New-York tribune., 1880-03-08
THE LIFE IN CHRIST.
HE
The Per Charles H. Pdrkhurs al The Madison square fTes
~ bytsrfdn Church

The Per Charles H. Pdrkhurs at The Aafison Square Pres
' bytsrfda Church
The second Sunday's services under the pas
torate of the Rev. Charles II. Parknrst. from Leno1
Mass AZ the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, we're
LARGELY attended Yesterday In the morning every seat
was occupied and several persons were Obliged 10 re-
main standing during the sermon MI Parkhurst an
nouuced that he had obtained at the Park Avenue
Hotel and would be pleased TO receive The members oi
the CONGREGATION on Friday afternoons and evenings
Tho text WAS rouud IN John !" In him was hfe and
rho l,te WAS the hight of men" The preacher IN part
said
The whole OF this Gospel OF Ct. John is sngulary
tender thing Ii may not satisfy all the critics nut II
satisfies souls that hungry and thirsty ana tired
which IS quite as much point There must be an ele-
nlent of the divine everything that Is nutiluVe
enough 10 invgorate the soul srong enough 10 uphold
II and so full OF g,nhencss and quiet 10 give II peace
Our text stands at the very threshold OF this Gospel
The narrative leaps lmpetuousy forward ana cOmpac's
tbe whole story Of the wOrd's Genesis into single
.,,cuI.tion all in It's nervous inpatienoe 10 get
at 10 state and expound the one fact that glo|s
and burns in the mind of the Holy Ghost that Christ Is
immensely able TO satisfy man's immense necessity
believe that great many men perish because while
they know that God can deliver them they neverhe
have IN them no sense that God is pasSionatey ana
afectlonately anxious TO deliver them. We are all
interested III the statement that In him was me- be-
cause it marks OF the facts in ChrsPs divinity
which exists with HIS humanity.
We cannot tell what the life IS that John mentions
here az beng IN Christ We cannot get at the pith Of
the thing by any veroal formula scientific or docirna
We would not disparage nteuect but II Is true Of each
hest tbing that exists within cOgnzapce that only
h thai feels il knOws Aud whatever conception NOTION
distant prcscntmcnt may have OF the lie thht WAS ID
LIN has been blossom unfoided from out OF our ex
peytcnce Throughout the New Testament SCRIPTURES
Cltis1 exhibits Himself being Himself that Hfc.
There IS no department OF nature that Is not drawn
npon to furnish Illustration OF this central fact Of
rhp
as the eternal SON Of God Is the one rcseii or rom
which w The currents Of life that set for the heal
Ing the strpDg henDg, the bcauylng ana thc soIlIb
one of the pleasant pictures o. times That
h.cotnDr more ana more the impulse ana the instinct
the exreme forefront; to drcdge from the river OF ne
the Accommodations tna have been slowly dcpO-tcd az
and ,ubtlety; 20 puffy the Sky OF the GOSPEL
from some at least Of the smoke tbdt has
e,nana,ed from the coal-pt' Of schoIasilcl.n IA.
W. are ceasng to regard doctrine
smpy in respect to It's substantive value. But pos
stics as Cnri-aus IN no VIE iuhled Dy any sue
cess N q may have ip conforming our behavior 10 thai
nj C,ri.t and using Him simply example. Chri,
tian act is not thing that can be constructed by any
attention models. Christianity Ike genius aud IKE
hidden impulse and Is matter Of growth aud not o.
orcnitecture BY Christian behavior We mean lh Sc
blossoms. whether IN the shape OF "oId or uceI III
which the HE of Christ In us issues inc act Whlcn
grows out Of such relation Ia no more Ike an act
moulded to initiate model than wax Hover Is Ike
wild anemone b. sOmed In the cTth, bathed III he dew'
and peucilled all over with sunshine.
Dear friends U is not 10y any scholarly Shaping OF our
own judgments upon this matter hat We are gong 10
ferrrd up1n Itls not because the drWoIop spccu
loos so vvdly upon the laws OF light that II nuds Itself
kudlng into little lqmdaiOm Oi glory ~ Ohy nhHs'
before The sun wiiinc and sensitive, tehdtrF subject
10 inc sunheams' dclictc impact And can we DO less
than the tic rdinirop and the petal qnety, e1-
pocantly uncover ourselves to the baptism tnat Is from
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