We are taught by our Lord (Matthew, xxiv. 21, 22) that the time of the end shall be one of peculiar distress: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” The passage may have a primary and typical reference to the destruction of Jerusalem; but that this reference is not exclusive appears plainly from _vv._ 29 & 30: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven.” The tribulation of those days is here described as the last event on earth before the advent. So again in Luke, xvii. 33:—“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” The passage refers to “the day when the Son of man is revealed,” _v._ 30; and the words quoted show that the state of things will be of such a character as to involve the risk of martyrdom in the faithful confession of the truth. But the words of Daniel are more explicit still. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased;” Daniel, xii. 1–4. There can be no doubt as to the time here referred to: it is determined by four indisputable marks. The final deliverance of God’s chosen people; the resurrection; the glory of the saints; and the title given to it, “the time of the end.” Nor can there be any doubt as to the fact predicted. “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.”