Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-02-10
CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.
The Kind Of Christians That Are
Needed in the World.
The Haif-and-HaIf Sort the Greatest OBJ
sIneIes to Church AdsAncemens-
How Best 10 Qualify for
Christian Duties

Rev. Or. IhllnhRe, III tHc lotio"ihb
sermon points out the style OF Chris
tian character required for the times
in which we live. The text is:
Whe knoweth whether thou art come TO . ne
kingdom for such timo Us tails? Esther w.,
ID
Esther, the beautiful, was the wife
OF Ahasuetls, the aboininable. The
time had como for her to present PEE
tition to her Infamous husband in be-
half OF the Jewish nation, to which she
had once belonged. She was afraid to
undertake the work, lest she should
lose her own life; but her cousin. Nor
decai, who had brought her up, encour-
aged her with the suggestion that
probably she had been raised up OF
God for that peculiar mission. "Who
knuweth whether thou art come To the
Kingdom for such time as this?'
Esther had her God-npponted work.
You aud | have ours. 1t is my bnsi-
ness TO tell you what style Of men and
women you ought TO be In order that
you meet the demands OF the age In
which God has cast your lot. 80 this
discourse will not deal with the tech
nicalities, but only with the practical
bilities. When two armies nave
rushed into battle, tho officers OF
either army do not want n phllosoph-
icul discussion about 3he chemical
properties OF human blood or the ma
turo OF gunpowder; thew want some
one TO man the batteries and take out
the guns. And now, when all the
forces OF light and darkness, OF Heaven
and hell, have plunged into the hRht,
IL Is no time to give ourselves to the
definitions and formulas and techni-
entities aud conventionalitles OF reli-
Rion. Whit we want Is prhctical,
earnest, concent rated, enthusiastic ana
triumphant help.
In the first place, in order to meet
the special demand OF this age, you
need To be an unmistnlablc, aggressive
Christian. or half and half Christians
we do not want any more. The church
Of Jesus Christ will be better without
them. They arc the chief obstacle TO
the cburclis advancement speah-
ing OF another kind of Christian. All
the appliances for your becoming an
earnest Christian are at your hand,
and there is straight puth for you in
to TIE broad daylight OF Gods forgive
ness. You may this moment be tho
bondmen OF the world, and the next
moment you may DO princes OF the
Lord God Almighty. You remember
what excitement there was In this
country, years ngo, when the prince OF
Wales came herc--how the people
rushed out by hundreds OF thousands
TO see him. Whyp Because they ex-
pected that some day he would SIT up
OH the throne OF England, But what
Hus all that honor TO which God calls
you--to be sons and daughters Of the
Lord Almighty; yen, to be queens and
kings unto God. "They shall reign
with Him forever and forever"
hut You need TO be aggressive Chris
tians, and not lilte those persons who
spend their lives In hnggins their
Christian graces and wondering why
they do not make progress How much
robustness of health would IL man have
II he hid himself in u dark closely A
great deal Of tho ptety OF to-day ~ too
exclusive. IT hides itself. 1t needs
more fresh air, more outdoor exercise,
There nra more Christians who are CIV
ing their entire life In solf-eXhmina-
ton. They are feeling their pulses to
see what is the condition Of their spir-
itual health. How long would u man
have robust physical health II he
kept all the day feeling his pulse in
stead of going olL into active, earnest
everyday workp
was once amid the wonderful, be.
witching cactus growths of North Caro-
lima, never was more bewildered
with tho beauty OF flowers, nnd yet
when would take up one Of these eac-
fuses and pull tho leaves apart the
beauty was I'LL gone. You could hard
ly tell that IL had ever been flower.
And there are u great many Christian
people In this day just pulling apart
their Christian experiences 10 see what
there IN in them, and there Is nothing
left in them
This style of self.exnmination IL IL
damage instead Of IN advantage
to their Christian character re-
membe, whom | was boy l
used To have II small piece IN the garden
that ! called my own, and | planted
corn there, aud every few days 1
would pull it mp to see how fast IL was
growing. Now, there nro II great
many Christian people in this
day whose self,eNaminnlion merely
amounts 10 the pulling up Of that
which they only yesterday or the day
before planted, Oh, my friends, Ii you
want TO have n stnlwnrt Christian
character, plnnt IL right out of doors
In the great field Of Christian useful-
ness aud though storms may como
upon IL, and though the hot sun Of
trial may try 10 consume 1t, it will
thrive until 1t become, IL great tree,
In which the fowls of Heaven may
have their hnhitutton. | have no
patience with these nower-pot Chris
tians They keep themselves
under shelter, aud all their Chris
tim experience IL small, OK
elusive circle, when they ought
TO plant il in the great garden
of the Lord, so that the whole utmos.