THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom

VOL. XXXIII August 1950 No. 8
Table of Contents

Scholars Confirm Authenticity of Old Testament Manuscripts

Troubled Waters

A Christian's Prayer

The Mind of Christ

Interesting Selections

Encouraging Messages

"He Knoweth the Way"

Recently Deceased

Scholars Confirm Authenticity of Old Testament Manuscripts

From Christian Science Monitor

FROM A CAVE

Washington

Three ancient Hebrew scrolls found in a cave south of Jericho in 1947 and since acclaimed by experts as the great­est single manuscript discovery of modern times, and the most important find ever made in the Holy Land, have been placed on public display in the Library of Congress.

This is the first time that these much publicized documents have ever been shown to the general public anywhere in the world.

Believed to be over 2,000 years old, the three Hebrew scrolls include, among others of the sacred writings, a copy of the complete text of Isaiah.

SIGNIFICANCE HAILED

In announcing the exhibit, the Library of Congress said these ancient relics of Judeo-Christian civilization are exceed­ingly interesting for the light they shed on the text of the Old Testament, the background of the New Testament, and for their contribution to knowledge of Jewish literature and history in the period between the Old and New Testaments.

To the Christian, scholar they are of inestimable value, as even the latest of the new documents is believed to antedate the composition of the earliest book of the Now Testament by a century or more.

Until the chance finding of these scrolls, the Library of Congress said, only a few fragments of the Bible in the orig­inal Hebrew dating from before the ninth century A.D. were known.

The discovery is the more remarkable as it startled and amazed Bible scholars, who for decades believed that there is "no probability that we shall ever find manuscripts of the Hebrew texts going back to a period before the formation of the texts" with which we are now familiar.

The exciting story of their discovery, as told by the Congres­sional librarians, began with a herd grazing in the foothills of the northwest shores of the Dead Sea, south of Jericho, in the neighborhood of Ain Feshkha, in the summer of 1947.

This was in the closing days of the British administration; the area is now claimed by the ruler of Hashemite Jordan.

An unwitting goat, dissatisfied with the parched vegetation of late summer, set out in search of greener pastures and led his leisurely Bedouin goatherd and the goatherd's companion to a small circular opening in a rock face and down the aper­ture to a cave.

EARTHEN JARS SPIED

In the dim light of the cavern's interior the goatherd dis­tinguished large earthen jars standing on the floor. The jars contained eight leather scrolls covered with an ancient script. With the inborn democratic instinct of true sons of the desert, the Bedouin divided the find in two equal shares.

A bit disappointed, perhaps, at not finding the golden trea­sure they expected, the bewildered goatherds made off with their scrolls to dealers of antiquities in Bethlehem.

After much shopping around, one of the finders sold his four manuscripts to the Syrian Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem. The other got in touch with the Hebrew Univer­sity on Mount Scopus which eventually acquired his share.

It soon became known that the more valuable half was bought by the monastery, and it is through the Superior of the monastery, the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Jerusalem and Hashemite Jordan, the Rev. Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, that the three manuscripts will be loaned to the Library of Congress for the exhibit.

FOURTH SCROLL UNROLLED

Unfortunately, the fourth manuscript of the Monastery group requires expert handling before dt can be unrolled and will therefore not be included in the exhibit.

But the most valuable of this group, and, in fact, of all the new scrolls, is the virtually complete scroll of Isaiah, in a very early Hebrew script characteristic of the second century B. C. This scroll is 22 feet long, and is in a state of almost perfect preservation.

The two other manuscripts which will be placed on exhi­bition include about half of a commentary on the first two chapters of Habakkuk, attributed to the first century B. C., and a kind of compendium of the doctrines and practices of a still unidentified Jewish sect from the Maccabean period (165 to 37 B. C.).

The cave in which the Bedouin found the scrolls was care­fully excavated a few months ago by two of the leading au­thorities on the archaeology of Palestine, G. Lankester Hard­ing, chief curator of antiquities in Ube Hashemite Jordan, and Fr. Roland de Vaux, director of the famous French arch­aeological and biblical school in Jerusalem.

NO DOUBT OF ANTIQUITY

The director of the American School of Oriental Research, Prof. O. R. Sellers, an authority on ancient pottery, was also present during the work. The pottery was found to be char­acteristic of the Maccabean Age, before the time of Herod the Great (37 to 4 B. C.).

With this date Prof. W. F. Albright, of Johns Hopkins Uni­versity, outstanding American Semitist and internationally known archaeologist, who has excavated several sites of this period, concurs.

Together with the pottery, Mr. Harding and Fr. de Vaux discovered hundreds of fragments of sheepskin containing similar writing, and some of the pieces proved to fit into the scrolls carried off by the Bedouin.

Dr. H. J. Plenderleith, chief chemist of the British Museum, who has been working on the fragments, declares there can be no possible doubt as to their antiquity.

IN A MUSEUM

By Melita Spraggs

London

British Museum translators, delicately handling frail parch­ment fragments here, are taking their part with scholars in New York and Jerusalem in what has been termed by experts "the most important archaeological discovery in 1,000 years of Bible history."

Experts in the Oriental Department of the museum are piecing together and translating fragments of Old Testament scrolls excavated earlier this year from a cave near the Dead Sea by G. Lankester Harding, chief curator of antiquities of Hashemite Jordan, who recently visited this country.

His thorough excavation of the cave by hand and penknife was the final stage in a series of remarkable discoveries which have brought to light a group of Hebrew texts of Old Testa­ment books, some 1,100 years older than any such texts pre­viously known.

SCRIPT INDICATES AGE

"Scholars working on these parchments have opportunity to test the fidelity of sacred books of the Bible which have pre­served their tradition for 2,000 years," Mr. Harding says.

[British authorities believe that the obscure square Hebrew script in which the Ancient scrolls have been written con­firms their age and authenticity, according to a Reuters dis­patch.

[Though differing little from the present Hebrew alphabet, the script is identified with the remote fourth and third cen­turies before Jesus when the Jews returned from Babylonian and Persian captivity, Reuters said.]

Among these was a roll 22 feet long containing the com­plete Book of Isaiah. It is in almost perfect preservation. Mr. Harding said there was also a commentary on the Book of Habakkuk, a book of ritual of an unknown Jewish sect, and an apocryphal bock.

CAVE EXCAVATED

Three other scrolls required laboratory treatment. Two of these have now been opened and appear to be the book of Enoch in Aramaic (the language of Jesus) and the last third of the Book of Isaiah again.

By 1948 the British administration had withdrawn from Palestine. The Arab-Israeli war raged. It was not until March, 1949, that an official party from the Department of Antiquities of Hashemite Jordan undertook the complete excavation of the cave.

"In view of the importance of the work, and the unfor­tunate secrecy that had been hitherto, maintained," Mr. Hard­ing said, "we invited f1 e collaboration of the node Biblique et Archaeologique Francaise of Jerusalem, and further assist­ance was given by the Palestine Archaeological Museum."

The whole cave was cleared with such care that only pen­knives and fingers were used. The excavations resulted in the, recovery of many hundreds of small fragments of scrolls.

FIVE BOOKS IDENTIFIED

"Books of the Old Testament so far identified from the fragments," Mr. Harding says, "are Genesis, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Judges, and Daniel."

