Genesis 5:24

“And Enoch walked with God; then he was no more; for God took him.”

The cares of a family are by no means incompatible with a life of devotedness to God. The man distinguished for his piety above all others in the antediluvian world, had a very numerous offspring. His eldest son, Methuselah, was born to him at the age of sixty-five; after which he continued for the space of three hundred years to beget sons and daughters, (verses 1-23) to whom doubtless he paid every attention in his power. Yet he was not impeded in his spiritual course; but found time to serve his God, as much as if he had been free from all concern about this present world.

We shall consider,

I. His conduct—

We are told that Enoch “walked with God.”

1. Walking with God implies agreement—

Enoch, as a fallen creature, was once alienated from God, like others, Ephesians 4:18, and, during his unconverted state, was full of enmity against him both in heart and life, Romans 8:7; Colossians 1:21, “walking after the flesh,” according to the course of this world, and altogether contrary to God, Romans 8:1; Ephesians 2:2; Leviticus 26:27-28. But now he was reconciled to God through faith in Christ. It is said in Hebrews 11:5 that Enoch was “translated by faith;” and though that faith might have more immediate respect to some promise given him relative to his translation—yet we can scarcely conceive but that it had a further respect to the promised Messiah. And this idea is greatly strengthened by the account Jude gives of his foretelling the very manner of the future judgment (verses 4, 15,) for if he prophesied of Christ’s second coming, doubtless he was not ignorant of his first advent; and was brought by this means to an agreement with him both in mind and will.

Thus must all of us obtain reconciliation with God through the blood of Christ, before we can resemble this eminent saint; for it is not possible for “two to walk together except they be agreed, Amos 3:3.”

2. Walking with God implies familiarity—

Friends who associate much together, contract a familiarity with each other; they open to each other their sorrows and their joys; they consult each other in their difficulties; and maintain with the greatest freedom a mutual fellowship. Thus did Enoch with his God. He considered God as his friend; he had familiar access to him at all times; he opened to him all his needs, all his fears, all his trials; he did nothing without first asking counsel of his friend, and engaging his assistance.

Nor was this an honor peculiar to him—it is the duty and the privilege of all the saints.

We may go and knock at the door of our Friend, and he will always open unto us, Matthew 7:7-8 saints.

We may have access to him with boldness and with confidence, even in our most private closet, James 4:8; Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 10:19.

We may ask what we will of him, and he will do it for us, John 15:7.

He, on the other hand, will come and knock at our door; and will come in and sup with us, Revelation 3:20; John 14:23.

He will communicate to us his secrets, Psalm 25:14; and will in ten thousand ways manifest himself unto us as he does not unto the world, John 14:21-22.

3. Walking with God implies affection—

Affection is the very essence of friendship—mere agreement or familiarity are of little value without it. Where affection does not exist, the fellowship cannot be such as is implied in walking with God. Enoch loved his God, if I may so speak, with all his heart, and mind, and soul, and strength. God would never have given him a special testimony of his approbation, if his heart had been destitute of the sacred flame of love. He went forth to meet his God, as Adam was accustomed to do in his state of innocence; he looked forward with joy to the seasons when he would again renew his fellowship with him. He studied to avoid everything that might in any respect grieve him; and made it the great object of his life to do what was pleasing in his sight.

It is in this way that we also are to walk with God, Hebrews 10:19. We must commune with him not by constraint, but willingly and of a ready mind, 1 John 1:3. We must delight ourselves in him, Psalm 37:4. His loving-kindness must be better to us than life itself, Psalm 63:3; and it must be as marrow and fatness to us to serve and honor him, Psalm 63:5.

How acceptable to God this conduct was, we may learn from,

II. The reward with which God honored him—

The manifestations of God’s presence and favor which he continually enjoyed, were a rich recompense for any self-denial which he exercised, or any exertions which he used, to please his God. But, besides all these,

1. God exempted him from death, the common lot of all men—

All, the righteous as well as the wicked, must pay the penalty of death, which has been entailed on them by the sin of Adam, and been richly merited by their own personal transgressions. But God has been pleased to exempt from it one in the old world, and one in the new, Compare 2 Kings 2:11 with the text. This testimony of his approbation God given to Enoch. He was a bold and faithful witness for God, and doubtless incensed many against him, Judges 14, 15. And God took him from a persecuting and ungodly world, who probably were seeking to destroy him on account of his pungent admonitions.

In Hebrews 11:5 before cited, it is said “he was not found.” This may refer to some search made by his friends (see 2 Kings 2:16,) or rather by his enemies, (see 1 Kings 18:10). God took him in the prime of life, without any previous pain or sickness. To some indeed it might appear a calamity to be taken away, in the midst of his useful labors, and while his family were still looking up to him for instruction and support; but he thought it “far better to depart and to be with Christ,” than to prolong his days in the midst of a tempting and ungodly world; and God gave him the desire of his heart.

We, however diligent in walking with God, cannot hope to participate in such a reward as this. But death shall be disarmed of its sting, so that it shall be to us rather an object of desire, than of fear and terror! 2 Corinthians 5:4; and while the most stout-hearted sinner in the universe trembles at its approach, we shall be enabled not only to meet it with serenity and composure, but to triumph over it as a vanquished enemy! 1 Corinthians 15:55.

2. God exalted him both in body and in soul to a more immediate enjoyment of his presence—

While Enoch was in the body, he could not endure the full splendor of the divine glory, 1 Timothy 6:16; he could only behold his God through the dark medium of faith, 1 Corinthians 13:12, or, at most, be permitted to “see his back parts, Exodus 33:23.” But God translated him, both in body and soul, to the highest heavens; making him thereby not only an eminent type of Christ’s ascension, but a pledge to us that our bodies shall hereafter be raised to a participation of the happiness, which our glorified souls shall enjoy at the instant of their departure from the body.

To what extent the blessedness of every individual will be advanced by the re-union of the soul and body, it is not possible to say; but it is reasonable to suppose, that that which consummates our reward, will greatly enhance our felicity.

This, however, Enoch had not to wait for; he received his full reward at once; and was thereby distinguished from all those disembodied spirits, which, though perfected in glory, waited for their complete happiness until the day of judgment. The happiness of Enoch in communing with God on earth was doubtless exceedingly great; but when he arrived at the full fruition of the divine glory, his blessedness as far exceeded all that he had before experienced, as the early dawn is surpassed by the meridian light.

It need not, however, be any matter of regret to us, that we are not to expect this reward; since, on our dismissal from the body, we shall instantly be in Paradise; and at the day of resurrection, we shall have our bodies raised to a participation of our bliss.

3. God made him a most distinguished monument to the whole world, of the love he bears to those who seek communion with him—

We know but little of the state of those who are gone into the invisible world, though we believe, from the Word of God, that they are completely happy. But here is an evidence to our very senses, that none shall be allowed to “seek God’s face in vain.” Who, after beholding such an interposition of the Deity, such an honor conferred on a “man of like passions with ourselves,” can doubt one moment of the acceptance which all shall find, who serve their God in sincerity and truth? Isaiah 64:5.

In this view then we may consider his reward as a pledge of ours. We shall not be left without many expressions of God’s love even in this world, if we endeavor to walk closely with him. But, whether our present state be more or less joyous, we are sure that in the eternal world we shall not lose our reward. We need only to consider the exalted condition of this distinguished saint and we may see in him the blessedness reserved for us.

Inferences:

1. What an honorable character is the Christian!

We consider those as honorable who associate with great men on earth. But the Christian has higher company than earthly monarchs; he walks with God himself; and God is not ashamed to call him his friend! Hebrews 11:16; James 2:23; John 15:15. In some sense, the Christian is already translated into God’s kingdom, Colossians 1:13, and admitted into the heavenly Zion, and joined to the society of glorified saints and angels, Hebrews 12:22-23.

Let every one then walk worthy of this high calling; and, in a dignified contempt of all inferior objects, endeavor to attain this sublime privilege in its highest perfection.

2. What a happy character is the Christian!

His singularity may bring upon him much odium and persecution. But why should he regard the frowns of men, who enjoys fellowship with God? One smile from his almighty Friend is sufficient to counterbalance all the indignities that can possibly be cast upon him. Yet, after all, his happiness in this world is but as the drop before the shower. When he has filled up the measure of his obedience, God takes him to himself; a band of angels are sent to bear his spirit to the regions of the blessed. It must not be said of the Christian, “He dies;” but merely, that “God translates him” from a world of sin and misery, to a world of blessedness and glory. “Such honor have all his saints, “God grant it may be ours forever and ever! Amen.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 4:26

“Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”

Of the various institutions of religion, some were clearly founded on an express appointment from God himself; others appear to have arisen, in the first instance, from the suggestions of holy men, and to have been afterwards authorized and established by divine authority.

It is manifest that baptism was practiced by the Jews long before it was appointed by Christ as the rite whereby his followers were to be consecrated to his service; but when it was first introduced, or whether by any express command of God, we know not.

The change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first was sanctioned by the practice of the Apostles; but whether they received any particular direction respecting it, we are not informed.

The presumption indeed is, that all the observances which God has sanctioned, originated from him; and that men began to practice them in consequence of some intimations from him; but as this is not declared in Scripture, we must be contented to leave the matter undecided.

We are not anywhere told that God commanded men to meet together for the purposes of public worship. If we take the text in the precise sense that it bears in our translation, it would seem that public assemblies of worship were rather the offspring of necessity; and that they arose out of an increase of population, and a growing neglect of personal and family religion.

The text indeed is, in the margin of our Bibles, rendered differently, “Then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord.” Nor are commentators agreed to which of the versions we should give the preference. We shall therefore include both; and take occasion from the words to show,

I. In what manner we should confess God—

The descendants of Cain, who had become “a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth,” soon cast off all regard for God, and addicted themselves to open and shameless impiety. Lamech broke through the restraints which the Creator had imposed in relation to marriage, and “took unto him two wives;” leaving thereby an example, which in process of time effaced the very remembrance of God’s original institution. From these and other abominations arose an imperious necessity for the godly to separate themselves from the ungodly, and to maintain by an open and more visible profession the honor of God in the world. This they did, and in so doing they have taught us,

1. To separate ourselves from the ungodly—

There is a certain degree of fellowship which must exist between us and the world. But it is by no means desirable to extend it beyond that which the duties of our calling absolutely require. Our Lord repeatedly declares that his faithful followers “are not of the world, even as He was not of the world John 17:16.” The Apostles also with one voice guard us against cultivating the friendship of the world, James 4:4, and teach us to come out from among them, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, and to live as a distinct “peculiar people, 1 Peter 2:9,” “shining among them as lights in a dark place, Philippians 2:15.”

We should go to them, indeed, when duty calls, as the physician enters the infected chambers of the sick; but we should never forget, that “evil company corrupts good character, 1 Corinthians 15:33;” and that an undue familiarity with them is far more likely to weaken the spirituality of our own minds, than to generate a holy disposition in theirs. In us should be verified the prophecy of Balaam, “Israel shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations, Numbers 23:9.”

2. To make an open profession of our attachment to Christ—

The godly, in the antediluvian world, called themselves “Sons of God,” as distinct from those who were only children of men; and it was foretold that a similar distinction should prevail among the followers of Christ, Isaiah 44:5. If in one instance Peter failed in acknowledging his Lord, on other occasions he witnessed a good confession, and manfully withstood the threatenings of his enemies, Acts 4:8; Acts 4:10; Acts 4:19-20. It may be thought perhaps, that, because Christianity is the established religion of the land, there is no occasion for such boldness now; but the sons of Cain and of Ishmael are yet among us, Judges 11; Galatians 4:23; Galatians 4:29. There are in every place those who deride all vital godliness; and it requires almost as much fortitude to withstand their sneers and contempt, as it does to brave more cruel persecutions.

There is the same necessity for us to “take up our cross and follow Christ,” as there was for the primitive Christians. And the command given to them to “be faithful unto death,” is equally to be regarded by us; for the same conduct will be observed by the Judge towards men of every age and nation, “he will confess those before his Father who have confessed him in the world,” and “deny before his Father those who have denied,” or been ashamed of him, Matthew 10:32-33; Mark 8:38.

