GENESIS, Section 1 of 2, (Gen. 1-15).
C. H. Mackintosh.

I cannot suffer this Fourth Edition to go forth, without an expression of heartfelt thankfulness
to the Lord for His goodness in making use of such a feeble instrumentality, for the profit of
souls, and the spread of His own simple truth.

It is an unspeakable privilege to be permitted, in any small degree, to minister to the souls of
those who are so precious to Christ. "Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep." Such were the
touching words of the departing Shepherd; and, assuredly, when they fall powerfully upon the
heart, they must rouse all the energies of one's moral being to carry out, in every possible way
the gracious desire breathed therein. To gather and to feed the lambs and sheep of the flock of
Christ, are the most exalted services in which any one can be engaged. Not a single honest
effort put forth for the achievement of such noble ends, will be forgotten in that day "when
the Chief Shepherd shall appear."

May God the Holy Ghost fill the heart, anoint the lips, and consecrate the pen of every servant
of Christ, so that streams of pure and living truth may flow, in every direction, for the
refreshment of all those who are on their way to glory.
Dublin, May, 1861.

Genesis 1
There is something peculiarly striking in the manner in which the Holy Ghost opens this
sublime book. He introduces us, at once, to God, in the essential fullness of His Being, and
the solitariness of His acting. All prefatory matter is omitted. It is to God we are brought. We
hear Him, as it were, breaking earth's silence, and shining in upon earth's darkness, for the
purpose of developing a sphere in which He might display His eternal power And Godhead.

There is nothing here on which idle curiosity may feed—nothing on which the poor, human
mind may speculate. There is the sublimity and reality of DIVINE TRUTH, in its moral
power to act on the heart, and on the understanding. It could never come within the range of
the Spirit of God to gratify idle curiosity, by the presentation of curious theories. Geologists
may explore the bowels of the earth, and draw forth from thence materials from which to add
to, and, in some instances, to contradict, the divine record. They may speculate upon fossil
remains; but the disciple hangs, with sacred delight, over the page of inspiration. He reads,
believes, and worships. In this spirit may me pursue our study of the profound book which
now lies open before us. May we know what it is to "enquire in the temple" May our
investigations of the precious contents of holy scripture be ever prosecuted in the true spirit of
worship.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The first sentence in the divine
canon sets us in the presence of Him who is the infinite source of all true blessedness. There
is no elaborate argument in proof of the existence of God. The Holy Ghost could not enter
upon anything of the kind. God reveals Himself. He makes Himself known by His works. The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork." "All thy works
shall praise thee, O Lord." "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty." None
but an infidel or an atheist would seek an argument in proof of the Being of One who, by the
word of His mouth, called worlds into existence, and declared Himself the All wise, the
Almighty, and the everlasting God. Who but "God" could "create" anything. "Lift up your eyes
on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he
calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not
one faileth." (Isa. 40: 26) "The gods of the heathen are idols, but the Lord made the heavens."
In the Book of Job 38-41 we have an appeal of the very grandest description, on the part of
Jehovah Himself, to the work of creation, as an unanswerable argument in proof of His
infinite superiority; and this appeal, while it sets before the understanding the most vivid and
convincing demonstration of God's omnipotence, touches the heart, also, by its amazing
condescension. The majesty and the love, the power and the tenderness, are all divine.

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
Here was, in good truth, a scene in which God alone could act. Man, in the pride of his heart,
has since proved himself but too ready to interfere with God in other and far higher spheres of
action; but, in the scene before us, man had no place until, indeed, he became, like all the
rest, the subject of creative power. God was alone in creation. He looked forth from His
eternal dwelling-place of light upon the wild waste, and there beheld the sphere in which His
wondrous plans and counsels were yet to be unfolded and brought out—where the Eternal
Son was yet to live, and labour, and testify, and bleed, and die, in order to display, in the view
of wondering worlds, the glorious perfections of the Godhead. All was darkness and chaos;
but God is the God of light and order. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."
Darkness and confusion cannot live in His presence, whether we look at it in a physical,
moral, intellectual, or spiritual point of view.

"The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." He sat brooding over the Scene of His
future operations. A dark scene, truly; and one in which there was ample room for the God of
light and life to act. He alone could enlighten the darkness, cause life to spring up, substitute
order for chaos, open an expanse between the waters, where life might display itself without
fear of death. These were operations worthy of God.

"God said, Let there be light: and there was light." How simple! And yet how Godlike! "He
spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast." Infidelity may ask, "How? where?
when?" The answer is, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of
God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." (Heb. 11: 3)
This satisfies the teachable spirit. Philosophy may smile contemptuously at this, and
pronounce it rude ignorance, or blind credulity, suitable enough for an age of semi-barbarism,
but quite unworthy of men living in an enlightened age of the world's history, when the
museum and the telescope have put us in possession of facts of which the inspired penman
knew nothing. What wisdom? What learning? Yea, rather, what folly What nonsense What
total inability to grasp the scope and design of sacred scripture? It, assuredly, is not God's
object to make us astronomers or geologists; or to occupy us with details which the
microscope or the telescope lays before every school-boy. His object is to lead us into His
presence, as worshippers, with hearts and understandings taught and duly governed by His
holy Word. But this would never do for the so-called philosopher, who, despising what he
terms the vulgar and narrow-minded prejudices of the devout disciple of the Word, boldly
seizes his telescope, and therewith scans the distant heavens, or travels into the deep recesses
of earth in search of strata, formations, and fossils—all of which, according to his account,
greatly improve, if they do not flatly contradict, the inspired narrative.

With such "oppositions of science, falsely so called," we have nothing to do. We believe that
all true discoveries, whether "in the heavens above, in the earth beneath, or in the waters
under the earth," will harmonise with that which is written in the word of God; and if they do
not thus harmonise, they are perfectly contemptible in the judgement of every true lover of
scripture. This gives great rest to the heart in a day like the present, so productive of learned
speculations and high-sounding theories, which, alas in too many instances, savour of
rationalism and positive infidelity. It is most needful to have the heart thoroughly established
as to the fullness, the authority, the completeness, the majesty, the plenary inspiration of the
sacred volume. This will be found to be the only effectual safeguard against the rationalism of
Germany and the superstition of Rome. Accurate acquaintance with, and profound subjection
to, the Word, are the great desiderata of the present moment. May the Lord, in His great
grace, abundantly increase, in our midst, both the one and the other.

"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night." Here we have the two great
symbols so largely employed throughout the Word. The presence of light makes the day; the
absence thereof makes the night Thus it is in the history of souls. There are "the sons of light"
and "the sons of darkness." This is a most marked and solemn distinction. All upon whom the
light of Life has shone—all who have been effectually visited by "the dayspring from on
high"—all who have received the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ—all such, whoever and wherever they may be, belong to the first class, are "the
sons of light, and the sons of the day."

On the other hand, all who are still in nature's darkness, natures blindness, nature's unbelief—
all who have not yet received into their hearts, by faith, the cheering beams of the Sun of
righteousness, all such are still wrapped in the shades of spiritual night, are "the sons of
darkness," "the sons of the night."

Reader, pause and ask yourself, in the presence of the Searcher of hearts, to which of these
two classes do you, at this moment, belong. That you belong to either the one or the other is
beyond all question. You may be poor, despised, unlettered; but if, through grace, there is a
link connecting you with the Son of God, "the light of the world," then you are, in very deed,
a son of the day, and destined, ere long, to shine in that celestial sphere, that region of glory,
of which "the slain Lamb" will be the central sun, for ever. This is not your own doing. It is
the result of the counsel and operation of God Himself, who has given yon light and life, joy
and peace, in Jesus, and His accomplished sacrifice. But if you are a total stranger to the
hallowed action and influence of divine light, if your eyes have not been opened to behold
any beauty in the Son of God, then, though you had all the learning of a Newton, though you
were enriched with all the treasures of human philosophy, though you had drunk in with
avidity all the streams of human science, though your name were adorned with all the learned
titles which the schools and universities of this world could bestow, yet are you "a Son Of the
night," "a son of darkness;" and, if you die in your present condition, you will be involved in
the blackness and horror of an eternal night. Do not, therefore, my friend, read another page,
until you have fully satisfied yourself as to whether you belong to the "day" or the "night."

The next point on which I would dwell is the creation of lights. "And God said, Let there be
lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for
signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of
the heaven, to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the
greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also."

The sun is the great centre of light, and the centre of our system. Round him the lesser orbs
revolve. From him, too, they derive their light. Hence, he may, very legitimately, be viewed as
an apt symbol of Him who is soon to arise, with healing in His wings, to gladden the hearts of
those that fear the Lord. The aptness and beauty of the symbol would fully appear to one who,
having spent the night in watching, beholds the rising sun gilding, with his bright beams, the
eastern sky. The mists and shades of night are all dispersed, and the whole creation seems to
hail the returning orb of light. Thus will it be, by and by, when the Son of righteousness
arises. The shadows of night shall flee away, and the whole creation shall be gladdened by the
dawning of "a morning without clouds,"the opening of a bright and never-ending day of glory.

The moon, being in herself opaque, derives all her light from the sun. She always reflects the
sun's light, save when earth and its influences intervene.* No sooner has the sun sunk beneath
our horizon than the moon presents herself to receive his beams and reflect them back upon a
dark world, or should she be visible during the day, she always exhibits a pale light, the
necessary result of appearing in the presence of superior brightness. True it is, as has been
remarked, the world sometimes intervenes; dark clouds, thick mists, and chilling vapours, too,
arise from earth's surface, and hide from our view her silvery light.
{*It is an interesting fact that the moon, as viewed through a powerful telescope, presents the
appearance of one vast ruin of nature.}

Now, as the sun is a beautiful and an appropriate symbol of Christ, so the moon strikingly
reminds us of the Church. The fountain of her light is hidden from view. The world seeth Him
not, but she sees Him; and she is responsible to reflect His beams upon a benighted world.
The world has no other way in which to learn anything of Christ but by the Church. "Ye," says
the inspired apostle, "are our epistle,....known and read of all men." And again, "Forasmuch as
ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ." (2 Cor. 3: 2, 3.)

What a responsible place! How earnestly should she watch against everything that would
hinder the reflection of the heavenly light of Christ, in all her ways! But how is she to reflect
this light? By allowing it to shine upon her, in its undimmed brightness. If the Church only
walked in the light of Christ, she would, assuredly, reflect His light; and this would ever keep
her in her proper position. The light of the moon is not her own. So is it with the Church. She
is not called to set herself before the world. She is a simple debtor to reflect the light which
she herself receives. She is bound to study, with holy diligence, the path which He trod, while
down here; and by the energy of the Holy Ghost, who dwells in her, to follow in that path.
But, alas! earth with its mists, its clouds, and its vapours, intervenes, and hides the light and
blots the epistle. The world can see but little of the traits of Christ's character in those mho
call themselves by His name; yea, in many instances, they exhibit an humbling contrast,
rather than a resemblance. May we study Christ more prayerfully, that so we may copy Him
more faithfully.

The stars are distant lights. They shine in other spheres, and have little connection with this
system, save that their twinkling can be seen. "One star differeth from another star in glory."
Thus will it be in the coming kingdom of the Son. He will shine forth in living and everlasting
lustre. His body, the Church, will faithfully reflect His beams on all around; while saints
individually shall shine in those spheres which a righteous Judge shall allot to them, as a
reward of service during the dark night of His absence. This thought should animate us to a
more ardent and vigorous pursuit after conformity to our absent Lord. (see Luke 19: 12-19.)

The lower orders of creation are next introduced. The sea and the earth are made to team with
life. Some May feel warranted in regarding the operations of each successive day, as
foreshadowing the various dispensations, and their great characteristic principles of action. I
would only remark, as to this, that there is great need, when handling the word in this way, to
watch, with holy jealousy, the working of imagination; and also to pay strict attention to the
general analogy of scripture, else we may make sad mistakes. I do not feel at liberty to enter
upon such a line of interpretation; I shall therefore confine myself to what I believe to be the
plain sense of the sacred text.

We shall now consider man's place, as set over the works of God's hands. All having been set
in order, one was needed to take the headship. "And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." My
reader will observe the change from "him" to "them." We are not presented with the actual
fact of the formation of the woman, until the next chapter; though here we find God blessing
"them" and giving "them" jointly the place of universal government. All the inferior orders of
creation were set under their joint dominion. Eve received all her blessings in Adam. In him,
too, she got her dignity. Though not yet called into actual existence, she was, in the purpose
of God, looked at as part of the man. "In thy book were all my members written, which, in
continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."

Thus it is with the Church—the bride of the Second Man. She was viewed from all eternity in
Christ, her Head and Lord; as we read in the first chapter of Ephesians, "According as He hath
chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love." Before a single member of the Church had yet breathed the breath
of life, all were, in God's eternal mind, predestinated to be conformed to the image of his
Son." The counsels of God render the Church necessary to complete the mystic man. Hence
the Church is called "the fullness [plhrwma]] of Him that filleth all in all." This is an amazing
title, and it develops much of the dignity, importance, and glory of the Church.]

It is too common to view redemption as bearing merely upon the blessedness and security of
individual souls. This is entirely too low a view to take of the matter. That all which pertains,
in any way, to the individual is, in the fullest manner, secured, is, blessed be God, most true.
This is the least part of redemption. But that Christ's glory is involved in, and connected with,
the Church's existence, is a truth of far more dignity, depth, and power. If I am entitled, on the
authority of Holy Scripture, to regard myself as a constituent part of that which is actually
needful to Christ, I can no longer entertain a doubt as to whether there is the fullest provision
for all my personal necessities. And is not the Church thus needful to Christ? Yes, truly. "It is
not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." And, again,
"For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man; neither was the man created for
the woman; but the woman for the man.... Nevertheless, neither is the man without the
woman. neither the woman without the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man,
even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God." (1 Cor. 11: 8-12) Hence, it is no
longer the mere question whether God can save a poor, helpless sinner—whether He can blot
out his sins, and receive him in the power of divine righteousness. God has said, "it is not
good that the man should be alone." He left not "the first man" without "an help meet;"
neither would He leave the "Second." As, in the case of the former, there would have been a
blank in the creation without Eve, so stupendous thought!—in the case of the latter, there
would be a blank in the new creation without the Bride, the Church.

Let us, now, look at the manner in which Eve was brought into being, though, in so doing, we
shall have to anticipate part of the contents of the next chapter. Throughout all the orders of
creation there was not found an help meet for Adam. "A deep sleep" must fall on him, and a
partner be formed, out of himself, to share his dominion and his blessedness. "And the Lord
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and
closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man,
builded* he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man."
(Gen. 2: 21-23.)
{*The Hebrew word which is rendered "builded" in the margin, is [ˆb,YIw'] which the LXX.
render by wkodomesen]. A reference to the original of Eph. 2: 20, 22 will show the reader that
the words rendered "built" and "builded together" are inflexions of the same verb.}

Looking at Adam and Eve as a type of Christ and the Church, as scripture fully warrants us to
do, we see how that the death of Christ needed to be an accomplished fact, ere the Church
could be set up; though, in the purpose of God, she was looked at, and chosen in Christ,
before the foundation of the world. There is, however, a vast difference between the secret
purpose of God and the revelation and accomplishment thereof. Before the divine purpose
could be actualised in reference to the constituent parts of the Church, it was necessary that
the Son should be rejected and crucified—that He should take His seat on high—that He
should send down the Holy Ghost to baptise believers into one body. It is not that souls were
not quickened and saved, previous to the death of Christ. They assuredly were. Adam was
saved, and thousands of others, from age to age, in virtue of the sacrifice of Christ, though
that sacrifice was not yet accomplished. But the salvation of individual souls is one thing; and
the formation of the Church, as a distinctive thing, by the Holy Ghost, is quite another.

This distinction is not sufficiently attended to; and even where it is in theory maintained, it is
accompanied with but little of those practical results which might naturally be expected to
flow from a truth so stupendous. The Church's unique place her special relationship to "the
Second Man, the Lord from heaven"her distinctive privileges and dignities—all these things
would, if entered into by the power of the Holy Ghost, produce the richest, the rarest, and the
most fragrant fruits. (See Eph. 5: 23-32.)

When we look at the type before us, we may form some idea of the results which ought to
follow from the understanding of the Church's position and relationship. What affection did
not Eve owe to Adam? What nearness she enjoyed! What intimacy of communion! What full
participation in all his thoughts! In all his dignity, and in all his glory, she was entirely one.
He did not rule over, but with her. He was Lord of the whole creation, and she was one with
him. Yea, as has already been remarked, she was looked at, and blessed in him. "The man"
was the object; and as to "the woman," she was needful to him, and therefore she was brought
into being. Nothing can be more profoundly interesting as a type. Man first set up, and the
woman viewed in, and then formed out of him-all this forms a type of the most striking and
instructive character. Not that a doctrine can ever be founded upon a type, but when we find
the doctrine fully and clearly laid down in other parts of the Word, we are then prepared to
understand, appreciate, and admire the type.

Psalm 8 furnishes a fine view of man set over the work of God's hands: "when I consider thy
heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained: what is
man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast
made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou
madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his
feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the
sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea." Here man is looked at, without any
distinctive mention of the woman; and this is quite in character, for the woman is looked at in
the man.

There is no direct revelation of the mystery of the Church, in any part of the Old Testament.
The apostle expressly says, "in other ages it was not made known to the sons of men us it is
now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets (of the New Testament) by the Spirit." (Eph.
3: 1-11) Hence, in the Psalm just quoted, we have only "the man" presented to us; but we
know that the man and the woman are looked at under one head. All this will find its full anti
type in the ages to come. Then shall the True Man, the Lord from heaven, take His seat on the
throne, and, in companionship with His bride, the Church, rule over a restored creation. His
Church is quickened out of the grave of Christ, is Part "of his body, of his flesh, and of his
bones." He the Head and she the body, making one Man, as we read in the fourth chapter of
Ephesians.

"Till we all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The Church, being thus
part of Christ, will occupy a place, in the glory, quite unique. There was no other creature so
near to Adam as Eve, because no other creature was part of himself. So, in reference to the
Church, she will hold the very nearest place to Christ, in His coming glory.

Nor is it merely what the Church will be that commands our admiration; but what the Church
is. She is now the body of which Christ is the Head; she is now the temple of which God is
the Inhabitant. Oh what manner of people ought we to be? If such is the present, such the
future dignity of that of which we, through God's grace, form a part, surely a holy, a devoted,
a separated, an elevated walk is what becomes us.

May the Holy Ghost unfold these things, more fully and powerfully, to our hearts, that so we
may have a deeper sense of the conduct and character which are worthy of the high vocation
wherewith we are called. "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may
know what is the hope, of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to
the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the
dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."
(Eph. 1: 18-23.)

Genesis 2
The chapter introduces to our notice two prominent subjects, namely, "the seventh day" and
"the river." The first of these demands special attention.

There are few subjects on which so much misunderstanding and contradiction prevails as the
doctrine of "the Sabbath." Not that there is the slightest foundation for either the one or the
other; for the whole subject Is laid down in the word, in the simplest possible manner. The
distinct commandment, to "keep holy the Sabbath day" will come before us, the Lord
permitting, in our meditations on the book of Exodus. In the chapter now before us, there is
no command given to man, whatever; but simply the record that, "God rested on the seventh
dray." "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the
seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from
all his work which he had made. and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because
that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." There is no
commandment given to man, here. We are simply told that God enjoyed His rest, because all
was done, so far as the mere creation was concerned. There was nothing more to be done,
and, therefore, the One who had, during six days, been working, ceased to work, and enjoyed
His rest. All was complete; all was very good; all was just as He Himself had made it; and He
rested in it. "The morning stars sang together; and all the sons of God shouted for joy." The
work of creation was ended, and God was celebrating a Sabbath.

And, be it observed, that this is the true character of a Sabbath. This is the only Sabbath
which God ever celebrated, so far as the inspired record instructs us. After this, we read of
God's commanding man to keep the Sabbath, and man utterly failing so to do; but we never
read again the words, "God rested;" on the contrary, the word is, "My Father worketh hitherto,
and I work." (John 5: 17) The Sabbath, in the strict and proper sense of the term, could only
be celebrated when there really was nothing to be done. It could only be celebrated amid an
undefiled creationa creation on which no spot of sin could be discerned. God can have no rest
where there is sin; and one has only to look around him in order to learn the total
impossibility of God's enjoying a rest in creation now. The thorn and the thistle, together with
the ten thousand other melancholy and humiliating fruits of a groaning creation, rise before
us, and declare that God must be at work and not at rest. Could God rest in the midst of thorns
and briers? Could He rest amid the sighs and tears, the groans and sorrows, the sickness and
death, the degradation and guilt of a ruined world? Could God sit down, as it were, and
celebrate a Sabbath in the midst of such circumstances?

Whatever answer may be given to these questions, the word of God teaches us that God has
had no Sabbath, as yet, save the one which the 2nd of Genesis records. "The seventh day," and
none other, was the Sabbath. It showed forth the completeness of creation work; but creation
work is marred, and the seventh day rest interrupted; and thus, from the fall to the
incarnation, God was working; from the incarnation to the cross, God the Son was working;
and from Pentecost until now, God the Holy Ghost has been working.

Assuredly, Christ had no Sabbath when He was upon this earth. True, He finished His work—
blessedly, gloriously finished it but where did He spend the Sabbath day? In the tomb! Yes,
my reader, the Lord Christ. God manifest in the flesh, the Lord of the Sabbath, the Maker and
Sustainer of heaven and earth, spent the seventh day in the dark and silent tomb. Has this no
voice for us? Does it convey no teaching? Could the Son of God lie in the grave on the
seventh day, if that day were to be spent in rest and peace; and in the full sense that nothing
remained to be done? impossible! We want no farther proof of the impossibility of celebrating
a Sabbath than that which is afforded at the grave of Jesus. We may stand beside that grave
amazed to find it occupied by such an one on the seventh day; but, oh! the reason is obvious.
Man is a fallen, ruined, guilty creature. His long career of guilt has ended in crucifying the
Lord of glory; and not only crucifying Him, but placing a great stone at the mouth of the
tomb, to prevent, if possible, His leaving it.

And what was man doing while the Son of God was in the grave? He was observing the
Sabbath day! What a thought! Christ in His grave to repair a broken Sabbath, and yet man
attempting to keep, the Sabbath as though it were not broken at all! It was man's Sabbath, and
not God's. It was a Sabbath without Christ—an empty, powerless, worthless, because
Christless and Godless, form.

But some will say, "the day has been changed, while all the principles belonging to it remain
the same." I do not believe that scripture furnishes any foundation for such an idea. Where is
the divine warrant for such a statement? Surely if there is scripture authority, nothing can be
easier than to produce it. But the fact is, there is none; on the contrary, the distinction is most
fully maintained in the New Testament. Take one remarkable passage, in proof:" In the end of
the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week." (Matt. 28: 1) There is,
evidently, no mention here of the seventh day being changed to the first day; nor yet of any
transfer of the Sabbath from the one to the other. The first day of the week is not the Sabbath
changed, but altogether a new day. It is the first day of a new period, and not the last day of an
old. The seventh day stands connected with earth and earthly rest; the first day of the week,
on the contrary, introduces us to heaven and heavenly rest.

This makes a vast difference in the principle; and when we look at the matter in a practical
point of view, the difference is most material. If I celebrate the seventh day, it marks me as an
earthly man, inasmuch as that day is, clearly, the rest of earth—creation rest; but if I am
taught by the Word and Spirit of God to understand the meaning of the first day of the week, I
shall at once apprehend its immediate connection with that new and heavenly order of things,
of which the death and resurrection of Christ form the everlasting foundation. The seventh
day appertained to Israel and to earth. The first day of the meek appertains to the Church and
to heaven. Further, Israel was commanded to observe the Sabbath day; the Church is
privileged to enjoy the first day of the week. The former was the test of Israel's moral
condition; the latter is the significant proof of the Church's eternal acceptance. That made
manifest what Israel could do for God; this perfectly declares what God has done for us.

It is quite impossible to over-estimate the value and importance of the Lord's day, (h kuriakh
hmera,) as the first day of the week is termed, in the first chapter of the Apocalypse. Being
the day on which Christ rose from the dead, it sets forth, not the completion of creation, but
the full and glorious triumph of redemption. Nor should we regard the celebration of the first
day of the week as a matter of bondage, or as a yoke put on the neck of a Christian. It is his
delight to celebrate that happy day. Hence we find that the first day of the week was pre-
eminently the day on which the early Christians came together to break bread; and at that
period of the Church's history, the distinction between the Sabbath and the first day of the
week was fully maintained. The Jews celebrated the former, by assembling in their
synagogues, to read "the law and the prophets;" the Christians celebrated the latter, by
assembling to break bread. There is not so much as a single passage of scripture in which the
first day of the week is called the Sabbath day; whereas there is the most abundant proof of
their entire distinctness.

