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Signs of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 30.

The Gods of To-day

Signs of the Times

Jul 24, 1901

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 24, 1901

The Gods of To-day

By J. H. Edgerton

By J. H. Edgerton
Majestic, sublime, ’round the great wheel of Time, The earth through the ages rolls on; From shadow to light, from the star-sprinkled night To the gold and the roses of dawn; But the hordes of mankind to the spectacle blind, With faces bowed down to the dust, Creep on to their graves as the manacled slaves Of selfishness, hatred, and lust. They turn from the dream of the glories that gleam In the deific light of the stars, And cease to aspire as they kneel in the mire At the altars of Mammon and Mars.
The miracles wrought in the kingdom of thought, The wealth of the empire of art, The magical spell of the passions that dwell In the innermost realms of the heart, The beauties that beam over forest and stream, The grandeur of mountain and sea, The path of the soul to an immortal goal, The vision of glories to be, The music, the light and the dream infinite Our greed and our hatred are bars That shut them all out, while we turn us about To the worship of Mammon and Mars.
In liberty’s morn was our century born, Foretelling an era of right; We’re straying away from the light of that day To the gloom of the old, feudal night. Our fathers began at the freedom of man, But we have forgotten it all; We seek our recourse in the doctrine of force, The gospel of powder and ball. In newly-blown pride we are pushing aside The Christ with His wounds and His scars, We turn from the cross to the worship of dross At the altars of Mammon and Mars.

Signs of the Times

By Editor

A Sixteen-page Illustrated Journal, for the Home, the Office, the Shop, the Reading Room—Every Place
ITS tone is high; its character elevating; its teaching Biblical; its language, dignified yet simple; its illustrations appropriate and instructive. For more than a quarter of a century the SIGNS has gone forth weekly, laden with spiritual refreshments which have strengthened the weak, comforted the sorrowing, encouraged the despondent, and opened the eyes of the understanding of many who had hitherto been sitting in darkness.
We feel that we can speak with certainty as to the future, and promise with safety even better things for the months and years to come than have been in the past.
Able writers are constantly preparing for the SIGNS, with much care and research of the Bible and history, articles on various subjects. Some of these are already in hand, among which are:—

Studies of the Prophecies of Daniel

BY THE EDITOR
A few of the chapters are captioned thus:—
Some Preliminary Considerations—Purpose of History The Book of Daniel Babylon and Her King God the Teacher A Lesson for the Ages Scope of Babylon’s Schools Object in Education Missing the Mark A Noble Purpose Taught of God The Lesson of Daniel One, Etc.
That prophecy of which it was said by the angel “the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end,” has been opened, and these articles will greatly assist in understanding it.

The Soul

What is the Soul? Is it Immortal? What is Its Destiny?
These questions are discussed by PROF. J. A. L. DERBY in an original and unique manner from the standpoint of a layman and not of a theorist, scientifically and Biblically.

A Study of the Book of Zechariah

PASTOR R. S. OWEN, than whom none has made a more close and careful study of Zechariah, will contribute a series of most instructive and interesting articles on that prophecy. These can not fail to be of great benefit to every one who appreciates the value of a knowledge of the Scriptures.

The Law of God

PASTOR E. J. HIBBARD will contribute a series of articles. The first chapter will be concerning the Law as a whole, then each commandment will be considered separately, thus assisting every reader of the paper to a more comprehensive knowledge and understanding of that great rule of right.

Christ’s Second Coming and the Signs of that Great Event

Such will be the subject of a series of articles by PASTOR GEO. W. RINE.

The Manner of His Coming

This is an important subject and it will be considered carefully and clearly in a series of articles by L. A. PHIPPENY.
Soon will begin a series of Nature Studies, illustrated, in the Home Department, by PROF. FREDERICK GRIGGS, of South Lancaster Academy, Mass.
Thus we enumerate only a very few of the many excellent things the SIGNS will contain in the year to come.
The future will be fraught with no less stirring, important, and prophecy-fulfilling events than has the past, and it will be the constant and careful aim of the editors and managers to keep the SIGNS in the forefront of all papers of its class in the promptness with which it calls attention to these events and the accuracy and fidelity with which it points out what they mean.
It seems that no one who values the importance of such knowledge can afford to be without the regular reading of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

ADDRESS

Signs of the Times

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

EXPLANATION OF ILLUSTRATION.

