New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-15
SERMONS WORTH READING
PENALTY OF NEGLECTED KNOWLEDGE.
THE MADISON AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
LISTENS TO THE MODERATOR OF THE

A crowded church building last evening showed
tho hearty manner In which the people OF the madison
Avrnno Presbyterian Church have wcicomeu 'nc'r
new pastor. the Rev. Dr. Charles L. Thompson, tho
pre- sent Moderator of the General Assembly, III ING
morning DR.. Thompson oflciated at The communion
service and more than dozen persons united with
the church. all but three by profession OF ln ih'S
evening Dr. Thompson IS TO be instalied pas'o VI VI"
church. to which he was recently caiicd HUN Nas@'
CITY, Tho Moderator of the Presbye'y' 'ho NV
A. W. HaIsey will preside and put the CONSTITUTIONAL
oucstons the Rev. Dr. John Hall VIII preach The
sermon. the Rev. Dr. Howard Gre Shy VIII ucnver mo
charge TO the pastor. the Rev Dr. Johh ""rrai
tbc charge 10 the people and the Rev Dr. H. IL. booth
will make the installation prayer
Dr. Thompsons subject last night was Inc
Penalty Of Neglected KNOWLEDGE the text ue'hg III
Hebrews IL, /. Therefore we ought 10 give inc
more earnest heed to the things which we have heard
lest at any timo we should let them Slip flo said
in part:
Literary people arc very much exercised Just now con-
earning tho cultivation OF the memory This has long
lcen the weak point in mental exercise we speha
good deal OF time learning how to THINK ana very niue
in taking care the products OF our thought 80 IL
comes TO pass that pour good deal OF water into
slave What II the In appliances for gathering ana
scs,em for arranging knowledge II we never can
keep TT II any ono says with Sir William Hamilton ha'
the end Of philosophy Is not facts or truths pus 'h' On
orcise Of mental powers 1t still remains true that man
what he never knew but in what he has now 30 ITO
,o.sor and the others who hold patents on memory
machines are driving profitable business ana ai'cr az
7 think the original patent for remembering IL !" '
words Of my text Therefore we ought 70 give inc oi
earnest heed to the things which we nave heaiu''
IMPORTANCE OF ATTENTION
xv,,,srer else NAV help memory, there IS one ante
csdont condition yr.-atentOn. 1t Is the nfst WORD IN
~. u,,orv manual II Is the first word and tho middle
,rora md tho last word In mental requirement NO
theory Of knowledge Will avail IL that Do
earnest heed TO the things which we have hear~ Ao
know very we'll how earnest endeavor 10 remember
anything gathers on the instant al "'"'"' ''''' "
achieve the result.
You are brought into parlor. and dozen people are
introduced TO you. II an accidental or an nunei'
OCCASION and you go out OF the room iencioeii"s nO
name The names noated into car and out oil another
But again a company is introduced to you IL Is an oc
,,or On which YOU realize the importance OF rcncn-
herring those names. Perhaps you are politician anu
YOU know why you should not ioisoS s'u
or YOU have business engagement win Vell anu 'O
must not forget them What IS the rcsutI You go out
=, thu, ,oo,o remembering every Your mind sum-
onoa rs forces Your faculties paused long enough
to fix the impression You held the camera open anu
every feature is stamped upon the pa'e'
Il IS to this simple and universal law that the writer
TO the Hebrews appeals when he charges inc pcope -
give earnest heed the things which they ha'e n" -
WI, "a tho uso OF having things to you II
YOU do not seize them; they are to pass by you Inc '
idle and unreearded wind And then ne gives INC 'os
reason for his admoton Lest at any time We Shou "
them slip" reads the Old version buo an so''s ~
nrcach from the new version which gives more loreio"
d,o " est hapy we drift away from them NY ulemo
is the penalty Of neglected knowledge inc ou N0'
saws The penalty is that the knowledge VIII ~ w.
from us" reading, however gives TINS n'0 %
| ling idea The danger and penalty arc th'' We VIII
dr,fe away from the knowledge. or to read IL sun moro
exactly that We will drift sdcwise past the kno"ea8e'
| where there is safe and pleasant anchorage Inc e
II "a the figure of boat floating by the side OF soc
where there Il, safe and pleasant anchorage The danger
s Of floating past shore and the anchorage OUT 10
| shorclcss and unrcsttu and unrestng sea.
WHY PREACHING is NECESSARY.
sometimes wonder why have so much preaching
7, takes very tte truth soul And yet there
are rany people tonight who havo heard religious
teaching and preaching all their lives ana they are nov
saved yet Why's Because they never took hold Oh
truth They never stopped They never cast their
anchor into any cleft 1t and let It hold them They
have right but they never have given earnest hee
That Is there has been no action Oh their minus to"au
tho truth. They drifting past the plan OF salvation
Il comends itself to they sit in their pews they
admire that august personality the brightness OF the
Fathers glory and express image OF His person that
range OF truth knit and compacted In the hres OF DIVINE
counsel They look upon It perhaps with cfitcisn- per
haps with admiration but meantime they drt on ana
are in danger of the SLOW sure and final penalty OF
| lected knowledge.
What now, is that penaltyi We are accustomed 10
hear peope cav Religion to what once II was
IT, has not the sharpness OF outline which once 1t had
looks aim through distance. once # Impressed me
| tremendously. At my mothers knee IL was 10 mo The
one awful fact OF e 1t oyerhung every day and cha
lenged my attention day But 1t does not so I'm
press mo now. came at the name oil Jesus
Now can look the panorama of the CrucihXion with
dry eyes Once God stood across my path as Twins
realty Now appears rather as faint shadow On the
far-away horizon OF my thoughts
What now is the significance OF these and similar con
fcssons we often hear OF fading ceaness and falling
power of religion They say religion has lost its clear
| ness and its imprcssvencss. II is not what II
was In the language OF the Old Version, 1t has
spped away" But real trouble is precisely the op
posltc Religion is the same, but we have changed
IL has not slipped away from 1t is that rock ribbed
continent that never moves The heavens shall perish
but It remains. As vcsture shall they be folded up
But It's years fail 1t never slips. Where God put II
in midst Of the sea OF human life, there - stands
But drift past II.
| EFFECT OF NEGLECTING RELIGIOUS TRUTH.
Dr. Thompson then spoke Of three in whIcl
men are affected by negcctng religious knowledge
First by spiritual blindness, which resulted from In
distinct perception Of truth second, by decreasing
moral impressibility, where men are apt TO mIsiak
the real nature Of the difficulty, aud say: 'Rcigio
used to appeal 10 differently from what 1t doe
| now. It once affected me 1t does no longer
| lie continued:
Another penalty OF failing to give earnest heed to
religious knowledge Is the loss Of command over ourselves
You no longer command faith to lay hold upor
It, You cannot command heart 20 fall In love with
| IT, great change has come. But the change Is no
In the truth but in your relation to It, We talk abou
a mans day Of grace gcng by. 1t never goes by. II
| has no sunset But may go by. The movement fl
not Gospel but in The Gospel IL as clear o.
ever II II does not so TO you 1t is because
your vision for spiritual things is DINING The Gospe
IL Just Ms impressive It II It does not seen
80 to you It is because you hardening 1t is Just Of
near you. II less real It Is because you arr
losing that Command Of yourself necessary to lay ho'
| upon 1t al bring 1t into your ilfe
WHAT TIE TWO VERSIONS TEACH
said Of these thoughts to friend who replied
i be oil