Why, therefore, contend for that which has no foundation in the Word? Love, honour, and
celebrate the Lord's day as much as possible; seek, like the apostle, to be "in the spirit"
thereon; let your retirement from secular matters be as profound as ever you can make it; but
while you do all this, call it by its proper name; give it its proper place; understand its proper
principles; attach to it its proper characteristics; and, above all, do not bind down the
Christian, as with an iron rule, to observe the seventh day, when it is his high and holy
privilege to observe the first. Do not bring him down from heaven, where he can rest, to a
cursed and bloodstained earth, where he cannot. Do not ask him to keep a day which his
Master spent in the tomb, instead of that blessed day on which He left it. (see, carefully, Matt.
28: 1-6; Mark 16: 1-2; Luke 24: 1; John 20: 1, 19, 26; Acts 20: 7; 1 Cor. 16: 2; Rev. 1: 10;
Acts 13: 14; Acts 17: 2; Col. 2: 16.)

But let it not be supposed that we lose sight of the important fact that the Sabbath will again
be celebrated, in the land of Israel, and over the whole creation. It assuredly will. "There
remaineth a rest (sabbatismo") for the people of God." (Heb. 4: 9) When the Son of
Abraham, Son of David, and Son of man, shall assume his position of government over the
whole earth, there will be a glorious Sabbath rest which sin shall never interrupt. But now, He
is rejected, and all who know and love Him are called to take their place with Him in His
rejection; they are called to "go forth to Him without the camp, bearing his reproach." (Heb.
13: 13) If earth could keep a Sabbath, there would be no reproach; but the very fact of the
professing church's seeking to make the first day of the week the Sabbath, reveals a deep
principle. It is but the effort to get back to an earthly standing, and to an earthly code of
morals.

Many may not see this. Many true Christians may, most conscientiously, observe the Sabbath
day, as such; and we are bound to honour their consciences, though we are perfectly
warranted in asking them to furnish a scriptural basis for their conscientious convictions. We
would not stumble or wound their conscience, but we would seek to instruct it. However, we
are not now occupied with conscience or its convictions, but only with the principle which
lies at the root of what may be termed the Sabbath question; and I would only put the question
to the Christian reader, which is more consonant with the entire scope and spirit of the New
Testament, the celebration of the seventh day or Sabbath, or the celebration of the first day of
the meek or the Lord's day?*
{*This subject will, if the Lord permit, come before us again in Exodus 20; but I would, here,
observe, that very much of the offence and misunderstanding connected with the important
subject of the Sabbath, may be justly traced to the inconsiderate and injudicious conduct of
some who, in their zeal for what they termed Christian liberty, in reference to the Sabbath,
rather lose sight of the claims of honest consciences and also of the place which the Lord's
day occupies in the New Testament. Some have been known to enter upon their weekly
avocations, simply to show their liberty, and thus they caused much needless offence. Such
acting could never have been suggested by the Spirit of Christ. If I am ever so clear and free,
in my own mind, I should respect the consciences of my brethren: and, moreover, I do not
believe that those who so carry themselves, really understand the true and precious privileges
connected with the Lord's day. We should only be too thankful to be rid of all secular
occupation and distraction, to think of having recourse to them, for the purpose of showing
our liberty. The good providence of our God has so arranged for His people throughout the
British Empire, that they can, without pecuniary loss, enjoy the rest of the Lord's day,
inasmuch as all are obliged to abstain from business. This must be regarded, by every well-
regulated mind, as a mercy; for, if it were not thus ordered, we know how man's covetous
heart would, if possible, rob the Christian of the sweet privilege of attending the assembly, on
the Lord's day. And who can tell what would be the deadening effect of uninterrupted
engagement with this worlds traffic? Those Christians who, from Monday morning to
Saturday night, breathe the dense atmosphere of the mart, the market, and the manufactory,
can form some idea of it.
	It cannot be regarded as a Good sign to find men introducing measures for the public
profanation of the Lord's day. It, assuredly, marks the progress of infidelity and French
influence.
	But there are some who teach that the expression (h kuriakh hmera,) which is rightly
enough translated, "the Lord's day," refers to "the day of the Lord" and that the exiled apostle
found himself carried forward, as it were, into the Spirit of the day of the Lord. I do not
believe the original would bear such an interpretation; and, besides, we have in 1 Thess. 5: 2,
and 2 Peter 3: 10, the exact words, "the day Of the Lord," the original of which is quite
different from the expression above referred to, being not (h kuriakh hmera,), but (h hmera
kurion.). This entirely settles the matter, so far as the mere criticism is concerned; and as to
interpretation, it is plain that by far the greater portion of the Apocalypse is occupied, not
with "the day of the Lord" but with events prior thereto.}

We shall now consider the connection between the Sabbath, and the river flowing out of
Eden. There is much interest in this. It is the first notice we get of "the river of God" which is,
here, introduced in connection with God's rest. When God was resting in His works, the
whole world felt the blessing and refreshment thereof. It was impossible for God to keep a
Sabbath, and earth not to feel its sacred influence. But alas, the streams which flowed forth
from Eden-the scene of earthly rest—were speedily interrupted, because the rest of creation
was marred by sin.

Yet, blessed be God, sin did not put a stop to His activities but only gave them a new sphere;
and wherever He is seen acting, the river is seen flowing. Thus when we find Him, with a
strong hand, and an outstretched arm, conducting His ransomed hosts across sterile sand of
the desert, there we see the stream flowing forth, not from Eden, but from the smitten
Rockapt and beautiful expression of the ground on which sovereign grace ministers to the
need of sinners! This was redemption and not merely creation. "That rock was Christ," Christ
smitten to meet His people's need. The smitten rock was connected with Jehovah's place in
the Tabernacle; and truly there was moral beauty in the connection. God dwelling in curtains,
and Israel drinking from a smitten rock, had a voice for every opened ear, and a deep lesson
for every circumcised heart. (Ex. 17: 6)

Passing onward, in the history of God's ways, we find the river flowing in another channel. "In
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood, and saying, If any man thirst, let him
come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water." (John 7: 37, 38.) Here, then, we find the river emanating from
another source, and flowing through another channel; though, in one sense, the source of the
river was ever the same, being God Himself; but, then, it was God, known in a new
relationship and upon a new principle. Thus in the passage just quoted, the Lord Jesus was
taking His place, in spirit, outside of the whole existing order of things, and presenting
Himself as the source of the river of living water, of which river the person of the believer
was to be the channel. Eden, of old, was constituted a debtor to the whole earth, to send forth
the fertilising streams. And in the desert, the rock, when smitten, became a debtor to Israel's
thirsty hosts. Just so, now, every one who believes in Jesus, is a debtor to the scene around
him, to allow the streams of refreshment to flow forth from him.

The Christian should regard himself as the channel, through which the manifold grace of
Christ may flow out to a needy world; and the more freely he communicates, the more freely
will he receive, "for there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth
more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty." This places the believer in a place of sweetest
privilege, and, at the same time, of the most solemn responsibility. He is called to be the
constant witness and exhibitor of the grace of Him on whom He believes.

Now, the more he enters into the privilege, the more will he answer the responsibility. If he is
habitually feeding upon Christ, he cannot avoid exhibiting Him. The more the Holy Spirit
keeps the Christian's eyes fixed on Jesus, the more will his heart be occupied with His
adorable Person, and his life and character bear unequivocal testimony to His grace. Faith is,
at once, the power of ministry, the power of testimony, and the power of worship. If we are
not living "by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for us" we shall
neither be effectual servants, faithful witnesses, nor true worshippers. We may be doing a
great deal, but it will not be service to Christ. We may be saying a great deal, but it will not be
testimony for Christ. We may exhibit a great deal of piety and devotion, but it will not be
spiritual and true worship.

Finally, we have the river of God, presented to us in the last chapter of the Apocalypse.* "And
he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb." "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place
of the tabernacles of the Most High." This is the last place in which we find river. Its source
can never again be touched—its channel never again interrupted. "The throne of God" is
expressive of eternal stability; and the presence of the Lamb marks it as based upon the
immediate ground of accomplished redemption. It is not God's throne in creation, nor in
providence; but in redemption. When I see the Lamb, I know its connection with me as a
sinner. "The throne of God," as such, would but deter me; but when God reveals Himself in
the Person of the Lamb, the heart is attracted, and the conscience tranquillised.
{*Compare also Ezek. 47: 1-12; Zech 14: 8.}

The blood of the Lamb cleanses the conscience from every speck and stain of sin, and sets it,
in perfect freedom in the presence of a holiness which cannot tolerate sin. In the cross, all the
claims of divine holiness were perfectly answered; so that the more I understand the latter, the
more I appreciate the former. The higher our estimate of holiness, the higher will be our
estimate of the work of the cross. "Grace reigns, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by
Jesus Christ our Lord." Hence the Psalmist calls on the saints to give thanks at the
remembrance of God's holiness. This is a precious fruit of a perfect redemption. Before ever a
sinner can give thanks at the remembrance of God's holiness, he must look at it by faith, from
the resurrection side of the cross.

Having thus traced the river, from Genesis to Revelation, we shall briefly look at Adam's
position in Eden. We have seen him as a type of Christ; but he is not merely to be viewed
typically, but personally; not merely as absolutely shadowing forth "the second man, the Lord
from heaven," but also as standing in the place of personal responsibility. In the midst of the
fair scene of creation, the Lord God set up a testimony, and this testimony was also a test for
the creature. It spoke of death in the midst of life. "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die." Strange, solemn sound. Yet, it was a needed sound. Adam's life was
suspended upon his strict obedience. The link which connected him with the Lord God*  was
obedience, based on implicit confidence in the One, who had set him in his position of
dignity—confidence in His truth—confidence in His love. He could obey only while he
confided. We shall see the truth and force of this, more fully, when we come to examine the
next chapter.
{*My reader will observe the change in the second chapter from the expression "God" to Lord
God." There is much importance in the distinction. When God is seen acting in relation with
man, He takes the title Lord God,"—(Jehovah Elohim;) but until man appears on the scene,
the word "Lord': is not used. I shall just point out three out of many passages in which the
distinction is very strikingly presented. "And they that went in, went in male and female of all
flesh, as God (Elohim) had commanded him; and the Lord (Jehovah) shut him in (Gen. 7: 16)
Elohim was going to destroy the world which He had made; but Jehovah took care of the man
with whom He stood in relation. Again, "that all the earth may know that there is a God
(Elohim) in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord (Jehovah) saveth," &c. (1
Sam. 17: 46, 47) All the earth was to recognise the presence of Elohim; but Israel was called
to recognise the actings of Jehovah, with whom they stood in relation. Lastly, "Jehoshaphat
cried out, and the Lord (Jehovah) helped him; and God (Elohim) moved them to depart from
him." (2 Chron. 18: 31) Jehovah took care of His poor erring servant; but Elohim, though
unknown, acted upon the hearts of the uncircumcised Syrians.}

I would here suggest to my reader the remarkable contrast between the testimony set up in
Eden, and which is set up now. Then, when all around was life, God spoke of death; now, on
the contrary, when all around is death, God speaks of life: then the word "in the day thou
eatest thou shalt die;" now the word is, "believe and live." And, as in Eden, the enemy sought
to make void God's testimony, as to the result of eating the fruit, so now, he seeks to make
God's testimony as to the result of believing the gospel. God had said, "In the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. But the serpent said, Ye shall not surely die." And now,
when God's word plainly declares that "he that believeth on the hath everlasting life," (John 3:
16) the same serpent seeks to persuade people that they have not everlasting life, nor should
they presume to think of such a thing, until they have, first, done, felt, and experienced all
manner of things.

My beloved reader, if you have not yet heartily believed the divine record, let me beseech you
to allow "the voice of the Lord" to prevail above the hiss of the serpent. "He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5: 24)

Genesis 3
This section of our book sets before us the breaking up of the whole scene on which we have
been dwelling. It abounds in very weighty principles; and has, very justly, been, in all ages,
resorted to as a most fruitful theme for those who desired to set forth the truth as to man's ruin
and God's remedy. The serpent enters, with a bold question as to divine revelation—terrible
model and forerunner of all infidel questions since raised by those who have, alas! too
faithfully served the serpent's cause in the world questions which are only to be met by the
supreme authority and. divine majesty of Holy Scripture.

"Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" This was Satan's crafty
enquiry; and had the word of God been dwelling richly in Eve's heart, her answer might have
been direct, simple, and conclusive. The true way in which to meet Satan's questions and
suggestions, is to treat them as his, and repel them by the word. To let them near the heart, for
a moment, is to lose the only power by which to answer them. The devil did not openly
present himself and say, "I am the devil, the enemy of God, and I am come to traduce Him,
and ruin you." This would not be serpent-like; and, yet, he really did all this, by raising
questions in the mind of the creature. To admit the question, "hath God said?" when I know
that God has spoken, is positive infidelity; and the very fact of my admitting It, proves my
total incapacity to meet it. Hence, in Eve's case, the form of her reply evidenced the fact that
she bad admitted to her heart serpent's crafty enquiry. Instead of adhering strictly to the exact
words of God, she, in her reply, actually adds thereto.

Now, either to add to, or take from, God's word, proves very clearly, that His word is not
dwelling in my heart, or governing my conscience. If a man is finding his enjoyment in
obedience, if it is his meat and his drink, if he is living by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of Jehovah, he will, assuredly, be aquainted with, and fully alive to, His word. He
could not be indifferent to it. The Lord Jesus, in His conflict with Satan, accurately applied
the word, because He lived upon it, and esteemed it more than His necessary food. He could
not misquote or misapply the word, neither could He be indifferent about it. Not so Eve. She
added to what God had said. His command was simple enough, "Thou shalt not eat of it." To
this Eve adds her own words, "neither shall ye touch it." These were Eve's words, and not
God's. He had said nothing about touching; so that whether her misquotation proceeded from
ignorance, or indifference, or a desire to represent God in an arbitrary light, or from all three
together, it is plain that she was entirely off the true ground of simple confidence in, and
subjection to, God's holy word. "By the words of thy mouth, I have kept me from the paths of
the destroyer."

Nothing can possess more commanding interest than the way in which the word is
everywhere put forward throughout the sacred canon, together with the immense importance
of strict obedience thereto. Obedience is due from us to God's word, simply because it is His
word. To raise a question, when He has spoken, is blasphemy. We are in the place of the
creature. He is the Creator; He may, therefore, justly claim obedience from us. The infidel
may call this "blind obedience;" but the Christian calls it intelligent obedience, inasmuch as it
is based upon the knowledge that it is God's word to which he is obedient. If a man had not
God's word, he might well be said to be in blindness and darkness, for there is not so much as
a single ray of divine light, within or around us, but what emanates from God's pure and
eternal word. ALL that we want to know is that God has spoken, and then obedience becomes
the very highest order of intelligent acting. When the soul gets up to God, it has reached the
very highest source of authority. No man, nor body of men, can claim obedience to their
word, because it is theirs ; and hence the claims of the Church of Rome are arrogant and
impious. In her claiming obedience, she usurps the prerogative of God; and all who yield it,
rob God of His right. She presumes to place herself between God and the conscience; and
who can do this with impunity? When God speaks, man is bound to obey. Happy is he if he
does so. Woe be to him if he does not. Infidelity may question if God has spoken; superstition
may place human authority between my conscience and what God has spoken; by both I like I
am effectually robbed of the word, and, as a consequence, of the deep blessedness of
obedience.

There is blessing in every act of obedience; but the moment the soul hesitates, the enemy has
the advantage; he will, assuredly, use it, to thrust the soul further and further from God. Thus,
in the chapter before us, the question, "Hath God said?" was followed up, "Ye shall not surely
die." That is to say, there was first the question raised, as to whether God had spoken, and
then followed the open contradiction of what God had said. This solemn fact is abundantly
sufficient to show how dangerous it is to admit near the heart a question as to divine
revelation, in its fullness and integrity. A refined rationalism is very near akin to bold
infidelity; and the infidelity that dares to judge God's Word is not far from the atheism that
denies His existence. Eve would never have stood by to hear God contradicted, if she had not
previously fallen into looseness and indifference as to His word. She, too, had her "phases of
Faith," or, to speak more correctly, her phases of Infidelity: she suffered God to be
contradicted by a creature, simply because? His word had lost its proper authority over her
heart, her conscience, and her understanding.

This furnishes a most solemn warning to all who are in danger of being ensnared by an
unhallowed rationalism. There is no true security, save in a profound faith in the plenary
inspiration and supreme authority of "ALL SCRIPTURE." The soul that is endowed with this
has a triumphant answer to every objector, whether he issue from Rome or Germany. "There
is nothing new under the sun." The self-same evil which is now corrupting the very springs of
religious thought and feeling, throughout the fairest portion of the continent of Europe, was
that which laid Eve's heart in ruins, in the garden of Eden. The first step in her downward
course was her hearkening to the question, "Hath God said." And then, onward she went, from
stage to stage, until, at length, she bowed before the serpent, and owned him as her god, and
the fountain of truth. Yes, my reader, the serpent displaced God, and the serpent's lie God's
truth. Thus it was with fallen man; and thus it is with fallen man's posterity. God's word has
no place in the heart of the unregenerated man; but the lie of the serpent has. Let the
formation of man's heart be examined, and it will be found that there is a place therein for
Satan's lie, but none whatever for the truth of God. Hence the force of the word to
Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again."

But, it is important to observe the mode in which the serpent sought to shake Eve's confidence
in God's troth, and thus bring her under the power of infidel "reason." It was by shaking her
confidence in God's love. He sought to shake her confidence in what God had said by showing
that the testimony was not founded in love. "For," said he, "God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil."
(Ver. 6.) In other words, "There is positive advantage connected with the eating of that fruit
of which God is seeking to deprive you; why, therefore, should you believe God's testimony?
you cannot place confidence in one who, manifestly, does not love you, for, if He loved you,
why should He prohibit your enjoying a positive privilege?'

Eve's security against the influence of all this reasoning, would have been simple repose in
the infinite goodness of God. She should have said to the serpent, "I have the fullest
confidence in God's goodness, therefore, I deem it impossible that He could withhold any real
good from me. If that fruit were good for me, I should surely have it; but the fact of being
forbidden by God proves that I would be no better, but much worse off by the eating of it. I
am convinced of God's love and I am convinced of God's truth, and I believe, too, that you are
an evil one come to draw my heart away from the fountain of goodness and truth. Get thee
behind me, Satan." This would have been a noble reply. But it was not given. Her confidence
in truth and love gave way, and all was lost; and so we find that there is just as little place in
the heart of fallen for God's love, as there is for God's truth. The heart of man is a stranger to
both the one and the other, until renewed by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Now, it is deeply interesting to turn from Satan's lie in reference to the truth and love of God,
to the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came from the bosom of the Father in order to
reveal what He really is. "Grace and truth"—the very things which man lost, in his fall—
"came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17) He was "the faithful witness" of what God was. (Rev. 1:
5) Truth reveals God as He is; but this truth is connected with the revelation of perfect grace;
and thus the sinner finds, to his, unspeakable joy, that the revelation of what God is, instead
of being his destruction, becomes the basis of his eternal salvation. "This is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John 17: 3.)
I cannot know God and not have life. The loss of the knowledge of God was death; but the
knowledge of God is life. This, necessarily, makes life a thing entirely outside of ourselves,
and dependent upon what God is. Let me arrive at what amount of self-knowledge I may, it is
not said that "this is life eternal, to know themselves;" though, no doubt, the knowledge of
God and the knowledge of self-will go very much together; still, "eternal life" is connected
with the former, and not with the latter. To know God as He is, is life; and "all who know not
God" shall be "punished with everlasting destruction from His presence."

It is of the utmost importance to see that what really stamps man's character and condition is
his ignorance or knowledge of God. This it is that marks his character here, and fixes his
destiny hereafter. Is he evil in his thoughts, evil in his words, evil in his actions? It is all the
result of his being ignorant of God. On the other hand, is he pure in thought, holy in
conversation, gracious in action? It is but the practical result of his knowledge of God. So also
as to the future. To know God is the solid ground of endless bliss—everlasting glory. To
know Him not is "everlasting destruction." Thus the knowledge of God is everything. It
quickens the soul, purifies the heart, tranquillises the conscience, elevates the affections,
sanctifies the entire character and conduct.

Need we wonder, therefore, that Satan's grand design was to rob the creature of the true
knowledge of the only true God? He misrepresented the blessed God: he said He was not
kind. This was the secret spring of all the mischief. It matters not what shape sin has since
taken it matters not through what channel it has flowed, under what head it has ranged itself,
or in what garb it has clothed itself; it is all to be traced to this one thing, namely, ignorance
of God. The most refined cultivated moralist, the most devout religionist, the benevolent
philanthropist, if ignorant of God, is as far from life and true holiness, as the publican and
harlot. The prodigal was just as much a sinner, as positively awry from the Father, when he
had crossed the threshold, as when he was feeding swine in the far country. (Luke 15: 13-15.)
So, in Eve's case. The moment she took herself out of the hands of God, out of the position of
absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, His word, she abandoned herself to the
government of sense, as used of Satan for her entire overthrow.

The sixth verse presents three things; namely, "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the
pride of life:" which three, as the apostle states, comprehend "all that is in the world." These
things necessarily took the lead, when God was shut out. If I do not abide in the happy
assurance of God's love and truth, His grace and faithfulness, I shall surrender myself to the
government of some one, or it may be all, of the above principles; and this is only another
name for the government of Satan. There is, strictly speaking, no such thing as man's free-
will. If man be self-governed, he is really governed by Satan; and if not, he is governed by
God.

Now, the three great agencies by which Satan works are "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eye, and the pride of life." These are the things presented by Satan to the Lord Jesus, in the
temptation. He began by tempting the Second Man to take Himself out of the position of
absolute dependence upon God. "Command these stones that they be made bread" He asked
Him to do this, not, as in the case of the first man, to make Himself what He was not, but to
prove what He was. Then followed the offer of the kingdoms of the world, with all their
Glory. And, finally, conducting Him to a pinnacle of the temple, he tempted Him to give
Himself, suddenly and miraculously, to the Admiration of the assembled people below.
(Comp. Matt. 4: 1-11 with Luke 4: 1-13.) The plain design of each temptation was to induce
the Blessed One to step from the position of entire dependence upon God, and perfect
subjection to His will. But all in vain. "it is written," was the unvarying reply of the only
dependent, self-emptied, perfect man. Others might undertake to manage for themselves;
none but God should manage for Him.

What an example for the faithful, under all their circumstances! Jesus kept close to scripture,
and thus conquered; without any other weapon, save the sword of the Spirit, He stood in the
conflict, and gained a glorious triumph. What a contrast with the first Adam! The one had
everything to plead for God; the other had everything to plead against Him. The garden, with
all its delights, in the one case; the wilderness, with all its privations, in the other: confidence
in Satan, in the one case; confidence in God in the other: complete defeat in the one case;
complete victory in the other. Blessed for ever be the God of all grace, who has laid our help
on One so mighty to conquermighty to save!

Let us now inquire how far Adam and Eve realised the serpent's promised advantage. This
inquiry will lead us to a deeply important point in connection with the fall of man. The Lord
God had so ordered it, that in and by the fall, man should get, what previously, he had not,
and that was, a conscience, a knowledge of both good and evil. This, man, evidently, could
not have had before. He could not have known ought about evil, inasmuch as evil was not
there to be known. He was in a state of innocence, which is a state of ignorance of evil. Man
got a conscience in, and by, fall; and we find that the very first effect of conscience was to
make him a coward. Satan had utterly deceived the woman. He had said, "your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil! But he had left out a material part of
the truth, that they should know good, without the power to do it; and that they should know
evil, without the power to avoid it. Their very attempt to elevate themselves in the scale of
moral existence, involved the lose of true elevation. They became degraded, powerless,
Satan-enslaved, conscience-smitten, terrified, creatures. "The eyes of them both were
opened," no doubt; but alas! to what a sight! It was only to discover their own nakedness.
They opened their eyes upon their own condition, which was "wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked." "They knew that they were naked"—sad fruit of the tree of
knowledge! It was not any fresh knowledge of divine excellence they had attained, no fresh
beam of divine light from the pure and eternal fountain thereof—alas! no; the very earliest
result of their disobedient effort after knowledge, was the discovery, that they were naked.

