The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-22
charge of Frank Lincoln. Upon arriving
here the party separated, some visiting
the islands, Old Orchard and the Cape
CottaOa
PULPIT AND PEW.
The Rev. DIR. Henry NJ. King ON the
Preachers Mission.

There was a large congregation at inc
Free Street Baptist church yesterday 1ore.
noon, one unusually large for the tlme Vi
year. The preacher was the new ~
Henry N. King of the old F1rs5 baptlso
church in Providence, r. l., the churcn
where Brown univ ersity commencelnen1s
are held and a church of historical note.
DIR, King. who is % brother OF x-Mayor
King of this city, is native Oh OXFORD
but resided in Portland during MS boy
hood, He was ordained to the ministry at
the Free street church In 1867
The text was the 33d verse of the 10th
chapter of Acts: "Now therefore are we
all here present before God, to hear all
things that are commanded thee of God"
The sermon was an answer to the query
whether or not there is anything fixed,
certain and authoritative in revealed re-
ligion. He spoke with contempt of men
with changing ideas, those who are
excepting up with the procession" DR..
King quoted the hymn, How firm
foundation, ye saints OF the Lord and
after referring to the fxedness of the
mountains and the seas and the stars
asked If there was not something which
can be comprehended and preached with
authority. The sermon dealt with two
topics, the true work Of the sacred preach
er and the attitude toward him Of his
hearers.
The preacher has message to convey
and he cannot carry it unless he firmly
believes in it's supernatural origin. Men
do not want fallible and unauthenticated
statements, but they do want Gods
promises. Only faith in inspiration will
preserve the Christian religion. When
men talk about what Moses or Isaiah said
or did not say they como in danger of for.
getting what God said. Gods word Is
Gods word and the imperfeotions Of the
human media through which We receive
it do not affect 1T. The Bible must be the
basis of authority if there is any any
where. The human element cannot over
step or weaken and Illustrate the whole
purpose of Divine revelation. God would
make his message clear and it is his mes
sage and not Isaiah's or Paul's.
The man who breaches Gods word
must have an open and receptive and
teachable mind. Hence nothing is more
important for thepreacher than the fullest
education he can obtain. But an unsym-
pathetic mind cannot interpret anything
Alright. And the mind must be Divine
and prayerful as we'll as sympa thetic and
teachsble. The preacher must also know
that he is an ambassador of God. DR..
King does not believe in pulpit theorizing
or specializing. The preacher should give
utterance to a clearly defined gospel. The
faith cannot be changed. The message
must be delivered over and over again.
Growth does not mean departure from a
denial of an idea. As to the mental atti-
tude of the hearers the preacher said it
should be that of intelligent listeners who
have heard the evidence, and applied the
teachings of revelation to their own
spiritual condition, They should at
tentively and regularly listen to the
preached words, having proved its Divine
nature and bowed to it's authority. The
pews have right to demand Gods mes
sage from the pulpit and it is duty
having received 1t, to make it known to
othorc