But the text instructs us also,

II. In what manner we should worship him—

We cannot doubt but that Adam and his pious offspring maintained the worship of God both in their families and their closets; but until the human race were considerably multiplied, there was no occasion for what may be called public worship. But when the families became so numerous that they were obliged to separate, then it was necessary to call them together at stated times and seasons, that, by forming different congregations, they might all receive instruction at once, and keep up in their minds a habitual reverence for God.

The necessity for public ordinances is obvious; and the benefit arising from them is incalculable:

1. They preserve the knowledge of God in the world—

There is reason to fear, that if there were no public ordinances of religion, the very name of God would be soon forgotten. Notwithstanding the establishment of such institutions, the generality are “perishing for lack of knowledge;” darkness has overspread the land, even a darkness that may be seen and felt! Exodus 10:21 with Isaiah 9:2. But there is some light shining in the world; and that is diffused almost exclusively by the public ministry of the word. Occasionally, God is pleased to instruct men by his word and Spirit, without the intervention of human agents; but, as he has set apart an order of men for the express purpose of propagating his truth, so he delights to honor them as his instruments to convey his blessings to the world. Compare Zechariah 4:11-14 and 2 Corinthians 4:7 with Acts 8:26-39; Acts 10:9-44. Doubtless he grants his blessing to those who read and pray in secret, provided they reverence, as far as their circumstances admit, his public institutions; but never did he, from the foundation of the world, impart his blessing to those who continued to live in an avowed contempt of his ordinances. No, “he loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob, Psalm 87:2.”

2. They are the means of perfecting his work in his people’s hearts—

God has told us that this was a very principal end for his ordaining men to preach the Gospel, Ephesians 4:11-15; but it is by means of the public ordinances chiefly that Ministers can address the people; and consequently the ordinances themselves are the means by which God accomplishes his end. We have said before, that God will also reveal himself to his people in secret; and it sometimes happens that their communion with him in private is more sweet and intimate than in the public assembly.

But may we not ask, on the other hand, whether, when the heart has been cold and formal in the closet, it has not often been warmed and animated in the church? And is not much of the enjoyment experienced in secret, the result of instructions administered in the public ordinances? In the one they gather the food; in the other they ruminate and chew the cud; but the pleasure and nourishment derived to their souls must be acknowledged, in part at least, as originating in their public duties. To these has God promised his peculiar blessing, Exodus 20:24; Matthew 28:20; and therefore we should “reverence his sanctuary,” and join with one consent in a public surrender of ourselves to God. See Zephaniah 3:9; Zechariah 8:20-22.

Address,

1. Those who have others under their authority—

Parents, and Masters, you are responsible to God for the exercise of your power and influence. Will you then, either by precept or example, encourage a conformity to the world, or a disregard of the worship of your God? O “destroy not their souls, for whom Christ died!” Employ your authority for God; and, whatever opposition you may meet with in the world, learn to say with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! Joshua 24:15.”

2. Those who are acting for themselves—

If you have “chosen the good part,” be careful that it “be not taken away from you,” either through the love of this world, or through the fear of man. Be steadfast, and “endure unto the end, that you may be saved at last.” If you lose your life for Christ’s sake, you shall find it unto life eternal! But if you are “walking in the broad road,” think where it leads; and begin to serve your God in this world, that you may be honored by him in the world to come, John 12:26.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 4:8-10

“Now 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 killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”

It is scarcely to be conceived how much iniquity there is in the heart of fallen man! That we have passions which incline us occasionally to deviate from the path of duty, is nothing more than what all feel and confess; but that we are ready to perpetrate all manner of evil, not excepting even murder itself, few are sufficiently candid or intelligent to acknowledge. This seems an excess of wickedness, of which human nature, unless in very extraordinary circumstances, is not capable. To such a charge most men would be ready to reply, “Is your servant a dog, that I should do this thing?”

But we may behold in Cain a just picture of ourselves. What he was by nature, that are we also. The first-born of Adam, begotten after his own fallen image, shows what all are, until renewed by grace, “they live in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another;” and their contempt of God is equal to all the other odious qualities that defile their souls! We cannot but be struck with this in the history of Cain, who having murdered his brother Abel, presumed even to insult his God. His conduct will come properly under our review, if we consider,

I. The Murder of Abel—

In this awful transaction, there are two things to be inquired into:

1. The manner in which Abel’s murder was perpetrated—

Satan, in his assaults on man, can exert himself only by wiles and stratagems, not being permitted to exercise his power against us in any other way. But when he employs human agents in his service, he stirs them up to combine in their attacks “deceit and violence.” Such were the weapons with which the blood-thirsty Cain sought the destruction of his brother Abel.

“He talked with Abel his brother.” What the subject of the conversation was, it would be foolish to speculate; but that it was of a friendly nature, there can be no doubt. It was evidently with a design to allure him into a place of solitude, where he might effect his murderous purpose without difficulty or detection. Had he disclosed the sentiments of his heart, he would have put his brother on his guard; whereas by feigning affection towards him, he would remove all fear or suspicion from his brother’s mind, and facilitate the accomplishment of the fatal deed, Psalm 55:21.

To similar means assassins have had recourse in all ages. It was thus that Joab slew both Abner and Amasa, “he sent messengers after Abner, and took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, 2 Samuel 3:26-27.” “To Amasa he said, Are you in health, my brother? and took him by the beard to kiss him, 2 Samuel 20:9-10.” But his pretenses to friendship were only to secure access to them, that he might strike with effect the dagger to their heart.

It was thus that Absalom also contrived to murder his brother Amnon; he made a feast for all his family, and expressed particular solicitude to have the company of Amnon; but the whole was a cover-up, to effect the destruction of his brother in the midst of his convivial mirth, 2 Samuel 13:26-28.

The murder of a brother is such an atrocious act, that it scarcely admits of being aggravated by any circumstances; but if anything can aggravate it, surely the treachery of Cain must awfully enhance its guilt. Had it been the effect of sudden wrath, it had even then been criminal beyond the power of language to express; but being the result of premeditation and contrivance, of deceit and treachery, its enormity is increased a hundred-fold!

2. Cain’s motive to murder Abel—

Gladly would we, if possible, find somewhat to extenuate the guilt of this transaction; but the more minutely we examine it, the more heinous it appears. The Scripture informs us, that Cain, in the commission of this act, was impelled only by envy and hatred. God had been pleased to testify his acceptance of Abel and of his sacrifice, while no such token of approbation was given to Cain. The effect of this should have been, to lead Cain into a close examination of his spirit and conduct, and to make him earnest in prayer, that he might know why this preference had been given to Abel, and how he also might obtain the favor of his God. But, alas! his heart was filled with envy and wrath, insomuch that his whole countenance was changed. In vain did God expostulate with him on the unreasonableness of his behavior. “The spirit that dwelt in him lusted to envy, James 4:5;” this malignant passion “was as rottenness in his bones, Proverbs 14:30,” so thoroughly had it corroded his very inmost soul.

The excellence of Abel’s character served only to add fuel to the flame. His virtues were the motive for his murder; so “impossible is it to stand before envy, Proverbs 27:4.” Cain hated in him the divine image, as much as he envied him the divine favor. The light of his brother’s example was offensive to Cain’s eyes; and on this account he sought to extinguish it. John, having told us that Cain slew his brother, asks, “And why did Cain murder Able?” he then answers, “Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous, 1 John 3:12.”

Such were the motives by which Cain was instigated to this infernal deed. The murder was first committed in his heart; and then completed with his hand; according to that saying of the Apostle, “He who hates his brother is a murderer, 1 John 3:15.” Indeed there is such a connection between “envy, deceit, and murder, Romans 1:29.” that wherever the first is harbored, the rest would follow of course, if God in his infinite mercy did not interpose to limit the operation of our sinful propensities.

God, who “makes inquisition for blood,” would not allow the murder to be concealed; he therefore sought out the offender, and commenced,

II. The judicial inquiry—

It is said, that “Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation, Proverbs 26:26;” and where that hatred has proceeded to murder, God in his providence has generally fulfilled this saying. On this occasion, the Governor of the Universe proceeded exactly as he had done upon the first transgression. He summoned the criminal, and made inquiry at his hands. In the trial we notice,

1. Cain’s denial of the fact—

Being interrogated, “Where his brother Abel was,” he answered with consummate effrontery, “I know not! Am I my brother’s keeper?” Alas! how inseparable the connection between guilt and lying! But what blindness had sin induced upon his mind, and what obduracy upon his heart! What could he imagine, when he thus flatly denied any knowledge of his brother? Did he suppose that he could deceive his God? Had he forgotten that omniscience was an attribute essential to the Deity? Yes, such is the atheism which sin produces he said in his heart, “Tush, God has not seen; Can he see through the thick clouds? Job 22:14.”

Not contented with uttering this impious falsehood, he added an insult, which we should scarcely have thought he would have dared to offer to his earthly parent, much less to his Maker and his God. Behold this murderous wretch presuming to incriminate his Judge, and to reprove him as unreasonable and unjust! “Am I my brother’s keeper?” that is, ‘What right have you to interrogate me respecting him?’ We stand amazed at this effort of impiety. But, in truth, it is no other than what is daily exemplified before our eyes.

If we question men respecting the performance of any of their duties, they will not hesitate to condemn our expectations as unreasonable, and the laws on which they are founded, as absurd; and when the authority of God is urged in support of his law, they will not scruple to arraign the wisdom and equity of the Lawgiver himself.

The very manner in which Cain attempted to conceal his crime was of itself a strong presumption against his innocence. What need had he to be offended with an inquiry after his brother, if he really knew not where he was? What occasion was there for all this petulance and profaneness? But it was in vain to deny a fact which the all-seeing God was ready to attest, Psalm 94:7-10.

2. Cain’s conviction before God—

He had effectually silenced his brother’s voice; so that no testimony could be borne by him. But the blood which he had shed, had a voice which cried aloud; a voice which reached the throne of Almighty God, and brought him down to plead the cause of injured innocence.

Indeed, every sin has a voice, which speaks powerfully in the ears of God, and calls for vengeance on the head of him who has committed it. It was in vain to dispute the testimony of Jehovah. The criminal stands confounded, and awaits the sentence awarded by his Judge. Surely now then at least we shall behold him softened; his obdurate heart must now relent; and he will accept with resignation the punishment of his iniquity. Not so indeed! He expresses no contrition; he asks not once for mercy; he complains indeed, but not of himself, not of the guilt he has contracted, not of the deed he has perpetrated—but of the punishment he has incurred, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

But let not this be wondered at! It is the effect of sin to sear the conscience, and to harden the heart! And the more heinous our transgressions are, the more shall we be disposed to incriminate the authority that calls us into judgment for them. Even in Hell itself this disposition is exercised, yes, it rages with uncontrolled and incessant fury; the damned spirits “gnaw their tongues for pain, and blaspheme the God of Heaven because of their pains, and repent not of their deeds! Revelation 16:10-11.”

Hence then we may observe,

1. How soon did “the enmity which God has put between the Serpent’s and the Woman’s seed begin to show itself!

It is an undeniable fact, that “all who live godly in Christ Jesus do suffer persecution, 2 Timothy 3:12;” and the world, yes sometimes Christians themselves also, are ready to think that the opposition made to them is discreditable to their cause. But our Lord and his Apostles taught us to expect precisely the same treatment which they themselves received, John 15:18-20. They inform us also how all the Prophets were used by those among whom they sojourned Acts 7:52; they declare that, in all ages, even from the beginning of the world, “they who have been born after the flesh have persecuted those who were born after the Spirit, Galatians 4:29;” and that all “the blood shed from the time of righteous Abel” to the time that Christ himself was nailed upon the cross, Matthew 23:35, served to illustrate “the enmity of the carnal mind against God,” and the path in which all must walk who would finally attain to glory. Hence persecutors are emphatically said to “go in the way of Cain, Judges 11.”

