Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 24:6-8

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for [these things] must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all these things are the beginning of travail." — Matthew 24:6-8 (ASV)

See that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquake, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

One would think that there was sorrow enough in famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places; but our Lord said that all these were only "the beginning of sorrows" – the first birth-pangs of the labor that must precede his coming, either to Jerusalem or to the whole world.