The buildings on this our first page are aptly illustrative of wealth. The lower one at the left is the world-famous Waldorf-Astoria, on Fifth Avenue, New York, probably the richest, most luxurious, and most expensive hotel in the world.
The structure on the right is the Commercial Cable Building, on Broad Street, between Wall Street and Custom House Place. The square white edifice to the right of the Cable Building is the American Surety Building, twenty-one stories high, the first of the "sky scrapers" to be erected.
The center picture is of Wall Street, now the great money center of the world. The white structure just showing on the left is the Drexel-Morgan building on Broad and Wall Streets. Beyond Broad Street is a little narrow lane called New Street. Between Broad and New is the Stock Exchange, opening on the three streets. The first low building on the right is the Government Assay Office, and just beyond is the United States Sub-treasury Building. In the distance on Broadway is seen Trinity Church spire. In the Drexel-Morgan Building is the office of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, the present money-king of the world.
In the decorations are the artist's symbols of wealth and war. Only by the power of arms can such tremendous increase of wealth be sustained and its owners protected.

THE WALL-STREET PIT.

By Edwin Markham

I see the hell of faces surge and whirl Like maelstrom in the ocean—faces lean And fleshless as the talons of a hawk— Hot faces like the faces of the wolves That track the traveler fleeing through the night— Grim faces, shrunken up and fallen in, Deep plowed like weather-eaten bark of oak— Drawn faces like the faces of the dead, Grown suddenly old upon the brink of Earth. Is this a whirl of madmen ravening And blowing bubbles in their merriment? Is Babel coming again with shrieking crew To eat the dust and drink the roaring wind? And all for what?—A handful of bright sand To buy a shroud with and a length of earth.
O, saner are the hearts on stiller ways! Thrice happier they who, far from these wild hours, Grow softly as the apples on a bough; Wiser the plowman with scudding blade, Turning a straight, fresh furrow down the field— Wiser the herdsman whistling to his heart, In the long shadows at the break of day— Wiser the fisherman with quiet hand Slanting his sail against the evening wind!
The swallow sweeps back from the south again, The green of May is edging all the boughs, The shy arbutus glimmers in the wood, And yet this hell of faces in the town— This roar of giddying madness surging on, Surrounded by the quiets of the hills, With great calm stars forever overhead, And, under all, the silence of the dead!
—Edwin Markham.

“RICHES FOR ALL!”

If such an announcement should appear in a reputable journal of some thriving town known to be in a broad and rich auriferous belt, if the advertisement was backed by the names of men in the community which carried assurance to all that its statements were true, if the conditions were such that every person, junior or senior, who could comprehend them could comply with them, it is safe to say that ninety-nine in one hundred would seek the gold which perishes and the riches that pass away. Millions without such assurance are running the mad race for wealth with no prospect of winning. Health, comfort, ease, family ties, friendship, honor, and even life, are laid upon Mammon’s altar, and the gifts of the god are Disappointment and Death. Tho ninety-nine per cent. would seek the earthly riches, but one per cent. would ultimately obtain them. The vast majority find naught but disappointment.
Yet, notwithstanding all this, the statement at the head of this article is emphatically and gloriously true; and the riches are neither corruptible nor evanescent, but incorruptible and eternal.
These riches are “the exceeding riches” of God’s grace, the wealth of His unmerited favor to the children of men. It is, in fact, the revelation to man of what God is, and of what He wants to be to every soul.
God’s plan is to make man like Himself. He chose us in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Eph. 1:4. The character desired in man is “after God,” “created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph. 4:24. As elsewhere stated, “But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [conduct]; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15, 16. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matt. 5:48. Therefore, as God desires that man shall be like Himself, He must reveal Himself to man, and grace is that revelation of Himself.

What God Is.