Let none then think it strange that they are called to endure a fiery trial, as though some strange thing happened unto them, 1 Peter 4:12;” but “let them rejoice and glorify God on this behalf 1 Peter 4:13-14; 1 Peter 4:16;” knowing that myriads who are now in Heaven “came there out of great tribulation, Revelation 7:14;” and that, “if they also suffer with Christ, they shall in due time be glorified together with him! Romans 8:17.”

2. How vain is it to cultivate the friendship of the world!

If, in any situation, fellowship could have been maintained between a carnal and a spiritual man, we may well suppose that it should exist between the two first men who were born into the world, educated as they must have been with the strictest care, and necessitated as they were to cultivate a friendly fellowship on account of the contracted state of society in the world; yet not even these could enjoy spiritual communion with each other.

It is true, that all natural men do not give themselves up, like Cain, to the dominion of their lusts; but it is equally true, that all men have in their hearts the same envious and malignant passions, James 4:5, and that, until they are renewed by divine grace, they are enemies to true religion, Romans 8:7.

Hence we are told to come out from the world and be separate, because there can be no more true communion between believers and unbelievers, than between light and darkness, or Christ and Belial, 2 Corinthians 6:14-15; 2 Corinthians 6:17. And those who, in opposition to this direction, choose the unregenerate for their associates, or form still more intimate connections with them, are sure to “suffer loss” in their souls; and, if saved at all, they are “saved only so as by fire, 1 Corinthians 3:15.”

3. How certainly “sin will find us out” at last!

We may conceal our iniquities from man; but we can never hide them from God, “There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” God does not often interfere to make known our guilt, as in the case before us; (though the interpositions of His providence in the discovery of murder are sometimes extremely marked and visible;) but in the day of judgment “he will make manifest the very counsels of our hearts.”

It will be in vain then to deny our guilt, or to raise those captious, not to say impious, objections, which now appear to us of so much weight! Everything will be substantiated by the fullest evidence, and be recompensed according to its desert. O that “in that day we may be found without spot, and blameless!” This may be the state of all, not excepting even murderers themselves, provided they wash in the fountain of Christ’s blood, and be renewed by his Holy Spirit. Let us then seek his pardoning and renewing grace. Then shall we be enabled to “stand before our God with boldness,” and “give up our account to him with joy, and not with grief.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 3:21-24

“Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made garments of skin, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

The works of God are extremely different from those which are carried on by man. Creatures of limited capacity are compelled to act as unforeseen occasions require; and hence their works are, for the most part, independent and detached, without being regulated by any fixed system; but the works of God are all united and harmonious, as parts of one grand whole.

In the structure of the tabernacle and all its diversified rites, there was not anything, however minute or obscure, which did not shadow forth some mystery. This appears from the strict injunction given to Moses to “make everything according to the pattern shown to him in the mount.”

It is thus also with respect to all the most remarkable events recorded in the Bible, whether they relate to the Jewish, patriarchal, or antediluvian ages; they were all, in some respect, figurative and emblematic.

Among these we must certainly number the fall of man, with all its attendant circumstances; the covenant made with him, the means by which he was induced to violate it, the way provided for his recovery, were all of lasting and universal importance.

In like manner, the facts specified in our text must be regarded, not as mere uninteresting happenings, but as occurrences of most mysterious import.

In God’s conduct towards our first parents, as it is here related, we may see,

I. The manner in which he illustrated to them his promised salvation—

Our first parents, feeling in themselves the sad effects of their fall, “sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons.” But God was pleased to clothe them in another manner, even with the skins of beasts; and thus to direct their attention to:

1. The blood of atonement—

We are not expressly told that the animals which were slain on this occasion were offered in sacrifice; but if we duly weigh the reasons for believing that God ordered them to be slain for this purpose, we can scarcely entertain any doubt upon the subject.

In the first place, we may be sure that the offering of sacrifices was not an institution of man’s device; and that, if it were, it could not be pleasing and acceptable to God. How could it enter into the mind of man to imagine, that the blood of a beast could make any satisfaction to God for sin? What connection is there between the blood of a beast and the sin of man? There was much more reason to think that God would be displeased with the unauthorized destruction of his creatures, than that he would be so pleased with it as to forgive the iniquities of mankind on account of it. Moreover, had not God himself enjoined this method of propitiating his anger, we cannot doubt but that he would have answered the presumptuous offerer, as he did the Jews, “Who has required this at your hands? Isaiah 1:12.” But we know that when a bleeding sacrifice was offered to him by Abel, he testified his acceptance of it in a visible manner, probably by sending fire from Heaven to consume it. We cannot doubt, therefore, but that the institution of sacrifices was of divine appointment.

In the next place, if sacrifices were not now instituted, we can scarcely account for the slaughtering of the animals, and much less for God’s direction respecting it. It is thought indeed by some, that the flesh was given to our first parents for food; but this seems very improbable, because God told Adam at this very time, that he should henceforth exist, not upon the fruits of the garden as before, but on “the herb of the field,” which should be produced only by constant and laborious cultivation, Genesis 3:18-19. Nor was it until after the flood that God gave to man the liberty of eating the flesh of animals Genesis 9:3. Hence, if the animals were not offered to God in sacrifice, they were killed merely for their skins, which seems to be by no means an adequate reason for God’s interposition. On the contrary, if they were by God’s commandment offered in sacrifice, we see, what we are in no other place informed of, the origin of the institution; and at the same time we behold abundant reason for God’s special interference.

We see what instruction and consolation our first parents must derive from such an ordinance; for while they beheld their own desert in the agonies and death of an unoffending creature, they must be encouraged to look forward to that Seed of the Woman, who was in due time to offer himself a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

We cannot doubt therefore but that this was the time when sacrifices were instituted; and that, as they were appointed by God to prefigure the great sacrifice, they were enjoined at this time for the express purpose of directing the views of fallen man to that atonement which Christ should afterwards offer to God upon the cross. In this sense, as well as in the divine purpose, may Christ be called, “The Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world! Revelation 13:8.”

2. The righteousness of Him who made that atonement—

When we are told that “the Lord God made coats of skins, and clothed them,” can we suppose that nothing was intended by him but to provide more conveniently for their decency and comfort? Impossible! There was in this a deep stupendous mystery. Adam and Eve thought only of a covering for their bodies; God pointed out to them a covering for their souls. They were despoiled of their original righteousness; and they needed a robe to cover their naked souls, that they might again stand before God “without spot or blemish.” All means which they could devise for this purpose would be ineffectual.

God therefore was pleased to shadow forth to them the righteousness of Christ; of Him who was “to be the atoning sacrifice for their sins,” and emphatically to be “called, The Lord our Righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6.”

How far they beheld the substance in the shadow, we cannot say; but there is abundant proof that the same means were used in subsequent ages to represent the Savior to the world. All the vestments of the priests, sprinkled with the blood of sacrifices, clearly showed in what manner all were to be clothed who would be “a holy priesthood to the Lord.” And the language of Prophets, and Apostles, and of Christ himself, has so strict an analogy with the event before us, that we cannot but discern their harmony and agreement. Isaiah speaks of being “clothed with the garments of salvation, and covered with a robe of righteousness, Isaiah 61:10;” Paul, enjoying the fuller light of the Gospel, says more plainly, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 13:14;” And our blessed Lord more plainly still, “I counsel you to buy from me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white clothing, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness may not appear, Revelation 3:18.”

We need only further observe, that in this marvelous appointment God taught our fallen parents to look to Him through one Mediator, and to make that one object the only ground of all their hopes; or, in other words, to expect pardon only through His atoning blood, and acceptance only through His meritorious and perfect righteousness.

Having seen how strongly God illustrated to them his promised salvation, let us notice,

II. The means he used to secure their acceptance of it—

He banished his guilty creatures from Paradise, and, by the ministration of angels, prohibited effectually their return to it. This he did,

1. Partly in judgment—

The ironical and sarcastic expressions which purpose to be the reason of this dispensation, are certainly strong indications of his heavy displeasure. The flattering hope of “becoming as gods,” had led Adam and his wife to transgress the divine command. Now therefore God casts it, as it were, in their teeth, with holy indignation, in order that they might see what they had gained by their folly and presumption. And whereas they had hitherto enjoyed the liberty of eating all the fruits of Paradise, and especially that which was a pledge to them of God’s eternal favor, he drives them out from the garden, to live in a far different manner by the sweat of their brow, and to feel that they were cut off from that life, which, had they maintained their innocence, would have been consummated in glory.

Thus we behold them driven as outcasts from God and happiness, and doomed to a life of labor and sorrow which would outcome in a painful death, and (if repentance intervened not) would end in everlasting misery.

2. Partly in mercy—

God’s judgments in this world have always been tempered with mercy; yes so tempered, as to be capable of being turned into the richest blessings. Thus it was in the case before us.

Our first parents had been accustomed to consider the tree of life as a pledge of the divine favor; and would be likely to regard it in the same view after their fall, as they had done before. Under this delusion they would be ready to embrace these means of reconciliation with their offended God, and would be led thereby to neglect the means which God had prescribed. Persisting in this mistake, they would pacify their own consciences; and having lulled themselves asleep under the guilt of their transgressions, they would perish in the midst of all the mercy which God had offered them through the mediation of his Son.

To prevent these fatal consequences, God cuts them off from all access to the tree of life, and thus necessitates them to seek for mercy in his appointed way. Precisely as in destroying the Jewish nation and polity, God punished his people indeed, but at the same time consulted their truest interests, by rendering it impossible for them to fulfill the righteousness of the Mosaic law, and thereby “shutting them up unto faith in Christ! Galatians 3:23;” so did he expel our first parents from Paradise, that they might have nothing to divert their attention from that “Seed of the Woman who was in due time to bruise the Serpent’s head.”

Thus did God “in judgment remember mercy;” and, in the very hottest exercise of his anger, provide means for the richest display of his unmerited, unsought kindness.

From this subject we may learn,

1. The antiquity of the Gospel—

Whenever Salvation by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus is insisted on, it is exclaimed against as a new doctrine; but it is none other than “the good old way, Jeremiah 6:16,” which has been pointed out by our Reformers, by the Apostles, by the Prophets, and by God himself from the beginning of the world. God showed it to our first parents immediately after their fall; he showed it them not only by a prophetic declaration, but also by an emblematic exhibition. And our very clothing in which we are so apt to pride ourselves, would, if we considered the origin and occasion of it, lead us to that way, even to Jesus, in whom alone we can find righteousness and life. Let us then hold fast the Gospel, without regarding the senseless cavils of the world; and while “the proud make it only a stumbling-block, and the conceited reject it as foolishness,” let us receive and glory in it as “the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

2. The necessity of embracing it—

Like our first parents, we are ready to rest in the signs and seals of the covenant (as baptism and the Lord’s supper), instead of fleeing to the Savior himself. But whatever devices we use for the reconciling of ourselves to God, they will all prove vain and useless; we shall find them “a bed too short to stretch ourselves upon, and a covering too narrow to wrap ourselves in, Isaiah 28:20.” There was one way appointed from the beginning; that way has been progressively displayed, and illustrated in different ages; but it has never been altered, no not in the slightest degree. “There never has been any other name whereby we could be saved, but that of Jesus Christ, Acts 4:12;” and the only difference between us and the Jews, or us and Adam, is, that we behold in meridian splendor the truths, of which they saw only the early dawn.

Let us be persuaded then that all access to life by the first covenant is stopped; and that all plans for covering our own shame will be in vain. We must all be accepted through one sacrifice, and all be clothed in one righteousness; and all comply with that direction of the prophet, “In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 3:15

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

This was the first promise that was ever given to fallen man. The occasion on which it was given was this; Satan had beguiled our mother Eve, and, through her, had prevailed on Adam to transgress; and he had thereby destroyed both them and all their posterity; for, since they were corrupt, nothing but what was corrupt could proceed from them. But God, in his abundant mercy, interposed for our fallen race, who must without such interposition have been involved in all the misery of the fallen angels.

