The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-04-13
STATE ST. CHURCH.
INSTALLATION OF REV. FRANK T.
BAYLEY.
4 Fun Statement of the Pastors Belief.

A Full Statement of the Pastors Belief
The services connected with the installation
OF Rev. Frank T. Bayley as pastor OF
the State Street Congregational church took
place yesterday. An unusually large coun.
Gil was present, with representatives
from all the Portland churches, as well al
from Cape Elizabeth Ligonia, Scarborough
| Biddeford, Woodford's, Cumberland Mills
Saccarappa, Gorham, Standish, Falmouth
Cumberland New Gloucester, Freeport, South
Freeport, Brunswick, Yarmouth, Bath and
Lewiston. Rev. George Leon Walker, ID. d.
Rev H. Y. Hincks, Rev. Dr. Caruthers and
Prof, John S. Sewall were also present.
The council organized at o'clock with Rev,
w. p. Fisher as moderator and Rev. s,
Winchester Adrianee IA scribe. After
prayer by the Moderator. and the calling Of
the roll, the minutes Of the church and parish
with reference TO the call of Rev. Mr.. Bayley,
and his answers, were read. Mr. Bayley was
then called forward and gave briefly an ac-
count OF his conversion, and his subsequent
religious experience. lie then read the fol-
lowing statement Of his belief.
REV. MIR. BAyLEy's BRLIEF.
l believe that the Infinite and Eternal God
has made Himself known to men; and this
revelation account the basis and the warrant
OF all sound theology
find this revelation of Himself first, in the
world which He has made; wherein may be
ala
ity; secondly, in the moral nature of man;
thirdly, more fully and gloriously, in those
more immediate and gracious manifestations OF
Himself which He has been pleased TO make
to men at sundry times and in divers manners;
fourthly, and most fully and gloriously, find
il in Jesus Christ. His dear Son, by whom He
made the worlds; who Is the brightness OF His
glory and the very image of His Substance,
and by whom He hath ia these lat days
spoken unto us.
believe in the Scriptures oil the Old and
New Testaments as giving Us the record and
substance OF these various revelations, together
with their counterpart. the historic picture OF
human sin and spiritual necessity, and as pro-
duosd under the guidance and direction OF the
Divine Spirit. As thus making known to us
the character of God His relations with men
and His dealings with them, these Scriptures
become TO us the World OF God, and arc to be
received and held as our Rule Of Faith and
Practice.
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and eliminating in Jesus Christ; who alone, Of
all the divine messengers could say & He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father
AS TO Aoses and the Prophets, 1t lie enough
for me that He aathenticates them as messen-
gers from God; my only concern is to under
stand, 10 obey and 20 teach whatever God
speaks to me by them.
And when find Him sending forth chosen
men as witnesses of Himself rad His truth
promising to be with them and 10 guide them
into the truth TO the very end that they might
be the teachers of His people, fearlessly and
thankfully accept them, also, as His messen
gers.
From these sources OF knowledge, accounting
myself ever an humble learner in Gods
School, have endeayored to frame my beliefs
concerning divine truth. And concerning the
essentials OF our Christian faith, have come
TO believe these things, namely:
believe that God Is revealed 10 us as the
infinite and eternal one; possessed OF power,
wisdom and glory wholly beyond the coneep-
tion of our highest thought holy, Just and
Governor OF the universe; rightfully supreme
over all things; the Father Of spirits, aud the
Giver Of every good and perfect gift.
believe that man Is the creature, tha
son OF God, whose highest glory lies ia the
service and the enjoyment Of God. Thai he is
sinner By reason Of disobedience and an I'M
hial spirit, that sin Is essentially unnatural
ness, departure from Gods plan aud mans
place; entailing, inevitably, moral unsound-
ness, guilt. corruption, misery and. unless ar
rested, eliminating 10 spiritual death. Sin
and woe are related as cause and effect, the
law which saith THE soul that slnneth II
shall die" expresses the nature Of things, the
moral constitution of the universe, as well IS
the viii of God from whom these proceed.
