Mark 13 commentary

See how little Christ values outward pomp, where there is not real purity of heart. He looks with pity upon the ruin of precious souls, and weeps over them, but we do not find him look with pity upon the ruin of a fine house. Let us then be reminded how needful it is for us to have a more lasting abode in heaven, and to be prepared for it by the influences of the Holy Spirit, sought in the earnest use of all the means of grace.

Our Lord Jesus, in reply to the disciples' question, does not so much satisfy their curiosity as direct their consciences. When many are deceived, we should thereby be awakened to look to ourselves. And the disciples of Christ, if it be not their own fault, may enjoy holy security and peace of mind, when all around is in disorder. But they must take heed that they are not drawn away from Christ and their duty to him, by the sufferings they will meet with for his sake. They shall be hated of all men: trouble enough! Yet the work they were called to should be carried on and prosper. Though they may be crushed and borne down, the gospel cannot be. The salvation promised is more than deliverance from evil, it is everlasting blessedness.

The Jews in rebelling against the Romans, and in persecuting the Christians, hastened their own ruin apace. Here we have a prediction of that ruin which came upon them within less than forty years after this. Such destruction and desolation, that the like cannot be found in any history. Promises of power to persevere, and cautions against falling away, well agree with each other. But the more we consider these things, the more we shall see abundant cause to flee without delay for refuge to Christ, and to renounce every earthly object, for the salvation of our souls.

The disciples had confounded the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world. This mistake Christ set right, and showed that the day of Christ's coming, and the day of judgment, shall be after that tribulation. Here he foretells the final dissolution of the present frame and fabric of the world. Also, the visible appearance of the Lord Jesus coming in the clouds, and the gathering together of all the elect to him.

We have the application of this prophetic sermon. As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly. As to the end of the world, do not inquire when it will come, for of that day and that hour knoweth no man. Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of anything; but the Divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, communicated itself to his human soul according to the Divine pleasure. As to both, our duty is to watch and pray. Our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do. We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return. This applies to Christ's coming to us at our death, as well as to the general judgment. We know not whether our Master will come in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore we must expect death. Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he may not find us secure, indulging in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty. He says to all, Watch, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Mark 13:11. Neither premeditate. This sentence, as well as the one which immediately follows, we have explained Harmony, vol. 1, p.453. under Matthew 10:19 Our Lord’s design in these words is, to relieve the disciples from that anxiety which interferes with the cheerful discharge of our duty, when we doubt our inability to sustain the burden. Not that he wishes us to fall asleep in indolent security, for nothing is more advantageous than to have such a consciousness of our weakness as produces humility and excites to prayer. But Christ advises us to cast all our cares into the bosom of our Father, so that, relying on his promised aid, we may pursue our course with cheerfulness. The promise is stated in different words by Luke; not that Christ will deliver his people from death, (for this must not always be expected,) but that he will give them a mouth and wisdom, to confound their adversaries. Now though Christ supplies them both with presence of mind and with ability to speak, yet I look upon these two words as connected by that figure of speech which is called hypallage; as if Christ had promised that he would guide their tongues, so as to enable them to make a wise and suitable reply.

He adds, that this wisdom will be victorious against all their enemies, because they will not be able to contradict, or to oppose it. Not that their impudence will yield the palm to truth, but because that truth, which they in vain strive to oppose, will triumph over their mad presumption. Would that all who are called upon to make a confession of their faith would rely on that assurance; for the power and majesty of the Spirit would be displayed in a different manner for overthrowing the ministers of Satan. Now that we are partly carried away by our own feelings, and, swelled with pride, rush on heedlessly, or advance farther than is proper, and partly confine ourselves within the limits of improper timidity, sad experience shows that we are deprived of the grace of God and the assistance of the Spirit. As Christ affirms, according to Matthew and Mark, that it is the Spirit of the Father that speaketh in us, (Matthew 10:10; Mark 13:11,) and here declares that he will give a mouth, we infer that it is His prerogative to fortify us by the Spirit.

CHAPTER 13

Mr 13:1-37. Christ's Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Warnings Suggested by It to Prepare for His Second Coming. ( = Mt 24:1-51; Lu 21:5-36).

Jesus had uttered all His mind against the Jewish ecclesiastics, exposing their character with withering plainness, and denouncing, in language of awful severity, the judgments of God against them for that unfaithfulness to their trust which was bringing ruin upon the nation. He had closed this His last public discourse (Mt 23:1-39) by a passionate lamentation over Jerusalem, and a solemn farewell to the temple. "And," says Matthew (Mt 24:1), "Jesus went out and departed from the temple"--never more to re-enter its precincts, or open His mouth in public teaching. With this act ended His public ministry. As He withdrew, says Olshausen, the gracious presence of God left the sanctuary; and the temple, with all its service, and the whole theocratic constitution, was given over to destruction. What immediately followed is, as usual, most minutely and graphically described by our Evangelist.

1. And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him--The other Evangelists are less definite. "As some spake," says Luke (Lu 21:5); "His disciples came to Him," says Matthew (Mt 24:2). Doubtless it was the speech of one, the mouthpiece, likely, of others.

Master--Teacher.

see what manner of stones and what buildings are here--wondering probably, how so massive a pile could be overthrown, as seemed implied in our Lord's last words regarding it. Josephus, who gives a minute account of the wonderful structure, speaks of stones forty cubits long [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.1.] and says the pillars supporting the porches were twenty-five cubits high, all of one stone, and that of the whitest marble [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.2]. Six days' battering at the walls, during the siege, made no impression upon them [Wars of the Jews, 6.4.1]. Some of the under-building, yet remaining, and other works, are probably as old as the first temple.

2. And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings?--"Ye call My attention to these things? I have seen them. Ye point to their massive and durable appearance: now listen to their fate."

there shall not be left--"left here" (Mt 24:2).

one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down--Titus ordered the whole city and temple to be demolished [Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 7.1.1]; Eleazar wished they had all died before seeing that holy city destroyed by enemies' hands, and before the temple was so profanely dug up [Wars of the Jews, 7.8.7].

3. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, over against the temple--On their way from Jerusalem to Bethany they would cross Mount Olivet; on its summit He seats Himself, over against the temple, having the city all spread out under His eye. How graphically is this set before us by our Evangelist!

Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately--The other Evangelists tell us merely that "the disciples" did so. But Mark not only says that it was four of them, but names them; and they were the first quarternion of the Twelve.

4. Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?--"and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" They no doubt looked upon the date of all these things as one and the same, and their notions of the things themselves were as confused as of the times of them. Our Lord takes His own way of meeting their questions.

Prophecies of the Destruction of Jerusalem (Mr 13:5-31).

5. And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

6. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ--(see Mt 24:5)--"and the time draweth nigh" (Lu 21:8); that is, the time of the kingdom in its full splendor.

and shall deceive many--"Go ye not therefore after them" (Lu 21:8). The reference here seems not to be to pretended Messiahs, deceiving those who rejected the claims of Jesus, of whom indeed there were plenty--for our Lord is addressing His own genuine disciples--but to persons pretending to be Jesus Himself, returned in glory to take possession of His kingdom. This gives peculiar force to the words, "Go ye not therefore after them."

7. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled--(See on Mr 13:13, and compare Is 8:11-14).

for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet--In Luke (Lu 21:9), "the end is not by and by," or "immediately." Worse must come before all is over.

8. These are the beginnings of sorrows--"of travail-pangs," to which heavy calamities are compared. (See Jr 4:31, &c.). The annals of Tacitus tell us how the Roman world was convulsed, before the destruction of Jerusalem, by rival claimants of the imperial purple.

9. But take heed to yourselves: for--"before all these things" (Lu 21:12); that is, before these public calamities come.

they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten--These refer to ecclesiastical proceedings against them.

and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings--before civil tribunals next.

for my sake, for a testimony against them--rather "unto them"--to give you an opportunity of bearing testimony to Me before them. In the Acts of the Apostles we have the best commentary on this announcement. (Compare Mt 10:17, 18).

10. And the gospel must first be published among all nations--"for a witness, and then shall the end come" (Mt 24:14). God never sends judgment without previous warning; and there can be no doubt that the Jews, already dispersed over most known countries, had nearly all heard the Gospel "as a witness," before the end of the Jewish state. The same principle was repeated and will repeat itself to "the end."

11. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand--"Be not anxious beforehand."

what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate--"Be not filled with apprehension, in the prospect of such public appearances for Me, lest ye should bring discredit upon My name, nor think it necessary to prepare beforehand what ye are to say."

but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost--(See on Mt 10:19, 20.)

13. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake--Matthew (Mt 24:12) adds this important intimation: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many"--"of the many," or "of the most," that is, of the generality of professed disciples--"shall wax cold." Sad illustrations of the effect of abounding iniquity in cooling the love even of faithful disciples we have in the Epistle of James, written about the period here referred to, and too frequently ever since.

but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved--See on Mt 10:21, 22; and compare He 10:38, 39, which is a manifest allusion to these words of Christ; also Re 2:10. Luke (Lu 21:18) adds these reassuring words: "But there shall not an hair of your heads perish." Our Lord had just said (Lu 21:16) that they should be put to death; showing that this precious promise is far above immunity from mere bodily harm, and furnishing a key to the right interpretation of Psa 91:1-18 and such like.

14. But when ye shall see--"Jerusalem compassed by armies"--by encamped armies; in other words, when ye shall see it besieged, and

the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not--that is, as explained in Matthew (Mt 24:15), "standing in the holy place."

(let him that readeth understand)--readeth that prophecy. That "the abomination of desolation" here alluded to was intended to point to the Roman ensigns, as the symbols of an idolatrous, and so unclean pagan power, may be gathered by comparing what Luke says in the corresponding verse (Lu 21:20); and commentators are agreed on it. It is worthy of notice, as confirming this interpretation, that in 1 Maccabees 1:54--which, though aprocryphal Scripture, is authentic history--the expression of Daniel (Da 11:31; 12:11) is applied to the idolatrous profanation of the Jewish altar by Antiochus Epiphanes.

then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains--The ecclesiastical historian, Eusebius, early in the fourth century, tells us that the Christians fled to Pella, at the northern extremity of Perea, being "prophetically directed"--perhaps by some prophetic intimation more explicit than this, which would be their chart--and that thus they escaped the predicted calamities by which the nation was overwhelmed.

15. And let him that is on the housetop not get down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house--that is, let him take the outside flight of steps from the roof to the ground; a graphic way of denoting the extreme urgency of the case, and the danger of being tempted, by the desire to save his property, to delay till escape should become impossible.

16. And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.

17. But woe to them--or, "alas for them."

that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days--in consequence of the aggravated suffering which those conditions would involve.

18. And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter--making escape perilous, or tempting you to delay your flight. Matthew (Mt 24:20) adds, "neither on the sabbath day," when, from fear of a breach of its sacred rest, they might be induced to remain.

19. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be--Such language is not unusual in the Old Testament with reference to tremendous calamities. But it is matter of literal fact that there was crowded into the period of the Jewish war an amount and complication of suffering perhaps unparalleled; as the narrative of Josephus, examined closely and arranged under different heads, would show.

20. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh--that is, no human life.

should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days--But for this merciful "shortening," brought about by a remarkable concurrence of causes, the whole nation would have perished, in which there yet remained a remnant to be afterwards gathered out. This portion of the prophecy closes, in Luke, with the following vivid and important glance at the subsequent fortunes of the chosen people: "And they shall fall by the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Lu 21:24). The language as well as the idea of this remarkable statement is taken from Da 8:10, 13. What, then, is its import here? It implies, first, that a time is coming when Jerusalem shall cease to be "trodden down of the Gentiles"; which it was then by pagan, and since and till now is by Mohammedan unbelievers: and next, it implies that the period when this treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles is to cease will be when "the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" or "completed." But what does this mean? We may gather the meaning of it from Ro 11:1-36 in which the divine purposes and procedure towards the chosen people from first to last are treated in detail. In Ro 11:25 these words of our Lord are thus reproduced: "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." See the exposition of that verse, from which it will appear that "till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in"--or, in our Lord's phraseology, "till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled"--does not mean "till the general conversion of the world to Christ," but "till the Gentiles have had their full time of that place in the Church which the Jews had before them." After that period of Gentilism, as before of Judaism, "Jerusalem" and Israel, no longer "trodden down by the Gentiles," but "grafted into their own olive tree," shall constitute, with the believing Gentiles, one Church of God, and fill the whole earth. What a bright vista does this open up!

21. And then, if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo he is there; believe him not--So Lu 17:23.

22. For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders. No one can read Josephus' account of what took place before the destruction of Jerusalem without seeing how strikingly this was fulfilled.

to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect--implying that this, though all but done, will prove impossible. What a precious assurance! (Compare 2Th 2:9-12).

23. But take ye heed; behold, I have foretold you all things--He had just told them that the seduction of the elect would prove impossible; but since this would be all but accomplished, He bids them be on their guard, as the proper means of averting that catastrophe. In Matthew (Mt 24:26-28) we have some additional particulars: "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." See on Lu 17:23, 24. "For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together." See on Lu 17:37.

24. But in those days, after that tribulation--"Immediately after the tribulation of those days" (Mt 24:29).

the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.

25. And the stars of heaven shall fall--"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" (Lu 21:25, 26).

and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken--Though the grandeur of this language carries the mind over the head of all periods but that of Christ's Second Coming, nearly every expression will be found used of the Lord's coming in terrible national judgments: as of Babylon (Is 13:9-13); of Idumea (Is 34:1, 2, 4, 8-10); of Egypt (Eze 32:7, 8); compare also Psa 18:7-15; Is 24:1, 17-19; Joe 2:10, 11, &c. We cannot therefore consider the mere strength of this language a proof that it refers exclusively or primarily to the precursors of the final day, though of course in "that day" it will have its most awful fulfilment.

26. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory--In Mt 24:30, this is given most fully: "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," &c. That this language finds its highest interpretation in the Second Personal Coming of Christ, is most certain. But the question is, whether that be the primary sense of it as it stands here? Now if the reader will turn to Da 7:13, 14, and connect with it the preceding verses, he will find, we think, the true key to our Lord's meaning here. There the powers that oppressed the Church--symbolized by rapacious wild beasts--are summoned to the bar of the Great God, who as the Ancient of days seats Himself, with His assessors, on a burning Throne: thousand thousands ministering to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before Him. "The judgment is set, and the books are opened." Who that is guided by the mere words would doubt that this is a description of the Final Judgment? And yet nothing is clearer than that it is not, but a description of a vast temporal judgment, upon organized bodies of men, for their incurable hostility to the kingdom of God upon earth. Well, after the doom of these has been pronounced and executed, and room thus prepared for the unobstructed development of the kingdom of God over the earth, what follows? "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like THE Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they [the angelic attendants] brought Him near before Him." For what purpose? To receive investiture in the kingdom, which, as Messiah, of right belonged to Him. Accordingly, it is added, "And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Comparing this with our Lord's words, He seems to us, by "the Son of man [on which phrase, see on Joh 1:51] coming in the clouds with great power and glory," to mean, that when judicial vengeance shall once have been executed upon Jerusalem, and the ground thus cleared for the unobstructed establishment of His own kingdom, His true regal claims and rights would be visibly and gloriously asserted and manifested. See on Lu 9:28 (with its parallels in Mt 17:1; Mr 9:2), in which nearly the same language is employed, and where it can hardly be understood of anything else than the full and free establishment of the kingdom of Christ on the destruction of Jerusalem. But what is that "sign of the Son of man in heaven?" Interpreters are not agreed. But as before Christ came to destroy Jerusalem some appalling portents were seen in the air, so before His Personal appearing it is likely that something analogous will be witnessed, though of what nature it would be vain to conjecture.

27. And then shall he send his angels--"with a great sound of a trumpet" (Mt 24:31).

and shall gather together his elect, &c.--As the tribes of Israel were anciently gathered together by sound of trumpet (Ex 19:13, 16, 19; Le 23:24; Psa 81:3-5), so any mighty gathering of God's people, by divine command, is represented as collected by sound of trumpet (Is 27:13; compare Re 11:15); and the ministry of angels, employed in all the great operations of Providence, is here held forth as the agency by which the present assembling of the elect is to be accomplished. Lightfoot thus explains it: "When Jerusalem shall be reduced to ashes, and that wicked nation cut off and rejected, then shall the Son of man send His ministers with the trumpet of the Gospel, and they shall gather His elect of the several nations, from the four corners of heaven: so that God shall not want a Church, although that ancient people of His be rejected and cast off: but that ancient Jewish Church being destroyed, a new Church shall be called out of the Gentiles." But though something like this appears to be the primary sense of the verse, in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem, no one can fail to see that the language swells beyond any gathering of a human family into a Church upon earth, and forces the thoughts onward to that gathering of the Church "at the last trump," to meet the Lord in the air, which is to wind up the present scene. Still, this is not, in our judgment, the direct subject of the prediction; for Mr 13:28 limits the whole prediction to the generation then existing.

28. Now learn a parable of the fig tree--"Now from the fig tree learn the parable," or the high lesson which this teaches.

When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves--"its leaves."

29. So ye, in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass--rather, "coming to pass."

know that it--"the kingdom of God" (Lu 21:31).

is nigh, even at the doors--that is, the full manifestation of it; for till then it admitted of no full development. In Luke (Lu 21:28) the following words precede these: "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh"--their redemption, in the first instance certainly, from Jewish oppression (1Th 2:14-16; Lu 11:52): but in the highest sense of these words, redemption from all the oppressions and miseries of the present state at the second appearing of the Lord Jesus.

30. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass fill all these things be done--or "fulfilled" (Mt 24:34; Lu 21:32). Whether we take this to mean that the whole would be fulfilled within the limits of the generation then current, or, according to a usual way of speaking, that the generation then existing would not pass away without seeing a begun fulfilment of this prediction, the facts entirely correspond. For either the whole was fulfilled in the destruction accomplished by Titus, as many think; or, if we stretch it out, according to others, till the thorough dispersion of the Jews a little later, under Adrian, every requirement of our Lord's words seems to be met.

31. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away--the strongest possible expression of the divine authority by which He spake; not as Moses or Paul might have said of their own inspiration, for such language would be unsuitable in any merely human mouth.

Warnings to Prepare for the Coming of Christ Suggested by the Foregoing Prophecy (Mr 13:32-37).

It will be observed that, in the foregoing prophecy, as our Lord approaches the crisis of the day of vengeance on Jerusalem and redemption for the Church--at which stage the analogy between that and the day of final vengeance and redemption waxes more striking--His language rises and swells beyond all temporal and partial vengeance, beyond all earthly deliverances and enlargements, and ushers us resistlessly into the scenes of the final day. Accordingly, in these six concluding verses it is manifest that preparation for "THAT DAY" is what our Lord designs to inculcate.

32. But of that day and that hour--that is, the precise time.

knoweth no man--literally, no one.

no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father--This very remarkable statement regarding "the Son" is peculiar to Mark. Whether it means that the Son was not at that time in possession of the knowledge referred to, or simply that it was not among the things which He had received to communicate--has been matter of much controversy even among the firmest believers in the proper Divinity of Christ. In the latter sense it was taken by some of the most eminent of the ancient Fathers, and by Luther, Melancthon, and most of the older Lutherans; and it is so taken by Bengel, Lange, Webster and Wilkinson, Chrysostom and others understood it to mean that as man our Lord was ignorant of this. It is taken literally by Calvin, Grotius, De Wette, Meyer, Fritzsche, Stier, Alford, and Alexander.

33. Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is.

34. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, &c.--The idea thus far is similar to that in the opening part of the parable of the talents (Mt 25:14, 15).

and commanded the porter--the gatekeeper.

to watch--pointing to the official duty of the ministers of religion to give warning of approaching danger to the people.

35. Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning--an allusion to the four Roman watches of the night.

36. Lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping--See on Lu 12:35-40; Lu 12:42-46.

37. And what I say unto you--this discourse, it will be remembered, was delivered in private.

I say unto all, Watch--anticipating and requiring the diffusion of His teaching by them among all His disciples, and its perpetuation through all time.

See what manner of stones - Josephus says, Ant. b. xv. chap. 11: "That these stones were white and strong, Fifty feet long, Twenty-Four broad, and Sixteen in thickness." If this account can be relied on, well might the disciples be struck with wonder at such a superb edifice, and formed by such immense stones! The principal contents of this chapter are largely explained in the notes on Matt. 24, and to these the reader is requested to refer.

Saying, I am - The Christ, is added by eight MSS., Coptic, Armenian, Saxon, and four of the Itala.

The beginnings - For αρχαι, many MSS. and versions have αρχη, the beginning, singular.

Councils - Συνεδρια, Sanhedrins. The grand Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-two elders; six chosen out of each tribe; this was the national council of state; and the small Sanhedrins, which were composed of twenty-three counsellors.

Synagogues - Courts of justice for villages, etc., consisting of three magistrates, chosen out of the principal directors of the synagogue in that place.

Rulers - Or governors. The Roman deputies, such as Pontius Pilate, etc.

Kings - The tetrarchs of Judea and Galilee, who bore this name. See Mar 6:27.

And the Gospel must first be published among all nations. - Many of the Evangelistaria omit this verse. Its proper place seems to be after verse the thirteenth.

Neither - premeditate - This is wanting in BDL, five others, Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala. Griesbach leaves it doubtful. On this verse see Mat 10:19 (note).

Let him that readeth understand - What he readeth, is added by D, and three of the Itala, perhaps needlessly.

House-top - See on Mat 24:17 (note).

Had shortened those days - Because of his chosen, added by D, Armenian, and five of the Itala. See Mat 24:22.

This generation - Ἡ γενεα αὑτη, This very race of men. It is certain that this word has two meanings in the Scriptures; that given in the text, and that above. Generation signifies a period of a certain number of years, sometimes more, sometimes less. In Deu 1:35; Deu 2:14, Moses uses the word to point out a term of thirty-eight years, which was precisely the number in the present case; for Jerusalem was destroyed about thirty-eight years after our Lord delivered this prediction. But as there are other events in this chapter, which certainly look beyond the destruction of Jerusalem, and which were to take place before the Jews should cease to be a distinct people, I should therefore prefer the translation given above. See on Mat 24:34 (note).

Neither the Son - This clause is not found either in Matthew or Luke; and Ambrose says it was wanting in some Greek copies in his time. To me it is utterly unaccountable, how Jesus, who knew so correctly all the particulars which he here lays down, and which were to a jot and tittle verified by the event - how he who knew that not one stone should be left on another, should be ignorant of the day and hour when this should be done, though Daniel, Dan 9:24, etc., could fix the very year, not less than five hundred years before it happened: how he in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, should not know this small matter, I cannot comprehend, but on this ground, that the Deity which dwelt in the man Christ Jesus might, at one time, communicate less of the knowledge of futurity to him than at another. However, I strongly suspect that the clause was not originally in this Gospel. Its not being found in the parallel places in the other evangelists is, in my opinion, a strong presumption against it. But Dr. Macknight, and others, solve this difficulty in the following manner. They suppose the verb οιδεν to have the force of the Hebrew conjugation Hiphel, in which verbs are taken in a causative, declarative, or permissive sense; and that it means here, make known, or promulge, as it is to be understood in 1Cor 2:2. This intimates that this secret was not to be made known, either by men or angels, no, not even by the Son of man himself; but it should be made known by the Father only, in the execution of the purposes of his justice. I am afraid this only cuts the knot, but does not untie it.