Now, it is well to understand this; well, too, to know how conscience works,—to see that it
can only make cowards of us, as being the consciousness of what we are. Many are astray as
to this; they think that conscience will bring us to God. Did it operate thus, in the case of
Adam and Eve? Assuredly not, nor will it, in the case of any sinner. How could it? How could
the sense of what I am ever bring me to God, if not accompanied by the faith of what God is?
Impossible; it will produce shame, self-reproach, remorse, anguish. It may, also, give birth to
certain efforts, on my part, to remedy the condition which it discloses; but these very efforts,
so far from drawing us to God, rather act as a blind to hide Him from our view. Thus, in the
case of Adam and Eve, the discovery of their nakedness was followed by an effort of their
own to cover it. "They sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons." This is the
first record we have of man's attempt to remedy, by his own device, his condition; and the
attentive consideration thereof will afford us not a little instruction as to the real character of
human religiousness in all ages. In the first place we see, not only in Adam's case, but in every
case, that man's effort to remedy his condition is based upon the sense of his nakedness. He is,
confessedly, naked, and all his works are the result of his being so. This can never avail. I
must know that I am clothed, before I can do anything acceptable in the sight of God.

And this, be it observed, is the difference between true Christianity and human religiousness.
The former is founded upon the fact of a man's being clothed; the latter, upon the fact of his
being naked. The former for its starting post what the latter has for its goal. that a true
Christian does, is because he is clothed—perfectly clothed; all that a mere religionist does, in
order that he may be clothed. This makes a vast difference. The more we examine the genius
of man's religion, in all its phases, the more we shall see its insufficiency to remedy his state,
or even to meet his own sense thereof. It may do very well for a time. It may avail so long as
death, judgement, and wrath of God are looked at from a distance, if at all; but, when a man
comes to look these realities straight in the face, he will find, in truth, that his religion is a bed
too short for him to stretch himself upon, and a covering too narrow for him wrap himself in.

The moment Adam heard the voice of the Lord in Eden, "he was afraid," because, as he
himself confessed, "I was naked." Yes, naked, although he had his apron on him. But it is
plain that that covering did not even satisfy His own conscience. Had his conscience been
divinely satisfied, he would not have been afraid. "If our heart condemn us not, then have we
confidence toward God." (1 John 3: 20, 21.) But if even the human conscience cannot find
repose in man's religious efforts, how much less can the holiness of God. Adam's apron could
not screen him from the eye of God; and he could not stand in His presence naked; therefore
he fled to hide himself. This is what conscience will do at all times. It will cause man to hide
himself from God; and, moreover, all that his own religiousness offers him is a hiding-place
from God. This is a miserable provision, inasmuch as he must meet God, some time or other;
and if he has nought save the bad Conscience of what he is, he must be afraid—yea, he must
be wretched. Indeed, nothing is needed, save hell itself, to complete the misery of one who
feels he has to meet God, and knows only his own unfitness to meet Him.

Had Adam known God's perfect love, he would not have been afraid. "There is no tear in
love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made
perfect in love." (1 John 4: 17, 18.) But Adam knew not this, because he had believed the
serpent's lie. He thought that God was anything but love; and, therefore, the very last thought
of his heart would have been to venture into His presence. He could not do it. Sin was there,
and God and sin can never meet; so long as there is sin on the conscience, there must be the
sense of distance from God. "He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon
iniquity." (Hab. 1: 13) Holiness and sin cannot dwell together. Sin, wherever it is found, can
only be met by the wrath of God.

But, blessed be God, there is something beside the conscience of what I am. There is the
revelation of what He is; and this latter the fall of man really brought out. God had not
revealed Himself, fully, in creation: He had shown "His eternal power and Godhead,"*
qeioth" but He had not told out all the deep secrets of His nature and character. Wherefore
Satan made a grand mistake in coming to meddle with God's creation. He only proved to be
the instrument of his own eternal defeat, and confusion, and "his violent dealing" shall for
ever "come down upon his own pate." His lie Only gave occasion for the displays of the full
'truth in reference to God. Creation never could have brought out what God was. There was
infinitely more in Him than power and wisdom. There was love, mercy, holiness,
righteousness, goodness, tenderness, long-suffering. Where could all these be displayed, in a
world of sinners? God, at the first, came to create; and, then, when the serpent presumed to
meddle with creation, God came down to save. This brought out in the first words uttered by
the Lord God, after man's fall. "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him,
Where art thou?" This question proved two things. It proved that man was lost, and that God
had come to seek. It proved man's sin, and God's grace. "Where art thou?" Amazing
faithfulness? Amazing grace Faithfulness, to disclose, in the very question itself, the truth as
to man's condition: grace, to bring out, in the very fact of God's asking such a question, the
truth as to His character and attitude, in reference to fallen man. Man was lost; but God had
come down to look for him—to bring him out of his hiding place, behind the trees of the
garden, in order that, in the happy confidence of faith, he might find a hiding place in
Himself. This was grace. To create man out of the dust of the ground was power; but to seek
man in his lost estate was grace. But who can utter all that is wrapped up in the idea of God's
being a seeker? God seeking a sinner? What could the Blessed One have seen in man, to lead
Him to seek for him? Just what the shepherd saw in the lost sheep; or what the woman saw in
the lost piece of silver; or what the father saw in the lost son. The sinner is valuable to God;
but why he should be so eternity alone will unfold.
{*There is a profoundly interesting thought suggested by comparing the word qeioth" (Rom.
1: 20) with the word qeoth"  (Col. 2: 9 They are both rendered "Godhead;" but they present
a very different thought. The heathen might have seen that there was something superhuman,
something divine, in creation; but pure, essential, incomprehensible Deity dwelt in the
Adorable Person of the Son.}

How, then, did the sinner reply to the faithful and gracious inquiry of the Blessed God? alas!
the reply only reveals the awful depth of evil into which he had fallen. "And he said, I heard
thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said,
Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee
that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Here, we find him actually laying the blame of his
shameful fall on the circumstances in which God had placed him, and thus, indirectly, upon
God Himself. This has ever been the way with fallen man. Everyone and everything is blamed
but self. In the case of true conviction, the very reverse is exhibited. "Is it not I that have
sinned" is the inquiry of a truly humbled soul. Had Adam known himself, how different
would have been his style! But he neither knew himself nor God, and, instead of throwing the
blame entirely upon himself, he threw it upon God.

Here, then, was man's terrible position. He had lost all. His dominion—his dignity—his
happiness—his purity—his peace—all was gone from him; and, what was still worse, he
accused God of being the cause of it.* There he stood, a lost, ruined, guilty, and yet, self-
vindicating, and, therefore, God-accusing sinner.
{*Man not only accuses God of being the author of his fall, but also blames Him for his non-
recovery. How often do we hear persons say that they cannot believe unless God give them
the power to believe; and, further, that unless they are the subjects of God's eternal decree,
they cannot be saved.

Now it is perfectly true, that no man can believe the gospel, except by the power of the Holy
Ghost; and it is also true, that who so believe the gospel are the happy subjects of God's
eternal counsels. But does all this set aside man's responsibility to believe a plain testimony
set before him in God's Word. It most certainly does no such thing. But it does reveal the sad
evil of man's heart, which leads him to reject Gods testimony which is plainly revealed, and to
give as a reason for so doing God's decree which is a profound secret, known only to Himself
However it will not avail, for we read in 1 Thess. 1: 8, 9, that those "Who obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall be punished with everlasting destruction." Men are responsible
to believe the gospel, and they will be punished for not believing it. They are not responsible
to know anything about God's counsels, inasmuch as they are not revealed, and, therefore,
there can be no guilt attached to ignorance concerning them. The apostle could say to the
Thessalonians, "knowing brethren beloved, our election of God." How did he know it? Was it
by having access to the page of God's secret and eternal decrees? By no means. How then?
"Because (o{ti) our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power." (1 Thess. 1: 4,
5) This is the way to know the election of any. When the gospel comes in power, it is a plain
proof of God's election.

But, I doubt not, the people who draw a plea from the divine counsels for rejecting the divine
testimony, only want some flimsy excuse to continue in sin. They really do not want God; and
it would be far more honest in them to say so, plainly, than to put forward a plea which is not
merely flimsy, but positively blasphemous. Such a plea will not avail them much amid the
terrors of the day of judgement now fast approaching.}

But, just at this point, God began to reveal Himself, and His purposes of redeeming love; and
herein lay the true basis of man's peace and blessedness. when man has come to the end of
himself, God can show what He is; but not until then. The scene must be entirely cleared of
man, and all his vain pretensions, empty boastings, and blasphemous reasonings, ere God can
or will reveal Himself. Thus it was when man was hidden behind the trees of the garden, that
God unfolded His wondrous plan of redemption through the instrumentality of the bruised
seed of the woman. Here we are taught a valuable principle of truth as to what it is which
alone will bring a man, peacefully and confidingly, into the presence of God.

It has been already remarked that conscience will never effect this. Conscience drove Adam
behind the trees of the garden; revelation brought him forth into the presence of God. The
consciousness of what he was terrified him; the revelation of what God was tranquillised him.
This is truly consolatory for a poor sin burdened heart. The reality of what I am is met by the
reality of what God is; and this is salvation.

There is a point where God and man must meet, whether in grace or judgement, and that
point is where both are revealed as they are. Happy are they who reach that point in grace!
Woe be to them who will have to reach it in judgement! It is with what we are that God deals;
and it is as He is that He deals with us. In the cross, I see God descending in grace to the
lowest depths, not merely of my negative, but my positive condition, as a sinner. This gives
perfect peace. If God has met me, in my actual condition, and Himself provided an adequate
remedy, all is eternally settled. But all who do not thus, by faith, see God, in the cross, will
have to meet Him, by and by, in judgement He will have to deal, according to what He is,
with what they are.

The moment a man is brought to know his real state, he can find no rest until He has found
God, in the cross, and then he rests in God Himself. He, blessed be His name is the rest and
hiding-place of the believing soul. This at once, puts human works and human righteous in
their proper place. We can say, with truth, that those who rest in such things cannot possibly
have arrived at the true knowledge of themselves. It is quite impossible that a divinely
quickened conscience can rest in ought save the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God. All effort
to establish one's own righteousness must proceed from ignorance of the righteousness of
God. Adam might learn, in the light of the divine testimony about "the seed of the woman,"
the worthlessness of his fig-leaf apron. The magnitude of that which had to be done, proved
the sinner's total inability to do it. Sin had to be put away Could man do that? Nay, it was by
him it had come in. The serpent's head had to be bruised Could man do that? Nay, he had
become the serpent's slave. God's claims had to be met. Could man do that? Nay, he had,
already, trampled them under foot. Death had to be abolished. Could man do that? Nay, he
had, by sin, introduced it, and imparted to it its terrible sting.

Thus, in whatever way we view the matter, we see the sinner's complete impotency, and, as a
consequence, the presumptuous folly of all who attempt to assist God in the stupendous work
of redemption, as all assuredly do who think to be saved in any other way but "by grace,
through faith."

However, though Adam might, and, through grace, did, see and feel that he could never
accomplish all that had to be done, yet God revealed Himself as about to achieve every jot
and tittle thereof, by the seed of the woman. In short, we see that He graciously took the entire
matter into His own hands. He made it, altogether, a question between Himself and the
serpent; for although the man and the woman were called upon, individually, to reap, in
various ways, the bitter fruits of their sin, yet it was to the serpent that the Lord God said,
"Because thou hast done this." The serpent was the source of the ruin; and the seed of the
woman was to be the source of the redemption. Adam heard all this, and believed it; and, in
the power of that belief, "he called his wife's name the mother of all living. This was a
precious fruit of faith in God's recreation. Looking at the matter from nature's point of view,
Eve might be mother called, "the mother of all dying." But, in the judgement of faith, she was
the mother of all living. "His mother called him Ben-oni; (the son of my sorrow;) but his
father called him Benjamin (the son of my right hand)."

