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of sin, then surely there is in personifying a propensity in man to sin; but such language often occurs in the holy scriptures, and therefore must be considered very proper, in this place And so God also said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed," &c. Here suffer me to remark, that as the seed of the woman could not mean the woman herself, even so, neither can the seed of the serpent be the serpent himself: but the seed of the woman is the truth, which is Christ, who says, "I am the truth and the way." And the seed of the ser-. pent, is error or falsehood, as we read again, St. John 8. 44: "For he is a liar, and the father of it." Yes, surely, error is the offspring of the spurious reasoning of the carnal mind. And again, I would make some remarks on the words "I will put enmity between thee and the woman." Old mother Eve is not the woman here meant; but the virgin Mary is the woman according to the flesh, as Christ is not the seed of the man but of the woman. For he was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of a virgin, so that he was her seed according to the flesh. However, spiritually, the virgin Mary is not the woman meant in the text, but that free woman from above, the spiritual mother of us all, and also figuratively called Jerusalem, the true covenant of God, as described by St. Paul, Gal. 4. 23, to the end of the chapter. This is the woman between whom and the serpent, God has put enmity; and whose seed shall spiritually bruise the serpent's head. Yes enmity be tween them, as certainly, as that wisdom from above, can never unite with that serpentine wisdom from beneath, any more than truth and error can walk together. For or as Aaron's rod swallowed up all the rods of the wise men of Egypt, even so we learn the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, i. e. bring to nought the wisdom of this world; which spurious wisdom is the head of all error, and must be destroyed, that truth may prevail as a triumphant conqueror, over death hell and the grave. The subject of mercy rejoi cing against judgment, is further to be illustrated from

the allegory of Gain and Abel: the first was an emblem of the sinful world of mankind; the second was a type of Christ. Therefore, Cain was a tiller of the ground, but Abel was a Shepherd. They both presented offerings unto the Lord, Cain offered of the fruits of the ground, but his righteous brother dedicated the best of his flock unto the Lord: Therefore, God had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect. Why not unto Cain's offering? Because it was of the ground earthly, which signifies self righteousness proceeding from the ground of the earthly mind, a mere ceremony of vain works in that wisdom which is from beneath.

But righteous Abel who was a type of the great shepherd of souls, presented himself before God with the best of his flock, Christ like, who also offered the best of his flock, even the holy apostles who suffered for righteousness sake and God had respect unto Christ and his offering, but not unto the burnt offerings and sacrifices of the Jews. Cain was wrathful towards his brother and slew him, even so the Jews were angry with Christ and put him to death.

The voice of righteous Abel's blood cried from the ground unto God, even so the voice of the great Redeemer's blood intercedes with God for man, it cries aloud for vengeance on the enmity of the human heart, to the saving of souls, as we read "The Lord will come with vengeance even God with a recompense and save thee." The voice of Abel's blood so far succeeded with God on behalf of Cain, that God set a mark on Cain lest any meeting him should slay him. But as the substance, or antitype is made to excel its shadow or type, even so as we read, "The blood of Christ speaketh better things than the blood of Abel." Even so I say God has not only set a mark on man that he should not be annihilated, but also that the whole life of his existence should not be a final vagabond state of misery. Cain in the allegory represents the world. "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countennce tallen? If shou do well, shalt thou not be accept

ed? And if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

This text is applicable to every man who grumbles at cross providences and they may take this question to themselves individually, "Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen ? If thou do well shalt thou not be accepted? But if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door (of conscience) and unto thee shall be his desire." But what shall we say of the glorious promise with which the verse closes " "Thou shalt rule over him." But what is he, man, finally to rule over? The text says sin; and yet we are not to suppose that man will gain this mighty victory in his own strength, but through the blood of the Lamb," which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel." Thus mercy is to rejoice against judgment. For we see while the sinner is condemned to feel the weight of his sin at the door of his conscience, that this is the very way to wean him from the love of sin, through the light of divine truth, shining into his understanding, so as to show man the whole nature of crime. "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." But why was it necessary in this hieroglyphic representation for the flaming sword to turn every way to keep the way of the tree of life? Is it because the tree of life extends to all men in every di rection. Yes as surely as St. Paul informs us that, " In God we live, move and have our being;" And that, 'He be not far from every one of us." And as we read again," In him was life, and the life was the light of men,

that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Just so certain it is, that the flaming sword that turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life, was a token not only of war being proclaimed against the powers of spiritual darkness, but also, as it was a flaming sword, this was a sign of light, as sure as light proceeds from flame, just so certainly mankind is to be enlightened in the process of spiritual

warfare, through the resistless power of the flaming sword of the spirit, turning every way under the glori ous standard of Cherubims, the blessed ensign of mercy, whose wide expanded wings overshadow the mercy seat. Thus we may see that the unchangeable love, kindness and mercy of God were earl proclaimed at the eastern gate of the garden of Eden. At this gate presides that eastern star of Bethlehem, which keeps the way of the prince of life, in which way the wise men had to walk, led by the star, when they came to worship Emmanuel, and in this way of light, shall all men come to the tree of life, when, " Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

CHAPTER 7.

SOME GENERAL REMARKS ON THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY FROM ADAM DOWN TO MOSES.

GEN. 5. 1, 2." This is the book of the generations of Adam; in the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him. Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." But what can this mean? It seems that man was created at first male and female in the likeness of God. Some future day will reveal this mystery to mankind, but I am not permitted to give my idea on this part of the subject at present; and perhaps for the best, I am persuaded the world is not enough enlightened to receive it peaceably. I would therefore, invite the gentle reader to excuse me read for himself and ask wisdom of God. However, I would make some remarks on these words," This is the book of the generations of Adam," Which I think must imply all the generations of mankind, i. e. if we allow all men to descend from the loins of Adam, or in other words, represented in him as descendants. For we must observe that the text speaks of man in the plural number, "generations of Adam, in the day that God created man-and blessed them (not him) and called their (not his) name Adam, in the day when they were created, and blessed them." Who did the unchangeable God bless? The text reads "the generations of Adam." Now could any change in Adam, make the blessing of the unchanging God finally of no effect on those generatons? Judge ye for yourselves. In this instructive history a regular line of patriarchal succession seems to be recorded down to Jacob the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. And from the birth of Enos, the son of Seth

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