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THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. XXXI April 1948 No. 4
Table of Contents

Things Coming to Pass

"When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand." - Luke 21:31.

THE MOST amazing achievement of this day of wonders is unquestionably man's initial success in controlling nuclear forces by so-called atomic fission." The world's first intimation was, of course, the announcement by President Truman that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, with the subsequent revelation that some 70,000 people had perished. As the numbing implications regarding the potentialities of this, terrible weapon filtered through men's minds, voices in the highest places cried out for a realistic appraisal of its effect on human relations. For it was realized at once that any misuse of this new power would result in unlimited misfortune to the entire human race. A forceful article on this subject by Dr. Robert XT. Hutchins, Chancellor of the University of Chicago, has recently appeared in the American Magazine. From it, through the kind permission of the author and the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, we quote as follows:

The Bomb Secret is Out!

By ROBERT M. HUTCHINS

Chancellor of the University of Chicago

On the afternoon of July 16, 1945, a group of nuclear scientists met around a conference table in a small, hushed room in the metallurgy building in the University of Chicago. They were meeting in an effort to save tens of thousands of civilian lives, if not, indeed, all humanity.

At 5:30 that morning, on the desert in New Mexico, the first atomic bomb had been successfully detonated. These men who had helped construct the bomb had now dedicated themselves to suppressing it.

Their purpose was not exclusively humanitarian. They knew that if an atomic bomb were dropped over Japan, all hope of preserving the atomic secret for the United States and other traditionally peace-loving nations would be lost forever.

These men knew that once the bomb was dropped, once the world learned that fission chain reaction could be accomplished, atomic bombs could be produced by any reasonably advanced nation on earth, and that the end result could be annihilation of all life on this planet.

Before the hot dark closed down on Chicago that day, a solemn letter had been drafted to the President of the United States and signed by 65 members of the University's scientific staff. It petitioned the President to prevent the dropping of the bomb.

Receipt of the letter was never acknowledged.

Five days later, two members of the group were delegated to fly to Washington and appeal personally to James F. Byrnes, then chairman of the President's committee on atomic research. This appeal likewise was ineffectual. The bomb was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, the next over Nagasaki.

Then and there, our opportunity to control atomic energy vanished.

We still had one small factor in our favor -- time. Under normal circumstances, it might have taken other nations a few years to discover precisely how to put a bomb together. But this chance was destroyed a few days later when the H. D. Smyth report on atomic energy for military purposes was made public.

Mr. Smyth, in his excellent job, obligingly pointed out 4 specific ways in which atomic fission could be accomplished. The only problem then remaining to any nation which might desire to harness atomic energy, or to produce atomic bombs, was to decide which of Mr. Smyth's comprehensive blueprints was best and most convenient in its particular circumstances, and follow Mr. Smyth's instructions.

From that instant, all talk of secrecy in connection with the atomic principle has been completely asinine, and public utterances which would have us believe we own anatomic secret are rooted either in ignorance or in deceit.

Any realistic appraisal of the status of atomic energy today, militarily speaking, must be predicated on two simple propositions

1. There is no secret.

2. There is no defense.

To understand why there is no secret, let's go back 400 years before Christ. An atomic theory was propounded in that remote time by Democritus, a Greek philosopher. A Roman, Lucretius, wrote a classic poem about atoms before Jesus was born. The theory that all chemical elements are composed of atoms was corroborated 145 years ago. The structure of the atom was determined, and its energy known before World War I.

The fact that atoms of certain substances, specifically uranium, a metal, could be split, and that this splitting, or fission, was accompanied by the release of enormous quantities of energy, was demonstrated before World War H. This was not an American secret; it was known by scientists in many countries. The only problem since that time has been to capture and, control the atomic energy thus released, and discovery of methods for doing this has been only a question of time.

Much as it may discomfit some of our professional patriots, the fact is that a very great part of this preliminary work, as well as practically all the subsequent work, was done by foreigners. Of 11 scientists (Einstein, Hahn, Bohr, St Strassmann, Meitner, Frisch, Joliot, Chadwick, Fermi, Wheeler) who pioneered atomic fission in 1939, five were German, one was. French, one Danish, one Italian, one English, and only one American. The Germans were far ahead of us at the outbreak of the recent war.

Many foreign scientists who had recently come from Europe were employed when our Army Engineering Corps established the Manhattan District for the production of atomic bombs in August, 1942. They contributed notably-so notably, in fact, that every single basic idea in atomic fission came from a European mind. Very few basic contributions were made by Americans. The American contribution consisted of applying these ideas and producing the atomic bomb.

All of these foreign scientists are entirely familiar with the processes involved in producing the atomic bomb. Today, they are scattered throughout the world -in, at least four European countries, to my personal knowledge-and each of them knows all there is to be known about atomic energy and atomic bombs.

So there is no secret.

No fewer than 5,000 individuals knew we were making an atomic bomb, and many of them knew the essential steps that were taken. An effort was made to compartmentalize the work, certainly, but this in itself would have been ridiculous if carried out according to directives. Compartmental regulations were violated every day. If they had not been, production of the atomic bomb might have been delayed several years.

As a matter of simple truth, no harm would have been done had the whole enterprise been published in the newspaper, forr at that time we were the only nation on earth able to carry on such a monumental enterprise. The Germans had no facilities and the Japanese wouldn't even have known where to start. We could have given them all our plans and still they could not have duplicated our work, merely because they lacked the physical resources.

That is not the case today with Russia. When we speculate on what may be going on behind the Iron Curtain, we must concede at the outset that the production of atomic bombs now is only a matter of mobilization of physical resources-materials, machines, manpower.

Can Russia make them? Of course! If we told the Russians all we know at this moment-and we know a great deal more than we knew in 1945-this knowledge would not shorten their work by more than 6 months.

Is Russia making them? We would be foolish to assume that she is not. An able scientist prophesied after 'reading the Smyth report that Russia would complete her first atomic bomb within 3 years and thereafter 'would produce them more rapidly than we could. That prediction was made more than 2 years ago.

'There are no less than 27 first-class nuclear physicists in Russia and no fewer than 700 universities. Assuming that each university has a fairly competent nuclear scientist on its staff, Russia has an excellent scientific corps.

Through our gratuitous contributions to her knowledge, she is able to by-pass the heartbreaking succession of blind alleys and dead ends we had to explore between 1940 and 1942, when we set off the first self-maintaining 'nuclear chain reaction-the principle of the bomb-under a grandstand on the campus of the University of Chicago. Russia today is able to drive full tilt along a fine, 'broad, clearly marked avenue, of general knowledge. For, 'today, the production of atomic bombs is merely a manufacturing process. There is no secret.

But why is there no defense?

All theory of defense against aerial weapons-and the atomic bomb is essentially an aerial weapon to be transported by aircraft or controlled missiles such as rockets -is based upon absorption, the amount of punishment a target can absorb before it capitulates or is destroyed.

With the atomic bomb there can be no question of absorption. No known target can absorb the punishment the bomb can administer. When one medium-sized bomb 'can wipe out of existence a target of the size of Indianapolis, what can be left to absorb any further punishment? Moreover, the problem of attempting to destroy an atomic bomb on its way to a target when carried by a high-speed missile is as difficult as attempting to destroy an artillery shell in flight.

