Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-08-06
YALMAGE IN WISCONSIN.
CHRISTIANS SHOULD SEIZE THEIR
PRESENT OPPORTUNITY.

Every Place May Now BE Pulpit, Every
Workshop. Gravel PIT. Farm OF Railroad
TraIn-Every Christian May Now De
Something for Christ
MADISON, July 26.-Rev. DR.. Talmage
preached this morning at Chautauqua
assembly on the banks Of Monona lake,
near this city. II is great gathering Of
people from all parts of the northwest
His text was Esther iv. IA, "Who knoweth
whether thou art come 70 the kingdom for
such a time as thisf"
Esther the Beautiful was the wife Of
Ahasuerus the Abominable. The time bad
come for her to present a petition to her In
famous husband In behalf Of the Israelitish
nation, to which she had once belonged.
She was afraid to undertake 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 thisi" 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 II you have come
expecting to hear distractions discussed
or dry technicalities Of religion glorifed,
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 Chris
tian men and women, then l am ready in
the Lords name to look you In the face.
When two armies have rushed into bat
tie the officers Of either army do not want
ynhiloaophfouI ahouk the ahani-
cal properties of human blood or the ma
ture Of gunpowder. 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, 1t is no time
to give ourselves to the definitions and
formulas and technicalities and conven-
tionalities of religion. What we want is
practical, earnest, concentrated, enthusias-
tic and triumphant help. What we need
In the east you In Wisconsin need.
In the first place, In order to meet the
special demand Of this age. you need to be
an unmistakably aggressive Christian. 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 advancement. am speaking of
another kind of Christian. All the appli-
ances for your becoming an earnest Chris
0An are at your hand, and there Is straight
path for you into the broad daylight Of
Gods forgiveness Yuu may have come
/, here today III -. nf the world, and
? yet before these doors you
may sol the Lord God
AS hat excitement
thS ry when a foreign
pri =. WhyS Because
NJ :, >,,..e day he will sit
upoi l.ti' what IL all that honor
eompu y TIE honor to which God
calls you--tO ,e sons and daughters Of the
Lord Almighty; yea, to be queens and
kings unto Godl "They shall reign with
him forever and forever"
A HEALTHY OPEN AIR FAITH.
But, my friends, you need not be aggres-
sive Christians, and not like those persons
who spend their lives in hugging their
Christian graces and wondering why they
do not make any progress. How much ro-
business of health would man have If he
hid himself in dark closeti 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 Chris
tians 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 II he kept all
the days and weeks and months and years
of his life feeling his pulse instead of going
out into active. earnest, everyday work.
Twas 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 ur
one Of these cactuses and pull the leaves
apart, the beauty was all gone. You coul6
hardly tell that it had ever been a flower
And there are great many Christian peo
pie in this day just pulling apart theil
Christian experiences to see what there h
in them, and there Is nothing attractive
left This style of self examination is {
damage instead of an advantage to theil
Christian character. l remember when
was a boy used to have small piece II
the garden that called my own, and
planted corn there, and every few days
would pull it up to see how fast 1t wa!
growing Now, there are great man!
Christian people in this day whose self ex
animation merely amounts to the pulling
up Of that which they only yesterday o
the day before planted.
On, my IrlenuSt II you WdHb 10 nave d Stdl
~ wart Christian character, plant 1t right ou
of doors in the great field of Christian use
fulness, and though storms may dom
upon it, and though the hot sun of tria
may try to consume it, it will thrive unit
| it becomes a great tree. In which the fowl
| of heaven may have their habitation.
! have no patience with these fowerpo
( Christians. They keep themselves unde
shelter, and all their Christian experienc
/ in a small, exclusive circle, when the
| ought to plant it in the great garden of th
4 Lord, so that the whole atmosphere coul
! be aromatic with their Christian usefu
ness. What we want in the church Of Go
! il more Drawn of piety.
| The century plant is wonderfully sue
gestive and wonderfully beautiful, but
never look at it without thinking of il
| parsimony 1t lets whole generations G
by before it puts forth one blossom; so
have really more heartfelt admiratio
when see the dewy tears in the blue ey'
of the violets, for they come every sprinl
MY Christian friends, time is going by |
/ rapidly that we cannot afford to be idl
! A recent statistician says that human Ii
now has an average Of only thirty-tv
years. From these thirty-two years yo
must subtract all the time you take fc
sleep and the taking Of food and recre
ton; that will leave you about sixtee
years. From those sixteen years you mu