proaching desolation of Jerusalem, which he calls "the beginning of sorrows:"__

Luke, xxi." Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from heaven; all these are the beginning of sorrows."

Bishop Newton, in his Dissertation on the Prophecies, has very ably collected together the historical evidence of the fulfilment of these predictions previously to the desolation of Jerusalem; and we may justly remark, if these are but "the beginning of sorrows,"1-as the words strictly signify, the first of the pains of a labouring woman—what are we to expect at the time of the end, when the world shall experience those dreadful throes that are to complete her labour?

12. "But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, and deliver you up to the synagogues," Mark, " councils, and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten,"-" and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name sake."- Mark, xiii. 9, “But take heed to yourselves."- Luke, xxi. 13, “ And it shall turn to you for a testimony"- Mark, against them."-Mark, xiii. 10, " And the Gospel must first be published among all nations."

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A clear prediction of the general preaching of the apostles in the Gentile world, previously to this beginning of sorrows, the desolation of Jerusalem.

11. "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do

1.66 Αρχη οδινών, διν properly signifies the pain of child-bearing, which at the beginning is but

light, in comparison of what it becomes afterwards."-DR. MAC

KNIGHT.

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." —Luke xxi. 14, "Settle it, therefore, in your hearts, not to meditate before, what ye shall answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist: and ye shall be betrayed both by parents and brethren, and kinsfolk and friends, and some of you they shall cause to be put to death, and ye shall be hated of all men,” Matt. "of all nations for my name sake.”—Matt. xxiv. 10, "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and many false prophets shall arise and deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved;"— Luke, "but there shall not a hair of your head perish."-" And the Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come."

This address to his disciples respecting the persecution they are to expect from mankind, is not to be confined to the times previous to the destruction of Jerusalem. It is a glance at the whole history of persecutions to the end of the present dispensation, when the kingdom of God shall come. Their persecution by their own countrymen, in the synagogue, is first clearly marked, and, connected with this persecution, the promulgation of the Gospel in the Gentile nations: but, after that, they are to be persecuted and hated by "all nations." They are, moreover, to suffer great corruptions in their own body, through deceivers and traitors, and the gradual decay of Christian principles. But some will " endure to the end," that is, "the end of the world," for that being the meaning of " end" in the disciples' question, it ought to have the same meaning in our Lord's answer. But before, perhaps immediately before, this end shall come,

even in the midst of these times of deceit, and treachery, and decay of Christian love, in respect to the church in general, there shall be a still wider diffusion of the Gospel in all the world to all nations. An extended general proclamation of the Gospel, with whatever success, to all the nations of the earth, is another "sign of Christ's appearing, and of the end of the world," that is, of the present dispensation of grace and providence.

We now come to our Lord's more particular predictions respecting the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which we must be careful to keep distinct from the general theme of his prophecy, "his appearing and kingdom:"

Matt. xxiv. 15, "When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, whoso readeth let him understand."— Luke, xxi. 20, " And when ye see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them that are in the midst of it, depart out; and let not them which are in the countries, enter thereinto."- Matt. xxiv. 17, "Let him which is on the house-top not come down,”- Mark, not go down into the house, neither enter therein,"—" to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes."—Luke, xxi. 22, "For these be the days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled." Matt. xxiv. 9, "And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in winter, neither on the sabbath day."

In this place, we must be careful not to pass unnoticed a sudden transition, in the copies of the discourse preserved by St. Matthew and St. Mark, + from the

beginning of sorrows," in Jerusalem's destruction, to the greater troubles of the last days. In St. Luke, the transition is not so sudden: there, the intermediate space and the history of Israel during the long interval, is plainly marked. After having, with the other two evangelists, reported our Lord's words, But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days," his report continues :

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"For there shall be great distress in the land, 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."

In connexion with the fulfilling of this period of the treading down of the holy city by the Gentiles, our Lord says, according to St. Luke:

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth, 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 upon the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."

Such is St. Luke's report of our Lord's discourse, who, by the current opinion of antiquity, is stated to have written from the mouth of St. Peter, one of the four disciples who had put the question privately to Jesus: "When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?" St. Luke's report has clearly, and in order, stated the answer to

* Chap. xxi. 28.

these questions, both with respect to the desolation of Jerusalem, and its long continuance in a state of desolation, and also with respect to the second coming of Christ, after the period of that desolation should be completed. When, therefore, we read in the report which St. Mark makes of the same discourse:

"For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days."

Or to the same effect in St. Matthew's copy:

21. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be; and except those days be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”.

When we read these most awful declarations, it is surely absurd to apply them to "the beginning of sorrows" -the desolation of Jerusalem by the Roman armieswhen St. Luke's report has plainly marked more signal afflictions in connexion with the fulfilling of the times of the Gentiles in treading down the holy city, immediately previous to the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven.' None can doubt that the troubles of the last days are comparatively greater than the affliction, dreadful as it was, of the siege of Jerusalem. The words of Mark and Matthew express and mark a time of trouble, such as not only never was before, but never should be again; and to this agree the words of all the prophets respecting the last perilous times. Those of Daniel are express to the point: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy