who see the "beginning" of "these things." "And when these things BEGIN to come to pass, lift up your

heads," &c. (Luke xxi. 28); "When ye shall see these things come (R.V. "coming") to pass" (Mark xiii. 29).

The Great Prophet is standing amid those future scenes. He speaks to whoever may witness the

"beginning," or the "becoming" of the tribulation; and He says that the generation which sees the

"beginning" will see the end. All will be compressed in that one generation. The period between the

"beginning" of the Tribulation and the end of the age will be very brief, and the same generation that sees

the one will witness the other.

There arises therefore here a very natural question which we may well ask, and it is this: Is there any sign by

which we may know this "beginning" of the Tribulation and thus lift up our heads? Yes . The Saviour

anticipates our question, and in Matt. xxiv. 32, Mark xiii. 28, and Luke xxi. 29, He gives "the parable of the fig -

tree." "Behold the fig -tree and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own

selves, that summer is now nigh at hand, so likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know that

the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand, even at the doors!" The sign of the coming is similar to the sign of

summer. (Blessed summer for the Saints of God, for it tells of deliverance from the winter of Tribulation: It

tells of their "escape" from those things which are coming on the earth; and of standing before the Son of

Man. Luke xxi. 36).

We may know with certainty that the season is near, though we can predicate nothing as to the day. We

may know with certainty that when the tribulation of the last days "begins," it is the beginning of the end,

and the redemption of the waiting Church is so near that "the Lord Himself" has already commenced his

Descent to gather his Saints unto Himself, and meet them in the air. Before the breaking of a single "Seal"

(Rev. vi.) He will have called to his Saints, "Come up hither" (Rev. iv. 1), and they shall be safely housed

with Him amidst the scenes of Heavenly worship (Rev. iv. and v.). Hence His word of encouragement:

"When these things BEGIN to come to pass, then, look up and lift up your heads for your redemption

draweth nigh" (Luke xxi. 28). The "beginning" of these awful scenes is the moment of the Church's

It must always be a matter of uncertainty, which of the world's great trials is the "beginning" of the last.

Therefore no one can know. "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the Angels of Heaven, but my

Father only" (Matt. xxiv. 36).. But it will be as in the days of Noah" (verse 37), when no one is expecting it,

that His Saints shall be separated. "They know not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also

the coming of the Son of Man be. THEN shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left...

Watch ye therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matt. xxiv. 37-42).

Here we have a distinct reference to I Thess. iv. 16, 17, when at the very "beginning" of the Tribulation "the

Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of

God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together

with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be wit h the Lord." And so shall we

"stand before the Son of Man," "accounted worthy," in all His worthiness to "escape these things" that

shall then come on the earth (Luke xxi. 36).

The "beginning" of the Tribulation marks the time when the Lord will thus come FOR His Saints; and the

height and end of it marks the time when He will appear in glory WITH all His Saints.

Surely it behoves us to heed the warning with which the Lord concludes His great prophecy in St. Luke xxi.

34-36. "Take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and

drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come

For a fuller answer to this question see the APPENDIX which shows that the time seems to be near when

God will deal once again with His ancient people, and that we are already near the beginning of the end!