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106 THE PRESBYTERI;
PRESENT OA Y
fBy Reb. Rol
We are entering upon the last year of the first decade
of the twentieth century. Marvellous and vast have
been the achievements of the past, and especially of the
.wuci^ciiiii ccniurv; ana tnc world stands on tip-toe to
see what will he the stupendous advance in all lines of
industrial, scientific and spiritual progress for this age.
Great have been the expectations, and greater the prophesies
for this? the last century, perhaps, in the history
of the human race.
I say the last century in the history of the human
race perhaps; for it occurs to me that great and wonderful
changes have been wrought in the past at the
end of each period of twenty centuries; and the climax
of all progress, of all science, of all art and achievement?the
culmination of the world's highest attainment
are to be produced in this, the wonderful century
of the ages. For it seems that according to the plans
of the Almighty, as seen in his past dealings with the
race, the first twenty centuries closed with that wonderful
event, the overthrow of the world with the flood,
which was an event made forever memorable by the
covenant between God and Noah, of which the rainbow
is the perpetual sign and seal.
'blip npvt twpnlv i-oVitni-ioo 1? ? '1
vvi.iu.iw tiuacu u^' giving; tne woria
a new dispensation with the birth of Jesus that was to
bring peace on earth and good will to man, that changed
the civilization of the world, gave a new date to history,
and which is today sweeping on to a universal victory
and supremacy where the kingdoms of this world are to
become the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ.
Now the end of the next two thousand years, which
*. .J^e the end of
i ne Twentieth Century,
will no doubt be commemorated by ushering' in the
most wonderful and the most stupendous event that
lias yet happened to the world or yet illustrated in the
economy of God. Within the first decade of this marvelous
century there have been some of the most important
events that have ever happened on this earth. The
silent influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Cometh
without observation, has touched the hearts of the
Christian laymen of this country to undertake the most
titanic, the most gigantic enterprise ever undertaken
before in the annals of the human race. For all the
years this great matter has been burning in the heart
of God, and all his divine providences have been forp-in?>
O o
the way and preparing the hearts and stirring the souls
of the people to see and know that this is the strategic
time of the ages and to undertake in his name the greatest
work since Jesus trod the hills of Bethlehem, enunciated
his mighty ethic, and gave his royal commission.
Why do I affirm that this is
The Strategic Time of the Ages?
Because the world is ready for such a movement; and
the increase in wealth, the increase in knnwIeHcrp
6v, V..V
universal federation of a world in the ties of a universal
brotherhood, the far-reaching results of international
arbitration, by which wars have ceased and the earth is
\N OF THE SOUTH February 9, 1910.
OT?o%TUNIT^ i
>ert Lee Hell. if
freed from strife, the increase in the methods and facilities
of travel and communication, the industrial and
material developments that bring the earth in communication.
arp-up that t ho time is nrnnitinnc ~
o - - - - -w 1 ? ?JUV-" tL
world-wide movement. The opening up of the Panama
canal, the combine 1 vast industries, the mutual interdependence
of nations make the time a strategic one
for the advancement of the kingdom of God.
We will note briefly the magnitude of the present day
achievement, the magnitude of present day opportunity,
and the magnitude of present day responsibility.
The present is a great time, and to be living today is
both a privilege and a responsibility; and to be living is
sublime if we measure up to the full of our obligations
to Church and State.
God has made each man for a definite purpose and.
the
Most Imperative Obligation
of life is to find out the will of God. and to
the mighty purpose for which he has created us. It
seems unspeakably monstrous that there should live in
this age of the world, any man or woman who failed to
grasp the magnitude of his worth to the world, or the
magnitude of his possibility in Christ Jesus. To fill
the place God made for us, whether that be high or
low, in city or country, in a palace or a hovel, is to live
"on a throne of privilege and sway a sceptre of love and.
good will, and enter as a positive factor in the world's
work.
While we hold our breath as we talk about the wonders
of wireless telegraphy, flying machines, cities lit
up without cables, improved machinery and 'the am;i7ing
possibilities of electricity, yet the
Advance in the Church of Christ
is more amazing still. Perhaps the most far-reaching
and dramatic sequence of religious meetings in the entire
history of the Church began last year and will be
continued through this. The Christian Endeavor, the
Fnurnrfli T TM- 1'' *
^K,.w.v.. ucaguc, i nc world's Student Federation,
The Young Men's Christian Association, all held most
important and prayerful deliberations in convention assembled.
The sixth triennial convention of Student
Volunteers has just closed in Rochester, N. Y., in which
more than a hundred of the choicest students dedicated
themselves candidates for foreign service.
The Laymen's Missionary Movement has held important
meetings in all the centres of the country, and
will culminate in the greatest of all in Chicago in May.
While there have been many agencies at work for the
spiritual uplift of the nations, it is doubtful if in the
entire history of the Church, there has been a movement
so striking as the
Concerted Work Among Laymen,
of all denominations to equip the Church for the worldwide
missionary conquest of the Master in the present
generation.
While these meetings of importance are in progress
some of them, there will meet in Washincrtnn
t>vw"
The World's Congress
of Sunday-school workers. About the same time the