Liberty

 

 

     “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. In the council hall the court of justice, heavenly messengers have pleaded the cause of the persecuted and oppressed.”  Ed 305

     Again, these words have fascinated me for years.  Do they mean that angels present in these assemblies have spoken through honest  and receptive members of these assemblies.  Or have angels disguised as human beings come into these assemblies as strangers and been allowed to speak?  Would a stranger be allowed to address the United States Senate, for instance—or the United Nations?  Or would an angel have to speak through a recognized member?

     The experience related to me by Pastor Alger Johns offers what may be a clue, and certainly a thrilling example.

     Pastor Johns, for many years a strong defender of religious liberty, was present in a Salt Lake City committee room as hearings concerning proposed Sunday legislation were in progress.  The attorney who presented the case in favor of the legislation was well prepared and so powerful a speaker that our own men were dejected.  It was not that we did not have strong and unassailable reasons for opposing Sunday legislation.  But the witnesses scheduled to speak for us that day were weak and would certainly not be able to counteract the impression made by this dynamic speaker for the other side.

     Just at that moment a stranger walked into the courtroom and asked permission to speak.  He was a large man, well-dressed.  He proceeded to present just the arguments needed to answer those of the speaker who had preceded him.  And he did it with such power that the attorney who had made such a strong impression only moments before was confounded and simply could not continue.  The stranger turned and left the courtroom, and the proposed legislation was defeated.

     An effort was made to find the stranger, but he had disappeared.  Who was he?  Pastor Johns emphasizes that one of our own members could have been prepared by the Holy Spirit and Guided into the courtroom at just the right moment.  On the other hand, could it be that those present that day in the courtroom had witnessed a dramatic example of what the Lord’s servant was talking about?  I prefer to think it was the later.

M. L. Lloyd