Part 1. From the Fall to the Flood

This was a period farthest of all distant from Christ's incarnation; yet then this great work was begun to be carried on; then was this glorious building begun, that will not be finished till the end of the world, as I would now show you how. To this purpose I would observe,

1. As soon as ever man fell, Christ entered on his mediatorial work. Then it was that Christ first took on him the work and office of a mediator. He had undertaken it before the world was made. He stood engaged with the Father to appear as man's mediator, and to take on that office when there should be occasion, from all eternity. But now the time was come. When man fell, then the occasion came; and then Christ immediately, without further delay, entered on his work, and took on him that office that he had stood engaged to take on him from eternity. As soon as ever man fell, Christ the eternal Son of God clothed himself with the mediatorial character, and therein presented himself before the Father. He immediately stepped in between a holy, infinite, offended Majesty, and offending mankind, and was accepted in his interposition; and so wrath was prevented from going forth in the full execution of that amazing curse that man had brought on himself.

It is manifest that Christ began to exercise the office of mediator between God and man as soon as ever man fell, because mercy began to be exercised towards man immediately. There was mercy in the forbearance of God, that he did not destroy him, as he did the angels when they fell. But there is no mercy exercised toward fallen man but through a mediator. If God had not in mercy restrained Satan, he would immediately have seized on his prey. Christ began to do the part of an intercessor for man as soon as he fell. There is no mercy exercised towards man but what is obtained through Christ's intercession: so that now Christ was entered on his work that he was to continue in throughout all ages of the world. From that day forward Christ took on him the care of the church of the elect: he took on him the care of fallen man in the exercise of all his offices; he undertook thenceforward to teach mankind in the exercise of his prophetical office; and also to intercede for fallen man in his priestly office; and he took on him, as it were, the care and burden of the government of the church, and of the world of mankind, from this day forward. He from that time took upon him the care of the defense of his elect church from all their enemies. When Satan, the grand enemy, had conquered and overthrown man, the business of refining and conquering him was committed to Christ. He thenceforward undertook to manage that subtle powerful adversary. He was then appointed the Captain of the Lord's hosts, and the Captain of their salvation, and always acted as such thenceforward: and so he appeared from time to time, and he will continue to act as such to the end of the world. Henceforward this lower world, with all its concerns, was, as it were, devolved upon the Son of God; for when man had sinned, God the Father would have no more to do with man immediately; he would no more have any immediate concern with this world of mankind, that had apostatized from and rebelled against him. He would henceforward have no concern with man, but only through a mediator, either in teaching men, or in governing or bestowing any benefits on them.

Therefore, when we read in sacred history what God did from time to time towards his church and people, and what he said to them, and how he revealed himself to them, we are to understand it especially of the second person of the Trinity. When we read of God's appearing after the fall, from time to time, in some visible form or outward symbol of his presence, we are ordinarily, if not universally, to understand it especially of the second person of the Trinity; which may be argued from John 1:18. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." He is therefore called "the image of the invisible God," Colossians 1:15; intimating, that though God the Father be invisible, yet Christ is his image or representation, by which he is seen, or by which the church of God hath often had a representation of him, that is not invisible; and in particular that Christ has after appeared in a human form.

Yea not only was this lower world devolved on Christ, that he might have the care and government of it, and order it agreeably to his design of redemption, but also in some respect the whole universe. The angels from that time were committed to him, to be subject to him in his mediatorial office, to be ministering spirits to him in this affair; and accordingly were so from this time forward, as is manifest by the scripture-history, wherein we have accounts from time to time of their acting as ministering spirits in the affairs of the church of Christ.

Therefore we may suppose, that immediately on the fall of man, it was made known in heaven among the angels, that God had a design of redemption with respect to fallen man, and that Christ had now taken upon him the office and work of a mediator between God and man, that they might know their business henceforward, which was to be subservient to Christ in this office. As Christ, in this office, has since that, as God-man, Mediator, been solemnly exalted and installed the King of heaven, and is thenceforward as God-man, Mediator, the Light, and as it were, the Sun of heaven, agreeable to Revelation 21:23. "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof;" so this revelation that was made in heaven among the angels, of Christ's now having taken on him the office of a mediator between God and man, was as it were the first dawning of this light in heaven. When Christ ascended into heaven after his passion, and was solemnly installed in the throne as King of heaven, then this sun rose in heaven, even the Lamb that is the light of the new Jerusalem. But the light began to dawn immediately after the fall.

