The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-06-25
MONDAY MORNING, JUNE rs.
BY TELEGRAPH.
MAINE.
MAINE.
Especial to Press
BATES COLLEGE.
College Commandments.


Presideut Cheney's BaccaIaurafe.
LEWISTON, June 24.-The commencement
exercises Of Bates College began this af-
ternoon with the baccalauraete sermon of Pres,
jdent Cheney. Main street Free Baptist church
was crowded. The sermon was delivered under
very painful circumstances to President Cheney.
He was expecting to prolong his vacation in
Europe until the coming fall, but was suddenly
summoned. home by the sickness and death of
his only son. His leading scripture quotations
were from Isaiah lii. 2, and Rev. i, 10, 16, and
In very heartfelt and impressive manner he
went on to present Christ as he appears to two
classes of men-the "unt CLEVER and the ''be-
liever," using as his theme "The beauty of
the unbeautIful, or the unbelievers Christ, and
the Christ of the believer" In the prophetic
description Of Christ he is presented to us in
His humiliation; in the other, that of the Rev
elations Christ Is presented to us In His glori-
fled state. What was Christ to the unbelieving
jew? He came to the Jew "hs own" but He
was not received by This own He was to them
the son OF carpenter. His mother was called
Mary, and his brethren James and Joses and
the fellow the Skinner" the enemy to
Casar-and yet what cared the jew for Caesar?
He was the gluttonous man." the "wine-bib-
ber," "the friend of publcans and sinners. 3"
In His death he was no more to the Jew than
he-no more did l say?-less than he hanging
on his right hand, and less than he hanging on
his left hand. He was only the thief, the MALE
factor, the criminal of criminals. To the
coarser school of unbelievers Christ is ''the
bastard" While to the refined school of un-
believers, we call them unbeevers, men of
excellent character do not believe in Christ in
anything more than human sense. We take
them at their word and call them what they
call themselves. They believe in Him as the
greatest person of the ages, the proudest
achievement of the human race He taught
the absolute religious love to God and man. In
their blindness they do not see that He, as
man of sorrows, carries these sorrows, stricken
of God and afflicted, for them. They despise
and reject such friend as this. Such is the
Christ of him who does not accept Him in the
tullness of his mission.
What now is the Christ.of the believer, who
accepts Him in all that is claimed for Him, and
whose pure and consistent life is the evidence
of true faith in Him? He accepts Christ as
the rock on which he builds. To such a one
Christ is the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, as we'll as the Prince of Peace Jesus
was bound on his honor as man Il speak rev.
erently) to say nothing of his claim to divinity
II he were not God and to undecelve the Jews.
self to be called God? Many were ready to re-
ceive John the Baptist as. Christ, but John said
to them at once, II an not the Christ" The
men of Lystra were ready to do divine honors
to Paul and Barnabas on the occasion of the
healing of the cripple. They undeceived the
people, and so would Jesus have done, as an
honest man, if He had not been God And
what He was two thousand years ago He is
today. And the Christ of the believer is the
friend of sinners The believers Christ found
him sinner. The Jews then uttered a truth
when they said Christ was friend of publ
cans and sinners, as liars do sometimes tell the
truth. They said He was a gluttonous man
they lied. They said He was was wine-bi b.
ber-they lied. They said He was the friend of
publicans and sinners-they uttered most
glorious truth.
The believers Christ sustains and comforts
him in the day of trial and affection. "The
best OF all is Jesus is with me-" said Wesley
when dying.
President Cheney then Address the gradual
ing class in well chosen and eloquent words
concerning his personal comfort in this, the be-
levers Christ, exhorting them not to be
ashamed to confess Him; also thanking them
for their faithfulness and loyalty to the col
lege.
In the evening the sermon before the gradu-
ating class at the Bates Theological School was
delivered at the same place by Rev. J. L. Phil
lips, graduate of Bowdoin, class of 1860.
Rev. MI. Phillips was born in India and has
been an active mis- sionary in India since his
graduation. Mr.. Phillips chose as his text these
words, HE that watereth shall be watered
also himself" prov XII, 49, His subject
was the foreign missionary enterprise, mani
old blessing to the home. churches