New-York tribune., 1880-01-12
NEED OF POSITIVENESS.
q,< ger. lr PlrkhVrst At ne CltTct Of me C0re0
-" W tPreS6F,eridp)

c,vopant of which the Rev DIR. Marvin r. Vincent is
p,sor II il understood that the Madison Square Pres
bvterian Church. of which DR.. Adams was formerly
nasor thinking of ealing Mr. Parkhurst to fiji their
pulpit-latoly # vacant by TIE Rev. d. Tucker The
,udc.t Of thc discourse POstiy the ieXt
vas Gqlatians v, 1G. "TEis | say then, walk IN the
Spirit ana We shall not f1lnl the lust Of the fcsn."
There are three moral facts readily % be derived from
tins yer.e said the preacher. The first IS the fact o
mans natural neshincss. TIE idea OF the flesh is
favorc one in Pau's mind, ana therefore plays large
mart in the letters writes and in the sermons he
breaches Paul was like other preachers ~ THIS respect
that he had few lavOute idcas-hObbies, II only you
viii associate with the word nothing dotoSaOIyi ana
these pet notions OF his continually working TO the
furlacc ana PuShing themselves into notice; an' ms
cplstes are TO considerable cXtcnt merely Aacid-
scopio rearraa gCmeuts under which these few
notions vlrioasy group themselves. Important
among these IS his doctrine Of mans natural
feshliness. And by flesh he means consider
ably moro tnan body, physically considered. Fesh
with him is than mans physical anatomy, an AZ
gregate of bone, muscle and blood more In IN mans
physiology, organism OF bOne muscle and blood. 1t
Is ali OF thus, with something added The ncsh Win
Pal was the body III its connection WIN ihc uncich'
moral nature occupying the body; Ash with Paul
III ans thc natural mailman r. tie condition In "nltu
he comes i0to The world, aud in tie character ihto
which he continues more aud more 10 harden AZ or com
ing into the worlG up to the time when oy conversion
the natural tendencies IN him toward evil has been i'll
ter.ered witn cOuneraccd, OycrQowcgcd Icy new ana
Dvlncly implanted Of tendencies toward what is
good.
This prepares the way for alusion 10 the second
moral fact OF our text The first fact Is mans natural
n,shlucss the second u mans acquired s2ruainess
"Wak in the spirit a ye shall not f1tl the lust
OF the flesh "-1eshliness, spirituaness-ihc FIRST
natural IN the Of coming along IN the ordinary
and uniform process Of events; the second, super
natural IN the sense an interference with tns Ordinary
and uniform process of events. just as It Is natural
lies in the nature Of things, that your garden should De
pverspread with weeds. Remove from the sur
face Of your garden this Autumn everything IN the shape
OF vcgetaton and by next midsummer II Wlbe clothed
with yestmeut OF a hundred distinct genera and IA
thousand distinct species. II IS natural les IN The
nature Of things, that q should be So Aud th nature
OF things will continue IN force t 10 is supernaturaly
interfered wth until you into your garden and rev
oluonze it, and adopt measures and set IN operation
forces looking to the repression o; nature and the cx
termination of tine weeds. Whether II Is man in gar
den or Goo in soul, every energy is supernatural
energy able Interfere with tue onging OF ma
ture OF interrupt natures continuity. II IS the nature OF
your garden 10 be wecdy, and power above
nature yourself your garden, has got 10 enter into
your garden operate there before can be thing
but wcedy. So Z. Is the nature OF man 10 be osY, TO
be- fun OF evil app6ttes crminaly INDUCED, and power
above nature has got into before he can
be anything but hcshly And the only power above ma
turc that we know anything OF from Scripture or expe
rcnce as fitted do this work, is what the apostle
here calls the Spirit Walk IN the Spirit and ye Shall
not fulfil the Inst OF the flesh"
And this in turn paves the way for statement OF
tlId moral fact o, our text Tho first iactis mans
natural fesbiness tho second his acquired spiritual
ness wrought by the Holy Ghost, and the third and
the point upon which We wish T. dwell more
at length is that do not erase 10 be foshy by ANY
direct attonn uu1csbly but only by success
In bacoming spiritual Ye shall not fulfil the lust Of
tue flesh II re ck tn the SPIRIT" that VIC get out from
under the dominion OF the evil not By holding ourselves
in o negative attitude toward the evil, but by holding
ourselves positive attitude toward that which -
the opposite Of the evil Now this idea, 80 churac
teristic Of the apostle and everywhere operative
wherever gress is being made oItaer By the indyid
nal or by society at large, Is idea we propose to
s,snd little time tn Illustrating and app!yins-thc
idea, namely, that the most direct means OF de-
sroyiug tendency Is by strengthening the tendency
that is its opposite; the idea that the readiest
method OF crowding out what is bad is TO crowd
In what s good to labor for positive results and to
widen ont and build up positive results into splendid
monopoly A very simple and homely illustration OF
tbs doctrine would be tho following: hlue plot OF
ground two rods square was rut in my hands to
clear Of weeds. The prevailing weed was tenacious
orc and prolnc as weeds are. There not an inch
OF that plot to which did not devote special ana inter-
osted attention Nor my labor superficial II took
notice not only OF the surface but OF the subsoi Ana
when I hung up my hoe and rake the upper six
inches Of the entire plot innocent o. all vegeta
ton az sand lot This piece OF ground lay quite near
the house had been good deal OF offence TO the eye
and naturally congratulated myself therefore, on the
thoroughness OF the work and the brown earth lay
there the remainder of the Fall a barren memorial OF
10y fidelity Ia the opening Spring that was the nISt
SPOT IN the ighborhOOd that gave indications OF vital
iy and throughout the Spring there were no other four
rods on any side OF the that showed such troI
cal pTcson Of yerduTe and the verdure was composer
almost exclusively Of those same old weeds tor their
iineal descendants). Nov notice what had dOne MY
a. ff.F Nv QTftlt.
ton had been to put something there
that should he an ornament. but TO Od
rid OF something that was nuisance
was working desIructyelJ. no. consirncnVey' hhI
laboring negative rather than Tor positive results
The season, who understood Such 'ttrIs
better than cleared the surface OF the ground pAy
icosened up the soil, enriched IT, threw IN Gl"ss
seed and let matters work And now that plot IA as rce
opauains and rich ia velvety turf ~ any pio' hceu
10 be- He worked cOnstructiyey, labored Tor pos'Nc
results, addressed all his energies 10 the "orh "i
establishing and encouraging there a growth OF grass
knowing that il he succeeded In crOwdhs grass n'
he would succeed better than ne WIN ni3 SicN'e
Or hoe could do IN the work OF crowdng weeds out
This say illustrates familiarly the general tuth OF our
text, that get out from under the dOmhoh Vi '"0
EVIL by holding ourselves in negative destructive
sfItAde toward the evil but by holding onrSeNe" III
positive, constructive attitude toward that WHO" - ~
opposite OF the evil.
You have seen leaf sometimes In the Winter chnging
brown and lone TO the bleak branch Of an OAK ana he
plays With H. and the pulls nj It and bruises
IT, and the winds scOd a IT, but dees their concerted
assault and fingers INTO the Spring. memorial OF the
summer that is gone linking the years into knd
OF ftwn.hip, till the mellow months begin again 10
rccur Gun and the storm and The wind leave jung
The scared leaf aud begin to wake e life that had
been slubborng In the tree and they mostcn the ro0ts
and bre and the sap, and the buds begin
10 swell, and tEat Que particular bud begins 10
swell, and then tho tired, lone Ieaf huttcrs ana