SIGNS OF THE APPROACHING END

"He comes not an infant in Bethlehem born,He comes not to lie in a manger;He comes not again to be treated with scorn,He comes not a shelterless stranger;He comes not to Gethsemane,To weep and sweat blood in the garden;He comes not to die on the tree,To purchase for rebels a pardon.Oh, no; glory, bright glory,Environs Him now."

THE TRANSFIGURATION A TYPE OF HIS COMING "Behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him." Matt. 17:3.THE TRANSFIGURATION A TYPE OF HIS COMING"Behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him." Matt. 17:3.

The Lord would have His children understand that this One who comes in power and glory is the same Saviour of men who once walked by blue Galilee. As the disciples were watching their Saviour, and ours, ascending bodily into heaven from Olivet, until "a cloud received Him out of their sight," suddenly two angels stood by them, who said:

"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9, 11.

CHRIST SET AT NAUGHT BY THE ROMANS "Behold your King!" John 19:14.CHRIST SET AT NAUGHT BY THE ROMANS"Behold your King!" John 19:14.

"This same Jesus"! It was the loving Friend and Elder Brother, Son of man as well as Son of God, who was passing from their sight. He will come back the "same Jesus," though in glory indescribable, having "all the holy angels with Him."

The prophet Habakkuk thus described Christ's glorious appearing, as it was represented to him in vision:

"His glory covered the heavens,And the earth was full of His praise.And His brightness was as the light;He had rays coming forth from His hand;And there was the hiding of His power."Hab. 3:3, 4, A.R.V.

"His glory covered the heavens,And the earth was full of His praise.And His brightness was as the light;He had rays coming forth from His hand;And there was the hiding of His power."

Hab. 3:3, 4, A.R.V.

Surely it is the "same Jesus," and the mark of the cruel nails is the shining badge of His power to save.

"I shall know HimBy the print of the nails in His hands."

As the redeemed see Him who was crucified for them coming in glory, they will cry, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9.

But that day will be a day of darkness as well as of light. The unready, the unrepentant, will realize too late that in rejecting Christ's pardon and love and sacrifice, they have rejected the only means by which they might have been prepared to meet the coming King, before whose face no sin can endure. "Every eye shall see Him," the apostle says, and he describes the terror of that day to the unprepared:

"The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:15-17.

The scenes of that great day are so beyond human comprehension that it is difficult to realize that such a time is actually before us.

"Then, O my Lord, prepareMy soul for that great day."

The Scriptures make very clear the purpose of Christ's second coming and the events of that great day. It has been the hope of the children of God through all the ages. The apostle Paul calls it the "blessed hope."

"The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:11-13.

The saints of God have fallen asleep in death with their faith reaching forward to Christ's glorious appearing. So the veteran apostle fell, with eyes upon "that day."

"I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Tim. 4:6-8.

Christ's second coming is the grand climax of the plan of salvation. Not till then are the children of God ushered into the eternal kingdom. Then the crowns of life are bestowed, and the saved all go together through the gates into the city—patriarch and prophet, apostle and reformer, and the child of God of this last generation. Of the ancient worthies it is written:

"These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Heb. 11:39, 40.

What a glorious day it will be when the ransomed of all the ages, march in together through the gates into the city!

It is to take His children to their eternal home that Christ comes the second time. This was His promise to the disciples:

"I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:2, 3.

Not in detail, but in their general order, let us follow the events of that great day.

CHRIST COMING IN GLORY "The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him." Matt. 25:31.CHRIST COMING IN GLORY"The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him." Matt. 25:31.

as the revelator saw it and heard it in a vision of the last day:

"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth,... and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God." Rev. 16:17-19.

"The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." Rev. 6:14.

Then bursts upon the world the glory of our Saviour's coming:

"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." Matt. 24:30, 31.

"I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe." Rev. 14:14, 15.

The time to reap has come, and the wheat is gathered at last into the garner of the Lord:

"We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for thetrumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.

"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." Matt. 24:31.

"This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:15-18.

