and of judgment." Now this chapter treats of visitation and judgment about to be performed on the perverse human race of whom the former chapter treats, and therefore the two augels representing and signifying the divine humanity or Son, and the divine proceeding or Holy Spirit, are mentioned for the reason just assigned. And hence, too, it is, that by the three men which Abraham saw, and whom he "ran to meet from the door of his tent," is signified the essential divine principle, called in the New Testament, the Father; the divine humanity, called the Son, and the divine proceeding or operation, called the Holy Spirit. And that a trinity in unity is here implied, (not of persons but of essentials,) is manifest from the circumstance of Abraham addressing these three men in the singular number, saying, My Lord, if, I pray, I have found grace in thine eyes, pass not thou I pray. These three are also spoken of in the singular number as of one person, in sixteen several verses of the same chapter. But when the destruction of the wicked, and the salvation of those who are in the possession of some goodness and truth (represented by Lot) are spoken of, then the divine humanity and the divine proceeding operation, or Holy Spirit, which in the New Testament are always connected with the redemption and salvation of man, are represented by the two angels or men here mentioned. For be it observed, that this chapter treats, in its internal sense, of the rise of a new church, signified by Lot in his representative character, as before described; and the destruction of the old church, which is spiritually signified by Sodom and Gomorrah. And hence it was that our Lord in treating on the subject, selected this part of the history, as spiritually representing those things of which he spake.

That there is no plurality of persons in the trinity, we have seen already, as represented in the case of Abraham. That the Son and the Holy Spirit are united in one, being two essentials and not two gods, we see represented in the circumstance of Lot's addressing the two angels or men as one. For as Abraham addressed the three angels as one, so, in like manner, Lot addresses the two angels as one. Of these two it is written, "It came to pass when they had brought them forth, he said, Escape for thy life." And in the 19th verse, "Behold, I pray thy servant hath found grace in thine eyes, and thou hast made great thy mercy which thou hast done with me." And in the 21st verse we read of these two men thus: "And he said unto him, Behold, I have accepted thee; I will not overthrow the city." And again: "Be

cause I cannot do any thing till thou come thither." By these two circumstances we are instructed that those who acknowledge the Lord alone as the only God of heaven and earth, in whom exists the divine trinity in an indissoluble unity, are the opposite of the church which was to be destroyed, as signified by Sodom and Gomorrah. It is they alone, who, consistently with the whole tenor of the Word from Genesis to Revelations, are convinced and acknowledge, notwithstanding all the gainsaying of the inhabitants of these guilty cities, that the Lord alone is the true object of divine worship; and that they have no access to the essential divinity, called in the New Testament the Father, but by the humanity, called the Son, agreeably to his own words, "No man cometh to the Father (or divinity within) but by me;" even as we have access and converse with the soul of our fellow-man by means, or through the medium of approach, which is his body. They know too, that every holy desire and every pure affection proceed from him, which is called in the Word the influence or operation of the Spirit. Thus their ideas are not divided between three persons, but they approach to and adore him, and no other, as their Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, Regenerator, and Sanctifier, by his Spirit.

In this history we further discover the difference between the church which was to pass away and the true church, whose doctrine and principles we have just described as the salt of the earth, and which will last for ever. In the 5th verse we see represented the false principles of that church exciting them to anger and rage against the principles of goodness which exist in the truths, doctrines, and lives of the true members of the church of the Lord. We hear them questioning the existence of the divine human principle, and the divine proceeding, signified by the "two men ;" yea we see their total rejection of the truth of that doctrine, and the excitement of anger against those who believe and acknowledge it, as signified in the words, "They cried to Lot and said, Where are the men who came to thee by night? bring them out to us that we may know them." The angels came in the evening; but the men of Sodom say they came by night; representing at one and the same time the state of falsehood in which they were immersed, and the state of the church, which was in such gross darkness as that the light of truth could no longer be seen. And their wish to make the attempt to dissolve the existence of the Lord's divine principle and holy proceeding, and that from a principle of

anger and denial, is signified by the words, "Bring them out that we may know them."

