The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1910-03-04
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. ROBERT J. KENT
Theme: The Worldwide Vision.

! Robert ]. Kent, preached on ne
Worldwide Vision" He took for
his text, Revelation His; The
kingdom of the world is become the
kingdom Of our Lord and of His
| Christ, and He shall reign forever
and ever" DR.. Kent said:
THE Worldwide Vision" and the
| men who have been privileged to see
| it is my theme this morning. The
power to see visions and to dream
dreams is one Of the noblest God has
| given to men. Men might be CLASH
| fed according to the scope and quail
ity Of their visions. There are those
who cannot see beyond the narrow
ests, their own health and happiness,
! their own home and business. They
| are spiritually near-sighted. God
bless me and mine" is the burden OF
| their prayer if they pray at all. Then
there are those whose vision includes
| their village, their political party,
their denomination. They dream of
| glorious future, but of a future
| hemmed in by their narrow interests.
| They are like men who have climbed
to some spur of the mountains whence
| they get a splendid view, but it Is
| only in one direction. Others there
are who climb to the summit and get
the inspiring prospect of far-extend-
ed and unbroken horizon. Such men
are thinking not only of their city,
State, nation, but of the world; not
only of their family, their clan, their
social class, their race, but of human
ity.
There have always been men who
have thought and hoped and prayed in
terms of the whole world Their feet
may never have crossed the boundary
of their native land, but their love
and hope and prayer have encom-
passed the earth. In a recent classifi
cation of the books of the Bible, two
of the sacred writings, Daniel and
Revelation, have been called books of
vision. But the entire collection,
psalm and prophecy, gospel and epis-
tie, is bright with the light of the
worldwide vision. That magnificent
statesman-prophet, Isaiah, prince of
preachers, whose messages we have
been bordering Sunday mornings,
stood on the summit and saw all ma
tions walking with glad willingness in
the light of the divine revelation that
should shine forth from Jerusalem.
And we hear the great prophet of the
exile proclaiming in words that after
all the intervening centuries still
sound like majestic music: Arise,
| shine; for thy light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover
the earth, and gross darkness the peos
pie, but the Lord shall arise upon
thee and His glory shall be seen by
thee. And the nations shall come to
thy light and kings to the brightness
of thy rising" True, in the golden
future that the prophet saw, Jerusa-
lem was the centre and her dominion
was worldwide Nevertheless, it was
a universal reign of righteousness,
good will and peace.
1t seems strange that anyone should
be satisfied with anything less than
worldwide vision, who has vowed
. loyal allegiance to Jesus and has pom
! dered the Masters words. For in
! parable and prayer, in cheering assur-
ance and in the final commission He
spoke in terms of the wide world. You
recall His familiar words, THE field
| is the world. The kingdom of heaven
is like the grain of mustard seed that
grows into a great tree. 1t is like
leaven that in time leavens the whole
| lump. When the Son of Man shall
come to Judge, all nations shall be
! gathered before Him. Be of good
cheer, l have overcome the world.
! When We pray, say, our Father, which
art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
on the earth as it is in heaven. All
power in heaven and in earth is given
unto Me; go We, therefore, and make
disciples of all the nations" How
significant in this connection is the I'll
tie He assumed. Son of Man! AS If
thereby to proclaim that He stood in
relation to the whole of humanity,
and that His mission of love and life
was to the whole world. That world
wide vision has been part of the herit-
age handed down through the Chris
tian centuries. 1t set on fire the heart
of Paul. He recognized no barrier to
the conquerqing advance of the Cos
pei. The world was divided into Jew
and Gentle, and to both the gospel was
the power of God unto salvation. That
worldwide vision has given us our
! New Testament.
Never in the worlds history have
| there been so many men and women
who have beheld the vision as to-day
The increasing number of those who
stand on the highest peak of hope and
aspiration for humanity is an out
standing feature of our own day. 1t
is a sign of the times The young
men who saw visions while they
prayed in the shelter of the haystack
the men who dreamed dreams while
they worked at the cobbler's bench Or
in the mill, have been followed by a
vast multitude, whose prayer is, "Thy
| kingdom come and whose song is
Christ for the world" This is the
day of great missionary conventions,
when the largest auditoriums in the
city are needed to accommodate the
multitudes who have seen the vision,
/ but the largest gathering is but a very
| small minority of those who believe
and pray that the kingdom of this
world shall become the kingdom OF
! Christ
1t is only when we consider the es-
! sential features of this worldwide Wis
ion that we appreciate the sublime
faith and hope of which it has been
| born. 1t includes the establishment
of the kingdom Of God in this world
Men still believe in heaven; it's faith
+ is their comfort and support in be-
! reavement and when life's evening
! shadows lengthen, its songs inspire
them with peace and joy. But they
/ believe more than they ever did be-
! fore in the future of this world, and
! that here the purpose and plans of
! God are to be worked out. Then the
! vision embraces all classes and condi-
tions of humanity, separated though
/ they are by differences of culture and
caste. nationality and religion - far
! more serious barriers to union than
/ e-e oceans and mountains. Moreover,
! it contemplates a complete fusion of
mankind into one brotherhood. Il
; means the regeneration and transfor-
| nation of society. We are hearing a
! good deal to-day about social saliva
! ton. 1t is true and very significant
note to strike IN the effort to redeem
| the world. Not only must the heart
/ be changed, but the customs and rela-
! lions Of men must be brought into
] conformity with the spirit of the Mas
] ter. The leayen must work in city and
( village, in store and factory, in legis-
! latureS and courts, in the markets