sometimes assert that it was right for the disciples to look for
Christ in their day, and that it has been scriptural and right for all
Christians of each successive generation to look for his second
appearing in their time. And they affirm that no more can be
learned and believed upon this subject in our time than by the
Christians of past generations, and that the public mind should not
now be agitated upon this great question, any more than in all past
time since the first advent of Christ.
We have seen that this position is incorrect so far as the early
disciples were concerned. They are cited to the distant future as the
time when their Lord should come. They are assured that they
need nut be troubled at hearing of wars and rumors of wars: "For
all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." Our
Lord then guides the minds of his disciples, as we shall see in the
examination of this chapter, down over the time of the great
apostasy, and the long period of the rule of Papal Rome, before
mentioning a sign of his second advent. He does not intimate that
his people, during these long periods, may expect the end. No, not
once. But when he comes near our time, the Lord gives signs in the
sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and adds, "When ye shall see all
these things, know that it is near, even at the doors."
Mark this: Our Lord does not mention wars, fam-
18
ines, pestilences, and earthquakes as signs of his second advent, but
rather as events of common occurrence all the way through the
Christian age; and history attests the fact that these calamities have
covered at least seventeen centuries. The following is from a work
of Noah Webster, LL.D., published in 1799: 11 –
"By famine and sword, 580,000 Jews were destroyed between
A. D. 96 and A. D. 180.
"In Antioch, from A. D. 96 to A. D. 180, earthquakes
destroyed 13 cities and over 100,000 lives.
"In Rome, A. D. 169 pestilence destroyed 10,000 daily.
"In Rome, A. D. 187, pestilence appeared and continued,
three years.
"In London, A. D. 310, by famine, 40,000 died.
"In A. D. 446, September 17th, an earthquake shook down
walls of Constantinople, and 57 towers fell.
"In Rome, A. D. 539, in one district 50,000
