The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-08-26
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
WHO ARE SONS or cop7"
the Rev. Robert a. MAcfsdden Declares
Thai the Four Sources Of success Are
BLOOD. viii ot the Flesh, VIII of Man
and God

Blood, viii ot the Fiesh. VIII of Man
aud GOD.
RRooKLYN n. Y.-The Rev Robert A
MacFaddsn, OF Danvers, Mass. preached
Sunday IN the L.faye ette Avenue Presby-
terian Church. In the morning his subject
was Who Are the Some of Cod" lie
said:
Ny subject j. who Are the Sons of
Gods" and my text John !: l3: Which
were born not Of blood. or Of the will Of
the tesh OF of the will OF man but Of God !"
Here are four sources oi success set IN
Sontrast-blood, will Of the fesh. will of
han and God. At FIRST sight they are
equal; but a second sight reveals the war.
fare that ever goes ON between heredity
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 ls spiritual success, and
for this a secret power Ii 10 be furnished.
Power IN life means all the way through
TO the hnsl, victory over difficulties, and
difficulties cannot be ultimately overcome
except through this secret power
Every hfe lived and every work done has
somewhere its sufficient explanation. God
has never yet permitted an accident IN
His world Every deed has iLs pedigree.
go much producing energy IN the cause
means 80 much energy IN the effect. There
la no such thing as luck. Every life has
think chance plays the great part in life,
no :hey wait for their chance. They see
some one do easily the thing he under
takes, and they leap to the belief that there
Is some trick about IL. II they only had
the trick they could do II, also. Such
young men need to be informed. The man
who succeeds to-day IN business, scholar
ship OF politics succeeds because he knows
how, and be knows how because he has
learned how. He who does not know how
Is foreordained To failure. There is no
more important question the young man
can ask himself than how he can prepare
for lfe as not to be a castaway; mot lost
IN the next world, but shipwrecked In
this"
For the ratio between what a man is and
what he can do Is a constant ratio. Every
man viii have all the power he earas and
the power that he has will tell not because
people like II or like him, but because II is
power, and as such can keep itself erect
without being propped up by "A labor union
or held IN Its place because II ls somebody's
son.
1t follows, then, that the most import
ant thing a boy can do n TO get ready. IL
~ inspiration TO know that every ounce of
energy put u to work IN the early years IL
no much distinct guarantee of usefulness in
the adult years. And next to getting
ready, the father should tell has boy that
r..
boy must learn TO handle the boat OF his
own experience II he is not to be driven
upon the shadows or into the breakers. AS
he meets ana masters the difficulties that
beset hlm getting out of the harbor of the
high school OF the college, he Is equ pping
himself for the enemies that viii asssil
him on the high seas.
John, then, here points out the possible
ways of getting ready. He asserts that
permanent success does not depend upon
blood, will Of the flesh, on will OF man,
but solely upon God. Let me translate
this into the four Fs: Family, force, fur
nishings, faith.
John says first mans success docs not
depend upon his family. Dr. Lyman Alb
bott has developed this thought rational
ly: That no people are great or good sim
ply because OF their ancestry. The great
ness of America does not depend primari-
ly upon It's Pilgrim history" No one would
for a moment dispute this with him. But
] desire to emphasize this from the domes-
tic viewpoint. A mans spiritual success,
says John, does not depend upon his fam
ily. Then 1t makes no difference what the
family, the Bible lays no stress upon here.
dity. He who says this does not know the
Bible. The Bible lays great stress upon
heredity. When 1t writes the life of
great man 1t begins with his parents. The
foundations of one generation are In all
respects laid in the antecedent generation.
Ia an important sense the boy begins to
hive when his father begins TO live. The
child IL the parent continued down into r
new generation. This ~ science, and 10 ~
good science. But this ~ Scripture, and 1T
is good Scripture. Scripture emphasized
heredity long before science was born.
Hannah, the mother of Moses; Elizabeth,
Mary, Lois and Eunice are all magnificent
monuments. The Christian women who
would duplicate these glorious sons must
first duplicate their matchless mothers.
As believers IN the Bible We have an in
terest IN heredity IL IL the Gospel expec-
tation that the children grow up bearing
the physical features OF their parents, so
IN time they will come 10 embrace and ex-
emplify the parents faith. That's what
Timothy did, in whom the great APOSTLE
reJoiced so much. Heredity ~ mighty, but
let us not think IL Is almighty lieredity
givN us tendency, but IL gives us moth
ing else. The children Of good parents
take IN goodness more easily than the chill
dren of bad parents. The children of edu-
Gated parents acquire ideas more easily
than those OF ignorant parents. The faith
er, who for five aud twenty years has been
saying: Two times two are four, | guess
III make IL FIVE" gives TO his baby child
the tendency to make the same multipll-
cation, but the child must make the choice
before 1t becomes TO him a sin. How !
wish that that great sermon OF Henry
Ward Beeecher on "Heredity Influence"
could be printed as supplement to our
courses IN ethics That sermon makes
men tremble at what they may bequeath
TO their children. But after all, the grace
of God - stronger than the san OF man.
What a man is he chooses TO be Weak
neSs, tendency are handed down, but the
choice il made by the individual himself.
Your spiritual success, young man, does
not depend upon your ancestry, your her
sdity, your fathers habits, or your family.
John says no man Is safe simply because
Of his family.
But it does not depend upon your per.
sonal force, which ~ a free translate IN for
the New Testament word "fesh." II
stands for the animal mar, not necessarily
the bad animal man. 1t means a strong,
vigorous force in the man himself. Now,
John says this strong, vigorous force will
never give a man his spiritual supremacy.
Let me illustrate, rather than debate, the
proposition. Noah must have had a strong
and vigorous Will but 1t did not insure
him against drunkenness Samson had a
mighty will, but IL was no match for the
dark eyes OF Delilab. David, what a glor-
iou career in overcoming otstaclesl What
vigorl What power, But in the presence
OF ms guilty love he was weak and
wretehed. The Rev Arthur Dinnerdalc,
IN that greatest American rovel, The
Scarlet Letter" had mighty vi !, bit he
was lost IN the presCnce of Hester Pryn1c.
That great Irishman, greater than any
other, who ruled with a rod Of iron; who
took the misersbiy misunderstood prob
lem Of home rule and tied 10 into a cen
trail place IN the wOrld's thought, who
thrashed the London Times; w.lO wrought
miracles in the House OF Commons. and