SERMON XIII.

ANGELIC MINISTRATIONS.

FEAST OF ST. MICHAEL.

HEBREWS i. 14.

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?"

THIS being the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, it will be useful for us to consider seriously the solemn truth which it brings to mind. As on the greater Festivals we commemorate in an especial manner the Events of our Lord's life, so on the remaining Holy Days we call to mind certain other vast portions of the Christian dispensation. As, for instance, there are days on which we celebrate the twelve Apostles of Christ; other days on which we are reminded of His holy mother, the Blessed Virgin; and another day, that of All Saints, on which we are called to meditate upon the state of all them that sleep in the Lord-for we must never forget that the Church which is seen upon earth is but a small part of the whole, and that the greater and more blessed part is already with Christ. Then,

that we may understand still better the greatness of our privileges as members of Christ, and the exceeding loftiness of our birth as children of God, all baptised by one Spirit into one body, — therefore it is that another day is set apart, for the purpose of solemnly reminding us all, that, as Christians, we are come not only "to the spirits of just men made perfect," "but also "to an innumerable company of angels;" the thought of which, if duly encouraged, would be enough in itself to make us very careful how we live, considering that all things being reconciled in the blood of the Cross, "both things in heaven and things in earth," we Christians are called to so high a state that the very angels of God are brought nigh unto us, and we to them; so that when in the Communion-service we glorify God, it is not alone that we do so, but it is “with angels, and archangels, and all the company of heaven."

Now, how necessary it is that Christians should be reminded of this important truth! It is to be feared, indeed, that very few realise seriously the existence of those most mysterious beings, with whom we are brought into such close contact. The majority of Christians hardly ever think even in the least about the holy angels, but live on from day to day satisfied with the things which they see, and not looking by faith to things unseen. It is the world, the world only, that occupies their minds;

1 Heb. xii. 22, 23.

2 Col. i. 20.

and this very feast of St. Michael they look forward to, not with any recollection of the holy angels of God, but altogether with a view to the completion of secular engagements.

Let us now briefly consider what the angels are.

The angels, then, are an order of beings who, before this world was, existed in their own habitation, having been created by the Word of God, the Only-begotten, Everlasting Son of the Father, -the same Who afterwards, being born of the Virgin Mary, became flesh for our sakes. "By Him," says St. Paul, "were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers all things were created by Him, and for Him."

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From this we see that in far-distant periods, long before the existence of man, God had those who could glorify Him, namely, the angelic creation; of whom we further learn in Holy Scripture that there was a time when, as we ourselves are now in a state of trial, so also were they; and in that probation many of them fell, and became outcasts from God; of which event St. Jude speaks where he declares that "the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, God hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day."

On the other hand, such of the angels as stood in that

1 Col. i. 16.

2 Jude 6.

It

trial, whatever it was, and proved themselves to be the faithful servants of God, these, from that time, were called to a higher state; so that they cannot sin, but in every thing are obedient to the will of God. They are accordingly termed in Scripture "the elect angels ;" and our Saviour, in the Lord's prayer, has taught us to pray that God's will may be done in earth, as it is continually done by these holy angels in heaven. It appears further from Holy Scripture, that heaven is not the only place of their abode, but that, at the command of the Most High, these awful, most mysterious, and holy creatures of God are often employed on this globe. In the Old Testament, for instance, we read repeatedly of angels appearing to men. was an angel of the Lord who called unto Abraham out of heaven, when he was about to slay his son; two angels came to Sodom; Jacob on his stony pillow beheld the angels of God ascending and descending; it was an angel that appeared to Manoah, and “did wondrously, ascending in the flame of the altar;" it was a destroying angel that David beheld; it was an angel that annihilated the army of Sennacherib; an angel appeared to Balaam. Sometimes they came as messengers of good tidings, sometimes as avengers, sometimes as deliverers. When Elisha was surrounded by the Syrians his enemies, and his servant in his terror cried out, "Alas, my master, how shall we do?" Elisha an

1 1 Tim. v. 21.

swered, "Fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I that he may see.

pray thee open his eyes, And the Lord opened the eyes

of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."

Thus, even under the Jewish dispensation, when as yet the Kingdom of God was not come, as it is now, even then the angels of God were at hand to protect His servants; and although some persons could not see them, yet others could. Accordingly the Psalmist says of the angels in his day, "The angel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them."

In the New Testament we read still oftener of angels appearing. It is not yet two thousand years ago since many of these holy beings were seen by the eye of mortal man. When Christ, the second Adam, came into the world to renew our nature in Himself, angels were attendant on His birth. It was an angel that appeared to Zacharias, “standing on the right side of the altar of incense." It was the same angel Gabriel, one of those chief spirits who stand in the presence of God, that appeared to the Virgin Mary, and said, "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name

1 2 Kings vi. 17.

2 Ps. xxxiv. 7.

3 Luke i. 11.