not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." All these did actually occur. Josephus, the Jewish historian, who in all probability had never read this prophecy, gives a narrative of the events that preceded and followed the downfal of Jerusalem; and any one who will read what Dr. Keith and Bishop Newton have written upon the prophecy and its fulfilment, will see how the one dovetails with the other. These,” he says, "are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:"-all the apostles, with the exception of John, died violent deaths-"and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." "And because iniquity shall abound"-the wickedness of the nations rise to a very great height-"the love of many"-who professed the Gospel-" shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end,"—that is, to the end of his life—" the same shall be saved."

Then it is said, in the 14th verse, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ.” This phrase is used to denote the Roman empire. Hence, we read in Luke ii. 1, "That there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world (πâσav Tηv oikovμévnv) should be taxed." That expression was applied primarily to the Roman empire, since that empire comprised the whole existing civilization of the world, and might therefore very properly be used to denote all the world. "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Now I think

it can be proved that the Gospel was preached in every part of the habitable globe prior to the downfal of Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul set his foot upon the shores of Great Britain; and we learn from the Acts of the Apostles that the Gospel was preached in Asia Minor and Africa. America, if then inhabited at all, was peopled by a few casual emigrants from Africa and Asia; and if it had not the Gospel preached to it territorially, it had really. It is a part of Great Britain; and we thank God that it has the same religion, and that in the coming struggle of the nations of the earth, these two great kingdoms shall be linked together.

He then warns them that they should see what would prepare and awaken those Christians who were in Jerusalem to flee, namely, "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet." Some have alleged that this was the Roman eagle, or the imperial standard of Rome, which is now assumed by the new French dynasty, and which, being planted in the midst of Palestine, became thereby the fulfilment of the prophecy of Daniel, that the abomination of desolation, or that which the Jew detested because it intruded on the prerogatives of his God, would be set up in the midst of the Temple. But this is met fairly by the objection that the Roman eagle was upon the coins of the realm, and had been planted on every acre of Palestine, long before this; and besides, to allege that this should be a sign to the Christian Jews to escape from the coming catastrophe, is to give a sign which really would be no sign at all. It would seem rather, I think, as it has been very strongly stated by Alford, that the Zealots, a sect among the Jews, should intrude into the sacred temple, and add the last drop to the

iniquity of that people, and precipitate, by the desecration of the holiest part of the temple, the catastrophe that was then impending at their doors. The first two Gospels, Matthew and Mark, have an inner reference to the Jew; the last two Gospels, Luke and John, have an outer reference to the Gentile. The abomination of desolation to the Jew would be something interfering with the sacredness of his temple; but the eagles of Rome environing the capital would be a far more intelligible sign to the Gentiles who were in the midst of Jerusalem at that time, than to the Jews.

Then he says-“Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house." In Jewish houses there was an inside, and often an outside staircase. The roofs of the houses were flat; and a Jew on the top of his house, looking for the signs of the approaching judgment, or watching the manœuvring of the Roman army, when he saw this great abomination, or heard that it had taken place, was here warned not to go down into his house to carry away any of his goods, but to leave them, and escape with all speed to the mountains that were around Jerusalem.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SABBATH

DAY-WARNINGS-ANTICHRIST-SIGNS

IN LAST DAYSPROOF OF CHRIST'S ADVENT-- BUDDING OF THE FIG-TREE-THIS GENERATION-STATE OF WORLD BEFORE THE ADVENT.

JESUS continues in this remarkable 24th chapter of St. Matthew-"Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter," when the coldness of the season, or the bad state of the roads, might be obstructions to their escape, "neither on the Sabbath day." That does not mean that it is wrong to flee from calamity on the Sabbath day. If anything occurred that threatened you with danger, it would be your duty on the Sabbath day to make your escape from it. If our own capital were invaded—as we hope it will not be-it would be our duty on the Sabbath day to defend it to the very utmost of our power, or in case of necessity, to escape from its ruins as fast as we could. What, then, is the meaning of our Lord? Not only on the Sabbath day was it unlawful to take a long journey (which is not the idea of our Lord), but the gates of the city were shut, and all means of egress prevented. Thus, if they were to escape on the Sabbath day, the impending ruin would fall upon the city before it was possible for the inmates to reach the neighbouring mountains. was simply from the usages of the Sabbath, not from its sacredness, that our Lord bade them pray that their flight might not be on that day.

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And then he adds, that there "shall be great tribulation"—and this cannot be restricted to the downfal of Jerusalem-" such as was not from the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall be." Now we read expressly that the last days of this dispensation shall be far more terrific, and that there shall be troubles unprecedented since the beginning of the world. It would seem, therefore, that our Lord starts from the type to that which is typified, and sweeps from the fall of Jerusalem to the fall of the Gentile church, and mingles the two great events together, the one being exactly a type and illustration of the other.

He then says "If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not." Christ will not come in that way. "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." I believe this applies to the future, and was only partially applicable to the downfal of Jerusalem; because I cannot conceive that our Lord repeats himself. He had said in a previous passage, that before the downfal of Jerusalem many should come in his name, saying, I am Christ, and should deceive many. Here he amplifies the prophecy, and evidently stretches forward to a future catastrophe, namely, the downfal of this present Gentile dispensation. He says, "There shall arise false Christs." Why, what is the Pope of Rome? He is the avríxpotos, the false Christ, the pretended vicegerent of Christ.

I have often made the remark (and you will never be able to understand what the mystery of iniquity is till you appreciate it), that ȧvτíxpiros does not mean opposed to Christ—it is not the preposition anti used in