Left his house - Οικιαν, family. Our blessed Lord and Master, when he ascended to heaven, commanded his servants to be faithful and watchful. This fidelity to which he exhorts his servants consists in doing every thing well which is to be done, in the heart or in the family, according to the full extent of the duty. The watchfulness consists in suffering no stranger nor enemy to enter in by the senses, which are the gates of the soul; in permitting nothing which belongs to the Master to go out without his consent; and in carefully observing all commerce and correspondence which the heart may have abroad in the world, to the prejudice of the Master's service. See Quesnel.

Watch ye therefore - The more the master is expected, the more diligent ought the servants to be in working, watching, and keeping themselves in readiness. Can one who has received the sentence of his death, and has no right to live a moment, need any admonition to prepare to die? Does not a prisoner who expects his deliverance, hold himself in continual readiness to leave his dungeon?

He find you sleeping - A porter asleep exposes the house to be robbed, and well deserves punishment. No wonder that the man is constantly suffering loss who is frequently off his guard.

Our Lord shows us in this parable:

1. That himself, ascended to heaven, is the man gone from home.

2. That believers collectively are his family.

3. That his servants are those who are employed in the work of faith and labor of love.

4. That the porter represents the ministers of his Gospel, who should continually watch for the safety and welfare of the whole flock.

5. That every one has his own work - that which belongs to himself and to none other, and for the accomplishment of which he receives sufficient strength from his Lord.

6. That these servants and porters shall give an account to their Lord, how they have exercised themselves in their respective departments.

7. And that as the master of the family will certainly come to require this account at a time when men are not aware, therefore they should be always watchful and faithful. And,

8. That this is a duty incumbent on every soul of man, What I say unto you, I say unto All, Watch! If, after all these warnings, the followers of God be found careless, their misery and condemnation must be great.

Mt 24:1; Lu 21:5.

Two questions are here asked; the one concerning the destruction of Jerusalem: the other concerning the end of the world.

Lu 21:12.

Mt 24:14.

The Holy Ghost will help you. But do not depend upon any other help For all the nearest ties will be broken.

Where it ought not - That place being set apart for sacred use. Mt 24:15; Lu 21:20; Dan 9:27.

In those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation - May it not be doubted, whether this be yet fully accomplished? Is not much of this affliction still to come?

The elect - The Christians: whom he hath chosen - That is, hath taken out of, or separated from, the world, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He hath shortened - That is, will surely shorten.

Mt 24:23.

But in those days - Which immediately precede the end of the world: after that tribulation - Above described.

Mt 24:32; Lu 21:28.

He is nigh - The Son of man.

All these things - Relating to the temple and the city.

Of that day - The day of judgment is often in the Scriptures emphatically called that day. Neither the Son - Not as man: as man he was no more omniscient than omnipresent. But as God he knows all the circumstances of it.

Mt 24:42; Lu 21:34.

The Son of man is as a man taking a far journey - Being about to leave this world and go to the Father, he appoints the services that are to be performed by all his servants, in their several stations. This seems chiefly to respect ministers at the day of judgment: but it may be applied to all men, and to the time of death. Mt 25:14; Lu 19:12.

2 And Jesus answering, said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

The perishing nature of the splendid, and gay things of this World, are sitter objects for the meditation of such as are Christs Disciples, then the Splendour and Magnificence of them, especially when they are the priviledges of a sinful People▪ Sin will undermine, and blow up the most Famous structures. It is a good thing for Christians not to set their hearts upon them. See the Notes on Matth. 24.1. v.

Marginal references: Luke 19.44.

4 Tell us, When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when all th[illegible: 2 letters]e things shall be fulfilled.

Matthew puts two things more into the Question, What shall be the sign of thy coming? and of the end of the World? The best of Men have a great curiosity to know futurities, things that shall hereafter come to pass. All the other part of this Chapter is spent by our Saviour in an answer to these three Questions, (according to St. Matthew) or this one Question, according to Mark and Luke. Some have attempted curiously to distinguish, betwixt the signs intended by our Saviour, as relating to each Period. But certainly those Interpreters do judge best, that think our Saviour intended to let them know, That the Destruction of Hierusalem, should be a Type of the Destruction of the World, at the last Day, and that the same things should go before the one, and be Signs of it, that should go before the other. And whoso readeth the History of Iosephus, of what happened before the Destruction of Hierusalem, and after this time, will find that there were few or none of these Signs, that are here mentioned, but came to pass, before the dreadful Destruction of that so Famous Place, yet we must doubtless look for many, if not all the same things to come to pass, before the General Destruction of the World in the last Day.

Marginal references: Mat. 24.3. Luke 21.5.

6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ: and shall deceive many.

See the Notes on Matth. 24.4.5. This is the first Sign, fulfilled before the Destruction of Hierusalem in part▪ and which hath been fulfilling ever since, and probably before the Day of Judgment, the number of such Impostors will increase.

8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines, and troubles: These are the beginnings of sorrows.

Matthew adds Pestilences. Luke saith▪ Pestilences, and fearfull sights, and great Signs from Heaven. See the Notes on Matth. 24.6.7.8. Here are two or three more Signs put together! Wars and rumours of Wars, great commotions in Nations, which tho they may be at other times, yet probably may be more extraordinary before the Day of Judgment. 2. Famines, Pestilences and Earthquakes. 3. Fearful Sights and Apparitions in the Air, and the Heavens. Such there were (as Iosephus tells us) before the Destruction of Ierusalem; and tho these things be seen before the last day, yet it is most probable they will be greater before the day of Judgment, than at any time before; and for fearful sights, and great Signs from Heaven, they ordinarily go before some great Judgment of God upon places, and therefore the observation of them by the Heathen, (as we learn by Livy and others) seems but to be a piece of natural Religion, and Christ giving these things as Signs of the approaching ruine, first of Jerusalem, then of the World, will make thinking Christians behold the[illegible: 1 letter] with a Relig[illegible: 1 letter]ous fear, tho not to undertake to expound them particularly or Prophecy upon them. Certainly we ought to look upon them, as prognosticating some great work of God, and usually of Judgment upon Sinners.

Marginal references: Or▪ pains of a woman in travel.

9 But take heed to your selves: For they shall deliver you up to councils, and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten, and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

This so far as concerneth those to whom Christ spake, can only be a Sign of the Destruction of Ierusalem, but so far as it concerneth others, it is also a Sign of the end of the World. It is the fifth Sign he gives them. The Persecution of the Ministers of Christ and the Saints of God, for the Preaching, and profession of the Gospel. See the Notes on Matth. 24.9.

Marginal references: Matth. 10.17.18. Luke 21.12.

10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

I am prone to think that our Lord gives this not only as a Sign of the Destruction of Ierusalem, but of the end of the World, and the latter principally, for before the Destruction of Ierusalem, (which was in less then forty years after Christs Death) the Gospel was not Preached to a[illegible: 1 letter]l Nations, otherwise then as All signifies very many. And I do think that all places shall have the Gospel Preached to them, before the Day of Judgment, after another manner then either it was possible, it should be Preached to them within forty years, after the Death of Christ, or then many places have had it Preached amongst them to this Day. For tho the Holy Scriptures, and Ecclesiastical Historians, give us a something large account of the Gospel being Preached in Europe, Asia, and in Africa, yet we have little account from any of them, of its being Preache[illegible: 1 letter] in America. I am not wholly ignorant of what those writers tell us, of Thomas the Apostle his Preaching to the Indians and of Trumentius and his Colleague, but they are very few Preachers that any stories give an account of, gone to the Indians, whither I believe the Gospel must go before that Christ comes to Judgment.

Marginal references: Matth. 24.14▪

11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought before hand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

See the Notes on Matth. 10.19.20. By take no Thought, he means take no anxious thoughts to disquiet your selves.

Marginal references: Luke 12.11.12 & 21.14.

13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake: But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

This is but an amplification of the fifth Sign, given us v. 9. viz. a furious Persecution, eminently made good in the Iewish Persecution, before the Destruction of Ierusalem. In the Pagan Persecution, for 300 years after Christ. In the Popish Persecutions at this Day. See the Notes on Matth. 24.10.

Marginal references: Matth. 10 22.

20 And except that the Lord had shortned those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elects sake whom he hath chosen, he hath shortned the Days.

See the Notes on Matth. 24.15.16.17. where we have before opened all these passages. This Sign doth manifestly relate to the Destruction of Ierusalem, and can have no relation to the end of the World. In our Notes on Matth. 24. we have shewed what is ment by the Abomination of Desolations, and to what place in Daniel it refereth. Luke expoundeth it, Ch. 21.20. when you shall see Ierusalem compassed with Armies, the Roman Armies. Abominable for the Idols that in them were worshipped. The Sign was this, when you shall see the Roman Armies besieging Ierusalem, be assured God will soon deliver it into their hands, what ever vain hopes Men may suggest of their holding out, or driving them away. Let every one of you with all Imaginable expedition shift for your selves. God will surely deliver up the City, when that time comes. And before the taking of the City, he tells them, there shall be such affliction (by reason of their intestine Factions and divisions, as never any People experienced. As to these things. See the Notes on Matth. 24.15.16, &c.

23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

See the Notes on Matth. 24.23, 24.25. The History of Iosephus, and those Roman Historians, who did write the History of those times, that went immediately before the Destruction of Ierusalem, and give us account of the taking of that City, are the best commentary on these verses. It hath been often said, That the Jews were in expectation of a Messias, and are so still. But by him they understood not a Person, who should be God-man, and save his People from their Sins, and set up a spiritual Kingdom in the World, but a secular Prince, who should come of the house of David, and restore them to their civil Liberties. So that the name of Christ, was a fair name to patronize any Rebellious Faction, where the Leader would arrogate it to himself, (especially if he could pretend to the house of David,) near the Destruction of Ierusalem, several Persons used these arts to draw People after them to defend themselves, and to stand up for their Liberties. Our Saviour having discerned his Disciples tinctured with this common error of the Nation, and knowing what would come to pass, gives his Disciples warning, to avoid these delusions, and not to run after such pretenders, to their Ruin and Destruction.

Marginal references: 2 Pet. 3.1[illegible: 1 letter].

27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven.

The usage of these Phrases, of the darkening the Sun, and the Moon, and the falling of the Stars, to signifie the ruin of Nations, and changes wrought in them, as in Isaiah 13.10. as to the Destruction of Babylon, and Ezek. 32.7. to express the change the Providence of God made, by the Destruction of Egypt, as also to signifie the change made in the World, by setting up the Gospel, to which purpose they are used by Ioel ch. 2.31. hath given Interpreters a Latitude, to Intrprete these verses, with relation to the Destruction of the Iews, which made a great change, as to the Jewish Church and State. 2. And with reference to the change made by setting up the Gospel Church. But the 26, and 27 verses incline me rather to Interprete them of the end of the World. For tho those other expressions are used to express great Changes and Mutations, yet it is not said of any of them. Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds, with great Power, and Glory. And then shall he send his Angels, &c. Which Phrases do so agree with those other Texts, where Christs second coming to Judgment is expressed certainly, that I cannot but think our Saviour speaks here with reference to that. See Matth. 13.41. 1 Cor. 15.52. 1 Thes. 4.16. Rev. 1.7.

31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

See the Notes on Matth. 24.42.33.34. where we met with the same things, almost Word for Word. So, as more Words need not be repeated here in the explication of these verses.

