87. Who was Zacharias? A. The son of Barachias, a prophet, who was put to death in the court of the temple, for preaching repentance to the people. (Vide 2 Chron. xxiv. 20.) He was the last prophet who was put to death, as recorded in the Old Testament.

88. When did Jesus say that these woes and punishments for their wickedness should come upon them? A. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation; and accordingly, forty years afterwards, Jerusalem and the Jewish nation were destroyed.—v. 36.

89. What address did he then make to Jerusalem ? A. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and

not. v. 37.

ye would 90. What does he mean by this? A. That notwithstanding all their wickedness and all their ingratitude, still he was most earnest to save them; and as a hen is filled with anxiety for the safety of her brood, and endeavours to call them beneath the shelter of her wings, when she sees the bird of prey approaching, even so our blessed Lord, filled with compassion for the calamities he sees coming on the Jews from the Romans, whose ensigns or standards were eagles, repeatedly warned them to escape from these birds of prey, and, by forsaking their wickedness, thus to avoid the destruction which awaited them.

91. What does he mean by saying, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate? A. He alludes to the destruction and desolation of the city and of the temple in which the Jews took so much pride, but which God had deserted, and would suffer to be burned and destroyed by the Romans.- -v. 38.

92. What prophecy did he make respecting himself? A. I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. v. 39.

93. What is meant by not seeing him any more at Jerusalem ? A. Their not seeing him as a teacher; he would no longer endeavour to reform or instruct them, for he knew it would be to no purpose.

94. Had he ever before been received in this manner?

A. Yes; at his public entry into Jerusalem, when the people welcomed him with "Hosannas."

GENERAL QUESTIONS.

95. Why was not the outward religion of the Pharisees acceptable to God? A. Because He that sees the heart well knew that it was not to please him that they appeared righteous, but merely to gain the applause of their fellow

men.

96. What may we infer from our Lord's telling his disciples that they had but one master, even Christ? A. That they were all equal, all brethren, and that none of them had any superiority over the others.

CHAPTER XXIV.

1. WHERE was Jesus while he was saying all these things mentioned in the preceding chapter? A. In the temple. v. 1.

2. Where did he go to after this? A. He departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple,

3. While Jesus was looking at them what observation did he make? A. See ye not all these things? Verily, I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.- -V. 2.

4. Where did he go when he had said this? A. He came and sat upon the Mount of Olives.—v. 4.

5. What questions was he asked? A. His disciples came unto him privately, asking him these three questions, 1st, Tell us when shall these things be; 2dly, and what shall be the sign of thy coming; and 3dly, the sign of the end of the world.

6. What did they mean by asking, When shall these things be? A. They alluded to his prophecy respecting the destruction of the temple.

7. To what did they allude when they asked him for the sign of his coming? A. To the coming of the Messiah to judge the world.

8. Why did they ask him these three questions privately? A. Because it would be attended with danger to our Lord to prophesy publicly when the destruction of the temple would take place. Vide Matt. xxvi. 61.

9. What caution did Jesus give them in his answer? A. He said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. v. 4.

10. Why did he think it necessary to caution them? A. He said. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many; and we that know several persons of this description appeared, each asserting that he was the Messiah; they had many followers for a time.-v. 5.

11. What does he then say to them respecting wars? A. Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.—v. 6. 12. Why should they not be troubled at this? A. Because they were only the signs of his future coming to judge the world. All these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet; and when they did come to pass, his disciples would be comforted by the thought that these things were only preparatory to his coming.

13. What does he say are the beginning of sorrows? A. Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places.-v. 8.

14. What did he say would be the fate of his disciples? A. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations, for my name's sake. v. 9.

15. What is meant by, being hated of all nations for my name's sake? A. That their endeavours to reform the lives of mankind by their preaching, so far from making the people feel grateful, would, in reality, cause them to hate and persecute the disciples for exposing their vices.

A.

16. What is meant by, And many shall be offended and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another? Many persons of weak faith will be so struck with the calamities which happen, that they will disregard the preach

ing of the disciples, supposing these calamities to be a punishment for their believing the Gospel; and, terrified at the dreadful torments with which they are threatened, they will even give up their brethren to death to save themselves. v. 10.

17. Who are to be the agents of these persecutions? A. Both the Jews and Gentiles, who reject the Gospel.

18. What is meant by, False prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many ? A. Many false teachers shall come and pretend that they are sent by God, and shall bring errors into the Church, and persuade many to believe them.-v. 11.

19. What is meant by, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold? A. That in consequence of the grievous persecutions, and of the errors introduced by the false teachers, many professing Christians will grow indifferent to religion, and their faith in the Messiah will be shaken.v. 12.

20. Who does our Lord say will be saved? A. Those who endure unto the end.-v. 13.

21. What is meant by that? A. That those persons who, notwithstanding all the persecutions with which they were afflicted, or all the false doctrine with which they were tempted, still persevere in the true faith, as preached by Christ himself and his holy apostles, shall have all their sufferings crowned with happiness hereafter.

22. What prophecy does he utter concerning the future spreading of the Gospel? A. He says, The Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. -v. 14.

23. Why is it called the Gospel of the kingdom? A. Because it leads to the kingdom of heaven.

24. What is meant by, for a witness unto the nations? A. As a proof of the mercy of God offered to the world, through Christ, and of the extreme obstinacy of the Jews in rejecting it.

25. What is meant by, Then shall the end come? A. That after these things have taken place, and the Gospel has been preached to all nations, as we find it was, over the then known world, the end or destruction of Jerusalem should take place.

26. When were they in Judea to flee to the mountains? A. When they see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place.-v. 15.

27. What is meant by, the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place? A. It alludes to the eagles, the standards or ensigns of the Roman armies, being erected or placed within the holy consecrated territory of Jerusalem'. Many things were brought to Jerusalem by the conquering Romans that were an abomination to the Jews.

28. Why is it called the abomination of desolation? A. Because the arrival of these abominations at Jerusalem was attended with the destruction of every thing which they approached; Jerusalem was totally destroyed.

29. Who had foretold this? A. Daniel the prophet, who prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem more than 600 years before it took place. Daniel xii. 11.

30. What is meant by, whoso readeth let him understand? A. He calls their attention to these subjects, and tells them to remember and understand what he had told them before these things took place.

31. Why does he tell them to flee to the mountains? A. That they might escape the horrors of a siege, and the dreadful fate which awaited those who remained.

32. What is meant by, Let him which is on the house-top not come down to take any thing out of his house? A. That he should be in such haste to escape from the city, that when he hears of the approach of the Roman army, he should fly, and not delay even to take any thing with him, lest his escape from Jerusalem should be afterwards prevented.-v. 17.

33. What is meant by, Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes? A. That for the same reason mentioned in the preceding verse, those who happened to be labouring in the field, when they heard that the Roman armies were approaching, should make their escape, and not even return to their houses for any additional clothes to take with them.-v. 18.

34. What is meant by, their being on the house-top? A.

1 This consecrated ground extended a short distance round the walls of Jerusalem.