2. Presently upon this the gospel was first revealed on the earth, in these words, Genesis 3:15. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." We must suppose, that God's intention of redeeming fallen man was first signified in heaven, before it was signified on earth, because the business of the angels as ministering spirits of the Mediator required it; for as soon as ever Christ had taken on him the work of a mediator, it was requisite that the angels should be ready immediately to be subservient to him in that office; so that the light first dawned in heaven; but very soon after the same was signified on earth. In those words of God there was an intimation of another surety to be appointed for man, after the first surety had failed. This was the first revelation of the covenant of grace; this was the first dawning of the light of the gospel on earth.

This lower world before the fall enjoyed noon-day light; the light of the knowledge of God, the light of his glory, and the light of his favor. But when man fell, all this light was at once extinguished, and the world reduced back again to total darkness; a worse darkness than that which was in the beginning of the world that we read of Genesis 1:2. "And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep." This was a darkness a thousand times more remediless than that. Neither man nor angels could find out any way whereby this darkness might be scattered. This darkness appeared in its blackness then, when Adam and his wife saw that they were naked, and sewed fig leaves, and when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, and hid themselves among the trees of the garden; and when God first called them to an account, and said to Adam, What is this that thou hast done? "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat?" Then we may suppose that their hearts were filled with shame and terror. But these words of God, Genesis 3:15, were the first dawning of the light of the gospel after this darkness. Now first appeared some glimmering of light after this dismal darkness, which before this was without one glimpse of light, any beam of comfort, or any the least hope. It was an obscure revelation of the gospel; and was not made to Adam or Eve directly, but it was in what God said to the serpent. But yet it was very comprehensive, as might be easily shown, would it not take up too much time.

Here was a certain intimation of a merciful design by "the seed of the woman," which was like the first glimmerings of the light of the sun in the east when the day first dawns. This intimation of mercy was given them even before sentence was pronounced on either Adam or Eve, from tenderness to them, to whom God designed mercy, lest they should be overborne with a sentence of condemnation, without having any thing held forth whence they could gather any hope.

One of those great things that were intended to be done by the work of redemption, is more plainly intimated here than the rest, namely, God's subduing his enemies under the feet of his Son. This was threatened now, and God's design of this was now first declared, which was the work Christ had now undertaken, and which he soon began, and carried on henceforward, and will perfectly accomplish at the end of the world. Satan probably had triumphed greatly in the fall of man, as though he had defeated the design of God in the creation of man and the world in general. But in these words God gives him a plain intimation, that he should not finally triumph, but that a complete victory and triumph should be obtained over him by the seed of the woman.

This revelation of the gospel in this verse was the first thing that Christ did in his prophetical office. You may remember that it was said in the first of those three propositions that have been mentioned, that from the fall of man to the incarnation of Christ, God was doing those things that were preparatory to Christ's coming and working out redemption, and were forerunners and earnests of it. And one of those things which God did in this time before Christ's coming into the world, was to foretell and promise it, as he did from time to time, from age to age, till Christ came. This was the first promise that ever was given of it, the first prediction that ever was made of it on earth.

3. Soon after this, the custom of sacrificing was appointed, to be a steady type of the sacrifice of Christ till he should come, and offer up himself a sacrifice to God. Sacrificing was not a custom first established by the Levitical law of Moses; for it had been a part of God's instituted worship long before, even from the beginning of God's visible church on earth. We read of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, offering sacrifice, and before them Noah, and before him Abel. This was by divine appointment; for it was part of God's worship in his church, that was offered up in faith, and that he accepted: which proves that it was by his institution; for sacrificing is no part of natural worship. The light of nature doth not teach to offer up beasts in sacrifice to God; and seeing it was not enjoined by the law of nature, if it was acceptable to God, it must be by some positive command or institution; for God has declared his abhorrence of such worship as is taught by the precept of men without his institution: Isaiah 29:13. "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men; therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work," etc. And such worship as hath not a warrant from divine institution, cannot be offered up in faith, because faith has no foundation where there is no divine appointment. It cannot be offered up in faith of God's acceptance; for men have no warrant to hope for God's acceptance, in that which is not of his appointment, and in that to which he hath not promised his acceptance: and therefore it follows, that the custom of offering sacrifices to God was instituted soon after the fall; for the scripture teaches us, that Abel offered "the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof," Genesis 4:4; and that he was accepted of God in his offering, Hebrews 11:4. And there is nothing in the story that looks as though the institution was first given then when Abel offered up that sacrifice to God; but it appears as though Abel only therein complied with the custom already established.

