Page:The New View of Hell.djvu/187

 which we are now living. It is not remote from this world as to space, but is intimately present with it as the soul is with the body. It is peopled by a countless multitude of beings, all of whom are in the human form and were once inhabitants of the natural world. These are organized in general into two grand divisions,—a heaven of angels and a hell of devils. The angels are distributed into innumerable societies, corresponding, in their mutual relations and in the functions they respectively perform, to the different members and organs of the human body; so that together they constitute one Grand Man or Angel. And to the Lord they actually appear as one, and constitute his heavenly kingdom. These are spoken of in the Bible as "the angel of the Lord" and "the host of heaven."

And the angels are all good and wise, although there is a wide diversity of character among them. Some are in a high and others in a comparatively low degree of wisdom; some in one kind of good, others in another. But love to the Lord and the neighbor is the chief inspiration—yea, the very life-blood of all their hearts. They are all, to some extent, images and likenesses of the Lord. They have been with Him and learned of Him;—learned to be meek and lowly in heart, forgetful of themselves and thoughtful only of the good of others;—learned to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God. These constitute that bright angelic throng, of whom it is said that they