The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-08-15
TALMAGE In WISCONSIN.
CHRISTIANS SHOULD SEIZE THEIR
PRESENT OPPORTUNITY.

6very Place May Now BE ~ Pulpit, Every
Workshop, Gravel Pit, Farm or Railroad
Train-Every Christian May Now DO
Something for Christ.
MADISON, July 26.-Rev Dr. TaImage-
preached this morning at 4 Chautauqua
assembly on the banks of Monona lake,
near this city. 1t is Il great gathering of
people from all parts of the northwest.
His text was Esther iV, Il, "Who knoweth
whether thou art come to the kingdom for
such u time as this?'
Esther the Beautiful was the wife of
Ahasuerus the Abominable. The time ha6
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 IL 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
expecting to hear distractions discussed
or dry technicalities of religion glorified,
you have come to the wrong place; but il
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 wans
philosophical discussion about the chemi-
cal properties of human blood or the ma
ture of gunpowder. They want some one
to man the batteries and swab out tho
guns. And now, when all the forces o:
light and 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 conver.
tionalities of religion. What we want IL
practical, earnest, concentrated, enthusias-
tic and triumphant help. What we need
in the east you in Wisconsin need.
In the first place, il 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 ten thousand of
them. They are the chief obstacle to the
church's advancement. l am speaking of
another kind of Christian. All the appli-
ances for your becoming an earnest Chris
tian 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
yC1 OciOEc YOU 10 OuC VI bucSc QOOrS you
may become the princes of the Lord God
Almighty. You know what excitement
there is in this country when n 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-to be 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 huggiDg their
Christian graces and wondering why they
do not make any progress How much ro-
business of health would a man have if he
hid himself in a dark closetP A great deal
of piety of the day is too exclusive. 1t
hides itself 1t 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 man
have robust physical health if 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?
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 it had ever been a flower
And there are great many Christian peo,
pie i'll this day just pulling apart theil
Christian experiences to see what there is
in them, and there is nothing attractive
left. This style of self examination is Q
damage instead of an advantage to theil
Christian character. l remember when
was boy used to have a small piece in
the garden that | called my own, and
planted corn there, and every few days
would pull it up to see how fast it wa,
growing. Now, there are a great many
Christian people in this day whose self ex
animation merely amounts to the pulling
up of that which they only yesterday Oh
the day before planted.
Oh, my friends! if you want to have stal
wart Christian character, plant it right ou
of doors in the great field of Christian use
fulness, and though storms may COM
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 howerpo
Christians. They keep themselves unde
shelter, and all their Christian experienc
in q small, exclusive circle, when the
ought to plant it in the great garden of tn
Lord, SO that the whole atmosphere coul
be aromatic with their Christian useful
ness. What we want in the church of Co
is more Drawn of piety.
The century plant is wonderfully sug
gestive and wonderfully beautiful, but
never look ut it without thinking of it
parsimony. 1t let's whole generations G
by before it puts forth one blossom; SO
have really more heartfelt admiratio
when see the dewy tears in tbe blue eye
of the violets, for they come evsry spring
My Christian friends, time is going by s
rapidly that we cannot afford to be idi'
A recent statistician says THAT human lii