Against Satan he denounced a curse suited to his crime; and at the same time informed him, that, though for the present he had prevailed over the woman, a seed would spring from her who should execute on him the vengeance he deserved, and rescue mankind from the misery he had entailed upon them!

Now, as the oak with all its luxuriant branches is contained in the acorn, so was the whole of salvation, however copiously unfolded in subsequent revelations, comprehended in this one prophecy; which is, in fact, the sum and summary of the whole Bible. And on this promise all the saints lived, during the space of 2000 years; yes, all from Adam to the time of Abraham were encouraged, comforted, and saved by this promise alone, illustrated as it was by sacrifices appointed by the Lord.

In explaining this prophecy, I shall call your attention to,

I. The person here predicted—

It was the Lord Jesus Christ; who was in a peculiar way “the seed of the woman;” for he was formed in the womb simply by the agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of a pure virgin altogether without the intervention of man. And this was necessary, for, had he been born like other men, he would have been in the loins of Adam, like other men; and therefore would, like them, have been partaker of his guilt and corruption. But, being the sole and immediate workmanship of God, he was absolutely perfect, and therefore capable of sustaining the office of a Savior for fallen man; whereas, if he had been otherwise formed, he would have needed a Savior for himself, and been incapable of effecting salvation for others. Thus you see, that when it was impossible for man to restore himself to God, God “laid help for him upon One that was Mighty;” on one who, being God and man in one person, was able to effect for men all that their necessities required. As man, he could atone for sin; and as God, he could render that atonement available for all who would trust in him.

At the same time that this prophecy announced the Messiah’s advent, it declared,

II. The conflicts the Messiah would sustain—

Between Satan and him, God put an irreconcilable enmity; which, without a moment’s intermission, has raged, from that very time even to the present hour. Satan, having, thus introduced sin into the world, instigated every child of Adam to the commission of it. And how far he prevailed, may be seen in this, that he induced the very first-born of man to murder his own righteous brother, for no other reason than because he was more righteous than himself. At times he had so entirely reduced the whole race of man to his dominion, that scarcely a righteous man existed upon earth!

And, when God sent prophets to reclaim the world, Satan stirred up the people of every age and place to destroy them.

At last, when the promised Seed himself came, Satan only exerted himself the more violently against him, if by any means he might prevail to destroy the Savior himself. No sooner was Jesus born into the world, than Satan stimulated Herod to destroy all the males around Bethlehem from two years old and under, so that it might be impossible for Jesus to escape.

And, when Jesus was entering upon his ministry, he urged him to cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple, if perhaps he might thus induce him, under an idea of trusting in God, to destroy himself. Afterwards he stirred up Peter to dissuade him from executing the work he had undertaken; saying, “Master, spare yourself.” When he could not prevail in any of these ways, he put it into the heart of Judas to betray him, and stirred up all the Priests and Elders to put him to death.

In like manner has this wicked adversary still prosecuted his malignant work even to the present hour, blinding the eyes of men, and hardening their hearts, and “leading them captive at his will!” And if any have dared to resist his will, he has stirred up all his own agents, to persecute them, and to put them to death!

On the other hand, Christ has also fought against him from the beginning, rescuing men from his dominion, and “turning millions from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” In the days of his flesh especially, he showed his superiority to Satan, by casting him out from many whom he had possessed, and constraining him to relinquish the hold which he had gained, both of their bodies and their souls. And though he seemed himself to sink under Satan’s attacks—yet did he, in fact, defeat Satan by the very means which that adversary had used for his destruction! For by death he overcame death, and “him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, Hebrews 2:14.” Yes, “on the very cross itself he spoiled all the principalities and powers of Hell, triumphing over them openly in it, Colossians 2:15.” And in his ascension, “he led captivity itself captive;” and has bound all the hosts of Hell, “reserving them in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

In his people, too, he gets the victory from day to day, enabling them to resist him manfully, and to trample both Satan and all his hosts under their feet.

This conflict is still going on from day to day. The God of this world, and the God of Heaven, are contending for us, and in us, 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 4:6; and as long as the world shall stand, will this contest continue.

But in our text we are informed, that Jesus will prevail, and enjoy at last,

III. The victory assured to the Messiah —

In the conflict, the Savior’s “heel is bruised,” but “he bruises the head” of his great adversary, and breaks his power for evermore. Behold the Savior on his throne of glory, far above all the principalities and powers, whether of Heaven or Hell! Behold the progress of his Gospel in every age! See in Heaven the multitudes which no man can number, continually increased by fresh accessions from every quarter of the globe, from the most blinded votaries of Satan among the Heathen, as well as from his more specious servants among ourselves! See the weakest of men enabled to triumph over him, and, though persecuted like their divine Master, “made more than conquerors through him that loved them!” This is going forward among ourselves; so that you see the most devoted vassals of Satan casting off his yoke, and “brought into the liberty of the sons of God;” and soon shall you behold those whom once he held in the most miserable bondage, seated upon thrones of glory, and actually sitting in judgment upon the angels, as judges with their divine Master, 1 Corinthians 6:2-3.

Yes, it is but a little time, and the seed of Christ, as well as Christ himself, will be seated upon thrones of glory! While Satan, and his seed, shall be cast into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels!

Such is the prophecy before us; and in this way is it accomplishing yet daily; and shall be accomplished, until the final destinies of each shall terminate the contest for evermore.

Behold then, brethren,

1. How marvelous is the grace of God!

Think under what circumstances he made this promise to man. He had placed our first parents in Paradise, where there was everything that could conduce to their happiness; and he himself visited and communed with them, as a friend. Yet did they, on the very first temptation, violate his express command; and then, instead of humbling themselves before him, they fled from him; and, when summoned into his presence, excused themselves, and even cast the blame of their iniquity on him, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate. The woman, whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

What might we expect now that he should do unto them? Surely, that he should consign them over to the misery they deserved. But no; unsought and unsolicited, he promised them a Savior, even his only dear Son, who should rescue both them and all their believing posterity out of the hands of their great adversary.

Now then, I ask, if God, unsolicited, bestowed the Savior himself on these impenitent offenders, will he refuse salvation to any penitent who calls upon him? Let no sinner in the universe despond; but let every one see in this prophecy how abundant and inconceivable is the grace of God.

2. How complete shall be the victory of all who believe in Christ!

You appear to be in a hopeless condition, because your corruptions are so great and your enemies are so mighty. Go, then, to the cross of Christ, and there see the Savior himself hanging, a helpless and inanimate corpse! What hope has he of victory? Wait a moment, and you will see. Behold him rising from the grave, ascending to Heaven, sending down the Holy Spirit, establishing his kingdom upon earth, surrounded in Heaven by myriads of his redeemed, and sealing up his great adversary, with all his hosts, in the bottomless abyss of Hell! See all this; and then know what shall be the outcome of your conflicts.

You are fighting with a vanquished enemy; and it is but a little time, and he, your Almighty Savior, “will bruise Satan under your feet,” and will elevate you to thrones of glory, like unto his own. Only follow him in his conflicts, and you shall be partakers with him in all his victories and triumphs for evermore.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 3:11-13

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The immediate effects of sin are not easily discovered by us at this time; for if we look for them in ourselves, our partiality and self-love conceal them from us; and if we look for them in others, the universal prevalence of those effects prevents us from ascribing them to their proper cause. To see them in their true colors, we should be able to contrast the habits of some person during a state of innocence with those which he manifests after the commission of sin.

Doubtless there are glaring instances of iniquity, from the investigation of which we may gather instruction; but we shall make our observations to the greatest advantage, if we examine the records respecting the conduct of our first parents after their unhappy fall. The accounts given of them are not indeed very full and circumstantial; yet the narration, brief as it is, is sufficient to elucidate the immediate influence of sin upon the mind, as well as its remoter consequences in the destruction of the soul.

There are two things in particular which we shall be led to notice from the words before us:I. The way in which men manifest their consciousness of guilt—

Mark the conduct of our first parents. While they were innocent, they were strangers either to shame or fear; but instantly after their transgression, they made coverings for themselves of fig-leaves, and fled from the presence of their God. Here we may behold ourselves as in a looking-glass; they have set a pattern to us which all their posterity have followed; however men may affect to be innocent, they all be-tray their consciousness of guilt in these two things:

1. They conceal themselves from themselves, and from each other—

Knowing that their hearts are depraved, and that, if closely inspected, they would exhibit a most disgusting appearance, men will not turn their eyes inwards. They will not examine the motives and principles of their actions. They cast a veil over the workings of pride and ambition, of envy and malice, of falsehood and covetousness, of carnality and selfishness. Then, because they see no evil in their actions, they hastily conclude there is none. So successful are they in hiding from themselves their own deformity, that when all around them are even amazed at the impropriety of their conduct, they take credit to themselves for virtuous principles and laudable deportment.

If we should attempt to open their eyes, and to set before them their own picture, they would not even look at it, but would be offended with our fidelity, and condemn us as destitute of either charity or candor.

Now, would men act in this manner if they had not a secret consciousness that all was not right within? Would they not rather be glad of any assistance whereby they might discover any latent evil; or, at least, be glad to “come to the light, that their deeds might be made manifest that they were wrought in God?”

There is the still greater concern in men to hide their shame from each other. The whole community of mankind with each other is one continued system of concealment. All endeavor to impose on others, by assuming the appearances of virtue; but no one will give credit to his neighbor for being as guiltless in his heart, as he seems to be in his conduct. A thorough knowledge of a person whose principles have been tried, will indeed gain our confidence; but who has so good an opinion of human nature in general as to commit his wife or daughter to the hands of a perfect stranger; or to give him unlimited access to all his treasures; or even to take his word, where he can as easily obtain a legal security?

But, if men were not conscious of depravity within themselves, why should they be so suspicious of others? The fact is, they know themselves to have many corrupt propensities; and justly concluding that human nature is the same in all, they feel the necessity of withholding confidence where they have not been warranted by experience to place it.

2. They shun, rather than desire, the presence of God—

God comes to all of us in his word, and speaks to us in the language of love and mercy. He bids us to draw near to Him, and to enjoy “fellowship with him, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” But are these employments suited to the taste of all? or do the habits of the generality evince any regard for these inestimable privileges? Nay, if we endeavor to set God before them, and to make known to them his will—do they consider us as their friends and benefactors? They may bear with us, indeed, in the exercise of our public ministry; but will they be pleased, if we come home to their houses, and labor to bring them, as it were, into the presence of God? Will they not be ready to say to us, as the demoniac did to Christ, “Have you come here to torment us before the time?” or, like the Jews of old, “Prophesy unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits; make the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us!”

Now would this be the conduct of men, if they were not conscious of much guilt within? Would a man who had just received gold from the mint, be afraid of having it tried by a touchstone? Or one who was perfectly innocent of a crime, be afraid of being interrogated in relation to it? Would not rather the knowledge of God be desirable to one who had no wish but to perform his will? Would he not account it his highest happiness to gain an increasing acquaintance with his Savior, and a more entire conformity to his image?

When the guilt of men can no longer be concealed, they have many refuges of lies to which they flee; to expose which, we shall show,

II. The way in which they endeavor to palliate and excuse their guilt—

Our first parents indeed confessed their transgression, but in a way which clearly showed, that they were not humbled for it. Thus:

1. When we cannot deny our guilt, we cast it upon others—

Doubtless we all are accessory to the production of much guilt in others; and it is well to take shame to ourselves in that view. But to take occasion from this to excuse our own wickedness, is only to add sin to sin! Yet who does not betake himself to this refuge?

Mark little children—they will deny their faults as long as there remains for them any hope of concealment. And when they are clearly detected, they will do their utmost to shift the blame off from themselves. According to the nature of the crime alleged, they will impute it to accident, or inadvertence, or mistake, or, like our first parents, to the instigation and example of their accomplices.

What is the disposition which shows itself in people of riper years, when they are called to account for any evil that they have committed, or when their angry passions have involved them in dispute and quarrel? Is it not the endeavor of each to incriminate the other, in hopes thereby to exculpate himself? Or when no particular ill-will is exercised towards others, is not the same system prevalent; and do not men justify their own conduct from the habits and examples of those around them?

