would, 3rd Epistle John, 8th verse, "He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning, For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." This is of course the Redemption, and a subject for future pages in this work, only introduced here for the purpose of showing the condemned state of nature that must be kept under by the power of a strong will for the sinful flesh is in enmity with God, who is well acquainted with every desire and imagination of our hearts, he knowing our propensities having striven for the third time to establish man upon the earth unsuccessfully, sin multiplying as fast as man, and each commencement failing worse than the first, as was the case in the new world, God having made a covenant and promised not to destroy the world again with a flood of water, soon found a necessity to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities round about, with fire from heaven, not ten righteous men could be found in it. These were the accursed offspring of Ham, who inherited his propensities, and refused the pure and spotless daughters of Lot, for the angels that came unto him, who were compelled to smite them with blindness for their protection from violence; here were brute beasts as the Apostles describe as following the same corruptible practices as those before the flood. These, like Lot, Abraham, and Noah, might have been of a perfect generation, had they, like Noah, kept themselves just and righteous, instead of giving way to original sin that nature labours under, and nearly bringing the world again to another total destruction, which was needful to be, and was only reserved for a short time, now nearly expired.

JUSTIFICATION OF THE DAUGHTERS OF LOT. Genesis xix. 8 ver.

"Behold, now, I have two daughters which have not known man," &c. Here we find two daughters of marriageable estate, their virtue proclaimed pure although living in the midst of cities of diabolical corruption and violence, and Lot offering up such virtue a sacrifice to save his guests from violence. Lot little expected when he proclaimed their virginity he would have been the first to know them, he then having a wife and sons and daughters, and sons' wives living; but what a bereavement followed! his sons and their wives stopped through unbe

lief and were destroyed, and his wife was lost to him on his escape therefrom, so that there was but himself and his virgin daughters left, and no one to be hushand to them, or to be wife to Lot, so that the family would have been extinct, and his daughters foresaw this and took proceedings accordingly, and not through any desire or lust in any way whatever. This is their justification of themselves, 19th chapter of Genesis, 31st and 32nd verse, "And the firstborn said unto the younger our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth, Come let us make our father drink wine and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.” Is not this a sufficient justification for what they did? They in turn lay with their father, and both bare sons, and became two different nations. They were not the promised seed, there was a failure in Lot's more natural seeds in disobeying the command in leaving the city: his daughters were more righteous and sinned not, for there is an absence of all lust or desire. The first is, the man they lay with was their own father, and he was old instead of young, and it became an open question of consultation between them, and the result was the need of an inheriting seed from their father, Lot, and to be acknowledged as his, not their own, and this principle afterwards became a section of the law, delivered to Moses. In their justification, there is the presence of a far more important cause as stated, "And there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth." They might also have stated and there was not another woman to come to there father neither, for the family that was perfect in their generation was very limited, in proof of this I shall refer to the little city of Zoar that was saved from destruction by the interposition of Lot, and it was there that he and his daughters fled unto, but he was afraid to stop in it, though he was the means of saving it from destruction. What a dreadful state must the inhabitants of that city be living in, to cause Lot and his daughters to fly from it in fear to a cave in the mountains. It appears that the destruction of the other cities had no effect upon those of Zoar, for they frightened their deliverer from it; this was a city of men and women undoubtely, for it was not the city that was considered wicked, but the people in it. If there had been nobody there, Lot would assuredly have stayed in it, instead of hiding himself in a cave in the mountains; hence the consultation and justification of his

daughters, for it was as they state, there was not another man in the earth that could come to them but their father, neither would they have lain with him if it had not been as they stated to preserve seed there being no seed and he was placed in a position of unconsciousness not to know what he done, 33rd v. "And they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose." This cannot be called sin or lustful revelling pleasures but for a just and necessary purpose for although this city of Zoar was full of men they were not of a generation that these virgin daughters could have for their husbands, or they would have become united to a lost generation. Any person that supposes that Lot committed incest, and was considered a just man, notwithstanding, and maketh use of this passage as an argument for covering his own vile and beastly purposes, committeth the grossest sin, and shows an utter want of perception, a mind filled with lust and darkness, and ignorant even of his own shame and sin, and a just and certain condemnation for it is a proof positive that he inherits no small share of the seed of the fallen angel's nature, which is a natural state of condemnation, and will assuredly meet with condign punishment.

