enlarge upon in a future number.) This is the doctrine of Saint Paul, Colossians iii, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him.” Without being risen from this darkness and death of Adam, which is the natural state of every man of his race. This natural darkness of death, or valley of the shadow of death, or valley of dry bones, or whatever scripture phrases are used, is the cause of so many sects or denominations of religions and religious warfare and misconceptions, and blind leading the blind. It is the cause of every debate and argument, every coercion, petty tyranny, and desire for pompous authority, every oppression exercised towards one another, the death of Christ, his being considered beside himself and derided; likewise St. Paul, Acts xxvi, v. 24, "And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make the mad." When the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, they were considered as men drunken with new wine. It is the same, and will be the same with every one that plainly beholds the enlightenment of scripture, and proclaims the truth how man is fallen, and the way that he has become so. St. Paul proves as much in the 2nd Corinthians, v. chapter, v. 17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature." This is the adopted state by regeneration, not the natural state of conception, and the concepted state is not like the created state, for it is all vanity and selfishness and other evils that the scriptures attaint mankind with. This is man, the once possessor of God's heavenly attributes of wisdom, knowledge, and holiness, ennobled in holy sentiments and comprehensive faculties, bright beautiful and lovely in perfection, rich in grace and holy in principle, superior to all other created life. Now what is it, a wreck moving in stately mockery of all that once was, "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepeth, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give the light." Ephesians, chap. v, verse 14. James also states that the body without the spirit is dead, so that man being driven forth from the Tree of Life became dead. This is the First Death that our first parents died into, when the knowledge of sin entered the mind by the knowledge of evil being impregnated in nature by the laws of generative conception, and not by any outward promptings of any invisible agency whatever, for

that would be a charge direct against the Deity in tempting man or in allowing him to be tempted. See 1st General Epistle of James, 13 and 14 verses, “Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man.

But every

Then

man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death." This was the case with original sin, and when seen that it is our propensity, conceived in us, instead of supposing us to be tempted by an invisible enemy, then and then only shall we be able to understand scripture in its proper sense. This is the death of the mind, the enlightened life God gave to Adam darkened in supersti-" tion through sin that came by lust in the first instance. It is the same by all Adam's race, the carnal mind being in enmity with the first source of it, in other words, in enmity with God or the Tree of Life, who gave it. This is the cause why generation needs regeneration, the light that came into the world and the darkness perceived it not, the light that was to enlighten the Gentiles, but this cannot be perceived by the natural state of nature, which is condemned, therefore regencration is requisite, and that cannot be had without a real desire for it, John i, 12 and 13 v. "But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This proves a fact that man in the first instance was made a son and offspring of God, after his image and likeness, and similitude, but does not › continue so by natural birth, is evident, because we only become sons of God by adoption. It is the gift of God unto those who believe on his name, according to his testimony, given for our guidance, which is contrary to our mind, our birth, and our propensities, as St. John describes No person can suppose that any evil or invisible tempter has anything whatever to do with this, for it is the generative state not created; but as soon as man is in the adopted state by the grace and gift of God, he is a new creature, and need not that any man tell him anything whateither about the explanation of the scripture, or other maters of neces-. sity, 2nd Epistle of John, chap. ii, v. 27. "But the annointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same annointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God."

THE FORBIDDEN TREE.

Genesis 2nd, 16 & 17.

ence.

"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it." In the first chapter by Moses we find that every herb or tree, wherein was the fruit of a tree yielding seed, which was upon the face of all the earth, was given to Adam for food, and it was so; but there were two other trees in the garden particularised from those that bare or yielded fruit, whose seed was in itself the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Creator is here described as the tree of life, which warrants us to describe the other as a creature, and the only evil thing in existThis tree too is a sensible tree, a tree possessed with a knowledge of knowing good and evil, and the only one that did have such a knowledge: the good that it was so possessed of became attainted with evil, making the whole propensity had; such a tree was, of course in a condemned position, as Christ states "every tree that my Heavenly Father hath not planted, is hewn down and cast into the fire." The axe is laid at the foot of every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, and it is hewn down and cast into the fire. Gospel of John, 15th chap. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can, ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me can ye do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered." It is very clear to understand that God is the vine or tree of life, and mankind the branches, or we are all trees possessed with knowledge of good and evil, but chiefly we are a million times worse than having the knowledge of it, and this is the kind of tree represented as standing in the midst of the garden, as God forwarned our ancestors not to touch as death was the consequence; so that it is an evident fact that the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was of no botanical or vegetable order at all, but standing as a tree of sensibility and knowledge, in the form of man and the nature of angels, in short an angel become possessed with evil knowledge and propensities, and the fruit, generature and lust.