But what folly is this! Did the Serpent compel Eve to eat the fruit? Or was Adam necessitated to follow her example? They were free agents in what they did; and they should have rejected with abhorrence the first proposals of sin, however harmless they might appear, and by whoever they might be made. And in the same manner, it is no excuse to us that the ways of iniquity are crowded; for we are to withstand the solicitations that would allure us from God, and stem the torrent of sin that would drive us from him.

2. When we cannot deny our guilt, we even cast it even upon God himself—

There is peculiar force in those words of Adam, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate!” It is no less than a reflection upon God himself for giving him the woman; and a casting of the blame upon him as accessory at least to his fall, if not also as the original cause of it.

It is thus also that we account for our transgressions from the peculiar circumstances in which we are placed, and thus ascribe them rather to the dispensations of Providence, than to our own willful depravity. One is poor, and therefore has not leisure time to consult the welfare of his soul; or is under the authority of others, and cannot serve God without subjecting himself to their displeasure. Another is rich, and cannot deviate so far from the habits of the world, as to conform to the precise rules which God has prescribed. In this manner, people endeavor to persuade themselves that a life of entire devotedness to God is incompatible with their worldly duties; and that their deviations or defects are rather their misfortune than their fault.

Some indeed will be yet more bold in accusing God; and, when condemned for giving the rein to their sinful appetites, will say, ‘Why did God give me these passions? I cannot act otherwise than I do!’

How far these excuses will avail in the day of judgment, it befits every one to consider with fear and trembling. They may stifle the accusations of a guilty conscience now; but there is not a man in the universe so stupid as seriously to believe that his conscience will acquit him at the tribunal of his God.

We shall conclude with an address:

1. To those who are unhumbled for their sins—

Some are so impious, that “they declare their sin as Sodom; the very show of their countenance witnesses against them.” To such people we say with the prophet, “Woe unto them! Isaiah 3:9.” Nor can we deliver any milder message to those who “cover their transgressions, as Adam, and hide their iniquity in their bosom! Job 31:33,” for God’s Word to them is plain, “He who covers his sins shall not prosper; but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy! Proverbs 28:13.”

It is absolutely indispensable that we humble ourselves before God, and that we repent in dust and ashes. God has noted our transgressions, whether we have observed them or not; for “there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves, Job 34:22.” God is extremely earnest in endeavoring to impress this thought upon our minds, Isaiah 29:15 with Amos 9:2-3. It is equally certain that we cannot impose upon him by any vain excuses. The day is coming, when he will not only ask in general, “Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?” but will interrogate us, as he did Eve, with holy indignation, saying, “What is this that you have done!” Are you aware of its malignity? are you prepared to meet the consequences?

O let us, every one of us, humble ourselves before him, while yet the effects of his displeasure may be averted from us; but if we yet remain impenitent and stout-hearted, a sudden and irremediable destruction shall come upon us! Proverbs 29:1.

2. To those whose hearts are beginning to relent—

Do not think that a small and transient humiliation is sufficient. If you could weep “rivers of tears,” it would be no more than the occasion calls for. You may perhaps comfort yourselves with the thought of not having committed many or great offences; but consider what it was that brought guilt and ruin upon the whole race of mankind; it was not many offences, but one. Nor was it what would appear to us a very heinous sin, but only the violation of a positive precept, the eating of a forbidden fruit. Reflect on this, and you will derive little consolation from the thought that you are not so bad as others.

But whether your sins have been more or less heinous, there is one Refuge, and only one, to which you must flee for safety. The refuge provided for our first parents was, “The seed of the woman, who was in due time to bruise the serpent’s head.” The same is provided for you. Jesus was born into the world for this very end. He has made a full atonement for sin; and if “only you acknowledge your transgressions,” and believe in him, they shall be “remembered against you no more forever.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 3:6-7

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”

The happiness of our first parents in Paradise must have far exceeded anything which we can conceive. Formed in the image of God, they had not a desire or thought contrary to His holy will. There was no cloud upon their understanding.

There was no sinful bias on their will.

There was nothing inordinate in their affections.

With respect to outward comforts, they possessed all that they could wish. God himself had planted a garden for them, and given them the whole produce, except one tree, for their support. Above all, they enjoyed the freest fellowship with their Maker, and conversed with Him as a man converses with his friend. But this happiness, alas! was of short continuance; for Satan, who had left his first estate, and, from being a bright angel before the throne of God, had become an apostate spirit and a wicked fiend; he, I say, envied their felicity, and sought to reduce them to the same misery with himself.

An opportunity for making his attempt soon occurred. He saw the woman near the forbidden tree, and at a distance from her husband. So favorable an occasion was not to be lost. He instantly took possession of a serpent; which being confessedly the most subtle of all animals, was least likely to create suspicion in her mind, and fittest to be employed in so arduous a service.

Through the instrumentality of this creature, Satan entered into conversation with her; and, as we learn from the history before us, succeeded in withdrawing both her and her husband from their allegiance to God.

In the text we have a summary of the fatal tragedy. In it, as connected with the context, the whole plot is developed, and the awful catastrophe declared.

That we may have a just view of the conduct of our first parents, we shall consider,I. Their temptation—

The scope of Satan’s conversation with Eve was to persuade her to partake of the forbidden tree,

1. With safety—

With this view, his first attempt was to raise doubts in her mind respecting the prohibition. And here his subtlety is very conspicuous; he does not shock her feelings by any strong assertion; but asks, as it were for information, whether such a prohibition as he had heard of had been really given. Nevertheless, his mode of putting the question insinuates that he could scarcely credit the report; because the imposing of such a restraint would be contrary to the generosity which God had shown in other respects, and to the distinguished love which he had professed to bear towards them.

Now, though he did not thus far prevail as to induce her to deny that God had withheld from her the fruit of that tree—yet he gained much even in this first address; for, he led her to maintain a conversation with him; he disposed her also to soften the terms in which the prohibition had been given. God had said, “In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die;” and she, in reporting it, said, “You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die;” thus converting a most positive threatening of instant and certain death, into a gentle caution against a possible, or probable, misfortune. And though she might intend nothing more than to prevent his entertaining any hard thoughts of God, she hereby emboldened him to prosecute his purpose in a more direct and open manner.

Improving the advantage he had already gained, he proceeded to question in direct terms the grounds of her fears, in relation to the penalty, “You shall not surely die!” He here intimates that she must be mistaken with respect both to the extent and certainty of the penalty. God could never threaten “death” for such an offence as that; he could threaten nothing worse even for the most heinous transgression that could be committed; how then could he annex that to so small a matter as the eating of a piece of fruit? At least, if God did put forth his threat, he certainly would never execute it, “You shall not surely die;” it could not be, that a just and good God should ever proceed to such rigorous measures on so slight an occasion. By this daring assertion, he quite disarmed her; and persuaded her, that she must have misunderstood the divine declaration; or, at least, that it never could be carried into effect.

2. With advantage—

Finding that Eve did not revolt at his impious assertions, he went on to direct and open blasphemy. He knew that to an intelligent and holy being, nothing was so desirable as knowledge. He therefore affirmed, that there was in the fruit of that tree a virtue capable of wonderfully enlarging her views, so that she and her husband would “become as gods,” and possess a self-sufficiency and independence suited to that high character.

In confirmation of this, he appeals to God himself; and blasphemously insinuates, that God, in withholding the fruit from them, had been actuated by nothing but envy, and a jealousy, lest they should become as wise and happy as himself.

Such was the temptation with which that “old serpent” assaulted Eve; hoping that, if he could prevail with her, he might, through her influence, overcome her husband also.

Happy would it have been, if we could have reported of them, as we can of the second Adam, that they repelled the Tempter. But, in following the course of their history, we are constrained to notice,II. Their sin—

Eve, overpowered by the alluring aspect of the fruit, and the hope of attaining a knowledge as superior to what she already possessed, as this serpent’s was to that of all the rest of the creation—ate of the fruit, and prevailed upon her husband to partake with her. A variety of questions might be asked respecting different parts of this history; but where God has not been pleased to inform us, we should be contented to be ignorant. And where no certainty can be attained, we judge it better to pass over matters in silence, than to launch out into the boundless and unprofitable regions of conjecture.

Without inquiring how she prevailed with him, or what would have been the effect if she alone had fallen, let it suffice to know, that Adam transgressed in eating the forbidden fruit, and that this was the sin whereby he and all his posterity were ruined. That the offence may not be thought trivial, let us consider of what malignant qualities it was composed:

1. What pride!

Our first parents were endowed with facilities unknown to any other creatures. While, in common, with all the rest, they possessed a beautifully constructed frame of body, they had a rational soul also, which assimilated them to God; so that they were a connecting link between God and the brute-creation, a kind of compound of both. Moreover, they were constituted lords of this lower world; and all other creatures were subjected to their dominion. None was above them but God himself. But they chose to have no superior; they desired to be as gods. What daring presumption! What criminal ambition! It was time indeed that “their loftiness should be bowed down, and their haughtiness be made low.”

2. What unbelief!

God had spoken with a perspicuity which could not admit of misconstruction, and an energy that precluded doubt. Yet they listen to the suggestions of a wicked fiend, and believe the lies of Satan in preference to Jehovah’s word. Can anything be conceived more insulting to the Majesty of God than this? Can an offence be deemed light which offers such an indignity to the God of truth?

3. What ingratitude!

What could God have done more for them, than he had done? What could they have, to augment their felicity? And, if any restraint at all was to be laid upon them for the purpose of trying their fidelity and obedience, what smaller restraint could be conceived than the prohibition of one single tree amidst ten thousand? Was one tree too much for Him to reserve, who had created all the rest for their use? Were they to think much of so small an act of self-denial, where so much was provided for their indulgence? Were they to be so unmindful of all which He had done for them, and of all the good things which He had in store for them, as to refuse Him so small a testimony of their regard? Amazing! Incredible! that such favors should be so requited!

4. What rebellion!

God had an undoubted right to command; and, whatever His injunctions were, they were bound to obey them. But how do they regard this single, this easy precept? They count it at nothing; they transgress it; they violate it voluntarily, immediately, and without so much as a shadow of reason. They lose sight of all the considerations of duty, or self-interest; they are absorbed in the one thought of personal gratification; and upon that they rush, without one moment’s concern, how much they may displease their Friend and Benefactor, their Creator and Governor, their Lord and Judge. Shall not God bring judgment for such rebellion as this?

After their transgression, we are naturally led to inquire into,III. Their recompense—

Satan had told them, that “their eyes would be opened,” but little did they think in what sense his words should be verified! “Their eyes were now opened;” but only like the eyes of the Syrian army when they saw themselves in the heart of an enemy’s country, 2 Kings 6:20; or those of the rich man when he lifted them up in Hell torments. Luke 16:23. They beheld now, what it was their happiness not to know—the consequences of sin.

1. They beheld the guilt they had contracted—

Sin, while yet they were only solicited to commit it, appeared of small malignity; its present pleasures seemed to overbalance its future pains. But when the bait was swallowed, how glad would they have been if they had never viewed it with desire, or ventured to trespass on what they knew to have been forbidden! Now all the aggravations of their sin would rush into their minds at once, and overwhelm them with shame.

It is true, they could not yet view their conduct with penitence and contrition, because God had not yet given to them the grace of repentance; they could at present feel little else than self-indignant rage, and self-tormenting despondency; but their anguish, though not participating in the sincere feelings of self-loathing and self-abhorrence, must have been pungent beyond all expression; and they must have seemed to themselves to be monsters of iniquity!

2. They beheld the misery they had incurred—

Wherever they cast their eyes, they must now see how awfully they were despoiled. If they lifted their eyes up to Heaven, there they must behold the favor of their God forever forfeited. If they cast their eyes around, everything must remind them of their base ingratitude; and they would envy the basest of the brute creation. If they looked within, O what a sink of iniquity were they now become! The nakedness of their bodies, which in innocence administered no occasion for shame, now caused them to feel what need they had of covering, not for their bodies merely, but much more for their souls. If they thought of their progeny, what pangs must they feel on their account; to have innumerable generations rise in succession to inherit their depravity, and partake their doom! If they contemplated the hour of dissolution, how terrible must that appear to be consigned, through diseases and death, to their native dust; and to protract a miserable existence in that world, where the fallen angels were banished, and from whence there can be no return!

