14. "And, except those days should be shortened "of the Lord, there should no flesh be saved: but, "for the elects' sake whom he hath chosen, those

ແ

days shall be shortened *.

15. "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 de"ceive the very elect: but take ye heed; behold, I "have foretold you all things †.

16. "Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Be"hold 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, wheresover the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together t

17. "And wrath shall be upon this people: and they shall fall by the edge of the sword; and they "shall be led away captive into all nations and "Jerusalein shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, "until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled §.

18. "But, in those days, 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

Matt. xxiv. 22. Mark xiii. 20.

+ Matt. xxiv. 23, 24, 25. Mark xiii. 21, 22, 23.
‡ Matt. xxiv. 26, 27, 28. Compare Luke xvij. 23, 24,
§ Luke xxi. 23, 24,

"give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, " and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. "And upon the earth shall be distress of nations "with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, "men's hearts failing then for fear and for looking "after those things which are coming on the "earth *.

19. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son "of man in heaven; and then shall they see the "Son of man coming in the clouds with great power " and glory; and then shall all the tribes of the "earth mourn †.

20. "And then shall he send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and shall gather toge"ther his elect from the four winds, from the utter"most part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven, and from one end of heaven to the " other +.

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

22. "Now learn a parable from the fig-tree and "all the trees. When her branch is yet tender and

putteth forth leaves, and when they now shoot

"forth; ye see and know of your own selves, that summer is now nigh at hand |

* Matt. xxiv. 29. Mark xiii. 24, 25. Luke xxi. 25, 26. Matt. xxiv. 30. Mark xiii. 26. Luke xxi. 27.

Matt. xxiv. 31. Mark xiii. 27.

Luke xxi. 28.

Matt. xxiv. 32. Mark xiii. 28. Luke xxi. 29, 30.

23. "So

23. "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these "things come to pass; know that he is near even at "the doors, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand*.

24. "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall "not pass away, until all these things be fulfilled †. 25. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my "words shall not pass away

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26. "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, nei"ther the Son, but my Father only. Take ye heed: "watch and pray; for ye know not when the time "is. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any "time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting "and drunkenness and cares of this life; and so "that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them, that dwell on the "face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and "stand before the Son of man §.

27. "But, as the days of Noah were, so shall also "the coming of the Son of man be. For, as, in the days that were before the flood, they were eating " and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, "until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and

* Matt. xxiv. 33. Mark xiii. 29. Luke xxi. 31.

+ Matt. xxiv. 34.

Matt. xxiv. 35.

§ Matt. xxiv. 36.

Mark xiii. 30. Luke xxi. 32.

Mark xiii. 31, Luke xxi. 33.
Mark xiii, 32, 33. Luke xxi. 34, 35, 36,

"knew

"knew not until the flood came and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man

·« be*,

28. "Therefore be ye also ready: for, in such an " hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh †.' Such is the celebrated prophecy of our Lord, when the three accounts of it, as delivered by the three first evangelists, are blended together harmonically in one unbroken series.. We may now proceed to the discussion of it.

II. As the whole prediction is in fact an answer to the question put by the disciples, we must obviously begin with considering the purport of that question.

"Master, tell us, when shall these things be: and "what shall be the sign, when all these things shall "be fulfilled and what shall be the sign of thy "coming and of the end of the world?"

Now, as our Lord had just before declared that the temple should be utterly subverted; the disciples must plainly be understood to ask, when that event should take place. This is agreed upon by all: but there has been some difference of opinion with respect to the latter clause of the question, as exhibited by St. Matthew; "What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?"

Matt. xxiv. 37, 38, 39. Compare Luke xvii. 26-30. + Matt. xxiv. 44.

↑ Matt. xxiv. 3. Mark xiii. 4. Luke xxi. 7. See above 4 I. 2.

From

From considering that the question owed its origin to a prophetic intimation of Christ relative to the temple, some writers contend, that the latter clause, no less than the former clause, ought to be interpreted with sole reference to the destruction of that edifice whence they figuratively explain the coming of our Lord to denote merely his coming in judgment against Jerusalem when it was sacked by the Romans under Titus, and the end of the world to mean the end of the Levitical age or dispensation. Having laid down these principles, they of course suppose, that the whole prophecy, being no doubt an answer to the question put by the disciples, must relate exclusively to the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple; and that it contains no allusion whatsoever to the day of judgment, though the poetical imagery may be borrowed from the solemnities of that great day.

Others, on the contrary, maintain, that the coming of our Lord and the end of the world ought to be understood in their plain and literal acceptation : whence they suppose the disciples to have put two distinct questions to their Master; When shall the temple be destroyed, and When shall be the day of judgment? Having laid down these principles, they again conclude, that the prophecy, still being an answer to the questions, treats of two perfectly distinct events; the destruction of the temple, and Christ's coming in judgment at the end of the world.

That the expressions, the coming of the Lord and

the