"All the scrolls and most of the fragments are written in the square Hebrew script, not so different from the present Hebrew alphabet," Mr. Harding says, "but from the exca­vation came several fragments in the earlier Phoenician type of script."

The scrolls of which the latter were part must have been written in about the fourth or third century B. C. and can be identified as the Book of Leviticus, he says.

It will be some time before full details and translations of the documents can be produced and scholars are able to assess the full value of the discovery.

RESEARCH INTO SCRIPTURES FURTHERED

New York

Scholars working on the revised standard version of the Bible say they have received a new and valuable opportunity for research as the result of recent Bible manuscript discoveries.

Dr. John C. Trever, director of the department of the Eng­lish Bible for the International Council of Religious Education, with headquarters in Chicago, described the work here recently.

One manuscript in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, is believed to be the lost Book of Lamech, Noah's father. This scroll has never been unrolled, Dr. Trever said, but tentative identification has been made from two fragments which fell, from it.

DIFFERENCES ANALYZED.

Through the study of this and other scrolls found near the Dead Sea in 1947, his group is preparing a now version of the Scriptures, which he hopes will become standard.

One of the scrolls which 'has aided the Bible revision com­mittee, Dr. Trever said, is the oldest Hebrew Copy of Isaiah in existence, dating from about 125 B.C.

The scroll testifies to the substantial accuracy of the Mas­oretic text, used by scholars for centuries, Dr. Trever said. But it includes hundreds of differences of spelling, grammar, and text, which the committee is considering.

Dr. Trever was one of the first to recognize the importance of the Dead Sea manuscripts after a Bedouin goatherd un­earthed them in a cave.

ONLY A PORTION OF TEXTS

The scrolls are only a portion of a vast number of references used by the revision committee, he explained. Another source has been Greek papyrus documents discovered by a surprised native workman in mummified crocodiles near the Nile River.

Meanings of many English words have changed since 1611, when the King James Version of the Bible was issued, he pointed out. In such oases, the revision committee is trying to use words which will mean to modern readers what the words of the King James writers meant to 17th century readers.

He warned that beautiful but misunderstood words "become a symphony instead of a challenging message."

NEW VERSION DUE IN 1952

When the revised standard version of the Old Testament comes out in 1952, a complete new "authorized" version of the Bible will be available, Dr. Trever said. A revised stand­ard version of the New Testament, published in 1946, already is in use in many parts of the United States and Canada.

Authorized by the International Council of Religious Edu­cation in behalf of 40 Protestant denominations associated in it, the new version of the New Testament is only "an" author­ized version, Dr. Trever pointed out.

But so was the King James Version when it first came out, he said. "Only after 50 years and acceptance by the people did it become the authorized version," he said.

MANUSCRIPT JIBES WITH BOOK OF DANIEL

Jerusalem

Portions of an early manuscript of the Book of Daniel have been identified, by the American School of Oriental Research here and compared with the text on which the King James Bible is based. The latter has been found substantially ac­curate.

Spellings of the names of Daniel, Shadradh, Meshach, and Abednego appear in almost identical form in the two texts. Differences between the two elsewhere are largely in orthog­raphy.

Scholars believe the Book of Daniel was completed about 165 B.C. If so, this latest manuscript, discovered in a Dead Sea Cave in 1947, in all likelihood was written no more than 100 years later.

Troubled Waters

"For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in. that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered hint, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."  John 5:4-8.

THIS ACCOUNT may be divided into three fea­tures, that of the healing, that of the waters
of the pool, and that of the man who was healed.

Jesus was in Jerusalem, drawn there to celebrate one of the great annual feasts. In his walking along he carne to the celebrated Pool of Bethesda. There a terrible picture greeted his sight. In the five porches of this pool lay a great number of suffering people, suffering from various diseases, even as one finds in hospitals of today. We can imagine better than describe the extent of the sympathy that Jesus felt for the poor suffering ones lying before him. If such scenes touch our fallen nature, how much more would they touch his great warm heart of love. How his heart must have gone out to those suffering victims of his ruthless adversary Satan, the one who had brought about all the agony of sin and death from Adam's day unto that day when the sick and afflicted crowded those porticoes of the Pool of Beth­esda.

ONLY ONE HEALED

The record would indicate that Jesus healed but ­one on that occasion. Even as during the famine in the days of Elijah there. were many widows in Israel, yet the Prophet was sent only to the widow of Zarephath. As also there were many lepers in Israel and in Syria during the days of Elisha, yet there is recorded but the one case that was healed, that of Naaman the Syrian.

Our Lord at this first advent did not come for the purpose of a general healing of the sick. He calve to lay down his life a ransom for Adam, and through Adam for gall mankind, that each 'of Adam's posterity might in due time be raised :from death. Thus any healing of the sidk, any., raising from the dead, was, intended in a larger sense to be a picture of the heal­ing and of the raising of the dead in the soon coming Millennial Age.

A second purpose of the miracles performed by Jesus was to give to his true followers a demonstra­tion of his great power 'to be made manifest on this earth in the Age when Eden shall bloom and dead men shall live again.

FORESHADOWING OUR LORD'S COMING GLORY

In the Scriptures we are distinctly told that our Lord's miracles manifested beforehand his glory. Thus were they illustrations of the great work of restitution from sin, from sickness, and from death, which our great Redeemer is shortly to accomplish, and in which he lovingly is to grant to his Church of the Gospel Age a share. As his true followers have shared with him in the sufferings of this pres­ent life, so are they to share in the dispensing of the blessings for a world of mankind under the new covenant in the Age soon to come.

The account does not state why Jesus selected this certain man for a demonstration of his power to heal, and of the future work to be accomplished. There is no evidence in the account that he had any more faith in Jesus than the others around him in fact no evidence that he had any faith in Jesus at all. He did not know who Jesus was, and did not learn until after the miracle: "Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he, that was healed wist not who it was; for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multi­tude being in that place." (Ver. 12, 13.) It may be that this an-an during thirty-eight years of affliction had developed considerable penitence for whatever sins he may have committed; and if he had any pride of heart, it may have been dissolved by his bitter experience.

HUMILITY A CHRISTIAN ESSENTIAL

That humility is essential to the Christian is un­doubtedly true during this Gospel Age, in which to certain ones, those who have manifested true re­pentance and true humility of heart, the favor of God has been shown. To this class Jesus said, "Great­er Works than these shall ye do, because I go to my Father." Those words have had fulfillment in this Gospel Age in that it has been a greater Work to open the eyes and. ears of the understanding than to restore sight to the natural eyes, and hearing to the natural ears, a greater work to heal sin-sickness than to heal its type -- natural leprosy. And they are also to have fulfillment: in the Age to come, when his Church associated with Jesus will heal the entire race of Adam -- all those who are willing to be made whole.

At the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus said to the man, "Wilt thou be made whole?" Jesus did not try to force healing upon him, he did not try to coerce him. At no time has man's will been coerced by God, or by any messenger sent by God, for man was made a free moral agent. Any attempt to coerce man's will is a violation of the law of God which he laid down concerning man: "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve" -- not whom your fellow man, or your brother or sister will serve. He or she has that right equally with you or me.