Methinks, under the weight of all these considerations, they wept until they could weep no more, 1 Samuel 30:4; and until their exhausted nature sinking under the load, they fell asleep through excess of sorrow, Luke 22:45.Inferences:

1. How deplorable is the state of every unregenerate man!

Anyone who considers the state of our first parents after their fall, may easily conceive that it was most pitiable. But their case is a just representation of our own. We are despoiled of the divine image, and filled with all hateful and abominable dispositions. We are under the displeasure of the Almighty. We have nothing to which we can look forward in this world, but troubles, disorders, and death; and in the eternal world, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish for evermore! Why do we not endeavor to get our minds suitably affected with this our melancholy condition? Why do we not see ourselves, as in a looking-glass; and apply to ourselves that commiseration which we are ready to bestow on our first parents? Alas! “the god of this world has blinded our minds!” else we should smite upon our bosoms with sorrow and anguish, and implore without delay the divine mercy which we so much need.

2. How astonishing was the grace of God in providing a Savior for us!

It is needless to say that our first parents could do nothing to repair the evil which they had committed. And how far they were from attempting to make reparation for it, we see, when they fled from God, and cast the blame on others, yes even on God himself, rather than acknowledge their transgressions before him! But God, for His own great name sake, interposed, and promised them a Savior, through whom they, and their believing posterity, would be restored to his favor. To this gracious promise we owe it, that we are not all involved in endless and irremediable misery. Let Heaven and earth stand astonished at the goodness of our God! And let all the sinners of mankind testify their acceptance of his offered mercy, by fleeing for refuge to the hope set before them!

3. How vigilant should we all be against the evil devices of Satan!

He who “beguiled Eve under the form of a serpent,” can assume any shape, for the purpose of deceiving us! He is sometimes “transformed into an angel of light,” so that we may be ready to follow his advice, as if he were a messenger from Heaven. But we may easily distinguish his footsteps, if only we attend to the following inquiries:

Does he lessen in our eyes, the sinfulness of sin?

Does he weaken our apprehensions of sin’s danger?

Does he persuade us to imbibe that which is forbidden?

Would he make us think lightly of that which is threatened?

Does he stimulate our desires after evil by any considerations of the pleasure or the profit that shall attend it?

Does he calumniate God to us, as though He were unfriendly, oppressive, or severe?

If our temptations are accompanied with any of these things, we may know assuredly that “the enemy has done this,” and that he is seeking our destruction. Let us then be on our guard against him. Let us watch and pray that we enter not into temptation. However remote we may imagine ourselves to be from the love of evil, let us not think ourselves secure; for if Satan vanquished our first parents under all the advantages they enjoyed, he will certainly overcome us, unless “we resist him,” “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 3:4

“And the serpent said unto the woman; You shall not surely die!”

In reference to the fact before us, Paul says, “The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety.” And great is the subtlety which appears throughout the whole of his conduct on this occasion.

He took an opportunity of addressing himself to Eve when she was alone, so that she might become an easier victim to his wiles. He insinuated his temptation first in a way of inquiry only, “Has God said, You shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” By this he intimated, that she had made some mistake respecting the supposed prohibition, since it was scarcely probable that her Maker, who had granted her everything else in the garden, should impose such an unnecessary restriction upon her. When, in answer to this, Eve informed him that not only was the restriction really given, but that it was enforced with the most tremendous sanction that could possibly be imagined, he again insinuated that she must be under a mistake, since it could not be that so good a God should inflict so heavy a judgment for so slight an offence, “You shall not surely die!”

Now this is the very temptation with which he has ever since, even to this present hour, assaulted unwary men, and by which he is yet daily ruining millions of the human race. We will therefore endeavor to put you on your guard against it, by showing,

I. The falsehood of Satan’s temptation—

Two things were here insinuated, namely; That the threatening was not of such a terrific import as she imagined; and that, whatever it might import, it would not be eventually executed. But in both these things “he lied unto her;” for,

1. God will fulfill his threatenings to whatever they may relate—

See his threatenings to individuals; Ahab, in dependence on his false prophets, and on Satan who inspired them, thought to come off victorious; but, notwithstanding his device to escape the notice of the Syrians, he was slain, according to the prediction of the prophet Micaiah.

Hiel the Bethelite would rebuild the city of Jericho; but did he escape the judgment denounced many hundred years before, against any person who should presume to make the attempt? Did he not lay the foundation in the death of his first-born, and raise up the gates in the death of his youngest son, Joshua 6:26 with 1 Kings 16:34.

See his threatenings against the whole nation of Israel. Were they not carried captive to Babylon, according to His word? And is not the dispersion of the Jews at this day a proof, that no Word of God shall ever fall to the ground?

See his threatenings against the whole world. Did not the deluge come according to the prediction, and sweep away every living creature (those only excepted that were in the ark) from the face of the earth? Let us be sure that God is true; and that whatever He has spoken shall surely come to pass.

2. He will fulfill them in the extent that is here declared—

Death temporal, death spiritual, and death eternal were included in the sentence denounced against transgression; and on our first parents it came, the very day that they ate of the forbidden tree. They did not, it is true, cease on that day to live, because God had purposes to serve by their continuance in life; but the seeds of death were that day implanted in their constitution; and in due time they returned to their native dust. That they died at that very moment a spiritual death, is evident from their conduct; for they foolishly hoped to hide themselves among the trees of the garden from the eyes of the omniscient God; and offered vain excuses for their transgression, instead of humbling themselves for it before God.

To eternal death also they were subjected; and to it they would have been consigned, had not God, in his infinite mercy, provided a way of deliverance from it, through that seed of the woman, who was in due time to bruise the serpent’s head.

If it is doubted whether God will execute so heavy a judgment on the sinners of mankind, I hesitate not to declare, that he most assuredly will; since he has himself declared it in terms that admit of no reasonable doubt. See Matthew 25:46, and Mark 9:43-48, and Revelation 14:10-11. “He is not a man that he will lie, nor the son of man that he will repent.”

But since so many are deceived by this suggestion, I will endeavor to show, more distinctly,

II. The danger of listening to Satan’s temptation—

The effect of this sad delusion is visible in all around us. It is entirely owing to this, that Satan retains so many in bondage, and leads them captive at his will.

1. Hence it is that men make so light of sin—

Why is it, I would ask, that men are so easily drawn aside by every temptation, and that for a momentary gratification they will offend their God? Is it not from a secret persuasion that God will not fulfill his threatenings, and that they may sin against him with impunity?

If men saw before their eyes the instruments of torture whereby the violators of a law were to be put to a lingering and cruel death, and knew at the same time that there was no possibility of escape to anyone who should transgress the law—would they incur the penalty with the same indifference that they now transgress the laws of God? How much less then would they rush into wretchedness, if they saw Hell open before them, and heard the groans of those who are now suffering under the wrath of God! Truly, they would not then “make a mock at sin, but would tremble at it, and flee from it as from a deadly viper!

If then you would be preserved from sin, listen not a moment to this accursed suggestion; and if the whole world should unite in saying, “You shall not surely die!” reply to them, “Get behind me, Satan!” for “you are a liar from the beginning.”

2. Hence it is also that men make so light of salvation—

Salvation by Christ is offered to a ruined world. But who believes our report? Who receives it with that gratitude which it might well be expected that a perishing sinner should feel towards his reconciled God and Savior? With the exception of a few, the whole world regard the Gospel as little better than a cunningly devised fable; so faint are the emotions it excites, and so transient are the effects which it produces. And what is the reason of this? Is it not that men do not feel their need of such a Savior, and that they do not believe that God’s threatenings will ever be executed upon them? Yes! To this source must it be traced; for if they truly believed, that the wrath of God, which is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, would fall upon them, and that all their hope of escaping it was by embracing the Gospel, they would flee to Christ with their whole hearts, and cleave unto him with their whole souls, and not rest a moment until they saw themselves within the gates of the city of refuge.

Were they duly sensible of their danger, even a hope, a mere perhaps that God might have mercy upon them, would be sufficient to make them weep before him day and night. Not a word of mercy was mixed in Jonah’s message to Nineveh; yet the most distant hope of mercy was sufficient to encourage that whole city to repent in dust and ashes. What then would not all the promises of the Gospel effect, if men really felt the greatness of their guilt and danger?

It is evident, that all the indifference of men about the Gospel must be traced to this one source; their believing of Satan’s lie in preference to the truth of God! If ever the Gospel is to have a saving influence on our hearts, we must begin by rejecting this suggestion of the devil, and by believing that all the threatenings of God against sin and sinners shall assuredly be accomplished.

Observe then, on the whole,

1. What need there is of fidelity in ministers—

Satan at this time, no less than formerly, suggests to men, “You shall not surely die!” and his emissaries all the world over are re-echoing the delusive sound. Every friend we have, father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, the very instant we begin to dread the wrath of God, unite their endeavors to compose our minds, by saying, ‘There is no such penalty against sin as you suppose, nor have you any reason to fear that it shall be inflicted on you.’

Our own wicked hearts also are but too ready to adopt a sentiment so gratifying to the mind, and to speak peace to us on insufficient grounds.

What would be the consequence if ministers also favored such delusions, and, through fear of alarming you, neglected to warn you of your danger? Would not Satan triumph to a far greater extent than he already does? Would he not be secure of his prey? Is not this the very effect produced, wherever the Gospel, instead of being preached with apostolic fidelity, is kept upon the background, and modified to the taste of a deluded world?

Be thankful then if you hear your guilt and danger faithfully set before you. Be thankful, as you would be if a man, seeing your house on fire, roused you from your slumbers, and saved you from death. And, if God has given to you this mercy, improve it with all diligence, by fleeing from the wrath to come, and laying hold on eternal life!

2. What a mercy it is, that, notwithstanding the truth of God in his threatenings, there is a way of salvation opened for us in the Gospel—

Yes, God can be true, and yet absolve the sinner from his guilt; for, in Christ Jesus, “Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other!” The penalty of death has been inflicted upon the Lord Jesus Christ, as the surety and substitute of sinners; and, if we believe in him, all that he has done and suffered for us shall be so imputed to us as to be accepted of God in our behalf, so that God shall be “a just God, and yet a Savior,” yes “just, and yet the justifier” of sinful man! O blessed tidings! amply sufficient to pacify the most afflicted mind, and to warrant in our hearts the most joyful hope!

Brethren, only believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I will adopt with confidence the very words of Satan, and say, “You shall not surely die!” I will go further still, and from a doubtful suggestion turn them to a direct affirmation, and say, ‘Surely you shall not die.’ So says our blessed Lord himself, “My sheep shall never perish!” Paul also says, “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!”

On this, therefore, you may rely, with the fullest possible assurance; for, if the threatenings of God shall be fulfilled, so shall also His promises be; not one of them shall ever fail, as long as the world shall stand. Fear not then to see the worst of your state; fear not to acknowledge the extent of your guilt and danger, since the provision for you in Christ Jesus is fully commensurate with your necessities, and suited to your needs. Only believe in Him, and you shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 2:16-17

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying; Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

When the creation was formed, it was proper that every part of it should show forth the Creator’s glory, and, as far as its peculiar nature and capacity would admit of, fulfill his will.

The sun and moon and stars being inanimate bodies, it was sufficient for them to move with regularity in their respective orbits.

The creatures that were endued with life, were to follow their respective instincts, and, according to their abilities, to yield obedience to man, who was God’s vice-regent over them.