33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

See the Notes on Matth. 24.36.42. Idea latet ultimus Diss ut observentur omnes Dies. God hath concealed from us the knowledge of the last Day, that we might watch all our Dayes. See the Notes on Matthew, in what sense Christ▪ saith, he did not know the last Day, and hour. Watching is opposed to Sleeping, there is a natural Sleep, and a spiritual Sleep, of which the Apostle speaks Rom. 13.11. Eph. 5.14. the latter is here principally intended to which the Watching here commanded is opposed, and signifies an industrious diligent care, to keep our selves from Sin▪ upon a prospect of the last Judgment, and the consideration of the incertainty of the particular year, or day when it shall be. Together with such a bodily Watching, as may be subservient unto that end, and fit us for Prayer, but the Watching principally intended, is a striving against Sin, which is the spiritual Sleep, and thus it is expounded by Luke ch. 21.36. compared with v. 34.35.

37 And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch,

In the Greek, those Words, For the Son of Man is, are not, but those, or some such like, are necessarily to be understood, to make up the sense. The Watching here again twice c[illegible: 1 letter]lled for is the same with that before mentioned. The sense of these verses is the same as before, the incertainty of the time, when Christ cometh to Judgment, should oblige all Men to be diligent and indu[illegible: 2 letters]rious, to keep themselves from Sinning, that they may be ready at what time so ever he cometh. He mentions only the four parts of the Night, having spoken of Sin, under the notion of Sleeping, and Holiness, under the notion of Watching.

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold.

1 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! 2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

We may here see,

I. How apt many of Christ's own disciples are to idolize things that look great, and have been long looked upon as sacred. They had heard Christ complain of those who had made the temple a den of thieves; and yet, when he quitted it, for the wickedness that remained in it, they court him to be as much in love as they were with the stately structure and adorning of it. One of them said to him, "Look, Master, what manner of stones, and what buildings are here, v. 1. We never saw the like in Galilee; O do not leave this fine place."

II. How little Christ values external pomp, where there is not real purity; "Seest thou these great buildings" (saith Christ), "and admirest thou them? I tell thee, the time is at hand when there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down," v. 2. And the sumptuousness of the fabric shall be no security to it, no nor move any compassion in the Lord Jesus towards it. He looks with pity upon the ruin of precious souls, and weeps over them, for on them he has put great value; but we do not find him look with any pity upon the ruin of a magnificent house, when he is driven out of it by sin, for that is of small value with him. With what little concern doth he say, Not one stone shall be left on another! Much of the strength of the temple lay in the largeness of the stones, and if these be thrown down, no footstep, no remembrance, of it will remain. While any part remained standing, there might be some hopes of the repair of it; but what hope is there, when not one stone is left upon another?

III. How natural it is to us to desire to know things to come, and the times of them; more inquisitive we are apt to be about that than about our duty. His disciples knew not how to digest this doctrine of the ruin of the temple, which they thought must be their Master's royal palace, and in which they expected their preferment, and to have the posts of honour; and therefore they were in pain till they got him alone, and got more out of him concerning this matter. As he was returning to Bethany therefore, he sat upon the mount of Olives, over against the temple, where he had a full view of it; and there four of them agreed to ask him privately, what he meant by the destroying of the temple, which they understood no more than they did the predictions of his own death, so inconsistent was it with their scheme. Probably, though these four proposed the question, yet Christ's discourse, in answer to it, was in the hearing of the rest of the disciples, yet privately, that is, apart from the multitude. Their enquiry is, When shall these things be? They will not question, at least not seem to question, whether they shall be or no (for their Master has said that they shall), but are willing to hope it is a great way off. Yet they ask not precisely the day and year (therein they were modest), but say, "Tell us what shall be the sign, when all these things shall be fulfilled? What presages shall there be of them, and how may we prognosticate their approach?"

Great Afflictions Foretold.

5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: 6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. 9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. 10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations. 11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. 12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Our Lord Jesus, in reply to their question, sets himself, not so much to satisfy their curiosity as to direct their consciences; leaves them still in the dark concerning the times and seasons, which the father has kept in his own power, and which it was not for them to know; but gives them the cautions which were needful, with reference to the events that should now shortly come to pass.

I. They must take heed that they be not deceived by the seducers and imposters that should now shortly arise (v. 5, 6); "Take heed lest any man deceive you, lest, having found the true Messiah, you lose him again in the crowd of pretenders, or be inveigled to embrace others in rivalship with him. Many shall come in my name (not in the name of Jesus), but saying, I am the Christ, and so claiming the dignities which I only an entitled to." After the Jews had rejected the true Christ, they were imposed upon, and so exposed by many false Christs, but never before; those false Christs deceived many; Therefore take heed lest they deceive you. Note, When many are deceived, we should thereby be awakened to look to ourselves.

II. They must take heed that they be not disturbed at the noise of wars, which they should be alarmed with, v. 7, 8. Sin introduced wars, and they come from men's lusts. But at some times the nations are more distracted and wasted with wars than at other times; so it shall be now; Christ was born into the world when there was a general peace, but soon after he went out of the world there were general wars; Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And what will become of them then who are to preach the gospel to every nation? Inter arma silent leges—Amidst the clash of arms, the voice of law is not heard. "But be not troubled at it." 1. "Let it be no surprise to you; you are bid to expect it, and such things must needs be, for God has appointed them, in order to further accomplishment of his purposes, and by the wars of the Jews" (which Josephus has given us a large account of) "God will punish the wickedness of the Jews." 2. "Let it be no terror to you, as if your interest were in danger of being overthrown, or your work obstructed by these wars; you have no concern in them, and therefore need not be apprehensive of any damage by them." Note, Those that despise the smiles of the world, and do not court and covet them, may despise the frowns of the world, and need not fear them. If we seek not to rise with them that rise in the world, why should we dread falling with them that fall in the world? 3. "Let it not be looked upon as an omen of the approaching period of the world, for the end is not yet, v. 7. Think not that these wars will bring the world to a period; no, there are other intermediate counsels to be fulfilled betwixt that end and the end of all things, which are designed to prepare you for the end, but not to hasten it out of due time." 4. "Let it not be looked upon as if in them God has done his worst; no, he has more arrows in his quiver, and they are ordained against the persecutors; be not troubled at the wars you shall hear of, for they are but the beginnings of sorrows, and therefore, instead of being disturbed at them, you ought to prepare for worse; for there shall also be earthquakes in divers places, which shall bury multitudes in the ruins of their own houses, and there shall be famines, by which many of the poor shall perish for want of bread, and troubles and commotions; so that there shall be no peace to him that goes out or comes in. The world shall be full of troubles, but be not ye troubled; without are fightings, within are fears, but fear not ye their fear." Note, The disciples of Christ, if it be not their own fault, may enjoy a holy security and serenity of mind, when all about them is in the greatest disorder.

III. They must take heed that they be not drawn away from Christ, and from their duty to him, by the sufferings they should meet with for Christ's sake. Again, he saith, "Take heed to yourselves, v. 9. Though you may escape the sword of war, better than some of your neighbours, because you interest not yourselves in the public quarrels, yet be not secure; you will be exposed to the sword of justice more than others, and the parties that contend with one another, will unite against you. Take heed therefore lest you deceive yourselves with the hopes of outward prosperity, and such a temporal kingdom as you have been dreaming of, when it is through many tribulations that you must enter into the kingdom of God. Take heed lest you needlessly expose yourselves to trouble, and pull it upon your own head. Take heed what you say and do, for you will have many eyes upon you." Observe,

1. What the trouble is which they must expect.

(1.) They shall be hated of all men; trouble enough! The thoughts of being hated are grievous to a tender spirit, and the fruits of that hatred must needs be a constant vexation; those that are malicious, will be mischievous. It was not for any thing amiss in them, or done amiss by them, that they were hated, but for Christ's name sake, because they were called by his name, called upon his name, preached his name, and wrought miracles in his name. The world hated them because he loved them.

(2.) Their own relations shall betray them, those to whom they were most nearly allied, and on whom therefore they depended for protection; "They shall betray you, shall inform against you, and be your prosecutors." If a father has a child that is a Christian, he shall become void of natural affection, it shall be swallowed up in bigotry, and he shall betray his own child to the persecutors, as if he were a worshipper of other gods, Deut. xiii. 6-10.

(3.) Their church-rulers shall inflict their censures upon them; "You shall be delivered up to the great Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and to the inferior courts and consistories in other cities, and shall be beaten in the synagogues with forty stripes at a time, as offenders against the law which was read in the synagogue." It is no new thing for the church's artillery, through the treachery of its officers, to be turned against some of its best friends.

(4.) Governors and kings shall use their power against them. Because the Jews have not power to put them to death, they shall incense the Roman powers against them, as they did Herod against James and Peter; and they shall cause you to be put to death, as enemies to the empire. They must resist unto blood, and still resist.

2. What they shall have to comfort themselves with, in the midst of these great and sore troubles.

(1.) That the work they were called to should be carried on and prosper, notwithstanding all this opposition which they should meet with in it (v. 10); "The gospel shall, for all this, be published among all nations, and before the destruction of Jerusalem the sound of it shall go forth into all the earth; not only through all the nation of the Jews, but to all the nations of the earth." It is comfort to those who suffer for the gospel, that, though they may be crushed and borne down, the gospel cannot; it shall keep its ground, and carry the day.

(2.) That their sufferings, instead of obstructing their work, should forward it; "Your being brought before governors and kings shall be for a testimony of them (so some read it, v. 9); it shall give you an opportunity of preaching the gospel to those before whom you are brought as criminals, to whom otherwise you could not have access." Thus St. Paul's being brought before Felix, and Festus, and Agrippa, and Nero, was a testimony to them concerning Christ and his gospel. Or, as we read it, It shall be for a testimony against them, against both the judges and the prosecutors, who pursue those with the utmost rage that appear, upon examination, to be not only innocent but excellent persons. The gospel is a testimony to us concerning Christ and heaven. If we receive it, it will be a testimony for us: it will justify and save us; if not, it will be a testimony against us in the great day.

(3.) That, when they were brought before kings and governors for Christ's sake, they should have special assistance from heaven, to plead Christ's cause and their own (v. 11); "Take no thought before-hand what he shall speak, be not solicitous how to address yourselves to great men, so as to obtain their favour; your cause is just and glorious, and needs not be supported by premeditated speeches and harangues; but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, whatsoever shall be suggested to you, and put into your minds, and into your mouths" (pro re natâ—on the spur of the occasion), "that speak ye, and fear not the success of it, because it is off-hand, for it is not ye that speak, purely by the strength of your own wisdom, consideration, and resolution, but it is the Holy Ghost." Note, Those whom Christ calls out to be advocates for him, shall be furnished with full instructions: and when we are engaged in the service of Christ, we may depend upon the aids of the Spirit of Christ.

(4.) That heaven at last would make amends for all; "You will meet with a great deal of hardship in your way, but have a good heart on it, your warfare will be accomplished, and your testimony finished, and he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved," v. 13. Perseverance gains the crown. The salvation here promised is more than a deliverance from evil, it is an everlasting blessedness, which shall be an abundant recompence for all their services and sufferings. All this we have, Matt. x. 17, &c.

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold.