THE EMPTY TOMB "Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." 1 Cor. 15:23.THE EMPTY TOMB"Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." 1 Cor. 15:23.

The righteous dead are raised to life as the trump of God sounds and the voice of the Archangel calls to His sleeping saints, and the living righteous are transformed from mortalityto immortality. Then all together, with the escort of the angels, they follow the Saviour to the heavenly mansions that He has prepared in the city of God.

Before the glorious majesty of the coming King no sin can endure; for true it is that "our God is a consuming fire"—now, in the day of His mercy, consuming sin out of the heart that by faith approaches the throne of grace, but in that day consuming the unrepentant sinner with his sin.

"Where will the sinner hide in that day, in that day?Where will the sinner hide in that day?It will be in vain to call,'Ye mountains on us fall!'For His hand will find out all in that day."

It is the great day long foretold by seer and prophet.

Again let us read the description of what it will mean to the unsaved to see Christ coming in glory; for the terror of that day must warn us now to keep within the refuge of the Saviour's loving grace:

The same glory that transforms the righteous is a consuming fire to those who have rejected Christ's salvation:

"Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." 2 Thess. 2:8.

"When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on themthat know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." 2 Thess. 1:7-9.

Thus the second coming of Christ brings the resurrection and translation of the righteous, the death of the wicked, and the end of the world. The resurrection of the wicked does not then take place, but only that of the just; save for some of the wicked dead who had a special part in warring against Christ,—"they also which pierced Him" (Rev. 1:7). These are raised to see His coming, necessarily to fall again before the consuming glory of His presence.

The righteous are taken to reign with Christ in the heavenly city for a thousand years, and during the same period the earth lies in desolation and chaos, uninhabited by man, a dark abyss, the dreary prison house of Satan. Of the two resurrections, first of the just and then of the unjust, we are told:

"They [the righteous] lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power." Rev. 20:4-6.

It is at the end of the thousand years that the resurrection of the wicked takes place. Then the city of God descends, "the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven," and the wicked come forth to condemnation and the second death, from which there is no waking.

Now is the day of salvation, when by Christ's grace we may prepare for that great day. To be found among His redeemed ones in that day will be of infinitely greater worththan anything this world can give, of pleasure, or possessions, or honor. Nothing will count then but the blessed hope.

Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, found the personal Saviour in the days of the Methodist revival in England. All her wealth and all her social influence were devoted to Christ, even though titled friends took umbrage at her close association with the poor and the humble who gave heed to the message of the hour, and pressed into the kingdom. She wrote of her joy in being numbered with the children of God:

"I love to meet among them now,Before Thy gracious throne to bow,Though weakest of them all;Nor can I bear the piercing thought,To have my worthless name left out,When Thou for them shalt call."Prevent, prevent it by Thy grace.Be Thou, dear Lord, my hiding placeIn that expected day.Thy pardoning voice, O let me hear,To still each unbelieving fear,Nor let me fall, I pray."

"I love to meet among them now,Before Thy gracious throne to bow,Though weakest of them all;Nor can I bear the piercing thought,To have my worthless name left out,When Thou for them shalt call.

"Prevent, prevent it by Thy grace.Be Thou, dear Lord, my hiding placeIn that expected day.Thy pardoning voice, O let me hear,To still each unbelieving fear,Nor let me fall, I pray."

One night, at a royal ball, the Prince of Wales asked a titled lady where the Countess of Huntingdon was. "Oh, I suppose she is praying with some of her beggars somewhere!" was the flippant answer. "Ah," said the crown prince, "in the last day I think I should be glad to hold the hem of Lady Huntingdon's mantle." True it is that the greatest gift of grace now, as it will be then, is to be numbered among the obedient children of God.

"Let me among Thy saints be found,Whene'er the Archangel's trump shall sound,To see Thy smiling face;Then joyfully Thy praise I'll sing,While heaven's resounding mansions ringWith shouts of endless grace."