On the Sea of Galilee a great storm had arisen. The thunder rolled and the vivid lightning flashed. The mighty gale swept the ship from billow to billow. In the hold of the ship one was, asleep. It was Jesus. Was he anxious or fearful? Was he concerned over the outcome? No, for he was asleep. Was he not ready to quiet and to still the tempest? Yes, he was. Were his disciples anxious and frightened? Yes, they were sore afraid. Then why did not Jesus act? Why did he not say the wordy He was waiting for some­thing. What was it?

"LORD, SAVE US, WE PERISH"

Yes, he was waiting for his disciples to fully realize their peril and their utter helplessness-their depend­ence upon him for salvation. When the prayer came, then he quickly acted. He rebuked the storm, the wind and the wave. No coercion was necessary when the disciples had reached the proper heart attitude and acknowledged their need. He is ever waiting, ever ready to hear our call. An "ever present help in time of trouble" -- an ever present refuge, in time of storm.

Ah, what a lesson for us today. Are we to force our message, grand and true and sublime though it be, into the minds of a skeptical, unbelieving world? Alt no, there must be no coercion. We can afford to wait, even as Jesus waited in the hold of that ship; for in clue time we too shall hear above the tempest an agon­izing cry. Then shall we speak, and then shall we be heard.

However satanic the present Age may be, even this Age is working .for God's people. Yes, neither the dead forces of the past nor the destroying power of the present can touch as or our message. It is from age to age. We can wait, for the Future is ours. Ah! what a heritage hath God's people!. Greater by far than all the gold of Ophir or the cattle upon a thou­sand hills. And this heritage is not subject to the blowing of every wind, for God's people are not build­ing upon the shifting sands of time, but upon the solid rock of eternity.

It is only for those who answer in the affirmative to the question, "Wouldest thou be made whole" that we are to expend our efforts. For those who do not, we shall wait. Before long the present favor of being made whole will reach its accomplishment in the change of the last member of the Gospel Age Church. Then there will be a house of mercy, not merely for an elect few, but then a house of mercy, a Pool of Bethesda, for all mankind.

Back in the days of the Judges there was a man by the name of Othniel. Also there was a city by the name of Kirjath-Sepher. Othniel .was one of the generals, under the great commander, Caleb. It was the pur­pose of Caleb to take the city of Kirjath-Sepher. Oth­niel volunteered to go against the city, and was vic­torious. The name of the city was then changed to Debir.

The meaning of these three names is very signifi­cant. Othniel in the Hebrew means "strength, pow­er, spirit of God"; Kirjath-Sepher means "city of the book"; while Debir means the "word of God." Think you not when Othniel marched into Kirjath-Sepher and took control of that city, that its citizens were not agitated? that there was not a great stirring, a great agitation among those citizens? Othniel per­formed so complete a work, the city was so revolutionized that its very name was changed. Is there no pic­ture, no lesson in all this? When the Bible becomes a mere book, mere literature, the power, the strength, the spirit, is gone. Its healing property, its potency is gone. It loses its position as the Light-bearer, as the Word of God. Defeat, disaster, humiliation, swift­ly come, and if it is ever to regain its position as the Word of God, then an Othniel -- the spirit, the strength, the power of God must again appear upon the scene, to stir up, to agitate, to infuse his spirit into his Book. But when God's spirit takes hold of that Book, it is then transformed from being mere­ly a book, a gem of literature, to become the Word of God. From its depths comes a stirring, an agita­tion. Again does it become a living, a potent,. a vital­izing power in the hearts and in the lives of God's children, ruling their lives and controlling their thoughts and actions.

The fourth verse of the fifth chapter of John reads: "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."

The Pool of Bethesda was fed by a spring whose un­derground reservoirs served as a trap for certain gases. When these gases sufficiently' accumulated in the res­ervoir, they would force out the water. The flow of water would then become charged with these gases, giving the pool considerable fame, for healing the sick. It was believed by many that an angel came down at certain times to agitate the pool. While we feel sure that such was not the case, yet this: interpolation would do no violence to the picture that we see in this pool. The Pool of Bethesda pictures life­ giving spirit and truth, the saving truth of God which was revealed in and through Christ Jesus. Through­out the Gospel Age the Bible has been on the earth, yet without movement, without agitation. This water, though of truth, cannot wash away that sin-sickness, for which it was given.

We remember the account of the day of Pentecost. What a stirring up, what an agitation. there was as Peter, that great messenger, stood upon his feet, quot­ing from Joel and from David, stirring the waters of truth until men's hearts were stirred and troubled as never before, and in that one day 3,000 were healed of the leprosy of sin.

The footsteps of Jesus no longer echoed at the Pool of Bethesda, but her antitypical waters were troubled and stirred upon that day of Pentecost. How we have rejoiced in our studying of the Acts of the Apostles to read of their journeyings throughout the length and the breadth of the land, as through their ministry the "Lord was adding daily to the Church such as were being saved." Ah, what a movement was there in the spiritual Pool of Bethesda in those glorious days before the Apostles fell asleep, in those glorious days when everywhere voices were heard asking, "What must I do to be saved?"

Then the movement little by little subsided. For a long period the waters were quiet, finally becoming stagnant. And stagnant would they have remained had it not been for the faithful angels or messengers down through the Gospel Age, who each in his turn stepped into the spiritual Pool of Bethesda, troubling, stirring up and agitating the waters of this life-giving pool, and being controlled by an Othniel -- by the pow­er and spirit of God -- have turned a Kirjath-Sepher into a Debir, have transformed a book, the Bible, in­to the Word of God.

Living waters, must in the nature of things living, be moving, flowing waters; waters pulsating with life, not some thick and lazy stream without waves, with­out ripple, like the sluggish waters of the Dead Sea. Spurious movements started by self-seeking men, may produce some slight ripples by labors and exertion, but do not carry far. Some near-sighted, spiritually, may step in, not observing how the movement was brought about, thinking spiritual health would be re­gained, only to became disappointed and even to the losing of faith in the water itself.

Whenever movement or agitation is brought about by arrogant, heady, self willed men for the purpose of gaining ascendancy over their friends of the house­hold of faith, great confusion and unrest is the result. Exaltation of such leaders brings corruption, disap­pointment, and heart-ache among those deceived by such leaders. So often has this taken place during the Gospel Age, that it behooves the Lord's people to be continually on guard.

Now may we draw the circle of prophetic fulfillment a little closer. We have seen in the healing, first a picture of the healing from sin of the Lord's true fol­lowers during this Age, and the work of the coming Age; second, we have seen in the water of the pool a picture of the movements in the Church of the Gos­pel Age brought about by the faithful messengers raised up by God. Now may we look at the sick man himself, the man who lay in one of the porticoes by the Pool of Bethesda. We read that he had been sick for a period of thirty-eight years. We also read that he had never been able to first step into the pool after the waters had become troubled. Jesus seeing him there and knowing that he had been sick a long time, asked him, "Do you wish to be healed?" "Wilt thou be made whole?" The man replied that he had no one to put him into the pool when the water was troubled. Others would crowd in ahead of him. Evidently the others had friends interested in their welfare, whereas he had none. Why did Jesus select this particular one for healing? It may have been that this man provided a picture that the Lord could use as an illustration that none of the others would pro­vide.

