curse; as it is this day. And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts." In Dan. viii. 24, and ix. 26: "And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." And in Zech. xiv. 2, 3; where all nations were to fight against Jerusalem and then those nations were to be destroyed.

After our Savior uttered this prediction, he appears to have immediately gone across the brook Kedron and ascended the Mount of Olives. Verse 3: "And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"

Mark says that "Peter, and James, and

John, and Andrew asked him privately," &c. The disciples seem to have supposed that when the buildings of the temple should be thus demolished, that the end of the world must come as a matter of course; and accordingly, they connected the fulfilment of this prediction, with the coming of Christ and end of the world; but our Savior corrected that error of the disciples and showed them that the end would not then be. We will here enquire,

What are we to understand by "thy

1st. coming?"

It could not be the first coming of Christ, for he was then on the earth; and it must, therefore, be his second advent of which they enquired. That was not then to be an immediate event, for according to Luke xix. 11, 12, "He added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should IMMEDIATELY APPEAR. He said, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." When he appears, it will be to save all the righteous. Heb. ix. 28: "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin unto salvation." It will also be in the end of this world. Acts iii. 20, 21: "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heavens must receive, until

the TIMES OF RESTITUTION of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began." He will come in a visible manner. Acts i. 11: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." And Rev. i. 7: "Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him; and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." It will also be to raise the dead and reward the righteous. 1 Thess. iv. 14-18: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." 2 Tim. iv. 1, 8: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom." "Henceforth,

there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

2d. What are we to understand by "the end of the world?

He

The word auros here translated world, is literally era or age, from which many contend that the end of the Jewish age was intended. But that ended with the death of Christ. Gal. iii. 16, 19: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." Heb. ix. 15-17: "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth." Then, according to the 11th of Romans, the Jews were broken off from the true olive tree, and

fell, by crucifying the Prince of princes, to a perfect level with all other nations. It could not, therefore, be the end of the Jewish age.

The use of the same word awvos in other parts of the New Testament, shows us that the era or age here spoken of must extend to the end of the mortal state, and resurrection of the dead. Matt. xxviii. 20: "Lo, I am with with you always, even unto the end of the world." (aionos.) Matt. xiii. 40-43; "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. (aionos.) The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Luke xx. 33-37: "Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. And Jesus, answering, said unto them, the children of this world (auwvos) marry, and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world (auros) and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Now, that