CHRIST ANSWERING HIS DISCIPLES' QUESTIONS "When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. 24:3.CHRIST ANSWERING HIS DISCIPLES' QUESTIONS"When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. 24:3.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE FORETOLD "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Matt. 24:2.THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE FORETOLD"There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Matt. 24:2.

Christ had spoken of the coming desolation of the sacred temple at Jerusalem. The disciples were astonished. "Master, see," said one, "what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" The Saviour replied:

"Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" Mark 13:2.

As soon as they were alone on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city, the disciples came to Jesus, saying:

"Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. 24:3.

Replying to this question, the Saviour spoke first of the fall of Jerusalem; He foretold in a sentence the experiences ofHis church through dark ages to follow; then He described the events of the latter days, the signs showing His second advent near at hand; and, finally, He pictured the scenes of His own glorious appearing in the clouds of heaven. The fullest record of the discourse is found in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew.

The first portion of the prophetic discourse (verses 4-14) deals with general conditions that were to prevail both in the last days of the Jewish state, and on a yet larger scale in the course of history leading to the last days of the world. There was so close a parallel between these times that Christ, in one description, answered both questions asked, When shall these things come upon Jerusalem? and, What shall be the signs of the end of the world?

The prophetic word foretold the rise of false Christs, the coming of wars, famines, and earthquakes in "divers places." The believers saw these things fulfilled in that generation before Jerusalem fell; but as we read the prophecy, we see the wider application and yet larger fulfilment through the course of history since that day, these calamities increasing in the earth as the end draws near. Before the end of the Jewish state, the believers carried the gospel to all the known world of their day. (See Col. 1:23.) In these latter days we are seeing the yet wider proclamation of the gospel, as foretold in the fourteenth verse, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

We may note briefly some of the events of Jerusalem's last days. Christ had forewarned the believers:

"Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."

Having rejected the true Christ, the nation was open to deception by the false. We catch just a glimpse of the fulfilment in the book of Acts; in secular history the full story is told. Ridpath says:

"Never was a people so turbulent, so excited with expectation of a deliverer who should restore the ancient kingdom, so fired with bigotry and fanaticism, as were the wretched Jews of this period. One Christ came after another. Revolt was succeeded by revolt, instigated by some pseudo-prophet or pretended king."—"History of the World," Vol. I, p. 849 (Part III, chap. 19).

During the Saviour's life and ministry a divine hand had to a great extent held the elements of violence in check, but as the light was rejected more and more, the spirit of evil came to hold sway unrestrained. Dr. Mears well describes the changed conditions in these words:

"The narrative of the evangelists presents a tranquil scene, a succession of attractive pictures, in striking contrast to the bloody and tumultuous events which crowd each other in the pages of Josephus."—"From Exile to Overthrow," pp. 256, 257.

Thus the events led rapidly on toward the day of Jerusalem's fall, so long foretold by the prophets.

The disciples had asked for a sign, and Christ gave them a token by which they might know when the time to flee from Jerusalem had come. Here Luke's Gospel gives the fullest record:

"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." Luke 21:20-22.

THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM BY THE ROMANS UNDER TITUS, a.d. 70 "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." Luke 21:20.THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM BY THE ROMANS UNDER TITUS, A.D. 70"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." Luke 21:20.

The unbelieving in Jerusalem and Judea could not conceive that their city, so long protected and favored of God, could be destroyed. Not even the appearance of the Romanarmies could shake their blind self-confidence. But at the first sight of the encircling armies, the Christians knew that the time for flight was at hand. But how to flee was the question, with the compassing lines drawn close about the city. Moreover, the Zealots, the furious war party in power, would be little likely to allow any number to pass out to the Roman forces.

Just here God's providence made a way of escape. Cestius, the Roman commander, after having partially undermined one of the temple walls, suddenly decided to defer pushing the attack. "He retired from the city," says Josephus, "without any reason in the world." (See "Wars," book 2, chap. 19.) And the Zealots flew out after the retiring Romans, furiously attacking the rear guards.

Then those watching Christians knew that the time for quick flight had come, according to Christ's prophecy uttered many years before. They fled out of the city and out of the country round about.

