as declared that three out of five soldiers at the
front have had no connection with the Church. The toilers of our
cities are rapidly relapsing into that paganism out of which
Christianity rescued the world at the first. What the world needs is
God. It is only when the face of God is unveiled to the awe-filled
eyes of men that they can realise the foulness of moral degradation.
In the light of that holiness which marshals all the forces in {122}
the universe to war against sin, and in that light alone, does the soul
realise the awfulness of sin. When that realisation comes, then the
history of the world becomes mainly the history of sin--that dread
power which saps the vitality of nations, disintegrates empires, ruins
civilisations, and which brings upon proud capital cities the flaming
judgment of sword and fire. The function of the prophet is to keep
clear before the eyes of men the moral issues which are laden with life
or death. The mission of the Church is to replace the spurious and
fleeting joys of sin by the true and enduring joy of a life in unison
with God.

But the State renders the Church impotent and makes the revival of
religion in our day impossible. That may seem exaggerated, but it is
true. For the State has driven alcohol into the homes, and has
consigned not only the husband, but often the wife also, to the
degrading influence of alcohol not only on Saturday but on Sunday. In
vain does the call {123} to return to God sound in the ears of a
population sunk in the torpor of alcohol. No prophet can rouse such a
people. 'If a man, walking in a spirit of falsehood, do lie, saying,
"I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, he shall even
be the prophet of this people."'[4] The Church is powerless against
thirty public-houses to the half-mile! Alcohol bars the door against
every movement for the social and spiritual uplift of the nation. If
the nation is to be saved, the nation must act. Arise, O Israel!

We must look at our population in a new light and see them not as
makers of munitions but as sons of God. The horribly cynical attitude
of our rulers is that which regards men merely as munition-makers.
They survey them only from the low ground of self-interest. It is not
in relation to the peril of the hour that this problem has to be faced,
but in relation to man's high calling as {124} the son of God. These
men and women are our brothers and sisters, bearing the image of