It is theoretically possible to make atomic bombs 1,000 times more powerful than any thus far demonstrated. Let us assume that an enemy nation has only 2 bombs of that gigantic size. With these 2 bombs, by taking advantage of location of detonation and direction of prevailing winds (central California and northern Oregon, for example, when steady winds were blowing toward the east) this enemy would have a fair chance of making the United States uninhabitable.

Why? Because areas not destroyed outright through concussion, heat, and fire would be contaminated as the winds swept the highly radioactive air over Vie face of the land. This was conclusively demonstrated when rays from the test explosion at Bikini reached the United States in detectable strength in one week. And it is much farther from Bikini to Los Angeles than it is from Los Angeles to New York.

What refuge can there be from a lethal element which permeates the very air upon which we depend for life? Could we go underground? Well, even assuming it would be possible to dig caverns enormous enough to hold such industrial behemoths as Pittsburgh and Detroit, and others large enough to shelter all the people in the United States, what would we do for fresh air?, Subbasements might shelter us from concussion and fire, but eventually we would have to draw outside air into them. A thoughtful soldier once remarked that the only defense against the atomic bomb is not to be there when it goes off, but even distance is no guarantee of safety if the air is contaminated for thousands of miles.

England found no defense against the V-2; her only defense was to win the war. If the war heads of the V-2 had been atomic bombs instead of TNT, England would not be here today; for 16 ounces of U-235, the critical element in the atomic bomb, is capable of as much destruction as 8,000 tons of TNT, and it is not even possible to make a bomb with as little as 16 ounces of U-235.

Added to the annihilating force of aerial detonation is the possibility of sabotage. An atomic bomb of average size detonated under the surface of New York Harbor 'when the wind was right would cover all of Greater New York with a deadly atomic spray. So it is reasonable to conclude that there is no known defense against the atomic bomb.

Could any nation win an atomic war against another nation which also had atomic bombs? Probably not, although this is slight consolation, indeed. Let us imagine that Nation A has 1,000 atomic bombs and feels dominant and secure because Nation B has only 150 atomic bombs. Nation A starts the war by firing its 1,000 bombs at all known targets. 'The targets are destroyed and so, to all practical purposes, is Nation B.

But somewhere, in some secret place, Nation B still has its 150 bombs and the means to transport them, and it has enough rugged men left alive-although burned and contaminated and doomed- to slow death-to explode those bombs over Nation A. One hundred and fifty atomic bombs will ruin any nation on earth.

The result, of course, is that the nations destroy each other. Some individuals in remote places will escape, and by incredible struggles against contaminated soil, crops, and water they will temporarily survive. But disease, plague, and famine will overtake them since all surviving creatures and facilities upon which they depend for existence will be weakened and doomed to destruction, and so all life must eventually disappear.

That is the extremely unpleasant but completely realistic prospect facing mankind if atomic energy is unleashed for war.

Is there a solution? I think so.

Many of us who have thought the situation through have concluded, that our only salvation lies in establishment of international morality, a mutual acceptance of the futility of further warfare and a mutual avowal to keep the peace. 'Three years ago I would have considered such a thought absurd, human nature being what it is. Today I believe it is the only chance for the survival of humankind. Unfortunately, this conviction seems not to be shared by the rulers of nations.

I believe that all the nations must sit down together and agree to be good. It is no longer possible to say, as we seem to be saying: Let's be powerful so we can force every one else to be good. Force can never again be a national monopoly. No nation can be dominant militarily for more than a moment in the dawning atomic era.

Nor is it enough for one nation to decide to be good. If we were to decide to be good, and another nation were to decide to be bad, the result doubtless would be most uncomfortable for us.

No, if we are to preserve ourselves, we must acknowledge that a world crisis exists -- not next week nor tomorrow, but now, today, for there is very little time remaining. Instead of glowering at one another, nations must understand that we are inevitably destined to have one world or none at all. Rather than wave atomic bombs at one another, we must recognize that here in our hands is a method to produce cheaper and better goods, cure all ills, give us leisure beyond all our dreams; that there in -our hands lies the most important means of improving the well-being of mankind that has appeared on the earth in 4,000 years.

Perhaps the practical solution is the establishment of a world government. Such a blueprint is now being formulated for presentation to all nations. I would have said before the accomplishment of the atomic fission that we might have a world government within the next 500 years. Today I am convinced that we must try to attain it within the next 5 years. That's about all the time we have left.

What can we gain by attaining it? What could life be like in a peaceful atomic age?

Once more we must start with a correlated group of basic truths:

1. Atomic energy is here, now. It is an accomplished fact.

2. It is the most important discovery to mankind since the discovery of fire.

3. Medically, it provides the most important tool since the invention of the microscope.

4. Economically, which means industrially and commercially, it is the most important discovery since the discovery of the wheel.

The astounding difference between atomic energy and the energy with which we are familiar is the enormous amount of atomic energy which can be produced from a very small quantity of atomic fuel. I cannot imagine how many millions of tons of falling water, how many millions of tons of coal, how many millions of barrels of petroleum are required to produce all the electricity consumed in the United States in an average month.

But I know that less than 15 pounds of atomic fuel, no more than a small child can carry in a basket, will produce enough electricity to meet all the demands of the United States for one year, with a comfortable excess in reserve. One boxcar of atomic fuel will produce enough energy to heat every building, illuminate every electric bulb, and operate every machine in the entire world, for 1,000 years.

Two types of atomic power plants are presently projected. One type, will be a large land-based installation from which power will be transmitted to distant points by the usual methods-conduits, tubes, wires. The second type will be a large installation on an ocean liner or -a battleship. Both types must be large and heavy because of the enormous quantities of insulating materials necessary to protect workers from dangerous rays inherent in their operation. That is why you cannot expect an atomic engine in your automobile or airplane for a long time to come. But you will ride in streetcars powered by energy from atomic plants, and quite likely in atomic-powered trains, in the foreseeable future.

The size and weight of atomic power plants will be reduced, for the process of producing atomic energy will be better understood as we go along, just as the processes of making steel or fabrics improved, as they developed. Millions of dollars must continue to be, spent in research to broaden our knowledge and improve our methods. And some one-whether it be the government with a view toward federal monopoly of this colossal force, or whether it be private industry with a view toward perpetuating our traditional economic system must spend it.

The principal predictable benefit from this improved knowledge will be that atomic energy will be produced more cheaply than is now possible. Yet, even now, the cost of producing atomic energy is far less than it was two years ago. In a short time it should be the cheapest energy the world has ever known, just as today the atomic bomb is far cheaper than TNT in terms of destructive power.

The cyclotron, for example, was until very recently believed to be the best, if not the only, method by which radioactive isotopes could be produced for medical and industrial purposes. To produce one millecurie, an infinitely small amount, of these substances with the cyclotron costs about $1,000,000 and takes 3 years. Today, through a simplified process called an atomic pile-the machine, or furnace, which was developed at the University of Chicago and which made the atomic bomb possible-the same quantity can be produced overnight for less than $50.