Through all the years, Christ's prophecy had exhorted them, "Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20. The prayer was answered, for it was in the autumn and on a week day that the flight was made.[B]Watching for the sign, and instantly obeying, they were delivered.

Thus it was that when the Romans returned later to the siege, never to give up till the city fell, none of the Christians were overwhelmed in its destruction. Even so are we to watch the signs of our own times, that we may escape those things that are coming upon the earth, and be ready to "stand before the Son of man."

Christ had declared that the temple, the pride of the nation, would be utterly destroyed. In the last siege, the Roman commander tried to spare the magnificent pile. When the Jews made it their chief fortress, because of its massive strength, Titus remonstrated with them, saying:

"If you will but change the place whereon you fight, no Roman shall either come near your sanctuary, or offer any affront to it; nay, I will endeavor to preserve you your holy house, whether you will or not."—Josephus, "Wars of the Jews," book 6, chap. 2.

But the prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. The people seemed possessed with fury. The hardened Roman pagans were astonished at their suicidal rashness. Titus's efforts to save the temple failed, and it went down in ruin, as Christ had foretold.

A PANEL FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS Showing the golden candlestick and other sacred vessels of the temple being carried in triumph through the streets of Rome.A PANEL FROM THE ARCH OF TITUSShowing the golden candlestick and other sacred vessels of the temple being carried in triumph through the streets of Rome.

The disciples of Christ had called His attention to the immense blocks of stone that composed the temple walls. "See, what manner of stones," one said. When Titus examined these same stones, after the fall of the city, he is said to have declared:

"We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was no other than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications."[C]—Id., book 6, chap. 9.

Rather, we would say, in the light of Scripture teaching, the destruction that came upon the city was but the fruit of its own way. God's guardian care had long protected the city of David. When His protection was finally thrust aside and the people put themselves in the power of the great destroyer, divine justice could no longer save the city from the judgments that were bound to fall upon persistent transgression against light.

The lesson is one of those written "for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come." Jerusalem, in that generation of great light and high privilege, fell because it knew not the time of its visitation. Still Christ's sad lament bears its warning to the ears of men: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!" Luke 19:42.

Having foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and given to the believers signs by which they might find deliverance in the day of its overthrow, Christ yet more fully answered the second part of the disciples' question, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. 24:3.

THE CATACOMBS NEAR ROME In these underground passages persecuted Christians found a hiding place, held their services, and buried their dead.THE CATACOMBS NEAR ROMEIn these underground passages persecuted Christians found a hiding place, held their services, and buried their dead.

Quickly He passed to the events of the latter days. But first He sketched, in a few words, the tribulations through which His church was to pass during the intervening centuries. Daniel the prophet had written of this experience, foretelling the long period during which the papal power was to "wear out the saints of the Most High." Dan. 7:25. Of these times, Christ said in His prophetic discourse:

"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." Matt. 24:21, 22.

It is evident that Christ referred to the time of tribulation foretold by Daniel, not to the trials attending the flight of the Christians from Jerusalem, for their flight was a deliverance of the elect from trial. However much the weak may have suffered temporarily in fleeing from their homes, the great suffering of that time came upon the unbelieving, who had no shelter.

This prophecy given by our Saviour presents the picture of a long-continued persecution of His own elect, and foretells the shortening of the allotted time. God was to intervene in some special way to save His people. And it was even so. The elect did suffer all through the centuries of intolerance, until the rise of the Reformation and the spreading abroad of God's Word broke the power of ecclesiasticism, thus shortening the days of bitter tribulation.

According to Daniel's further prophecy, the period of trial and persecution was to reach "even to the time of the end." Dan. 11:35. Naturally, then, we should look for the signs of the latter days to begin to appear following these days of tribulation. And so we find the next words of Christ's discourse introducing the topic of His second coming. Fromnow on the prophetic outline deals with events leading down to the end of the age.

