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these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near; and shall deceive many: go ye not therefore after them. And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars. And when ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars, and commotions, see that ye be not terrified, and troubled: for all these things must first come to pass; but the end shall not be yet. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and great earthquakes shall be in divers places; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and troubles, and fearful sights; and great signs shall there be from heaven; all these are the beginnings of sorrows. But take heed to yourselves; for before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, and deliver you up to councils, and to the synagogues, and into prisons, to be afflicted; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my name's sake; and they shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.-And it shall turn to you for a testimony against them. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, settle it therefore in your hearts, and take no thought before-hand what he shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents,

and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. But there shall not a hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end

come.

The whole of this prophecy most evidently shews us how vain and dangerous it is to trust in external privileges, and to cry out, as these foolish and wretched Jews did, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these buildings; when of this stately and magnificent structure, within less than half a century after it was finished, not one stone was left on another undemolished.

So particular a prediction, when compared with the event, must surely confirm our faith in Christ, as the great Prophet which was to come into the world. And we shall see reason to admire the wisdom and goodness of Divine Providence in giving us, almost by a miraculous preservation of the author, such a commentary on this prophecy as is delivered down to us in the works of Josephus, the Jewish historian, which throw a much stronger light upon it than if they had been written by a Christian on purpose to illustrate it.

Let us bless God that our own eyes have not seen such desolations and ruins, such commotions in the natural and moral world, such dissentions, in civil life, such persecutions and hatreds amongst the nearest relatives, under the pretence of propagating religion; which, however propagated, is nothing without that love which is so often made the first victim to it.

Yet too plainly do we see, in one form or another, iniquity abounding and the love of many waxing cold. Let us endeavour to revive on our own hearts a deep and lasting impression of Divine things: and remember, whenever we are tempted to let go our integrity, that it is he alone who endures to the end that shall be saved.

Whatever our trials are, let us cheerfully confide in the protection of Divine Providence; nor let us despair of those continued influences of the blessed Spirit which may animate us to the most difficult services, and support us under the

most painful sufferings. Let us therefore in patience possess our own souls, and maintain that composure and steadiness of spirit, as those that know how much more valuable it is than any enjoyment which can be taken away, or any temporal interest which can be brought into question.

SECTION LXXX.

MATT. XXIV. 15-28. MARK XIII. 14-23.
LUKE XXI. 20-24.

AND when ye therefore shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh, that is, the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto; and let him which is on the house-top not come down into the house, neither enter therein to take any thing out of his house; and let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day. For in those days shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, no, nor ever shall be. For there shall be great distress in the land, affliction and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, those days shall be shortened. And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is

Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders: insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

If our Lord urges his disciples, with such speedy and solicitous haste, to flee from the sword of God's temporal judg. ments, how much greater diligence should we give to flee from the wrath to come! What are any of the little interests of life, that out of regard to them we should be willing to continue one moment longer exposed to a danger which may sink us into everlasting perdition and despair!

We have here a lively description of that aggravated ruin which was brought upon the Jews for neglecting Christ; even great tribulation, such as had never, from the very beginning of the world, fallen upon any other nation, nor shall ever be equalled. Thus was his blood upon them, and their children. (Matt. xxvii. 25.) May we never know what it is to have this blood crying against us for trampling it under foot as an unholy thing! (Heb. x. 29.) For surely to the Jews, who thus rejected the counsel of God against themselves, all these things which they suffered were but the beginning of sorrows; and the famine and sedition, pestilence and slaughter, by which so many thousands perished, served only to consign them over to infinitely more terrible indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, which will at last fall on every soul of man that doeth evil, whether Jew or Gentile. (Rom. ii. 8, 9.)

These unhappy creatures eagerly listened to the very name of a Messiah, by whomsoever it was assumed; while they rejected him whom God had sent them, and who had so long, and with so much importunity, been renewing to them the offers of life and salvation. May none of us ever know the sad impatience with which condemned sinners will wish, and wish in vain, for those overtures and messages of grace which they now despise ! In that sense, wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together: wherever there is the like unbelief and impenitence, there will be in its degree

the like ruin. Christ has graciously told us these things before: may we humbly attend to the warning, that none of this terror and destruction may ever come upon us.

SECTION LXXXI.

MATTHEW XXIV. 29-36. MARK XIII. 24-32.
LUKE XXI. 25-33.

BUT immediately after the tribulation of those days there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven; and upon the earth shall be distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And then shall he send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to the other, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

And he spake unto them a parable, saying, Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; Behold, the fig-tree and all the trees. When their branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass away, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but

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