To man more had been given; of him, therefore, was more required. He was endued with understanding and will; he was capable of knowing what he owed to his Maker, and of exercising discretion in performing it. To him therefore, in addition to the moral law which was written on his heart, and from which he could not deviate without opposing all his innate propensities, a positive precept was given; the will of his Creator was enacted into a law; and that which was indifferent in itself, was made a test of its obedience. All the trees in Paradise were given to him for the nourishment and support of his body. But that he might have an opportunity of acknowledging his dependence on God, and his ready submission to the divine will, one tree was excepted; and the use of it was prohibited under the severest penalties. This prohibition is to be the subject of our present consideration; and, in order that it may be understood in all its bearings and relations, we shall endeavor to explain,

I. The import of the prohibition—

The name given to the forbidden tree strongly marked the importance of abstaining from it—

Adam was created in the perfect image of his God. He knew everything that was good, but nothing that was evil. This was his honor and his felicity. The knowledge of evil would have marred, rather than augmented, his happiness. Such knowledge, if speculative, would be only vain; if practical, be ruinous.

We have no reason to think that the fruit of the tree was at all noxious in itself; but, as being forbidden, it could not be eaten without guilt; and therefore the designation given to the tree itself was a standing memorial to Adam on no account to touch it; since by eating of it he would attain the knowledge of evil, which. through the perfection of his nature, he was hitherto unacquainted with.

The necessity of abstaining from it was yet more awfully inculcated in the penalty annexed to disobedience—

The death which in the event of his transgressing the command, was denounced against him, was three-fold; it was temporal death, spiritual death, eternal death. His body, which had not in it naturally the seeds of dissolution, was to be given up a prey to various diseases, and at last to return to the dust from which it sprang. His soul was to lose both the image and enjoyment of God, and to be consigned over to the influence of everything that was earthly, sensual, and devilish. And, after a certain period, both his body and soul were to be “cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.”

That such was the penalty, appears from the outcome; for, upon transgressing the divine command, he became mortal; a change also instantly took place in his intellectual and moral faculties; as he showed, by attempting to hide himself from God, with whom he had hitherto maintained the most familiar converse. The eternal duration of his punishment may be inferred from the penalty annexed to sin at this time; for if the wages of sin is eternal death now, there can be no doubt but that it was so then In Romans 6:23, death, which is the wages of sin, and the life which is the gift of God, are contrasted; both being of the same duration. Compare also Matthew 25:46.

There was, however, an implied promise, that, if he persevered in his obedience, he should live forever. In the law which God has since published, and to which the same penalty is annexed for disobedience, we are assured that whoever does the things which are commanded, shall live in them. Compare Deuteronomy 27:26 and Galatians 3:10, with Leviticus 18:5 and Romans 10:5 and Galatians 3:12; from whence we may conclude, that there was a similar reward prepared for Adam, if he should continue to obey his God. It is true that the law can not give us life now Galatians 3:21; but that is not owing to any change in God’s regard for obedience, but to our incapacity to render that obedience which his law requires, Romans 8:3-4. If we could keep all the commandments, we should, by keeping them, enter into life, Matthew 19:17. And it is manifest that the same reward would have been given to Adam; since we are told, that “the law was ordained to life, Romans 7:10.”

The import of the prohibition being made clear, let us consider,

II. The nature of the prohibition—

It could not be expected that in so brief a history as that before us, every minute particular should be explained; indeed, it was intended that the subsequent revelations of God’s will should clear up things which were left in a state of obscurity. Now from other parts of scripture we find that this prohibition was, in reality, a covenant; in which not Adam only, but all his posterity were savingly interested. In this covenant, Adam was the head and representative of all his seed; and they, to the remotest generations, were to stand or fall in him. In proof of this we may observe that,

1. In this prohibition are contained all the constituent parts of a covenant—

Here are the parties; God on the one side; and Adam, for himself and all his posterity, on the other.

Here are the terms expressly declared; there was a condition prescribed, namely, that Adam should obey the divine mandate; on his performance of which condition, he had a promise of life; but on his neglecting to perform it, a threatening of death.

Lastly, there was also a seal annexed to the covenant; as the rainbow was a seal of the covenant made with Noah; and circumcision and baptism were the seals of the Abrahamic and Christian covenants; so “the tree of life” was a seal of the covenant made with Adam, Genesis 9:8-17; Romans 4:11; it was a pledge to Adam, that, on his fulfilling the conditions imposed upon him, he should participate the promised reward.

2. The consequences flowing from the transgression of it, prove it to have been a covenant—

Death and condemnation were the immediate consequences of Adam’s sin. Nor were these confined to the immediate transgressor; they were entailed on his remotest posterity; by that one act of his, all his children are constituted sinners, and are consigned over to death and condemnation.

Both scripture and experience attest this melancholy truth. How often is it repeated, that all these evils proceeded from the offence of one man! See Romans 5:12-19. How can we account for so many millions of persons being involved in his punishment, if they were not in some way or other involved also in his guilt? Surely “the Judge of all the earth will do right;” and therefore, when we behold punishment inflicted on so many beings, who were once formed after the divine image, we may be sure that in the sight of God they are considered as guilty; and, as infants cannot have contracted guilt in their own persons, they must have derived it from Adam, by whom they were represented, and in whom they died.

3. It is represented as exactly corresponding with the covenant which God made with Christ on our behalf—

Nothing can be more labored than the parallel which Paul draws between Adam and Christ in the passage we have just referred to. Not content with tracing all evil to the offence of one, he declares that that one person, even Adam, was “a type or figure of Him who was to come;” and that as death and condemnation came by the offence of ONE, that is, Adam; so righteousness and life come by the obedience of ONE, even Christ, Romans 5:12-19. In another place he draws precisely the same parallel, representing Christ as “the second man,” “the last Adam, 1 Corinthians 15:45; 1 Corinthians 15:47;” and affirming, that “as in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive, 1 Corinthians 15:22.”

These things collectively, clearly prove that the prohibition was not a mere personal concern with Adam, but that it was a covenant made with him on behalf of himself and all his posterity.

If it be thought strange that God should make other people responsible for Adam’s conduct; we answer, that, among ourselves, the happiness of children is greatly involved in the conduct of their parents; and that God expressly avows, on another occasion, that he did make a covenant with some on behalf of others who were yet unborn, Deuteronomy 29:14-15; and if he did it on one occasion, he might with equal propriety do it on another.

But lest there should lurk in the mind any dissatisfaction with this mysterious appointment, we proceed to show,

III. The reasonableness of the prohibition—

1. Consider its reasonableness as a prohibition—

If the will of the Maker were to be enacted into a law, for the purpose of trying the obedience of man, we cannot conceive a more easy and simple method than the prohibiting the use of one single tree amidst the thousands which were laden with the choicest fruits. If God had prohibited all except one, it would have been highly reasonable that He should be obeyed, seeing that they were all the works of His hands, and He was at liberty to give or withhold, as it seemed good to Him. But when He gave the free enjoyment of all, and denied him only one, certainly nothing could be more reasonable than that His will should be honored by a cheerful compliance.

Nor was it less reasonable that the prohibition should be enforced with so severe a penalty; for the object of the penalty was to keep Adam from transgression, and to shut him up under a necessity of continuing holy and happy; and therefore the more awful the sanctions were, the more likely they were to answer the desired end; and the more gracious was God in annexing them to the prohibition.

2. Consider its reasonableness as a covenant—

It is but a small thing to say concerning the covenant, that it was just; we go much further; and affirm, that it was in the highest degree favorable and advantageous to all who were savingly interested in it. Consider the state in which Adam was, when subjected to the temptation; and compare with it the state in which we should meet temptation, supposing every one of us to be called forth to the trial as soon as ever we entered into the world;

He was perfect; we are imperfect.

He was in full possession of all his faculties; we would begin our conflict while all the powers of our souls were in a state of infantile weakness.

He was exposed to only one temptation, and that apparently easy to be withstood, on account of his having no evil disposition to close with it; we would be assaulted with ten thousand temptations, with every one of which we have a proneness to comply.

He conflicted with his enemy who was yet unskilled in the work of beguiling souls; we would engage him after his skill has been augmented by the experience of six thousand years.

He was fortified by the consideration that not his own happiness only, but that also of all his posterity, depended on him; whereas we would have no other motive to steadfastness than a regard to our own personal welfare.

Let anyone compare these states, and then say whether Adam or We were more likely to fall; and if it appears that his situation was far more conducive to stability than ours, then must it be considered as a great advantage to us to have had such a person for our covenant-head.

If it be said that eventually we are sufferers by it; we may well be satisfied with it; since if he, with all his advantages, was overcome, then there is no hope at all that we, under all our disadvantages, should have maintained our integrity. Nor can we doubt, but that if all the human race had been summoned before God at once to hear the proposal of having Adam for their covenant-head, every one of them would have accepted it, as a signal token of the divine goodness.

Inferences;

1. What folly it is to seek for happiness in sin!

Depraved as everything is by means of sin—yet is there all that we can wish for in this transient state, together with a liberty “richly to enjoy it.” We have not a sense for which God has not provided a suitable and legitimate indulgence.

Survey the number, brightness, magnitude, and order of the heavenly bodies; or the innumerable multitude of animate and inanimate beings, with all their variegated hues, the exquisite formation of their parts, their individual symmetry, their harmonious configuration, their wonderful adaptation to their respective ends. Can we conceive a richer feast for our eyes?

Behold how the earth is strewed with flowers, that cast their perfumes to the wind, and regale us with their fragrances!

Where, among all the contrivances of art, will anything be found to equal the fruits of the earth, in the variety and richness of their flavor?

Or where will the sons of harmony produce such exquisite music as the feathered tribes gratuitously afford to the poorest cottager?

Take the feelings for which so many myriads of mankind sacrifice their eternal interests; and we will venture to affirm, that even those are called forth with keener sensibility and richer zest in the way of God’s appointment, than they ever can be in a way of licentious and prohibited indulgence.

What need have we then of forbidden fruit? If nothing were left us in this world but the favor of God and the testimony of a good conscience, we would have a feast which nothing but Heaven can excel; but when, together with these, we have all that can conduce to the comfort of the body; when we have “the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come,” is it not madness to seek for happiness in sin; to relinquish “the fountain of living waters, and to hue out to ourselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water?”

Let us but learn to enjoy God in everything, and everything in God, and we shall find that this world, polluted as it is, is yet a Paradise! With God’s favor, bread is better than royal delicacies, and the lowest dungeon is a palace.

2. With what abhorrence should sin be viewed by us!

Look through the creation which God pronounced to be very good, and see how all things are out of course; the earth that should nourish us, is struck with barrenness; the elements that should administer to our comfort, are armed against us for our destruction. See the smallest insects in the creation invading us with irresistible force, and by their united efforts desolating our fairest prospects.

Look at man himself, once the image of his Maker; see with what malignant dispositions he is filled. See him passing his time here in labor and sorrow, and generation after generation swept away from the face of the earth! Follow him into the eternal world, and behold him banished from the presence of his God, and cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, there to endure the full penalty of all his sins!

Behold all this, I say, and consider that this is the work of sin! One sin introduced it all; and successive generations have lived only to complete what our first parents began. O that we could view sin in this light! O that we could bear in mind the judgment denounced against it, “In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die!” We have warnings sufficient to intimidate the stoutest heart, “The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, Romans 1:18;” “The soul that sins, it shall surely die, Ezekiel 18:20;” “Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death, James 1:15.” Only let sin be stripped of its deceitful attire, and be viewed in all its naked deformity—and we shall shudder even at the thought of it, and flee from it as from the face of a serpent!

3. How thankful should we be for the tree of life!

Blessed be God, the tree of life yet grows in the midst of us, Revelation 2:7. No cherubim with flaming swords obstruct our way to it; on the contrary, all the angels in Heaven are ready to exert all their influence to conduct us to it; and God, even our Father, invites and entreats us to gather its life-giving fruits. This tree of life is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ, “it bears twelve manner of fruits,” suited to all our various necessities; and its very “leaves are for the healing of the nations, Revelation 22:2.”

