The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1895-10-22
THE ADVOCATE.
SERMON BY REV DR.. c. P. LUCE
Before the Synod Of Kentucky, MT
Sterling, Oct 9th. 1895.

&ASRe text ~ III tii6 uOoh Va Oohoo'S,
hy Sth chapter at the first verse.
And God remembered NOAH
Speaking before the venerable Syn
ii If Kentucky and addressing con-
kregation now celebrating its hun
reth anniversary, need not finger
br any critical review or rehearsal of
1.-THE Scripture incident TO the delugc.
! Indeed its peculiar and interesting fea-
.fhges have made it familiar Bible
stok to all. In the fragment selected
as the theme for our cancellations most
instruMive and inviting truth is re-
walled. That truth is Gods memory
ofman
I. Human memory Is the store-house
of knowledge, private aud personal
an urn that treasures the scenes, Incl
dents and varied experiences of each
life. Sight and sound, taste and touch,
these record their impressions with ali
the exactness OF modern photography.
Memory furnishes the basis for our
most sacred relations. IL enables us
to appeal TO what has been; to enrich
the Vresent with the blessings of the
past
\ There is nothing more delight
hi than being remembered To feel
Hat we have place in the permanent
affections of those upon whom happi-
! nssssso largely depends. 1t pleasing
even to be respected, to be considered
worthy of page reserved in records
of lite being formed by ourf fellow men,
but to be forgotten is to be friendless,
Neglected and alone.
With older people, few themes
aye more delightful, than those
whose material is drawn not from
fIhe the present, but from former
Experiences OF fife. Ii is indeed charm
ing to live over again in thought
aud feeling, the delightful scenes and
incidents, that in the course of nature
have long since vanished from sight.
To Summon before us by this mysteri-
Gus alchemy. the forms we have
cherished and the "faces we loved aud
lost erewhile." These are the pleas
ures OF memory
Again, there is safety and as
surance only in the conscious
mess of being remembered by those
who control oar interests in life. To
feel they bear US in mind; that they
consider our welfare and are making
- IN effort to deal justly with us, this is
: e secret of confidence in men. 1t is
he foundation of business, social and
domestic life, the first requisite to pa.
thence and diligence, wherever man is
associated with his fellow man.
II. But all this is illustrative. 4 is
not SO much the memory of man that is
suggested by the text, il is the divine
memory actively interested in a lone
ly storm tossed group, drifting upon a
seemingly shoreless ea.-"And Gcd
remembered Noah"
NJ There are many aspects in which
Rge can view the Divine charac-
Ter from the points of human OBJ
lservatiun, but the fiual and prac-
teal conclusion Of the earnest,
thoughtful observer, is that all men
are creatures of divine providence. w
, are in vast world. It's origin must
Nave been from divine power. We did
kot make il, 1t could not have created
self, il was here when we came, it
will remain long after we have left it.
We also live, but we did not create
ourselves. Place and person, the
world and they that dwell therein
bear witness that in "Him we live and
move and have our being, "rhat
all things are naked and open before
Him. with which we have to do I"
The smoking affairs of antiquity
the magnificent religious temples,
erected by Heather, Hebrew and Chris
t an Tie sacrifices of the untaught
and the learned, The hymns and
prayers Of the ages. What are
these? WHAT are these but sugges.
tons of universal desire to be remem-
bged in mercy, a personal power
= feer than men?
ut there arises serious diff
Hty. The sense of dependence is
~teneed by the consciousness OF
weakness and littleness. Man judged
n the light OF his complicated organ
Ism, his splendid intellectual furnish
- ~ Il ..a<..,l a,,l a,,i,..t,.l ,onsa,I,sl,