The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-02-02
G. FORTH AND PREACH.
More Heroes are Needed in the
Army of the Lord.
The Demand of the Times is For More
Determined Men-AggressiOn Should
be the Watchword of Those Who
Would Convert the World.

pea Ior more earneStneSS and zeal,
on the part of the laity as well as the
ministry, in the upbuilding of Gods
Kingdom. His text was Esther 4. IA;
"Who knoweth whether thou are 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 petition
to her infamous husband in behalf OF
the Jewish nation, and 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, en-
couraged 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 has her God-appointed work.
You and have ours. 1t is my business
to tell you what style of men and wo-
men you ought to be in order that you
meet the demand of the age in which
God has cast your lot. So this discourse
will not deal with the technicalities,
but only with the practicabilities.
When two armies have rushed into bat
tie, 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
take out the guns. And now, when all
the forces of 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 of religion. What we
want is practical, earnest, concen-
trated, enthusiastic and triumphant
help.
In the first place, in order to meet
the special demand of this age, you need
to be an unmistakable, aggressive
Christian. Of half-and-half Christians
we do not want any more. The church
of Jesus Christ will be better without
them. They are the chief obstacle to
the church's advancement. l am speak
ing of another kind of Christian. All
the appliances for your becoming an
earnest Christian are at your hand, and
there is straight path for you into the
broad daylight of Gods forgiveness.
You may this moment be the bondmen
of the world and the next moment YOU
may be the princes of the Lord God
Almighty. You remember what excite
ment there was in this country years
ago, when the Prince of Wales came
here-how the people rushed out by
hundreds of thousands to see him.
Why? Because they expected that
some day he would sit upon the throne
of England. But what was 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.
''rhey shall reign with Him forever
and forever"
But you need to be aggressive Chris
tians, and not like those persons who
spend their lives in hugging their
Christian graces and wondering why
they do not make progress. How much
robustness of health would man have
if he hid himself in dark closet? A
great deal of the piety of to-day is too
exclusive. 1t hides itself. 1t needs
more fresh air, more outdoor exercise.
There are many Christians who are
giving their entire life to self-examin-
Stion. They are feeling their pulses to
FEE what is the condition of their spir-
itual health. How long would man
have robust physical health if he kept
all the day feeling his pulse instead of
going out into active, earnest every
day work?
was once amid the wonderful, be-
witching cactus growths of North Caro-
lima. | never was more bewildered
with the beauty of flowers, and vet
when l 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 flower. And
there are a great many Christian peo-
pie in this day just pulling apart their
Christian experience to see what there
is in them, and there is nothing left in
them.
This style of self-examination is a
damage instead of an advantage to
their Christian character. l remember
when | was a boy | used to have a
small piece in the garden that called
my own, and planted corn there, and
every few days l would pull it up to
see how fast twas growing. Now, there
are great many Christian people in
this day whose self-examination merely
to the pulling up of that
which they only yesterday or the day
before planted. o my friends, if you
want to have stalwart Christian
character, plant it right out of doors
in the great field of Christian useful
ness, and though storms may come
upon it, and though the hot sun of
trial may try to consume it, it will
thrive until it becomes great
tree, in which the fowls of Heav-
en- may have their habitation. l |
have no patience with these fower-pot
Christians, They keep themselves un-
der shelter, and all their Christian ex-
perience 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 usefulness. What
we want in the church of God is more
strength of piety. The century plant
IS wonderfully suggestive and wonder
fully beautiful, but never look at it
without thinking of it's parsimony. 1t
ets whole generations go by before it
puts forth one blossom; so / have re-
lilly more admiration when see the
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