their
occupation. Angels, we read, stand around the Throne of God in sacred
worship. They cast their crowns before the Throne upon the glassy sea
and worship the Lamb forever and ever. There is never a moment, whether
earth is swathed in light or clothed in darkness, in which the Son of
God is not adored by 10,000s times 10,000s of these celestial spirits!
Cherubim and seraphim veil their faces before the ever-living Son of
God. Worship is their perpetual avocation.
Even so is it with all those whom Christ has redeemed with blood. They,
too, are forever worshipping. Unto Jesus they pay their perpetual love.
The elders are represented as standing before the Throne with their
vials full of sweet odors, and their golden harps, representing the
perpetual and acceptable praises of the glorified Church. Oh, how sweet
worship often is on earth, but what must it be in Heaven! We love our
Sundays and the place of our assembling becomes very dear to us because
it is no other than the House of God to our souls! But oh, to worship
perfectly, without distracting thoughts and wandering minds–how
blessed will it be!
Angels are described in Scripture as being occupied in holy song. John
heard the voice of an innumerable company of angels. They join in the
strain which goes up before the Throne, ascribing honor, and glory and
majesty to the Lamb once slain. In this same chorus the glorified
spirits eagerly unite–and even sweeter is their note–for angels
cannot praise the Lord Jesus for having washed them in His blood, and
this is the loudest of all the notes. The blood-washed contribute
peculiar richness to the strain, as their joyous hearts lift up the
chorus, "Worthy is the Lamb! For He was slain, and has redeemed us unto
God by His blood! The Lord shall reign forever and ever."
Oh, that heavenly song! Would that some stray notes would visit my ears
even now, that I might learn how to speak thereof! Hear what John says
of it: "And I heard a voice from Heaven, as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps: and they sung, as it were, a new song before
the Throne and before the four beasts." Glory be unto Christ today!
Though we cannot join in the seraphic song as we would desire, we send
up our contribution of heartfelt praise to Him that lives and was
slain.
In addition to adoration and praise, we have much reason to believe
that angels spend their existence in a wondering study of the ways of
God, especially of God's gracious acts. "These things," said the
Apostle, "the angels desired to look into." That they are not perfect
in knowledge is quite certain, for "of that day and that hour knows no
man, no, not the angels which are in Heaven." They are continually
increasing in knowledge, and it appears from the book of Daniel that
they ask questions and long to be instructed.
That vision which Jacob saw, in which the angels of God were ascending
and descending upon the ladder, pictures to us the contemplations of
Divine spirits who are ascending and descending in meditation upon
Jesus–studying the glories of the Incarnate God–His descending into
the tomb–and His triumphant ascent to His Father's Throne. Their
contemplations are constantly hovering about the Cross and the doings
of the Incarnate God. Such, surely, will be the occupation of the
blessed. The difficulties today which stagger us will be explained to
us in Heaven. "What you know not now, you shall know hereafter."
Mysteries too deep for our present plumb-line will yield up their
treasure to us in another state for here we know in part, but there
shall we know even as we are known. Truths but dimly guessed at and
perceived in shadow, shall be seen in clearer light–"for now we see
but as in a glass darkly, but then face to face." Scholars in Christ,
how you will grow in knowledge there! You loving students of the
inspired page, how you will revel in Divine teachings there! The best
of commentaries shall be the Author's own explanation. He who wrote the
Scriptures shall be with you! And you shall ask Him, "What did You mean
by this dark saying?"
Or, perhaps, we shall get altogether beyond the letter, and need no
more the words and sentences, but shall feed on the opened Spirit, the
celestial meaning of the heart of God! Certainly we shall be like the
angels, since our studies will be all absorbed in devout and Divine
things. The angels of Heaven gaze upon the face of God! This is a
Scriptural expression, not mine, for our Lord says that, "in Heaven
there angels do always behold the face of your Father, who is in
Heaven." And what must that be? Brethren, you are not to give a carnal
meaning to these words, as though God could be seen with eyes either
angelic or human–for He is not to be seen with these dull optics–God
is a Spirit, and spirits, only, discern God by thought and mental
apprehension.
