Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1891-08-07
REV. Or. TAlMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.
SUBJECT: "OPPoRTUNITIEs FOR CHRIS
TIANs." preached AT
MADISON, WIS.,


Ahasuerus the Abominable. The time had
come for her TO present petition to her in
famous husband in behalf'of the lsraelitish
nation, to which she had once belonged. She
was afraid 10 undertake the work lest she
should lose her own lie; but her uncle, Nor
decai, who had brought her up, encouraged
her with the suggestion that probably she
had been raised up of God for that peculiar
mission. "Who knoweth whether thou art
come TO the kingdom for such time as
thisF' Esther had her God-appointed work;
you and have ours. 1t is my business TO
tell you what style Of people we ought to be
In order that we may meet the demand OF
the age in which God has cast our lot. IL you
have come expecting TO hear distractions
discussed or dry technicalities of religion
gloritied, you have come to the wrong place;
but il you really would like to know what
this age has aoright to expect OF you as
Christian men and women, then | am ready
in the Lords name to look you in the face.
When two armies have rushed into battle
the officers of either army do not want phil
osophcal discussions about tho chemical
properties Oh human blood or the nature OF
Runpowder. They want some one TO man
the batteries and Swab out the guns. And
now, when all the forces OF light and dark
ness, of heaven aud hell, have plunged into
the fight it is no time to give ourselves TO
the definitions AMI formulas and technicali-
ties and conventionalities OF religion. What
We want is practical, earnest, concentrated,
enthusiastic and triumphant help. What We
ueed in the East you in Wisconsin need.
In the first place, in order - meet the
special demand OF this age, you need TO be
An Enthusiastically aggressive Chr stan. or
| calf and half Christians we do not want any
more. The church OF Jesus Christ will DO
better without ten thousand Of them. They
are the chief obstacle to tho church's ad-
vancement. am speaking OF another kind
of Christian. Ali the appliances for your
| becoming an earnest Christian are at your
haud, and there is n straight path for you in-
to the broad daylight OF Gods forgiveness.
| You may haze come here to-day the bonds
men Of tie world, AMI yet before you go out
| II these doors you may become the princes
| of the Lord God Almighty. You know what
| excitement there is in this country when a
| foreign prince comes to our shores Why?
Because it is expected that some day he will
sit upon throne. But what is all that
honor compared with the honor 20 which
God calls you-to be sons and daughters OF
the Lord Almighty; yea, TO be queens and
kings unto God! They shall reign with
Him forever and forever
| But, my friends you need not be aggres-
sive Christians, and not like those persons
who spend their lives in hugging their Chris
tian graces and wondering why they do not
make any progress. How much robustness
of health would man have If he hid him
self in q dark closet' A great deal OF piety
of the day Is too exclusive. 1t hides itself
Ii needs more fresh air more outdoor exer-
cise. There are many Christians who are
giving their entire life to self examination.
| They are feeling their pulses TO see what is
the condition of their spiritual health. How
long would a man have robust physical health
IL he kept all the da 5 and weeks and months
| - HE t,,,tsa ips sta 4
OF going out into active, earnest everyday
work.
was once amid the wonderful, bewitch
ing cactus growths Of North Carolina. |
never was more bewildered with the beauty
of flowers, and yet when | would take up
one OF these cactuses and pull the leaves
apart, the beauty was all gone You could
hardly tell that 1t had ever been flower.
And there are great many Christian peo-
pie in this day just pulling apart their
Christian experiences to see what there is
In them and there is nothing attractive
left This style OF self examination is a
damage instead Of an advantage TO their
Christian character. l remember when
was boy | used to have small piece il
the garden that l called my own, and
planted corn there, aud every few days
| would pull it up to see how fast it wa
growing. Now, there are great mani
, Christian people in this day whose self ex
, | animation merely amounts to the pullin;
up of that which they only yesterday o
. the day before plautsd
Oh, my friendsl IL you want to have
stalwart Christian character, plant it righ
out OF doors in the great field OF Christian
usefulness and though storms may com
upon it and though the hot sun of trial una,
try to consume it. it will thrive until it be
comes a great tree, in which the fowls o
heaven may have their habitation. | hav
T no patience with these flowerpot Christians
They keep themselves under shelter, and a
h their Christian experience in "a small, exc.u
sive circle, when they ought TO plant it i
: the great garden of the Lord, so that th
: | whole atmosphere could be aromatic wit
( their Christian usefulness. What we wal
: In the church of God Is more Drawn Of piet!
= The century plant is wonderfully sugge
! tive and wonderfully beautiful, but new
"a look at II without thinking OK its parsimou,
a 1t lets whole generations go by before 1t pu
forth one blossom; 50 have real
y pore heartfelt admiration when l s.
ID tha dewy tears In the blue eyes
ol the violets, for they come every spring. \
y, Christian friends time is going by 80 ra
idly that we cannot afford to be Id
8, A recent statistician says that human
10 now has an average of only thirty-two yea
From these thirty-two years you must s
tract all the time you take for sleep and
taking of food and recreation; that Will lea
you about sixteen years. From those sixt
, years you must subtract all the time you
- necessarily engaged in the earning of liv'
C. hood, that will leave you about eight yea
r. From thosa eight years you must take all
4, DAYS aud weeks and months-all the lem
of time that is passed in childhood and 81
NJ ness, leaving you about one year III whlct
to work for God. Oh, my soul, wake upl Il
r. darest thou sleep in harvest time and witt
~ few hours in which TO reap? So that ST
VI it as a simple fact that all the time that
le vast ma jority of you will have for the
es elusive service Of God will be less than
W year
But" says some man, 81 literally SUPP
S the Gospel, and the church is open and
n. Gospel preached; all the spiritual adv
tn tages are spread before men, and II 81
.,,. want to be saved let them coms and
~ saved have discharged all my respo
w bility." All! is that the Masters spirit1
there not an old Book somewhere that C
mands us to go out into the highways
hedges and compel the people to come
her What would have become of you and M
op Christ had not come down off the hill
heaven, and it He had not come through
the door OF the Bethlehem caravansary, an
era He had not with the crushed hand OF
,+o- crucIfxon knocked at tbs iron gate OF
sepulcher Of our spiritual DEATH cry
e6 Lazarus come forthW
Oh, my Christian friends, this is no
for inertia, when all the forces of dark
seem to be in full blast; when steam prin
IN presses are publishing inhdel tracts; '
are express railroad trains ara carrying
a. ssngers of sin; when fast clippers are Il
ii'- with ooium and rum; when the night a
as our cities is polluted with the laughter
ath breaks up from the ten thousand saloo
- dissipation and abandonment; when the
'tty of the second death already are klndle
ned the cheeks of some who only little
arm ago were incorrupt Never since the
fell upon the earth has there been a
lple when it was such an unwise, such {
ing such an awful thing for the church to {
The great audiences are not gathered
Christian churches; the great audiences