The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-02-08
DEMANDS OF The AGE
DIR TALMAGE SHOWS STYLE OF
CHRISTIAN CHARACTER

Required for the Times we Live-His Text
Taken From the Beautiful Story of
Esther-Each One Has His GOd.Appoint-
ed Work-Some Examples of Christian
Courage
DR.. Talwage here shows the style
of Christian character required for the
times in which we live and pleads for
more heroes. The text is Esther iv,
ii, Who knoweth whether thou art
come to the kingdom for such a time
as this?"
Esther the beautiful was the wife of
Ahasuerus the abominable. The time
had come for her to present a ~i''tition
t. her Infamous husband in Deuaf of
the Jewish nation, to which she had
once belonged. She was afraid to un-
dertake the work lest she should lose
her own life, but her cousin, 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 a time as this?"
Esther had her God appointed work.
You and 1 ave ours. 1t is my bus
mess to tell you what style OF men
and Women 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
te~chnicalities, but only with the prac-
liabilities. When. two armies have
rushed into battle, the officers Of either
army do want a philosophical dis
cussion about chemical properties OF
human blood or the nature OF gun
powder. They want some one to man
the batteries and take outsthe 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 t~echnicalities and con-
v~entionalities of religion. What we
want is practical, earnest, concentrate
ID, enthusiastic and triumphant help.
AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANS.
In the first place, in order to meet
the special demand of this age you
need to be an unmistakable, agrees
sive Christian. OF half and half Chris
tians We do not want any more. The
church of Jesus Christ will be better
without them. They are the chief OBJ
stacle to the church's advancement. L
am speaking Of another kind Of Chris
tian. All the appliances for your be-
coming an earnest Christian are at
your hand. and there is a straight path
for you into the broad daylight of Gods
forgiveness. You may this be
the bondmen of the world, and the
next moment you may be princes of
the Lord God Almighty. You remem-
her what excitement 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 ex-
pected that some day he would sit
upon the throne of England. But what
was all that honor compared with the
honor of which God calls you-to be
sons and daughters of the Lord AL
migthty-yea, to be queens and kings
unto God. They 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 wondering why they
do not make progress. How much
robustness of health would a man have
if he hid himself in a 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 eXami-
nation. They are feeling their pulses
10 see "hd L. fIllC oiOA
spiritual health. How long would a
mar have robust physical health if he
kept all the day feeling his pulse in
stead of going out into active, earnest
everyday work?
STRONG CHARACTERS NEEDED.
I was once amid the wonderful, be-
witching cactus growths of North
Carolina. I never was more beWlld-
cred with the beuty Of flowers, and'yet
when I 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 a great many Christian
people in this day just pulling apart
their Christian experiences to see what
there is in them, n there is nothing
left in them.
This style of self examination is a
damage instead of an advantage to
their Christian character. l remem-
her when I was a boy I used to have
O. small piece in the garden that L
called my own and l planted corn
There. and every few days 1 would
pull it up to see how fast it was grow
ing. Now, there are a great many
Christian people in this day whose
self examination amounts to the pull
ing up Of that which they only yester-
day or the day before planted. On,
my friends, If you want to have a
stalwart Christian character, plant 1t
right out of doors in the great field
of Christian usefulness, and
storms may come upon it, and though
the hot sun of trial may try to con-
sumo it, it will thrive until IL becomes
a great tree in which the Owls OF
heaven may have their habttation. l
have no patience with those foWerpot
Christians. They keep themselves un-
der shelter, and all their Christian ex-
perience in a 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
ds wonderfully beautiful, but 1 never
look at it without thinking of it's par