Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-04-26
FATE OF TIE TEMPLE.
LESSON ", SECOND Cut3TeR, IN
TERNATlONAL sERlEe, APRIL %.

xii, 6-Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
stearns.
compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by
permission Of II. 8. Hoffman, publisher, Phila-
delphia.
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."
He was leaving the temple to return no more
to that building; lovingly and patiently had
He presented Himself to the rulers of the
people again and again as their Messiah, only
to be rejected by them; many parallels had
He spoken to them descriptive of their con-
duct and its consequences; and in the eight
woes of Matt. xiii, 1882 sad contrast to the
eight blessings of Matt. " He had told them
plainly what they were in the sight of God.
He assures them of the doom that awaits
them because of their sins, and because they
would not let Him deliver them from the
impending wrath so long in grace restrained,
and then utters his last word to them, II say
unto you ye shall not see Me henceforth till
we shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in
the name of the Lord Matt xiii 1891
g. There shall not be left one stone upon
another that shall not be thrown down" The
Holy Spirit had said through Micah, the
prophet, 100 years before this that Zion
should be plowed as field and Jerusalem be
come heaps (llic. iii, 12l but the same pro-
phet also said by the same Spirit that the
same Zion and Jerusalem should in the last
days rise from their ruins, that all nations
should flow thither and that in those days the
nations should learn war no more.
3. HE set upon the Mount of Olives over
against the temple" AS we see this great
and glorious Goldman, Israel's true though
rejected Messiah who shall yet be manifest as
the glory of His people Israel and a light to
Tighten the nations luke ii, 80, thus lingering
ly leaving His people and the Holy City, we
are reminded of the visions of Ezekiel in
which he saw the glory of the God of Israel
slowly and lingeringly leave the Holy of
Holies and the temple, and the city, and
stand for a last farewell upon this same mount
on the east of the city, driven away by the sins
Of the people Ezek. viii, 3, A tx, 3; x, A. IS;
XII %, 23.) But we must also remember the
later visions of Ezekiel in which he saw the
glory return from the way of the east, caus-
ing the earth to shine, entering the house of
the Lord and filling it, pointing us forward to
the time when the Lord shall return with His
saints to dwell in the midst of the children Of
Israel for ever. Ezek. xiii, -; Zech. xiv,
3-5)
H. "Tell us, when shall these things be7 And
what shall be the sign when all these things
shall be fulfllledF" Matthew adds, what
shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the
end of the world or contamination of the
agel' Matt. xiv, 8, R. V. margin)
5. "And Jesus, answering them, began to
say, Take heed lest any man deceive YOU"
Four times in this chapter we have the adj
monition, Take heed" Tvs. 5, 8, %, So; on
other occasions He had said, Take heed
what We hear and how We hear" Mark iv,
"a; Luke viii, 49, but now it is, Take heed
lest any deceive you" If it was SO in Johns
day that many deceivcrs had gone forth into
the world III John viii, it is much more SO to-
day, and the child of God who would avoid
being deceived must be well versed in the
Word which is the Truth. Jesus has given
us the Spirit of Truth to guide US into all
Truth John xvi 49,, and with the Word Of
Truth in our hands there is no need to be de-
ceived.
g. "Many shall come in Ny name, saying L
am Christ, and shall deceive many" Two of
these are mentioned in Acts v, Sc, 81 who
had many followers; and in l John iv, l, it is
written: Beloved believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits whether they are of God !;
because many false prophets are gone out
into the world"
Z. when We shall hear of wars and
runors of wars, be ye not troubled; for such
things must needs be: but the end shall not
be yet" Though the earth be removed, and
the mountains be carried into the midst Of
the seas; though the waters roar and be
troubled, and the mountains shake, there is
no need for any one to fear or be troubled
who can truly say, The Lord of hosts is with
me; the God of Jacob is my refuge" (Ps.
XVII The soul that has truly received the
words Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid John xiv, go,
may enjoy the peace Of God under all cir
cumstances
s. These are the beginnings of sorrows or
travail" That is, the wars earthquakes,
famines and troubles of this verse and the
last, to which Luke adds fearful sights and
great signs from heaven" luke xxi, H.
o. But take heed to yourselves, .
we shall be beaten for my sake for
a testimony against them" This they actu-
ally experienced many time. (Acts iv, V,
xii, xiv, etc. 1t has been true in greater or
less degree in all times since and snail be
fearfully true again in the last years of
Israel's history ere the Lord returns for their
national redemption.
TO- And the gospel must first be published
among all nations" Matt xiv, IA, says:
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for witness unto all nations,
and then shall the end come" Ere Jerusalem
was destroyed, Israel scattered, and the end
of that dispensation fully come, the gospel
had been preached in all the world and all
Israel had heard Col. i, 23, and might have
received the Messiah if they would. Ere this
dispensation closes the gospel shall be preached
in all the world, not to convert it, but for a
witness, and that the church may be gathered
out of all nations, and then shall take place
the rapture Of the church, the marriage of
the Lamb, the return of Christ, the restora-
ton of Israel and the millennial kingdom,
IL. Take no thought beforehand what ye
shall speak, for it is not ye that
speak, but the Holy Ghost" Luke xxi, 10
adds, "For will give you mouth and wis
dom which all your adversaries shall not b
able to gainsay nor resist" See how this wa.
literally fulfilled in the case of Stephen Act
vi, 10y and in the case of the apostles, NJ
doubt every time they were placed in suct
circumstances, and relied upon his promise
IL. The brother shall betray the brother
to DEATH and the father the son." Compare
the similar statements in His instruction t
the twelve when He sent them forth Matt. K