THE PERFECT GENERATION PROTECTED.

Genesis vi, 9, 10. "These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet." ix, 19. "These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth overspread." It is not my intention to follow unnecessarily into detail all the generations, nations, and tongues that came into existance from these three sons, but only as such divisions come into contact, worthy of notice. Following that seed of the promised Messiah coming,-the cause of protection. In the tenth chapter we find the generations of the three sons, Japhet being mentioned first and here we get divisions, as verse 5: "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands, every one after his tongue after their families, in their nations." Verse 20: "These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations." The 31st and 32nd verses: "These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, and after their nations. These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their

generations, in their nations, and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood." It is necessary to notice the conduct of these families, and how they forsook God and sinned, 9th ch. 11 v. "And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they founa a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there." This land of Shinar requires the same explanation as already given to the land of Nod, and here too are the families called men, instead of sons of God; and were equally as bad as the generation of Cain in the land of Nod, and became worse if possible, for God burnt them with fire from heaven, instead of destroying them with water as in the generation of Cain, who be it remembered, began building not only a city, but a tower to reach to heaven lest they be scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth. 5th verse. "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded." This was the very cause why God did scatter them abroad, the very punishment they most dreaded, and confounded their language and speech also, so these like Cain, were banished forth to go whither they liked, and were afterwards destroyed, Abraham interceding for the whole and Lot after interceded for one little city and obtained it. There then we have a new commencement of the world, which is the fourth time of commencement, for what was in existence was not acknowledged, any more than Cain and his generation was. This fourth commencement was a similar one to the second, other races being in existence at the same time. The second began by giving the genealogy of the generation of Adam, and the fourth time by repeating the genealogy of Shem, Enoch was the seventh from Adam, Noah the eight, and his son Shem could only make the ninth, there is this to be remembered, that this last destruction took place in Abraham and Lot's time, which was a many years after Shem; so that this fourth commencement is dated back again from Shem, as xi ch. 10 verse, "These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphazed two years after the flood." The other sons of Shem mentioned in the previous chapter are not mentioned in this generation, that most likely they were amongst those destroyed, as those were in the generation of Adam and grandsires of Noah, a great volume might be written about the details of these generations, which must be avoided at least by me, noting only the very limited circle which needed the providential care and protection of the Most High. This genealogy is sufficient to prove the direct descent to Abraham, who would have fell

likewise had not the Allseeing eyes of the Deity protected the seed of promise from pollution; Abraham having a son born unto him by a bond-woman, his wife's maid Hagar, would have amounted to a sin had he not justified himself by circumstances, as was in similar instance by the daughters of Lot: Abraham was well aware that the promised redemption was to be by his seed, and he had no heirs, his wife being considered barren, and he was fearful of one that was born in his house would be his heir is the cause of the common consent between himself and wife, to raise seed unto them by their maid, thus making this otherwise sin, justifiable having no evil intent whatever, but such seed was not of a perfect generation and consequently not accepted as such, Genesis 15th chapter, 2nd 3rd 4th verses. "And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezar of Damascus, and Abraham said, behold to me thou hast given no seed and to one born in my house is mine heir. And behold the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, this shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." Here is Abraham's fear and that fear is taken away by a promise that no such person should be his heir but one of his own begetting, but how must have been a question considered between himself and wife, because she being barren and passed childbearing, and he knowing he must become a father does not take the maid through lust, but a supposed necessity and a common consent for the purpose of raising a seed; this then is cause why God acknowledges him as Abraham's Son, and blesses him through the intercession of Abraham, but a direct negative was given as to receiving him as an heir to the covenant of promise, although indisputably the first son of Abraham, but not owned by God in that light of a perfect generation but Isaac alone, Genesis 22nd chapter, 2nd verse. "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou loveth," &c. 11th 12th verse, "And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, here am 1, and he said, lay not thine hands upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." This is sufficient proof that Abraham had two sons, Ismael and Isaac, the second son Isaac was born of a perfect generation descending from Noah's son Shem, and the first son though blessed in like manner was a descendant of one of Noah's other sons, who was to be a servant