Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-04-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON FOR APRIL TWENTY-ElGHTH.
DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLE FORETOLD.
MARK XIII, I-I3.


NoTEs.-What manner Of ones!-
JoSephus mentions some of the stones to
be seventy feet long, ten wide and eight
high. They were of white and red mar
BILE, initiating the undulatiOns of sea
waves What manner Of building!-
This temple was one of the wonders of
the world. Occupying nineteen acres, it
took 10000 men forty years to build.
Gold, silver, Corinthian brass, carvings,
tablets, votive offerings and barbaric
spoilS glistened in the setting sun. 1t
was in this sacred spot that the wealth of
Jewry had been invested. The temple
of HerOd was probably the finest building
in the world.-There shall not be left
here one stone upon dnOther.-TituS or
dered his men to dig up the foundations
of the temple. Farentius Rufus, who
was left in command of the army, plOwed
the foundations up. What prophecy
could have more literal fulfllment p
Ooer against the tempIe.-FrOm this ele
vatiOn the temple on Moriah looked like
some beautiful glittering iceburg, whose
minaretS, capped with gold, glance fire in
the sunset.-PeterG and James and John
and AndTelC-The first called, the con-
fidential, the best beloved When shall
these things be?-Namely, the destruction
of the temple, the second coming of
Christ and the end of the world. The
prophecies of the 7th and Stn verses
were all literally fulfilled before the cap
ture of Jerusalem. Never had the RO-
man nation been so shaken by internal
party diSSenSiOnS. Never had the Jews
themselves been so divided into parties
Never had blood flowed so freely. Never
had such fearful earthquakes occurred.
The famine III the reign of ClaudiuS car
ried nearly $4,000 in Rome itself. The
times were full of horrors in the whole
known world. All the devils that seemed
to have been held i'll chains were loOSed
as soon as Christ passed away
INSTRUCTION.-ThiS is hardly an edify
ing lesson for children. This passage.
with its corresponding accounts from
Matthew and Luke. have been the want
age grounds for hundreds of treatises of
explanation. The obscurity is great and
Intentionally so, but the warning con-
veyed is none the less terrible and plain.
To understand the whole import of these
words of Christ is impossible. 1t is best
to confine ones attention to the plain
truths they teach. 1t is wise to deal with
the things we do know and not waste our
time with the things we cannot grasp
The largest monuments we rear, that
seem imperiShable with their stones and
mortar, have no guarantee of age unless
they are used to perpetuate pure Chris
tianity.
The coming of Christ and the end of
the world are subjects that occupy our
ripest thoughts more often than once or
twice They are legitimate and weighty.
Our own destiny and end thrill us with
their mystery. Speculation is not knOwl-
edge. Imagination that is projected into
divine knowledge should not stop the
hourly beat our feet must make ito do
the deed that our own soul hath to itself
decreed."
The world is not yet on its last legs"
Leaders are continually springing up
that pretend to do what Christ did, and
who would command a like following.
Only the other day man out West, with
a very unmessianic name, assumed the
role of the Christ. Let ones common
sense guard in this as in other matters.
When Christ comes again, you may be
sure there will be no doubt about it. 1t
will be no ambiguous arrival.
tits a disgrace to Christianity that wars
and rumOrS of wars should shake the
world. The new ironclad, the latest
pneumatic gun only aggravate the trou-
BILE. The Christian should grapple the
question which so deeply affects our
country. America might become instead
of the ceSSpOOl of civilization, the righte-
Gus arbitrator of the wrongs of mankind.
Shall we not hasten the end and ChriSt'S s
coming by humanitarian means of Settl-
ing national disputes.
Personal reckleSsneSS is not what IS
wanted, but personal courage that will
not be beaten back. Men are still muir
dered for Christ's sake, and delivered up
to councils. The opportunities for bravery
and no compromise are as many to-day
as ever The end will not come, as an
Englishman predicted, in few years un-
less the churches send off ship loads of
ministers to every quarter of the globe.
There are billion people yet who do not
know who Christ is or understand the
| first principles of decent morality. Would
that ten thousand could go into the work
this year,
1t is the end that is the test. Not know
ing when the end comes, the test becomes
successive Let the material of life be so
fine that it may stand, without crack or
break, any pressure the evil puts upon 1t
at any moment.