We note that this man had been on his bed for thirty-eight years. Is this-without significance? This man seems to represent the nation of Israel, soon to be healed and restored. From the time that bondage descended upon Israel as a people after the death of Joseph, until the Congress of Berlin, presided over by Disraeli, a Jew, when Jewish hopes and aspirations showed first signs of returning life and vitality, ap­proximately thirty-eight centuries had elapsed-thir­ty-eight centuries during which the sickness of Israel had grown worse and worse; thirty-eight centuries during which Israel had been waiting for the coming of Messiah; thirty-eight centuries waiting for the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise.

MIRACLE OF THE CENTURIES

What had Israel been doing these thirty-eight cen­turies? In the symbolic language of the Scriptures, a bed is ofttimes used to picture a condition of faith. Thus during her long centuries of waiting, true Israel has been resting upon a bed of faith -- faith in the Abrahamic promise, faith in Moses and in his promise to them, faith in the Law, and faith in a coming Messiah or Deliverer. And Israel still rests upon that bed of faith even though centuries and centuries of bitter persecution have swept with hurri­cane force across her history as a people. But she has never been destroyed. What a miracle of the cen­turies she has been! One of the greatest miracles recorded was that of the burning bush that Moses saw in the desert, great not alone in itself, but tran­scendingly greater by reason of picturing that great miracle of a nation passing through a continual fire, a fire of terrible persecution, but never being con­sumed. Even as the bush continued to burn and burn but was not consumed because God was in that bush, so has Israel continued to burn through all these many centuries, but has never been con­sumed because God has been in her and with her.

Also in the case of the divinely sent awakening movements in the spiritual Pool of Bethesda, which from time to time have appeared among Gentile peoples, Israel has always been laid aside. They have been shackled to their bed of faith. They have been unable to be drawn into these quickening move­ments of the holy spirit. The tremendous reforma­tion movements in Europe a few centuries ago, shook the entire world but passed Israel by. The eccle­siastical heavens, even the political world of that day, was torn asunder by it, but Israel was not af­fected.

But now we see Jesus with stately steppings com­ing to Israel. We hear him say, "Arise, take up thy bed and walk." Thus will the nation of Israel be healed; thus will they arise; thus will they walk. This man may take his bed with him. Yes, he is to take up his bed. He is, not to leave it; he is to go away with it. Is this without significance? Is he not cured? What now does he want with his bed? Well he is now to use his bed as others do. They lie down at night and rest upon them. But he is no longer shackled to his bed; he takes it with him. Israel when healed and restored is by no means to renounce their Jewish faith or their national cus­toms. They are by no means to cease being Jews; for when all Israel is healed, there' will be no Gentile Church for them to join. The Church of the Gospel Age will be gone from this earth. Israel will be no longer shackled to the Law, for they will have found freedom in Christ. To them the Law will then be magnified. Its limitations will be broken. Their Sabbath will then be the Age of Christ's Kingdom, and it will be during that day that they will take their place.

"The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk." Those scribes and Pharisees denied the man who had been healed his newly won freedom. In their opinion his cure had come about out of season, too soon. This man should still be on his bed. He should still be suffering, still shackled to his bed. Thirty-eight years was not enough. Thus we hear some today say that a Jewish Christian movement is premature. Israel should still be in bondage to the Law. Thirty-eight centuries is not enough. The­ology says, "No, Israel, it is not time for you to be healed. But if you must be healed now, then you must join some organization, some sect, some group, but on no account must you carry your bed around with you, for you must break with all things Jewish, with your customs. You must renounce all of this.

But Israel replies: The same one who made me whole said unto me, "Take up thy bed, and walk," and this was as much a command as was his command for me to arise. You must admit that I should obey the command of the One who gave me life and health, and that is what I intend to do. The scribes and Pharisees asked the man who was healed: "What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk"? And thus today hypothetically speaking, we hear religionists ask, "By whom were you cured? Was it by Catholicism? Was it by Protestantism, or was it by this group, or was it by that group? Which group do you intend to join? It must be one of them, for you most surely cannot stand aloof. It may be that you will have to leave those with whom you are associating, for you should know that 'There is none other, under heaven or among men' with whom you can be saved, but with our organization, with our group."

But Israel will not understand such questions. They may not even be slightly interested. They will probably reply, Denomination? organization? group? I really do not know what that means, for I did not ask who it was who healed me. In Isaiah 25:9 we read Israel's reply: "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."

In May of last year was born a new nation, in the land of Palestine, the name that she chose was the glorious name of Israel. Soon her severest trouble will burst upon her, with the greatest fury this earth has ever known. But Israel she is, and Israel she shall continue to be, and when God rises to the prey, when he performs his strange act, his mighty act, and Messiah takes over, her troubles will cease, for God has foretold that "in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed . . . and it shall stand for­ever." Soon shall a cry of contrition burst from the lips of Israel. For these many centuries she has been an alien in the Gentile nations. She has wandered far front her home in Palestine. She has wandered over the Gentile mountains and they have been cold and cruel to her. But. soon, by the mil­lions God will re,,rtore her to his fold in Palestine. And as we strain our ears, from ,out the din of her trouble, we soon shall hear her agonizing plea:

"Thou wilt not spurn contrition's broken sigh,
Come, treat Messiah, come;
Oh hear my prayer, and heed my humble cry,
Come, great Messiah, come:
I've wandered far away o'er mountains cold,
I've wandered far away from home.
Oh take me now and bring me to Thy fold
Come, great Messiah, come."

Jesus said unto the man, "Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him -- Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

- H. V. Warren.

A Christian's Prayer

Father, take the life Thou gayest,
Cleanse and purify, refine;
Patient, trusted, tried, unselfish,
Shape it more and more like Thine.
Make me watchful, thoughtful, careful
Always of the little things;
Keep me loving, sweet and helpful,
Give the joy Thy presence brings,
In Thy loving kindness lead me,
Let me live as in Thy sight;
What in confidence Thou givest,
Help me, Lord, to use it right.
Take my little, bless, increase it,
Break the bread of life through me,
May the fragments not be wasted­ --
All the praise belongs to Thee.

- After Edith L. Mapes.

The Mind of Christ

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."-.Phil. 2:5.

SINCE HUMAN heads cannot contain both the mind of the flesh and the mind of Christ, it is a thing of primary importance that we shall be figuratively "put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit." With pus the process is ordinarily not one of a few days, but a painful one extending over many years. The gradual and almost imperceptible changes are well illustrated by the story of Michael Angelo standing before a block of marble and solilo­quizing regarding the angel his imagination saw im­prisoned there. The marble must fall away bit by bit until the loveliness of the angel stands forth re­vealed to all.

One of the Pilgrims of a former day, Brother Sulli­van, used to impress the painfulness of the process by suggesting, "It would not be at all painful if the victim were stood up against a stone wall, and shot. It is being nibbled to death by the minnies that hurts." Only by joyfully, submitting to this process, rejoicing in hope," "counting it all joy," can we be made "alive  Unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ." As we endeavored to show in a previous article, this is not a thing that can be accomplished through human powers alone. Man's ingenuity may produce marvelous things, even a hydrogen bomb, but never a "new creature in Christ Jesus." That growth is a transformation resulting from a close and intimate knowledge of God, a daily, hourly asso­ciation with him. Those who have this experience can honestly say, "Truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son." One of the simplest of fundamental truths is this, that an intimate knowl­edge of our God and his beloved Son is essential for the attaining of eternal life. Even a falling into sin on the part of some Corinthian brethren, Paul seems to blame on the lack of this knowledge. "Awake to righteousness and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame."

