842. The Angelic Life

A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, November 22, 1868, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. (Matthew 22:30)

1. All of us must develop in one way or another. Manhood, as we see it here, is only the green blade, or, at best, the kernel in the ear: the full kernel 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 they become the serfs and slaves of the devil; and by consequence, more and more developed into his image, and 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 him, and now receive the inheritance 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 like, 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 companions and consumed as tares? It must be one or the other. Oh 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.

2. Without further preface, the subject of this morning’s discourse will be in what respects the life of spirits before the throne is like the angels; and then, secondly, we may have, perhaps, a few practical thoughts about the beginning of the angelic life while still here below.

3. I. First, then, IN WHAT RESPECTS ARE THOSE SAINTS WHO HAVE PASSED THE STREAM OF DEATH LIKE THE ANGELS?

4. The likeness, though it lies in many points, more or less prominently may be seen, I think, distinctly in five ways.

5. 1. The saints of God are like the angels concerning 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, mistaking him for his Lord, bowed down to worship him, the answer was, “See that you do not it, for I am one of your fellow servants, the prophets. Worship God.” When the heathen, at Lystra, brought out young bulls and sheep, and were about to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas as to Mercury and Jupiter, these holy men tore their clothes, and declared that they were men of similar passions with others. Angels and holy men refuse all kinds of worship; they unanimously sing, “Not to us, not to us, but may all the praise be to the name of Jehovah.” 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 do not know what else besides, as objects of reverence in rivalry with the Lord of Hosts.

6. That is only incidental, however. The saints of heaven are like the angels in their persons, in the fact that gender is for ever 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 divided the sexes will be no more. I imagine that some saints before the throne may 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 vigour, 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.

7. This is linked with a further likeness, namely, that the spirits above are like 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 sepulchre—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 sepulchre could encase their free spirits, and the bonds of death could not hold them for a moment. So it is 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 grey hairs of decay upon the heads of the immortals; celestials shall never decay. For this reason, therefore, the population of those realms never needs to be replenished by birth. 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 is still triumphant, always sending little children to gather flowers above the graves. The flood of life, though apparently swallowed up by the Behemoth of death, still rolls on, a broader and deeper torrent than before. Therefore they are like the angels in heaven, since there is no death, and consequently no necessity of birth to replenish the population.

8. 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 clothed again, they shall be like the angels in the fact of the maturity of their being. In heaven babes will no longer be 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 his failing eye and trembling knee there; he shall be in the glory of his purified manhood, and feel no decay. The child shall be as though he were a hundred years old, and the aged man shall wear more than the honours of his youth. I do not read of angels either as youthful or growing old: they always stand in a blessed perfection; and so shall the saints of God always be both physically and spiritually perfect. “You have the dew of your youth,” oh Jesus, and that same dew falls upon all the plants of your right hand planting.

9. 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 their comeliness shall be seen by all. “It is sown in dishonour,” says the apostle; “it is raised in glory.” Whatever of dishonour 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 sepulchre 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 him 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 to them he has never said that they should be made like the Only Begotten. But this is the portion of all the blood bought and blood washed, that they are fashioned in the likeness of Christ, when they shall see him face to face.

10. Just as we shall resemble the angels in beauty, so no doubt we shall also equal them in strength: “Bless the Lord, oh you his angels who 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. As 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 bodies 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. In this also we shall be as the angels of God.

11. 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 just as from that creeping caterpillar, or from this dried up chrysalis, there will arise a lovely creature with wings coloured like the rainbow, so from your poor groaning humanity there shall come forth a fair and lovely being; while your spirit also shall cast off the slough of its natural depravity, be rid of all the foulness and damage of its sojourn here below, and your whole man shall be restored into a goodly fabric—a temple glorious to look upon, in which God shall dwell with you, and in which you shall dwell with God.

12. 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, with the highest possible alacrity. 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 what we wish to do we do not find the ability. We wish to 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, until we say, “Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” But angels do not know 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 around with them no inbred sin. They find no heavy clay to clog their celestial ardours; they do not have to lament lascivious desires, or covetous cravings; they have no proud thoughts which must be cast down, no depressions of spirit, no tauntings 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 it is 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, and they are today 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?—for 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 only perfectly serve God we would make no conditions about the place! Perfection in a dungeon would be infinitely better than the least sin in a palace. If one could be quite delivered from all evil, and if it would be 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. Up there is the crown—let your faith grasp it. Persevere courageously, for all things are possible for him who 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 Saviour. Only be of good cheer, for through Jesus you shall overcome, and the crown shall be yours, world without end.

