after that they wanted to learn what sign they were to accept and recognize as a sign of Christ's return to this earth and of the end of the world.

Jesus Instructs the Disciples

"And Jesus answered." Matt. 24:4.

It is claimed by some today that we can know nothing concerning the second coming of Christ, but it is obvious that we can know at least what the answer of Jesus was to these vitally important questions of his disciples. And in that answer is contained a great volume of information and truth regarding this subject, truth which every Christian should be willing to accept without question because it came from the lips of the Master himself.

Jesus then proceeded to answer the first question, giving the indications, one by one, of the approaching destruction of the city and temple, and finally he gave them the sign by which they were to know when to leave the city to escape its destruction. When they should see Jerusalem compassed with armies (Luke 21:20) they were to flee into the mountains. They looked for this sign, and by heeding it when it appeared, all of God's people made good their escape from the doomed city. The Roman armies compassed the city and took it, and put its inhabitants to the sword, destroying the great temple, but the Christians, following the instruction of Jesus, were saved.

The Second Question

Having now answered the first question of the disciples concerning the time when "these things" would come upon "this generation," Christ begins the answer to the second question, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Before considering this, however, let it be noticed that the predicted destruction of Jerusalem did take place upon the very generation

which heard and rejected the message of the gospel, in which was contained a warning concerning this very destruction, and in which, also, was contained salvation for every soul which believed and accepted the message. The Great Tribulation

In beginning his reply to the question regarding the signs of his second coming, Christ spoke first of a period of "great tribulation."

"Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Matt. 24:21, 22.

This sign was fulfilled in that great period of papal persecution against God's faithful children, which, according to the prophecy of Dan. 7:25, was to continue for a time, times, and half a time, or twelve hundred and sixty years.

This period of martyrdom and persecution began with the supremacy of the Roman Church in 538 A. D., and continued just twelve hundred and sixty years, until 1798. In this latter year the pope was taken prisoner by General Berthier of France, and sent away into exile, where he died. A decree of religious liberty was read in Rome, and a Roman republic established. This marked the close of the period of papal persecution.

The "days" of persecution, then, reached down to 1798. But the Saviour said these days should be shortened; that is, the persecution itself would be brought to an end before the days ran out, or before 1798. And, true to the Master's word, before 1798 came, the effects of the Protestant Reformation began to be felt, and persecution had practically ceased by 1775.

The Dark Day

Here, then, is a period of about twenty-three years, between 1775 and 1798, during which the persecution of Christians had been brought to an end. In this period,

between these two dates, Christ now locates the next sign of his second coming.

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light." Matt. 24:29.

Notice that the Saviour does not say this sign will take place after the days, but after the "tribulation of those days." There is a difference between the days of tribulation, which reached to 1798, and the tribulation itself, which reached only to 1775. Mark, in recording

this same instruction of the Master, makes the exact time for the occurrence of this sign a little clearer. He says:

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light." Mark 13:24.

The time when this sign will occur, then, is "in those days"; that is, before 1798, but "after that tribulation,' or after 1775.

Thus the occurrence of this sign, a remarkable darkening of the sun, a dark day, is limited to a period of about twenty-three years, between 1775 and 1798. And in

that very period this prediction was exactly fulfilled. It took place on May 19, 1780. About ten o'clock on the morning of that day a darkness began to shut out the light of the sun. The chickens began to go to roost as if it were night, and the cows came in from the pastures. It was necessary to light the candles in the homes of the people in order to read common print. All felt that this was a sign of the approaching end of the world. It came at the very time predicted, and was indeed a fulfilment of Matt. 24: 29.

"In some places persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours together. Birds sang their evening song, disappeared, and became silent; fowls went to roost; cattle sought the barn yard; and candles were lighted in the houses. The obscuration began about ten o'clock in the morning, and continued until the middle of the next night."-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, edition 1883, page 1604, in article, "The Dark Day.'

"The darkness of the following evening was probably as deep and dense as ever had been observed since the Almighty first gave birth to light; it wanted only palpability to render it as extraordinary as that which overspread the land of Egypt in the days of Moses. If every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, it was thought the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper, held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest velvet."-"Our First Century," by R. M. Devins, page 94.

The Falling of the Stars

After the sign of the dark day there was to be another. Christ speaks of it as follows:

“And the stars shall fall from heaven." Matt. 24:29.

This sign was fulfilled in the wonderful meteoric shower of the morning of Nov. 13, 1833. On that day the most wonderful falling of stars that the world has ever witnessed took place, and fulfilled this verse. An eye-witness of this scene, a Mr. Clarkson, the agricultural editor of the Iowa State Register, after reading a statement that modern fireworks surpass even the glory of falling stars, wrote in his paper the following:

"The writer of that sentence did not witness the glorious meteoric shower of November, 1833, when the display was so much superior