No serious scientific or engineering problems remain to be solved aside from those of normal evolution. Atomic power is no longer a dream. It is a present-day reality.

Atomic energy makes all our conceptions of daily living obsolete, eradicates virtually all our limitations, uses all our maladies, and opens the door to a way of life as uncomplicated as that of a South Seas, native basking in the sun and plucking his food from the breadfruit tree. Our paramount problem, our chief hazard in the atomic age will be what to do with our spare time.

Assuming that world government is accomplished and world peace established, and that we shall have a future at all, it is not impossible to draw a reasonably accurate blueprint of the atomic city of tomorrow. Such a conception necessarily hinges upon a thousand and one developments which are now only gleams in the scientific eye. Basically, however, the atomic city will be built along scientifically functional lines to provide maximum comfort and convenience to its inhabitants. Streets will be hundreds of feet wide. Buildings will be far apart.

The only smoke will come from fireplaces used for pleasure. They will not be needed for heat. Heat will be so plentiful that it will even be used to melt snow as it falls. Fireplace wood will be cheap and plentiful because wood will not be needed for construction.

Lawns and gardens will be luxuriant, for atomic energy promises fertilizers and soil balancers more powerful than any 'known today. There will be flowers such as we do not have at present, for the atomic principle has the power to alter forms of plant life, just as it alters the atomic structure of minerals.

Parks, playgrounds, and other places of recreation will abound, for leisure will be almost unlimited. A very few individuals working a very few hours a day at very easy tasks in the central atomic power plant will provide all the heat, light, and power required by the community and all its surrounding areas, and these utilities will be so cheap that their cost can hardly be reckoned.

There will be factories, of course, but because atomic energy is so much more potent than the forms of energy employed today, factories will operate only a comparatively few hours a week to produce more goods than can be used. They will produce, among other things, new metals, new types of self-insulating building materials, new fabrics, foods, furnishings, communication devices which will eliminate time and space, and vehicles which will run for a year on 2 ounces or less of atomic fuel.

The atomic city will have a central diagnostic laboratory but only a small hospital, if any at all, for most human ailments will be cured as rapidly as they are diagnosed.

If this seems too fanciful, consider how incredible, how utterly impossible even a small modern town would have seemed to a Dawn Man squatting on his haunches before a blaze he started, dimly conceiving that here in his hands lay a tremendous new power, a new forcefire. Today, we are the Dawn People of the atomic age.

How far are we along the road to this Utopia?

Farther than you think.

Medically, atomic energy is already at work all over the world. 'To understand how it is being used, and what its implications are, we must realize that the human body is like a chemistry laboratory a bull has just charged through. All the pieces are there, but they're all mixed up.

The medical scientist, with his microscope and X-ray and test tube, is able to follow and understand certain processes which take place in the body and thus correct many maladies. But beyond these are many more processes he cannot follow, does not understand, and at which he can only guess. Thus people continue to die of cancer, tuberculosis, hypertension, and other bodily malfunctions which the physician can relieve temporarily and to a degree, but which he cannot cure.

Today, through application of atomically produced substances called radioactive isotopes, the human body becomes as transparent as a pane of glass.

A radioactive isotope is a speck of material -- Carbon14, a species of carbon, is the commonest now used -- which has been made radioactive through subjection to atomic radiation, much as a needle is magnetized by proximity to a magnet. The immediate result is that it throws off rays which are detectable through flesh and blood with a simple instrument called a Geiger counter, Rays thrown off by the isotope make a clicking sound in the Geiger counter.

Radioactive isotopes, or tracers, are introduced into the body through the mouth, a vein, or in other ordinary ways. As they begin their wanderings through the jumbled chemical laboratory of the body, they can be followed with the Geiger counter. The medical scientist is able to determine exactly what is taking place, as surely as though he were looking through a window.

There is every reason to believe that we shall know almost at once what causes the calcification of joints in one form of arthritis and the disintegration of tissue in another. And it is axiomatic that medical science can cure or prevent what it clearly understands.

With -cancer, the major problem is not what will cure it, but what causes it, why the cells go wild. Since cancer is fundamentally growth, although abnormal and uncontrolled, the problem of cancer is allied with the whole mysterious question of growth. Why do things grow?

As. a kindergarten example, medical science knows that phosphorus introduced into the body becomes an element of bone, making bone grow. It does not know why or how this happens. But with radioactive isotopes as tracers it becomes possible to follow the precise events that make up this phenomenon, and when it is understood we shall know something, at least, about the mystery of growth.

The procedure is essentially the same with cancer. When we find out why a cancer grows we shall be in a position to determine how to prevent it from growing, or to kill it altogether. Here the same elements which acted as the means of diagnosis may be found to be the means of cure.

Radium has been widely used in the treatment of cancer because it emits rays. Radium treatment has been impossible for the vast majority of cancer sufferers because there is not enough radium to go around. All the radium now available for medical use would fit easily into a small cigar box. But through the atomic principle it is possible to give many substances the power to emit rays-in other words, to make them radioactive. These substances are the isotopes, and they are already being ground out cheaply, quickly, and in enormous quantities.

The next and fairly simple step will be to find a method to shoot a stream of radioactive rays unerringly into cancerous growth, much as bullets are fired from a machine gun, and kill the cancer without serious injury to adjacent tissue.

I am convinced that we shall understand the mystery of cancerous growth within 7 years.

Thyroid disorders, reasonably prevalent and not too well understood, are already being conquered by radioactive iodine. Blood disorders of rare but fatal types are succumbing to radioactive phosphorus. The end of all human suffering is in sight. If we are permitted to live at all, there is no reason we cannot expect to live as long as Methuselah.

The principles of diagnosis and cure apply likewise to all animals and most plants. Diseases of plants, now only dimly understood by a very few specialists, will become clear and methods of eradication will follow.

These are not dreams. These are not visions of the distant future. These are realities of today and the immediate tomorrow.

Industrially and commercially, the world was revolutionized ;by discovery of the wheel. The harnessing of atomic energy launches another era of equally tremendous economic progress. In the field of metals, especially, this progression is already well under way.

There are many things wrong with metals. Nearly all of them -- steel, particularly -- should be 11 times as strong as they actually are. Aluminum, magnesium, copper, all have faults. For example, wire reduced to very low temperatures loses virtually all its resistance to electricity. Why? We shall find the answer, and when we do, the cost of electricity under existing. production systems will be reduced sharply.

We have found it necessary to develop several entirely new metals, unlike any hitherto known on earth, for the sheer purpose of producing atomic energy. Ordinary metals cannot resist the enormous heat generated by atomic fission. So we have used atomic energy to produce new metals, so they can be used to produce still greater quantities of atomic energy.

But the net result, to industry, is the appearance on earth of metals of such incredible strength that they must inevitably revise all our standards of stress and strain and replace many of the metals now in common use.

Alchemists dreamed for centuries of transmuting mercury into (gold. This has not yet been accomplished through atomic energy, but I have no doubt it will be perhaps before these words can be printed. We have already transmuted gold into mercury.

Even more dramatic is the impact of atomic energy upon the petroleum industry.

