kingdom : and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines and pestilences : and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.'^
These words no doubt received a partial fulfilment, in the days when Jerusalem was taken by the Eomans, and the Jews were led into captivity. It was a season of un- paralleled desolation to Judaea, and the countries round about Judaea. The last days of the Jewish dispensation were woimd up by a struggle which for bloodshed, misery, and tribulation, has never been equalled since the world began.
But the words before us have yet to receive a more complete accomplishment. They describe the time which shall immediately precede the second advent of Jesus Christ. The " time of the end " shall be a time of war, and not of universal peace. The Christian dispensation shall pass away like the Jewish one, amidst wars, tumults, and desolation, amidst a general crash of empires and king- doms, such as the eyes of man have never yet seen.
A thorough understanding of these things is of great importance to our souls. Nothing is so calculated to chill the heart and damp the faith of a Christian as in- dulgence in unscriptural expectations. — ^Let us dismiss firom our minds the vain idea that nations will ever give up wars entirely, before Jesus Christ comes again. So long as the devil is the prince of this world, and the hearts pf the many are unconverted, so long there must be strife and fighting. There will be no universal peace before the second advent of the Prince of peace. Then, and then only, men shall '4eam war no more." (Isaiah ii. 4.) Let ns cease to expect that missionaries and ministers will
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ever conrert the world, and teach all mankind to love one another. They will do nothing of the kind. They were never intended to do it. Hiey will call ont a witnessmg people who shall senre Christ in every land, bnt they will do no more. The bnlk of mankind will always refuse to obey the Oospel. The nations will always go on quarrelling, wrangling, and fighting. The last days of the earth shall be its worst days. The last war shall be the most fearM and terrible war that ever desolated the earth.
The duty of the true Christian is clear and plain. Whatever others do, he must give all diligence to make his own calling and election sure. While others are occupied in national conflicts and political speculations, he must steadily seek first the kingdom of God. So doing he shall feel his feet upon a rock, when the foundations of the earth are out of course, and tbe kingdoms of this world are going to ruin. He shall be like Noah, safe within the ark. He shall be "hid in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zeph. ii. 3.)
We should notice, for another thing, in this passage, Christ* 8 predicHon concerMng Sis oum disciples. He does not prophecy smooth things, and promise them an un- interrupted course 6f temporal comfort. He says that they shall be "persecuted," put in "prison," "brought before kings and rulers," "betrayed," "put to death," and "hated of all men for his name's sake."
The words of this prophecy were doubtless intended to apply to every age of the Church of Christ. They began to be fulfilled in the days of the apostles. The book of Acts supplies us with many an instance of their