He is a Being of absolute infinity and eternity. He is omnipotent; all power is His. “He doeth according to His will;” “None can stay His hand;” “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places,” are expressions used of His eternal might. He is “the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” Isa. 40:28. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” “For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Ps. 33:6, 9.
God possesses all knowledge and all wisdom. He not only knows all things, but He knows how to use all things to His glory. “There is no searching of His understanding.” Isa. 40:28. That which is “deceitful above all things”—the human heart—God knows perfectly. “Thou understandest my thought afar off.” Ps. 139:2. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Rom. 11:33. Truly, “great is our Lord, and of great power; His understanding is infinite.” Ps. 147:5. He is infinite in power and knowledge and wisdom.

God’s Glory.

Well might we fear and tremble before such a Being if these were all of the attributes revealed to us. But the character which sways the mighty power and exercises the infinite wisdom is the character of infinite love. It is infinite power ruled by infinitely wise love. Such a Being is infinite perfection, and the glory of the perfection is the moral element—love. God’s glory is His character; and that character or glory is goodness or love. Moses prayed, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” The Lord answered, “I will make all My goodness pass before thee.” “And the Lord descended, . . . and proclaimed the name of the Lord, . . . the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,” etc. (See Ex. 33:18, 19; 34:5, 6.) Truly “God is love,” and everything that He has done for man, or will do, or can do, is done in love.
In love God created the earth for the home of man. In love He made man a free agent, to choose or refuse the good. In love He made life the result of righteousness, and death the end of sin. God’s glory is always for man’s highest good; and man can only enjoy the highest happiness by voluntary choice of the way which leads to happiness, by choosing to co-operate with God in the work of character building.

The Fall and Redemption.

But man, created in God’s image, chose the way of evil, sinned, and fell, and met the fruit of sin,—death. Yet God in His love did not leave man in this sad condition. He revealed to man more of His grace. All that God could reveal of His love to man under his sinless condition He had revealed. Now when man had sinned, had broken truce with God, had lost connection with the Source of life and power, had sold himself to Satan and the bondage of sin, God revealed more of His favor. He even placed man on a better footing than before, “for where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Grace triumphed over sin; God’s love furnished a substitute. Christ, the Creator, gave Himself, made an eternal sacrifice, that man might live.
“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4–7.
This is God’s grace, the revealing of Himself, the revealing of His infinite love, which withheld not the Best of heaven’s treasures, the revealing of the infinite desire to save man shown in these manifestations of love; it is the revelation of the infinite power and wisdom by which this love may be directed and made effectual to save every soul which will be saved.
Grace is, then, the manifestation of God to us. The glad tidings is “the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24); God’s Word is “the word of His grace” (Acts 20:32); Christ’s sacrifice for us was “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 8:9); it was “the grace of God” (Heb. 2:9) which gave Him to die; Christ as priest sits now upon a “throne of grace,” to which we may “come boldly” (Heb. 4:16); the Holy Ghost is “the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29); it is the grace of God “that bringeth salvation” (Titus 2:11); yea, it is all of grace, and our God is “the God of all grace.”

Access by Faith to the Fountain.

God’s favor is extended by His providence to all. “He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust,” and abundance of other blessings, in order that the goodness, or grace, of God may thus lead them to repentance. (See Acts 14:16, 17; 17:24–30; Rom. 2:4.) But that this grace may be effectual, it must be abundant; it must reign in our lives. Rom. 5:17, 21. We must be connected with the Fountain of the riches of grace, and this connection comes by faith; “for by grace are ye saved through faith.” It is not the faith of itself which saves; it saves by bringing us into connection with God. “By whom [Christ] also we have access by faith into this grace.” Rom. 5:2.
This faith is not mere belief, nor assent to a proposition or fact. It is a principle, a power of will, of choice, which brings man into connection with God. It is always based upon God’s Word. Rom. 10:17. It is, in other words, submission to God’s will as expressed in His Word, whether by precept or promise. Is it a precept?—faith submits to obey implicitly. Is it a promise?—faith accepts it and the conditions on which it is based. And the word of God’s grace, to which faith submits, always possesses the potency of its performance, the power to do what the word commands. “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63.
The Word of God is a living word. Its life runs in the channels of infinite power, wisdom, and love; and when we in simple faith submit to that Word, we place ourselves in the channel of its working. Our will is laid aside; we have accepted of God’s will; and God “worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will.” Faith is to the human soul what the trolley is to the electric car. The track is all laid; the car stands on the track with perfect machinery; overhead runs a “live wire,” charged with a plenitude of power; but the car does not move. But make connection with the trolley, the car is vitalized by the mysterious power, and becomes a thing of life. Just so the Christian lives by reaching up the arm of faith and grasping God by simple submission to His will, by simple reception of His grace; and life comes from the great Source of life. Read Rom. 5:12; Eph. 3:17; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:9.