The fundamental problem of the petroleum industry is locating new and untapped stores of oil in the ground. Oil men have accomplished this with all sorts of devices and sciences ranging from doodlebugs to meteorology, but none has been infallible.

Today, the same sort of radioactive isotopes used in medicine are 'being employed to locate subterranean oil pools, and not only to locate them but to measure their extent and volume. 'Through the employment of radioactive isotopes, the very earth itself becomes transparent, and the greatest gamble in the petroleum industry is eliminated.

At first glance it might appear that this would present a grave danger-the exhaustion of all natural supplies of oil. 'This is extremely improbable, since we already have known reserves of oil for hundreds of years. But even if we were to find, tap, and pump out all the oil in the world and pour it into the sea, we could still produce, with the aid of atomic energy, more oil than we could possibly utilize.

This is possible because of substances called catalysts. Catalysts are guiding and accelerating agents employed in refining crude oil into gasoline and other common petroleum products. During the recent war, the Germans used catalysts to produce oil from coal. Today through employment of radioactive isotopes, the entire field of catalysts is revolutionized, immeasurably improved. If we find it necessary or desirable to make. oil from coal, the means are in our hands. The process is simple and relatively inexpensive. And we have enough coal in the United States alone to meet all the demands of the world, both for coal and oil, for the next 3,000 years.

These are not dreams. These are simple truths.

So today we stand at the fork of the road.

To the right lies peace, productivity beyond all our imagination, ease of living beyond our brightest dreams. To the left lies war and the eventual end of all life on earth.

For the first time since Creation, we truly hold in our hands the power to shape our own destiny, to choose our own fate.

We must make our choice within 5 years.

From THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE.
By permission of the Publishers and the Author.

One can hardly read these sober thought-provoking words without recalling Jeremiah 21:8: "Unto this people thou shalt say, thus saith the Lord; behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death."

Man, after six thousand years permission of evil, has been presented with an unavoidable proposition, and a decision must be made, one way or the other. He has been brought face to face with himself. Will he choose rightly? Were we to depend on human wisdom we would well feel the concern expressed by Dr. Hutchins. The Scriptures tell us that in our days there shall be "Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for 'fear and for looking after [apprehension] those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heaven shall be shaken." (Luke 21:25, 26.) "For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." - Matt. 24:21, 22.

These Scriptures imply very definitely that man will be saved from his extremity only by the astounding interposition of God in human affairs. The result will be the setting up on earth of the long promised Kingdom of God, the only possible solution to the perplexing problems of mankind. Under the beneficent reign of Christ, the "groaning creation" will be led up the "highway of holiness" (Isaiah 35) to mental, moral, and physical perfection; an actual realization then of what today is only a hopeful dream of thinking minds. Then the blessings so graphically pictured by Dr. Hutchins will abound on a far vaster scale, yea, "In this mountain [kingdom] shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." - Isaiah 25:6-9.

What a glorious prospect is thus set before us, and how wonderful to realize that "it is near, even at the doors." (Mark 13:29.) Thank God for this hope for all humanity! With ever-increasing fervor we pray,

"Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven."

- W. J. Siekman.

The Shadow of God's Hand

Bright and fair the sun was beaming
O'er my smooth and easy way,
And my soul moved lightly onward;
Fear and care were far away.
Hope was bright and winged my footsteps,
Eagerly I pressed along,
And the joy of heavenly favor
Filled my heart with praise and song.

I could see my Father's wisdom,
Loving care and sheltering arm,
Leading me through pleasant places,
Guarding me from every harm.
I could feel love's flame arising
High and higher in my breast,
And my lips o'erflowed with gladness,
All was, joy and peace and rest.

When at once a voice within me
Seemed to thrill my very soul:
Could I stand if joy departed,
Sorrow flooding all my soul?
In an arid desert lonely,
Would my faith endure the test?
Would my spirit, still undaunted,
Praise Him then as when at rest?

This one thing my soul pursueth,
To attain Thy perfect love,
Love, unwavering and loyal,
Rising all things else above;
I would have the faith enduring,
Stronger when most sorely tried,
"Spare me not, but prove me, Father,"
Anxiously my spirit cried;

When across my clear horizon
Suddenly a cloud arose,
Spreading wide and lowering darkly,
Threatening my soul's repose.
Stranger voices sounded near me,
Scarce a step was plain before,
But my Father's arm sustained me,
What, then, could I ask for more?

And, while leaning hard upon Him,
His sweet peace was given me,
By the Spirit's gentle whisper,
"This is His great love for thee;
Well He knows thy deepest yearnings
To reflect His image bright
All thy prayers come up before Him,
And are precious in His sight.

"And this darkness come upon thee
Is the shadow of His hand,
Never raised except in blessing,
Though thou mayst not understand."
Then my heart grew strong and trustful,
And with joy my soul was stirred;
"Teach me, Lord, to trust Thee fully,"
This my prayer so soon was heard.

Fearless then, I started onward,
Compassed by the gloom of night,
For, by Father's love surrounded,
Darkness is, as safe as light!
Still I pray, "O, lead me, Father,
By Thy goodness and Thy might,
Till, beyond, time's misty shadows,
Dawns the pure, eternal light."

- Bessie P. Lockerbie Hendrick.

The Resurrection

"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." - Phil. 3:7-11.

THE EVENT forecast by the word "RESURRECTION" is of the greatest possible significance to the dying and dead of mankind, for only through the operation of God's power manifested in the resurrection of the dead is there any hope for life or future existence. The outworking of all God's purposes with respect to this earth and its inhabitants would fail utterly if there were no resurrection of the dead. All that Jesus suffered and died to accomplish would be in vain apart from a resurrection of the dead. No other event is fraught with greater significance; and we can not imagine anything that would demand a greater display of divine power and wisdom.

When we consider these facts, plainly set forth in the Word, particularly by the Apostle Paul in his great dissertation on the subject in the fifteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthian Church, is it not strange that so little, comparatively speaking, is said about this great hope in the pulpits of most churches? And would we not expect it to be a universal topic at funerals? On the contrary, if the most of them are like those we have heard, it is conspicuous by its absence. Why is this? What is the reason for so general an avoidance of the subject? The answer must of necessity be, lack of belief -- unbelief. How much that word explains in the lives of nearly all men, including those who manifest a "form of godliness" but lack the evidence of its power in their lives. Speaking in the spirit of prophecy, Jesus said: "When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" - Luke 18:8.

There are perhaps several reasons for a lack of faith in the Bible teaching of a resurrection of the dead, but the root of the matter takes us back to the Garden of Eden when, in tempting Mother Eve to disobey God, Satan lied to her, and induced her to believe that she would not surely die, as God had said. Satan's cunning and power to deceive have been fully demonstrated in the theories of life and death that most of Eve's descendants have been led to accept since that time; and he has seen to it that lying spirits (fallen angels), necromancers, and so called spirit mediums, have continued the deception by representing themselves to be the spirits of the dead or as receiving messages from those who have departed this life.

