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Time of Trouble
301
for the garner of God; the tares will be bound as fagots for the fires
of destruction.
The heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continue their
watch. In some cases, before the time specified in the decree, ene-
mies will rush upon the waiting ones to put them to death. But none
can pass the mighty guardians stationed about every faithful soul.
Some are assailed in their flight from the cities and villages; but the
swords raised against them break and fall as powerless as a straw.
Others are defended by angels in the form of men of war.
In all ages God has wrought through holy angels for the succor
and deliverance of his people. Celestial beings have taken an active
part in the affairs of men. They have appeared clothed in garments
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that shone as the lightning; they have come as men, in the garb of
wayfarers. Angels have appeared in human form to men of God.
They have rested, as if weary, under the oaks at noon. They have
accepted the hospitalities of human homes. They have acted as
guides to benighted travelers. They have, with their own hands,
kindled the fires of the altar. They have opened prison doors, and set
free the servants of the Lord. Clothed with the panoply of Heaven,
they came to roll away the stone from the Saviour’s tomb.
In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of the
righteous, and they visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went
to Sodom, to make a record of their deeds, to determine whether they
have passed the boundary of God’s forbearance. The Lord delights
in mercy; and for the sake of a few who really serve him, he restrains
calamities, and prolongs the tranquillity of multitudes. Little do
sinners against God realize that they are indebted for their own lives
to the faithful few whom they delight to ridicule and oppress.
Though the rulers of this world know it not, yet often in their
councils angels have been spokesmen. Human eyes have looked
upon them; human ears have listened to their appeals; human lips
have opposed their suggestions and ridiculed their counsels; human
hands have met them with insult and abuse. In the council hall
and the court of justice, these heavenly messengers have shown
an intimate acquaintance with human history; they have proved
themselves better able to plead the cause of the oppressed than their
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ablest and most eloquent defenders. They have defeated purposes
and arrested evils that would have greatly retarded the work of God,