Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-09-01
a SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
WHO ARE SONS OF coD2"

AN ELOQUENT EM !
WHO ARE SONS OF coD2" !
Rev. Robert A. MacFadden Declares
That the Four Sources Of Success Are
% Blood, viii of the Flesh. VIII OF Man
! and God. /;
BROOKLYN, N. Y.-The Rev. Robert A.
MacFadden, of Danvers, Mass, preached
terrain Church. In the morning his subject
was "Who Are the Sons of God?" He
said:
Ny subject is "Who Are the Sons of
God?" and. my text John i: -: Which
were born not of blood, or Of the will Of
the flesh or of the will of man but of God"
Here are four sources of success set in.
contrast-blood, will of the flesh will of
man and God. Al first. sight they are
equal; but a secold sight reveals the war
fare that ever goes on between fheredity
and environment on the one hand and
faith IN God on the other. This contrast
implies, though does not state, that the
one true success is spiritual success, and
for this a secret power is to be furnished.
Power in life means all the way through
to the final, q victory over difficulties, and
difficulties cannot be ultimately overcome
Every life lived and every work done has
somewhere its sufficient explanation. God
has never yet permitted an accident in
His world Every deed has its pedigree.
So much producing energy in the cause
means 50 much energy IN the effect: There
its pedigree. Young, men are 50 apt to
think chance plays the great part in life,
so they wait for their chance. They see
some one do easily the thing he under
takes, and they leap to i belief that there
is some trick about It. IF they only had
the trick they could do It, also. Such
young men need to be Informed. The man
who succeeds to-day In business, scholar
!, ship or politics succeeds because he knows
how, and he knows how because he has
learned how. He who does not know how
is foreordained to failure. There is nc
can ask himself than how he can prepare
for life as not to be q castaway; mot lost
in the net world, but shipwrecked in
this"
For tie ratio between what a man is and
what he can do is a constant ratio. Every
man viii have all the power he earns, and
the power that he has will tell, not because
people like it or like him, but because it is
power, and as such can keep itself erect
without being propped up by q labor union
or held in it's place because 1t Il somebody's
son.
It follows, then, that the most import
ant thing a boy can do is to get ready. It
l IL III dVkOA ~ AAO" VA0V SVSAy 00ANS ~
energy put into work in the early years is
SO much distinct guarantee Of usefulness in
the adult years. And next to getting
ready, the father should tell his boy that
! he nust get ready for rough weather. The
boy must learn to handle the boat Of his
) own experience if he is not to be driven
upon the shadows or into the breakers. Al
, he meets and masters the difficulties that
beset him getting out Of the harbor of the
high school or the college, he is. equippinf
himself for the enemies that will assal
him on the high seas.
1 ways of getting ready. He asserts tina
s permanent success does not depend upo1
! blood, will Of the flesh, or will of man
\ but solely upon God. Let me translate
: : this into the four FL: Family, force, fur
: nishings, faith.
s depend upon his family. DR.. Lyman All
y bott has developed this thought rational
ly: That no people are great or good sim
ply because Of their ancestry. '"The great
q ness of America does not depend prlmar
ly upon its Pilgrim history" No one woul
= for a moment dispute this with him. Blu
I desire to emphasize this from the dome:
tic viewpoint. A mans spiritual success
says John, does not depend upon his fan
lily. Then it makes no difference what th
e family, the Bible Lays no stress upon her
n dity. He who says this does not know tn
= I1Ol0e AuC O4O1C 10y6 S4O0V 0tANSO 0RO
u heredity. When it writes the life Of
le great man it begins with his parents. IT
"a foundations of one generation are IN a
:. respects laid in the antecedent generation
i In an important sense the boy begins
J. live when his father begins to hive. IT
Is new generation. This is science, and it
r. good science. But this is Scripture, end
"a IS good Scripture. Scripture emphasize
. heredity long before science was Dor
Hannah, the mother Of Moses; Elixabet
m Mary, Lois and d., Eun1ee are all magn,he C;
=" would duplicate these glorious sons mu
es first duplicate their match1ess mother
d. AS believers in the Bible we have an j
at terest in heredity. It is the Gospel expe
cd tation that the children grow up bear11
"a the physical features of their parents,
ng emplify the parents faith. That's VIII
I'd Timothy did, in whom the great apos1
ny rejoiced SO much. Heredity is mighty, b
re- let us not think it is almighty. Heredi
he gives us tendency, but it gives us moi
I'M ing else. The children Of good pare1
co take in goodness more easily than the CT
-; dren of bad parents. The children Of ee
III Gated parents acquire ideas more cas-
than those of ignorant parents. The ia
er, who for FIVE and twenty years has be
saying: Two times two are four. I gu
I'll make it fve,'' gives to his baby CHI
NAO VOAONAAy w AAA VA~ 0SAAAS -
in cation, but the child must make the cho
:, before it becomes to him a sin. How
wish that that great sermon of Her
CHI Ward Beeecher on "Heredity Inhuent
ain could be printed as a supplement to
TIL courses in ethics. That sermon ma
men tremble at what they may beques
~ to their children. But after all, the gr
of God is stronger than the SIN OF m
es- What q man is he chooses to be. We
ness, tendency are handed down, but
choice is made by the individual hims
Your spiritual success, young man, d
not depend upon your ancestry, your /
nm edity, your fathers habits, or your fam
John says no man is safe. simply beca
on of his family.
on, But it does not depend upon your l
70 sonal force, which is a free translation
the New Testament word 'fesh."
)ro, stands for the animal man, not necessa
the the bad animal man. It means a sire
vigorous force in the man himself. n
10 John says this strong, vigorous force
tia never give a man his spiritual suprem;
ona Let me illustrate, rather than debate,
eiS. proposition. Noah must have had a str
ing and vigorous will, but it did not ins
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