Another thing that has no doubt contributed to men's acceptance of these Satanic teachings rather than the teachings of God's Word, is that they find it much easier and perhaps more attractive to their egoism to think that death is just a transition from this conscious state into another sphere of activity. Some such thought must have been in the mind of the Poet Longfellow when he wrote:

"Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul."

Likewise, the saintly Charles Wesley, not understanding the true state of man in death, and so misapprehending the significance of the resurrection. wrote:

Weep not for a brother deceased,
A soul out of prison released,
Our loss is his infinite gain;
And freed from its bodily chain;

With songs let us follow his flight,
Escaped to the mansions of light,
And mount with his spirit above,
And lodged in the Eden of love.

Then in one of the hymns it is stated:

It is not death to die,
To leave this weary road,
And midst the brotherhood on high,
To, be at home with God.

It is not death to fling
Aside this sinful dust,
And rise on strong exulting wing,
To live among the just.

There is, of course, a measure of truth in these verses, but they err in supporting erroneous beliefs concerning the soul, death, and the resurrection. The teaching that death does not mean death, in so far as the soul or being is concerned, has made it necessary to think of the good as going to heaven immediately at death, and to imagine the unconverted as in a place of dire punishment, which, to make it as realistic as possible, was said to be literally described by the "lake of fire and brimstone" of Revelation, and by the parable of the "Rich man and Lazarus." That the Bible hell is the grave or tomb into which all go at death, regardless of whether they are good or evil, is a fact that was well covered up. Whether or not this was by intent or just through ignorance, we are in no position to judge; but it gave opportunity to scare the people into becoming supporters of this or that system of belief, depending upon which one the individual was in contact with at the time.

With such beliefs, resurrection could relate only to the body, and would logically mean, as one very learned and able Presbyterian Doctor of Divinity put it, "A regathering and revivifying of all the bones and sinews and flesh and skin, etc., that ever constituted human bodies, regardless of how they had been disposed of, by fire or mouldering or otherwise: no matter if parts had been destroyed by accident or eaten by fishes or beasts of prey; or if they had rotted and gone as fertilizer into various fruits, vegetables, grasses, etc., and thus been over and over again incorporated into other bodies." It was reported that he pictured the air black with hands, arms, feet, 'fingers, bones, skins, sinews, etc., of the millions who have lived and died, seeking the other parts of their bodies; and that then the souls would come from heaven and hell and be imprisoned in those resurrected bodies.

Brother Russell, commenting on the foregoing in the April 1, 1893 Watch Tower, says: "What an unscriptural and nonsensical view! And yet, how could the man think or preach differently on the subject seeing that he believed firmly in a 'Resurrection of the body,' which very words nearly, all 'orthodox' creeds of 'Christendom' recite? And how could a body be resurrected in any other way then by gathering together again the various parts and members which once composed it? In no other way of course. And if the 'resurrection of the body' is the resurrection specified in the Bible, we as well as others are shut up to the nonsensical and ludicrous view expressed by the Brooklyn D.D., as above stated."

In striving for an understanding of truth, just as in sailing for a desired port, one cannot start on a wrong course and maintain it with any expectation of coming out right in the end. The penalty of death was pronounced against Adam, against the man, the soul, the sentient being, not merely against his body; and, when man dies, the Bible says, "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalm 146:4), his thinking ends. This is in full accord with the whole tenor of Scripture on the subject. The wise man in Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, "The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten." Again through Ezekiel, the Prophet, God says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezek. 18:20.) And when Jesus died to redeem man, the record is that "He poured out his soul unto death." (Isa. 53:12.) Therefore the thing that needs to be resurrected (restored) is man himself, and Paul tells us that in doing this God will supply a body: "Thou sowest not that body that shall be, . . . but God giveth it [the resurrected being] a body even as it hath pleased him." - 1 Cor. 15:37, 38.

The fifteenth chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, in which this statement is found, was written to counteract the teachings of the Sadducees, and to set the brethren at Corinth straight on this matter of the resurrection. It seems almost unbelievable that those who claimed to acknowledge Christ as the bringer of salvation, could so soon have been led to deny the only hope of life there is. Jesus had warned his disciples to beware of the leaven (false doctrines, Matt. 16:12) of both the Pharisees and the Sadducees; but here we find a church of Christ in which many of its members were being led astray concerning the one and only true hope of life.

"Now if Christ be preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you," says Paul, "that there is no resurrection of the dead?" Then follows an argument that is unanswerable except we believe that the dead are actually dead, and that our only hope of future life is that we shall be resurrected from the dead. "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised." Here Paul recognizes the fact that not only was Christ once actually dead, but also that his resurrection is proof that there will be a resurrection of all who will accept it on his terms. "And if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God," says Paul, "because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised." Paul's argument shows that either we must believe in a possible resurrection of all, or else give up all thought of future life. "For if Christ hash not been raised, your faith is vain [useless]; ye are yet in your sins." In such an event, Christ is still dead, and a dead Christ could not appear in the presence of God for us, therefore there would have been no atonement made for our sins; they would still be held against us. And he further says, "Then they also that have fallen asleep in Christ have perished."

"But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam -all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."

In the fifteenth verse of this chapter, Paul tells us that GOD raised Christ from the dead. Many believe that he was alive while in the tomb, and that when he was ready, as hymnology expresses it, "He burst the bonds of death and hell" and arose through the exercise of his own power. But Christ was dead; he bad no power to raise himself, and such a thought is wholly contrary to Scripture. Thirteen times in the New Testament do we read that he was raised by the Father. Then too, Paul's statement that Christ was "the first-fruits of them that are asleep," is in full agreement with his previous statement in Acts 26:23 where he tells us that Christ was the first to experience a resurrection. Evidently, if this be true, the raising of Lazarus and of the daughter of Jairus was not resurrection, but only an awakening, a restoring to the small measure of life they had possessed when the death that was working in them finally triumphed. That this is true, is borne out by the fact that totally different words in the Greek are used to describe the two events.

ANASTASIS

Anastasis, the Greek word for resurrection, signifies, according to Strong, Young, and- other lexicographers, "a restanding," "a standing or rising up," "a making to stand or rise up; restoration." Such a restanding is permanent: death no more has power to affect one who has experienced such a resurrection; whereas Lazarus, and those who like him had experienced awakening (egeiro) eventually died, and will need to experience the anastasis in order to live eternally. Evidently, resurrection does not mean simply an awakening from sleep (death), but a full raising up to the perfection of life and being. The words of Jesus (John 5:28, 29) set forth this same thought; for whereas all hear his voice and come forth, some to experience an immediate resurrection, others who have done evil, to experience a drawn out process of resurrection through the judgments of the Lord. And so through Isaiah it is prophesied, "Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; . . . For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." - Isa. 26:8, 9.

PRESENT EXPERIENCE IN RESURRECTION

It is evident that our text speaks of two resurrections, or perhaps we should say, two phases of the resurrection. "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection (anastasis), and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the [out] resurrection [ex-anastasis] of the dead." This exanastasis is the phase which we have been considering: that part of the resurrection that will take place with the true Church when they are raised from the grave to the divine plane of existence with their Lord. But the phase mentioned in verse ten, has to do rather with the transformation of character that is now being worked out in us-the raising from dead works to walk in newness of life.

