A little child in Philadelphia opened the gates of the Temple by going
down through death. She had been unable to get into the overcrowded
Bible school one Sunday, and she began to save her pennies to help
secure some larger place. Little Hattie May Wyatt, living in a home near
the church, was chosen of God to convey his answer to the pleadings of
that church. How little could the afflicted parents realize what a great
work their sweet, prattling Hattie was to do in her short life. When the
sweet, pale face lay in the coffin amid the flowers and tears, her
pocketbook, containing fifty-seven cents which she had saved, was handed
to the minister. She was the messenger of Christ on earth before she
became one in heaven! That fifty-seven cents was a sacred treasure, and
at the next church meeting prayers went up to God, asking direction how
to invest the first gift toward the larger accommodations.
Providentially, the subject of the Scripture text was the narrative of
the little child with his five barley loaves and two little fishes (John
vi). What can Christ do with the gift of a little child? What can the
spirit of God do with the seed of an oak? One patriarch led in prayer
and earnestly asked the Lord to "take these few pennies and build for
us a temple." There were some in the assembly who, like the disciples at
Galilee, said, "What can this little supply do among so many?" But the
most part seemed inspired by the Holy Spirit with a faith that was
immovable. The Lord then put a thought into the mind of Mr. John Baer,
who owned a lot of land on the corner of Broad and Berks streets, to
suggest to a member of the church that, as the people needed larger
quarters, they ought to buy his lot and erect there a larger church. Mr.
Baer did not know then that the church had only fifty-seven cents and
that the church building they then occupied was still heavily mortgaged.
Another church member heard of Mr. Baer's remark and, with the assurance
of a faith unshakable, told Mr. Baer that if he would take fifty-seven
cents as the first payment he felt sure the church would purchase it.
Mr. Baer (a devout man) said that he would cheerfully accept the terms
and that he would also not only give back the fifty-seven cents, but
would contribute one thousand dollars toward the first payment on the
lot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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