14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judæa flee to the mountains: 15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: 16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. 17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. 19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. 20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. 21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: 22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. 23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

The Jews, in rebelling against the Romans, and in persecuting the Christians, were hastening to their own ruin apace, both efficiently and meritoriously, were setting both God and man against them; see 1 Thess. ii. 15. Now here we have a prediction of that ruin which came upon them within less than forty years after this: we had it before, Matt. xxiv. 15, &c. Observe,

I. What is here foretold concerning it.

1. That the Roman armies should make a descent upon Judea, and invest Jerusalem, the holy city. These were the abomination of desolation, which the Jews did abominate, and by which they should be made desolate. The country of thine enemy is called the land which thou abhorrest, Isa. vii. 16. Therefore it was an abomination, because it brought with it nothing but desolation. They had rejected Christ as an abomination, who would have been their salvation; and now God brought upon them an abomination that would be their desolation, thus spoken of by Daniel the prophet (ch. ix. 27), as that by which this sacrifice and offering should be made to cease. This army stood where it ought not, in and about the holy city, which the heathen ought not to have approached, nor would have been suffered to approach, if Jerusalem had not first profaned the crown of their holiness. This the church complains of, Lam. i. 10, The heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into the congregation; but sin made the breach, at which the glory went out, and the abomination of desolation broke in, and stood where it ought not. Now, let him that readeth this, understand it, and endeavor to take it right. Prophecies should not be too plain, and yet intelligible to those that search them; and they are best understood by comparing them first with one another, and at last with the event.

2. That when the Roman army should come into the country, there would be no safety any where but by quitting the country, and that with all possible expedition. It will be in vain to fight, the enemies will be too hard for them; in vain to abscond, the enemies will find them out; and in vain to capitulate, the enemies will give them no quarter; a man cannot have so much as his life given him for a prey, but by fleeing to the mountains out of Judea; and let him take the first alarm, and make the best of his way. If he be on the house-top, trying from thence to discover the motions of the enemy, and spies them coming, let him not go down, to take any thing out of the house, for it will occasion his losing of time, which is more precious than his best goods, and will but encumber him, and embarrass his flight. If he be in the field, and there discover the approach of the enemy, let him get away as he is, and not turn back again, to take up his garment, v. 16. If he can save his life, let him reckon it is a good bargain, though he can save nothing else, and be thankful to God, that, though he is cut short, he is not cut off.

3. That it would go very hard at that time with poor mothers and nurses (v. 17); "Woe to them that are with child, that dare not go into strange places, that cannot shift for themselves, nor make haste as others can. And woe to them that give suck, that know not how either to leave the tender infants behind them, or to carry them along with them." Such is the vanity of the creature, that the time may often be, when the greatest comforts may prove the greatest burthens. It would likewise be very uncomfortable, if they should be forced to flee in the winter (v. 18), when the weather and ways were bad, when the roads would be scarcely passable, especially in the mountains to which they must flee. If there be no remedy but that trouble must come, yet we may desire and pray that, if it be God's will, the circumstances of it may be so ordered as to be a mitigation of the trouble; and when things are bad, we ought to consider they might have been worse. It is bad to be forced to flee, but it would have been worse if it had been in the winter.

4. That throughout all the country of the Jews, there should be such destruction and desolation made, as could not be paralleled in any history (v. 19); In those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of time; that is, of the creation which God created, for time and the creation are of equal date, unto this day, neither shall be to the end of time; such a complication of miseries, and of such continuance. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans was very terrible, but this exceeded it. It threatened a universal slaughter of all the people of the Jews; so barbarously did they devour one another, and the Romans devour them all, that, if their wars had continued a little longer, no flesh could have been saved, not one Jew could have been left alive; but in the midst of wrath God remembered mercy; and, (1.) He shortened the days; he let fall his controversy before he had made a full end. As a church and nation the ruin was complete, but many particular persons had their lives given them for a prey, by the storm's subsiding when it did. 2. It was for the elects' sake that those days were shortened; many among them fared the better for the sake of the few among them that believed in Christ, and were faithful to him. There was a promise, that a remnant should be saved (Isa. x. 22), and that God would not, for his servants' sakes, destroy them all (Isa. lxvi. 8); and these promises must be fulfilled. God's own elect cry day and night to him, and their prayers must be answered, Luke xviii. 7.

II. What directions are given to the disciples with reference to it.

1. They must shift for the safety of their lives; "When you see the country invaded, and the city invested, flatter not yourselves with thoughts that the enemy will retire, or that you may be able to make your part good with them; but, without further deliberation or delay, let them that are in Judea, flee to the mountains, v. 14. Meddle not with the strife that belongs not to you; let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth, but do you go out of the ship when you see it sinking, that you die not the death of the uncircumcised in heart."

2. They must provide for the safety of their souls; "Seducers will be busy at that time, for they love to fish in troubled waters, and therefore then you must double your guard; then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or, Lo, he is there, you know he is in heaven, and will come again at the end of time, to judge the world, and therefore believe them not; having received Christ, be not drawn into the snares of any antichrist; for false Christs, and false prophets, shall arise," v. 22. When the gospel kingdom was in the setting up, Satan mustered all his force, to oppose it, and made use of all his wiles; and God permitted it, for the trial of sincerity of some, and the discovery of the hypocrisy of others, and the confusion of those who rejected Christ, when he was offered to them. False Christs shall rise, and false prophets that shall preach them up; or such, as, though they pretend not to be Christs, set up for prophets, and undertake to foretel things to come, and they shall show signs and lying wonders; so early did the mystery of iniquity begin to work, 2 Thess. ii. 7. They shall seduce, if it were possible, the very elect; so plausible shall their pretences be, and so industrious shall they be to impose upon people, that they shall drawn away many that were forward and zealous professors of religion, many that were very likely to have persevered; for nothing will be effectual to secure men but that foundation of God which stands immovably sure, The Lord knoweth them that are his, who shall be preserved when the faith of some is overthrown, 2 Tim. ii. 18, 19. They shall seduce, if it were possible, the very elect; but it is not possible to seduce them; the election shall obtain, whoever are blinded, Rom. xi. 7. But, in consideration hereof, let the disciples be cautious whom they give credit to (v. 23); But take ye heed. Christ knew that they were of the elect, who could not possibly be seduced, and yet he said to them, Take heed. An assurance of persevering, and cautions against apostasy, will very well consist with each other. Though Christ said to them, Take heed, it doth not therefore follow, that their perseverance was doubtful, for they were kept by the power of God; and though their perseverance was secured, yet it doth not therefore follow, that this caution was needless, because they must be kept in the use of proper means. God will keep them, but they must keep themselves. "I have foretold you all things; have foretold you of this danger, that, being fore-warned, you may be fore-armed; I have foretold all things which you needed to have foretold to you, and therefore take heed of hearkening to such as pretend to be prophets, and to foretel more than I have foretold." The sufficiency of the scripture is good argument against listening to such as pretend to inspiration.

The Afflictions of the Jews Foretold.

24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

These verses seem to point at Christ's second coming, to judge the world; the disciples, in their question, had confounded the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world (Matt. xxiv. 3), which was built upon a mistake, as if the temple must needs stand as long as the world stands; this mistake Christ rectifies, and shows that the end of the world in those days, those other days you enquire about, the day of Christ's coming, and the day of judgment, shall be after that tribulation, and not coincident with it. Let those who live to see the Jewish nation destroyed, take heed of thinking that, because the Son of man doth not visibly come in the clouds then, he will never so come; no, he will come after that. And here he foretels,

1. The final dissolution of the present frame and fabric of the world; even of that part of it which seems least liable to change, the upper part, the pure and more refined part; The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall no more give her light; for they shall be quite outshone by the glory of the Son of man, Isa. xxiv. 23. The stars of heaven, that from the beginning had kept their place and regular motion, shall fall as leaves in autumn; and the powers that are in heaven, the heavenly bodies, the fixed stars, shall be shaken.

2. The visible appearance of the Lord Jesus, to whom the judgment of that day shall be committed (v. 26); Then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds. Probably he will come over that very place where he sat when he said this; for the clouds are in the lower region of the air. He shall come with great power and glory, such as will be suited to the errand on which he comes. Every eye shall then see him.

3. The gathering together of all the elect to him (v. 27); He shall send his angels, and gather together his elect to him, to meet him in the air, 1 Thess. iv. 17. They shall be fetched from one end of the world to the other, so that none shall be missing from that general assembly; they shall be fetched from the uttermost part of the earth, most remote from the places where Christ's tribunal shall be set, and shall be brought to the uttermost part of heaven; so sure, so swift, so easy, shall their conveyance be, that there shall none of them miscarry, though they were to be brought from the uttermost part of the earth one way, to the uttermost part of the heaven another way. A faithful Israelite shall be carried safely, though it were from the utmost border of the land of bondage to the utmost border of the land of promise.

Watchfulness Inculcated.

28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: 29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. 30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

We have here the application of this prophetical sermon; now learn to look forward in a right manner.

I. "As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly; as when the branch of the fig-tree becomes soft, and the leaves sprout forth, ye expect that summer will come shortly, v. 28. When second causes begin to work, ye expect their effects in their proper order and time. So when ye see these things come to pass, when ye see the Jewish nation embroiled in wars, distracted by false Christs and prophets, and drawing upon them the displeasure of the Romans, especially when ye see them persecuting you for your Master's sake, and thereby standing to what they did when they put him to death, and repeating it, and so filling up the measure of their iniquity, then say that their ruin is nigh, even at the door, and provide for yourselves accordingly." The disciples themselves were indeed all of them, except John, taken away from the evil to come, but the next generation whom they were to train up, would live to see it; and by these instructions which Christ left behind him would be kept from sharing in it; "This generation that is now rising up, shall not all be worn off before all these things come to pass, which I have told you of, relating to Jerusalem, and they shall begin to take effect now shortly. And as this destruction is near and within ken, so it is sure. The decree is gone forth, it is a consummation determined," Dan. ix. 27. Christ doth not speak these things, merely to frighten them; no, they are declarations of God's fixed purpose; "Heaven and earth shall pass away, at the end of time; but my words shall not pass away (v. 31), not one of these predictions shall fail of a punctual accomplishment."

II. "As to the end of the world, do not enquire when it will come, for it is not a question fit to be asked, for of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man; it is a thing at a great distance; the exact time is fixed in the counsel of God, but is not revealed by any word of God, either to men on earth, or to angels in heaven; the angels shall have timely notice to prepare to attend in that day, and it shall be published, when it comes to the children of men, with sound of trumpet; but, at present, men and angels are kept in the dark concerning the precise time of it, that they may both attend to their proper services in the present day." But it follows, neither the Son; but is there any thing which the Son is ignorant of? We read indeed of a book which was sealed, till the Lamb opened the seals; but did not he know what was in it, before the seals were opened? Was not he privy to the writing of it? There were those in the primitive times, who taught from this text, that there were some things that Christ, as man, was ignorant of; and from these were called Agnoetæ; they said, "It was no more absurd to say so, than to say that his human soul suffered grief and fear;" and many of the orthodox fathers approved of this. Some would evade it, by saying that Christ spoke this in a way of prudential economy, to divert the disciples from further enquiry: but to this one of the ancients answers, It is not fit to speak too nicely in this matter—ou dei pany akribologein, so Leontius in Dr. Hammond, "It is certain (says Archbishop Tillotson) that Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of any thing; but the divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, did communicate itself to his human soul, according to the divine pleasure, so that his human nature might sometimes not know some things; therefore Christ is said to grow in wisdom (Luke ii. 52), which he could not be said to do, if the human nature of Christ did necessarily know all things by virtue of its union with the divinity." Dr. Lightfoot explains it thus; Christ calls himself the Son, as Messiah. Now the Messiah, as such, was the father's servant (Isa. xlii. 1), sent and deputed by him, and as such a one he refers himself often to his Father's will and command, and owns he did nothing of himself (John v. 19); in like manner he might be said to know nothing of himself. The revelation of Jesus Christ was what God gave unto him, Rev. i. 1. He thinks, therefore, that we are to distinguish between those excellencies and perfections of his, which resulted from the personal union between the divine and human nature, and those which flowed from the anointing of the Spirit; from the former flowed the infinite dignity of his perfect freedom from all sin; but from the latter flowed his power of working miracles, and his foreknowledge of things to come. What therefore (saith he) was to be revealed by him to his church, he was pleased to take, not from the union of the human nature with the divine, but from the revelation of the Spirit, by which he yet knew not this, but the Father only knows it; that is, God only, the Deity; for (as Archbishop Tillotson explains it) it is not used here personally, in distinction from the Son and the Holy Ghost, but as the Father is, Fons et Principium Deitatis—The Fountain of Deity.