This, from many standpoints, is the most important phase of our resurrection: for the measure of our worthiness to occupy a place in the glorified temple, will be determined by the way we react to the fashioning power of God's Holy Spirit, working in us both to will and to do his good pleasure.

It is here and now that God-likeness must be attained: that that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord" must be perfected in us; that we who were once dead in trespasses and sins, wherein we walked according to the course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and a reprobate mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, have been quickened by God; who, in his great love and mercy, manifested toward us even when we were dead in sins, has saved us through faith, and has raised us up together with Christ, and made us to sit together in heavenly places. (Eph. 2:1-11.) And so Paul says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." - Col. 3:1.

PARTAKERS OF HIS SUFFERINGS

Another point that is emphasized in our text that should be well considered, is the necessity for sharing in our Lord's suffering and death if we hope to share in his resurrection to glory, honor, and immortality. The Bible gives a number of pictures that show the various aspects of the close relationship or oneness which we have with our Lord: master and servants, captain and soldiers, high priest and under-priests, shepherd and sheep, vine and branches, bridegroom and bride, head and body; these all have their particular lesson for us. In speaking of the last one, Paul shows (1 Cor. 12:12) that the Christ, Head and Body, is just as truly an organism as is the human body, and that though the members are many, yet being many they constitute but one body; and if one suffers, then all suffer, and all share in the one death.

The kind of suffering and death that the Head endured, must of necessity be the experience of all who become a part of the Christ; and so in this portion of his letter to the Philippians, Paul cites his own attitude of utter disregard for the things that he had once counted gain, in order that he might "know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means he might attain unto the ex-anastasis of the dead."

The world is full of suffering and death due to wicked works and inheritance; but Christ had no sin: his suffering and death was sacrificial-he "died unto sin" as a sacrifice for atonement, not as a penalty for his own wrong doing. And so when speaking of the suffering and death of the Body members, the Scriptures are careful to point out that we share in his suffering and death, not in that which comes to man because of his own or Father Adam's wrongdoing. Therefore we read in Romans, chapter six, verses three to eleven, "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? . . . For if we have been planted together in the likeness o f his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. . . . For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Let us then clearly recognize the true significance of our suffering and death, and the reality of the resurrection process through which we are being perfected as new creatures in Christ, and so give glory to God by being faithful in our covenant of sacrifice.

- John T. Read.

The Shepherd's Care

THE SHEPHERD'S RESTORING AND GUIDING GRACE

"He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." - Psalm 23:3.

AS applied to the Lord's sheep the words, "He restoreth my soul," may properly have reference to the way we are first led into the "paths of righteousness." Our life, soul, being, was forfeited under the divine sentence, and by faith in the Great Shepherd, who laid down his own life for the sheep, faith in the merit of the precious blood, a restoration of soul, being, is granted. However this does not reach a state of actual or full accomplishment in this life, but is a reckoned one. We are counted perfect in him-in the merit of the Great Shepherd. Thus we become his sheep; thus he becomes our Shepherd. We are counted holy and acceptable to God through the merit of his sacrificial death, in order that we may follow in his footsteps and become living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God which is a reasonable service. It is in this way that we are led into the paths of righteousness-right paths, paths that are advantageous to our development in righteousness. However, these paths are not always pleasant, but are frequently, from the natural standpoint, difficult and trying. This favor and blessing and opportunity comes to us not for our own sake, nor on account of any worthiness we may possess, but "for his name's sake."

FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE

This great privilege of being led out of the paths of sin, unrighteousness, selfishness, disfavor, into a place of acceptance and favor, is well called a restoration. Strange as it may seem to us at first, this wonderful deliverance, purchased at so great a price -a price which manifested the wealth of his loving grace and interest in us-was not, we are told, for our own sake, but "for his own name's sake." This grand and blessed experience of having the Great Shepherd go before us through all the checkered scenes and experiences of life, through sickness and health, through adversity and prosperity, is not -or our sake but "for his own name's sake." The world passes through these varied experiences and the Lord's "little flock is not exempt from them. The Great Shepherd sees the necessity for his sheep to pass through these scenes, and to have these experiences in their journey to their Eternal Home, that they may attain that home, enjoy its blessedness, and, more important than all, that they may fill the places designed for them. His mighty love takes in all the wandering sheep of Adam's race. It is to manifest his great love and wisdom and mercy and power to all these, that this "little flock" is now being fitted and prepared. It is "for his name's sake" that he does this. His "name" stands for all that makes up his wonderful attributes, his character. To know of these will be the privilege of all in God's due time, and this knowledge will then be for their eternal good as it is for his "little flock" now. It will vindicate his character, and thus bring all to reverence, to honor, to praise, and to magnify his great and holy name. The Apostle saw this, and expressed it when he said, "He has raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenlies by Christ Jesus; in order that he might exhibit in those ages which are approaching, the surpassing wealth of his favor, by kindness towards us in Christ Jesus." The words of the poet will then be realized by "whosoever will":

"Salvation! O the blessed theme
Shall fill the world with joy!
When all its mighty work is seen,
Praise shall all tongues employ."

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." One has truthfully said: "He is pledged to do it for the sake of his own great name." ' It is the earnest desire of all the sheep that the Great Shepherd's name shall be magnified and honored. The name denotes the honor and character of God. "These are implicated; these are at stake; the right leading of the saint is guaranteed by their immutability." His name is "Wonderful." This name calls for the marvelous working and overruling of his almighty power for our highest good. His name is "Counselor." This requires that all his unerring wisdom be displayed in leading us into those circumstances and conditions which will accomplish the end designed by him for us. O beloved, what a wonderful state of grace it is to be able to say, "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake"! What a blessed privilege when in prayer we come to him, knowing something of the difficulties, the dangers, the snares, the pitfalls by the way, to say, Thou art leading me Savior, Master, Shepherd, "for thine own sake"!

"HE RESTORETH MY SOUL"

In addition to this application of the words, "He restoreth my soul," there may be another meaning. When in times of deep distress, in times of sore trial, in times of severe test, we become weak and begin to faint, the Great Shepherd renews our strength, he restores our soul, that we may be enabled to profit by the trials, to bear them with fortitude, and to endure unto the end. In a similar way this may be applied to the Good Shepherd himself, when he was laying down his life for the sheep-when in Gethsemane, he knew that he was nearing the time when his great sacrifice was to be finished, and he realized as never before that not only his own soul, life, being, existence, but also the great Plan of Salvation was at stake, and depended upon his perfect obedience unto death. May there not have come into his mind the query, Have I been perfect in every thought, word, and deed? Have I pleased the Father absolutely in everything? Will I be able on the morrow to endure perfectly the shame and ignominy of the trial before the Jewish 'tribunal, before Pilate, before Herod? It is only as we view the Gethsemane scene from this standpoint, that we can understand the words of St. Paul when referring to that dark hour: "Who, in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared." He was heard, his prayer was answered, he was assured that up to that time he had been perfect, that he had pleased the Father, that he had been faithful to his covenant of sacrifice, and he was then and there strengthened in soul and being, and enabled to finish the great work, to endure the cross and despise the shame even unto death. "Wherefore God hath highly exalted him" by a resurrection to the divine nature, to sit at his right hand.

