the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled."

These words are part of our Lord's answer to the following questions, Tell us when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world, or age?

The apostles were led to ask these questions, by the declaration of the Saviour, that Jerusalem should be destroyed. This they could hardly believe; and they went to him to show him the buildings of the temple, that he might see how utterly improbable it appeared. But he replied, "See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down."

The disciples were still more astonished, and as Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives, where he had a full view of the city, they came with the questions, When shall these things be? What

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shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

He proceeds to reply, and his answer occupies all the remainder of the twenty-fourth chapter, and the whole of the twenty-fifth. He begins by describing the signs of this great event. First, he mentions the appearance of false Christs; but says, the end of the world or age is not yet. Next, he mentions wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. These are, however, only the beginning of sorrows. Then he speaks of the appearance of false prophets, the prevalence of iniquity, and the falling away of many from the faith.

These, then, were the signs of his coming; of the destruction of Jerusalem; of the end of the Jewish dispensation. After having described these, he says, "When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee unto the mountains; let him which is on the house-top not come down to take any thing out of his house; neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day; 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 should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but, for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened." Here he tells them when to flee unto the mountains, and urges them to make

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all possible haste in their flight. Then he adds what we have quoted respecting the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars; the mourning of mankind, and the coming of the Son of man; after which, he says, "Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.” Here we ask, All what things were near, even at their doors? The answer is unavoidable, All the things of which he had been speaking, among which was his own coming. To whom does he refer when he says, "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors"? Does he refer to people who will live on the earth at the time of its final conflagration? If so, what does he mean by saying, "Let those which be in Judea flee to the mountains"? Why they flee to the mountains more than we? Why more safe in the mountains than in Judea, if the whole world is to be destroyed? What too does he mean, when he says, "Let him that is on the house-top not come down to take any thing out of his house"? Houses are not built here with flat roofs, as in Judea. We could not escape from one of our cities by going along on the tops of the houses, as the Jews could; for we have no such walks leading from house to house as they had. Hence, when he says, "So` likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors," he was telling his primitive disciples (not us, or any who

shall come after us) how to escape when he should come; when Jerusalem should be destroyed. Therefore, he adds, "Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

What does he mean by this generation? But one answer can be given to this question. He means the same as when he says, "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." I know Mr. Miller says this generation means the Christian people; and that our Saviour meant, that the Christians should remain a distinct people, till the end of the material world. And in proof of this, we have been referred to two or three texts, where the word is applied to the Christians, and used to denote the excellency of their character.* But it is all assumption to say, that by this generation the Christians in particular are intended. There is no proof that such is the case. The proof is all against such an idea. He had just told his disciples how to conduct when he should come, and how they should know when to flee; and to show them that the event was not far future, he said, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

By generation, then, he meant the people living in his time. And this, allow me to remark, is the general acceptation of the term, as you will see by the following examples. "Joseph died, and all that generation." "Whereto shall I liken

* See Lectures, p. 12. Our references are to the edition printed in Troy, N. Y., 1838.

this generation?" "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." "The Son of man must be rejected of this generation." "Save you from this untoward generation." This general use of the phrase "this generation," caused the learned and orthodox Cruden to express as follows the sense of Matt. xvi. 27, 28: "All who are at present living, shall not be dead, when this shall come to pass. There are some at this day living, who shall be witnesses of the evils which I have foretold shall befall the Jews."

It will not answer to say, the questions of the disciples relate to different periods of time; that they inquire about the destruction of Jerusalem, and also about his coming at the destruction of the world; because there was nothing to elicit this last inquiry. Nothing had been said about the end of time. No allusion had been made to such an event. Christ had told them that Jerusalem should be destroyed. This caused their surprise, and this led to the question, When shall these things be? that is, when will your coming be? when will be the end of this dispensation? by what signs shall it be foretold?

That we are right is evident from the manner in which Mark and Luke record this matter. Mark says, "Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?" Now here is no inquiry made about the coming of Christ, and yet he goes on to say, he should come at the destruction of Jerusalem. Hear him: "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see