The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-11-10
THERE ARE NO TRIPLES.
The Rev. |. w. Hathaway
breaches an Eloquent
Sermon in WeStmin-
Ster Church.

| The Rev. ". Hathaway preached an
interesting sermon In the Westminster
Presbyterion Church on Summit avenue
last evening on "Trifes." He took for
his text !. Corinthians, 26 to 20 verses.
He said in part
There are no trifies- Michael Angelo
said 'Trities make perfection and perfec-
tion is no trile.' That might close the
subject. but il there are no trifies must
show why there are none. The world
practically believes in and acts as IL there
were trifies.
"My purpose this evening is first to
convince you that there are no trifieE, and
second. that we should i'm prove our lives
by reason Of this conviction. Life is no
trifle. Youth believes life long; midlife
is startled to find 1t SO short. and old age
| knows that it is but as day Emerson
says time is the seat of illusion: nothing
SO ductile aud elastic. The mind stretches
day TO century and dwarfs an age to
an hour.
"Saadi found in mosque at Damascus
| an old Persian who had lived $50 years
and who was dying. and saying to him
self I said on coming into the world that
| would enjoy myself At the variegated
table Of life partook of few mouthfuls
and the fates cried enough
Thinking that life is long we put off
that which we propose some day to do un-
til We have lost the power TO do. We
walt until we are too old to do and die
leaving it undone.
Life is like a rocket that rushes into
space, bursts and falls into darkness.
speak this evening TO show that time is
no trifie. The value OF old age depends on
the manner in which youth is spent. Life
and art are accumuiative, therefore
youth is not the age for trifiing. Every
moment is big with future results, every
word is pregnant with future blessing or
sorrow. No act. however small. Is
trifle, as we shall learn by and Dy to our
sorrow.
THERE ARE NO TRIPLES.
There are no trifies for the reason that
there is a God. Trifles disappear as our
faith In God increases. The doctrine of
trifles is the doctrine of the devil. He
would have US believe that all we do is
but trihing; many man loses his life
and his soul because he believes
himself TO be a trifie. IL Satan can keep
us thinking that our words and acts are
trifies, he will succeed in destroying us
and using rs for the destruction of
others. These are no trifles. because
there are no accidents in the sense the
world speaks OF accidents It WIS the
chapter of what men cali accidents which
led to the discovery of America And
yet do you not suppose that God had
something TO say when America should
be discoveredf
1--WE read that Columbus was SO re-
duced by his efforts to arouse an interest
III his project, that he sat at the door of
monastery in Spain asking aims. Just
then the Queens confessor passed by and
marked the nobility of that face, and thus
was Columbus enabled to get an inter
view with the Queen.
WAS IL an aerfGauf rh ar (solrJ m bf1z W.
there? Was IL an accident that the con-
fessor passed BY just theni Was it an
accident that Columbus was Introduced
to the queenf Yes. all accidents if
we do not believe in God; il God was not
directing these events which resulted in
the discoveryof America. But, no, If
we do believe in God and that he rules
all things for the accomp plishment of his
purposes | repeat that our belief in
trifies viii decline as our belief in God
rises. All great events are the result OF
the very small and God cannot control
the greater unless he controls the lesser
which produces the greater.
ALL GREAT THINGS ARE FROM TRIPLES.
'.If God had 10 do with the time of the
discovery of America he had 10 do with
all the minor events which led up to it.
There is no great thing in all the world
which did not come from what might be
termed a trif1e. 1t is the law of God in
nature and ia man; it is the law OF God
in moral sin, in religion. in church ana
state, in eartn aud heaven.
Our Master said that the Kingdom
CT Heaven Is as a mustard seed. the !
smallest OF seeds, but which would pro-
duce tree which would fill the |
whole earth. Every acorn is preg
nant with an oak Of some kind. |
Every trifie is vital with life which shall |
become irresistible in its power by and |
by. Every trifie is spark which shall |
burn city or, controlled, may light a |
world A cowboy In the woods decided |
the battle of Waterloo.
Pascal says that If the nose OF Cleopatra |
had been a half inch shorter the after |
history OF the world would have been |
changed. A fash of lightning killed |
Martin Luther's companion and brought |
conviction TO him and the reformation OF |
the world.
''In all the spiritual and material uni |
verse all great things are the progeny of |
trifles, and all trifies are pregnant of IN |
finite and eternal results. There is |
nothing small in the eyes OF God What /
then is the application of this? 1t is not |
SO much warning TO us concerning the |
minor things OF life; not so much as |
quickening 10 guard our words and acts /
lest we shall be sowing to the wind for the l
harvesting OF the whirlwind. Not so /
much IN this negative direction, as to /
strengthen our faith in our own ability /
TO serve God and our fellow men. The |
trihing things that we may do may be 1
the fulcrum upon which the kingdom of /
this world shall be changed It is that /
we may recognize the truth herein PRO-
claimed that the trifiing things of our |
life may change the history of nations Of /
which we shall be unconscious until we |
stand in eternity
Think you that cowboy was conscious |
he had anything TO do with the issue 1
of Waterloof No more than had the /
geese of their agency in saving Rome. |
Neither shall we know the result of our /
agency in this world. What we call /
trihe shall ill or depopulate heaven. |
Let this truth dignity our every act nd /
thought. II so the trifle of this Sc rmen |
will be felt in eternity"
T0NIGHTS PARADE