It was through the sustaining energy of faith that Adam was enabled to endure the terrible
results of what he had done. It was God's wondrous mercy to allow him to hear what He said
to the serpent, before he was called to listen to what He had to say to himself. Had it not been
so, he must have been plunged in despair. It is despair to be called upon to look at myself,
without being able to look at God, as revealed in the cross, for my salvation. There is no child
of fallen Adam who could bear to have his eyes opened to the reality of what he is, and what
he has done, without being plunged in despair, unless he could take refuge in the cross.
Hence, in that place to which all who reject Christ must finally be consigned, hope cannot
come. There, men's eyes will be opened to the reality of what they are, and what they have
done; but they will not be able to find relief and refuge in God. What God is, will, then,
involve hopeless perdition; as truly as what God is, doth, now, involve eternal salvation. The
holiness of God will, then, be eternally against them; as it is now that in which all who
believe are called to rejoice. The more I realise the holiness of God, now, the more I know my
security; but, in the case of the lost, that very holiness will be but the ratification of their
eternal doom. Solemn— unspeakably solemn—reflection!

We shall, now, briefly glance at the truth presented to us in God's providing a coats for Adam
and Eve. "Unto Adam, also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins, and
clothed them." We have here, in figure, the great doctrine of divine righteousness set forth.
The robe which God provided was an effectual covering, because He provided it just as the
apron was an ineffectual covering, because man had provided it. Moreover, God's coat was
founded upon blood-shedding. Adam's apron was not. So also, now God's righteousness is set
forth in the cross; man's righteousness is set forth in the works, the sin-stained works of his
own hands. When Adam stood clothed in the coat of skin he could not say, "I was naked,'' nor
had he any occasion to hide himself. The sinner may feel perfectly at rest, when, by faith, he
knows that God has clothed him: but to feel at rest till then, can only be the result of
presumption or ignorance. To know that the dress I wear, and in which I appear before? God,
is of His own providing, must set my heart at perfect rest. There can be no true, permanent
rest in ought else.

The closing verses of this chapter are full of instruction. Fallen man, in his fallen state, must
not be allowed to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, for that would entail upon him endless
wretchedness in this world To take of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever, in our present
condition, would be unmingled misery. The tree of life can only be tasted in resurrection. To
live for ever, in a frail tabernacle, in a body of sin and death, would be intolerable.
Wherefore, the Lord God "drove out the man." He drove him out into a world which,
everywhere, exhibited the lamentable results of his fall. The Cherubim and the flaming
sword, too, forbid fallen man to pluck the fruit of the tree of life; while God's revelation
pointed him to the death and resurrection of the seed of the woman, as that wherein life was
to be found beyond the power of death.

Thus Adam was a happier and a safer man, outside the bounds of Paradise, than he had been
within, for this reason—that, within, his life depended upon himself whereas, outside, it
depended upon another, even a promised Christ. And as he looked up, and beheld "the
Cherubim and the flaming sword," he could bless the hand that had set them there, "to keep
the way of the tree of life," inasmuch as the same hand had opened a better, a safer, and a
happier way to that tree. If the Cherubim and flaming sword stopped up the way to Paradise,
the Lord Jesus Christ has opened "a new and living way" into the holiest of all. "I am the way,
the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (Compare John 14: 6; Heb.
10: 20.) In the knowledge of this, the believer now moves onward through a world which is
under the curse—where the traces of sin are visible on all hands. He has found his way, by
faith, to the bosom of the Father; and while he can secretly repose there, he is cheered by the
blessed assurance that the one who has conducted him thither, is gone to prepare a place in
the many mansions of the Father's house, and that he will soon come again and receive him
unto Himself, amid the glory of the Father's kingdom. Thus, in the bosom, the house, and the
kingdom of the Father, the believer finds his present portion, his future home and reward.

Genesis 4 & Genesis 5
As each section of the Book of Genesis opens before us, we are furnished with fresh evidence
of the fact that we are travelling over, what a recent writer has well termed, "the seed-plot of
the whole Bible;" and not only so, but the seed-plot of man's entire history.

Thus, in the fourth chapter, we have, in the persons of Cain and Abel, the first examples of a
religious man of the world, and of a genuine man of faith. Born, as they were, outside of
Eden, and being the sons of fallen Adam, they could have nothing, natural, to distinguish
them, one from the other. They were both sinners. Both had a fallen nature. Neither was
innocent. It is well to be clear in reference to this, in order that the reality of divine grace, and
the integrity of faith, may be fully and distinctly seen. If the distinction between Cain and
Abel were founded in nature, then it follows, as an inevitable conclusion, that they were not
the partakers of the fallen nature of their father, nor the participators in the circumstances of
his fall; and, hence, there could be no room for the display of grace, and the exercise of faith.

Some would teach us that every man is born with qualities and capacities which, if rightly
used, will enable him to work his way back to God. This is a plain denial of the fact so clearly
set forth in the history now before us. Cain and Abel were born, not inside, but outside of
Paradise. They were the sons, not of innocent, but of fallen Adam. They came into the world
as the partakers of the nature of their father; and it mattered not in what ways that nature
might display itself, it was nature still—fallen, ruined, irremediable nature. "That which is
born of the flesh is (not merely fleshly, but) flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is, (not
merely spiritual, but) spirit." (John 3)

If ever there was a fair opportunity for the distinctive qualities, capacities, resources, and
tendencies of nature to manifest themselves, the lifetime of Cain and Abel furnished it. If
there were ought in nature, whereby it could recover its lost innocence, and establish itself
again within the bounds of Eden, this was the moment for its display. But there was nothing
of kind. They were both lost. They were "flesh. They were not innocent. Adam lost his
innocence and never regained it. He can only be looked at as the head of a fallen race, who,
by his "disobedience," were made "sinners." (Rom. 5: 19) He became, so far as he was
personally concerned, the corrupt source, from whence have emanated the corrupt streams of
ruined and guilty humanity—the dead trunk from which have shot forth the branches of a
dead humanity, morally and spiritually dead.

True, as we have already remarked, he himself was made a subject of grace, and the possessor
and exhibitor of a lively faith in a promised Saviour; but this was not anything natural, but
something entirely divine. And, inasmuch as it was not natural, neither was it within the range
of nature's capacity to communicate it. It was not, by any means, hereditary. Adam could not
bequeath nor impart his faith to Cain or Abel. His possession thereof was simply the fruit of
love divine. It was implanted in his soul by divine power; and he had not divine power to
communicate it to another. Whatever was natural Adam could, in the way of nature,
communicate; but nothing more. And seeing that he, as a father, was in a condition of ruin,
his son could only be in the same. As is the begetter, so are they also that are begotten of him.
They must, of necessity, partake of the nature of him from whom they have sprung. "as is the
earthy, such are they also that are earthy." (1 Cor. 15: 48)

Nothing can be more important, in its way, than a correct understanding of the doctrine of
federal headship. If my reader will turn, for a moment, to Rom. 5: 12-21, he will find that the
inspired apostle looks at the whole human race as comprehended under two heads. I do not
attempt to dwell on the passage; but merely refer to it, in connection with the subject in hand.
The fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians will also furnish instruction of a similar character. In
the first man, we have sin, disobedience, and death. In The Second man, we have
righteousness, obedience, and life. As we derive a nature from the former, so do we also from
the latter. No doubt, each nature will display, in each specific case, its own peculiar energies;
it will manifest in each individual possessor thereof, its own peculiar powers. Still, there is
the absolute possession of a real, abstract, positive nature.

Now, as the mode in which we derive a nature from the first man is by birth, so the mode in
which we derive a nature from the Second man is by new birth. Being born, we partake of the
nature of the former; being "born again," we partake of the nature of the latter. A newly born
infant, though entirely incapable of performing the act which reduced Adam to the condition
of a fallen being, is, nevertheless, a partaker of his nature; and so, also, a newly born child of
God—a newly regenerated soul, though having nothing whatever to do with the working out
of the perfect obedience of "the man Christ Jesus," is, nevertheless, a partaker of His nature.
True it is that, attached to the former nature, there is sin; and attached to the latter, there is
righteousness. man's sin, in the former case; God's righteousness in the latter: yet, all the
while, there is actual, bona fide participation of a real nature, let the adjuncts be what they
may. The child of Adam partakes of the human nature and its adjuncts; the child of God
partakes of the divine nature and its adjuncts. The former nature is according to "the will of
man," (John 1) the latter is according to "the will of God;" as St. James, by the Holy Ghost,
teaches us, "Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth, (James 1: 18)

From all that has been said, it follows, that Abel was not distinguished from his brother Cain
by anything natural. The distinction between them was not grounded upon ought in their
nature or circumstances, for, as to these, "there was no difference." What, therefore, made the
vast difference? The answer is as simple as the gospel of the grace of God can make it. The
difference was not in themselves, in their nature, or their circumstances; it lay, entirely, in
their sacrifices. This makes the matter most simple, for any truly convicted sinner—for any
one who truly feels that he not only partakes of a fallen nature, but is himself, also, a sinner.
The history of Abel opens, to such an one, the only true ground of his approach to, his
standing before, and his relationship with, God. It teaches him, distinctly, that he cannot come
to God on the ground of anything in, of, or pertaining to, nature; and he must seek, outside
himself, and in the person and work of another, the true and everlasting basis of his
connection with the Holy, the Just, and only True God. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews sets
the whole subject before us, in the most distinct and comprehensive way. "By faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice (pleiona qusian) than Cain, by which he
obtained witness that he was righteous, God bearing witness (parturounto") to his gifts; and
by it he being dead yet speaketh." Here we are taught that it was, in no wise, a question as to
the men, but only as to their "Sacrifice"—it was not a question as to the offerer, but as to his
offering. Here lay the grand distinction between Cain and Abel. My reader cannot be too
simple in his apprehension of this point, for therein lies involved the truth as to any sinner's
standing before God.

And, now, let us enquire what the offerings were. "And in process of time it came to pass, that
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah. And Abel, he also brought of
the firstlings of his flock, and of the fruit thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to
his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect." (Gen. 4: 3-5) This sets the
difference clearly before us: Cain offered Jehovah the fruit of a cursed earth, and that,
moreover, without any blood to remove the curse. He presented "An unbloody sacrifice,"
simply because he had no faith. Had he possessed that divine principle, it would have taught
him, even at this early moment, that "Without shedding of blood, there is no remission." (Heb
9) This is a great cardinal truth. The penalty of sin is death. Cain was a sinner, and, as such,
death stood between him and Jehovah. But, in his offering, there was no recognition whatever
of this fact. There was no presentation of a sacrificed life, to meet the claims of divine
holiness, or to answer to his own true condition as a sinner. He treated Jehovah as though He
were, altogether, such an one as himself, who could accept the sin-stained fruit of a cursed
earth.

All this, and much more, lay involved in Cain's "unbloody sacrifice." He displayed entire
ignorance, in reference to divine requirements, in reference to his own character and
condition, as a lost and guilty sinner, and in reference to the true state of that ground, the fruit
of which he presumed to offer. No doubt, reason might say, "what more acceptable offering
could a man present, than that which he had produced by the labour of his hands, and the
sweat of his brow?" Reason, and even man's religious mind, may think thus; but God thinks
quite differently; and faith is always sure to agree with God's thoughts. God teaches, so faith
believes, that there must be a sacrificed life, else there can be no approach to God.

Thus, when we look at the ministry of the Lord Jesus, we see, at once, that, had He not died
upon the cross, all His services would have proved utterly unavailing as regards the
establishment of our relationship with God. True, "He went about doing good" all His life; but
it was His death that rent the veil. (Matt. 27: 61) Nought but His death could have done so.
Had he continued, to the present moment, "going about doing good," the veil would have
remained entire, to bar the worshipper's approach into" the holiest of all." Hence we can see
the false ground on which Cain stood as an offerer and a worshipper. An unpardoned sinner
coming into the presence of Jehovah, to present "an unbloody sacrifice," could only be
regarded as guilty of the highest degree of presumption. True, he had toiled to produce his
offering; but what of that? Could a sinner's toil remove the curse and stain of sin Could it
satisfy the claims of an infinitely holy God! Could it furnish a proper ground of acceptance
for a sinner? Could it set aside the penalty which was due to sin? Could it rob death of its
sting, or the grave of its victory? Could it do any or all of these things? Impossible. "Without
shedding of blood is no remission." Cain's "unbloody sacrifice," like every other unbloody
sacrifice, was not only worthless, but actually abominable, in the divine estimation. It not
only demonstrated his entire ignorance of his own condition, but also of the divine character.
"God is not worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything." And yet Cain
thought he could be thus approached. And every mere religionist thinks the same. Cain has
had many millions of followers, from age to age. Cain-worship has abounded all over the
world. It is the worship of every unconverted son, and is maintained by every false system of
religion under the sun.