III. "As to both, your duty is to watch and pray. Therefore the time is kept a secret, that you may be engaged to stand always upon your guard (v. 33); Take ye heed of every thing that would indispose you for your Master's coming, and would render your accounts perplexed, and your spirits so too; watch for his coming, that it may not at any time be a surprise to you, and pray for that grace which is necessary to qualify you for it, for ye know not when the time is; and you are concerned to be ready for that every day, which may come any day." This he illustrates, in the close, by a parable.

1. Our Master is gone away, and left us something in trust, in charge, which we must give account of, v. 34. He is as a man taking a far journey; for he is gone to be away a great while, he has left his house on earth, and left his servants in their offices, given authority to some, who are to be overseers, and work to others, who are to be labourers. They that have authority given them, in that had work assigned them, for those that have the greatest power have the most business; and to them to whom he gave work, he gave some sort of authority, to do that work. And when he took his last leave, he appointed the porter to watch, to be sure to be ready to open to him at his return; and in the mean time to take care to whom he opened his gates, not to thieves and robbers, but only to his Master's friends and servants. Thus our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do, expecting they should all do him service in his absence, and be ready to receive him at his return. All are appointed to work, and some authorized to rule.

2. We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return, v. 35-37. (1.) Our Lord will come, and will come as the Master of the house, to take account of his servants, of their work, and of the improvement they have made. (2.) We know not when he will come; and he has very wisely kept us at uncertainty, that we might all be always ready. We know not when he will come, just at what precise time; the Master of the house perhaps will come at even, at nine at night; or it may be at midnight, or a cock-crowing, at three in the morning, or perhaps not until six. This is applicable to his coming to us in particular, at our death, as well as to the general judgment. Our present life is a night, a dark night, compared with the other life; we know not in which watch of the night our Master will come, whether in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore, as soon as we are capable of expecting any thing, we must expect death. (3.) Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he do not find us sleeping, secure in ourselves, off our guard, indulging ourselves in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty, and thoughtless of our Lord's coming; ready to say, He will not come, and unready to meet him. (4.) His coming will indeed be coming suddenly; it will be a great surprise and terror to those that are careless, and asleep, it will come upon them as a thief in the night. (5.) It is therefore the indispensable duty of all Christ's disciples, to watch, to be awake, and keep awake; "What I say unto you four (v. 37), I say unto all the twelve, or rather to you twelve, I say unto all my disciples and followers; what I say to you of this generation, I say to all that shall believe in men, through your word, in every age, Watch, watch, expect my second coming, prepare for it, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless."

CHAP. XIII.

Verse 1. What manner of stones, &c.] HUge stones, and so cunningly cimented, and as it were inoculatedQuasi tota [illegible: 1 word] ex [illegible: 2 words] lapide [illegible: 1 word] tantam magnitud. [illegible: 1 word] the one into the other, that a man would have thought and sworn almost, that they had been all but one entire stone. Josephus writeth of these stones, that they were fifteen cubits long, twelve high, and eight broad.

Verse 2. There shall not be left one stone, &c.] There's no trusting therefore to Forts and strong-holds, no though they be munitions of rocks; as Esay speaketh; The Jebusites, that jeared David and his forces, were thrown out of their Sion. Babylon, that bore her selfe bold upon her twenty yeers provision laid in for a siege, and upon her high Towers and thick walls, was surprised by Cyrus. So was this goodly Temple by [illegible: 1 word], who left onely three towers of this stately edifice unrazed, to declare unto posterity the strength of the place, and valour of the vanquisher. But, sixty five years after, AElius [illegible: 1 word] inflicting on the rebelling Jewes a wonderfull flaughter, subverted those remainders, and sprinkled salt upon the foundation.

Verse 4. Shall be fulfilled] Or, have an end, that is, be destroyed, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. as vers. 2. Which yet these Apostles held not destroyable till the worlds destruction, as appears [illegible: 1 word]. 24.

Verse 5. And Jesus answering them, &c.] Not directly to their question, but far better to their edification. This was [illegible: 1 word] with our Saviour.

Verse 7. The end shall not be yet] Neither of the world, nor of the Temple.

Verse 8. The beginning of sorrowes] The sorrowes and [non-Latin text not transcribed]. throwes of child-birth; which are nothing so bad at first, as in the birth.

Verse 10. Among all nations] i. e. Among other nations then the Jewes.

Verse 11. Neither [illegible: 1 word] ye [illegible: 1 word] ] Conne not your answers as boyes use to doe their Orations and School-exercises, which the Greeks call [non-Latin text not transcribed]: whereunto Beza thinks our Saviour here [illegible: 1 word].

Verse 14. The abomination of desolution] The Romane forces, therefore most abominable to God and his Angels, because they desolated the pleasant land, and abolished the true worship of God. See Revel. 17. 4, 5. Where it ought not] viz. In respect of the Romanes, who did it onely out of ambition and covetousnesse. See Esay 10. 7.

Verse 19. For in those dayes shall be affliction] Gr. Those dayes shall be affliction: as if the very time were nothing else but [illegible: 1 word] it self. See the Notes on Mat. 24. 21.

Verse 20. Except the [illegible: 1 word] had [illegible: 1 word] ] [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word]. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Not in respect of the divine decree, but 1. of the long miseries that the people had deserved: 2. of the enemies rage, that would have exceeded. See [illegible: 1 word]. 1. 13.

Verse 28. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree] We should not rest content with a naturall [illegible: 1 word] of the creatures, as bruits doe, but pick some spirituall matter out of every sensible object. Thus [illegible: 1 word] Master [illegible: 1 word] when the Sun shined on his face now lying on his death bed, fell into a sweet meditation of the gloryD. Hall's Art of Divine Meditation. of God, and his approaching joy.

Verse 30. Till all these things be done] Begun they were in the destruction of Jerusalem, carried on by the enemies rage against the Church, and to be ended with the last age of the Church, which begins at the coming of Christ in the flesh.

Verse 34. The porter to watch] That the rest did their work.

Verse 35. When the Master cometh] But come he will to judgement, as sure as that hee hath destroyed Jerusalem: This is a pledge of the other.

Verse 37. Watch] What Serbidius Scevola was wont to say of the Civill Law, holds more true of the divine Law: Jus civile scriptum est vigilantibus, non dormitantibus: The Law was written for those that observe to obey it.

The principal things in this chapter are fully explained in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew.

1. What manner of stones. The stones here referred to were those used in the building of the temple, and the walls on the sides of Mount Moriah on which the temple stood. The temple was constructed of white marble, and the blocks were of a prodigious size. Josephus says that these stones were some of them fifty feet long, twenty-four broad, and sixteen in thickness.

(a) "And as he went out" Mt 24:1, etc.

Upon the mount of Olives over against the temple. The Mount of Olives was directly east of Jerusalem, and from it there was a fine view of the temple.

(1) "beginning of sorrows" "The word in the original importeth" the pains of a woman in travail.

Take heed to yourselves. Be cautious that no man deceive you; or, take care of your lives, not to run into unnecessary danger.

To councils. The higher ecclesiastical courts of the Jews, including the Sanhedrim, or great council of the nation.

Rulers and kings. Referring to Roman officers.

For a testimony against them. Rather, to bear testimony to them; or to be witnesses before them of the truth. This was for the sake of Jesus, or because they were attached to him; and God would overrule it so that at the same time they should bear witness to the rulers of the truth, as was the case with Peter and John, Acts 4; iv.; with Stephen, Acts 6, Acts 7; and with Paul, Acts 23; Acts 24:24,25.

(f) "they shall deliver" Mt 10:17, Rev 2:10

Neither do ye premeditate. Do not think beforehand, or prepare an answer. You know not what the accusations will be; and God will furnish you with a reply that shall be adapted to the occasion.

Not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. This is a full promise that they should be inspired; and consequently their defences recorded in the Acts of the Apostles are the words of the Holy Ghost. There could be no more explicit promise that they should be under an infallible guidance; and we are not left to doubt that they were taught of God. At the same time, this was a most desirable and gracious aid. They were illiterate, unknown, without power. They were unfit of themselves to make the important statements of religion which were requisite. But God gave them power, and they spake with a wisdom, fearlessness, pungency, and ability, which no other men have ever manifested--full proof that these illiterate fishermen were under the influence of the Holy Ghost.

(h) "Holy Ghost" Ac 2:4 4:8,31 6:10

The brother shall betray, etc. The brother shall give up in a treacherous manner his brother to be put to death, on account of his attachment to Jesus. Through fear, in the hope of reward and the hatred of the gospel, he will overcome all the natural ties of brotherhood, and give up his own kindred to be burnt or crucified. Perhaps nothing could more clearly show the dreadful evil of those times, as well as the natural opposition of the heart to the religion of Christ.

(i) "brother" Mic 7:6

On the housetop. See Mt 9:1-8.

Neither the Son. This text has always presented serious difficulties. It has been asked, If Jesus had a Divine nature, how could he say he knew not the day and hour of a future event? In reply, it has been said that the passage was wanting, according to Ambrose, in some Greek manuscripts. But it is now found in all, and there can be little doubt that the passage is genuine. Others have said that the verb rendered "knoweth," means sometimes to make known, or to reveal; and that the passage means, "That day and hour none makes known, neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father." It is true, the word has sometimes that meaning, as in 1Cor 2:2; but then it is natural to ask where has the Father made it known? In what place did he reveal it? After all, the passage has no more difficulty than that in Lk 2:52, where it is said that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature. He had a human nature. He grew as a man in knowledge. As a man, his knowledge must be finite, for the faculties of the human soul are not infinite. As a man, he often spoke, reasoned, inquired, felt, feared, read, learned, ate, drank, and walked. Why are not all these, which imply that he was a man--that, as a man, he was not infinite --why are not these as difficult as the want of knowledge respecting the particular time of a future event; especially when that time must be made known by God, and when he chose that the man, Christ Jesus, should grow and think, and speak as a man?

Who left his house. The word house often means family. Our Saviour here represents himself as going away, leaving his household the Church, assigning to the apostles and all his servants their duty, and leaving it uncertain when he would return. As his return was a matter of vast consequence--and as the affairs of his kingdom were entrusted to them, just as the affairs of a house are to servants, when the master is absent---so it was of Vast importance that they should be faithful at their post, defend the house from danger, and be ready for his return.

The porter. The door-keeper. To the janitor or door-keeper was entrusted, particularly, the faithful care of the house, whose duty it was to attend faithfully on those who came, and those who left the house.

Watch ye. Be diligent, faithful, and waiting for the return of your Lord, who will come at an unexpected hour.

Master of the house. Denoting here the Lord Jesus.

At even, or at midnight or, at etc.: This refers to the four divisions into which the Jews divided the night.

Find you sleeping. Inattentive to your post, neglecting your duty, and unprepared for his coming.