First the Saviour utters a warning against false ideas concerning His second coming. That no theories of a secret coming or of a mystic coming might deceive the unwary, He says in plain words:

"If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:23-27.

Today we see the need of this warning. Some of the most subtle deceptions are found in the teaching that Christ has already come, secretly, or that He comes in the chamber of death, or in the spiritualistic séance. Against all these errors we are forewarned, as well as against any agencies that may come showing marvelous signs and wonders. The close of human probation, the coming of the day of God, will be as a thief in the night; and Christ's coming itself will overtake the unwatchful all unprepared. Nevertheless, when He comes, "every eye shall see Him," and all the glory of heaven will burst upon a quaking world.

Now the Saviour's outline of prophecy presents the signs which were to show when the coming of the Lord was near. Referring again to the days of tribulation foretold by the prophet Daniel, Christ says:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavensshall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven." Matt. 24:29, 30.

In Luke's record of the same prophetic discourse, additional signs are given, describing conditions in the earth as Christ's coming draws near. His account reads:

"There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:25-28.

Yet again, the prophet John, in the Revelation, foretells these signs in the sun and moon and stars, as they were presented to him in a vision of the last days. But his record shows that this series of signs was to be preceded by a great earthquake. He describes the order of events as follows:

"I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." Rev. 6:12, 13.

In these scriptures four great signs of Christ's approaching advent are listed for our study, as follows:

1. The great earthquake.2. The darkening of the sun and moon.3. The falling of the stars.4. Distress of nations, and other signs.

Christ's prophecy points out approximately the time when the first of the signs that He gave, the darkening of the sun, should appear,—"immediately after the tribulationof those days." And the "great earthquake" of John's vision was to precede this sign in the heavens.

The Reformation of the sixteenth century began to cut short the days of tribulation; but some countries shut out the liberalizing influences of the Word of God, and there the persecution continued.

Even as late as near the end of the seventeenth century, in 1685, France revoked the Edict of Nantes, that had granted toleration, and persecution raged as of old. The church was driven again to the desert. Speaking of the early decades of the eighteenth century, Kurtz says:

"In France the persecution of the Huguenots continued.... The 'pastors of the desert' performed their duties at the risk of their lives."—"Church History," Vol. III, p. 88.

There was severe persecution of the Moravians in Austria, in these times, many of the persecuted finding refuge in Saxony. It was in 1722 that Christian David led the first band of Moravian refugees to settle on the estates of Count Zinzendorf, who organized through them the great pioneer movement of modern missions.

But by the middle of the century, the era of enlightenment and the force of world opinion, in the good providence of God, had so permeated the Catholic states of Europe that general violent persecution had ceased. One incident will suffice as evidence of this.

The scene was in France, where alone, of all the Catholic states, there were any great numbers of Protestants. In 1762 a Huguenot of Toulouse, unjustly charged with crime, was put to torture and to death, under the pressure of the old persecuting spirit. Many Huguenots thought the persecutions of former times were reviving, and prepared to flee to Switzerland. But Voltaire took up the matter, and so wrought upon public opinion that the Paris parliament reviewed the case, and the king paid the man's family a large indemnity.

This shows that by the middle of that century the days of any general persecution had ceased. In the nature of thecase, we may not point to the exact year and say, Here the days of tribulation ended.

From these times, then, we are to scan the record of history to learn if the appointed signs began to appear. As we look, we find the events recorded, following on in the order predicted:

1. The Lisbon earthquake, cf 1755.2. The dark day, cf 1780.3. The falling stars, cf 1833.4. General conditions and movements betokening the end.

"There shall be signs," the Saviour said. We are to study the record of events, watching to catch the signs of the approaching end as earnestly as the mariner watches the beacon lights when he nears the longed-for haven on a dark and stormy night.

AN ANCIENT FLOUR MILL "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Matt. 24:41.AN ANCIENT FLOUR MILL"Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Matt. 24:41.