A revelation, or even a statement from the Scrip­tures, is not necessary to assure us that no human power can comprehend all the wonders of an eternal, all-wise God. Either of those adjectives --eternal, or all wise -- is beyond our comprehension, and leaves our faculties staggering. No human mind can grapple for either end of eternity without a realization of ut­ter helplessness. Nor can we come any nearer com­prehending a wisdom as unlimited as his existence. To be given a perfect brain at the time of our con­secration might seem a very desirable arrangement, but it was. not the Lord's method; for the next mo­ment when we tried out our brain, we found it just as capable of thinking selfish, fleshly thoughts as formerly. Then the new will said to it, You must not do that. I made a consecration to the Lord, and I gave you to him along with all other powers of my body. From now on you are to think under the guid­ance of my new, my glorified Head, think only such thoughts, as he approves. From that time the habits formed during the years when the flesh was in control had to be fought against and overcome. One living in the country where there is a mud lane leading out to the surfaced road finds deep ruts are formed in the rain-softened dirt. The freeze of the winter days makes these permanent. Driving a cart down the lane after. that, one finds it impossible to keep Out of the ruts; but it is not impossible to pull out. The reins are for just such purposes as that. Prompt­ly upon the making of a consecration we learn that the ruts are deep indeed in our brain; some scientists even claiming that we have some of them at birth, ruts inherited from our ancestors. "If so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus, pat 'ye- away, as concerning your, former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth cor­rupt after the lusts of deceit; and be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man,, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Eph. 4:21-24.) Let us keep our hand on the reins and pull promptly when we feel ourselves dropping into one of the old ruts.

A NEW BRAIN, OR THE SPIRIT OF NEWNESS?

The Apostle Paul was not exaggerating 'when he wrote, "If any man thinketh that he knoweth any­thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." The Cambridge Bible comments on this passage: "If a man thinks he has attained any true knowledge [through the operation of his imperfect brain], he has not yet begun to know in the way in which knowledge ought to be gained." Additionally, the, Greek indicates that the thing which he lacks is a personal knowledge. Though he may have, had the most excellent of teachers, and may have acquired, all the facts they had to impart, he still is lacking the essential knowledge, that knowledge which can never puff up, for it gives a personal, acquaintance with the One in whose presence the attainments o1 true learners all shrink to nothingness: In the Father's presence even the only begotten Son, the undefiled One, he who was altogether lovely, could say only, "There is none good save One." -Luke 18:19.

One sometimes wonders if humility is in the college curriculum of today. Was it that a college education was different in Paul's day, or was he different? He came forth with his faith in God intact, and with none in self. But perhaps all the credit should go to his post-graduate course at the feet of Jesus. There, if there was any conceit in him, the last of it was removed. How humble, his testimony: "We are not sufficient of ourselves to think [Diaglott: "reason"] anything of ourselves." (2 Cor. 3:5.)  To learn this fact is essential to one who honestly wishes to be per­fected as a new creature; but not very consoling to the Bible Student who thinks he can think. Nor do the modern critical translations: or the lexicons give him any comfort. Paul; however, closes the verse with a phrase that inspires boundless hope: "But God is our sufficiency"; God has supplied our deficiency, has rendered us competent. Elsewhere he is more explicit regarding our deficiencies and God's provi­sion for us. As for instance in 2 Timothy 1:7, where he tells us we may have "the spirit of a sound mind."

THE MIND OF CHRIST - A SOUND MIND

The phrase "spirit of" in the above and a number of other passages seems to the writer to have a force that is easily overlooked. In each instance it applies to things we do not as yet experience in their com­pleteness, but may some day. The phrase, "spirit of life," is used in Romans 8:2 regarding those who do not have life-those who are dying creatures-but have a hope of life. The "spirit of life" reveals itself in our conversation, our activities, our fellowships, our treasures, and our hopes. Similarly, ours is "the spirit of adoption," for this is the time of our probation. Our calling and election must be made sure before the adoption can be complete. Also even now, though only the most meager details of the new covenant have as yet been revealed to us, we minister the "spirit" of the new covenant, as says the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 3:6); and for the same reason, since now we "know in part," ours is "the spirit of the truth." When "we know even as we are known," the spirit will have guid­ed us "into all truth."

But to come back to our original phrase: for the time being, we have the "spirit of a sound mind." In the phrase we have not only an intimation -- and a warning -- of the unsoundness of our present efforts at thinking, but also in view of the use of the phrase in other Scriptures, we have a clear prediction of that day when our minds will unerringly work in full har­mony with his.

Associated with the spirit of a sound mind is the spirit of power and of love -- two more blessings we hope to have in full measure when his benediction has been heard: "Well done, good and faithful ser­vant; enter thou into the joys of thy Lord." In each instance when our Master is quoted as speaking of the "spirit of truth," he actually said: "the spirit of the truth," "the spirit of the not hidden"-literal ren­dering. The "all truth" that is promised, and is to be ours beyond the veil, is for those who in this pres­ent life manifest the spirit of the truth in thought, word, and deed. These heed the Apostle's advice and "learn not to think above that which is written." (1 Cor. 4:6.) If that spirit of truth is our spirit, it should in many instances have the effect of modifying the spirit of our neighbors, and should most assuredly have much effect upon the brethren the Lord has giv­en us.

There are great possibilities of blessing in .the life where reigns the spirit of truth, of power, of love, of a sound mind, of meekness, of righteousness, of life. But it is not always necessarily correct to place all the blame on a brother when one finds difficulty in hav­ing spiritual fellowship with him. The difficulty might be in ourselves. A stranger, making a purchase in a neighborhood grocery store, inquired of the proprie­tor as to what the people were like in the community. Instead of answering directly, the grocer inquired, "What kind of neighbors were those you left?" On being told that they were "the finest kind of people," the grocer assured him that he would find the same kind in his new surroundings. Presently another stranger came in with the same question and was an­swered in the same fashion. But this stranger testi­fied to having had very undesirable neighbors-"peo­ple that no one could get along with." The grocer, wisely advised him that he would find the same kind in that neighborhood. One hears of brethren who   are both blessed and a blessing everywhere they go, and also of some who have trouble in every Class. The blame for the trouble need not all be placed on­ these newcomers; but it would be wise for them to inquire whether they found the trouble or brought it. Ours can be lives of true benediction only if we carry the "spirit of the truth" wherever we go, in our business, in our pleasures, in the Church, and in the world -- thus being faithful ministers of the spirit of the new covenant.

"O glorious hope of heavenly love!
It lifts me up to things above;
It bears on eagle wings;
It gives my joyful soul a taste,
And makes me, even here, to feast
With Jesus' priests and kings."

Brother Paul was quoted above as saying that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything of  ourselves; but may it be that he was not thinking of people with good and educated brains like his own? Fortunately he answers the question for us: "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing" --except one wonderful brain (?). He makes no such exception, but counts his brain in as similar to ours, in that it is not to be trusted. How different the history of the past two thousand years would have been, as well as recent ones, if no Christian had ever trusted the working of his own brain for the finding out of hidden truths; if no consecration had ever contained the reservation: "Provided I may use my brain to suit myself." God has graciously revealed much regarding himself and his plans, and those things belong unto us; but all else, he has intimated, belongs to him, and it is there­fore not only foolish but disrespectful to him for us to endeavor to "find out" the unrevealed. "His ways are past finding out." - Rom. 11:33.

