The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-06-06
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON 81
BISHOP c. c. MCA3S.
Subject /: The Preachers Commission

BROOKLYN. \. Y.-The New York Ave-
nue. NJ. E. Church was crowded to It's
utmost capacity Sunday morning when
Bishop McCabe preached the Confer,
ence sermon. Bishop McCabe preached
for nearly an hour. His sermon was Il
typical, old-style Methodist grafton,
and evidently pleased his hearers I'M
mensely, for his remarks were pune
tuated from start to finish with cries
of Amen" "Hallelujah!" Yes, yes"
and frequent laughter.
Bishop McCabe's subject was The
Preachers Commission" and he took
for his text the passage in Haggal:
and the desire Of all nations shall
come" He said:
Haggai was one of the prophets who
went to the captive Israelites to help
to rebuild the walls of the ruined tenn
pie and of their destroyed city. Zech-
ariah waS the other one. They were
both men of vast hope end mighty
faith, and God gave them vision to
read the future, and, because they saw
the future, they were optimistic men.
They did not believe that anything was
too good to be true. We need such
men. We have enough men who tell
us how much better the past was than
the present, and who discourage US,
and we need men who talk hopefully;
men who speak Of the future with de-
light, because they know that the
Lords ~prayer-that the will of God
shall be done on earth as 1t is in
Heaven-will some day be fulfilled.
These two prophets went to the Israel
ties, to Jerusalem, and struggled TO
rebuild the temple, and they were
greatly needed. Cyrus, the King OF
Persia, allowed them to 60. Cyrus was
the conqueror of Babylon, and these
Jews had fallen into his hands and
he treated them finely. Cyrus was a
man who believed in religious liberty.
1t is strange that $500 years ago there
was a man in a high on earth position
who believed that every man had a
right to worship God according to the
dictates Of his conscience. l know
Cyrus believed in religious liberty be-
cause he was not a Jew, and yet ne
allowed these Jews to 60 and rebuild
their temple and ruined city. l think
God loved Cyrus on this account. l
know He did, because He sent him a
message by Isaiah, Il will 60 before
thee and make thy way straight before
thee" Cyrus would have made a
great Car Of Russia; there would be
no more Of the Jews. And
what a great Sultan of Turkey he
would have made! There would be
no more massacres Of Armenians SIM
ply because they were Christians. /
trust in God that the time will come
when a great man like Cyrus will oc-
cupy every throne OF earth, and when
the idea that one maj can control the
conscience of another shall pass away
forever. I have myself seen $50 in
struments of torture which were used
by men and devils-for l think the
devil inspired men to use such lnstru-
ments of torture-to make all men
think alike. I looked with amazed in
terest at the Maid Of Nuremberg" q
terrible instrument called by that
name. 1t consists of great, wide doors,
in which 1 counted nine spikes. several
inches long. When the victim was
asked for the last time Twill you re-
pent?" if he said "No," these doors
were slammed, and the victim culver
ing on these spikes would suffer more
anguish than Jesus Christ did on the
cross. Men and women to-day would
rather die than give up this old Bible,
or surrender the right to worship God
according to the dictates of conscience.
We enjoy liberty to-day because such
men and women have lived in the
world. Let US prize the boon which
Lla- -,,-olnco1 with ol1ffprinp and
blood.
These Israelites had been in captivity
for seven years; 1880 of them went to
build the temple. Some were old and
some young. The young men shouted
for joy, for they did not remember
Solomon's Temple. but the old men did.
and they wept. They wept, first, be-
cause Of the contrast between the
amount Of money which David gave
Solomon to build the temple with and
the sum they had now. Secondly, be-
cause Of the contrast between the
number of men-Solomon had 10000,
and now there were but 42,360. Solo
mon had 5000 overseers to keep the
people at work-walking delegates, II
you please. I wish all walking dele
gates were for that purpose. l won
der if they ever had a strike among
them. I wonder if 10000 of these 3d.
900 said to the other eighty-four per
cent: UNLESS you join our society you
cannot work at ALL" 1t would not have
been allowed in Solomon's time. /
had q letter yesterday from a promi-
nent man in this city, asking me If the
church was the friend Of labor. |
want to state publicly the creed of the
NJ. e. Church. We are the friends OF
labor; we are the friends of all labor
Of every man and woman who has to
earn q living by the sweat Of the face
We are the friends, not only OF the
sixteen per cent, but Of the $4,000; OF
100 per cent. of labor, and anybody
who is not a friend Of 100 per cent. is
not a true friend of labor. That is the
creed Of the NJ. E. Church, and I state
it for them because they do not seem
disposed to state it for themselves.
And 1 believe I state the creed Of al!
Protestant churches in this country.
Then, again, I think the old men
wept tscause of the contrast in the
plans of the two temples.
THE Desire of All Nations" That is
one of the names Of Christ. He had
over 300 different appellations. Jacob
called Him SHILOH Job, "The Deliv'
erer;" David, 1.-THE Shepherd" Isaiah,
wonderful" !"Counselor," mighty
Cod" "Everlasting Father and
prince of Peace" John the Baptist
1.-THE Lamb of Cod" Paul, the fore
runner" at the Isle Of Patmos, Jesus
said: Il am Alpha and Omega, the
first and the last, the bright and morn
ing star" and John called Him "Kins
of Kings and Lord of Lords" But