I T WAS AN ALARMING thing for the disciples to hear the Lord tell them that their beloved temple was to be destroyed. He said, “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” He was asking them, “Have you really looked at these build ings? Do you really see them? I am going to tell you something. They are going to be completely ruined and totally destroyed.” No doubt the dis ciples were amazed at this scathing statement by the Lord. They knew that He had come from Nazareth, and after all, what good can ever come out of Nazareth? To the outward eye the Lord Jesus Christ looked like any other man, al though He was, of course, the Saviour. He was lowly and meek. He was also the virile Judge who could, in scath ing rebuke, sizzle the souls of the Pharisees to whom He spoke. As Christ saw the temple He said to them, “Behold your house is left unto you desolate.” The temple was where God’s ancient people met Him in holy service. But now the Lord had departed from the temple. It was no longer His house. It was merely a place of meeting for the Jews. It was a spiritual wilder ness for that is what the word “deso late” means. How true it is that when God leaves a building where He was formerly worshipped, it does become a wilderness. Now the time of the desolation is fully described in Luke 19:43 and 44. Here we find that not only will the temple be destroyed but also the city itself. Israel will be attacked by her enemies. Then, to ta lly surrounded, she, with her temple, will be annihi lated. Great judgment is to fall upon her. But why was this? Simply be cause Israel missed the opportunity to repent. They did not realize that the time of their visitation had come.
They did not know God’s time of in spection was there, and they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist made the great appeal to his people when he cried out to them, “Repent, and turn to God. Bring forth fruit unto repentence.” Our Saviour’s plaintive cry as He overlooked the city was, “0 Jeru- "MARANATHA" If the Lord should come today, Are you ready? Signs around us multiply, All creation heaves a sigh, Many now believe “The Lie." Are you ready? Evil men wax worse and worse, Are you weeping? “As the days of Noah were," Sensual sins have great allure, Yet some Christians hardly stir. Are you sleeping? Are you found with those who care, Or are you shirking? Put all other things aside, Preach the gospel far and wide And to loved ones by your side. Speed your working! Some, indeed, may scoff at you; Will you mind them? Does it matter if they laugh, Just they find His "rod and staff"; They have never known the half. 1 < ■. Will you find them? —Marie Nyquist Salem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under vher wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (a wilderness). The Old Testament prophets speak of the com ing judgment. God gives repeated warnings, all of which, except in in-
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