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A. He had, at the close of his address to them, in the temple, as recorded in the previous chapter“Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation."

LESSON XXVII.

Parable of the Sheep and Goats-Continued.

Q. What was the second question?

A. "And what shall be the sign of thy coming?"
Q. To what coming did the disciples refer?

A. They referred to the spiritual coming of Christ, with his angels, or messengers, to judge that wicked generation?

Q. Was this coming of Jesus to be at the same time referred to in the first question, when the temple was to be destroyed, and "all these things" were to take place, viz., in that generation?

A. It was, as we learn from the language of Christ on other occasions, as well as in the following part of the answer to these inquiries: "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then shall he reward every man according to his works. Verily, I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."-(Matt. xvi. 27, 28.)

Q. Did the Redeemer utter the same important

truth on other occasions?

A. He did. "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."-(Matt. x. 23.)

Q. What was the third question?

A. "What shall be the sign of the end of the world?"

Q. Did this inquiry relate to the end of this earth on which we live?

A. It did not. The Greek word which is here translated world, is not kosmos-earth.

Q. What are the original words, translated end of the world?

A. They are sunteleias tou aionos-end of the age. (See parable of the Wheat and Tares, p. 56.)

Q. Do a large number of the most respectable commentators contend that these Greek words should be rendered, end of the age?

A. They do. Such is the opinion of Kenrick, Wakefield, Drs. Clarke, Hammond, Whitby, and Bishops Pearce and Newton, and many others.

Q. Did the first disciples and followers of Christ believe the world, or Jewish age, was then soon to come to an end?

A. They evidently did. St. Paul says, "But now once in the end of the world, [sunteleia ton aionon-end of the age, or ages,] hath he (Christ) appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Heb. ix. 26.).

Q. Is there another passage of similar description?

A. There is "And they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [ta tele ton aionon-ends of the age,] are come."(1 Cor. x. 11.)

Q. With the light which these explanations throw upon the subject, how should we understand the questions which the disciples put to Jesus?

A. We should understand them as inquiring the time, and the signs, of his spiritual coming, to bring that dispensation or age to a close, to destroy Jerusalem with its temple, and to execute judgment upon the Jewish nation.

Q. Did the Saviour make a lengthy reply to these inquiries?

A. He did. His answer occupies all the remainder of the twenty-fourth chapter, and the whole of the twenty-fifth chapter, including the parable of the Sheep and Goats, now under consideration, which closes that chapter, as well as the Redeemer's dis

course.

Q. Was the Bible when originally written, divided into chapters and verses, as at present?

A. It was not. The whole of each book was written compactly together, without any divisions. Chapters and verses are of more modern invention.

Q. Why were these divisions introduced?

A. It was to facilitate references to any particular passage or word, which is much more readily done under this arrangement, than as originally writ

ten.

Q. By whom, and when, were chapters and verses introduced into the Scriptures?

A. This invention has been attributed by some to Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reigns of William the Conqueror and William II. Others ascribe it to Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reigns of John and Henry III.

Q. Who is it more generally supposed introduced these divisions

A. It is more generally believed they were introduced by Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro, who lived about the middle of the thirteenth century.

Q. What regard should we pay to these chapters and verses?

A. Being of modern invention, and entirely arbitrary, we should pay no attention to them in investigating the Scriptures, other than as facilities for reference.

Q. How should we view, in this respect, the long

discourse delivered by Jesus to his disciples, in reply to their inquiries, as above noticed?

A. We should pay no regard to its being divided into two chapters, but should peruse it as one unbroken series of remarks-one discourse-uttered by the Saviour at the same time, and bearing upon the same subject, precisely as we peruse a modern ser

mon.

Q. Would it have been much more proper to have had all his discourse included in chapter twenty-four, than to divide it into two chapters?

A. It would.

Q. How did the Redeemer reply to the questions of the disciples, and point out to them the signs of his coming and the end of that age?

A. He commenced by saying, "Take heed that no man deceive you."

Q. Was this a very important injunction?

A. It was; for the early Christians, it seems, were very liable to be deceived, and some were deceived, as to the time of the coming of the Lord.

Q. How did Jesus then proceed with his discourse?

A. He went on to point out the signs which should precede and denote his coming.

Q. What were some of those signs?

A. He told them that false Christs should arise and deceive many-that there should be wars and rumors of war-and famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places.

Q. What other signs did he mention?

A. He declared that his disciples should be afflicted, and some of them killed-that they should be hated of all nations for his name's sake-that many of his followers should become disaffected, and should hate and betray one another-and that the

love of many would wax cold, on account of the persecutions they would be called to experience. Q. What does he then say?

A. "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”—(v. 13.)

Q. How should this verse be understood?

A. "He that shall endure these trials and persecutions unto the end of this age, or dispensation, the same shall be saved from the terrific calamities which are to come upon this wicked nation.

Q. What does he proceed to tell them they must do, when they see these signs, and behold the abominations spoken of by the prophet Daniel, in the ninth, eleventh and twelfth chapters of his prophecy?

A. "Then let them which be in Judea, flee unto the mountains; let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes."-(v. 16, 17, 18.)

Q. Why were the followers of Christ to flee in such haste into the mountains?

A. That they might avoid the destruction which would then be on the point of overwhelming Jerusalem and Judea, and all who should be within their borders.

Q. Would there be the least propriety in these warnings of Christ to his disciples, if his coming and these calamities, were not to take place until thousands of years afterwards?

Q. What does he say of the intensity of the sufferings which the Jews were then soon to experience?

A. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."-(v. 21.)

Q. How does Jesus continue his discourse?

4. He again takes up the subject of the signs of

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