human
I understand, he said,
gpt
Then turning to Mrs. Travilla,
human
Cousin Elsie, he said,
gpt
I doubt if I am better prepared than some of the rest of you, she replied,
human
continued Grandma Elsie,
gpt
turning to the passage as she spoke, then reading it aloud,
human
I have heard the idea advanced that death is the coming of Christ to the dying one,
gpt
But we are told, said Mrs. Travilla,
human
And his second coming is spoken of in the same way in a number of places in the different gospels, said Evelyn.
gpt
Here, in Luke, we have Christ's own words, 'Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.' And again in Matthew 16:27, 'For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.'
human
I shall not read the whole chapter, for I know it is familiar to you all; but in the 27th verse he says, 'For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 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 with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other.'
gpt
Many persons, remarked Grandma Elsie,
human
I do not quite understand this, said Grace.
gpt
Luke says, here in the 21st chapter, 20th verse--quoting the words of the Master--'And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out.' How could they depart out of the city while it was compassed with armies?
human
There is a satisfactory explanation, replied her father,
gpt
Every one of them, papa?
human
Yes; Dr. Adam Clarke says 'It is very remarkable that not a single Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem, though there were many there when Cestius Gallus invested the city.'
gpt
Papa, asked Elsie,
human
I certainly do, daughter,
gpt
Had not the earlier prophets foretold the destruction of Jerusalem?
human
Yes, said Mr. Lilburn;
gpt
The Romans?
human
Yes; their ensign was an eagle and their language the Latin, which the Jews did not understand. The prophesy of Moses continues. In the 52d verse he says, 'And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down; wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.'
gpt
Oh, how dreadful! exclaimed Elsie.
human
And did all that happen at the siege of Jerusalem?
gpt
Yes; it lasted so long that famine was added to all the other sufferings of the besieged. So dreadful was it that mothers would snatch the food from their children in their distress, and many houses were found full of women and children who had died of starvation. Josephus tells of human flesh being eaten; particularly of a lady of rank who killed, roasted and ate her own son. And so the prophecy of Moses was fulfilled.
human
Oh, how dreadful, how dreadful!
gpt
Yes, said Mr. Lilburn,
human
Have those times been fulfilled yet?
gpt
No, not yet, replied Mr. Lilburn;
human
And when will that be, Cousin Ronald?
gpt
I cannot say exactly, answered the old gentleman,
human
I wish nobody did lack for plenty to eat and drink, and wear, said Elsie,
gpt
I hope you will, daughter, the Captain said, in a tone of pleased approval.
human
And now the important thing for us to consider is what is our duty, in view of the very possible nearness of Christ's second coming.
gpt
He has told us again and again to watch and be ready, said Grandma Elsie;