| believe that salvation from sin and Its en-
tailments is the need Of every soul Of man, for
the simple reason that all are sinners. And
believe that It Is possible through, and only
through, the love OF God for His pr0dig gal,
helpless children. find the essence Of the
Gospel, and the end Of Gods gracious lieyela-
ton, in that saying Of Christ, God so loved
the world that He gave His only begosten
Son, that whatsoever beiayeth on Him shoaid
not perish, bat have everlasting lie"
This salvation believe 10 consist essentially
IN the undoing Of the work Of SIM in the re-
covery of man to that estate 10 which God
made him, an estate Of holiness, Of likeness to
God and OF fellowship with Him. Being such
1t must embrace the forgiveness OF SIN, tha
putting away Of deflement the breaking Of
the bonds Of an eDslaved will, the renewal OF
the soul and the building up OF a new life.
find no other salvation taught IN tbs word
of God; can conceive 10 other es in the na-
tDre OF the case posi- bic; and re- ard the
teaching Of any other as deinsioo, snare 70
souls and a grisyous ofieEse against The Gos-
pei
This aviation believe 10 be me eiIt OF God
through Jesus Christ. tn this was manifest
ed the love Of God toward us, bscanse'that God
sent His only begotten Sen into the world that
we might live through Him" He spared not
His own Son. bat delivered Him up fer as all y
while we yet sinners Christ died for ne"
when we were enemies we were rsconciled
TO God BY the death Of His Son"
Thus has Christ become the "author OF eier-
nal salvation to all them that obey Him''-be-
ing liable 10 save unto the uttermost all them
that come unto God by Him, ''able to keep
them "from IialliDgfi and to present them
"iaultless before the throne Of HIS glory
And I find in the world that this salvation,
prepared ofGod Ia Christ Jesus, is freely offered
without money and without price, 70 whoms0-
ever wills being at once bestowed aud made
operative upon simple acceptance Of it; the
only conditions OF IT'S bestowmenf being rt-
pentance OF sin and faith ia our Lord Jesus
Christ. The returning prodigal Is at once re-
ceived into the family and the fellowship Of
God.
Yet It Is 10 be remembered and emphasized
that the salvation thus freely and Immediately
given is. like all living things. development;
a growth out OF germ, towards and into per-
lection. 1t is given OF tod TO man as a little
seed containing, indeed, all there Is in Gods
wondrous thought OF salvation; bat containing
it in embryo. The believer Is son OF God as
soon as he is born into His family; be Is not
hidden to wait till death and being son, he
is welcomed at once to ail tho privileges Of the
Fathers house and not keptin the veslhule on
probation. But he Is born babe, and not a
man, in Christ Jesus; and he is called 10 grow
working out, or developing. that salvation
which God has already wrought in him. poten-
tally; leaving the rudimenis OF Christian doc
trine TO 60 on unto perfection; feeding contn-
ually upon the milk and the meat Of his Faith
er's house, to grow up unto perfect man, unto
the measure Of the stature Of tho fitness OF
Christ.
And may add fathers, brethren, that the
earnest, spiris-endued preaching OF this truth
to the church seems TO me one Of the great
needs OF to-day; greater by far than the extern
sion OF theological territory, OF the shaping OF
dogmatic creeds. Is 1t not largely because this
vital teaching Of the word Ia ignored that tho
church is full OF spiritual dwarfs, puny and
contemplate in the eyes Of men, while the
voice Of new born babes ie seldom heard in the
Lords house2
Reading thus the Scriptures, must hold
Christ tosbe the only, a. vel as the sufficient
Saviour; the Way, the Truth and tho Life; by
whom " az all, man corneth TO the Father;
than Whose name there ID none other given
under heaven and among mon, whereby We
must be saved.
Believing thus, cannot doubt that the re-
lection of Christ by tho soul Is fatal, leaving
the soul without God, without hope and with
out excuse. have no appeal to suggest from
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