Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1895 — CELESTIAL VIANDS. [ARTICLE]

CELESTIAL VIANDS.

The Delicious Courses of the Heavenly Banquet. Swfeh That Never Cloy and Do Not Intirxicate Sermon. Dr. Talmage preached at the New York Academy "Of Musicdast Sunday to a large audience, the majority of whom remained to shake hands with the speaker after thtgs.ervice. The subject chosen was, “Seraphic Diet,” the text being Psalms Ixxviii, 25, ■•‘Man. did eat angels’ Ibbd.” He” said: —— ■ Somewhat risky would be the undertaking to tell just what was ,the man mi that fell to the Is realites -UtLXlie—_wi Ide r■; ess, oL what iVwhA" made and who made it. The manna was called angels' food, but why so calleiL? Was it, because it came from the place where angels live, orbecause angels compounded it, or because angels did eat it, or because itwas good enough for angels? On what crystal platter was it carried to the door of heaven and then ‘ throan out? —How did-Yt tiiato? We are told there was in it something like honey, but. if the saccharine taste in it had been too strong manv would not'have liked it, and so it may Lave Lad a commingling of flavors —this delicacy of the skies. It must have been nutritious, for a nation liv-d on it for forty years. It must have been healthful, for it is so itisph-inplv applauded. It must have beell abu:idant, because it disinissod the necessity of a sutler for a great army. But we have all occasionally been in an ecstatic state where we-forgot the necessity of earthly food. We. j were fed by joys, by anticipations, by discovaA-ies. by companionships that dwindled the dining hour into insignificance and made the pleasuresof the table stupid and uninviting. There have been cases where, from seemingly invisible sources, i the human body has been maintained, as in the remarkable case of our invalid and Christian neighbor, Mollie

Fancher, known ’. hroimhout the medical and Christian world for that site was seven week’s without earthly food, fed ami sustained on heav- i enly visions. Our beloved Dr. Irenaeus Prime. editor and theologian, recorded the wonders concerning ; this girl. Prof. West, the great, scientist, marveled over it, and Wil- I lard Parker of world-wide fame in j surgery, threw up his hands in ; amazement at. it. There are times | in-alLour lives when, the soul asserts i itself and says to the body: “Hush! ■ Stand back'! Stand down!” Now, what dq the supernatural : live on? They experience none of j the demands of corporeity and have ■ no hmdrance or environment in the", shape of bone and muscle and flesh, and hence that which may delectate our palate (fryinyigorate our poor, i dying frames would be of no use to ! them. But (hey have food of their ' own. My text says so. There may j be other courses of food, in the t heavenly menu that I am not aw-are ; of, but I know of five or six styl.es_C)f i Tood always on celestial tables when I cherubim and seraphim _and arch- ! angel gather for heavenly repast —. the mysterv of redempttottv eelestiulized music. the heavenly picturesque, sublime. .collou.tiy. eternal enterprises, saintly association, divine companionship, .cel eb native jubilance. There is one subject that excites the curiosity and inquisitiveness of all those angels. St.. Peter savs, ‘-‘Which thiflg the angels desire'to look into”—that is, why did Christ, exchange a palace for a barn? Why did He drop a scepter from His right hand to take a spear into Bis left side? Why quit the anthem of the wdrsbiping heavens to Lear the crooning of a weary mother’s voice. Was a straw better than a, garland? “Could it not have been done in seine other way?” says angel the first. "Was t-lie human race worth such a 'sacrifice?” says angel the second.. “How-could heaven get along without him for thirty-three years?” says angel the third. '“Through that assassination may smt’ifl irnih rise int.> eternal coinjiani'nship,” says angel the fourth. Am! then they all bend toward each other ami talk about, it. and gpess about, it and try to fathom it and prophesy concerning it. But the -subject-is too big, and they only nibble at it. •Unlike the beakers of earth, which poison, these glow with immortal health, tlm wine pressed from the grapes of ihe' heavenly Esehol, and ih -y all drink to. the memory of manger and cross, shattered sepulcher ami Olivetic ascension. . Ohj that rapturous; inspiring,- transporting theme of the world's ransom!, That makes angels’ food. The tailing of that food gives stronger to their gladness, adds several Li-.ririigs of radiance to their foreIs, gives vaster circle to the sweep of their wings on mission intereonsteilation. Seine of the fragments of the angels’ food fall all around oqr wilderness camp today, and we feel like crying with Paul. ‘‘Oh. the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom ami knowledge of God!” or with expiring Stephen, Jesus, receive my spirit!” or with many an enraptured soul, “None but Christ! None lni‘ Christ!” .MrnSib tio Lhemi.s fomi for body, food "Tor mind and food for soul. Frorn what I read in my Bible I think celestiaiized music willmake up a large part of angels’ food. Why do I say “celestializcd music?” IJecause, although music may have been born in heaven, it had not all of, its charms