The natural mind thinks what a helpful condition it would have been if every Christian had a perfect brain and all thought alike, and there were never any occasion of division among us. Like all other reason­ing this falls far short of God's loving and wise PUT   pose for us. He knows that pride is our worst enemy ­and will cause eternal ruin, as it will for Satan, unless it is eradicated. Therefore, "We have the sentence of death in ourselves, in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead." (2 Cor. 1:9.) The arrangement is very inconvenient in some respects, we will agree, but what a pity it would be if we were to endure that inconvenience for a lifetime and not receive the benefit that can be derived from it. Shall we not learn "not to think be­yond what we ought to think; but to think so as to be sober-minded." (Rom. 12:3.) When we have a dizzy spell, we keep off the street, for we would not like any one to think we are intoxicated. But are we always as careful about the vastly more important thing of conducting ourselves so those who have "the spirit of a sound mind" will think of us as being "sober-mind­ed?" There is only one means of attaining the reality to have the "mind of Christ." Not to have that, is to risk the condemnation that comes from the pen of Solomon: "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceits? There is more hope of a fool than of him." (Prov. 26:12.) Paul had this in mind when he tried to teach his pupils to learn not to go beyond the things which are written: "that no one of you be puffed up for one against another." (1 Cor. 4:6.) He knew, however, that "there must be sects [margin] among us, that they which are approved may be made manifest." Selah.

Paul does not recommend greater care for his pupils than he exercised himself; but assures us that it is his practice to bring every spiritual implement to bear on the foes of the new creature, and he evidently con­siders this mistake of thinking we can think, as one of the most dangerous of our enemies. He therefore speaks of "casting down reasonings [Diaglott, English­man's Greek N. T., margin of the Authorized, etc.] and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." (2 Cor. 10:5.) Threatened with an outcome such as that, surely any sound mind must immediately determine to "cast down reasonings." When we hear a brother claim, "I do my own think­ing," ewe always hope he really means, "I endeavor to let God do my thinking for me, and use my brain to the best of Amy ability to determine what his thought is."

Some have thought it an excellent method of Bible study to collect all the Scriptures on some controver­sial subject and place the texts in two columns, one column given to each side of the subject. When asked what they do next, the fallacy of the method is re­vealed; for the answer usually is, "Oh, I like the Scrip­tures best that are in this column, so I have accepted that view-and that almost invariably is the view they held before starting the investigation. The method must be utterly undependable as a means of arriving at truth, because the final conclusion is left to a fal­lible human brain. Any one should know that God's thoughts can never be divided into two contradictory columns. Until all the texts fall, without straining, in­to the one column, one does not have God's thoughts. "If they speak not [and study not] in harmony with this Word, there is no truth [margin: morning] in them." When we live in harmony with the truths we have thus learned, then will we have the "mind of Christ" in the most important, the essential sense.

Recognizing the impossibility of combining our imperfect thoughts with God's, and that we can hope to know God only by knowing his thoughts, one would expect to find all sincere Bible students studiously avoiding every thought of his own or that of any other person, knowing that no human brain can compete with Jehovah's perfect thinking.   Yet in some quarters it appears to be considered a virtue to go violently contrary to, Paul's example of "casting down imaginations." (2, Cot. 10:5.) (The Greek word here translated imaginations is the word better trans­lated "reasonings" in 2 Cor. 3:5.) Note that "The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise that they are vain." (1 Cor. 3:20.) Since that is the Lord's opinion of the working of the brains of the wise men of the world, what must be his appraisal of the best performances of our little brain. When Bible student imaginations are given free rein, it is for the purpose of discovering things that are not revealed in the inspired Word. And this is brazen effrontery if that one remembers that "secret things belong to the Lord; things that are revealed belong unto us." (Deut. 29:29.) No one lifetime has ever been long enough to appropriate all that the Lord has revealed. Perhaps we can safely label as plain laziness the preference for the easier method of guessing, the method of using one's imag­ination, instead of the divinely prescribed one of searching the Word.

A "love of truth" is one of the present day tests on the Lord's people; and a love for any one's guesses indicates a complete failure under that test. The Apostle indicates that the outcome will be a failure to attain eternal life; for it can be had only through knowing God. (John 17:3.) A dependence upon reasonings, he lists among the "high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God." The knowledge of God referred to here is probably not a knowledge regarding God, but the knowledge which God imparts. That is given that one may know God. Placing our dependence on reasonings, our own or those of other people, may then have the disastrous result of loss of all hope. The reason is very appar­ent. There can be no place in this universe for one who sets himself up above God by refusing to be in submission to his arrangements.

"COME LET US REASON"

Are we not forge Lug that it is by God's own invi­tation that we arrive at truth by the process of reason­ing? Can we not feel free to go as far as we please with our reasonings since he has said, "Come now, and let us reason together"? This text is a good illustration as to what eternal hazards our new crea­ture existence may be facing by permitting one slight alteration in a phrase of the spirit's illumination. He does not say, "Come, you reason," but "Come, let us reason." Then be sure to leave the word "to­gether in the text, and it is very apparent just what part our brains have in the process. However, to make sure it is clear, perhaps we should have an il­lustration. Suppose some little college professor -- Professor Einstein will do for the illustration -- should say to one of us, "Come, let us reason together." Would we say: "Yes, Professor, I will be delighted. I have quite an array of suggestions I will be delighted to make to you"? On the contrary, our lips would be effectively sealed in his presence, unless it would be to say, "Please go slow, Professor, so I can keep up with you." How strange that the "wisdom" that is "foolishness with God" should so effectively silence us, and we still have so much to say in God's presence.

Reason together with God, "search the Scriptures daily," watch intently that we have neither left out a thought from any phrase nor added anything to it, apply all our feeble reasoning faculties to the task of securing and fully agreeing with every item of God's reasonings, and then arise from the study determined that every principle we have found as the guiding principle of our heavenly Father shall be so faithfully lived that it will become a very part of ourselves­ and we have demonstrated overcoming faith. When we read, "He is righteous" (1 John 3:7), our reason tells us that to be like him we also must be righteous; not with the righteousness of the hypocrite who cares more for the opinion of men than for the opinion of God; but the righteousness that cannot be swerved the veriest trifle from its firm stand for principle what­ever may be the contradiction of sinners against it,  however plausible may sound the reasonings of "the wisdom of this world." When we read, "God is love," and that the greatest manifestation of his love for us was in the sending of his Son to die for us (1 John 3:16; 4:8), we reason with the beloved disciple that we must learn to lay down our lives for others that godlikeness may be complete in us; must minister to others instead of wishing to be ministered unto, if we would be like the One who was the Father's su­preme manifestation to men; must seek not our com­fort, but the Father's glory if ever men are to say of us, "If you have seen him, you have seen the Father." Probably it will never be said, but it should be true to just the extent it is possible to manifest godlike­ness in fallen flesh.

