once his circumcised seed too; but he added that Abraham was the father in covenant of all his congregation, because he is the father of all them that believe of all nations; and yet he dare not say that all his congregation are believers in the Messiah, the promised seed and heir of all Abraham's covenanted spiritual blessings. It is indeed true that Abraham is the natural father of the Jews, Edomites, Ishmaelites, &c., and he is the covenanted father of all the Jews, as well as their literal and true progenitor; and it is true that he is the spiritual and covenanted father of all · believers of all nations, but not of the fleshly seed of true believers. This last point is the corner stone of Mr Paido Raino's chapel, church, and congregation. The fleshly seed of true believers are not the natural nor spiritual seed of Abraham and therefore are neither in the temporal nor spiritual covenant with Abraham. Paul teaches that if Gentiles are in Christ, then, and only then, are they Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise" They who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham." But it no where says in the whole Bible, Old Testament or New, that the natural posterity of believers are the children of Abraham in any sense whatever; and therefore they are not in covenant with Abraham. But of this we may speak more fully when we come to the Abrahamic covenants. What, Thomas, think you of the entails upon our race in virtue of the Adamic and Noahic covenants?

Thomas. By the former mortality is ours, and by the latter a freedom from another destruction of the species, the earth and its inhabitants, by water, is secured to us.

Olympas. True, we inherit death and the curse, as well as life and all that is desirable in it, from Adam. We are the sons of a degenerate and degraded father, and participate with him in all the consequences of his violation of covenant, whether it be in constitution, person, or estate : for when a covenant is broken by one party it is not disannulled. The other party demands the fulfilment of its conditions or the penalty of a failure from all the covenantees to the expiration of the last item in its provisions. Observe, therefore, that all the gifts and callings of God are on his part without repentance or change, and that we are all living, while in Adam the first, under the consequences of a broken covenant. How many covenants, William, can you find in the Old and New Testaments of divine authority?

William. There are six in the Old Testament: The Adamic, the Noahic, the Abrahamic, the Sinaitic, the Aaronic, or sacerdotal, and the Monarchic with David and his line.

Olympas. Do you concur, Reuben, with that view of the matter?

Reuben. I think there are a plurality of covenants with Abraham-one concerning his natural offspring and their inheritance, and another concerning Christ.

Olympas. Can you give us the names of these covenants?

Reuben. Paul speaks of the "covenant concerning Christ," made four hundred and thirty years before the giving of the law. Gal. iii. 17. And Stephen calls the covenant found in Gen. xvii. "the covenant of circumcision." This was some twenty-four or twenty-five years after the former

Olympas. Whom did these two covenants respect?

Thomas. That concerning Christ respects the whole world; that respecting circumcision respected the seed of Abraham only or his natural offspring.

Olympas. What is the date of the covenant of circumcision, William?

William. It was made in the hundredth year of Abraham, four hundred and five years before giving the law.

Olympas. And what was the date of "the covenant concerning Christ?"

William. It was made in the year of Abraham 75, or four hundred and thirty years before the giving of the law; and respected spiritual blessings only through Christ.

Olympas. There are, then, two covenants with Abraham-one concerning flesh; another concerning spirit-his natural offspring and Christ; the one represented by Hagar and Ishmael-the other by Sarah and Isaac. Gal. iv. So that we have two at least with Abraham. Indeed, some reckon three -one concerning the Messiah, Gen. xii. ; one concerning Canaan, Gen. xv.; one concerning his fleshly seed, Gen. xvii. But the two last being engrossed, Gen. xvii., make but one covenant concerning his fleshly seed, and that leaves the other for his spiritual or believing children wherever they may be found. We may then count a covenant with Adam, one with Noah, two with Abraham, one with the whole nation Sinai, one with Aaron, and one with David, in all seven. The great covenantees are Adam and his heirs, Noah and his heirs, Abraham and his heirs natural, Abraham

and his heirs spiritual, the Jews and their heirs, Aaron and his heirs, David and his heirs. Now, to understand these seven covenants, is to understand the Old Testament well, and that is the best preparation for the New. But as I wish. frequently to touch upon these covenants till you all comprehend their meaning, I will dismiss them for the present with one observation, viz.— You are all interested directly in the first twopassively, indeed, as were all the fowls of heaven and the cattle in the Noahic covenant, of which we now treat. You were born under the dominion of two; but none of you by virtue of mere natural birth can inherit the blessings of the covenant concerning Christ. You must become the children of the Christian covenant by faith in the Messiah. Then, indeed, if you be Christ's, you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

CONVERSATION X.

Olympas. BEFORE reading the tenth chapter of Genesis this morning, I ask the family by what authority it is said that Noah was a hundred and twenty years in building the ark?

William. The Lord said man's days should be a hundred and twenty years when he repented that he had made him, and immediately gave orders for building the ark. Now we presume that Noah was obedient to the heavenly precept, and soon commenced.

Olympas. But a gentleman who heard our conversation on Gen. vi., has observed that the birth of Shem, Ham, and Japheth was announced before the order to build the ark. And as Shem was only ninety-eight years old when the flood commenced, the ark could not have been a hundred and twenty years in building. How do you dispose of this difficulty?

William. I never thought of that before.

Olympas. How do you dispose of it, Reuben? Reuben. It does not lie in my way: for I have had my doubts about the time the ark was a-building. I think that in one hundred and twenty years some parts of it would have been worm eaten, and consequently unsafe.·

Olympas. What, Thomas, do you say to this difficulty?

Thomas. The fact that the sons of Noah are mentioned before the order to build the ark, docs