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The Acts of the Apostles
delivered from prison and death, while his persecutor had been stricken
down by the curse of God, were borne to all lands and became the
means of leading many to a belief in Christ.
The experience of Philip, directed by an angel from heaven to go to
the place where he met one seeking for truth; of Cornelius, visited by
an angel with a message from God; of Peter, in prison and condemned
to death, led by an angel forth to safety—all show the closeness of the
connection between heaven and earth.
To the worker for God the record of these angel visits should bring
strength and courage. Today, as verily as in the days of the apostles,
heavenly messengers are passing through the length and breadth of
the land, seeking to comfort the sorrowing, to protect the impenitent,
to win the hearts of men to Christ. We cannot see them personally;
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nevertheless they are with us, guiding, directing, protecting.
Heaven is brought near to earth by that mystic ladder, the base
of which is firmly planted on the earth, while the topmost round
reaches the throne of the Infinite. Angels are constantly ascending and
descending this ladder of shining brightness, bearing the prayers of
the needy and distressed to the Father above, and bringing blessing
and hope, courage and help, to the children of men. These angels of
light create a heavenly atmosphere about the soul, lifting us toward the
unseen and the eternal. We cannot behold their forms with our natural
sight; only by spiritual vision can we discern heavenly things. The
spiritual ear alone can hear the harmony of heavenly voices.
“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him,
and delivereth them.”
Psalm 34:7
. God commissions His angels to save
His chosen ones from calamity, to guard them from “the pestilence that
walketh in darkness” and “the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”
Psalm 91:6
. Again and again have angels talked with men as a man
speaketh with a friend, and led them to places of security. Again and
again have the encouraging words of angels renewed the drooping
spirits of the faithful and, carrying their minds above the things of
earth, caused them to behold by faith the white robes, the crowns, the
palm branches of victory, which overcomers will receive when they
surround the great white throne.
It is the work of the angels to come close to the tried, the suffering,
the tempted. They labor untiringly in behalf of those for whom Christ
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died. When sinners are led to give themselves to the Saviour, angels