more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand, which is concerning the justice of God, in the punishment of the sinner: for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery. Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee; for behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground, from whence they were taken; yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life. Now we see that the man had became as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, the Lord God placed Cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit; and thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man, to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God. For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partook of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation, would have been frustrated. But behold, it was appointed unto man to die; therefore as they were cut off from the tree of life, they should be cut off from the face of the earth; and man became lost forever; yea, they became fallen man. And now we see by this, that our first parents were cut off, both temporally and spiritually, from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will. Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness; therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankid a spiritual death as well as a temporal; that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord; it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death; therefore as they had become carnal, sensual and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare: it became a preparatory state. And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside,) as soon as they were dead, their souls were miserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord. And now there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state which [p. 357]