Some of the redeemed will be found among all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. Let us think on these things-not be wise in our own conceits; but be kindly affectioned one toward another, with brotherly love, in honour preferring† one another— yea, let us be of one mind; and way the God of love and peace dwell among us. May Christ dmell in our hearts by faith; that we may be rooted and grounded in love.† L. OUR SAVIOUR'S PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. "AND when he came near, he beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace! but now they are hidden from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and encompass thee on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground; and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visita tion." Luke xix. 41-44. Whether we consider this passage as a proof of the divine authority and mission of the Messiah, or as a prophetical description of historical events, its importance is remarkable, and no where surpassed. In reading it the mind stands aghast at the horrours it predicts, sinks into awe at the foreknowledge by which it was dictated; and these sentiments are only heightened by reading the historians of the Jewish war: and the pity which the calamities of the Jews cannot *Rey. vii. 9. fail to excite, mingles with the profoundest sentiments of humiliation, before the judgments of a retributive and inscrutable providence. If it be really true, that a circumstantial prophecy was delivered by our Saviour, at the time and in the manner which the evangelists have declared, nothing more is wanting to establish the truth of his religion. If it be true, that forty years before these terrible calamities, and the final overthrow of the Jewish state, Christ forewarned his disciples. in the words of this prophecy, the work is done! Nothing more need be adduced in support of his mission and the cause of revelation! If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, severally record the prediction of the ruin of Jerusalem; and their gospels contain numerous references of our Saviour to the predicted calamity. After some preliminary observations, I shall attempt to show the fulfilment, † Rom. xii. 10. Eph. iii. 17. not merely of the general prediction, but of the most important of the minuter circumstances. A conversation of our Saviour with the Pharisees immediately preceded the prophecy; in which, after the most moving lamentations over their corruptions, he concluded with the pathetick exclamation," O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!-How often would I have gathered," &c. impatiently looking out for a predicted deliverer, who, as they imagined, would raise the nation to a summit of greatness before unknown, and deposit the spoils of the world, and the trophies of the Roman conquerors themselves, before the altar of the God of Israel. Such were the prevailing sentiments of the nation, and they had rejected Jesus, because, with out the characteristicks which they had expected, he claimed the dignity of the Messiah. One of his disciples having desired him to observe the magnitude of the stones of which the temple was built, he replied, "Seest thou these great buildings? The days will come, in which there will not he left one stone upon another, which will not be thrown down." The disciples, astonish ed him privately-Tell us when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things shall be accomplished.— In another place, the question is stated thus-What will be the sign of thy appearance, and the end of the age? Full of these commiserating thoughts, he went to the Mount of Olives, and sat down in full view of the metropolis of Judea. Before him rose the impregnable walls of the Holy City, and the massy structures with which it was filled. There stood in all its glory, the temple and its spacious courts, the pride of every Jew, and the admiration even of the Romans. It stood in all the lustre of decoration, in all the gran-ed at this remark, afterward askdeur of religion. It was thought by the nation, to be as secure as the throne of God, who filled it with his presence, and as lasting as the eternal hills. The zeal of the nation, and of successive kings, had enriched it beyond the puny magnificence of modern times, and even the conceptions of modern architects. The land of Judea was then at peace. Under the sway of the Romans, every thing promised to this tributary nation a tranquillity as great and as lasting as that of their conquerors. The idea of the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state, or the utter razure of that temple, guarded by Jehovah, had perhaps never entered the mind of an uninspired Jew. So far from this, the people were then It may be proper to remark, that the common translation, "end of the world" leads into errour as to the meaning of some parts of the prediction. Nothing can be more explicit than our Saviour's assertion, that the generation then living should not pass away, before all the events which he had predicted should be accomplished. From this it would be natural to infer, that the whole prediction referred to the subversion of the Jewish com tles. Our Saviour goes on to say, Be not alarmed when ye hear of wars and commotions, for the end, monwealth; to the destruction corded in the acts of the Aposof the city and temple, without any reference to the last judgment, or to the end of the world. The phrase which is translated end of the world, may as properly be rendered end of the age-that is, of the Jewish dispensation. Our Saviour proceeded to reply to the question respecting the signs. In those days of increasing distresses, and impatient expectation of a deliverer, it was natural that many impostors should appear, claiming this character; and that men oppressed by difficulty and suffering, should greedily listen to their promises. To secure, therefore, the fidelity of his disciples, and to keep them from being wrought upon by the pretensions of demagogues as suming the name of the Messiah, Christ forewarned his followers, and said to them explicitlyTake heed that ye be not deceived: for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and the time draweth near. ye not, therefore, after them. Go In conformity with this prediction, it is certain from history, that in the times preceding the calamities of Judea, deceitful men and seducers, under the pretence of a divine impulse, inflamed the expectations of the people, and drew many of them into the desert, asserting that God would there show them signs of deliverance. Josephus mentions several of these impostors, who collected thousands of followers, under the promise of miraculous deliverance. Some of them are mentioned in the speech of Gamaliel, which we have re the final subversion of the Jewish state, is not yet. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes in many places, and famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights and great signs from heaven.-Before the siege of Jerusalem, Ju-, dea was divided into several kingdoms, and was the scene of great commotions, insurrections, bloodshed, and war. Famines and pestilences are mentioned even by Tacitus, and the whole history of those times is a record of insecurity and misery. would be easy to refer to particular parts, and to quote authors, but these things must have been observed by those who have read the history of that period. Observe, however, that our Saviour says, "These are but the beginnings of sorrow;" and indeed they were but a prelude to the greater sorrows which were experienced during the siege of Jerusalem. It In order still farther to secure the fidelity of his disciples, our Lord forewarned them that before the destruction of the city, they would be severely persecuted; they should be delivered up, and brought before kings, and rulers, for a testimony to the truth of the gospel. Is not the whole history in the Acts of the Apostles a commentary on this? Our Saviour predicted the divisions and animosities which would occur on account of the profession of Christianity, and adds these remarkable words "Ye shall be hated of all men, for my name's sake." Let any one compare with this the expressions in the Roman historians, by which the Christians were described, and remember that they were persecuted solely because they bore the name of Christ. 66 Iniquity will abound, and the love of many will wax cold."Compare with this the horrible assertions of Josephus respecting the wickedness of that period, by which he attempted to account for the miseries suffered by his nation. Yet, adds our Saviour to his disciples, not a hair of your heads shall perish; by your perseverance, ye shall preserve your lives -But how were they to escape the general ruin? Our Lord goes on to give directions-" When ye shall see Jerusalem surrounded with armies, and the abomination of desolation standing on the holy ground; then let those that are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let not him that is on the house-top go down to take any thing out of his house; nor let him that is in the field turn back to take his garments; for these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." The Roman eagle is supposed to be here denominated the abomination, because it was an object of idolatrous worship: and historians inform us, that Titus pitched his camp within the precincts of the holy city very time of the Jewish passover, when the city was filled with Jews from various parts of the world. These were suddenly enclosed. A careful observation of the narrative will show one or two opportunities for the Christians to escape, according to the warning they had received. Several historians assert, that, in consequence of the warning, the Christians left the city, and went to Pella, on the other side of Jordan. However this may have been, it is surely remarkable, that our Lord should have given them this premonition, that after the city should be enclosed there would be no chance to escape, except by an immediate flight. Mothers were Josephus fully confirms. our Lord's prediction, that in those days will be affliction, such as hath not been from the beginning of the creation to this time. It is impossible to read the history of the siege without sensations of pity and of horrour. The famine was so distressing as to overpow er the feelings of humanity and natural affection. seen snatching the food from the mouths of their children, while their babes withered in their arms; the dead lay heaped on the ground; unnatural barbarities, too shocking to be related, became common. How pertinent then, as well as pathetick, was the language of the Messiah to the daughters of Jerusalem;— weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold! the days are ing, in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs com which never bare, and the breasts which never gave suck. The history of the times as given by the Roman, as well as by Jewish writers, is an unforced com ment on every word of our Saviour's prophecy. Other particulars may be expected in the next number. B. ON INTEMPERANCE. No. 5. THE delusive nature of intemperance comes now in course to be examined. A circumstance, which tends to deceive men in relation to this vice, is the gradual manner in which it is acquired. Slow is the process from the first rise to the intemperate abuse of spirituous liquors, Indeed it is not easy, in all instances, to draw the line between innocent and criminal indulgence. The cases, which seem most imperiously to demand the use of ardent spirits, vary exceedingly with varying circumstances. Much must therefore be necessarily left to every one's discretion. But this discretionary privilege is very liable to abuse. Thousands, before they are aware, become addicted to strong drink for its own sake; and while, in their opinion, they are taking it for salutary purposes alone, they are fast acquiring a habit, which threatens them with both temporal and eternal ruin, unless they speedily reform. They at first confined themselves to the customary use of spiritous liquors, as a safeguard from the effects of the weather, or as a relief from bodily fatigue. By degrees the subtle draught is more frequently repeated, and taken in larger quantities, till the love of it becomes not only excessive, but well nigh unconquerable. an Many deceive themselves by erroneous estimate of this vice. They imagine, that it does not exist, unless in those extreme cases, when it wholly deprives men of the use of their limbs, their reason, and their speech. But this is a dangerous mistake. Excess in the use of ardent spirits, whether its effects are immediately obvious, or not, amounts to intemperance. Some have constitutions, which enable them to bear much larger quantities of strong liquor than others, without any perceptible effect; while, at the same time, they are gradually impairing their health, squandering their time, wasting their substance, and exposing themselves to the various evil consequences of confirmed drunkenness. Another striking instance of self-delusion in the intemperate, is the opinion, which they appear very confidently to entertain, that their vice is not only concealed from publick view; but |