Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1910-06-30
THE PULPIT.
= SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON an
DR.. MALCOLM MLEoD.
Theme: The Holy Ministry.

New York City.-In the Collegiate
Church Of st. Nicholas, Fifth ayenne
and West Fifty-eighth street The
minister, the Rev. DR.. Malcolm Me-
Leod. preached on THE Holy Minis
try" The text was from Ephesians.
1913: Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints is this a given.
That I should preach among the Cen
tiles the unsearchable riches az
Christ" Among other things he
There is no work equal IN range or
richness to the great work Of the
holy ministry. The New Testament
gives to 1t a peerless. imperishable
place. 1T Is the best calling, but
the worst trade in the world" wrote
Matthew Henry. DR.. Cuyler once
said that 10 royal throne was loftier
than the pulpit Of Jesus Christ.
When DR.. Carey was laboring in IN
dia. his son Felix had accepted the
of1ce Of Ambassador to the King Of
Burmah, Carey said one day to a
friend: Felix had lapsed into an
Ambassador" Meaning that to for
sake the lofty vocation of the minis
ter for even the highest earthly court
V~S - 0V0NOACs 4A0 Adu WHO is
preaching Christ is handling fabulous
treasure-unsearchable riches, our
text says. He should be q man Of
native gifts and commanding euuin-
ment.
Not a few there are who believe
that the gravest danger threatening
the of organized Christianity
to-day in America is the decline Of
q pulpit. Because when the pull
pit declines, the channel of inspir-
alton is clogged and the fertilizing
river dries up. God has intrusted
His heavenly manifesto to human lips.
The history of the church is en-
veloped in a blaze Of pulpit glory.
Singers, we are told, are to be
pitied because posterity cannot hear
them. Their art is fragile and ephe-
neral. Not SO the preacher! He is
in alliance with the heights. The
truth he utters links him with the
eternal. 1t was Henry Ward Beecher,
a preacher, who dealt slavery some
, of those death blows from which 1t
never rallied. 1t was Thomas Chal-
mers, a preacher, who made his week
ly discourses mi of the controlling
forces of Scotland. It was Jonathan
Edwards, a preacher, who made his
pulpit a seat of the mighty. It was
John Wesley, a preacher, who started
a new era of political economy
man, by the way, who, according to
Carlyle, has welded more influence
in the world than any of his three
great OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Pitt,
the Duke of Wellington, or Napoleon
Bonaparte: Some religions rely upon
the sword; some upon the state;
/ Cnna rnnr onnocfar uynrchins Cn"c
upon symbolism; but the Christian
religion, from the beginning, has re.
lied upon tongues infamed by a burn.
ing coal from off Gods altar.
! Never at any time has prophecy
/, ceased. Our old professor at Prince.
never be1Itle your calling. Ufhei
parts of worship have changed. The
sacrifice has changed; the ritual ha.
changed; the litanies, the liturgies
but the function Of the pulpit al
through the circle of the centuries
has remained virtually the same
The world outgrows it's priests, bu1
I not it's prophets. "It has pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them which believe"
Who the true preacher is:
l.. He is a man clad in the garb O.
humility.
2. He is a man characterized b.
the gift of grace.
3. He is a man with a message.
May we pause and see what tina
implies?
1. A man, first of all, clad in tn
garb of humility. There is nothin,
more winsome about Paul than hi
great human heart. If ever Their
lived a man who had the right t.
boast a bit, it vas he. But mark hi
modesty: unto me who am less thai
the least" Me, a vessel of grace
The wonder of it dazed him. H,
felt himself a pigmy before tn
mountainous conception. Unto m
who am less than the least" Lies
than the least" A. comparative su
perlative! You say that is strange
Is it possible? Is it good English
No, it is not; it is not good English
and it is impossible. There canno
be anything less than the least. It
the language Of the heart, not tb
head. This is how he felt. H
would like a place-if only such
place could be-below the lowest.
One hardly needs to add In passin
that this is not the temper of tn
age. IL is not COOS bounty LO-Qa
that awakens our awe. People say
"Why has this trouble come upo
me?" They do not say, why ha
this blessing been conferred?" w
do not marvel at the mercies an
more. We do not stand in tremblin
bewilderment before them. w
rather expect them. We almost mu.
muir If we do not receive them. TX
day it is our troubles that stir US wit
the wine of wonder. Why has tn
/, affection come? Why this calamity
Paul had more than his share Of /
fortune, but it never disturbed hin
He never said WHY" to his trial
1t was the manifold goodness Of &C
that evoked his surprise. No ma
was ever more humble than the gre;
apostle, and yet again n is almoi
tempted to doubt If ever man W;
more boastful. His letters are fu
Of the personal pronoun. In this OF
chapter alone he s. II and "me
twelve times. But it was a splendi
magnanimous boastfulress. His OF
aim was to use himself and his e
perience and his art and his cultu,