Connecticut western news., 1891-07-30
A SERMON IN WISCONSIN
THE AWFUL NECESSITY FOR CHRIS TAN EARNESTNESS JUST NOW.

Esther in Saving Her People-The
 Great Need of Aggressive Faith.
 MADISON, July 26 pr Talmage preached this morning at a Chautau qua assembly on the banks of Monona lake, near this city. It is great gath ering of people from all parts of the northwest. His text was Esther iv, If, Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom;for such time as this?''
 Esther the Beautiful was the wife of 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 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 time as this?'
 Esther had her God-appointed work :; you and have ours It 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. If you have come ex pecting to hear distractions discussed or dry technicalities of religion glori- fled, you have come to the wrong place; but if you really would like to know what this age has a right to ex- pect of you as Christian men and wom- en, 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 philosophical discussion about the chemical properties 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 and dark ness, of heaven and hell, have plunged into the fight, it is no time to give our selves 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 Wisconsin need
 TOO MANY HALF AND HALF CHRISTIANS In the first place, ill order to meet the special demand of this age, you need to be an unmistakably aggressive Chris tian. Of half and half Christians We do not want any more. The church of Toc,,o Tbr;ct will I,a hattor ,y;fbo,,t tn,, thousand of them. They are the chief obstacle to the church's advancement. am speaking of another kind of Chris tian. All the appliances for your be- coming an earnest Christian are at your hand, and there is straight path for you into the broad daylight of Gods forgiveness. You may have come here today the bondsmen of the world, and yet before you go out of these doors you may become the princes of the Lord God Almighty. You know what excitement there is in this country when 8 foreign prince comes to our shores. Why? Because it is expected that some day he will sit upon a throne. But what is all that honor compared with the honor to which God calls you ito be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty; yea, to be queens and kings unto God2 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 wonder ing why they do not make any prog ress. 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. It hides itself. It needs more fresh air, more outdoor exercise There are many Christians who are giving their entire life to self examination. They are feel ing their pulses to see what is the con- dition of their spiritual health. How long would man have robust physical health if he kept all the days and weeks and months and years of his life feel ing his pulse instead of going out into active, earnest, everyday work? l was once amid the wonderful, be- witching cactus growths of North Caro- lima. 1 never was more bewildered with the beauty of flowers, and yet when 1 would take up one of these cactuses and pull the leaves apart the beauty was all gone. You could hardly tell that it ever had been flower And there are great many Christian people 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 self examination is a damage instead of an advantage to their Christian character. 1 remenl- Der when l was boy used to have a small piece in the garden that I called my own, and planted corn there, and every few days would pull it up to see how fast it was growing. Now there are a great many Christian people in this day whose self examination merely amounts to the pulling up of that which they only yesterday or the day before planted.
 THERE Is NO GOOD WITHOUT ACTION.
 Oh, my friends, if you want to have a stalwart Christian character, plant it right out of doors in the great field of Christian usefulness, and though storms may come upon it and though the hot sun of trial may consume it. it will thrive until it becomes a great tree, in which the fowls of heaven may have their habitation l have no patience with these tnwerpot Christians. They keep thenlse yes 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 useful