The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1891-08-07
Examples of Earnest Laborers.

the banks OF Monona lake near Madison,
Wis. 1t was a great gathering of peo'
pie from all parts of the northwest. His
text was Esther iv, IA: "Who knoweth
whether thou art come to the kingdom
for such time as this"
Esther. the Beautiful, was the wife oil
Ahasuerus, the abominable. The time
had come for her to present a petition
to her infamous husband in behalf Of
the Israelitish nation, to which she had
once belonged. She was afraid to un'
dertake the work. lest she should loose
her own life: but her uncle. Mordecat,
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 as this" Esther
had her God appointed work;
you and have ours. 1t is my business
TO tell YOU what style of people we
ougfe to be in order that we can meet
the demand of the age in which God
has cast our lot. If you have come eX-
pectiug to hear distractions discussed,
or dry technicalities of religion glorl-
fed, you have come to the wrong place:
but if you really would like to know
what this age has right 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 philosophy
cal discussion about the chemical pro-
perties of human blood or the nature
of gunpowder; they want some one to
man the batteries and swab out the
guns. And now, when all the forces OF
light aud darkness. of heaven and hell,
have plunged into the fight, it is no
time to give ourselves to the definitions
and formulas and technicalities and
conventionalities of religion. What we
want is practical, earnest, concentrated,
enthusiastic and triumphant help.
What we need in the east you in Wis
consin need.
In the first place, in order to meet
the special demand of this age, you
need to be an Enthusiastically aggressive
Christian. OF half-and-half Christians
we do not want any more. The church
of Jesus Christ will be better without
10000 of them. They are the chief OBJ
stacle to the church's advancement. l
am speaking OF another kind OF Christ
ian. All the appliances for your be-
coming an earnest Christian are at your
hand, and there is a straight path for
you into the broad daylight of Gods
forgiveness. You may have come here
to-day the bondsmen of the world, and
vet before you 60 out of these doors you
NAV become the princes of the Lord
God Almighty. You know what eX-
citement there is in this country when
foreign prince comes to our shores.
WHY? Because it is expected some
day he will sit upon a throne. But
what is all that honor compared with
the honor to which God calls yOu-tC
be sons and daughters of the Lord Al
mighty: yea, to be queens and kings
unto God? They shall reign with him
forever and forever"
But, my friends, you need to be az
gressive Christians and not like those
persons who spend their lives in hug
ging their Christian graces and won
dering why they do not make any pro-
gress. How much robustness of health
would man have If he hid himself in a
dark closet? A great deal of piety of
the day is too exclusive. 1t hides itself.
1t needs more fresh air, more out door
exercise. 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
man have robust physical health if he
kept all the days and weeks and months
and wears of his life feeling his pulse
instead of going out into active, earnest,
everyday work:
was once amid the wonderful, be-
witching cactus growtlIs of North Car
DINA. | never was more bewildered
with the beauty of flowers, and yet
when would take up one of these cac-
ii and pull the leaves apart, the
beauty was all gone. You could hardly
tell that it 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 attract
i've left This style of determination
is a damage instead of an advantage to
their Christian character.
o, my friends. if you want to have a
stalwart Christian character, plant 1t
right out of doors in the great field OF
Christian usefulness, and though storms
NAV come upon it. and though the hot
sun of trial may try to consume 1t, ii
will thrive until it becomes a great tree,
in which the fowls of heaven may have
their habitatioa. l have no patience
with these flower pot Christians. They
keep themselves under shelter, and all
their Christian experience in small
exclusive circle, when they ought to
plant it in the great garden of the
Lord. so that the whole atmosphere
could be aromatic with their Christian
usefulness What we want in the
church of God is more Drawn of piety.
The century plant is wonderfully sug-
gestive and wonderfully beautiful, but
/ never look at il without thinking OF
its parsimony. 1t lets whole genera
tions 30 by before it puts forth one bios
som: so / have really more heartfelt ad-
miration when | see the dewy tears in
the blue eyes of the violets, for they
come every spring. My Christian
friends, time is going by so rapidly that
we can not afford to be idle.
A recent StatistiCian says that human
life now has an average of only thirty
two wears. From these thirty-two years
YOU must subtract all the tine you take
for sleep and the taking of food and re-
creation; that VIII leave you about six
teen wears. From those sixteen years
you must subtract all the time you are
necessarily engaged in the earning of a
livelihood; that will leave you about
eight years. From those eight years
YOU must take ali the days and weeks
and months-ail the length of time that
Is passed in childhood and sickness.
leaving you about one year in which TO
work for God. o. my soul, wake up.
How darest thou sleep in harvest time
and with so few hours in which 10
reap? So that | state it as simple fact
that all time that the vast majority ct
you will have for the exclusive service
of God will be less than one year.
But" says some man, 81 Literally