The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-07-29
AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY.
Rev. Or. Talmage Preaches on This
Subject TO q Great Crowd
~ Chautauqua Assembly In Wisconsin,.
christians should be Aggressive, Ear
nest, and Ever Ready to Work for
the Cause-More Drawn Of
Piety Wanted In the
Church OF God.

Rev. DR.. Talmage preached recently
ct q chautauqua assembly on the banks
Of Monona Lake, near Madison, Wis.
His text was Esther w., Il: ".Who
. knoweth whether thou art come to the
kingdom for such time as this?" The
eminent Brooklyn divine spoke as fol-
lows: Af
Esther, the beautiful was the wife Of
Ahasuerus, the abominable. The time
had come for her to present a petition
70 her infamous husband In behalf Of
the Israelitish nation, TO which she had
once belonged. She was afraid to nn-
dertake the work, lest she should lose
her own life, but her uncle, Mordecai,
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 a, time 90 this?" Esther had
her God-appointed work; you and have
ours. II 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 II
you have come expecting TO hear alb
straotions discussed, or dry technicsli-
ties Of religion glorified; you have come
70 the wrong place; but II you really
would like 70 know what ti,is are hAz 4
right TO expect OF you az Christi>n men
and women, then1 am ready Ia the
Lords name TO look you IN the face.
When two armies have rushed into bat
~ the officers OF either army do not
want philosophicai discussion about
the chemical properties ofhuman blood
or the nature OF gpnpowder. They want
some one to man the batteries and swab
out the guns And now, when all the
forces Of light and darkness, OF Heaven
and hell, have plunged into the fight, II
n no time to give ourselves to the def
nitions and formulas and technicalities
and conventionalities Of religion. What
we want Is practical, earnest, concen-
trated, enthusiastic and triumphant
help. What we need in the east you In
Wisconsin need.
In the first place, In order TO meet the
special demands Of this age, you need
70 be an Enthusiastically aggressive Chris
tian. OF half and half Christians we do
not want any more. The church of
Jesus Christ will be better without
ten thousand Of them. They are the
chief obstacle TO the church's advance
ment. am speaking of another kind
Of Christian. All the appliances for
your becoming an earnest Christian are
at your hand, and there is a straight
path for you into the broad daylight of
Gods forgiveness. You NAV have come
here to-day the bondsmen OF the world,
and vet before Won 20 out of these doors
Won may become the princes Of the Lord
God Almighty. You know what excite.
ment there IA In this country. when a
foreign prince comes TO our shores.
Why? Because Il Is expected that some
dav he VIII sit unon n throne. Ruf
what is all that honor compared with
the honor 20 which God calls you-to
be sons and daughters OF the Lord Al
mighty; yea, to be queens and kings
unto GOQH 'lneY shall reign with Him
forever and forever.
But. INV friends, rou need TO be ag.
Rressiye Christians, and not like those
persons who spend their lives In hug
ring their Christian eraces and wonder.
Ing why they do not make any progress
How much robustness of health would
man have II he hid himself In n dark
closet? A great deal of piety Of the dav
Is too exclusive. II hides itself II tneeds
more fresh air, more outdoor exercise
There are many Christians who are Civ
ING their entire life TO self.examination.
They are feeling their pulses TO SEQ
what is tho condition OF their spiritual
health. How long would a man have
robust nbvsical heath n he kent all the
davs and weeks and months and vears
Of his life feeling his pulse instead Of
voInO ont into active. earnest evervdav
worls2
Twas once amid the wonderfpl be-
witehing cactus growth of North Caro-.
lima. never was more bewildered
with the beautv of flowers and vet
when would take up one Of these
ractuses and null the Leaves anart tbe
beauty was ali zone. You could hardly
tell that 4 ever had been a f,ower Ana
there are n great many Cbristian neonle
IN This dav inst nuil,no aoart tbeir
Christian experiences inst 10 ace what
there IA In them. and there /, nothing
attractive left. This stvle Of self-er.
animation "a n DAMAGE instead ~ an
,dvantaoe 10 their Cbr,st,an charac,er
r----es =