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seraphim." Ezekiel "beheld the cherubim, over which was a sapphire firmament, over which a throne was seen, and one sitting upon it like the appearance of a man, whose head was encircled with a rainbow. This,” he adds, “was an appearance of the likeness of the glory of God."

"Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a great rushing sound, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and the noise of a great rushing."*

Our Lord warns us against despising the least of those who believe on him, from this consideration, “That their angels 'do always behold the face of God in heaven." The angel who appeared to Zachariah thus announces himself, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God."

Improvement of Part I.

I. Let us reflect on the greatness of God, and the glory of Christ. II. On the dignity of religion, considered as constituting the employment and felicity of such glorious spirits.

SECOND PART.

They are sent forth to minister for those who are to inherit sal

vation.

I. Though they are so superior, they, with much alacrity, engage in offices of love to believers, from a consideration of the dignity which awaits them; they are hastening on to possess salvation.

They (believers) are soon to be associated with them, to be sharers of their privileges, partakers of their glory. Infantine as is their present weakness, they are considerable on account of their future greatness. The infant of the family is not neglected or despised by the more advanced branches of it; they anticipate the development of its faculties. They know the time will arrive when it will attain an equality with themselves. They that shall be thought worthy to obtain that world, at the resurrection of the just, "shall be equal to the angels.” 1. Though they are now mortal, they are the heirs of immortality. 2. Though they are encompassed with infirmities and imperfections, those blessed spirits well know they will shortly become entirely like Christ.

3. Though they are immersed in trifling cares, and have necessarily much intercourse with the things of time and sense, they entertain noble thoughts, cherish high expectations, and, having the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan earnestly desiring to be delivered. And ever and anon wet with the dews of heaven, and anointed afresh with the Holy Spirit, they wear upon their spirits the Divine impress, which these blessed spirits distinctly perceive.

* Ezek. iii. 12, 13

II. The intimate union of believers with the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom angels are in immediate subjection, [also] entitles them to their benevolent offices. They are members of Christ, his brothers and sisters; they are taken into a still closer relation than the conjugal one and are parts of that nature in which the Lord is glorified.

The nature of the benevolent offices [angels] perform for the church. They are not the servants of the church, but the servants of Christ for the benefit of the church. Their stated employment is to minister in heaven, whence, on particular occasions, they are sent on benevolent embassies for the good of the church, What are these services? What have angels done, and what are they doing, for the benefit and in behalf of the heirs of salvation?

1. The heirs of salvation are indebted to them for much prophetic information, as well as for many important directions. See Daniel. Paul going to Macedonia.

2. The heirs of salvation have often been indebted to angelic interposition for their protection in seasons of extreme danger; for example, Daniel in the lions' den; Peter's rescue from prison; Peter and John, (see Acts v.); the deliverance of Elisha at Dothan.* "He shall give his angels charge over thee, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." "The angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear him." Many secret deliverances for which we are indebted to angelic influence.

3. The support which good men have received in the season of extreme pain and suffering. "An angel appeared unto him, strengthening him."

4. A moral influence, equal in extent, though of an opposite nature, to that which evil spirits exert.

5. To assist in dying moments; to convey the spirit to the mansions of peace: they let in those gleams of heaven into the soul.

6. To gather the saints [together] in the presence of Christ at the last day, and to vindicate their cause by a final victory over their enemies. "The harvest is the end of the world, and the angels are the reapers." "The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire."

Improvement.

1. How great the dignity of real Christians,

II. How delightful the prospect of the heavenly world.

* 2 Kings vi. 15-17.

VII.

ON THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN.

1 PET. V. 8.-Your adversary the devil goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

It is highly probable, independently of revelation, that there are many orders of beings superior to [man.]* To suppose our own species to be the highest production of Divine power would indicate irrational and puerile presumption. When we consider the infinite variety of creatures presented to our notice in the descending scale between us and nothing, it is agreeable to analogy to conceive the number is not less of those which are above us; the probability of which is enhanced by the discoveries now made of the extent of the universe, and of the existence of bodies, compared to which the globe which we inhabit is but a spot. While there are known to be material systems immensely superior in magnitude to that with which we are conversant, what should lead us to doubt that there are in the intellectual world beings possessing an equal mental superiority? It surely will not be pretended that there are any properties discernible in man that mark him out as the most transcendent workmanship of Deity, the masterpiece of Almighty power, or that there is any ground for supposing creative energy suspended its operations here, rather than at any other point in its progress. The distance between us and nothing is finite, yet the interval is occupied and filled up with innumerable orders of sensitive beings: how improbable is it, then, that the distance between us and Deity, which is infinite, is an empty void!

Nor is it any just objection against the supposition in question that these superior orders are not usually discernible by our senses. The information derived from our senses, aided and corrected by reflection, is a sufficient guide in the practical concerns of life, but is a very uncertain criterion by which to determine the actual existence of things beyond a very narrow limit. Of those that are known to exist, some beings are so minute as to elude their notice, others so vast as to exceed their grasp. There are, probably, many material substances, whose subtilty exempts them entirely from that cognizance; there are others which can only be perceived by the help of instruments.