(v) "sleeping" Mt 25:5

All, Watch. This command was proper, not only for those who were expecting the calamities that were soon to come upon the Jews, but for all who are soon to die, and to go to the judgment. We know not the time of our death. We know not how soon we shall be called to the judgment. The Son of man may come at any moment, and we should, therefore, be ready. If we are his friends-- if we have been renewed and pardoned--if we have repented of our sins, and have believed on him, and are leading a holy life--we are ready. If not, we are unprepared; and soon, probably while we are not expecting it, the cold hand of death will be laid on us, and we shall be hurried to the place where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Oh, how important it is to be ready, and to escape the awful sufferings of an ETERNAL HELL!

(w) "Watch" Mk 13:33,35

[Upon the mount of Olives, over against the Temple.] "The east gate of the Court of the Gentiles had the metropolis Sushan painted on it. And through this gate the high priest went out to burn the red cow." And, "All the walls of that court were high, except the east wall; because of the priest, when he burnt the red cow, stood upon the top of mount Olivet, and took his aim, and looked upon the gate of the Temple, in that time when he sprinkled the blood." And, "The priest stood with his face turned westward, kills the cow with his right hand, and receives the blood with the left, but sprinkleth it with his right, and that seven times, directly towards the Holy of Holies."

It is true, indeed, the Temple might be well seen from any tract of Olivet: but the word over against, if it doth not direct to this very place, yet to some place certainly in the same line: and it cannot but recall to our mind that action of the high priest.

[Be not troubled.] Think here, how the traditions of the scribes affrighted the nation with the report of Gog and Magog, immediately to go before the coming of the Messiah:--

"R. Eliezer Ben Abina saith, When you see the kingdoms disturbing one another, then expect the footsteps of the Messiah. And know that this is true from hence, that so it was in the days of Abraham; for kingdoms disturbed one another, and then came redemption to Abraham." And elsewhere; "So they came against Abraham, and so they shall come with Gog and Magog." And again, "The Rabbins deliver. In the first year of that week [of years] that the Son of David is to come, shall that be fulfilled, 'I will rain upon one city, but I will not rain upon another,' Amos 4:7. The second year, the arrows of famine shall be sent forth. The third, the famine shall be grievous, and men and women and children, holy men, and men of good works, shall die. And there shall be a forgetfulness of the law among those that learn it. The fourth year, fulness, and not fulness. The fifth year, great fulness; for they shall eat and drink and rejoice, and the law shall return to its scholars. The sixth year, voices. (The Gloss is, 'A fame shall be spread, that the Son of David comes,' or, 'they shall sound with a trumpet.') The seventh year, wars; and in the going out of that seventh year the Son of David shall come."

[These are the beginnings of sorrows.] Isaiah 66:7,8: Before she travailed she brought forth; before the labour of pains came she was delivered, and brought forth a male. Who hath heard such a thing? Does the earth bring forth in one day, or is a nation also brought forth at once? For Sion was in travail and brought forth her sons.

The prophet here says two things:--

I. That Christ should be born before the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jews themselves collect and acknowledge this out of this prophecy: "It is in the Great Genesis [Bereshith Rabba] a very ancient book: thus R. Samuel Bar Nachaman said, Whence prove you, that in the day when the destruction of the Temple was, Messias was born? He answered, From this that is said in the last chapter of Isaiah, 'Before she travailed she brought forth; before her bringing forth shall come, she brought forth a male child.' In the same hour that the destruction of the Temple was, Israel cried out as though she were bringing forth. And Jonathan in the Chaldee translation said, Before her trouble came she was saved; and before the pains of childbirth came upon her, Messiah was revealed." In the Chaldee it is, A king shall manifest himself.

"In like manner in the same book: R. Samuel Bar Nachaman said, It happened that Elias went by the way in the day wherein the destruction of the Temple was, and he heard a certain voice crying out and saying, 'The holy Temple is destroyed.' Which when he heard, he imagined how he could destroy the world: but travelling forward he saw men ploughing and sowing, to whom he said, 'God is angry with the world and will destroy his house, and lead his children captives to the Gentiles; and do you labour for temporal victuals?' And another voice was heard, saying, 'Let them work, for the Saviour of Israel is born.' And Elias said, 'Where is he?' And the voice said, 'In Bethlehem of Judah,'" &c. These words this author speaks, and these words they speak.

II. As it is not without good reason gathered, that Christ shall be born before the destruction of the city, from that clause, "Before she travailed she brought forth, before her bringing forth came [the pangs of travail], she brought forth a male child"; so also, from that clause, Is a nation brought forth at once? for Sion travailed and brought forth her children, is gathered as well, that the Gentiles were to be gathered and called to the faith before that destruction; which our Saviour most plainly teacheth, verse 10, "But the gospel must first be preached among all nations." For how the Gentiles, which should believe, are called 'the children of Sion,' and 'the children of the church of Israel,' every where in the prophets, there is no need to show, for every one knows it.

In this sense is the word pangs or sorrows, in this place to be understood; and it agrees not only with the sense of the prophet alleged, but with a most common phrase and opinion in the nation concerning the sorrows of the Messiah, that is, concerning the calamities which they expected would happen at the coming of the Messiah.

"Ulla saith, The Messias shall come, but I shall not see him. So also saith Rabba, Messias shall come, but I shall not see him; that is, he shall not be to be seen. Abai saith to Rabba, Why? Because of the sorrows of the Messias. It is a tradition. His disciples asked R. Eliezer, What may a man do to be delivered from the sorrows of Messias? Let him be conversant in the law and in the works of mercy." The Gloss is, "the terrors and the sorrows which shall be in his days." "He that feasts thrice on the sabbath day shall be delivered from three miseries, from the sorrows of Messiah, from the judgment of hell, and from the war of Gog and Magog." Where the Gloss is this, "'From the sorrows of Messias': for in that age, wherein the Son of David shall come, there will be an accusation of the scholars of the wise men. The word sorrows denotes such pains as women in childbirth endure."

[But of that day and hour knoweth no man.] Of what day and hour? That the discourse is of the day of the destruction of Jerusalem is so evident, both by the disciples' question, and by the whole thread of Christ's discourse, that it is a wonder any should understand these words of the day and hour of the last judgment.

Two things are demanded of our Saviour, verse 4: the one is, "When shall these things be, that one stone shall not be left upon another?" And the second is, "What shall be the sign of this consummation?" To the latter he answereth throughout the whole chapter hitherto: to the former in the present words. He had said, indeed, in the verse before, "Heaven and earth shall pass away," &c.; not for resolution to the question propounded (for there was no inquiry at all concerning the dissolution of heaven and earth), but for confirmation of the truth of the thing which he had related. As though he had said, "Ye ask when such an overthrow of the Temple shall happen; when it shall be, and what shall be the signs of it. I answer, These and those, and the other signs shall go before it; and these my words of the thing itself to come to pass, and of the signs going before, are firmer than heaven and earth itself. But whereas ye inquire of the precise time, that is not to be inquired after; for of that day and hour knoweth no man."

We cannot but remember here, that even among the beholders of the destruction of the Temple there is a difference concerning the day of the destruction; that that day and hour was so little known before the event, that even after the event, they who saw the flames disagreed among themselves concerning the day. Josephus, an eyewitness, saw the burning of the Temple, and he ascribed it to the tenth day of the month Ab or Lous. For thus he; "The Temple perished the tenth day of the month Lous (or August), a day fatal to the Temple, as having been on that day consumed in flames by the king of Babylon." Rabban Jochanan Ben Zaccai saw the same conflagration; and he, together with the whole Jewish nation, ascribes it to the ninth day of that month, not the tenth; yet so that he saith, "If I had not lived in that age I had not judged it but to have happened on the tenth day." For as the Gloss upon Maimonides writes, "It was the evening when they set fire to it, and the Temple burnt until sunset the tenth day. In the Jerusalem Talmud, therefore, Rabbi and R. Joshua Ben Levi fasted the ninth and tenth days." See also the tract Bab. Taanith.

[Neither the angels.] "'For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come,' Isaiah 63:4. What means 'the day of vengeance is in mine heart?' R. Jochanan saith, I have revealed it to my heart, to my members I have not revealed it. R. Simeon Ben Lachish saith, I have revealed it to my heart, but to the ministering angels I have not revealed it." And Jalkut on that place thus: My heart reveals it not to my mouth; to whom should my mouth reveal it?

[Nor the Son.] Neither the angels, nor the Messias. For in that sense the word Son, is to be taken in this place and elsewhere very often: as in that passage, John 5:19, "The Son," that is, the Messias, "can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do": verse 20, "The Father loveth the Messias," &c: verse 26, "He hath given to the Messias to have life in himself," &c. And that the word Son is to be rendered in this sense, appears from verse 27; "He hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." Observe that, "because he is the Son of man."

I. It is one thing to understand "the Son of God" barely and abstractly for the second person in the Holy Trinity; another to understand him for the Messias, or that second person incarnate. To say that the second person in the Trinity knows not something is blasphemous; to say so of the Messias, is not so, who, nevertheless, was the same with the second person in the Trinity: for although the second person, abstractly considered according to his mere Deity, was co-equal with the Father, co-omnipotent, co-omniscient, co-eternal with him, &c.; yet Messias, who was God-man, considered as Messias, was a servant and a messenger of the Father, and received commands and authority from the Father. And those expressions, "The Son can do nothing of himself," &c. will not in the least serve the Arian's turn; if you take them in this sense, which you must necessarily do; "Messias can do nothing of himself, because he is a servant and a deputy."

II. We must distinguish between the excellences and perfections of Christ, which flowed from the hypostatical union of the natures, and those which flowed from the donation and anointing of the Holy Spirit. From the hypostatical union of the natures flowed the infinite dignity of his person, his impeccability, his infinite self-sufficiency to perform the law, and to satisfy the divine justice. From the anointing of the Spirit flowed his power of miracles, his foreknowledge of things to come, and all kind of knowledge of evangelic mysteries. Those rendered him a fit and perfect Redeemer; these a fit and perfect Minister of the gospel.

Now, therefore, the foreknowledge of things to come, of which the discourse here is, is to be numbered among those things which flowed from the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and from immediate revelation; not from the hypostatic union of the natures. So that those things which were revealed by Christ to his church, he had them from the revelation of the Spirit, not from that union. Nor is it any derogation or detraction from the dignity of his person, that he saith, 'He knew not that day and hour of the destruction of Jerusalem'; yea, it excellently agrees with his office and deputation, who, being the Father's servant, messenger, and minister, followed the orders of the Father, and obeyed him in all things. "The Son knoweth not," that is, it is not revealed to him from the Father to reveal to the church. Revelation 1:1, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him."

We omit inquiring concerning the knowledge of Christ, being now raised from death: whether, and how far, it exceeded his knowledge, while yet he conversed on earth. It is without doubt, that, being now raised from the dead, he merited all kind of revelation (see Rev 5:9, "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain," &c.); and that he, conversing on earth before his death, acted with the vigour of the Holy Spirit and of that unspeakable holiness which flowed from the union of the human nature with the divine, the divine nature, in the meantime, suspending its infinite activity of omnipotence. So that Christ might work miracles, and know things to come, in the same manner as the prophets also did, namely, by the Holy Ghost, but in a larger measure; and might overcome the devil not so much by the omnipotence of the divine nature, as by the infinite holiness of his person, and of his obedience. So that if you either look upon him as the minister and servant of God; or if you look upon the constitution, as I may so call it, and condition of his person, these words of his, "Of that day and hour knoweth not the Son also," carry nothing of incongruity along with them; yea, do excellently speak out his substitution as a servant, and the constitution of his person as God-man.

The reason why the divine wisdom would have the time of the destruction of Jerusalem so concealed, is well known to itself; but by men, since the time of it was unsearchable, the reason certainly is not easy to be searched. We may conjecture that the time was hid, partly, lest the godly might be terrified with the sound of it, as 2 Thessalonians 2:2; partly, that the ungodly, and those that would be secure, might be taken in the snares of their own security, as Matthew 24:38. But let secret things belong to God.