Man would fain make God a receiver instead of a giver; but this cannot be; for, "it is more
blessed to give than to receive;" and, assuredly, God must have the more blessed place.
"Without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better." "Who hath first given to him?"
God can accept the smallest gift from a heart which has learnt the deep truth contained in
those words, "Of thine own have we given thee;" but, the moment a man presumes to take the
place of the "first" giver, God's reply is, "if I were hungry, I would not tell thee;" for "He is not
worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all "life and
breath and all things." The great Giver of "all things" cannot possibly "need anything." Praise
is all that we can offer to God; but this can only offered in the full and clear intelligence that
our sins are all put away; and this again can only be known by faith in the virtue of an
accomplished atonement.

My reader may pause, here, and read prayerfully the following scriptures, namely, Psalm 1;
Isaiah 1: 11-18; Acts 17: 22-34, in all of which he will find distinctly laid down the truth as to
man's true position before God, as also the proper ground of worship.

Let us now consider Abel's sacrifice. "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock,
and of the fat thereof." In other words, he entered, by faith, into the glorious truth, that God
could be approached by sacrifice; that there was such a thing as a sinner's placing the death of
another between himself and the consequence of his sin, that the claims of God's nature and
the attributes of His character could be met by the blood of a spotless victim—a victim
offered to meet God's demands, and the sinner's deep necessities. This is, in short, the
doctrine of the cross, in which alone the conscience of a sinner can find repose, because,
therein, God is fully glorified.

Every divinely convicted sinner must feel that death and judgement are before him, as "the
due reward of his deeds;" nor can he, by ought that he can accomplish, alter that destiny. He
may toil and labour; he may, by the sweat of his brow, produce an offering; he may make
vows and resolutions; he may alter his way of life; he may reform his outward character; he
may be temperate, moral, upright, and, in the human acceptation of the word, religious; he
may, though entirely destitute of faith, read, pray, and hear sermons. In short, he may do
anything, or everything which lies within the range of human competency; but,
notwithstanding all, "death and judgement" are before him. He has not been able to disperse
those two heavy clouds which have gathered upon the horizon. There they stand; and, so far
from being able to remove them, by all his doings, he can only live in the gloomy anticipation
of the moment Then they shall burst upon his guilty head. It is impossible for a sinner, by his
own works, to place himself in life and triumph, at the other side of "death and judgement—
yea, his very works are only performed for the purpose of preparing him, if possible, for those
dreaded realities.

Here, however, is exactly where the cross comes in. In that cross, the convicted sinner can
behold a divine provision for all his guilt and all his need. There, too, he can see death and
judgement entirely removed from the scene, and life and glory set in their stead. Christ has
cleared the prospect of death and judgement, so far as the true believer is concerned, and
filled it with life, righteousness, and glory. "He hath abolished death, and brought life and
incorruptibility to light, through the gospel." (2 Tim. 1: 10) He has glorified God in the
putting away of that which would have separated us for ever, from His holy and blissful
presence. "He has put away sin," and, hence it is gone. (Heb. 9: 26) all this is, in type, set forth
in Abel's "more excellent sacrifice." There was no attempt, on Abel's part, to set aside the
truth as to his own condition, and proper place as a guilty sinner—no attempt to turn aside the
edge of the flaming sword, and force his way back to the tree of life—no presumptuous
offering of an unbloody sacrifice"—no presentation of the fruit of a cursed earth to Jehovah—
he took the real ground of a sinner, and, as such, set the death of a victim between him and
his sins, and between his sins and the holiness a sin-hating God. This was most simple. Abel
deserved death and judgement, but he found a substitute.

This is it with every poor, helpless, self-condemned, conscience-smitten sinner. Christ is his
substitute, his ransom, his most excellent sacrifice, his ALL. Such an one will feel, like Abel,
that the fruit of the ground could never avail for him; that were he to present to God the
fairest fruits of earth, he would still have a sin-stained conscience, inasmuch as "without
shedding of blood is no remission." The richest fruits, and the most fragrant flowers, in the
greatest profusion, could not remove a single stain from the conscience. Nothing but the
perfect sacrifice of the Son of God can give ease to the heart and conscience. All who by faith
lay hold of that divine reality, will enjoy a peace which the world can neither give nor take
away. It is faith which puts the soul in present possession of this peace. "Being justified by
faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. 5: 1) "By faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."

It is not a question of feeling, as so many would make it. It is entirely a question of faith in an
accomplished fact, faith wrought in the soul of a sinner, by the power of the Holy Ghost. This
faith is something quite different from a mere feeling of the heart, or an assent of the intellect.
Feeling is not faith. Intellectual assent is not faith. Some would make faith to be the mere
assent of the intellect to a certain proposition. This is fearfully false. It makes the question of
faith human, whereas it is really divine. It reduces it to the level of man, whereas it really
comes from God Faith is not a thing of today or tomorrow. It is an imperishable principle,
emanating from an eternal source, even God Himself; it lays hold of God's truth, and sets the
soul in God's presence.

Mere feeling and sentimentality can never rise above the source from whence they emanate;
and that source in self; but faith has to do with God and His eternal word, and is a living link,
connecting the heart that possesses it with God mho gives it. Human feelings, however
intense; human sentiments, however refined, could not connect the soul with God. They are
neither divine nor eternal, but are human and evanescent. They are like Jonah's gourd, which
sprang up in a night, and perished in a night. Not so faith. That precious principle partakes of
all the value, all the power, and all the reality of the source from whence it emanates, and the
object with which it has to do. It justifies the soul; (Rom. 5: 1) it purifies the heart; (Acts 15:
9) it works by love; (Gal. 5: 6) it overcomes the world. (1 John 5: 4) Feeling and sentiment
never could accomplish such results; they belong to nature and to earth, faith belongs to God
and to heaven; they are occupied with self, faith is occupied with Christ; they look inward and
downward, faith looks outward and upward; they leave the soul in darkness and doubt, faith
leads it into light and peace; :they have to do with one's own fluctuating condition, faith has to
do with God's immutable truth, and Christ's eternally enduring sacrifice.

No doubt, faith will produce feelings and sentiments spiritual feelings and truthful
sentiments—but the fruits of faith must never be confounded with faith "itself. I am not
justified by feelings, nor yet by faith feelings, but simply by faith. And why? Because faith
believes God when He speaks; it takes Him at His word; it apprehends Him as He has
revealed Himself in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is life, righteousness,
and peace. To apprehend God as He is, is the sum of all present and eternal blessedness.
When the soul finds out God, it has found out all it can possibly need, here or hereafter; but
He can only be known by His own revelation, and by the faith which He Himself imparts, and
which, moreover, always sees divine revelation as its proper object.

Thus, then, we can, in some measure, enter into the meaning and power of the statement, "By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." Cain had no faith, and,
therefore, he offered an unbloody sacrifice. Abel had faith, and, therefore, he offered both
"blood, and fat," which, in type, set forth the presentation of the life, and also the inherent
excellency of the Person of Christ. "The blood," set forth the former; "the fat," shadowed forth
the latter. Both blood and fat were forbidden to be eaten, under the Mosaic economy. The
blood is the life; and man, under law, had no title to life. But, in the sixth of John, we are
taught, that unless we eat blood, we have no life in us. Christ is the life. There is not a spark
of life outside of Him. ALL out of Christ is death. "In him was life," and in none else.

Now, He gave up His life on the cross; and, to that life, sin was, by imputation, attached,
when the blessed One was nailed to the cursed tree. Hence, in giving up His life, He gave up,
also, the sin attached thereto, so that it is, effectually, put away, having been left in His grave
from which He rose triumphant, in the power of a new life, to which righteousness as
distinctly attaches itself, us did sin to that life which He gave up on the cross. This will help
us to an understanding of an expression used by our blessed Lord, after His resurrection, "a
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see we have." He did not say, "flesh and blood;" because,
in resurrection, He had not assumed, into His sacred person, the blood which He had shed out
upon the cross, as an atonement for sin. "The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given
it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood which maketh
an atonement for the soul." (Lev. 17: 11) Close attention to this point will have the effect of
deepening, in our souls, the sense of the completeness of the putting away of sin, by the death
of Christ; and we know that whatever tends to deepen our sense of that glorious reality, must,
necessarily, tend to the fuller establishment of our peace, and to the more effectual promotion
of the glory of Christ, as connected with our testimony and service.

We have, already, referred to a point of much interest and value, in the history of Cain and
Abel, and that is, the entire identification of each with the offering which he presented. My
reader cannot possibly bestow too much attention upon this. The question, in each case, was
not as to the person of the offerer; but, entirely, as to the character of his offering. Hence, of
Abel we read that "God testified of his gifts." He did not bear witness to Abel, but to Abel's
sacrifice; and this fixes, distinctly, the proper ground of a believer's peace and acceptance
before God.

There is a, constant tendency, in the heart, to ground our peace and acceptance upon
something in or about ourselves even though we admit that that something is wrought by the
Holy Ghost. Hence arises the constant looking in, when the Holy Ghost would ever have us
looking out. The question for every believer is not, "what am I" but, "what is Christ?" Having
come to God "in the name of Jesus," he is wholly identified with Him, and accepted in His
name, and, moreover, can no more be rejected than the One in whose name he has come.
Before ever a question can be raised as to the feeblest believer, it must be raised as to Christ
Himself. But this latter is clearly impossible, and thus the security of the believer is
established upon a foundation which nothing can possibly move. Being in himself a poor
worthless sinner, he has come in the name of Christ, he is identified with Christ, accepted in
and as Christ, bound up in the same bundle of life with Christ. God testifies, not of him, but
of his gift, and his gift is Christ. ALL this is most tranquillising and consolatory. It is our
happy privilege to be able, in the confidence of faith, to refer every objection, and every
objector, to Christ, and His finished atonement. ALL our springs are in Him. In Him we boast
all the day long. Our confidence is not in ourselves, but in Him who hath wrought everything
for us. We hang on His name, trust in His work, gaze on His Person, and wait for His coming.

But the carnal mind, at once, displays its enmity against all this truth which so gladdens and
satisfies the heart of a believer. Thus it was with Cain. "He was very wroth, and his
countenance fell." That which filled Abel with peace, filled Cain with wrath. Cain in unbelief,
despised the only way in which a sinner could come to God. He refused to offer blood,
without which there can be no remission; and, then, because he was not received, in his sins,
and because Abel was accepted, in his gift, "he was wroth, and his countenance fell." And yet,
how else could it be? He should either be received with his sins, or without them; but God
could not receive him with them, and he would not bring the blood which alone maketh
atonement; and, therefore, he was rejected, and, being rejected, he manifests in his ways, the
fruits of corrupt religion. He persecutes and murders the true witness—the accepted, justified
man—the man of faith; and, in so doing, he stands as the model and forerunner of all false
religionists, in every age. At all times, and in all places, men have shown themselves more
ready to persecute on religious grounds, than on any other. This is Cain-like. Justification—
full, perfect, unqualified justification, by faith only, makes God everything, and man nothing:
and man does not like this; it causes his countenance to fall, and draws out his anger. Not that
he can give any reason for his anger; for it is not, as we have seen, a question of man at all,
but only of the ground on which he appears before God. Had Abel been accepted on the
ground of ought in himself, then, indeed, Cain's wrath, and his fallen countenance, would
have had some just foundation; but, inasmuch as he was accepted, exclusively, on the ground
of his offering; and, inasmuch as it was not to him, but to his gift, that Jehovah bore
testimony, his wrath was entirely without any proper basis. This is brought out in Jehovah's
word to Cain:" If thou doest well, (or, as the LXX reads it, if thou offer correctly, (orqw"
prosenegkh",) shalt thou not be accepted?" The well-doing had reference to the offering.
Abel did well by hiding himself behind an acceptable sacrifice. Cain did badly by bringing an
offering without blood; and all his after-conduct was but the legitimate result of his false
worship.

"And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that
Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." Thus has it ever been; the Cains have
persecuted and murdered the Abels. At all times, man and his religion are the same; faith and
its religion are the same: and wherever they have met, there has been conflict.