How Shall We Submit?

Willingly submit to God. It is not submission to Providence to say, “I might as well bear it;” “I’ll grin and bear it;” or, “I suppose I will have to do it or be lost.” Only those who “receive” Christ will be truly sons of God. John 1:12. Yea, “gladly,” “joyfully” receive (Acts 2:41; Luke 19:6), and not only receive Him, but seek Him first of all and above all,—Christ the way, the truth, and the life.
By faith we connect with God, and are justified from sin through Jesus Christ, the One in whom “all fullness” of grace dwells. By continued faith, we have continued and constant access to the Fountain of grace. Rom. 5:2.
But while in this Fountain is “abundance of grace,” the “exceeding riches of grace,” we may draw from it only what we need. It is given “in all wisdom and prudence.” Eph. 1:8. God does not give grace to waste. To use a homely expression, He does not give a bushel of grace for a spoonful of need. He always gives just enough. Was Paul’s trial great?—“My grace is sufficient for thee,” is God’s message. 2 Cor. 12:9. Do we need all things?—“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 2 Cor. 9:8. Who could ask more? Does sin abound within?—Renounce it forever, and by faith open the Fountain, and grace will much more abound. The grace will exceed the sin, the trial, the need. The “exceeding riches of His grace” will supply all need here; and throughout all the eternal “ages to come,” God will be continually revealing to those who are His the inexhaustible treasures. Eph. 2:7. Sinner, God calls you by His grace, that He may make you “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” Eph. 1:6. His grace is the revelation of His character. His character is His glory; and, if you will trust Him, “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19.
What are all earthly riches compared to “the exceeding riches of His grace,” even tho we compare them with earthly riches at the best and the riches of His grace at their worst? If we should possess the whole world; if its wealth, its fame, its homage, its laudations, even of its titled and noble, were laid at our feet from life’s responsible beginning, when the end came, as come it must, even tho late, how brief the moment we have enjoyed—if they could be enjoyed—all the riches of earth! When death came, they could not purchase one moment of life. They give us no standing at the Court before whom all must appear. If hoarded and used for self, they prove at last but a dead weight which crushes the soul.
But the poorest child of earth may be partaker of His grace; may find in that grace the godliness, the life, the power, the wisdom, which has all the promise of “the life which now is, and that which is to come;” may hold companionship with the infinite God and Christ Jesus, his Lord, by whose power and presence he is freed from sin. What joy is this! But he may be persecuted, maligned, cast out, be forced to wander about “in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,” and die prematurely, a martyr to his faith. The sufferings were but for “a little while,” and God’s grace was supplied according to need for the development of a character worthy of a better world, where, beyond all the ills of this world, in the infinite freedom of ever-increasing knowledge, “in the ages to come,” of the boundless fields of the sinless realms of God, there will ever be unrolled to him in ever-excelling beauty, as his finite knowledge opens toward the infinite, more and more of “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ.”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of God.”

THE WORLD'S GREATEST REVOLUTION.