Again we are exhorted by our Lord to "Remember Lot's wife;" because the difference between those whom she was designed to signify and represent, and those whom Lot represents, is as that which exists between light without heat; faith separated from works, or a life of faith; between love in the will, united with the knowledge of truth, or faith in the understanding; and that truth as existing in the understanding, merely separated from love or charity in the will and life. Hence the difference between the Old Christian Church and the New, and the superiority of the doctrines taught in the latter, as clearly seen by the enlightened mind when placed in juxta position with the former. And hence the hostility frequently manifested by the one, which is gradually passing away, and that church which is now establishing in the earth, called the New Jerusalem, and against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. "Now (say they) will we do evil to thee, more than to them; and they pressed on the man, on Lot, exceedingly; and they came near to break the inner door." They were desirous to oppose with violence that goodness which hath for its object the love of God and man, and to destroy, if possible, both truth and love and charity together. Here, therefore, the state and quality of the church in the last times is described. Here the state of those persons is described who are unwilling to hear, so as to understand and receive, the doctrines which militate against those of corrupted Christianity, or faith alone, and who regard not the life of man in reference to his salvation, so much as an implicit faith in the merits of Christ, from which faith works are altogether excluded. This faith the inspired Word hath predicted should flourish at the second coming of the Lord in the power and glory of his Holy Word, and that then such church would be on the eve of its extinction, for "as it was in the days of Lot, even so shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." And we need but look around us for a confirmation of this fact; a very cursory glance will convince us of the truth that such predictions are fulfilling, and every day being fulfilled. For our Lord says they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; the evil consists in doing all this spiritually: i. e., they procure to themselves evil, errors, and falsehood,— the very opposites of goodness and truth; and these they communicate to others, and so confirm themselves therein as to live in

them. And it is added, "But on the day that Lot departed from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even so shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." The circumstance referred to by our Lord is recorded in the 19th of Genesis in these words: "The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven." Whereby is signified that falsehood, and the love of rule and dominion, and self-love, would prevail, so that heavenly love and divine truth would not be found to exist among them. That the term to rain signifies, according to the internal sense of the Word, blessing, and as a consequence, salvation, may be made evident from a variety of passages. In its opposite sense, as here used, it signifies cursing, and everlasting destruction. Thus we read in the 11th Psalm: "Upon the wicked Jehovah shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup." That material fire and brimstone is not here meant, must surely be evident from the expression, "Jehovah will rain snares." By fire and brimstone in this and other passages, is signified principles of falsehood as represented by fire; the fire of evil love, and all kinds of evil derived therefrom, as signified by brimstone; and these existing in men, and eventually falling on their own head. Methinks our very opponents will agree with us in the internal signification of this passage, rather than contend for the literal signification, which leads them to conclude, that the coming of the Lord was, or will be ushered in by a shower of material fire and brimstone. For so shall it be (said our Lord) when the Son of Man is revealed. And the Lord is now revealed in the Word.

But though we declare these sublime truths and doctrines of the Lord's New Church to them, we cannot, neither would we if we could, force them to believe them. We cannot elevate their minds from things material to things spiritual, if there be no desire or inclination existing on their part, any more than a teacher can give to his pupil a capacity to learn. "When the desire cometh (says the wise king) it is a tree of life." If, therefore, they possess "first a willing mind;" if they are desirous of knowing the truth; then divine wisdom is ever near and ever ready to aid their sincere wishes and endeavours, and to lead them by his spirit into all truth; so that they are left without excuse, if they use not every appointed means or medium for the accomplishment or attainment of so important an end. If while they abide in the literal

interpretation of the Word merely, they find apparent contradictions which cannot be reconciled or fully understood, without a knowledge of its internal signification; and they nevertheless reject that internal signification when placed within the grasp of their handling, and offered for their reception and adoption; then must they continue to wear, and exhibit to the more rational, candid, and thankful recipients of the light of divine truth, the stigmatizing motto of the Apostle, "Ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth."

Among the many difficulties to be met with in the letter of the Word, we propose the one just now read in your hearing; and we ask the advocates for the mere literal sense of the Word, and nothing but the literal sense, for a solution. It is written: "Jehovah rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven." "Jehovah rained fire and brimstone from Jehovah." Here surely is a fair opportunity for these literal interpreters-these advocates for a plurality of gods, to assert at least a duality of gods, since it is said that "Jehovah rained fire and brimstone from Jehovah out of heaven." I wonder they never adduce this passage to prove the existence of two Jehovahs. This they do in effect when they ascribe all the divine attributes to Jesus Christ, and yet contend that another god, even the Father, exists as a separate divine being. Surely the Father must be Jehovah, and if they address Jesus Christ as Jehovah (which I have heard preachers do in their public prayers, nevertheless in the next sen-tence they have spoken of him as subordinate to the Father) they thus retain the idea of two Jehovahs, the one superior, the other of course inferior. I say, therefore, it is rather strange that they do not often press this text into their service in the course of their public ministrations. We are aware that such persons will listen with eagerness and minute attention while we present before them the only solution of the apparent difficulty,-to them indeed a real and an insurmountable difficulty; and we are as truly convinced that there are persons who will reject the only true meaning, though founded in, and based upon, the strong pillars of invulnerable truth and divine wisdom. In this repetition of the sacred name Jehovah the internal sense divests the passage of any thing and every thing tautological, however paradoxical such assertion may appear to the mere superficial reader of the Word.

Were we to give the whole of the heavenly arcanum contained in this verse, we must appropriate more than the limits of our time will at present allow for explanation. Suffice it, therefore, merely