The Angels

In the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, is some of the wonderful wisdom of Jesus Christ, put forth in parables: and, with all the rest, this question and answer:-

"Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."

This, like all the revelations of God, is a specimen of Mormonism: to bring forth things new and old. But what can be brought forth concerning the angels that will interest the saint; leaving the world to enjoy a belief that angels have entirely quit the earth, and that a man sins to talk about seeing them? Why, in the first place, we will see how many kinds of angels there are, and what their duties are before the Lord.

According to the best understanding we have of the scripture, there are three, perhaps four, kinds of angels:-the archangels of which Paul and Jude make mention, first in order or highest in authority; the angels, which are resurrected bodies, like those mentioned in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis, who ate and drank with Abraham, and also with Lot: and the angels which are ministering spirits; and it may be a matter of investigation to determine

whether this third class of spiritual beings, do not constitute two distinct races in the heavenly world.

The Psalmist said that man was created a little lower than the angels, and this taken in connection with the idea of Paul and the Psalmist, (if rightly translated) "who maketh or sendeth his ministering spirits, angels, (or messengers) a flame of fire" or in flames of fire, would give us a fourth grade of angels; and a true Mormon would go on to prove the case still further, on this wise: that Jesus Christ did the same work that his Father had done: and that Christ's disciples did the same work that he had done; and as he went in the spirit before his resurrection, during the three days that his body lay in the sepulchre [sepulcher], to preach to the spirits in prison, so also do and will his disciples in all ages of the world since he opened the door of the resurrection. Again, John says

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do: because I go unto my Father."

What "greater work," as Jesus had raised the dead, could his disciples do, unless, after death, as ministering spirits, they should minister to the spirits in prison, and so save the dead? If any are wise let them say.

But the greatest matter of mystery concerning angels, is, that they, or some of them at least, live by eating. The two angels that visited Lot, in Sodom, partook of a feast; and Paul says: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." And also, it is written in the Psalms, that "man did eat angles food."

From these facts, it is evident that the angels who minister to men in the flesh, are resurrected beings, so that flesh administers to flesh; and spirit to spirits: this was the case with John when he said:

"And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

This angel might have been good old Daniel, who had risen with Jesus, as "one of thy brethren the prophets."

The angels are our watchmen, for Satan said to Jesus: "he will give his angels charge concerning thee, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone at any time." It would seem from a careful perusal of the scriptures, that the angels, while God has saints upon the earth, stay in this lower world to ward off evil: for the prophet Isaiah has left this testimony on the subject:-

"I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses.

For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Savior.

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old."

The angels that have gone forth at sundry times to execute the decrees of God, fully substantiate this fact: Abraham, Hagar, Jacob, Balaam, Joshua, Gideon, together with the enemies of the Lord are the witnesses who knew the power and offices of angels on earth.

But lest we take up too much time on the resurrected bodies, who go and come at the bidding of Him who was, and is, and is to come, we will change the theme to the thoughts and witnesses of the heart.

The action of the angels, or messengers of God upon our minds, so that the heart can conceive things past, present, and to come, and revelations from the eternal world, is, among a majority of mankind, a greater mystery than all the secrets of philosophy, literature, superstition, and bigotry, put together: though some men try to deny it, and some to explain away the meaning; still there is so much testimony in the bible, and among a respectable portion of the work, that one might as well undertake to throw the water out of this world into the moon with a tea-spoon, as to do away the supervision of angels upon the human mind.

The first account that comes to our mind now is, when Jacob was journeying; "And he dreamed, and, behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and, behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it."

The next case we notice is relative to Pharaoh and Egypt, which Joseph interpreted and the interpretation was sure. Now, unless there had been an understanding between the angel of Pharaoh, and the angel of Joseph, how could the interpretation have been known? Or in the case of Nebuchadnezzar when he dreamed of the great image, which fled from his mind, how could Daniel not only have brought the image, but the meaning with it? Daniel said there was a God in heaven that revealed secrets, but God does not often leave heaven to give a man a dream and the interpretation.

There is nothing in the bible which comes

nearer the fact, or more properly, the truth of the matter, than when the wise men came to worship Jesus. Matthew says:

"And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."

The wise men were warned in a dream and the angel of the Lord warned Joseph in a dream; and the fact is, spirit ministers to spirit, and so we dream revelations, because the angels inform our spirits what to dream; and the eyes of our understandings see it; and the ears of our perception conceive; and lo there is a line of communication from heaven to earth!

And this is not all; who is it that carries the saints' sins to judgment beforehand? Did not Paul write:

"Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand, and they that are otherwise cannot be hid."

It is the "divinity," or spirit of God, within us, that performs this duty,

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."

No wonder, then, that our sins go to judgment beforehand: and no wonder that man gives an account of his own stewardship through life, for this is the sum and substance of the matter: our blood, which is our life, (and wo to the man that sheds it by murder!) and our spirit, which is eternal; and the water wherein we are baptised [baptized], all testify to God of our acts in the flesh; and "the angels of our presence" are the messengers to report the matters: so we are chastened accordingly.-The sins of the wicked follow after, and verily they have their reward.

The angels go in the authority of God. This is manifest from the account of Jacob's wrestling with God:

"And Jacob was left alone: and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day."

But when he prevailed not, he inquired the name of "the man," and got no answer: so he called the name of the place Penay ale: "face of God." The next and most prominent example is, that where Joshua learned the fate of Jericho before it fell by blowing "rams horns:"

"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him, with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off they foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."

No doubt the "captain of the Lord's host" told Joshua the plan of taking Jericho and its utter destruction. To verify this we quote the first verse of John's Revelations on the Isle of Patmos:

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John."

Perhaps it may be said that many persons dream not at all: to which we reply, so it is, and many people do not believe in God, man, nor the devil; but the time is at hand when the saints will know better and do better:

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit."

But, without going into a particular detail of the offices and duties of the different grades of angels, let us close by saying that the angels gather the elect, and pluck out all that offends. They are the police of heaven and report whatever transpires on earth, and carry the petitions and supplications of men, women, and children to the mansions of remembrance, where they are kept as tokens of obedience by the sanctified, in "golden vials" labelled [labeled] "the prayers of the saints."