By John Brisben Walker

[By John Brisben Walker, in the April Cosmopolitan.]
DECISIVE battles are no longer fought with arms. Attack with weapons may constitute an incident; but campaigns from the opening of the twentieth century will be fought in the offices of those who control the world's supply of money.
That event in the world's history which promises to be most deeply fraught with results to the human race was announced in the New York journals of Sunday, March 3, 1901, as a three-column advertisement. It was not an affair of Parliament, or of regal proclamation. There was no fuss, no ceremony.
The average man, the welfare of whose great-great-grand-children was to be affected, scarcely noticed this advertisement, which read:—
“OFFICE OF J. P. MORGAN & CO., 23 Wall Street, New York;”
And began in bold, black-faced type:—
“TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF “FEDERAL STEEL COMPANY, “NATIONAL STEEL COMPANY, “NATIONAL TUBE COMPANY,”
Et cetera.
This momentous event did not concern itself with princes, or even so-called statesmen. The world, on the third day of March, 1901, had ceased to be ruled by such. True, there were marionettes still figuring in Congress and as kings, but they were in place simply to carry out the orders of the world's real rulers—those who control the concentrated portion of the money supply. The words, “Office of ‘J. P. Morgan & Co.,” meant, in addition to the great wealth of the firm itself, the financial support of the HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD; the approval, if not the active co-operation, of the HOUSE OF ROCKEFELLER; and the direct co-operation of the CARNEGIE and other great iron industries.
House of Rothschild and associated banks and industries, one thousand millions.
House of Rockefeller and associated banks and industries, eight hundred and fifty millions.
J. P. Morgan & Co., representing iron industries and associated banks, eleven hundred and fifty-four millions.
Total, three thousand and four millions of dollars.
Of what consequence the German playing at emperor, or the king who recently read a speech written by ministers under dictation from the world of finance? Even the czar of Russia seems a feeble make-believe in the presence of men who control three thousand millions of dollars, and can push the endless buttons which carry their signals into every sort of mercantile house, into every military camp, which cause every court official to stand alert, and can even produce the profoundest movements in the church itself.
Between the lines of this advertisement, headed, “Office of J. P. Morgan & Co.,” was to be read a proclamation, thus:—
“COMMERCIAL METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD. “NOTICE TO THE PEOPLES OF ALL LANDS AND NATIONALITIES:—
“The old competitive system, with its ruinous methods, its countless duplications, its wastefulness of human effort, and its relentless business warfares, is hereby abolished, the change to take effect in part immediately, and in whole as rapidly as the details can hereafter be worked out.
“The four great houses controlling the world's visible supply of money, having this day agreed to act in unison under the scheme of organization outlined by Mr. J. P. Morgan, have invested themselves with the controlling interest in the three great sources by which the public can be taxed—the supply of ores, the working of the same into the raw products, and the transportation of the same.
“The business public will perceive at a glance that it will not be properly safe for any individual, or known collection of individuals, to arrogate to themselves the right to antagonize the organization this day created; and notice is hereby given that these commercial territories must not be trespassed upon or invaded without expectation that the full authority vested in the organization will be exercised.
“The houses engaged in bringing about this organism in the interests of the world's economy, have taken to themselves such increment as has seemed proper in view of the important character of the service rendered.
“Further, the houses of the world will please take notice that, owing to the immense sums of money now in the hands of the organization, it will be possible to force speculation. The banding together of the houses of Rothschild, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Carnegie, representing the united metal and transportation interests, leaves no room for competition, and any attempt in this direction will be met with the fate which should attach to an effort to return to the methods of barbarism.
“Finally, it is our intention ultimately to take in hand the smaller industries, and organize them upon a scientific basis, calculated to reduce the waste of human effort to a minimum.”
These are the words which have been read by every fairly intelligent business man in the advertisement headed, “Office of J. P. Morgan & Co.,” and nominally concerning itself with the exchange of certain stocks. Unlike the proclamations of kings and princes, no man will be found bold enough to defy its orders. From March 3, 1901, the entire aspect of the business and political world will be changed. Financial ambitions will quickly render themselves subservient to this overruling power. The futility of political hopes which do not attach themselves to the financial center will be quickly apparent.
The market value of the Standard Oil stock is now $800,000,000, of which $300,000,000 has been added since last election. Mr. Rockefeller owns not less than one-half this amount, $400,000,000. Of his share, according to himself, he has paid out in the last thirty years $350,000,000 to working men, estimated at 20,000. Mr. Rockefeller calls this payment of wages to men who have worked therefor “the best kind of giving.” But during this time he has paid to one man—himself—$400,000,000. Twenty thousand men have received $350,000,000; one man has received 400,000,000! The two pictures are so suggestively striking, that no comment is needed. But it is such things as these that nurture the seed-sowing of unrest, rebellion, crime, and anarchy, to be reaped in the coming baleful harvest.
God warns men now of these things. The rich are but stewards of God of what they control. They shall sometime be called to give account of their stewardship.
Continue reading: GOD’S WARNINGS TO THE RICH