The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-09-22
Rev. G. 5. Mills, Pastor Of church and

|
| Chairman Committee of Arrangements.
encountered in Jesus the calm co nscious
ness Of kingdom that was not of this
world, and power that was neither de-
pendent upon the symbols of royalty or
afrighted by them. To Plate question,
| Art thou king thenp" he could make
answer without bitterness or anger, know :
ing that captive as he was, and dispised
and helpless as he seemed to be, he was
yet sthe true king while Caesar, decked
with all the insignia of power, was but the
poor shadow and semblance of king.
In his answer to PLATE, Jesus reasserts
the ancient Jewish idea of kinghood,
and indeed, Its original and true idea
The king was the visible representative
OF God. 1t was his mission to bear wit
ness before his people to the truth which
was the most precious part of the nation
al heritage, the truth, namely, that Je-
hovah was in close and constant relations
with his people; that he guided them in
| their legislation, their warfare, and their
worship, and that he crowned them with
the double blessing of protection and of
promise. He was, in theory, at least,
mainly reyerenced for this, that he was
the living witness to Jehovah slsoyereign.
ty, and the depository of his will.
| Jesus reaffirmed this original idea OF
the kingly office. Thou sayest that I
am king. To this end was born, and
might bear witness unto the truth. I"
His kingdom was unlike the kingdoms of
the world, nevertheless it was kingdom,
and in 1t he was king by virtue of the fact
that he came as the divinely appointed
witness of the TRUTH Not truth in gen
eral, but particular truth not testified
to in the ordinary way, but by the mys-
teriious nature OF his person, by the mi
raculous events of hisKlife. and by the ori-
| ginality and power of his teaching.
The Jewish king had been the witness
before the people to the truth that God
was in the nation. That truth, SO long
as 1t was clearly. recognized by the Jews,
made them peculiar and favored peo-
pie. But it was truth which was only
temporary: q prophecy and figure of a
| grander truth to be revealed in the full
ness of time. Jesus was born as king
to bear witness unto this greater truth.
The human kings in Judea bore witness
to the Important truth of God in the ma
tion; the divine king born in Judea, but
sent to the whole world, was to bear wit
ness to the vastly more important truth
of God in man. He was witness to the
mysterious fact Of God manifest in the
flesh, dwelling in men, holding fellow
ship with them, purifying their thoughts
quickening their spiritual life, assuring
them of Immortality, and giving them
the light of the knowledge of his glory
as it appeared in the Fface of the divine
witness ''This is the central truth of
the world. This is the truth without
which all other truths fall back into
their isolation. This Is the key to all the
mysteries of life within andilife without /"
By bearing witness to this truth Christ
was king in kingdom that was not po :
litical but spiritual By his witness God
was brought. near to man in the renewal
of spiritual life, and man was raised
nearer to God in the outflow of spiritual
I.1, 4srr, +J,o
was accomplished for which Jesus prayed,
"That they all may be one; as thou Father
art in me, and I in thee, that they may
be one in us.
Upon the recognition of the truth to
which Jesus came to bear witness the
Christian church is built. While he was
still upon earth some men said that he
was John the Baptist; some that he was
Elias; and others that he was jeremiah,
CT one of the prophets. But Peter spoke
for the church in all ages when he made
the confession of his faith, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. :"
And Jesus answered, Upon this rock
will build my church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it,
1t is we'll for the church to remind it.
self continually of the secret of its power.
So long as it stands on the rock upon
which it was built 1t Is secure. 1t is al
ways subject to the attacks.of its enemies,
and through the.confusion of the conflict
we may seem to hear the voice of the king
asking again, "Who do men say that 1
the Son of man, amp" And from one
and another of the watchmen upon the
walls comes the reply, 'Some say thou
art myth; and some that thou art u
teacher of righteousness; and others that
thou art one of the prophets. -
But who say ye that [ amp And as
that question is addressed to every one
of u.s. SO must the answer come, not only
from the watchman upon the wall, but
from every loyal and loving subject OF
the kingdom, the answer fill of convic-
tion, nay throbbing with personal devo.
ton and the passionate assurance OF
faith, "Thou art the Christ, the Son OF
the living God"
The afternoon session began with 8
) devotional meeting led by Rev H. G.
Mills of Vinal Haven, who, after read.
ing Paul's prayer for the Ephesian
} church, called for prayer for the leaders
of the church. Rev. G. D. Crane read u
|, letter from Deacon Duren, and specia
!. prayer was offered in behalf of this
brother. who has well nigh lost mis- sight.
Secretary Cousins read the statistical
report.
W. A. Robinson's s report for the Sun
day school work of the denomination. was
read. He advocated closer relation be-
tween the church and the Sunday school.
The superintendent of the school ought
to be an officer in the church and should
be aided financially by the chuches He
also gave an account of the effort which
has been made to supply the needs of
missionary. societies, especially in the
matter of library books AboutH COO
volumes have thus far been distributed
He called for special contribution in
behalf of the Congregational Sabbath
school work. He urged strong suppo rt
of The Maine Sunday school association
and the Congregational Publishing and
Sunday school society