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rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the
destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan’s vindictive
power over those who yield to his control.
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We ca
protection which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that
prevents mankind from passing fully under the control of Satan. The
disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God’s
mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant
power of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of divine
forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward
the si
but he leaves the rejecters of his mercy to themselves, to reap that
which they have sown. Every ray of light rejected, every warning
despised or unheeded, every passion indulged, every transgression
of the law of God, is a seed sown, which yields its unfailing harvest.
The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from
the si
of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan.
The destruction of Jerusalem is a fearful and solemn warning to all
who are trifling with the offers of divine grace, and turning away
the pleadings of divine mercy. Never was given a more decisive
testimony to God’s hatred of sin, and to the certain punishment that
will fall upon the guilty.
The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments
upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible
scene was but a faint shadow. The second advent of the Son of God
is foretold by lips which make no mistake: “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
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his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
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the other.” [Matthew 24:30, 31.] Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed with
the brightness of his coming. [2 Thessalonians 2:8.]
Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in
the words of Christ. He has declared that he will come the second
time, to gather his faithful ones to himself, and to take vengeance on
them that reject his mercy. As he warned his disciples of Jerusalem’s
destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin that they
might make their escape, so he has warned his people of the day
of final destruction, and given them signs of its approach, that all
who will may flee from the wrath to come. Those who behold the
promised signs are to “know that it is near, even at the door.” “Watch
ye therefore,” are his words of admonition. “If thou shalt not watch,
I will come on thee as a thief.”
The world is no more ready now to credit the warning than were
the Jews in the days of our Saviour. Come when it may, the end
will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in its
unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business,
in traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying
the world’s progress and enlightenment, and the people are lulled
in a false security,—then, as the midnight thief steals within the
unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the
careless and ungodly, “and they shall not escape.”
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Chapter 2—Persecution in the First Centuries
When Jesus revealed to his disciples the fate of Jerusalem and
the scenes of the second advent, he foretold also the experience of
his people from the time when he should be taken from them, to
his return in power and glory for their deliverance. From Olivet the
Saviour beheld the storms about to fall upon the apostolic church,
and, penetrating deeper into the future, his eye discerned the fierce,
wasting tempests that were to beat upon his followers in the coming
ages of darkness and persecution. In a few brief utterances, of awful
significance, he foretold the portion which the rulers of this world
would mete out to the church of God. The followers of Christ must
tread the same path of humiliation, reproach, and suffering which
their Master trod. The enmity that burst forth against the world’s
Redeemer, would be manifested against all who should believe on
his name.
The history of the early church testified to the fulfillment of the
Saviour’s words. The powers of earth and hell arrayed themselves
against Christ in the person of his followers. Paganism foresaw that
should the gospel triumph, her temples and altars would be swept
away; therefore she summoned her forces to destroy Christianity.
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The fires of persecution were kindled. Christians were stripped of
their possessions, and driven from their homes. They “endured a
great fight of afflictions.” They “had trial of cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment.” [Hebrews
11:36.] Great numbers sealed their testimony with their blood. Noble and slave, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, were alike slain
without mercy.
Wherever they sought refuge, the followers of Christ were hunted
like beasts of prey. They were forced to seek concealment in desolate
and solitary places. “Destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the
world was not worthy, they wandered in deserts, and in mountains,
and in dens and caves of the earth.” [Hebrews 11:37, 38.] The subter-ranean excavations co
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for thousands. Long galleries had been tu
rock to procure material for the vast structures of the capital, and the
dark and intricate network of passages extended for miles beyond
the walls. In these underground retreats, many of the followers of
Christ, when suspected and proscribed, found a home; and here also
they buried their dead. When the Lifegiver shall awaken those who
have fought the good fight, many a martyr for Christ’s sake will
come forth from those gloomy caverns.
Under the fiercest persecution, these witnesses for Jesus kept
their faith unsullied. Though deprived of every comfort, shut away
from the light of the sun, making their home in the dark but friendly
bosom of the earth, they uttered no complaint. With words of faith,
patience, and hope, they encouraged one another to endure privation
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and distress. The loss of every earthly blessing could not force them
to renounce their belief in Christ. Trials and persecutions were but