‘That question we also asked,’ said John, ‘before His death; and though He spake of signs of the times, like the redness and lowering of the sky, yet He added to us, “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man--no, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father.”’ ‘And are there no signs of the time now?’ asked Linus. ‘There are many,’ he answered, ‘by which we may know that the coming of the Lord is even at the door. I have walked through this Babylon, and have seen all the splendour of her merchandise, as of Tyrus in old days, and amid it all--slaves and souls of men. Yea, and as I have witnessed all the cruelty and all the vileness, like the scum of that seething caldron which the prophet saw of old, I feel compelled to ask with him, “Shall I not judge for these things?” saith the Lord; “shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?” Yea, sometimes a voice seems to ring within me which says, “Woe, woe! to the dwellers upon earth!” The great tribulation must come of which the Lord spake and the Antichrist must be revealed, and God must accomplish the number of the elect.’ ‘The night is drawing in, O brother, revered in the Lord,’ said Linus; ‘and it were well that we should speedily separate to our homes. But ere we part give to us one word of exhortation of how we are to save ourselves from this untoward generation.’ The Apostle raised his hands towards heaven, and his eye seemed to be lit with heavenly ecstasy as he answered in this brief exhortation: ‘My children, love one another. Love is the fulfilling of the law. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.’ When he had thus exhorted them they broke out with passionate jubilance in the hymn-- ‘Fisher of men, the blest, Out of the world’s unrest, Out of sin’s troubled sea Taking us, Lord, to Thee, With choicest fish, good store, Drawing thy nets to shore, ‘Lead us, O Shepherd true; Thy mystic sheep, we sue! O path where Christ hath trod, O way that leads to God, O Word, abiding aye, O endless Light on high, O glorious Life of all That on their Maker call, Christ Jesus, hear.’ All present knelt in prayer, ending with the united utterance of the words that the Lord had taught; and the great _Amen_ rose like the low sound of distant thunder. Then the Apostle raised his hands and blessed them. Again the _Amen_ and the solemn _Maranatha_ rolled through the air like the sound of mighty waters, and after a moment of deep stillness the assembly peaceably departed.