FOOTNOTES:[B]It was in the autumn that the army of Cestius closed in upon Jerusalem. According to the careful record of Graetz, the Jewish historian, it was evidently on a Wednesday that the Roman army retired, pursued by all the forces of the city. This was the instant for the flight of the Christians. Next day "the Zealots, shouting exultant war songs, returned to Jerusalem (8th October)."—"History of the Jews," Vol. II, p. 268.The day before was the time for unhindered flight.[C]Apollonius, the friend and counselor of Titus, left a similar testimony to the latter's conviction that there was something supernatural about the forces of destruction let loose upon Jerusalem: "After Titus had taken Jerusalem, and when the country all round was filled with corpses, the neighboring races offered him a crown: but he disclaimed any such honor to himself, saying that it was not he himself that had accomplished this exploit, but that he had merely lent his arms to God, who had so manifested His wrath."—Philostratus, "Life of Apollonius," book 6, chap. 29.

[B]It was in the autumn that the army of Cestius closed in upon Jerusalem. According to the careful record of Graetz, the Jewish historian, it was evidently on a Wednesday that the Roman army retired, pursued by all the forces of the city. This was the instant for the flight of the Christians. Next day "the Zealots, shouting exultant war songs, returned to Jerusalem (8th October)."—"History of the Jews," Vol. II, p. 268.The day before was the time for unhindered flight.

[C]Apollonius, the friend and counselor of Titus, left a similar testimony to the latter's conviction that there was something supernatural about the forces of destruction let loose upon Jerusalem: "After Titus had taken Jerusalem, and when the country all round was filled with corpses, the neighboring races offered him a crown: but he disclaimed any such honor to himself, saying that it was not he himself that had accomplished this exploit, but that he had merely lent his arms to God, who had so manifested His wrath."—Philostratus, "Life of Apollonius," book 6, chap. 29.

LISBON FROM ACROSS THE BAY The scene of the great earthquake and tidal wave, Nov. 1, 1755, when in six minutes sixty thousand people perished.LISBON FROM ACROSS THE BAYThe scene of the great earthquake and tidal wave, Nov. 1, 1755, when in six minutes sixty thousand people perished.

The first of a series of signs of the approaching end is thus described by the revelator:

"I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake." Rev. 6:12.

THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE "There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." Matt. 24:7.THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE"There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." Matt. 24:7.

The verses immediately preceding this scripture plainly describe the days of persecution of the saints of God, and the era of protest and reform that cut short that time of tribulation. Then this first sign appears. This is in harmony with Christ's statement that the signs of His second coming should begin to appear following the tribulation of those days.

Just about the close of the days of tribulation occurred the Lisbon earthquake, as it is called, though its effects reached far beyond Portugal. Prof. W.H. Hobbs, geologist, says of it:

"Among the earth movements which in historic times have affected the kingdom of Portugal, that of Nov. 1, 1755, takes first rank, as it does, also, in some respects, among all recorded earthquakes.... In six minutes sixty thousand people perished."—"Earthquakes," pp. 142, 143.

"Lo, there was a great earthquake," the revelator said. It was indeed "a great earthquake," and great was its influence. In all the world, men's hearts were mightily stirred. James Parton, an English author, says of it:

"The Lisbon earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755, appears to have put both the theologians and philosophers on the defensive.... At twenty minutes to ten that morning, Lisbon was firm and magnificent, on one of the most picturesque and commanding sites in the world,—a city of superb approach, placed precisely where every circumstance had concurred to say to the founders, Build here! In six minutes the city was in ruins.... Half the world felt the convulsion.... For many weeks, as we see in the letters and memoirs of that time, people in distant parts of Europe went to bed in alarm, relieved in the morning to find that they had escaped the fate of Lisbon one night more."—"Life of Voltaire," Vol. II, pp. 208, 209.

This earthquake set men to thinking of the great day of God. Voltaire, the French philosopher, was "profoundly moved" by it, we are told. "It was the last judgment for that region," he wrote; "nothing was wanting to it except the trumpet." More than a month afterward, while still the perturbations of the earth were continuing, this skeptic wrote a poem upon the problem presented, voicing the sentiment:

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