13. 3. Thirdly, the souls of the blessed are like angels concerning their occupation. Angels we read do obeisance around the throne in sacred worship. They cast their crowns before the throne upon the glassy sea, and worship the Lamb for ever 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 ten thousand times ten thousand of these celestial spirits. Cherubim and seraphim veil their faces before the everliving Son of God. Worship is their perpetual vocation. Even so it is with all those whom Christ has redeemed with blood. They too are worshipping for ever. They pay their perpetual love to Jesus. The elders are represented as standing before the throne with their vials full of sweet odours 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 Sabbaths, and the place of our assembling becomes very dear to us, because it is none 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! Such service is soon to be our portion.

14. 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 honour, and glory, and majesty to the Lamb once slain. In this very 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 particular richness to the strain, as their joyous hearts lift up the chorus, “Worthy is the Lamb! for he was slain, and has redeemed us to God by his blood! The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.” Oh, that heavenly song! Oh that some stray notes would visit my ears even now, so that I might learn how to speak about it! Hear what John says about 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 sang as it were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts.” Glory be to Christ today, though we cannot join in the seraphic song as we would desire, we send up our contribution of heartfelt praise to him who lives and was slain.

15. In addition to adoration and praise, we have good 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 “no man knows of that day and that hour, no, not even the angels who 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 around the cross and the doings of the incarnate God. Surely such will be the occupation of the blessed. The difficulties today which stagger us will be explained to us in heaven. “What you do not know now, you shall know hereafter.” Mysteries too deep for our present plumbline will yield up their treasure to us in another state; for here we know only in part, but there we shall know even as we are known. Truths only dimly guessed at and perceived in shadow, shall be seen in clearer light—“for now we see only 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 do you mean by this dark saying?” Or, perhaps, we shall get altogether beyond the letter, and needing 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.

16. The angels of heaven gaze upon the face of God. This is a scriptural expression, not mine, for our Lord says that “in heaven angels do always behold the face of your Father there, 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 spirit only discerns God by thought and mental apprehension; but what an apprehension of God that must be which is intended by the expression, “They always do 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 splendour. This was all he could see, though his eye was more strengthened than that of any man under the legal dispensation. But, brethren, we in heaven, like the angels, shall see his face, and his name shall be in our foreheads.

   Father of Jesus, love’s reward,
      What raptures will it be,
   Prostrate before thy throne to lie,
      And ever gaze on thee!

17. Still we have not exhausted the occupations of the angels. These which I have already mentioned are rather contemplative—worship, song, study, and beautiful vision; but the flaming ones above have occupations which are connected with earth. For instance, they feel sympathetic joy. We would not have known this if Jesus had not said, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” I believe this, that the souls of redeemed men will have the same kind of joy; and I can imagine the soul of the believer rejoicing over the child who was left unconverted, saved after his parent’s ascent into heaven—saved through the prayers which a mother left behind her, bequeathing them upon her deathbed 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 my imagination—that if in glory I ever shall withdraw my eye from the sight of my Lord, if ever I may suspend 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 laboured may be prospering. Surely those venerated men who previously ministered to this flock, must feel a particular joy in our prosperity; and as the news is flashed 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 twoedged sword, if the angels rejoice, I can only believe that the glorified spirits, far more akin to repenting sinners than angels are, must have an even deeper sympathy, and feel an even more exultant mirth.

18. 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 does not matter to the angel whether he descends to strike the hosts of Sennacherib, or to be the guardian of a little child. It has been well said that if two angels were despatched to earth, and the one were to rule an empire, amidst all terrestrial splendour, and the other were to perform the drudgery of a scullion, the angels would not care, as long as they knew their Lord’s mind. Whichever God wills, they will. For those bright spirits do not consider 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 still offers mischief for idle spirits to perform; but day without night they serve their God.