A SEEMING CONTRADICTION

There is an apparent discrepancy between the text that heads this article, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," and the Apostle's compliment paid the brethren at Corinth. "We have the mind of Christ." As we would have expected to hear him exhorting the unfaithful, contentious Cor­inthians to be striving for the mind of Christ, and congratulating the well developed brethren at Philippi on the fact that they had that mind. The explanation is of course found in the fact that the word "mind" is translated from two Greek words. The Corinthian brethren were in possession of the intellectual appreciation that, guided by the spirit of the Lord, could discriminate between heathen and Christian theories, and rejoice in the beauties of the "Divine Plan of the Ages."

We cannot be sure that we know all that was in the Apostle's mind in choosing the word he did in exhorting our Philippian brethren to follow the Lord's example of humility. That word is one of the physical terms the Greeks used figuratively of a senti­ment, of which "heart" is the best known example. From a verb that means "to rein in or curb," they formed the name of the midriff or diaphragm, that largest muscle in the body that acts as a partition, with the heart and lungs on one side and the lower organs on the other. Then from that noun a verb was formed to express, literally, the exercise of the diaphragm; and, figuratively, "to exercise the mind, i.e., entertain or have a sentiment or opinion, to be mentally disposed more or less earnestly in a certain direction." In following Jesus as our example, we follow the One who above all others made a com­plete and continuous separation between the higher and the lower sentiments, One who breathed always of the heavenly atmosphere and whose heart was always "set on things above," and who gave to this process the "all diligence" enjoined upon us by Peter. Possibly it would not be wise to suppose that Paul had in mind the etymology of the word when using it, but it will be profitable for us to make our separation between higher and lower thoughts as definite as Paul and Jesus did, as definite as the di­vision nature placed between our higher and lower organs. And we can be reminded by every deep breath that we must be earnestly exercised in spir­itual sentiments. Let this rein, this curb, be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Keep out of the old ruts.

"It takes great strength to train
To modern service your ancestral brain;
To lift the weight of the unnumbered years
Of dead men's habits, methods and ideas;
To hold that back with one 'hand, and support
With the other the weak steps of new resolve!
It takes great strength to bring your life up square
With your accepted thought, and hold it there,
Resisting the inertia that drags back
From new attempts to old habit's track.
It is so easy to drift back-to sink­
So hard to live abreast of what you think.

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah [to the mightiest intellect as well as to our feeble ones]. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." But by consecrating our brains to the Lord to be wholly his, we can have God's thoughts, and by their transforming power be changed into his likeness. Give our all to this privilege and we can sing with assurance:

"When on Thine own image in me Then hast smiled,
Within Thy blest mansion, and when
The arms of my Father encircle His child,
O! I shall be satisfied then."

- P. E. Thomson.

Interesting Selections

"And the evening and the morning were the first day." - Genesis 1:5.

The evening was "darkness" and the morning was "light," and yet the two together are called by the name that is given to the light alone! This is somewhat remarkable, but it has an exact analogy in spiritual experience. In every be­liever there is darkness and light, and yet be is not to be named a sinner because there is sin in him, but he is to be named a saint because he possesses some degree of holiness. This will be a most comforting thought to those who are mourning their infirmities, and who ask, "Can I be a child of God while there is so much darkness in me?" "Yes; for you, like the day, take not your name from the evening, but from the morning; and you are spoken of in the Word of God as if you were even now perfectly holy as you will be soon. You are called the child of light, though there is dark­ness in you still. You are named after what is the predom­inating quality in the sight of God, which will one day be the only principle remaining.

Observe that the evening comes first. Naturally we are darkness first in order of time, and the gloom is often first in our mournful apprehension, driving us to cry out in deep humiliation, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." The place of the morning is second, it dawns when grace overcomes nature. It is a blessed aphorism of John Bunyan, "That which is last, lasts for ever." That which is first, yields in due season to the last; but nothing comes after the last. So that though you are naturally darkness, when once you be­come light in the Lord, there is no evening to follow; "thy sun shall no more go down." The first day in this life is an evening and a morning; but the second day, when we shall be with God forever, shall be a day with no evening, but one, sacred, high, eternal noon.

"That those things which cannot be shaken may remain." - Hebrews 12:27.

We have many things in our possession at the present mo­ment which can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man to set much store by them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet, we have certain "things which cannot be shaken," and I invite you to think of them, that if the things which can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real com­fort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain. Whatever your losses 'have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation. You are standing at the foot of his cross, trusting alone in the merit of Jesus' precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies car, touch that. Then you are a child of God, God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Although .by losses brought to poverty, and stripped bare, you can say, "He is my Father still. In my Father's house are many man­sions; therefore will I not be troubled." You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He loves you with all the strength of his affectionate nature, nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may cease from the field, it matters not to the man who can sing, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose. Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not such little children as to be cast down by what may happen in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel's land, our hope is above the sky, and, therefore, calm as the summer's ocean; we will see the wreck of every­thing earthborn, and, yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.

"And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them." - John 17:22.

Behold the superlative liberality of the Lord Jesus, for he hath given us his all. Although a tithe of his possessions would have made a universe of angels rich beyond all thought, yet was he not content until he had given us all that he had. It would have been surprising grace if he had allowed us to eat the crumbs of his bounty beneath the table of his mercy; but he will do nothing by halves. He makes us sit with him and share the feast. Had he given us some small pension from his royal coffers, we should have had cause to love him eternally; but no, he will have 'his bride as rich as himself, and he will not have a glory or a grace in which shall not share. He has not been content with less than making us joint heirs with himself, so that we might have equal possessions.

- C. H. Spurgeon.

Questions by George Sylvester Vierect to Einstein

"To what extent are you influenced by Christianity?"

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the lumi­nous figure of the Nazarene."

"Have you read Emil Ludwig's Jesus?"

"Emil Ludwig's Jesus," Einstein replied, "is shallow. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrase mongers, however art­ful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot."

"You accept the historical existence of Jesus?"

"Unquestionably. No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. How dif­ferent, for instance, is the impression which we receive from an account of legendary heroes of antiquity like Theseus. Theseus and other heroes of his type lack the authentic vital­ity of Jesus."

God's Plan Life's Ideal

People sometimes sentimentalize over the constant changes and thwartings of plans and the disappointments of life. They grow morbid over them, and sigh, "Vanity of vanities!" Or they ask, "Why is the Lord dealing so sorely with me?" The success or nonsuccess of our earthly plans is of very little consequence in comparison with the building up of Christ­likeness in our souls. Do not be surprised if you fail to have your own way at many a point. God would teach you that true success lies in the doing of his will, not your own, and the realizing of his plan for your life, not your plan.

Encouraging Messages

Dear Brethren:

If the Lord questioned, "Cant thou bind the sweet in­fluences of. Pleiades?" (Job 38:31), in a lesser way we may ask, "Can we bind the sweet influences of the recent Brook­lyn convention?" --knowing all who were there would answer fervently, "Impossible"! The growing tenderness, the mellow richness of the ripened fruit clustered so abundantly on the Vine, and revealed in the discourses throughout the week­end won a heartfelt prayer of gratitude to our Father. "Of such is the Kingdom of heaven."

The Chairman on Saturday gave us a keynote as he em­phasized the text, "This is the will of God [concerning you] even your sanctification. The "Call of the Bride" reminded us of the work of the holy spirit in revealing Christ, impart­ing power and transforming us until we meet our Isaac to be forevermore with him. Then followed a discourse of five sources of joy as we travel through this wilderness-joy in prayer, in suffering, in fellowship, in sacrifice, and above all in the Lord himself.

