The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-07-20
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. MALCOLM M'LEOD.
Theme: The Holy Ministry.

and West Fifty-eighth street, the
j minister. the Rev. DR.. Malcolm Nc
! Leod. preached en- 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 I should preach among the Gen
tiles the unsearchable riches Of
Christ" Among other things he
said:
There is no work equal in range or
richness to the great WORK OF the
holy ministry. The New Testament
gives to it a peerless, imperishable
place. "It 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
;cr fer ever the highest earthly court
was a descent. The man who is
preaching Christ is handling fabulous
treasure-unsearchable riches, our
text says. He should be a man OF
native gifts and commanding equip
mcnt.
Not q 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 pull
pit declines, the channel of inspir-
alton is clogged and the fertilizing
river dries up. God has ~intrusted
His heavenly manifested human lips.
The history of the church is en-
veloped in a blaze of pulpit glory.
There are Paul and Tertullian, and
Chrysostom and Basil, and Savon-
arola and Luther, and Latimer and
Calvin, and Knox and Wyclif, C.
Hooker and Jeremy Taylor and FAX
ter, and Tillotson and Fenelon, n
Mason and Massillou. and Robert
South and Robert Hall, and Ed Try
ing and Newman, and Stanley and
Claiming, and Bushnell and Spur
econ, and Brooks and Matthew Slmp-
son. What a list of immortals o
can cite! These are the mountains,
and there are millions of noble hills
besides. And what a gracious light
they caught and threw! And whom
the altar fires burned low, it was be-
cause the prophets were dead.
Singers, we are told, are to be
pitied because posterity cannot hear
them. Their art is fragile and ephe-
neral. Not so the preacher! lie is
in alliance with the heights. The
truth he uttcrs. links him with the
eternal. It 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 d4scourscs one Of the controlling
forces Of Scotland. 1t was Jonathan
Edw ards, a preacher, who Eade his
pulpit a seat of the mighty. 1t was
John Wesley, q preacher, who started
a new era of political cconomy--a
man, by the way, who, according to
Carlyle, has welded more influence
in the world thar any Of his three
great conteunoraries-William Pitt,
the Duke Of Wellington or Napoleon
Bonaparte. Se:oe religions rely upon
the sword; soiJe va the sta:e;
some upon ancestor SarShip; some
upon symbolism; bat tho Christian
religion, from The beginning. has To-.
lied upon tongues infamed " a bura-
ing coal from off Gods a!:ar.
Never at any time HIS prophecy
ceased. Our o;a professor ut Prince
ton used to say g Is, "Yovn5 men,
never belittle your calling Other
parts Of worship have charged. The
sacrifice has changed; thu ritual has
changed; the litani@s. the l%iturgies;
but the function o. tho pulpit all
through the circ.c of tue centuries
has remained virtually the same.
The world outgrows its priests, but
not lis prophets. ut has pleased
God by the fo%olisauess Of preaching
to save them which believe"
Who the true preacher is:
l. He is a man clad in the garb OF
humility.
2. He is a mai cLa1 actcrized by
the gift of grace.
8. He is a man with a message.
May we pause and see what shat
implies?
1. A man, first of all, clad in the
garb of humility. There is nothing
more winsome about Paul than his
great human heart. If over there
lived a man who had the right TO
boast a bit, it. was he. Bnt mark bis
modesty: Unto me who I'M 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
who am less than the least" Less
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 cannot
be anything less than the least. 1t 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 to add in passing
that this is not the temper OF the
age. It 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
mur if we do not receive them. To-
! day it is our troubles that stir us with
the wine of wonder. Why has this
affection come? Why this calamity?
Paul had more than his share OF IL!
fortune. hut it never disturbed him.