The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 444

he eaye, did any other city euffer such miseries, nor did a.ny age breed a. generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was from the beginning of the world. The destruction of life was enormous. It seemed as if the whole Jewish race would be swept away. But the days of tribulation were shortened for the elect's sa.ke-for the sake of those among the J ewe who believed or would hereafter believe ( comp. Rom. xi. 5, 7). "The Lord shortened those days," we read in St. Mark. God's providence so ordered cir- cumstances that the siege was ended sooner than might have been expected (in five months), and thus the lose of lifo, though tremendous, was not so overwhelming as otherwise it might have been. "The Lord knoweth them that are his; " he careth for them. The great events of history, the convulsions which shake society, are ordered by him for the good, for the salvation, of his elect. Monarchs and statesmen and warriors act from various motives, often from wicked a.nd selfish ambition. But the Lord reigneth. He overruleth all things for the elect'e sake. Let us give diligence to make our ea.Hing and election sure, and then trust ourselves in entire resignation to hie blessed will. II. WABNmGs CONTINUED. 1. Deceivers. Then, the Lord says. He looks onward again, beyond the destruction of the holy city. Jerusalem had fallen, but the Lord had not yet come. In II real sense, indeed, the fall of Jerusalem was a coming of the Lord (comp. eh. x. 23 and xvi. 28). He came in that awful event to execute judg- ment upon the guilty, to bring the old dispensation to an end. But he had not come revealed in his majesty. He bids his people beware of false prophets, false Messiahs. Many such there have been, many such there will be down to the times of the anti- christ described by St. Paul (2 Thees. ii. 3-10). Like that antichrist, these false Christe will show signs and lying wonders, so as to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. But that, thank God, is not possible, for we have Christ's word, "They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." He warns us now -" I have told you before "-that we may be prepared in the day of temptation. There will be false Christs, the Lord ea.ye, repeating his warning; ea.eh will have his followers, who will try to draw people after him. "Behold, he is in the desert!" some will sa.y. Christ's people must not listen. The true Messiah has come ; we bear his name; we know him if we are his indeed; and that knowledge is life eternal. We need no other prophet; there can be no other Christ. When he cometh again men will not say, "Lo, here;" or" Lo, there." "Every eye shall see him." When he first came in great humility, men said to one another," We have found the Messias." But he cometh not thus again. In power and awful glory he shall come, a dreadful Judge. Then Christians must not allow themselves to be misled by false Messiahs. They must not believe the stories of ignorance or fanaticism. Some may say," Behold, he is in the desert I" others, "Behold, he is in the secret chambers I '' Some may tell us that we shall find Christ in the free air of the desert, away from creeds, and forms, and systems of doctrine, and antiquated Churches. Others may think to find him in the narrow, confined limits of this or that sect. Believe them not. "Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." But seek not after the Christ here nor there, in the desert nor in the secret chambers; for the true Christ is found eve:7where by those who seek him in simplicity and in truth, not only at Jerusalem or ' in this mountain." 2. Wnat <Jhrist'a coming will be. It will overspread the world at once. " Every eye shall see him." The sense of his presence wil I fill the whole universe, as the lightning fills the whole expanse of the sky. It cometh from the east, and is seen even to the west. Bo shall the coming of the Son of man be ; in flaming fire, visible throughout the universe, startling quick and dead alike wit.h its omnipresent energy. " Wneresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." The carcase is the festering corruption of sin. There are high authorities for a very different interpretation; but both the fitness of words and the context, which speaks of God's awful judgment rather than of the means of grace and the Bread of life, seem to necessitate the explanation which is perhaps generally adopted. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking ,engeance on them that know not God, and that:obey not the gospel ofour Lord Jesus Ohrist." That revelation will burst at once upon the whole universe. Those mighty angels are the eagles. They eliall gather the wicked from among the just. Wherever the carcase is, wherever there are impenitent sinners, dead unto God and holiness, JUTTHEW-Il. 2 0 450 THE GOSPEL ACOORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [on. xxrv. 1-51,