The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1910-07-07
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. MALCOLM M'LEOO.
Theme; The Holy Ministry.

New York City.-In the Collegiate
Church of St Nicholas. Fifth avenue
and West Fifty-eighth street. the
minister. the Rev. Dr. Malcolm Nc.
,Leod, preached on THE Holy Minis.
try" The text was from Ephesians
,3:S: Unto me who am less than the
least Of all saints is this grace given
that 1 should preach among the Gen.
titles the unsearchabls riches OF
Christ Among other things he
said
There is no work equal in range OF
RICHNESS to the great work of the
iholy ministry. The New Testament
gives to il a peerless. imperishable
place 1T is the best calling. but
the worst trade in the world" wrote
Matthew Henry. Dr Cuyler once
said that no royal throne was loftier
than the pulpit of Jesus Christ
When Dr.. Carey was laboring in In
dia, his son Felix had accepted the
office 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
was a descent The man who is
preaching Christ is handling fabulous
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS riches, our
text says. He should be a man OF
native gifts and commanding equip
ment
Not a few there are who believe
that the gravest danger threatening
the cause of organized Christianity
to-day In America IS the decline of
the pulpit. Because when the pul7
pit declines, the channel of inspir-
alton Is clogged and the fcrtilizing
river dries up. God has intrusted
His heavenly manifestJto human lips
The history of the church is en-
veloped In blaze of pulpit glory.
Singers. we are told, are to be
pitied because posterity cannot hear
them Their art is fra gile and ephe-
neral Not so the preacher, He is
in alliance with the heights. The
truth he utters links him with the
eternal. II was Henry Ward Beecher.
a preacher, who dealt slavery some
of those death blows from which 1T
never rallied. It was Thomas ChalI
mers. preacher, who made his week.
ly discourses one of the controlling
forces of Scotland. 1t was Jonathan
Edwards, a preacher, who made his
pulpit a seat of the mighty. 1t was
John Wesley, preacher, who started
new era of political economy--a
man, by the way, who. according to,
Carlyle, has welded more influence
in the world than any of his three
great contemp poraries-William Pitt
the Duke of Wellington or Napoleon
Bonaparte Some religions rely upon
the sword; some upon the state;;
some upon ancestor worship; some
upon symbolism; but the Christian,
religion, from the beginning, has re-
lied upon tongues intiamed by burn
ing coal from off Gods altar.
Never at any time has prophecy
ceased Our old professor at Prince
ton used to say to us, Young men,
never belittle your calling" other
parts of worship have changed. The
sacrifice has changed the ritual has
changed; the litanies, the liturgies; :;
but the function Of the pulpit alI
through the circle of the centuries
has remained virtually the same.
The world outgrows It's priests, but
not its prophets. 1T has pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them which believe"
Who the true preacher is:
l. He is a man clal in the garb Of
humility.
q He is a man characterized by
the gift of grace.
3. He is a man with a message.
May we pause and see what that
implies?
!. A man, first Of all, clad in the
garb Of humility. There is nothing
more winsome about Paul than his
great human heart. If ever there
lived a man who had the right to
boast bit, 1t was he. But mark his
modesty: Unto me who am less than
the least" Me, a vessel of grace.
The wonder OF it dazed him. He
felt himself a pigmy before the
mountainous conception. Unto me
VINO am less than the least" Less
than the least" A comparative su-
'perlative! You say that is strange.
Is 1t possible? Is it good English? :?
No, il is not: 1t is not good English,
and II is impossible. There cannot
be anything less than the least. It is
the language of the heart, not the
head. This is how he felt. He
would like a place-if only such a
place could be-below the lowest.
One hardly needs 70 add in passing
that this is not the temper of the
age. IL is not Gods bounty to-day
that awakens our awe. People say,
why has this trouble come upon
me-" They do not say, why has
this blessing been conferred?" We
do not marvel at the mercies any
more. We do not stand in trembling
bewilderment before them. We
rather expect them. We almost muir,
muir II we do not receive them. To-
day IL Is our troubles that stir US with
the wine OF wonder Why has this
af1iction come? Why this calamity?
Paul had more than his share OF I'll
fortune. but II never disturbed him.
He never said WHY" TO his trials.
II was the manifold goodness of God
that evoked his surprise. No man
was ever more humble than the great
apostle, and yet again one is almost
tempted TO doubt II ever man was
more boastful His letters are full
of the personal pronoun. In this one
chapter alone he uses II and me"
twelve times. But II was a splendid
magnanimous boastfulness. His one
aim was to use himself and his ex-
perience and his art and his culture
as a pedestal for the massive figure
of the mighty Christ.
Add you are not surprised.
krow you are not. Has II not always
been so? Have not all the immortal
prophets of truth been men of self
abasement? In his eighty-eightt
year John Wesley said, II am still al
school" And at almost the same age
Gladstone remarked, II carry my
NAtta 81 aHae 4 L.