19. Lastly on this point, they are constant attendants at the courts of heaven. Wherever Jesus is, we have the angels all around 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 twenty thousand, 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, does not go out 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 do not know what may be our sacred tasks in those skies—it would be 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 since angels are only the servants, they are sent out of doors to do the Master’s fieldwork 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 for ever?” Ours shall be housework, home service in the immediate presence. We shall be like that angel who stood in the sun; we shall dwell for ever in the full blaze of the presence of the infinite God. We shall be equal to the angels, and made like them then, in respect to occupation, as well as in character and person.

20. 4. Lest I weary you, I will add only a few words on the fourth point, though I think it is 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 do not care about earthly things, but are of a heavenly spirit. So it is with the blessed spirits before the throne. To eat and drink, to be clothed—these are things which no longer cross their minds. To keep the house, to maintain the children, to thrust the wolf from the door—such anxieties never trouble celestial spirits. Brethren, this is one of the things which makes the great change so desirable for us, that after death our thoughts, our cares, our position, our desires, our joys, will all be in God. Here we need externals, here we seek after carnal things; for we need to eat and drink, and be clothed and housed. Here we must be somewhat hampered by the grosser elements of this poor materialism, but up there 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 of him alone; to

   Plunge into the Godhead’s deepest sea,
   And bathe in his immensity.

21. 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 amid the noise and dust of the battle; but there for ever and ever we shall remain in the loftiness of heavenly things, absorbed with the glory which shall then be revealed.

22. 5. Lastly, we shall be like the angels, when in glory, concerning our happiness. The bliss of angels and the glorified is complete. They always possess the divine approval—this is a fountain of joy. They know they have complete security—this is another wellspring 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, ensures perpetual felicity. We shall be this way. 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; for it is not just for some, but for all it is said, “They are as the angels of God in heaven.”

23. Now, unhappily for me, my time is nearly gone, and I wanted to enlarge upon the second point. The subject is too large for a single sermon. I must, therefore, give you an outline of what might have been said on the second part.

24. II. I would speak of THE ANGELIC LIFE ON EARTH.

25. 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 beginning 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 him 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, just 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 those 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’ food today; indeed, may we not sing—

   Never did angels taste above,
   Redeeming grace and dying love?

Yet these are the daily food and the daily drink for all the saved souls.

26. We can be like angels in our occupations. First, may it be 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. Men and brethren, according to your ability, be like the angels of God in this, and proclaim abroad the plan of salvation. Each one of you, according to his ability, tell to others 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.

27. May it be 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 him, and under him, must stand as champions for the truth, never to surrender, but being prepared to suffer, even to blood, striving against sin. With undaunted courage, and a conscience that cannot be violated, let us stand firm 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.

28. Let it be ours, too, 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, “Do not rebel against God.” Even if you do not speak with your tongue, the eloquence of your life should be a constant check upon the aboundings of sin.

29. 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, struck him on the side, knocked off his chains, opened the gate, and led him out into the street. May you and I do this for some of those who, under conviction of sin, are smarting and suffering, but have no liberty. Go today, if you have the 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, invite him to 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 a simple faith. You can all be angels of this kind. It is not necessary that you are preachers. If you encounter the disconsolate, you may bring them to Jesus in the house as well as in the great assembly.

30. 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, “Do not fear.” Angels have often visited godly men with this message, “Do not fear.” Oh you who love the Lord, and are happy in him yourselves, be angels in this—comfort others with the same comfort by which God has comforted you today. 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 about the goodness of God, as shown in your experience. Bear your witness to the goodness and lovingkindness of the Shepherd who does not fail 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.

31. 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 about the little ones whom Christ took into his arms and said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for in heaven their angels 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 camps all around those who fear him.” Believers, learn to camp all around your fellow Christians. Help to save them from temptation and sorrow. Bear up in your hands of sympathy those whom 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. So you can be angels of God here below.

32. In addition to all this, is it not written, “Bless the Lord, oh 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 in your heart. Praise God, though the sun does not shine; 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: you do the same.

   Praise him while he lends you breath,
   And when your voice is lost in death
   Let praise employ your nobler powers.

33. Thus I have 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 anticipating 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 gaze there 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 for ever and ever. Amen.

[Portion of Scripture Read Before Sermon—Revelation 7]