Let us then flock around this tree; let us with humble boldness stretch forth our hands to gather its fruits. We may see around us many who have already experienced its efficacy to heal the spiritual sick, and to revive the spiritual dead. Let us view the Savior as God’s instituted ordinance for this very end; and now that he is accessible unto us, let us approach him; lest haply the accepted time be terminated, and we eat forever the bitter fruits of our transgression!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 2:2-3

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

Though we know no reason on God’s part why he should proceed in the work of creation by slow and gradual advancement, instead of perfecting the whole at once; yet we may conceive a reason on the part of man, who is enabled thereby to take a more minute and deliberate survey of all its parts, and from every fresh discovery of the creation to derive fresh themes of praise to the Creator. This idea seems to be countenanced by the institution of a Sabbath immediately after the completion of the sixth day’s work. At all events, this is the improvement which it befits us to make of the Sabbath; in speaking of which we shall show,

I. The reason of its appointment—

God, after finishing his work, “rested, and was refreshed, Exodus 31:17.” Whether this expression be merely a figure of speech taken from what is experienced by us after any laborious and successful exertion, or whether it intimate the delight which God felt, as it were, on a review of his works, we cannot absolutely determine. But his sanctifying of the seventh day in consequence of that rest, shows that he consulted,

1. His own glory—

As “God made all things for himself,” so he instituted the Sabbath in order that his rational creatures might have stated opportunities of paying him their tribute of prayer and praise. If no period had been fixed by him for the solemnities of public worship, it would have been impossible to bring mankind to an agreement respecting the time when they should render unto him their united homage. They would all acknowledge the propriety of serving him in concert; but each would be ready to consult his own convenience; a difference of sentiment also would obtain respecting the portion of time that should be allotted to his service; and thus there would never be one hour when all should join together in celebrating their Creator’s praise.

But by an authoritative separation of the seventh day, God has secured, that the whole creation shall acknowledge him, and that His goodness shall be had in everlasting remembrance. In this view, God himself, speaking of the Sabbath which he had instituted at the creation, and the observance of which he was, with some additional reasons, enforcing on the Jews, calls it “a sign” between him and them, that they might know that he is the Lord, Exodus 31:13; Exodus 31:17; Isaiah 58:13.

2. His people’s good—

Though men might have worshiped God in secret—yet the appointment of a certain day to be entirely devoted to His service, had a tendency to spiritualize their minds, and to make every one in some respect useful in furthering the welfare of the whole community. Sympathy is a powerful principle in the human bosom; and the sight of others devoutly occupied in holy exercises, is calculated to quicken the drowsy soul. The very circumstance of multitudes meeting together with raised expectations and heavenly affections, must operate like an assemblage of burning coals, all of which are instrumental to the kindling of others, while they receive in themselves fresh ardor from the contact.

A further benefit from the appointment of the Sabbath is, that the attention of all must necessarily be directed to the eternal Sabbath, which awaits them at the expiration of their appointed week of labor. Each revolving Sabbath, freed from the distractions of worldly care, and attended, not merely with bodily rest, but with a rest of the soul in God, must be to them a pledge and foretaste of Heaven itself. Well therefore does Nehemiah number the Sabbath among the richest benefits which God had conferred upon his chosen people, Nehemiah 9:14.

But as some have thought the Sabbath to be a mere Jewish institution, which, like the rest of the ceremonial law, is abrogated and annulled, we shall proceed to show,

II. The continuance of its obligation—

That there was something ceremonial in the Jewish Sabbath, we readily acknowledge; but there was something moral also; and therefore, as to the moral part of it, it must, of necessity, be of perpetual obligation. To remove all doubt on this important subject, consider,

1. The time of the Sabbath’s institution—

Some have thought that the mention which is made of the Sabbath in the words before us, was merely by anticipation; and that the appointment never took place until the days of Moses. But if this were the case, how did Moses come to specify the circumstance of God’s resting on the seventh day as the reason of that appointment, Exodus 20:11. It would have been a good reason for our first parents and their immediate descendants to hallow the seventh day; but it could be no reason at all to those who lived almost twenty-five hundred years after the event; more especially when so obvious and cogent a reason as their deliverance out of Egypt was assigned at the very same time, Deuteronomy 5:15. But if the command given to the Jews was a repetition of the injunction given to Adam, then there is an obvious propriety in assigning the reason that was obligatory upon all, as well as that which formed an additional obligation on the Jewish nation in particular.

Besides, there are traces of a Sabbath from the beginning of the world. For, if no Sabbath had ever been given, whence came the practice of measuring time by weeks? Yet that custom obtained both in the patriarchal ages, Genesis 29:27-28, and antediluvian ages, Genesis 8:10; Genesis 8:12; and therefore, since it accords so exactly with what was afterwards instituted by divine authority, we may well infer its original appointment by God himself. And if its obligation existed so many ages before the ceremonial law was given, then must it continue to exist after that law is abolished.

2. The manner of the Sabbath’s re-establishment—

Notwithstanding the long continuance of the Jews in Egypt, the remembrance of the Sabbath was not effaced; for Moses, before the giving of the law, speaks of the Sabbath as an institution known and received among them, Exodus 16:23. And, without any express direction, they gathered on the sixth day a double portion of manna to serve them on the Sabbath; which they would not have done, if they had not thought the observance of the Sabbath to be of the first importance, Exodus 16:22. That they did this without any direction from Moses, is evident from the complaint which the Rulers made on the occasion; for which complaint there could have been no ground, if any direction had been given.

Nevertheless, for the more effectual maintenance of its authority, God judged it necessary to publish it to them again, both upon the original grounds, and on other special grounds peculiar to that people. And how did he publish it? Did he deliver it to Moses in the same manner as he did the ceremonial law? No! he wrote it with his own finger on tables of stone, and embodied it with the moral law, Deuteronomy 10:3-4. Surely this affords a very strong presumption that God himself considered its duties, not as ceremonial, limited, and transient—but as moral, universal, and permanent.

3. The confirmation of the Sabbath by the Prophets—

That its obligations should be sanctioned by the prophets, we might well expect; because they lived under the authority of the Jewish law. The mere circumstance, therefore, of their insisting on the observation of the Sabbath would prove nothing. But their speaking of the Sabbath, as to be observed under the Christian dispensation, very strongly corroborates the perpetuity of its obligations. Now the prophet Isaiah does speak of the Sabbath in such a connection, that we cannot doubt of its referring to the times of the Gospel; and he represents the “keeping of the Sabbath” as no less necessary to our happiness, than the laying hold of Christ’s righteousness and salvation, Isaiah 56:1-2. We can scarcely think that the prophet would have so strongly marked the continuance of the Sabbath, if its obligations were to cease with the ceremonial law.

4. The observation of the Sabbath by the Apostles—

The precise day on which the Jews kept their Sabbath, was indeed changed; and the first day of the week was substituted for the seventh. This was done in order to commemorate the resurrection of our blessed Lord; an event, the most interesting that ever occurred from the foundation of the world; an event which proved, beyond all doubt, the Messiahship of Jesus, and has served from that time as the corner-stone of all our hopes, Acts 4:10-12.

When Israel was brought out of Egypt, God, in order to commemorate that deliverance, changed the commencement of the year from the Autumn to the Spring, Exodus 12:2; can we wonder then, that, in remembrance of an infinitely greater deliverance, he should alter the day on which the Sabbath had been observed? It was in the appropriation of a seventh part of our time to God, that the morality of the Sabbath consisted; and that is preserved under the Christian economy, as much as under the Jewish economy.

This change was sanctioned by our blessed Lord, who repeatedly selected that day for the more public exhibition of himself to his disciples, Luke 24:13; Luke 24:33; Luke 24:36; Luke 24:40; Luke 24:45; John 20:19; John 20:26. And on that day he sent down the Holy Spirit upon them This is ascertained by calculation, as well as from its being the seventh Sabbath after his resurrection; in order that the application, as well as the completion of his redemption, might give a further sanctity to the new-appointed day.

From that time the first day of the week was invariably observed for the public services of the church, Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; and, to stamp peculiar honor upon it, it was distinguished by that endearing name, “The Lord’s day, Revelation 1:10.”

Who that weighs all these arguments, can doubt the continued obligation of the Sabbath?

For the regulation of our conduct on the Sabbath, we should inquire into,

III. The nature of its requirements—

The same kind of strictness is not required of us as was enjoined under the law—

We have before said, that there was something of a ceremonial nature in the Jewish Sabbath. The Jews in the wilderness were not permitted to leave their habitations on the Sabbath-day, Exodus 16:29, except to assemble for divine worship; and the portion of manna which they gathered on the preceding day for the consumption of that day, was, for the space of forty years, kept fit for their use upon the Sabbath by a constant miracle, on purpose that they might have no excuse for transgressing the divine command, Exodus 16:24. They were forbidden even to kindle a fire on the Sabbath-day, Exodus 35:3, or to do any species of servile work.

But all this rigor is not necessary now; it was suited to the burdensome dispensation of the law; but not to the more liberal dispensation under which we live. Indeed, our blessed Lord has shown us clearly that works of necessity, Matthew 12:1-8, or of mercy, Matthew 12:10-13, may be performed on that as well as any other day. Being himself “the Lord of the Sabbath day,” he dispensed with those rites which were merely temporary, and requires of us such services only as a spiritual mind will most delight in.

Our sanctification of the Sabbath should consist rather in mental, than in bodily exercises—

What are the proper employments for our minds, the prophet Isaiah has plainly told us, “We should account the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and should honor him, not doing our own ways, nor finding our own pleasure, nor speaking our own words, Isaiah 58:13.” We should endeavor to have our thoughts abstracted from the world, and to fix them with intenseness and delight on heavenly objects. On every day we should present to God our sacrifices of prayer and praise; but as, under the law, the accustomed sacrifices, both of the morning and evening, were doubled upon the Sabbath, Numbers 28:9-10, so, under the Gospel, we should have our minds doubly occupied in the service of our God.

The subject before us suggests ample matter,

1. For reproof—

Many, very many there are who hate the duties of the Sabbath; and, breaking through all the restraints of conscience, follow without remorse their usual occupations.

Others, complying with the established forms, cry, “What a weariness it is! Malachi 1:13.” When shall the Sabbath be over, that I may prosecute more pleasing or more profitable employments? Amos 8:5. When they come up to the house of God, they find no pleasure in his service, but are rather, like Doeg, “detained before the Lord, 1 Samuel 21:7.”

Some, indeed, conceiving that they are doing something meritorious, spend without reluctance the time allotted for public service; but, though they draw near to God with their lips, their hearts are far from him, Matthew 15:8. It is not such worshipers that God seeks or approves; nor is such the sanctification of the Sabbath that he requires.

On the contrary, he is indignant against all such profaneness or hypocrisy; and declares that such people “worship him in vain, Matthew 15:9. ” Whatever such people may imagine, they indeed profane the Sabbath. And what the consequence will be, they may form some judgment, from the punishment inflicted on the man who gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day. By God’s express command, he was stoned to death! Numbers 15:32-36. If, then, so heavy a sentence was executed upon him by the direction of the Most High, can we suppose that God is more indifferent about the conduct of his creatures now? or that he has loaded them with mercies for no other end than to give them a greater license to sin? Let us well consider this; for “if they, who despised Moses’ law, died without mercy”—then surely a far sorer punishment awaits us, if, with our additional obligations, we disregard the wonders of redeeming love, Hebrews 10:28-29.

2. For encouragement—

Not only personal, but even national judgments may be expected for the violation of the Sabbath, Jeremiah 17:27. But, on the other hand, every blessing may be expected, both by individuals Isaiah 56:4-7, and the community, Jeremiah 17:24-26, if the Sabbath is habitually and conscientiously improved. Indeed, it seems almost impossible that anyone who sets himself in earnest to improve the Sabbath-day, should ever perish. God would bless to such a one the ordinances of his grace; and rather send him instruction in some extraordinary way, than allow him to use the means in vain, Acts 8:27-35; Acts 10:1-21. We can appeal to all who have ever labored to sanctify the Sabbath, whether they have not found their labor well repaid? Surely “God has never said to any, ‘Seek my face in vain’, “and the more diligently we keep his Sabbaths below, the more shall we be fitted for our eternal rest!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)