* Mr. Hall preached three sermons at Leicester on the personality and agency of Satan, besides that which he introduced into his series of lectures on the Socinian controversy. The substance of these he also condensed into a single sermon, and preached at Cambridge in October, 1823, and afterward at Bristol. Indeed, he thought the subject of so much moment, and so strangely neglected, that he prepared his three sermons for publication; but, by some singular accident, the manuscript was lost, just as he had completed it. After an interval of three or four years, he recommenced the labour of writing these sermons, but never finished it. Some imperfect notes have been found since his death. They appear to belong to different discourses, and were evidently written at different times. Imperfect as they are, they open some interesting channels of investi gation, and are therefore inserted in this collection.

For the general course of the author's reasoning, see his account of Lecture XI. in the summary of his lectures on the Socinian controversy, page 23 of this volume.-ED

Whether there is in the universe any being purely spiritual, any perfectly detached from matter, except the Great Supreme, is a question, perhaps, not easy to solve, nor is the solution of it at all essential to our present inquiry. God is a spirit, and we cannot conceive of any portion or modification of matter as entering into his essence, without being betrayed into contradiction and absurdity. In regard to every other class of being, it is by many conjectured that the thinking principle is united to some corporeal vehicle, through which it derives its perceptions, and by which it operates, while perfect spirituality, utterly separate from matter in any possible state, is the exclusive attribute of Deity. When angels are spoken of as spirits, this mode of expres sion may possibly denote no more than that the material vehicle with which they are united is of a nature highly subtile and refined, at a great remove from the flesh and blood which compose the bodily frame. Who will presume to set limits to the creative power in the organization of matter, or affirm that it is not, in the hand of its Author, susceptible of a refinement which shall completely exclude it from the notice of our senses? He who compares the subtilty and velocity of light with grosser substances which are found in the material system, will be reluctant to assign any bounds to the possible modifications of matter, much more to affirm there can be none beyond the comprehension of our corporeal organs.

However probable the supposition of the existence of creatures of a nature more exalted than our own, nothing can be affirmed with certainty on the subject beyond the dictates of revelation. In regard to a class of beings which are confessedly not objects of any of our senses, the evidence of their existence (if they exist at all) must be derived from Divine testimony. Abstract reasoning, however profound and accurate, presents nothing to the mind but the relations of its own ideas; while for our knowledge of what exists without us we are entirely indebted to observation and experiment. But neither observation nor experiment can extend to those departments of the universe that lie out of the reach of our senses. The province of philosophy, whether physical or mental, is to make an accurate survey of the mind and of matter, and to discover the laws to which they are subjected. To ascertain the laws of the material creation, the judicious inquirer not only diligently notices the appearances that present themselves, but puts the subject of his investigation into artificial situations, whence new appearances result; this mode of inquiry is styled experimental. In mental philosophy a different method must be adopted. Mind cannot, like matter, be divided, compounded, or decomposed, by subjecting it to the action of external agents; and consequently, there is here no room for experiment, properly so called. All that can be done is carefully to observe the processes of thought and of emotion, and by attending to the operation of our mental faculties, to arrive at some general conclusions, the justice of which must, in every instance, be decided by individual consciousness.

This inconvenience, inseparable from all attempts to investigate the structure of the human mind, must, in my humble opinion, preclude

the possibility of much original discovery, and will, probably, prevent metaphysics from ever obtaining the certainty and stability of science. While investigating the laws of matter, we can vary the situations in which it is placed as much as we please [within certain practical limits,] and retain it as long under our view; but mental phenomena form a Proteus, which is continually changing its aspect, and the objects of our observation are continually gliding away from us. Yet, while we acknowledge the incompetency of reason to ascertain the existence of a class of creatures superior to ourselves, and that all we can arrive at is a probable conjecture, it should be remembered that reason is equally incompetent to determine the contrary. If it is unable to build, it is, on the very same account, unable to destroy; whatever improvement philosophy may receive, however successful and brilliant its career, its conclusions, in no instance, apply to an economy which, being confessedly supernatural, is beyond its sphere, and governed by laws totally different from those which it is its business to explore.

Were all the secrets of the material world laid open, and the whole structure of the human mind, with all the laws of thought, volition, and emotion perfectly developed and explained, we should not be a step nearer to a solution of the question under our present consideration, not at all more qualified to determine whether there be an order of superior intelligences, or what the station they occupied, or the faculties by which they were distinguished. In short, the utmost that philosophy can achieve is to make us acquainted with human creatures, and with some of the laws which govern the material and visible world. Whenever we extend our views beyond this, we have no data to proceed upon, [but] are all at once in the region of doubt and conjecture. It is a province to which the principles [of philosophy] cease to apply ingenuity may amuse itself with endless suppositions, and fancy fill the void with splendid pictures, but as to discovery, the intellect of a Newton is upon the same level with that of a child.

It follows from hence, that the attempt to set aside the doctrine on this subject, derived from Scripture, under the notion of its being unphilosophical, is puerile and unmeaning. The truth is, that it is in no other sense unphilosophical, except that philosophy has nothing to do with it; that it implies supernatural economy, to which its principles are totally inapplicable, and which it can neither affirm nor deny. Here, if anywhere, we must have recourse "to the law and to the testimony;" if they speak not according to them, "there is no light in them."

Let me briefly advert, then, to the statements of the New Testament on this subject. I shall content myself with presenting the reader with a mere outline, without attempting to exhaust the information which they impart.

The New Testament informs us, that there is an order of intelligent beings superior to the human race, which it usually designates by the name of angels, a name descriptive of their office, rather than their that they are endowed with very elevated powers and capacities;

nature;

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