SIGNS AND CAUSES OF SPIRITUAL DECLINE

There is still another way that these words: "He restoreth my soul," may be applied. They are indeed very generally applied to restoring the straying, the wandering sheep back to the fold. Concerning the literal sheep, one has said: "In the Hebrew, the soul means the life or oneself. There are perilous places for the sheep on all sides, and they seem never to learn to avoid them. The shepherd must ever be on the watch. And there are private fields and sometimes gardens and vineyards here and there in the shepherd country; if a sheep stray into them and be caught there, it is forfeited to the owner of the land; so, 'He restoreth my soul,' means, the shepherd brings me back and rescues me from fatal and forbidden places.

Referring to the Lord's true sheep, another has said: "These words are among the most precious of this priceless Psalm. They Speak of the experience of many children of God, who are deeply conscious of the need of the restoring grace of the Good Shepherd. If he were alone followed, and if his influences upon us were always instantly obeyed, there would be no need of restoration. But we are not always susceptible and obedient to the heavenly leadings; we easily relapse into states of lethargy and indifference, and it is necessary that we should be restored."

From various causes the Lord's sheep are liable to relapses, perhaps not relapses of the outer life and action, but relapses of the heart. We do not say that there need be such, for his grace is sufficient to keep us from these relapses; but there have been, and there are such deflections amongst his sheep. We are liable to spiritual decline, to lose our first love, and were it not for the Good Shepherd, we would fall back altogether into the world. Spiritual decline has its symptoms. One who has realized a close walk with the Great Shepherd, and who has experienced the blessedness of his fellowship, may not always discover immediately these signs. If he begins to do so, he is not always ready to admit it. However, the heavenly Shepherd will not allow this state of things to go on; he keeps his watchful eye on his sheep, and causes a chain of providences to arouse him from his stupor, his lethargy.

The signs of spiritual decline are many, but are not always looked upon as such. One who has realized the blessed rest that Jesus gives when coming to him, weary and sad with the, burden of sin, is not always conscious when this rest is lost. Those who have taken his yoke upon them and are learning of him, in other words, those who have yielded themselves, their lives, their all to him and have found that deeper rest which comes through a realization of the shepherd's loving interest and care, may not always be conscious immediately of its loss. We may take on a spirit of restlessness, a spirit of complaining, without being conscious of it. We may lose in. a measure, great or small, our interest in his Word, in the things of his Kingdom, and attribute that loss of interest to every other cause than the real one, which is that of spiritual decline. We may lose our testimony for 'the Master, our testimony against sin, and yet be unwilling to admit that it is any different with us than formerly. It is only when the watchful Shepherd, through some chosen agency, brings his word of truth to us in the power of his spirit that we are able to see where we are, and acknowledge our deflection. It may be when we hear others who are deeply spiritual, and who are living near him, relate their experiences and joys, that we are caused to see our true condition; or it may be when brought under the power of temptation, we discover our lack of strength or ability to lay hold upon the Lord, the source of 'our strength, and alas! yield. It may be that not until then do we realize the loss of our first love, of divine strength, and flee to him for forgiveness, and restoration.

"O! MAY NO EARTH-BORN CLOUD ARISE"

The causes of spiritual decline are many. Neglecting to confess our sins and shortcomings is a fruitful source of decline. "These things I write unto you that ye sin not," are words that we surely need to give heed to. However, it is equally as necessary to give heed to the words that accompany this exhortation: "If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," and, "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It has been truthfully said that "if there be a cause of disagreement, however trivial, among friends, they shrink from meeting; or if they meet, there is a coldness and restraint, which are the more evident and painful in proportion to the warmth and intimacy of their previous attachment. There can be no more heart union till the cause of estrangement has been probed, and the wrong confessed or the misunderstanding explained. And the same principle obtains in the relationship of the soul with God. When we sin, there is generally a tendency to imitate Adam and Eve in their concealment beneath the foliage of the garden. . . . Sin makes the thought of fellowship unwelcome. Similarly we have learned again and again that unconfessed sin casts a dark shadow over our fellowship with God, and makes it irksome or perfunctory. Then we begin to change the open heart for the averted one, and put on the shy look and the formal phrase. And if the sin is not instantly confessed and put away, the little rift within the lute will widen, until it makes the music mute."

THE SUBTLETY AND POWER OF SIN

A neglect of special times of communion with our Shepherd; a neglect of times of pouring out our soul in thanksgiving to him; a neglect of gratefully remembering all the way the Lord our God has led us in the past, and his goodness and mercy toward us, will sooner or later result in leanness of soul, and a loss of real communion and of real spiritual joy.

We may even become so occupied, we may have our time so taken up with what we call serving him, as to find no time for fellowship and communion. This is a very fruitful source of backsliding in heart, if not in life. There is no service that we can engage in for him but what we need his counsel, his guidance, his assistance. It is not too much to say that we can do nothing without him.

There are many other things that might be cited which tend toward backsliding in heart and life. While mingling with the world, as is necessary, more or less, we should never forget what we are by grace, whom we represent, and what our great mission is. While it will be impossible for us to have our conversation, when in the society of people of this world, always about religious matters, yet our words, our actions should be such as to show that we have learned of Jesus. We should be careful what we read, what we hear, and how we hear. Indeed the only safety from spiritual declension is the cultivation of the spirit of watchfulness and prayer concerning everything, to learn to pray without ceasing, to in every thing give thanks, to meditate upon his Word, to quench not the spirit, to despise not prophesyings, to avoid every appearance of evil.

And yet with all these exhortations, knowing that all these things are necessary to keep us in the life of abiding in Christ, we are prone to forget, to neglect them, and to find ourselves in need of his restoring grace. One of the first things, and often the most difficult, for a person in this condition to do, is to admit, to confess his need of this grace. How true are the words of an eminent writer on spiritual life, when speaking on this matter: "Just as we have met with people afflicted with an insidious and dangerous disease, who yet refuse to consider themselves so, and who fight against the desire of their friends to summon medical aid; so, one phase of spiritual decline is the attempt to turn aside all suggestions of its presence, although gnawing the vitals of the heart. Then follows the sad admission, extorted as the years go on, that things are not as they were, which is followed by the hopeless conclusion that they cannot be mended."

To such, how welcome are the words of the Good Shepherd, who has at last caused the straying sheep to realize the hopelessness of its own efforts to restore again the joy, nay, the consciousness of favor and companionship once known: "He restoreth my soul." He restored David, he restored Peter, he will restore all his straying sheep. The poet has beautifully expressed the loving tenderness and power of the Great Shepherd to restore the straying sheep, when he says:

"Joy of the desolate, light of the straying.
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure."

