The Gospel. St. Matt. xxiv. 23.

THEN if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that (if it were possible) they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 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 carcase 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 together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

T. What does Christ foretell in these words?

S. The destruction of Jerusalem.

T. What is this the type of?

S. The last day, when He shall come to judge the world.

T. Against whom does Christ warn His people?

S. Against false Christs and false prophets, who should arise and show great signs and wonders.

T. What do we learn of the power of such, and the state of those whom they are permitted to deceive? 2 Thess. ii. 8-12.

S." And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

T. What do we read of the elect of God? Rom. viii. 29, 30.

S. "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified."

T. Are we all called to be the elect of God?

S. Yes. We are “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. i. 2.

T. What does St. Peter urge upon all men? 2 Pet. i. 10.

S. "Give diligence to make your calling and election sure."

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T. How does Christ describe the safety of His own sheep? John, x. 27-29.

S." My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand."

T. Wherefore did Christ tell of these false teachers?

S. To warn the Jews (who were deceived by many such when those days came of which Christ spoke), and those who should hereafter be deceived about His second coming, and led away from the true faith.

T. How did He bid His people receive their communications?

S. They were to abide quietly in their own place, believing nothing they should say, however plausible.

T. Shall there be any doubt about His coming when it takes place?

S. No, for it shall be as lightning which cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west.

T. What proverb does our Saviour make use of to express that God's judgments await those who deserve them?

S. "Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

T. How doth Job describe the eagle? Job, xxxix. 28-30. S." She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is she."

T. How did the prophet Joel describe the terrors of the day of judgment? Joel, ii. 10, 31; iii. 15.

S. "The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. The sun and the moon. shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining."

T. How does Amos describe the same sign of darkness? Amos, v. 20; viii. 9.

S." Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it." "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day."

T. (Strange sights were seen in heaven before the taking of Jerusalem; a comet, like a sword, hung over the city for a year, and strange sounds were heard.) How did the prophet Zechariah describe prophetically the mourning of all the tribes ? Zech. xii. 10, 11.

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S. "I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon Me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddon."

T. When did the disciples once behold the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven?

S. When He ascended up into heaven. Acts, i. 9, 10. T. What was the assurance of the angels who then spoke with them?

S. "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts, i. 11.

T. What shall be the signal of the end of all things? S. The trumpet shall sound.

T. Who will first hear that sound?

S." The dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. iv. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 52.

T. What is St. John's injunction to all Christians? 1 John, ii. 28.

S. "And now, little children, abide in Him; that when He shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

T. (This Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, are sometimes appointed to be read before the season of Advent, being suitable either to meditation on our Lord's manifestation, and the reasons of it; or His second Coming, and our preparation for it.)

THE SUNDAY CALLED SEPTUAGESIMA, OR THE THIRD SUNDAY BEFORE LENT.

The Collect.

O LORD, we beseech Thee favourably to hear the prayers of Thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by Thy goodness, for the glory of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

T. How do we beseech God to hear our prayers in this Collect?