In fact, we never now have any real peace; we live practically in a state of war."-Sir John Lubbock. "We are marching toward the unknown. Who knows what tomorrow has in store for us?"-Signor Crispi, Prime Minister of Italy. "In regard to the future I am filled with disquietude when I think how easy it is to fan these international jealousies, and how difficult it seems to allay them."-Lord Balfour, of England. "In this world of ours we seem to be borne down by commercial and spiritual controversy. We grope in the daytime with fear and trembling for the future. Poor, distracted man is tossed over the night to a more distraught tomorrow."-John Wanamaker, ex-Postmaster-General. Trouble Brewing between Capital and Labor And there will be distress of nations, with perplexity, from another source. Trouble is brewing between capital and labor. And this, too, is a sign of the times, a sign of the nearness of the second coming of Christ. "Go to now, ye rich men, Weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasures together for the last days." Jas. 5:1-3. According to this passage the last days are to be marked by an unparalleled heaping together of treasure, an accumulation of wealth. This description points unerringly to the present time, for there never was a time when there were such accumulations of wealth as there are at the present day. Sixty years ago millionaires were practically unknown in this country, but today we have our billionaires. There is an insane rush for making money, making it quickly, making it every way and any way that will not land one in jail, and many are willing to risk even that possibility. "Such colossal fortunes, such hoarding of treasures, such combinations of wealth, with such rapid increase in poverty, were never witnessed before. Our age alone fits the prophetic mold."—"War Between Capital and Labor," by Rev. H. W. Bowman. The method by which these vast fortunes are built up is also made plain in the prophecy in James: "Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth." Jas. 5: 4. Injustice to Labor Labor, today, is not getting a just proportion of that which it produces, and as a result we have towering fortunes on one hand and the very depths of poverty on the other. Greed and covetousness have been enacted into laws, and these laws operate with the utmost rapacity and heartlessness to disregard the rights, the welfare, and even the lives of those who toil. Merciless schemes and intrigues are entered into by captains of finance to defraud the public and to exact the last cent. This results in the formation of labor unions for the protection of the toiler, and as a consequence of this, strikes, lockouts, and boycotts, oftentimes leading to bloodshed, are frequent occurrences. This condition is causing distress, perplexity, and fear for looking after those things that are coming. Judge Gary, the president of the United States Steel Corporation, in a speech made to a convention of his fellow capitalists, said: "Unless capitalists, corporations, rich men, powerful men themselves, take a leading part in trying to improve the conditions of humanity, great changes will come, and they will come mighty quickly, and the mob will bring them. "Things are being said very similar to things said just before the French Revolution. I tell you that spark may yet make a flame, and that soon." Clouds of Evil Presage The leaders in the world of thought and statesmanship recognize the danger in the bitter feelings of envy and revenge, and in the increase of class hatred. Clouds of evil presage hang low over the earth. All the elements which produced the French Revolution are present in the world today. The future is dark with terrible menace. It will not be long until the lightnings begin to flash "GREAT CHANGES WILL COME, AND THE MOB WILL BRING THEM " and the storm will break, such a storm as this world has never yet witnessed. And what will the people of God do in such a time as this? The Lord himself answers: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Jas. 5:7, 8. This very situation in the world of capital and labor is evidence of the near approach of Christ. In the Religious World Let us turn for a moment and look at the condition which will prevail in the religious world at the time when Christ will come the second time, as it is predicted in the word of truth. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 Tim. 3: 1-5. This is God's photograph of the conditions prevailing in the last days. Let the reader say whether it is a good likeness. "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Love of Self "Lovers of their own selves, covetous." We have already commented upon the lust for gold, the greed of the rich. Men today are covetous. This age is marked with that covetousness which is idolatry, and this is one of the signs of the times. "Boasters." Boasting Wherever one goes today he finds a spirit of self-praise, a spirit of boasting. Men boast of their skill, their talents, their strength, their power, their prowess, even of their criminal excesses, the hearts they have broken, and the virtue they have despoiled. They are willing to give alms only if they can do so amid a flourish of trumpets. Pride "Proud." Pride of every kind is prevalent today. There is national pride, political pride, religious pride, social pride. There is pride in dress, in which honor, reputation, life, and health are sacrificed to fashions originating in the Paris houses of prostitution. In no previous age has Christendom been so devoted to pride and luxury. Blasphemy "Blasphemers." This word comes from the Greek word blasphemeo, signifying "to speak evil of, to slander, to defame, to revile." In this sense blasphemy surrounds us today on every side. We hear it in the streets, in the |