wishes, and occasioned the fall of man. Here Adam lost all his former glory, and became miserable and fearful: he dreaded the appearance of his Maker, but at length was condemned to die, and driven out of paradise. Now at the time when Adam sinned all the generations were yet in his loins, and are therefore born in sin; and we know that sin is death: as all men are born in sin, they must all consequently die.

Thus man became a fallen creature, and will continue so for six thousand years, according to the days of the creation of the world, but no longer. This is the second period, or properly the middle world, and its proper title, the wicked and ungodly world.

*

From all that is here advanced may clearly be seen, that the Messiah is not yet come; for the world must exist in a corrupt state six thousand years, and the question is, of what use would his coming be? But, when this number shall be at an end, or nearly at an end, then will be the time of his coming; and then will commence the third period, or properly the NEW World, which will be called the world of the Messiah.

* THE NEW WORLD-will commence by the first appearance of the Messiah; the world will be restored to its former glory, a new heaven and a new earth will appear; the former will pass away; mankind will recover their primitive glory,* and will be above the angels; Satan and his band will be destroyed. The seventh day of the creation was the sabbath, and that day only received a blessing, and was set apart for ever to be observed

as a holy day; which was a type of the great sabbath, i. e. the world of the Messiah, which also will be called the blessed world.

*THE MESSIAH IS NOT YET COME.-We are assured by the prophet Isaiah, lix. 20, 21, that as long as Israel is dispersed abroad, the Messiah is not come for by his coming the sin of Israel will be blotted out: and this prophetical declaration is confirmed by the apostle Paul; "And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Romans xi. 26, 27. First must be considered the term," "For this is my covenant." What is that covenant? To send them "the deliverer." For what?" to take away their sins." Here it must be acknowledged by every one, that when the Messiah shall come the sin of Israel will be taken away; and here is a clear proof that, as long as Israel is scattered, their sin is not taken away, their continuance in their sins affords an evidence that the Messiah is not yet come.

and

*THAT THE MESSIAH IS NOT YET COME, may be confirmed by scripture: " And I will make your cities waste, and bring your temples into desolation. And I will scatter you among the heathen; and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them

utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God; I am the Lord." Levit. xxvi. 31, 33, 38, 39, 44, 45. Here you may learn, that before the coming of the Messiah the first and second temple must be destroyed, the land of Israel laid waste, Israel scattered among all nations, and there to pine away in the sins of their fathers, and their own, * and afterwards the first covenant will be remembered, and Israel will be restored. But as Christ came before these times he could not be the Messiah.

THE MESSIAH IS NOT COME.-" Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: the cup also shall pass through unto thee; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity. O daughter of Edom, he will discover thy sins." Lament. iv. 21, 22. It is well known that the prophet Jeremiah lived at the time of the destruction of the first temple: * the question here will be, How came the prophet to take notice of Edom? To which it may be answered, that it frequently happened, whilst a prophet was delivering the oracles of God, a new subject would on a sudden be revealed to his mind. So here the prophet lamented over Jerusalem and her people: on a sudden was shewn to him a great lamentation, that is, the burning of the second temple by Edom, and the present long captivity: but at the same time was

also shewn to him the downfal of Edom, and the redemption of Israel; and, when he had finished this short prophecy, he began again with his former subject, that is, with the fifth chapter of the Lamentations.

This short prophecy must be well considered. First, the prophet tells Edom to " rejoice and be glad" of the downfal of Israel: but know, says he, that a day is appointed for you also; and that day will be when the sin of Israel shall be accomplished, and that will be the day when thy sin shall be discovered, and from thence Israel shall no more be carried away into captivity. Here is a plain proof that the rise of Israel depends on the downfal of Edom. Secondly, as long as Edom is master, Israel must remain a prisoner. Thirdly, so long as Israel is a prisoner, his sins are not accomplished, and as long as they are not accomplished, the measure of Edom is not full; for these two points must come to pass at once, that the one shall finish his sin, and the other shall only commence to pay his debts. Now, if any honest man will consider this argument, he must acknowledge that the Messiah is not yet come. But, if any person will still contend that the Messiah is come, then let him answer this question: The prophet says, "The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity." Consider well the text, that, when the sin of Israel shall be finished, he will no more be in captivity. This prophecy was declared more than five hundred years before Christ. Now tell me, of what use was his coming? * He could do no good to Israel ;

* HE MUST HAVE BOTH FATHER AND MOTHER. -It is acknowledged by all that the Messiah was to be the Son of David: for this reason Jesus could not be the Messiah. And if it should be said that his mother was a daughter of David, that will not relieve the objection; for, if the daughter of David brings forth a son, he can by no means be called the son of David for a son by a daughter has lost the very name of a son of David, although the son of his daughter. "And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers," but not by the house of their mothers. Numb. i. 18. Here we may observe, that a daughter in Israel has no pedigree of herself; for, if the daughter of a priest be married to a man of another tribe, her son will be no priest; and, if a daughter of any tribe be married to a priest, and she brings forth a son, he will be a priest. Thus the pedigree of a man depends on his father only.

*A SAVIOUR-is not the name of the Messiah, but the name of God; for the Messiah himself shall look up to God to be saved. "He is just and shall be saved," Zech. ix. 9. Observe the word is

venousha: the proper sense of the word is, And he shall be saved, but not " to save himself.” And again, "For I am the Lord, thy God, thy Saviour." Isaiah xliii. 3. "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour: ver. 11. "And all flesh shall know, that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Reedemer, the mighty one of Jacob." Isaiah xlix. 26. Happy art thou, O Israel ;