1. OF THE Mark 13:1-4 (Matthew 24:1-3; Luke 21:5-7) We approach this chapter sensitive of the fact that it is one of the most important, and yet difficult chapters to understand in the New Testament. In it we have a remarkable prophetic discourse by our Lord which has been variously explained by intelligent and well informed men. We therefore approach it cautiously and prayerfully. 1 And as he went forth out of the temple,--Jesus, having closed his teaching to the people in the temple, leaves it, and continues teaching his disciples privately. Matthew (Matthew 24:1) says: "Jesus went out from the temple." It was his final departure, late in the evening of Tuesday, April 12, that day of wonderful endurance, of continued intellectual labor and conflict, of grand revelations and overwhelming denunciation, of which the evangelists have given us fuller accounts than any other day in his life, unless it be that of his crucifixion. It is not merely a local and temporary departure from the temple that is meant. As the Lord of the temple, the temple had rejected him, in the person of those who had legal authority in it. That was the fall of the temple; and it was then decided that it was no more than a den of robbers, in which all--the Messiah, and the Spirit, and the hope of the Gentiles, and the blessing of Israel--were, as it were murdered. He takes farewell of the temple; and from that time forward it became no better than a hall of desolation, a dreary and forsaken ruin. Sad the day for us when Jesus leaves our temple, and his voice is no longer heard pleading in our souls. He goes not until our continued rejection drives him forth. He cleansed the temple of its physical desecraters, but he could not then cleanse it of spiritual wickedness, for the reason those in authority would not repent and turn to God. one of his disciples saith unto him,--Matthew says generally, "his disciples." Luke is still more indefinite, "some." We know not who he was, and it is useless to conjecture. Teacher, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings!--The disciples who were probably, for the most part, from Galilee, and unaccustomed to behold such magnificent architecture as the temple, with its splendid decorations and walls of stone of such great size, began to admire them very much and to call the attention of Christ to all this magnificence. Well might he thus explain in regard to the building which Tacitus declared one of the wonders of the world. Fifty years before, Herod had begun the great work of its construction, and for forty-six years the work of rebuilding the temple of Zerubbabel, on plans of surpassing grandeur, went on. 2 And Jesus said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings?--Do your eyes gloat upon them? Do they fill you with wonder and admiration? Do they seem to be eternal? there shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.--Utter destruction should come upon the magnificent temple. A most remarkable prophecy, uttered in a time of profound peace, when nobody dreamed of the possibility of the destruction of such a magnificent work of art and sanctuary of religion as the temple at Jerusalem; a prophecy literally fulfilled forty years after its utterance, fulfilled by Jewish fanatics and Roman soldiers in express violation of Titus, one of the most humane of the Roman emperors, who wished to save it. 3 And as he sat on the mount of Olives over against the temple,--Jesus and the disciples had either left the temple by the great gate of Shushan on the east, from which they could go directly down into the valley of the Kidron, which is most likely, or through some other gate, perhaps on the north, into the city. Then through the city and out by one of its gates, to the Kidron. Crossing the brook, they had climbed the Mount of Olives on one of the more direct roads across it, leading to Bethany, and, coming to one of the many knolls, from which, while resting, the whole splendid extent of the temple enclosure, two hundred feet below, could be seen, had sat down to rest. Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, --Jesus had just told them that one day all this grandeur should be destroyed. This saying made a deep impression upon their minds, and when they had reached the brow of Olivet, from which they had a splendid view of the city and temple, these disciples asked him to tell them when this destruction should take place, and what should be the sign of his coming, and of the end of the world. (Matthew 24:5.) 4 Tell us, when shall these things be?--The great drama of destruction of which he had spoken as they were coming out of the temple. and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished?--For their own personal safety, as well as their usefulness during the interviews, the disciples wished to know how to judge of these times. In Mark the two questions seem to refer to the same "things," although the addition of "all" in the second is a widening of thought. But Matthew (Matthew 24:3) makes the matter clear by giving the second question more definitely, "and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" They wanted to know the evidence that he was coming, and by what token they could know that he was coming. There has always been a yearning of the human heart to know the answer to these questions. We yearn now to know of the end of the world, even as his disciples. But we must not seek to be wise above what is written. There are three questions here according to Matthew (1) "When shall these things be?" (2) "What shall be the sign of thy coming" and (3) "of the end of the world"? To these questions Jesus replies, not by noticing them distinctly, but by intermingling the descriptions of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the end of the world, so that it is sometimes difficult to tell to what particular subject his remarks apply. In the study of prophecy, here or elsewhere in God's book, we should seek the guidance of Jesus, and he sure not to go beyond that which is written. (Luke 24:15-27; Luke 24:45; 2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 1:3.)