Genesis iii, v. 1.

THE SERPENT.

"Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made: and he said unto the woman, 6 Yea, hath not God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.' I have already proved in

a former page the utter impossibility of this serpent being of a reptile species, for God had made them all good, but none with a knowledge and power to talk, persuade, deceive or answer; he was possessed with more subtility than any other creation, and so is mankind, the word serpent being used here is an epithet applied to the angel or the tree knowing good and evil, in the same manner as mankind applies the word rascal, or beast, or other commoner and worse expressions. Matthew, 23rd c., 32nd & 33rd v. "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers, ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell." This is a great fact, all mankind is represented as trees that know good and evil, which knowledge is the cause of evil committed, and when done we are under the term of brutes, villians, rascals and serpents, and a generation of vipers from the first serpent, the name applied to the tree of knowledge of good and evil that stood in the midst of the garden at creation. In the 13th chapter of Luke, 32nd verse, Christ calls Herod a fox. And he said unto them: go ye and tell that fox, behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day, and tomorrow; and the third day I shall be perfected." And other words have been applied, such as, a dragon, a serpent, a viper, a wicked and adulterous generation, and a great number of other such like expressions; but sufficient to know that this serpent that beguiled Eve was not of a reptile species or any other than the angel, alias serpent, alias tree of knowledge of good and evil, that Christ says he saw fall like lightning from heaven-that was before death had power over nature, so that he took no harm by falling, (not flying),—so that this serpent was good when made, but he did not fall from there because he kept good; and the same knowledge of evil that caused him to fall from there would have prevented him from going there. The only sin or guilt he was then guilty of, was that of knowing good and evil, (and man is far worse,) and he was the first to cause it. Man and angel were both alike made and at the same time, their belonging to two different folds or habitations only making the difference.

THE TEMPTATION AND FALL.

Genesis iii. 4 & 5 v.

"And the serpent said unto the woman ye shall not surely die. For 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." This is subtilty and deceit, "Ye shalt not surely die." The serpent here knew by his own propensities what death she would die, for it was the death he was already in, the slurring word surely' meaning that she would not undergo the death of the grave; and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil,' which was telling her the truth, for that is what she became, instead of remaining what she was, as Gods, knowing only good, this is his subtility, he was not telling her falsehoods, he was acquainting her with purposes for which she was made, that was opening her eyes to the fruits of generature, but if she had kept to the purposes for the which she was made, she would have kept to her husband, and, then only after a necessary and decent elapsement of time, before she should be aware of such purposes. To prove this a fact we must behold the commitment of sin between the time of being naked and were not ashamed, and the time when they were naked and was ashamed, as before temptation, which is the last verse of the 2nd chapter, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Why was this introduced, except to convey to man the sin that immediately followed? Was not this pure innocency? Is not the word serpent rightly applied to that tree of knowledge, or should we say brute, beast, or villian? Let me apply for an answer of some parent who has but one only daughter that he loves with the same love and affection as the Heavenly Father had to his offspring daughter, Eve, just made in all purity and perfection of innocence, that battled against subtility for a time, not then even knowing the generative laws of nature. What will such a parent, I would ask, apply to such a person? The Creator applies the word serpent. If a parent can find a more suitable one, let him bear it in mind, for Eve is not by far the only one that has fallen by the subtility of trees knowing good and evil, nor the only one by far whose eyes were opened when too late to know that nakedness was required to be kept concealed by clothing. 6th & 7th verses: "And when the woman saw that the tree