until it came to earth and took a baptism of tears. Since, then it has had a tenderness and a. pathos it could not otherwise have possessedIt had to-pass under the shadow's and over stormy seas and weep at sCpuE cbers.an'i to be hummed as .a lullaby over the cradle of sick children before it could mount to its present altitude of lieaveniy pbweb. Noorgan on earth would be complete without the stop “tremolo” and the stop “vox humana” of earthly sympathies glorified. Jiist take up the New Testament and find it a note book of ce'estalized music. ' . But- many of masters yvho charmed us on earth will more mightily charm us in heaven. Great music hall of eternity! May you and I” be there some day to acclaim when the -“Hallelujah Chorus” is wakened. As on earth there have been harmonies made up of other harmonies, a strain of music from this cantata, and a strain of music from that overture, and a bar from this and a bar from that, but one great tune or theme, into wjnch all the others were poured as rivers into a sea, so it may be giv e n to th e nnghtiost soul i n th e heavenly world to gather something from all the sacred songs we have sung on earth, or which have been ■gj.ung,in_jaLLthe ages, and roil them on in eternal symphony, but the one .great theme and the. one overmast ermg tbne that shall carry alt before it and uplift all heaven from central throne to farthest gate of pearl and to the highest capstone of amethyst will be, “Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and made us kings unto God and the lamp, to Ti lin be g;ory.” That will be manna enough for all heaven to feed on. That will be a banquet for immortals. That will be angels’ food. Now in the emerald palace of heaven let the cupbearers and servants of the King remove this course from the banquet and bring on another course of angels’ food, which is laying out of mighty enterprise. The Bible lets us know positively that the angels have our worldly affairs on their heart. They afford the rapid transit from world to world. Ministering spirits, escorting spirits, defending spirits, guardian spirits —yea, they have all worlds on their thought. We are told they sang together at the creation, and that implied not only the creation of our world, but of other worlds. Shall they plan only for our little planet and be unconcerned for a planet three hundred times larger? No. They have all the galaxies under their observation, mighty plans of helpfulness to belaid out and executed; shipwrecked worlds to be towed inpplanetary fires to be put out; demoniac hosts riding up to be hurled back and down. These angels of light unhorse an Apollyon with one stroke of battleax celestial, They talk these matters all over. They bend toward each other in sublimest colloquy. They have cabinet tneetpigs of winged immortals. They assemble, the mightiest of them in holy consultation. They .plan out stellar, lunar, solar, constellated achievement. They vie with each other as to who shall do the grandest thing for the eternals. They compose doxologics for the temple of jthe sun. They preside over coronations. If inTheTgreat organ" of ~the universe one key gets out of tune, they plan for its returning! No "undertaldng rr so difficult, ~ no post -of duty is so distant, no mission is-so stupendous buta,t God’s! command they are gladly obtained. When they sit. together in heaven’s places. Gabriel and Michael, the archangel and the angel that pointed Hagar to the fountain in the desert, and the angel that swung open the prison doorand delivered Peter, and the angels who are to be the reapers at the .end of the world, and the anI gel that stood by Paul to encourage him on the foundering cornship of" Alexandria, and the two angels that sen tried the tomb of Christ, and the four angels that St. John saw in Apocalypse at the four -corners of the earth, and the twelve angels that guard the twelve swinging and the 20,000 charioted angels that the psalmist described, and more radian t than all of them put together, and mightier than all, and lovelier than all, “the Angel of the Covenant,” the cadences of his voice the best music that ever entranced mortal or immortal cars, his smile another noon risen on midnoon, his presence enough to make a heaven if there were no other attraction T say, when they meet V’gether in the council chamber close to the throne, ah, that will be regalement infinite! That will be a repast supernal. That will beangels’ food. in the emepajd palace of heaven let the cupbearers .and servants of the King remove this course from the banquet and bring on another course of angels’ food, the last course and the best- —thedessert t the culmination of the feast, which is celebrative j abidance. You and I have known people who have prided themselves tin never getting excited. They have cultivated the phlegmatic; you novel'saw them cry’; you never heard them in a burst of laughter. They are monotonous, and to me intolerable. I am afraid of a man or woman that- cannot cry. I am afraid of a man or a woman that cannot laugh. Christ says in the book of Revelation that such people are to Him nauseating and cause regurgitation —(Revelation, iii, 16), “Because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my -•mouth.” But the angels in heaven have no stolidity or unresponsiveness. There is one thing that agitates them to holy warmth. We know that- absolutely. I( their harp be hung upxm the panels of amethyst, they take it down and with deft

fingers pu’il 3 from among the strings a canticle. They run in to their neighbors On the same golden stniet? and tgll the good news. If Miriam has there symbals "anything like those with which she performed on the banks of the Red sea, she claps them in triumph, and There is a festal table spread, and the best of the apgels’ food is set on it. When is it? It is when a man or woman down in the world who was all wrong by the grace of God is made alt right—(Luke xv, 10.) “There is joy in the presence of the angels 'of God over the one sinner that.repenteth.” And then their festivity is catching. If we hear the bells of a city ring we say, “What is that for?” If we"hear rotting out from an auditorium the sound of a full orchestra we "say, “What, is happening here?” And when the . angels of L God take on jubilance over a case of earthly repentance your friends in heaven will sayE =3j W L hat new thing has happened? Why full diapason? Why the chime from the oldest towers of eternity ?” —Thofact is, my hearers, there are people in heaven who would like to hear from you. Your children there are wondering when father and mother will come into thekingdom, and with more glee than the-y ever danced in the hal 1 wav at your com ing liome at eventide they will dance the floor of the heavenly mansion at the tidings of father and mother saved. Besides that the old folks want to hear from you. They are standing at the head of the celestial stairs waiting lor the news that their prayers have been answered, and that you are coming bn to take from their lips a kiss better than --tlmt—wWoh—now Th ey th ay thro w —you-- Galli iig you by your first name, as they always did, they are talking about you and saying, “There is our s in,” or, ‘lThere is our daughter down in that world of struggle, battling, suffering, sinning, weeping. Why they not see that Christ is the only one who. can help and comfort and save?” That is what they are saying.. about you. and, if you will this hour in one prayer of surrender that will not take more than a second to make decide this, then swifter than telegraphic dispatch the news would reach them, and angels of God who never fell would join your glorified kindred in celebration, and the caterers of heaven would do their best, and the saints and seraphs side by side would take angels’ food. Glory be to God for such a possibility! Ob. that this moment there might be a rush for heaven!