The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-10
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BIZ
BISHOP c. C.. McCABE.
~
& Subject: Gods Little Ones.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-Bishop C.. u. NC
Cabe preached in the Hanson Place
NJ. E. Church Sunday morning. The
Rev. Charles E. Locke, the pastor, con-
Quoted the service. Bishop McCabe
chose for his subject Gods Little
Ones" and preached from the text
Isaiay lx:22: And a little II shall
become a thousand and a small one n
strong nation. Il, the Lord, hath said
it. in his time" He said:
There are two thoughts that claim
our attention as we study this text.
One is the kind of workers God chooses
to do His greatest work in this world
the little ones; and, second, the possible
rapidity with which Gods work may
go forward in this world. God
chooses the lowly to do His great work.
The history of the world never yet
has been fairly written. We know
what the great have done, we know.
what kings and emperors and generals
and philosophers and poets and 1nven-
tors have done, but the Macauley has
not yet arisen to trace out in history
what Gods little ones have done, yet
the history of the world cannot be fair
~ written without telling the story
of their lives, because they have done
so much for the world, and what 9TH
ers have done would have been in
vain had it not been for what Gods
little ones have accomplished. He
chose the lowly. God hath respect
unto the lowly, but the proud He
knoweth afar off" He loves the lowfy
heart that trusts in Him. What an
impeachment to Christian work is pride!
We cannot build up a strong Chris
tan character without humility. Hu-
mility comes from the Latin word "hu-
mus" which means 1.-THE ground" -
the ground on which to build q strong
Christian character. Its corne stone
and foundation stone must be humility,
and if the cha: ..cter lack that grace,
it will not stand the test Of time and
temptation; but, with humility, the
Christian character may be built up
with q symmetry and uniYersalness
that will endure through life and eter-
nifty. What do you think of this pas
sage? II, the high and lofty n that
inhabiteth eternity, I will dwell in the
high and holy places with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spir-
ito God chooses'as His associates the
humble and the contrite.
Our Lord carried on His work after
the same plan. He chose the humble
and lowly workers and sent them out
to preach His gospel. And n day
they came back to Him surprised and
delighted with their experience, and
they said: Master, even the devils
are subject to us in Thy name," and
it is written that at that time Jesus
rejoiced in spirit and, said: Father, l
thank Thee because Thou hast hidden
these things from the wise and pru-
dent and hast revealed them unto
babes. Even so, Father, for SO it
seemeth good in Thy sight" faul un-
derStood this well when he wrote to
the Corinthians: mot may wise men
after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called; but God hath
chosen the foolish things Of the world
to confound the wise, and God hath
chosen the weak things Of the world
to confound the things which are
mighty, and the base things of the
world and things which are despised
hath God chosen; yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught
things that are, that nc fesh should
glory in His presence" How low He
gets it down! That has always been
Gods plan, even before the time when
the babe came to the manger in Beth
lehem. Jesus born in Bethlehem in
Judea-that little, lowly one was Gods
answer to the worlds cry for help
and light. 1t was a little added weak
ness to that We had already, poverty
added to the poverty We had already
it was an infants wall added to"what
Paul calls the "groan Of creation"
That was Gods way Of answering
man.
I will just call your attention to the
possible rapidly with which the king
dom of God can grow in this world, "a
little one becoming a thousand" That
is a tremendous rate Of gain; it seems
as if it could not be SO. We say
Isaiah was a poet; a mystical man and
exaggerated sometimes, but this is no
exageration. 1t has often been the
case. Yea, a small mi has become q
nation in the history Of the onward
march of the kingdom Of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. I believe that God wants
His kingdom to grow rapidly, and l
think that was the spirit Of Jesus
when He told His disciples the para
BILE OF the talents. On another occa-
sion He gave them another parable of
the rich man who before going away
gave each of his servant q pound and
on his return required his own with
usury. One man sai6: Lord, Thy
pound hath gained tenrpounds." That
was a big percentage of interest. And
another said, Lord, Thy pound%hath
gained five pounds" That was a good
percentage, aid Jesus said: THE
kingdom of heaven is like that" That
is the way invested lives may grow;
that is the way life, no matter how
humble, may grow; that is consecra-
ton. That is the teaching Of these two
parallels.
Now these are commercial figures.
Let us take them into the light and
try to understand them. In the para
bic the master speaks of three rates
of gain. When the man who had five
talents brought" five more he was
worth 100 per cent. to his master, and
he who had two and brought two
more was also worth 100 per cent. to