let him be made holy still. Behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is." (Rev. 22: 11-12.)

In the twelfth chapter of Daniel we see that "when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." About six centuries later their power was broken, their kingdom taken from them and the scepter had departed. This great event was the end of time or the time covenant. It was also the finishing of the "mystery of God, according to the good tidings which He declared to His servants, the prophets." (Rev. 10:7.)

It was the opening of the last "seal, and the sounding of the last trumpet;" it was the executing of "His word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short." (Rom. 9:28); it was the end of the days of vengeance as foretold by Christ Himself; (Luke 21:22), and was the fulfillment of the long foretold catastrophe. In short, it was the "end of all things," as declared by the apostle Peter and the "making of all things new," as declared by John the Revelator.

The "last days" to which Joel, Paul and Peter referred were the last days of a dying world.

(See Acts 2: 16, 17, and II Tim. 3: 1, 2, 3, and II Peter 3:3.)

Not many years intervened between the great outpouring of the spirit and the great declension that followed. Finally "the last days" with the spiritual night came to an end, and we are now living in God's eternal day. "The night is far spent," said Paul, "and the day is at hand." (Rom. 13: 12.)

CHAPTER IV.

THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY.

The Gospels Indicate a Single Event.

It is believed by many that the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew predict two great events, one of which has already been fulfilled, the other to take place at some future time, known only to the Father; also, that the 24th chapter refers to the overthrow of the Jewish nation, and the 25th to the transactions of a final judgment.

That it is one discourse divided into two parts is evident; but can they actually be divided? What terms are used in the one that are not used with all their force in the other? In the 24th chapter, Jesus says: "Watch therefore, for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh"; in the 25th chapter, "Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour." In the 24th chapter, "They shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet"; in the 25th chapter, "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all

the angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory."

The coming of Christ with His angels, as predicted in the 16th chapter of Matthew, is in perfect harmony with that of the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew, and also of the 13th chapter of Mark. In the 16th chapter of Matthew He says: "The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then shall He render unto every man according to his deeds."

It is very clear to me that the expressions, "Separating the sheep from the goats" (Matt. 25), "Cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites" (Matt. 24); "Render unto every man according to his deeds" (Matt. 16), and “Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me to render to each man according as his work is" (Rev. 22), refer to the same great and notable event, to-wit: His second coming; the day of judgment; and the end of the world.

If Jesus predicted two great events, widely separated by time, the first one-the fall of Jerusalem-is certainly the greater, for in Matt. 24:20, 21 He says: "Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a Sabbath: for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever

shall be." In the 34th verse of the same chapter, He says: "Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished."

Because it seemed incredible for the predictions which Jesus made to have had a fulfillment at the fall of Jerusalem, men have for generations thought that Jesus predicted two great events.

We cannot but believe that if Jesus had predicted two great events to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, He would have at least spoken one word whereby we might know that He had reference to two events.

If, in foretelling two great events like the first and second advent of Christ. Moses and the prophets kept them distinctly separate, have we not good reason for believing that if Jesus and His disciples had in mind two great events, they also would have made a distinction.

But as it is, if there be two, they are spoken of together, and so entangled that it is impossible to separate them.

Nearly nineteen centuries have fled since Jesus and His disciples sat on the Mount of Olives and He described to them the wonderful things that have been the burden of sermon and song for many generations.