But what an apprehension of God that must be which is intended by the
expression, "They do always behold the face of God!" Moses, the master
spirit of the old dispensation, asked to see God, but he was only
indulged with a sight of what our version calls His back parts, but
which should more fittingly be described as the flowing train, the
skirts of the Almighty's splendor. This was all he could see, though
his eyes were more strengthened than that of any man under the legal
dispensation. But, Brothers and Sisters, we in Heaven, like the angels,
shall see His face, and His name shall be on our foreheads–
"Father of Jesus, love's reward,
What raptures will it be,
Prostrate before Your Throne to lie,
And ever gaze on You!"
Still, we have not exhausted the occupations of the angels. These which
I have already mentioned are rather contemplative–worship, song,
study, and Beatific Vision. But the flaming ones above have occupations
which are connected with earth. For instance, they feel sympathetic
joy. We should not have known this if Jesus had not said, "There is joy
in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents." I
believe this, that the souls of men redeemed will have the same kind of
joy. And I can imagine the soul of the Believer rejoicing over the
child that was left unconverted, saved after its parent's ascent into
Heaven–saved through the prayers which a mother left behind her,
bequeathing them upon her dying bed as her best and most sacred legacy.
Many fathers have seen their posthumous spiritual children born to them
through prayers they offered on earth, but not fulfilled until after
the prayer had been exchanged for praise. I sometimes think–it may be
fancy–that if in Glory I ever shall withdraw my eyes from the sight of
my Lord, if ever I may pause the song to my Well-Beloved for a moment,
it shall be to gaze over the battlements of Heaven, to see how the
Church on earth among which I labored may be prospering!
Surely those venerated men, who before ministered to this flock, must
feel a peculiar joy in our prosperity–and as the news is telegraphed
from earth to Heaven that hundreds have been born to God, and that the
Word among us has been quick and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword–if the angels rejoice, I cannot believe but what the
glorified spirits, far more akin to repenting sinners than angels
are–must have a yet deeper sympathy, and feel a yet more exultant
mirth!
Still, I must pass on. Angels are engaged in Heaven, we are told, in
untiring service. Gabriel flies, at his Lord's word, whether it is to
Mary, or to the shepherds, or to the King. It matters nothing to the
angel whether he descends to smite the hosts of Sennacherib, or to be
the guardian of a little child. It has been well said that if two
angels were dispatched to earth, and the one were to rule an empire
amidst all terrestrial splendor, and the other were to perform the
drudgery of a kitchen servant, the angels would have no choice so long
as they knew their Lord's mind. Whichever God wills, they will. For
those bright spirits consider not themselves, but only the good
pleasure of their God!
We little know what they do for us. There is a wondrous guardianship
exercised secretly by them over all the royal seed of Heaven. They are
always engaged. They are never idle. They are never to be found where
Satan offers mischief, still, for idle spirits to perform–but day
without night they serve their God. Lastly on this point, they are
constant attendants at the courts of Heaven. Wherever Jesus is, we have
the angels round about Him. "When He shall come, in the glory of His
Father, with all His holy angels with Him." When the prince moves, the
courtiers go with the king. Wherever the king may be, there are the
gentlemen-at-arms. There are his bodyguards. So, wherever King Jesus
is, there are His angels. "The chariots of God are 20,000, even
thousands of angels: the Lord is among them."
The great King immortal and eternal, who girds His sword upon His thigh
and rides out to battle, goes not forth alone–legions of angels follow
at His feet! When He makes war against the devil and his angels, all
these, His watchers and holy ones–the flaming cherubim and fiery
seraphim–are at His right hand, like veteran bands. Such shall be the
engagements of each glorified soul. We know not what may be our sacred
tasks in yonder skies–it were vain for us to surmise–but we shall not
be idle, for it is written, "They serve Him day and night in His
Temple."
I have thought that as angels are but the servants, they are sent out
of doors to do the Master's field-work in the far-off portions of the
universe. But we, who are His children, shall serve Him day and night
in His Temple at home–for is it not written, "They shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever"? Ours shall be housework, home service in
His immediate Presence. We shall be like that angel who stood in the
sun–we shall dwell forever in the full blaze of the Presence of the
infinite God! We shall be equal to the angels, and made like they,
then, in the respect of occupation, as well as in that of character and
person.