DIVINE LESSONS IN REPROVING OTHERS

The one and only place for the straying one to find the restorative grace is at the mercy seat. The Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep, may use many different agencies in bringing the wanderer back to the fold, but there is but one place where the restorative remedies may be applied. It is where the blood has been sprinkled. It is there and only there that remission, restoration is found. The agency used may be an animate or an inanimate one. It may be a hymn, reminding of happy days past. It may be a little word spoken, a book on religious experiences, the- influence of a life, a gentle rebuke, something that softens, something that breaks up and melts the indifference -- the icy coldness, something that humbles the pride and takes away the false shame of confession. As the writer just quoted has said:

"Let those who want to understand the whole philosophy of restoration read the marvelous story of the way the Good Shepherd restored the soul of his erring Apostle. We can only enumerate the stages here. He prayed for him, and warned him. From the midst of the rough crew that did their will on him, 'He turned and looked at Peter' -- not angrily, not harshly, but with the tenderest reproach. He gave a special message to the angels, that they should bid the women summon Peter amid the rest on the resurrection morning, showing how constantly he had been in the Savior's heart all through his sorrows. He met him alone on the world's first Easter day, and permitted him to pour out the story of his sorrow unrestrained by the presence of any beside themselves. He gave him an opportunity of thrice attesting his love, to wipe out the memory of the thrice denial. And this is not more than he will do for any of us.

"O, do not wait for days or weeks to elapse ere you apply to him for restoring grace! But just as you are, dare to trust him to do so now. Whilst the throb of passion is still beating high, and the deed of shame is recent, look up to him, and claim forgiveness first, and in the same breath, ask him to put you back immediately in the very, place which you occupied before you fell. And then, though as yet no answering joy thrills your heart, you will be able to exclaim, in the assurance of faith, 'He restoreth my soul.' Yes, and for those who dare to claim it, there is another promise (one made to Israel of old) still more assuring, which tells us that, 'He will restore the years that the canker worm has eaten,' giving back to us opportunities and privileges which we may have. seemed to forfeit forever."

- R. E. Streeter.

Encouraging Messages

Dear Brethren:

The year is passing cut and I trust it has been to God's people a glorious year in the service of our great Master. No doubt there have been many trials and heartaches, 'but all have worked out for our good and drawn us closer to one another and to our heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Looking back over the past year, and as the new year comes in, may we profit by the experiences of the past, being determined by his grace that our hands will be so filled with Christ and our hearts so occupied and filled with the sweet melody of his voice that we shall have no desire to meddle with the things of this world. So then, as children of light contemplating more deeply, more truly, the vastness of his Gift to us, may we learn a little more of the heart of God as shown in his wondrous love on our behalf. It is the desire of our hearts to acquire a more princely character, more true nobility of spirit toward the saints of God without exception, and be ready to yield ourselves a willing sacrifice in his service.

In this new year let us by the grace of God seek our adornments from Christ, gathering glory, comeliness, and the beauty of true holiness by gazing upon him, having the "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit," which is of priceless value in the sight of God. May the dear Lord increase them an hundred fold.

With this message the writer wishes to express appreciation and thankfulness first to our God and his dear Son for all their mercy and loving kindness manifested in so many ways, also to express appreciation and gratitude for the ministry of the "Herald" and its Board of Directors. May God bless you all and keep you in his love in this new year as you minister in behalf of his people. Sister S and her mother join in sending warm Christian love and greetings.

Your brother by His grace,

T. G. Smith -- Maine.

Gentlemen

During a recent bereavement a kind friend mailed me a copy of your leaflet, "Why Does God Permit Evil?" In this tract hope is given of a life during the Millennial Age, according to my understanding of the tract. I have been under the impression that the earth would be unpopulated and desolate during this thousand-year reign of Christ, when the dead were to be judged, and at the end of the Millennial Age the dead would be raised and finally destroyed. I am therefore interested in learning more about this hope, and am enclosing fifty cents for a copy of the book, "The Divine Plan of the Ages." I would also appreciate the leaflets which I have checked on the attached page, as well as information regarding the meetings held in many towns.

Sincerely,
H. E. W. -- Pa..

Dear Brethren:

Thank you for your kind letter ....Your remarks that the trials we have are peculiarly packed testimonials from the Lord was very helpful to me and to others I have had occasion to speak to. I shall remember this and make good use of it I know... .

Last evening I answered a remark made to me by the son of my grocer, and we talked about the Lord and the Plan of the Ages for three hours, and now this boy, who is about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, Jewish, with no previous real knowledge of the Bible as God's Word, is buying a Bible and would like to read the "Divine Plan of the Ages."

Enclosed you will find my check for four "Divine Plan." All I have are already in use, and I feel that the Lord will send to me more of his sheep, looking for sustaining food.

God bless you and all who are working with you. Pray for me as I do for you.

Your brother by the grace of God,
T. T. -- N. Y.

Dearly Beloved Brethren:

Greetings of joy and peace from our dear heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . The cry of my brethren overseas is forever before me, and as you are in position to know how to send relief, I am enclosing $- that I would like used for them. Not going out to use carfare or other things, and saving a little here and there as the Lord directs, I am able to do a little service, and how glad I am! I pray the Lord's blessing upon the offering . . . .

With Christian love to all,
Your sister by divine grace,
H. A. S. -- Ill.

Annual Meeting of the Institute

Members of the Pastoral Bible Institute are hereby re minded of the privilege; which is theirs of nominating in the pages of this journal the brethren they wish to elect as directors for the fiscal year 1948-1949. While the attention of new members is especially drawn to this matter, we desire to emphasize in the minds of old members also, not only the privilege, but also the responsibility which continued' association with this ministry brings.

All should be aware of the fact that the affairs of this Institute are in the hands of seven brethren who are elected from the Institute's membership to serve for a period of one year or until their successors are elected. The next annual meeting will be held Saturday, June 5, 1948, at 2 p.m., in the parlors of the Institute, 177 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, N. Y.

The brethren whose term of service will expire are

B. F. HOLLISTER
H. E. HOLLISTER
J. C. JORDAN
J. T. READ
P. L. READ
W. J. SIEKMAN
P. E. THOMSON

The brethren named above are pleased to report that a spirit of Christian love and harmony exists in their midst; and they have reason to believe that the Lord has seen fit to bless their association in this ministry. They realize, however, that those carrying on any work often fail to see opportunities for improvement and expansion apparent to others not charged with such responsibility. For this reason changes in office not infrequently have beneficial effects. They desire above all things that the work of the Lord (for the furtherance of which this Institute was formed) be prosecuted with the greatest possible efficiency, and to this end are ready cheerfully to step aside for others whom the membership believe to be fitted for the work. They therefore urge upon all the members of our Institute that they make this a special occasion of prayer, and they also earnestly pray that our Father's will may be expressed in the vote of the members.

If after prayerful meditation any are led of the Lord to nominate brethren, and will forward the names and addresses of such brethren so as to reach this office on or before April 42, 1948, such names will be published in the May issue of the "Herald," that all members may have an opportunity of voting for them.

Recently Deceased

Mrs. C., S. Christensen, Thorsby, Ala. - (January).
Mr. J. S. Boone, Trenton,. N. S., Can. - (February).
Miss M. "A. Bowman, London, Eng. - (February).
Mr. Frank Brown, Midlothian, Scot. - (February).
Mrs. Rosak Powers, Medford, Mass, - (February).

1948 Index