The sacred writers have so uniformly associated such judgments as war, famine, pestilence, and earthquake, with the last Judgment, that the disciples would be in danger of concluding that the end would immediately follow the first appearance of these calamities; hence the caution given: “These things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Here the disciples were clearly taught that they should not expect the end in their day. This fact is worthy of the candid attention of those who object to the proclamation of the second advent of Christ in the form of an especial message. These 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 to look for the second appearing of Christ in their time, from the days of the chosen twelve to the present time. And they decide 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 moved 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 directed to the distant future as the time when their Lord should come. They are assured that they need not 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 to a later time, the Lord names 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, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes as signs of his second advent; but rather as events of common occurrence all the way through the Christian age, which must exist before the end. 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:— “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 17, an earthquake shook down the walls of Constantinople, and 57 towers fell. “In Rome, A. D. 539, in one district 50,000 died. “In Antioch, A. D. 588, an earthquake killed 60,000.