4. Lest I weary you, I will add but a few words on the fourth point,
though I think it a very important one. We shall be like the angels in
heavenliness. Here we come to the vital meaning of the text. They are
not married or given in marriage. They have other things to think of,
and they have other cares and other enjoyments. They mind not earthly
things, but are of a heavenly spirit. So is it with the blessed spirits
before the Throne of God. To eat and drink, to be clothed–these are
things which fret their minds no more. To keep the house, to maintain
the children, to thrust the wolf from the door–such anxieties never
trouble celestial spirits.
Brothers and Sisters, this is one of the things which makes the great
change so desirable to us–that after death our thoughts, our cares,
our position, our desires, our joys will all be in God! Here we want
externals, here we seek after carnal things, for we must eat and drink,
and be clothed and housed. Here we must be somewhat hampered by the
grosser elements of this poor materialism. But up yonder they have no
needs like our own. They consequently have no desires of an earthly
kind–their desires are all concerning their God. No creature drags
them downward. They are free to bow before the Creator, and to think
alone of Him, to–
"Plunge into the Godhead's deepest sea,
And bathe in His immensity."
Oh, what a deliverance that must be! Because if now for a minute or two
we soar to more sublime things, and climb as upon the top of Pisgah to
look down upon the world, we are called to descend again into the
valley and the noise and dust of the battle. But there, forever and
ever we shall abide in the loftiness of heavenly things, absorbed with
the Glory which shall then be revealed!
5. Lastly, we shall be like the angels, when in Heaven, as to our
happiness. The bliss of angels and the glorified is complete. They
possess always the Divine approval–this is a fountain of joy. They
know they have complete security– this is another well-spring of
peace. And they have suitable engagements with which to occupy their
existence–and this is a wellhead of happiness. They have unbroken
rest–yes, their service is rest–and rest is bliss. They have great
capacities for knowing, and understanding, and enjoying. And an
enlarged capacity, well filled with so grand a Subject, guarantees
perpetual felicity!
We shall be such. My words would utterly fail, and therefore I shall
not attempt to describe the bliss of Heaven. Whatever it may be, it
will be ours if we are Believers. Least of all the family, yet
believing in the precious blood, it is yours! It is not of some, but of
all it is said, "They are as the angels of God in Heaven." Now,
unhappily for me, my time is nearly gone, and I wanted to enlarge upon
the second head. The subject is too large for a single sermon. I must,
therefore, give you an outline of what might have been said of the
second part.
II. I would speak of THE ANGELIC LIFE ON EARTH. If we are to be like
the angels of God in Heaven, it will be well to have an outline of it
here–to give ourselves to the commencement of angelic life even here.
We ought to do so. Our Lord is called an angel. He is the Angel of the
Covenant–we ought to be like He now–therefore, we ought to have a
present resemblance to angels.
Ministers are especially called to this, for this is one of their
names. John writes to the angels of the seven Churches. Ministers are
the messengers of God to the sons of men. They should be like that
angel who flew in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to
preach to every creature. And, as the angel sounded that trumpet, so,
as often as the time comes, and the assembly is gathered together, the
Christian minister should have his trumpet ready, and that trumpet
should give no uncertain sound. That we may be like angels here below
is a certain fact, for we read of Stephen that his face shone, and even
they who stoned him saw him as an angel of God.
Why should we not be like angels, for did not men in the wilderness eat
angels' food, and may we not spiritually live on angels' meat today?
May we not sing–
"Never did angels taste above,
Redeeming Grace and dying love"?
Yet these are the daily meat and the daily drink of all the saved
souls! We can be like angels in our occupations. First, it is ours, as
it was theirs, to declare the Word of God. We read of the Word
published by angels. We read of the angels flying through the midst of
Heaven with the everlasting Gospel. My Brothers, according to your
ability, be like the angels of God in this and publish abroad the plan
of salvation! Each of you, according to his ability, tell others of the
salvation of Jesus Christ. You will never be more angelic than when God
makes you the messengers of His Holy Spirit to the hearts of men.
