4. _Christ's Prediction of the Apostasy_. The forceful prophecy, couched in terms of vivid description, uttered by our Lord in response to inquiries by His disciples, has been the subject of diverse opinion and varied comment, particularly as regard the time to which the prediction refers. As recorded in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, a significant sign of the progress of events to precede the second coming of Christ was stated as follows: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Verse 14.) It is claimed by many that the "end" referred to in the passage quoted is not necessarily the close of the final dispensation, not what is commonly spoken of as the end of the world, but the closing up of the gospel dispensation then current; and in support of this interpretation it is urged that following the utterance quoted Christ proceeded to predict the calamities then awaiting Jerusalem. That during the period covered by the earthly ministry of the apostles, the gospel was preached in all the civilized nations of the Eastern hemisphere, is evident alike from scripture and from the uncanonical writings of repute relating to that period. Paul speaks of the Gospel as having been carried in his day to the world, and as having been preached to every creature under heaven (see Colos. 1:6, 23; compare Romans 10:18; see also Note 3, following chapter I of this work, page 15.) In Joseph Smith's version of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew the paragraph relating to the preaching of the gospel in all the world as one of the signs specified by Jesus Christ, is transposed so as to apply more directly to the modern or last dispensation. (See Pearl of Great Price, Writings of Joseph Smith, 1.) The scripture under consideration has direct application to the conditions characteristic of present times--the period now current and immediately precedent to the second advent of the Christ. This fact, however, does not necessarily nullify its application to the earlier period as well. History repeats itself in many instances in this, "the dispensation of the fulness of times;" indeed, the very name is expressive of a summarizing or gathering together of things past, and this involves recurrence of earlier conditions and re-enactment of laws. The prediction of world-wide evangelization is not the only instance of a general prophecy having more than a single limited horizon of fulfillment. In the apostolic period the gospel was carried to all nations known to the Lord's ministers; a similar work is in progress today, on a scale greatly exceeding that of the past, for the world, as measured by human occupancy, is vastly greater than of old.