soever you shall be inspired to say at the moment, that shall you speak. For it is not you that shall speak, but the Holy Ghost. Many among you shall be put to death; but be sure that not a hair of your head shall perish but by the will of your Father who is in heaven. In patience and resignation you shall possess your souls. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.

The

calamities of that time shall exceed all that have been seen from the beginning of the world until then.

"Take heed that no one deceive you; for many will come in My name, and there shall arise false prophets, and they shall show signs and wonders to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect.

"And when you shall see Jerusalem surrounded with an army, know that its destruction is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and those who are in the city, depart from it. Let those who are within reach not enter in; and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat; for these are the days of God's vengeance upon a sinful people who have merited His wrath.

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Many shall perish by the sword, and many shall be led away captives, and dispersed among all nations. And Jerusalem shall be inhabited by the Gentiles, until the times shall be fulfilled."

These predictions of our Lord were accomplished forty years afterwards, and since that

time the Jews have been dispersed over the world and persecuted.

5. Even now, they have no distinct government, and cannot establish themselves so as to constitute a nation either at Jerusalem, or in any other land.

The fulfilment of this prophecy is among the most striking of the miracles which testify the truth of the Gospel.

QUESTIONS.

1. What did our Lord say of the temple? 2. In what words did He foretell the persecutions His disciples would have to undergo ? 3. How did He prophesy the destruction of Jerusalem?

4. How many years later was this prediction. fulfilled?

5. What has been the fate of the Jews since that time?

"O, all ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow; for He hath made a vintage of Me, as the Lord spoke in the day of His fierce anger."Lamentations, i. 12.

LESSON XLIV.

JESUS PROPHESIES THE END OF THE WORLD.

1. After predicting the destruction of Jerusalem, our Lord described the signs which should precede the end of the world.

After these days of fearful tribulation, and when the Gospel shall have been preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, then shall the end of the world come.

The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved. On the earth, there shall be distress amongst nations, because of the roaring of the sea and of the waves, and men withering away for fear, in expectation of the things that shall come to pass throughout the world.

2. Then shall the sign of the Son of Man appear in the heavens, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty. Then He shall send His angels with a trumpet, and with a great voice, to gather together His elect from the four quarters of the earth.

But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.

Of that day and hour, no man knoweth, not even the angels in heaven, but the Father alone. Take heed, therefore; watch and pray, for ye know not when the time shall come.

3. Now, when the Son of Man shall come in His majesty, with His angels, He shall sit upon the throne of His glory, and all nations shall be assembled before Him: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He shall place the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left.

4. Then the King shall say to those who are on His right hand, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you received Me; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me."

Then the just shall say to Him, "Lord, when did we do all these things for Thee ?" And the King shall answer them, "Amen, I say to you, that as often as you did this to one of the least of My brethren, you did it to Me."

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Then He shall say to those who are on His left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me not to drink; I was naked, and you clothed Me not; I was sick, and in prison, and you visited Me not."

Then they also shall answer Him, saying: "Lord, when did we see Thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to Thee ?"

And He shall answer: "Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of the least of My brethren, you did it not to Me."

And these last shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just shall enter into life everlasting.

As our Lord's prophetic words concerning the destruction of Jerusalem were verified forty years after they were spoken, so shall His prophecy of the end of the world, with equal certainty, be fulfilled at some future period, known only to God.

Live, therefore, in such a manner, that when the awful day of the last judgment arrives, you may merit a place at His right hand, and escape the misfortune of finding yourselves at His left, amongst those doomed to eternal perdition.

From the words you have just read, you learn that our Lord really considers all who suffer from poverty or other evils, as representing Himself; that He wishes us to see Him in their persons; that when we do good to them, He accepts our services as if rendered to His own Divine Person; and that, when, on the other hand, we neglect them, it is to Him we refuse our help.

By this affecting and solemn lesson, our Lord teaches us that, without the observance of His precept of charity towards our fellow-creatures, we cannot hope to gain heaven.