“BEHOLD, THE JUDGE STANDETH BEFORE THE DOOR.”
By T.
In this controversy between “capital and labor” the contest is growing warmer and warmer. And there are hundreds of intelligent men who fear that it may yet come to universal rioting. The occasional strike, it is thought, is only an indication of what may yet become a prolonged and world-wide fight. There are indeed strong indications of this. And there is very much to provoke it. Attention has been called from time to time to the “heaping together of treasure” that characterizes these days. Mention has also been made of the destitution, hopeless and helpless, that is so prevalent side by side with this unprecedented wealth. Now it should be very evident to any one that when massive fortunes display themselves on the one hand, while on the other, despairing, starving poverty is clamoring for the barest existence, there is great danger of a fearful social explosion. It will most likely come, but if we only give heed to the admonitions of the Word of God, we will have no part in the controversy. The child of God as an ambassador of truth should stand apart from all these heated discussions that so strongly mark these last days. His work is not to discuss the merits or demerits of the capital-and-labor controversy. His duty is to point to it as one of the signs of our times—an evidence of the soon coming of the Saviour. In several of the recent issues of this paper attention has been called to the fact that the fifth chapter of James fully outlines this capital-and-labor controversy. In the first place, we are told of the “rich men” who have “heaped treasure together for the last days.” And then in the same direct manner are we told of the “cries” of the laborers. This fifth chapter of James is one of the most remarkable in all the inspired book. Study it closely. It is the one and only true presentation of what the capital-and-labor problem really is. And how plainly, too, does this same chapter reveal to us what the gigantic contest between wealth and poverty portends! God is here speaking to us in literal language, and there should be no mistaking His meaning. The apostle not only tells of the “rich men” who will be heaping together treasure for the last days, and of the “cries” of the laborer, but he also gives important instruction to both classes. Knowing that the tendency of the poor will be to envy the rich, and seek to take the matter of executing judgment upon them into their own hands, the Lord says to all:— “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. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5:7–9. Then this is a time for patient waiting. When the “heaping” of treasure and the consequent “cries” of the laborers are apparent everywhere, then it is that the “coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” And God invites us to patiently take cognizance of this great truth and He will attend to the judgment of those who persist in the wrong. If we engage in hot speeches against the rich; or if we, being wealthy, continue to hoard our treasure and oppress the poor; in short, if we in any way become a party to the controversy, we only make bad matters worse. God simply invites us to look at these things as some of the evidences that He has given to show us that we are in the “last days,” and that “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” To the wealthy the word comes:— “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:33, 34. The man of wealth, when alone with his own aroused conscience, knows perfectly well that this advice from God’s Word is the one right thing to do. He knows that it is wrong for him to “heap” wealth together simply for the purpose of possessing so many millions. Yes, he knows that it is criminally unkind, base, and grossly selfish for him to go on piling up his millions added to millions, when his fellow-creatures are sinking lower and lower in degradation because they lack the simple necessities of life. And any one must have the abiding consciousness within that if he continues to give himself to the service of money-getting, his only hope is destruction. God has planted this great truth in His Word, and the selfishness that leads a man to devote all his powers to seeking wealth merely for the sake of personal gratification, is too base to merit anything else but total extinction. And while the Word of God so plainly instructs and warns the rich, it also admonishes each and all to “grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5:9. If you are poor and feel the weight of oppression from the rich, do not “grudge,” “lest ye be condemned.” “The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” The great Judge of heaven and earth “standeth before the door.” Get ready to meet Him. This one great thought should overshadow everything else. Then, if you are one of the laborers that “crieth,” let your cries be to God that He may deliver you. This is the one great hope. “Grudge” not against the wealthy man. Do not engage in the clamor that would lead to the plundering of his wealth. No! no! no! a thousand times no! For the sure Word warns you that if you do you will be “condemned”—condemned, not by a human court, but by the heavenly Judge, who even now “standeth before the door.” This is a time for deep and serious thought. Everything points to the great fact that the Judge must soon take action in every case. Are you prepared to meet Him? If not, O, hasten to get ready! And be we rich or poor, high or low, we should never be found “grudging.” The wealthy man who does not know the Saviour, is just as much to be pitied as he whose lot is the poorest poverty. And so, whatever our station, our feelings toward our fellow-men should be only those of love and brotherly-kindness. The world has far too much “grudging.” Will you not put it all away by joining the ranks of the gentle Redeemer, the God of love? T.