Sunday morning we 'had field before our vision that ripe fruit of "Patience," the last to develop. We were urged to consider Jesus in all the manifestations of patience he dis­played, and that "even hereunto were we called" to "fol­low in his steps." It must be painstakingly developed, for it is not a gift but an outgrowth. St. Paul calls it a climacteric grace. - 2 Tim. 3:10; Titus 2:2. May patience have her perfect work in us is, our prayer. A beautiful dress ­none better. Let us adorn it.

Other speakers followed, so that our cup runneth over.. . Not only tolerance was emphasized, but what is far better­ unity in diversity. May this rich food find reception in our hearts and bring forth the fruit of obedience. Warmest greet­ings and many thanks.

In Him,
Mrs. O. D. A. -- Mass.

Beloved Brethren in Christ:

The peace of God, our heavenly Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers."­ - 1 Pet. 3:12.

Recently we received from the dear brethren in Kirch­lengern (Westph) a few volumes of "Scripture Studies" of Brother Russell's which you, dear brethren, had sent .there previously. We thank you from our hearts many times, and may the Lord bless you richly for your love, which you thereby have shown to us, making it again possible for us to study more intensely in the Word of God. We missed the volumes of Brother Russell's very much during the last few years, for when we were forced to move from Poland, we could not take any baggage with us, and as spiritual food I could save my Bible only. Upon inquiry among the German brethren the answer was, There are no volumes. This is easy to understand, for during the war the brethren lost much that was useful to them.

For us, dear brethren in the Lord, it is a great joy to be in correspondence with you who live upon another part of our earth. By your deeds of love you have done much good. We are all one family through the merit of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, and by the bond of love. Are we not his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God bath before ordained that we should walk in them"? (Eph. 2:10.) "We love him because he first loved ms." (1 John 4:19.) Yesterday's Manna text (March 16th) says: "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren, . . . we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 4:13, 16.) Love for the brethren is one of the most decisive and thorough tests 'for God's people, especially in our time, in which the Adver­sary is at work sowing great errors. But if we seek to be near the Lord in childlike simplicity and humbleness, we need fear nothing, and we will never fall; for it is the Lord who teaches those who are his, and if we accept his teach­ing, we have always the correct way before us. The zeal to learn should never diminish, (but should increase, then we will also increase in the fruits of the spirit of God, and ripen as fruits of the Vine of the Lord, and finally may be harvested. To reach this goal is our most glorious prospect, and our one desire that the merciful heavenly Father and his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, may grant us further grace and strength to accomplish this.

"Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, ye shall never fall." - 2 Pet. 1:10.

We greet you heartily in the love of Jesus.

Your very humble brethren in Christ,
H. and L. K. -- Germany.

Dear Brethren:

It was with the usual joyful anticipation that I opened the May copy of the "Herald of Christ's Kingdom," now to hand. . . . I most sincerely apologize for the lapse of our subscription, but the fact is, I did not realize that our year was up. . .

We would like you to know that we here in Dublin find the "Herald" a great spiritual help. Many times it has hap­pened that we have been discussing something which we found difficult to get clear, and in the next copy of the "Herald" there it was, explained so cleanly and spiritually. For example, we have very recently been discussing the sen­tence, "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bod­ily," and we did arrive at certain conclusions, but we felt very tentative 'about them. Well, Sister of our Class got her "Herald" first, and she brought it along. "Look," she said, and showed us the article, "The Mystery of Christ." There it all was. Well, we said it was strange, but it seemed ,to us that the spirit was there, uniting us all to our Head, who knows all our needs, and supplies them even before we think of asking. To think that that particular need was answered from America to Dublin without a word being spoken, is surely a proof of our oneness in Him.

Now I again apologize for the lapse, and assure you that it would never be from choice that we would give up read­ing the "Herald," and thank you for all the help we have received from its pages.

Yours by his grace,
Mrs. A. D. -- Ire.

Dearly Beloved in Christ:

I've been wondering if there might not be other friends of the Truth located in Iowa and southern Minnesota. We are situated very near the border of North Central, Iowa, and would like to contact such people, if it could be.

I am not unmindful of the Apostle's exhortation, "Neglect not the assembling of yourselves," "exhorting one another," etc., and cannot believe it is God's will for us to continue indefinitely without such fellowship, and especially as I real­ize increasingly our need. There is so much I do not under­stand, and if these questions cannot be answered, it would be a comfort at least to know others, are interested in the same problems, and yet seeking.

A brother recently sent me a 1913 I. B. S. A. Convention Report which I have found greatly interesting. At first I thought how very wonderful it must have been to be living then when the flame' of Truth burned so brightly and men's hearts were lifted up in ardent fervor of love and Kingdom expectations. But again, how bitter must have been the dis­appointment and the weariness of all these almost forty years. "Here is the patience and faith of the saints." When I bear and read of the things the people of God regarded as the "signs of the times" as of then, and compare them with those same signs now, how have they grown and multiplied! How much more is the earth shaken, and people looking with fear, and perilous times! How would I tremble for my children and their generation if I did not hope for Christ's Kingdom! How much more is knowledge increased and running to and fro, and how much; more the fig tree budded!

Recently a neighbor couple called on us because we had gotten into a discussion at the school wherein I mentioned the "Scripture Studies." I was astonished to learn they believe the Jews, eternally cast off from God's favor. Silently, I asked God to direct me so that I would make no show of superior wisdom' or in any way antagonize them unnecessarily. I'm so fearful of doing and saying things in a way dishonoring to His holy name. So I questioned him concerning Romans 11, and Amos 9, and a few others. He confessed he had never read those Scriptures and promised to study more of them, for he. gives Bible lectures, and he didn't want to be teaching something that was not true, which I thought showed an unusual amount of humility. Afterward I studied the subject more thoroughly and found the Bible saturated with promises of blessing to the Jews.

Yours in the love of God
Mrs. Y. L. -- Tolva

"He Knoweth the Way"

JOB 23:10

The way is long, but, I, would not complain,
For there is One who walked this weary road
Long years ago; He knows the thorns that goad,
The pricking briers; the burning heat, the pain
Of bruised and heavy feet, the sudden rain
That chills the heart and numbs the tired brain.
No grief, no anguish, I shall ever know,
Compares with that He bore on Calvary,
For there He paid an awful price for me,
That I might live; how could I henceforth go
Complaining of my bitter lot as though
He did not feel my sorrow and my woe.
He knows each trial, peculiar though it seems,
And watches over me with loving care;
And though I cannot see Him, He is there
To guide me lest I, falter when the stream
Swirls darkly round, my feet: though dangers turn
On every side, I'll trust His love supreme.

- Lois Wills Stanton.

Recently Deceased

Sister Fairy. Bagley, Los Angeles, Cal. - (June).
Sister L. Baumeister, S;. Paul, Minn. - (May).
Sister Kate D. Bardelebon, Ft. Worth, Texas - (June).
Sister L. Ellis, Jaeksboso, Texas. - (June).
Brother Charles E. Emerson, St. Paul, Minn. - (June).
Sister C. L. Moore, Orlando, Fla. - (May).­
Sister Frances Mentzer, San Gabriel, Cal. - (May).
Sister Lila Taylor, Glacs: Bay, N. S. - (June). 

1950 Index