Our blessed Saviour being now ready to depart from the temple; never more, after this, entering into it; and his disciples shewing him with wonder and admiration the magnificent structures and buildings thereof, apprehending that in regard to its invincible strength it could not be destroyed, or that at least, in regard to its incredible magnificence, it was a great pity it should be destroyed; they say to Christ, Master, Behold what buildings are here; Not considering how sin would undermine and blow up the most famous structures. Sin brings cities and kingdoms, as well as particular persons, to their end; not one stone of that magnificent structure, says Christ, shall remain unpulled down: which threatening was exactly fulfilled after Christ's death, when Titus, the Roman emperor, destroyed the city, burnt the temple, and Turnus Rufus, the general of his army, ploughed up the very foundation on which the temple stood: thus was the threatening of God fulfilled, Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become an heap Jer 26:18.

Learn hence, 1. That sin has laid the foundation of ruin in the most flourishing cities and kingdoms. That the threatenings of God are to be feared, and shall be fulfilled, whatever appearing improbabilities there may be to the contrary. It is neither the temple's strength nor beauty that can oppose or withstand God's power.

A double question is here propounded to our Savioiur by his disciples; namely, When the destruction of Jerusalem shall be? and, What shall be the sign of that destruction? See here, what an itching curiosity there is in the best of men to know futurities; to know things that shall come to pass hereafter; and when that hereafter is to come to pass.

O how happy were we, if as forward to obey the declaration of God's revealed will, as we are to pry into the hidden counsels of his secret will! Tell us, say the disciples, When shall these things be?

Here, and in the following verses, our Saviour gives his disciples the signs which should forerun the destruction of Jerusalem. The first of which was this, that there should arise false Christs, false prophets, and seducers; such as Theudas, and others, under the name and person of the Messiah, some affirming themselves to be Christ personal, or the promised Messiah; others to be Christ doctrinal, affirming their erroneous opinions to be the mind and doctrine of Jesus Christ.

Learn hence, That as there will be many seducers before the end of the world (for Jerusalem's destruction was a type and emblem of the world's destruction) and many will be seduced and misled by them: so it is the duty of Christ's own disciples to take heed lest they, being also led away by the error of the wicked, do fall from their own stedfastness: Take heed, says Christ, that no man deceive you: for many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many.

The second sign of Jerusalem's destruction was, wars and rumors of wars; that is, civil broils, and intestine commotions among themselves; as also famines and earthquakes.

Whence note, That war and fire, earthquakes and famines, are judgments and calamities inflicted by God upon sinful people, for their contempt of Christ and gospel grace.

2. That although these be very terrible judgments, and desolating calamities, yet to an incorrigible and irreclaimable people are they the forerunners of worse judgments. These are, says Christ, the beginnings of sorrows.

The third sign of this approaching destruction, was a general persecution of the ministers of the gospel, for preaching the doctrine of the gospel to a lost world; Ye shall be beaten, and brought before kings for my sake, for a testimony.

From whence note, That the preaching of the gospel wherever it comes, will be for a testimony to them to whom it comes; either a testimony for them, or against them: to the humble it is a testimony for, to despisers and scorners it is a testimony against; if the dust of ministers feet bear witness against the despisers of the gospel, their sermons much more.

The word of God delivered in the scriptures, and dispensed in the ministry thereof, hath its divers and contrary effects upon different and contrary subjects; from both which ye Almighty God knows how to raise his own glory; to the humble and teachable, the gospel is in adjutorium: to some, the saviour of life unto life; to others, the saviour of death unto death.

Here our Saviour acquaints his disciples, that for preaching the gospel they should be brought before kings and rulers; but advises them, when they should be so brought, not to be anxiously thoughtful and solicitous what they shall say: for it should be suggested to them by the Holy Ghost what to say in that hour.

Note here, That this promise seems to be peculiar to the apostles, and that is belonged to them only, when they were brought before kings and rulers, to plead the cause of Christ.

Learn hence, That though the truth of Christ may be opposed, yet the defenders of it should never be ashamed: for rather than they shall want a tongue to plead for it, God himself will prompt them by his Holy Spirit, and suggest such arguments to them as all their enemies shall not be able to gainsay.

Observe, farther, How our Saviour describes the enmity of the world against the preachers of the gospel, to be such as would overcome and extinguish even the natural affection of the dearest relations one towards another: The brother shall betray the brother to death.

Observe, lastly, How our Saviour comforts his disciples, that there would be an end of these their sharp and bitter sufferings: assuring them, that if their faith and patience did hold out unto the end, they should be saved. This is our comfort, our sufferings for Christ must be sharp, but they shall be short; if our sufferings for Christ end not in our lifetime, they will end with our lives.

The sense is, "When ye shall se the Roman army, which is an abomination unto you, and an occasion of great desolation wherever it goes: when you shall see that abominable desolating army, begirting the city of Jerusalem, in order to her ruin and being laid waste, then call to mind the prophecy of Daniel, which primarily respected Antiochus, but secondarily Titus the Roman emperor, and shall now be fully completed; for the siege shall not be raised till both city and temple be razed to the ground."

From whence learn, 1. That God has instruments ready at his call to lay waste the strongest cities, and to ruin the most flourishing kingdoms, which do reject his Son, and refuse the tenders of his grace.

2. That God can, and sometimes doth, make use of those very persons whom sinners most abhor, to be the instruments of their punishment, and the occasions of their destruction. The Roman army, which was an abomination to the Jews, did God destroy them by.

The meaning is, "As soon as ye shall see the Roman army appear before the city of Jerusalem, let everyone that values his own safety fly, as far and as fast as he can, as Lot fled from the flames of Sodom; and be glad if by flight he can save his life, though he lose goods and clothes, and all things beside."

Whence learn, That when Almighty God is pouring forth his fury upon a sinful people, it is both lawful, and a necessary duty, by flight to endeavour to shelter and secure ourselves from the approaching calamity and desolation; when ye see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, flee to the mountains.

2. That in case of flight before an enraged enemy, and bloody army, if we lose all that we have, and our lives be given us for a prey, we fare well, and the Lord deals very graciously and mercifully with us.

Next, Our Saviour declares the doleful distress of those that could not flee from the Roman army encompassing Jerusalem, as women great with child, and others giving suck, who by that means are like to lose their lives: and adds farther, That it would increase the calamity, if their flight should happen to be in the winter; St. Matthew adds, on the sabbath-day, Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the sabbath-day Matt 24:20. Flight in the winter is sad, because we can then fly neither fast nor far; and on the sabbath-day it is very sorrowful, that being the day of our spiritual labour, and of our bodily rest.

Learn thene, That it is a great addition to the trouble and disquiet of a good man's spirit, when the day of his spiritual rest is interrupted; and instead of enjoying communion with God in his house, he is driven from house and home.

The dreadful calamities which were coming upon the Jews in general, and Jerusalem in particular, are here foretold by our blessed Saviour, partly from the Roman army without, and partly from the seditions and factions of the zealots within; who committed such outrages and slaughters, that there were no less than an hundred thousand Jews that bought our Saviour for thirty-pence, were now themselves sold thirty for a penny. Now did the temple itself become a sacrifice, a whole burnt-offering, and was consumed to ashes.

Yet observe, Christ promises that those days of vengeance should be shortened for the elect's sake; God had a remnant which he designed should survive that destruction, to be an holy seed; and accordingly the providence of God so ordered it, that the city was taken in six months, and the whole country depopulated in eighteen.

From whence, observe, How the Lord intermixes some mercy with the extremest misery that doth befal a people for their sin on this side hell. No sinners can say, in this life, that they feel the strikes of justice to the utmost, or that they have judgement without mercy.

The Jews had all along cherished in themselves a vain expectation, that the promised Messias should be a temporal deliverer; and set them at liberty from the power and slavery of the Romans; and accordingly, our Saviour declares to his discples here, That, immediately before Jerusalem's destruction, several persons, taking the advantage of this expectation, would make themselves heads of parties; and pretend that they were the true Messiah, who should save and deliver them from their enemies, if they would follow them. Hereupon our Saviour cautions his disciples against such false Christs, and false prophets, and bids them not believe them, though they did ever so many great signs and wonders, and promise them ever such glorious deliverances.

From hence note, 1. That the church's great danger is from seducers, that come in Christ's name and pretend to work signs and wonders by his authority.

Note, 2. That such is the power of seduction and delusion, that, many, in all ages of the church, have been carried away with seducers and false teachers.

3. That the elect themselves, if left to themselves might be seduced; but being guarded by divine power against seduction and delusion, they shall be preserved from that fatal mischief; They shall seduce, if possible, even the elect.

Our Saviour goes on in figurative expressions, to set forth the calamities that should befall the Jewish nation immediately after Jerusalem's destruction. The sun shall be darkened; that is, all their glory and excellency shall be eclipsed, all their wealth and prosperity shall be laid waste, their whole government, civil and ecclesiastical, destroyed; and such marks of misery found upon them, as never were seen upon a people. Those that apply this to the general judgment, understand the word literally, that the sun and moon will then have their influences suspended; that the holy angels will be sent forth to gather the elect from all quarters of the world, with the sound of the trumpet, says St. Matthew. Prfobably, as there was an audible sound of a trumpet at the giving of law, so three shall be the like sound of a trumpet, when Christ shall summon the world to judgment, for transgressing of that law. A joyful sound will this be to the friends of Christ; a doleful, dreadful sound in the ears of his enemies.

Here our blessed Saviour declares two things with reference to his coming.

1. The certainty of the thing itself.

2. The uncertainty of the time. The certainty of his coming he sets forth by tihs similitude of the fig-tree, whose beginning to bud declares the summer at hand.

Thus our Saviour tells them, that when they should see the forementioned signs, they might conclude the destruction of their city and temple to be nigh at hand; and accordingly, some then living did see these predictions fulfilled.

Observe, 2. The uncertainty as to the precise time when this judgment should come; no angels in heaven, nor creature upon earth, could determine the time; only the glorious persons in the godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Learn hence, That all things are not revealed to the angels themselves; but such things only as it concerns them to know, and the time of the day of judgment is kept by God as a secret to himself; we are not to know the hour, to the intent we may be upon our watch every hour; Christ himself did not know it as a man, but as God only. The knowledge and revelation of this, was no part of Christ's prophetic office! it being one of those times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power, Acts 1:7. Consider Christ as God, or the second person in the Trinity, and to affirm that there is anything which he does not know, is blasphemy; but consider him as the Messias, and to say there were some things which Christ, as such, did not know, is not blasphemy. For though Christ as God was equal with the Father, yet as Messias, or God-man, he was inferior to the Father, his servant, or messenger, and could do nothing of himself, and did not know all things.

Our blessed Saviour takes occasion, from the foregoing doctrine of the certainty and suddenness of his coming to judgment, to enforce the duty of diligent and industrious watchfulness upon his disciples and followers; that is, to be upon their guard against all sin, and to be in an actual readiness for his appearance and approach.

Learn hence, That it is the indispensible duty, and ought to be the indefatigable endeavour, of every Christian, to stand upon his guard in a prepared readiness for Christ's appearance, both for his coming to them, and for their going to him. There is a twofold readiness for Christ's coming; namely, habitual and actual; an habitual readiness is a readiness of the person: when we are furnished with all the graces and virtues of a good life, when our lamps are burning, and our loins girded, our souls furnished with all the graces of God's Holy Spirit, our lives fruitful in good works: Blessed is that servant, who, when his Lord cometh, shall be found thus watching.