Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-27
WIFE OF AHASUERUS.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Talks Concerning
Esther the Beautiful
TO PEOPLE OF THE NORTHWEST.
An Address at Chautauqua Assembly at
Monona Lake Shore.
TINE FOR WORK WILL SOON BE PASSED
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE p1spArcs.


preached this morning at a Chautauqua As
sembly on the banks of Monona Lake neal
this city. 1t is great gathering of people
from all parts of the Northwest. His text
was Esther 4, xiv: ''Who knoweth whether
thou art come to the kingdom for such q
time as this
Esther the beautiful was the wife of Aha.
Euerus the abominable. The time had come
for her to present petition to her infamous
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, Mordecat,
who had brought her up, encouraged her
with the suggestion that probably she had
been raised up of God for that peculiar mis-
sion. "Who knoweth whether thou art
come to the kingdom for such 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 ought 10 be in order tnat We
may meet the demand OF the age in which
God has cast our lot. II you have come eS-
pecting to hear distractions discussed, or
dry technicalities OF religion glorified, You
have come to the wrong place; but II You
really would like to know what this age has
q right to expect OF you as Christian men
and women, then l am ready in the Lords
name to look you in the lace. When two
armies have rushed into battle the o1ncers
OF eltDeT army 90 not want a 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 darkness, of heaven
and hell have plunged into the fight, IL is no
time to give ourselves to the definitions and
formulas and technicalities and convention
alitles of religion. What we want Is prac-
tical, earnest, concentrated, enthusiastic
and triumphant help. What we need in the
East you in Wisconsin need.
MUST BE AN AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN.
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 she chief obstacle to the Church's ad-
vGncement. 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 forgive
ness. 1Ou may have come here to-day 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 coun-
try when 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 GOD: They
shall reign with him forever and forever"
But, my friend S, you need to be aggressive
Christians, and not like those persons who
spend their lives in hugging their Christian
Eraces and wondering why they do not
make any progress. How much robustness
OF health would a man have if he hid HIM
self in a dark closet? 4 great deal of piety
OF the day is too exclusive. 1t hides itself
1t needs more fresh air, more outdoor exer-
else. There are many Christians who are
giving their entire lite to self-eNamination
They are feeling their pulses to see what is
the condition OF their spiritual health. How
long would 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, earn
est, everyday work?
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 WIS all gone. You could hardly |
tell that 1t ever had been a 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 attractive left. This
style OF self-eNamination is a damage in
stead of an advantage to their Christian
character.
WHEN HE WAS A SMALL BOY.
remember when was boy 1 used to
have small piece in the garden that 1
4
and every few days l would pull it up-to see
how fast it was growing. Now, there are a
great many Christian people In this day
whose self-eSamination merely amounts to |
the pulling up of that which they only yes
tcrday or the day before planted. |
o my friends. if you want to have a stall |
wart Christian character plant it right out |
of doors in the great field of Christian use |
fulnesS, and though storms may come upon |
it, and though the hot sun of trial may try |
to consume 1t, il will thrive until it becomes |
q great tree. in which the fowls of heaven /
NAV have their habitation. l have no pa-
thence with these fiower-pot Christians. |
They keep themselves under shelter, and all |
IhciT Christian experience in n SMALL eX- |
elusive 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 |
III the Church of God is more Drawn of |
piety.
Tie century plant is wonderfully suggest |
i've and wonderfully beautiful, but never |
look at 1t without thinking of its parsimOny.
II lets whole generations go by before it |
puts forth one blossom; SO l have really |
more heartfelt admiration when see the |
dewy tears in the hearts of the violets, for |
they come every spring. Ny Christian
friends time is going by SO rapidly that we |
cannot afford TO be idle. 4 recent statis-
tician says that human life now has an aver |
age of only % years. From these 30 years
and the taking of food and recreation: that |
Will leave you about Is years. From those |
10 years you must subtract all the time that |
YOU Ire necessarily engaged in the ,earninp /
OF q livelihood: that will leave you about |
eight years. From those eight years you |
must take all the days and weeks and |
the length OF ii ne that is passed /
In childhood and sickness, leaving YOU about |
one year in which to work for God. Oh. my |
SOUL wake up! How darest thou sleep in |
harvest time and with so few hours in which |
TO reap? So that state it as a simple fact |
that all the time that the vast majority OF
you VIII have for the exclusive service Of /
God Will be less than one year.
MUST AVOID ICoNoCLAsM.
Again, if you want to be qualified to meet
the duties which this age demands of you,
you must on the one hand avoid reckless
and on the other hand not stick
too much to things because they are old.
The air is full of new plans, new projects.
new theories Of government new theolo-
gies, and am amazed to see how so many
Christians want only novelty in order to
recommend thing to their confidence; and
EO they vaCillate and swing to and fro and
New plans-secular, eth cal philosophical
religious. cisatlantic, transatlantic. All, NV /
brother, do not adopt n thing merely be
cause it is new. Try it by the realities of u
Day.
But, on the other hand, do not adhere to
anything merely because it is old. There
Is not "a single enterprise OF the church or
the world but has sometimes been
scOfTed at. There was a time when men
1erided even Bible societies; and when q
few young men met near a haystack i'm
Massachusetts and organized the first
society ever organized in this
there went laughter and ridicuie
all around the Christian Church. They said
The undertaking was preposterous. And SC |
also the work OF Jesus Christ was assaiied |
People cried out: who ever heard of such
theories or ethics and government? Vino |
ever noticed such style of preaching as
Jesus has?" Ezekiel had talked OF mysteri-
Jus wings and wheels. Here came man