"WHEN IT IS EVENING, YE SAY IT WILL BE FAIR WEATHER, FOR THE SKY IS RED. AND IN THE

MORNING, IT WILL BE FOUL WEATHER TO-DAY, FOR THE SKY IS RED AND LOWRING. O YE

HYPOCRITES, YE CAN DISCERN THE FACE OF THE SKY; BUT CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF

THE TIMES?" -- Matt. xvi. 2, 3.

These are the words of the Lord Jesus, when the Pharisees and Sadducees asked for "a sign from heaven."

He declared (verse 4) that no such sign should be given; and that nothing should be added to the signs of

the prophetic word.

There were then Jews, who did discern these signs of the Word, and were looking and waiting for His first

At Christ's second coming there shall be signs from Heaven, great and terrible, but we have already and now

the signs of the "sure word of Prophecy." We desire in this Appendix to show from these signs of the

Scriptures, that we are fast approaching the time when there "shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in

THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST

will consist of a series of events of which the visible and personal appearing of Christ will be the great

central point. His first coming consisted of many events, and extended over a period of about thirty-three

years. A Jew read of this coming in Micah v. 2., "thou Bethlehem Ephratah... out of thee SHALL HE COME

forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel:" and he also read of this same coming in Zech. ix. 9, "Rejoice

greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King COMETH unto thee," &c.

But there was nothing in these prophecies to tell him that there were to be more than 30 years between these

two events, which were both Christ's coming. So likewise in the prophecies of Christ's second coming, we

read, "I will come again and receive you unto myself" (John xiv. 3); and, "The Lord my God shall come, and

all the saints with Thee." There is nothing to tell us how long an interval will elapse between the reception

of the Saints by Christ, and their coming with Him in glory, though some interval is clearly implied. And so

when we read that the saints are to be caught up "to meet the Lord in the air" (I Thess. iv. 17), there is

nothing to tell us how long they shall be with Him there, before they return with him in glory; whether it is to

be momentary or prolonged. We learn, however, from many Scriptures that at least seven years will run their

course, for this period is spoken of several times in its various parts of 1,260 days, 42 months, and 3 1/2

years, &c. Whether it will be extended beyond this we are not told. All the events that are recorded in the

book of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" are connected with, and form part of that Revelation, and go to

make up the Second Advent; while the personal appearing of Christ will of course form a definite act in that

series of events, as definite as the lightning's flash.

If this consideration be borne in mind it will solve many difficulties, and remove many perplexities. So with

THE RETURN OF THE JEWS.

This will not be accomplished in a day or a week. But as we have seen in Sermon No. viii., there will be a

preliminary, or partial, or natural gathering; and there will be also a "second" complete and miraculous

gathering. The return from Babylon occupied more than forty years. The re -building of the street and the

wall, was to be in "the strait of times" (Dan. ix. 25, margin), i.e. the smaller interval of the two named, viz., in

"seven weeks," or seven sevens of years, i.e. forty-nine years. The dispersion of the Jews likewise was not

completed until the destruction of Jerusalem, till forty years after Christ foretold it in Luke xxi. So that we

might expect the gathering of the Jews to their City and land to be accomplished gradually in the course of

years, and by apparently natural causes: when the Anti-christ shall be revealed in his time, and first by