9 But take heed to yourselves : for they shall deliver you up to councils ; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten ; and ye shall be brought be- fore rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
10 And the Gospel must first be published among all nations.
11 But when they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, nei- ther do ye premeditate ; but whatso-
ever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the H<>ly Ghost.
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son ; and children shall ri- eup ; gainst their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
13 And ye shall be hated of all mm for my name's sake : but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
In reading the prophecies of the Bible concerning Christ's Church, we shall generally find judgment and mercy blended together. They are seldom all bitter without any sweet — seldom all darkness without any light. The Lord knows our weakness, and readiness to faint, and has taken care to mingle consolations with threatenings ■ — kind words with hard words, like warp and woof in a garment. We may remark this throughout the book of Kevelation. We may see it all through the prophecy we are now considering. We may note it in the few verses which we have just read.
Let us observe, in the first place, what troubles our Lord bids His people expect between the time of His first and second comings. Trouble, no doubt, is the portion of all men, since the day that Adam fell. It came in with the thorns and thistles. " Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards." (Job v. 7.) But there are special