Be it ours to imitate the angels in fighting a good fight while we are
here. We read that Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and
his angels, and the dragon was cast down. The fight is going on every
day. Michael is the Lord Jesus, the only Archangel. We, like He, and
under Him, must stand as champions for the Truth of God, never to
surrender, but being prepared to suffer, even unto blood, striving
against sin. With undaunted courage, and a conscience that cannot be
violated, let us stand fast for the one Lord, the one faith, and the
one Baptism until He shall come who shall call us to the reckoning, and
shall say, "Well done, good and faithful servants." Like angels, then,
let us teach, and like angels, fight for the cause and for the crown of
Christ!
Ours, too, let it be, like angels, to oppose the way of rebels. When
Balaam was on his road to attempt to curse Israel, an angel stood with
a fiery sword and made him pause. How often may a good man do that with
the ungodly! Wicked men have frequently felt, in the presence of
gracious spirits, that they could not speak profanely, nor sin
desperately. A good man's presence has cast an awe over the whole
company. You ought, by your example, to say to the world, "Rebel not
against God." Even if you speak not with your tongue, the eloquence of
your life should be a constant check upon the pathways of sin.
Not content with this, let it be ours to be the means of setting free
those who are the prisoners of hope–God's prisoners. The angel came to
Peter, smote him on the side, knocked off his chains, opened the gate,
and led him out into the street. May you and I do this to some of those
who, under conviction of sin, are smarting and suffering but have no
liberty. Go today, if you have opportunity, and try to strike some
sleeper on the side and speak an earnest word. Say to him, "Why do you
sleep, with death and judgment so near?" And when you see him aroused,
bid him follow you, as you shall open door after door of gracious
promises to him and bring him into the wide street of liberty in Christ
by simple faith. You can all be angels of this kind. It needs not that
you be preachers. If you find out the disconsolate, you may bring them
to Jesus in the house as well as in the great assembly.
And, then, Beloved, let us also imitate the angels in our ministering
comfort to those who are saved. When Elijah was faint under the juniper
tree, an angel appeared to him and pointed to a cake that was baked
upon the coals. An angel said to Paul when he was on shipboard, "Fear
not." Often have angels visited godly men with this message, "Fear
not." O you that love the Lord, and are happy in Him, yourselves, be
angels in this–comfort others with the same comfort with which God has
comforted you this day. This very day there may be sitting near you
some weeping Hannah who needs a message from God which can only come to
her poor broken heart through your lips. Tell others of the goodness of
God, as shown in your experience. Bear your witness to the goodness and
loving kindness of the Shepherd who fails not His flock, and in this
way you shall be angels of mercy to tens of thousands if the Lord
spares you and gives you opportunity.
We may imitate angels in another respect–namely that we may always be
watching over souls. You Sunday school teachers ought always to be
angels. Do we not read of the little ones whom Christ took into His
arms and said, "See that you despise not one of these little ones, for
in Heaven their angels do always behold the face of God"? Sunday school
teachers, this is your mission–see that you act it out! Angels bear us
up in their hands, lest at any time we dash our foot against a stone.
"For the angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him."
Believers, learn to camp round about your fellow Christians! Help to
save them from temptation and sorrow. Bear up, in your hands of
sympathy, such as you can assist. Take away the stumbling block from
the way of any who are apt to fall. Bear them up in your hands lest
they dash their feet against a stone. You can thus be angels of God
here below.
In addition to all this, is it not written, "Bless the Lord, you His
angels"? "Let all the angels of God worship Him"? Well, then, you can
be like the angels, now, by being always in a state of praise. Let no
murmur escape your lips! Let no complaining dwell on your heart! Praise
God though the sun shines not! Praise Him though the mists and fog are
thickening! Praise Him though the winds should howl and the rain
descend! You are not to be ruled by circumstances! Angels praise Him in
the night as well as in the day! Let us do the same!–
"Praise Him while He lends you breath,
And when your voice is lost in death
Let praise employ your nobler powers."
Thus have I set before you the attainments to which we shall come and
the opportunities we have, even now, by the Holy Spirit's effectual
power of forestalling those attainments. May you be desirous of
beginning the angelic life. And remember, the door to it is at Christ's
Cross. Go where angels gaze with wonder, and you gaze with repentance!
Go with your eyes full of tears for sin, and trust in Him who died for
sinners, and the Lord of angels shall be your Lord, and the palace of
angels shall be your home forever and ever. Amen.
__________________________________________________________________
Effectual Calling–Illustrated by the Call of Abram
A Sermon