1 And as lie went out of the tem-
})le, one of bis disciples saith unto lim, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here !
2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great build- ings ? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately ;
4 Tell us, when shall these things be ? and what shall le the sign when these things shall be fulfilled?
5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man de- ceive you :
6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many.
7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troub- led : for such things must needs be ; but the end shall not be yet.
8 For nation shall rise against na- tion, and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be earthquakes in di- vers places, and there shall be famines and troubles : these are the beginnings of sorrows.
The chapter we have now begun is full of prophecy — prophecy of which part has been fulfilled, and part re- mains to be accomplished. Two great events form the subject of this prophecy. One is the destruction of Jerusalem, and the consequent end of the Jewish dis- pensation. The other is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the winding up of the state of things under which we now live. The destruction of Jerusalem was an event which happened only forty years after our Lord was crucified. The second coming of Christ is an event which is yet to come, and we may yet live to see it with our own eyes.*
* I think it right to repeat here what I said in commenting on the report of our Lord's prophecy given by St. Matthew, respecting the destruction of Jerusalem. I believe that in the prophecy now under consideration, our Lord had in view a second siege of Jerusalem, and a second tribulation accompanying that siege, as well as the first siege and tribulation when the city was taken by Titus. That such a siege is to be expected, the fourteenth chapter of Zechariah appears to me to be unanswerable proof.
I see no other way of explaining the close connection which ap- pears in the prophecy, between the " affliction" here foretold, and the " coming of the Son of Man in the clouds with power and great