However, it is well to see that Cain's act of murder was the true consequence—the proper
fruit—of his false worship. His foundation was bad, and the superstructure erected thereon
was also bad. Nor did he stop at the act of murder; but having heard the judgement of God
thereon, despairing of forgiveness through ignorance of God, he went forth from His blessed
presence, and built a city, and had in his family the cultivators of the useful and ornamental
sciences-agriculturists, musicians, and workers in metals. Through ignorance of the divine
character, he pronounced his sin too great to be pardoned.* It was not that he really knew his
sin, but that he knew not God. He fully exhibited the terrible fruit of the fall in the very
thought of God to which he gave utterance. He did not want pardon, because he did not want
God. He had no true sense of his own condition; no aspirations after God; no intelligence as
to the ground of a sinner's approach to God. He was radically corrupt—fundamentally wrong;
and all he wanted was to get out of the presence of God, and lose himself in the world and its
pursuits. Be thought he could live very well without God, and he therefore set about
decorating the world as well as be could, for the purpose of making it a respectable place, and
himself a respectable man therein, though in God's view it was under the curse, and he was a
fugitive and a vagabond.
{*The word used by Cain (awOcN]pI) occurs in Ps. 32: 1 whose transgression is forgiven. The
LXX renders it by afeqenai, to be remitted.}

Such was "the way of Cain in which way millions are, at this moment, rushing on. Such
persons are not, by any means, divested of the religious element in their character. They
would like to offer something to God; to do something for Him. They deem it right to present
to Him the results of their own toil. They are ignorant of themselves, ignorant of God; but
with all this there is the diligent effort to improve the world; to make life agreeable in various
ways; to deck the scene with the fairest colours. God's remedy to cleanse is rejected, and
man's effort to improve is put in its place. This is "the way of Cain." (Jude 11)

And, my reader, you have only to look around you to see how this "WAY is prevailing at the
present moment. Though the world is stained with the blood of "a greater than" Abel, even
with the blood of Christ; yet see what an agreeable place man seeks to make of it As in Cain's
day, the grateful sounds of "the harp and organ," no doubt, completely drowned, to man's ear,
the cry of Abel's blood; so now, man's ear is filled with other sounds than those which issue
from Calvary; and his eye filled with other objects than a crucified Christ. The resources of
his genius, too, are put forth to render this world a hot-house, in which are produced, in their
rarest form, all the fruits for which nature so eagerly longs. And not merely are the real wants
of man, as a creature, supplied, but the inventive genius of the human mind has been set to
work for the purpose of devising things, which, the moment the eye sees, the heart desires,
and not only desires, but imagines that life would be intolerable without them. Thus, for
instance, some years ago, people were content to devote three or four days to the
accomplishing of a journey of one hundred miles; but now they can accomplish it in three or
four hours; and not only so, but they will complain sadly if they happen to be five or ten
minutes late. In fact, man must be saved the trouble of living. He must travel without fatigue,
and he must hear news without having to exercise patience for it. He will lay iron rails across
the earth, and electric wires beneath the sea, as if to anticipate, in his own way, that bright
and blissful age, when "there shall be no more sea."*
{*True, the Lord is using all those things for the furtherance of His own gracious ends; and
the Lord's servant can freely use them also; but this does not hinder our seeing the spirit
which originates and characterises them.}

In addition to all this, there is abundance of religion, so called; but, alas charity itself is
compelled to harbour the apprehension, that very much of what passes for religion is but a
screw in the vast machine, which has been constructed for man's convenience, and man's
exaltation. Man would not be without religion. It would not be respectable; and, therefore, he
is content to devote one-seventh of his time to religion; or, as he thinks and professes, to his
eternal interests; and then be has six-sevenths to devote to his temporal interests; but whether
he works for time or eternity, it is for himself, in reality. such is "the way of Cain." Let my
reader ponder it well. Let him see where this way begins, whither it tends, and where it
terminates.

How different the way of the man of faith! Abel felt and owned the curse; he saw the stain of
sin, and, in the holy energy of faith, offered that which met it, and met it thoroughly—met it
divinely. He sought and found a refuge in God Himself; and instead of building a city on the
earth, he found but a grave in its bosom. The earth, which on its surface displayed the genius
and energy of Cain and his family, was stained underneath with the blood of a righteous man.
Let the man of the world remember this; let the man of God remember it; let the worldly-
minded Christian remember it. The earth which we tread upon is stained by the blood of the
Son of God. The very blood which justifies the Church condemns the world. The dark shadow
of the cross of Jesus may be seen by the eye of faith, looming over all the glitter and glare of
this evanescent world. "The fashion of this world passeth away." It will soon all be over, so
far as the present scene is concerned. "The way of Cain" will be followed by "the error of
Balaam," in its consummated form; and then will come "the gainsaying of Core;" and what
then "The pit" will open its mouth to receive the wicked, and close it again, to shut them up in
"blackness of darkness for ever." (Jude 13)

In full confirmation of the foregoing lines, we may run the eye over the contents of Chapter 5
and find therein the illuminating record of man's weakness, and subjection to the rule of
death. He might live for hundreds of years, and "beget sons and daughters;" but, at last, it
must be recorded that "he died." "Death reigned from Adam to Moses." "It is appointed unto
men once to die." Man cannot get over this. He cannot, by steam, or electricity, or anything
else within the range of his genius, disarm death of its terrible sting. He cannot, by his energy,
set aside the sentence of death, although he may produce the comforts and luxuries of life.

But whence came this strange and dreaded thing, death? Paul gives us the answer: "By one
man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5: 12) Here we have the origin of
death. It came by sin. Sin snapped asunder the link which bound the creature to the living
God; and, that being done, he was handed over to the dominion of death, which dominion he
had no power whatever to shake off. And this, be it observed, is one of the many proofs of the
fact of man's total inability to meet God. There can be no fellowship between God and man,
save in the power of life; but man is under the power of death; hence, on natural grounds,
there can be no fellowship. Life, can have no fellowship with death, no more than light with
darkness, or holiness with sin. Man must meet God on an entirely new ground, and on a new
principle, even faith; and this faith enables him to recognise his own position, as "sold under
sin," and, therefore, subject to death; while, at the same time, it enables him to apprehend
God's character, as the dispenser of a new life—life beyond the power of death—a life which
can never be touched by the enemy, nor forfeited by us.

This it is which marks the security of the believer's life—a risen, glorified Christ—a Christ
victorious over everything that could be against us. Adams life was founded upon his own
obedience; when he disobeyed, life was forfeited. But Christ, having life in Himself, came
down into this world and fully met all the circumstances of man's sin, in ever possible form;
and, by submitting to death, destroyed him who had the power thereof, and, in resurrection,
becomes the life and righteousness of all who believe in His most excellent name.

Now, it is impossible that Satan can touch this life, either in its source, its channel, its power,
heaven its sphere, or its duration. God is its source; a risen Christ, its channel, The Holy
Ghost, its power; heaven, its sphere; and eternity its duration. Hence, therefore, as might to
one possessing this wondrous life, the whole scene is changed; and while, in one sense, it
must be said, "in the midst of life we are in death," yet, in another sense it can be said, "in the
midst of death we are in life". There is no death in the sphere into which a risen Christ
introduces His people. How could there be? Has not he abolished it? It cannot be an abolished
and an existing thing at the same time, and to the same people; but God's word tells us it is
abolished. -Christ emptied the scene of death, and filled it with life and, therefore, it is not
death, but glory that lies before the believer, death is behind him for ever. As to the future, it
is all glory, cloudless glory. True, it may be his lot to "fall asleep"—to "sleep in Jesus"—but
that is not death, but "life in earnest." The mere matter of departing to be with Christ cannot
alter the specific hope of the believer, which is to meet Christ in the air, to be with Him, and
like Him, for ever.

Of this we have a very beautiful exemplification in Enoch, who forms the only exception to
the rule of Gen. 5. The rule is, "he died;" the exception is, "he should not see death." "By faith
Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him; for before his translation be had this testimony, that he pleased God." (Heb.
11: 5.) Enoch was "the seventh from Adam;" and it is deeply interesting to find, that death
was not suffered to triumph over "the seventh;" but that, in his case, God interfered, and made
him a trophy of His own glorious victory over all the power of death. The heart rejoices, after
reading, six times, the sad record, "he died," to find, that the seventh did not die; and when we
ask, how was this? the answer is, "by faith." Enoch lived in the faith of his translation, and
walked with God three hundred years. This separated him, practically, from all around. To
walk with God must, necessarily, put one outside the sphere of this world's thoughts. Enoch
realised this; for, in his day, the spirit of the world was manifested; and then, too, as now, it
was opposed to all that was of God. The man of faith felt he had nought to do with the world,
save to be a patient witness, therein, of the grace of God, and of coming judgement. The sons
of Cain might spend their energies in the vain attempt to improve a cursed world, but Enoch
found a better world and lived in the power of it.* His faith was not given him to improve the
world, but to walk with God.
{*It is very evident, that Enoch knew nothing whatever about of "making the best of both
worlds." To him there was but one world. Thus it should be with us}

And, oh! how much is involved in these three words, "walked with God!" What separation
and self-denial! what holiness and moral purity! what grace and gentleness what humility and
tenderness! and yet, what zeal energy? What patience and long-suffering! and yet what
faithfulness and uncompromising decision! To walk with God comprehends everything within
the range of the divine life, whether active or passive. It involves the knowledge of God's
character as He has revealed it. It involves, too, the intelligence of the relationship in which
we stand to Him. It is not a mere living by rules and regulations! nor laying down plans of
action; nor in resolutions to go hither and thither to do this or that. To walk with God is far
more than any or all of these things. Moreover, it will sometimes carry us right athwart the
thoughts of men, even of our brethren, if they are not themselves walking with God. It may,
sometimes, bring against us the charge of doing too much; at other times, of doing too little;
but the faith that enables one to "walk with God," enables him also to attach the proper value
thoughts of man.

Thus we have, in Abel and Enoch, most valuable instruction as to the sacrifice on which faith
rests; and, as to the prospect which hope now anticipates; while, at the same time," the walk
with God" takes in all the details of actual life which lie between those two points. Lord will
give grace and glory;" and between the grace that has been, and the glory that is to be,
revealed, there is the happy assurance, that "no good thing will he withhold from them that
walk uprightly." (Psalm 84: 11)

It, has been remarked, that "the cross and the coming of the Lord form the termini of the
Church's existence on earth," and these termini are prefigured in the sacrifice of Abel, and the
translation of Enoch. The Church knows her entire justification through the death and
resurrection of Christ, and she waits for the day, when He shall come and receive her to
Himself. She, "through the Spirit, waits for the hope of righteousness by faith." (Gal. 5: 5) She
does not wait for righteousness, inasmuch as she, by grace, has that already; but she waits for
the hope which properly belongs to the condition into which she has been introduced.

My reader should seek to be clear as to this. Some expositors of prophetic truth, from not
seeing the Church's specific place, portion, and hope, have made sad mistakes. They have, in
effect, cast so many dark clouds and thick mists around "the bright and morning star," which
is the proper hope of the Church, that many saints, at the present moment, seem unable to rise
above the hope of the God-fearing remnant of Israel, which is to see "the Sun of
Righteousness arise with healing in his wings." (Mal. 4) Nor is this all. Very many have been
deprived of the moral power of the hope of Christ's appearing, by being taught to look for
various events and circumstances previous to the moment of His manifestation to the Church.
The restoration of the Jews, the development of Nebuchadnezzar's image, the revelation of
the man of sin—all these things, it is maintained. must take place ere Christ comes. That this
is not true, might be proved from numerous passages of New Testament scripture, were this
the fitting place to adduce them.

The Church, like Enoch, will be taken away from the evil around, and the evil to come.
Enoch was not left to see the world's evil rise to a head, and the judgement of God poured
forth upon it. He saw not the fountains of the great deep broken up," nor "the windows of
heaven opened." He was taken away before any of these things occurred; and he stands before
eye of faith as a beautiful figure of those," who shall not all sleep, but shall all be changed, in
a moment in the twinkling of an eye." (1 Cor. 15: 51, 52) Translation, not death, was the hope
of Enoch; and, as to the Church's hope, it is thus briefly expressed by the apostle, "To wait for
the Son from heaven." Thess. 1: 10) This, the simplest and most unlettered Christian can
understand and enjoy. Its power, too be can, in some measure, experience and manifest. He
may not be able to study prophecy very deeply, but he can, blessed be God, taste the
blessedness, the reality, the comfort, the power, the elevating and separating virtue of that
celestial hope, which properly belongs to him as a member of that heavenly body, the Church;
which hope is not merely to see "the Sun of Righteousness" how blessed soever that may be in
its place, but to see "the bright and morning star." (Rev. 2: 28.) And as in the natural world,
the morning star is seen, by those who watch for it, before the sun rises, so C