It is very probable that it was instituted immediately after God had revealed the covenant of grace, in Genesis 3:15; which covenant and promise was the foundation on which the custom of sacrificing was built. That promise was the first stone that was laid towards this glorious building, the work of redemption, which will be finished at the end of the world. And the next stone which was laid upon that, was the institution of sacrifices, to be a type of the great sacrifice.

The next thing that we have an account of after God had pronounced sentence on the serpent, on the woman and on the man, was, that God made them coats of skins and clothed them; which by the generality of divines, are thought to be the skins of beasts slain in sacrifice; for we have no account of any thing else that should be the occasion of man's slaying beasts, but only to offer them in sacrifice, till after the flood. Men were not wont to eat the flesh of beasts for their common food till after the flood. The first food of man in paradise before the fall was the fruit of the trees of paradise; and when he was turned out of paradise after the fall then his food was the herb of the field: Genesis 3:18. "And thou shalt eat of the herb of the field." The first grant that he had to eat flesh as his common food was after the flood: Genesis 9:3. "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." So that it is likely that these skins that Adam and Eve were clothed with, were the skins of their sacrifices. God's clothing them with these was a lively figure of their being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. This clothing was no clothing of their own obtaining; but it was God that gave it them. It is said, "God made them coats of skins, and clothed them;" as the righteousness our naked souls are clothed with, is not our righteousness but the righteousness which is of God. It is he only clothes the naked soul.

Our first parents, who were naked were clothed at the expense of life. Beasts were slain, and resigned up their lives a sacrifice to God, to afford clothing to them to cover their nakedness. So doth Christ, to afford clothing to our naked souls. The skin signifies the life: So Job 2:4. "Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he give for his life;" that is life for life, Thus our first parents were covered with skins of sacrifices, as the tabernacle in the wilderness, which signified the church, was, when it was covered with rams skins dyed red, as though they were dipped in blood, to signify that Christ's righteousness was wrought out through the pains of death, under which he shed his precious blood.

We observed before, that the light that the church enjoyed from the fall of man, till Christ came, was like the light which we enjoy in the night; not the light of the sun directly but as reflected from the moon and stars; which light did foreshow Christ, the Sun of righteousness that was afterwards to arise. This light of the Sun of righteousness to come they had chiefly two ways: one was by predictions of Christ to come, whereby his coming was foretold and promised; the other was by types and shadows, whereby his coming and redemption were prefigured. The first thing that was done to prepare the way for Christ in the former of these ways, was in that promise that was just taken notice of in the foregoing particular; and the first thing of the latter kind, namely of types, to foreshow Christ's coming, was that institution of sacrifices that we are now upon. As that promise in Genesis 3:15 was the first dawn of gospel-light after the fall in prophecy; so the institution of sacrifices was the first hint of it in types. The giving of that promise was the first thing that was done after the fall, in this work, in Christ's prophetical office; institution of sacrifices was the first thing that we read of after the fall, by which especially Christ exhibited himself in his priestly office.

The institution of sacrifices was a great thing done towards preparing the way for Christ's coming, and working out redemption. For the sacrifices of the Old Testament were the main of all the Old Testament types of Christ and his redemption; and it tended to establish in the minds of God's visible church the necessity of a propitiatory sacrifice, in order to the Deity's being satisfied for sin; and so prepared the way for the reception of the glorious gospel, that reveals the great sacrifice in the visible church, and not only so, but through the world of mankind. For from this institution of sacrifices that was after the fall, all nations derived the custom of sacrificing. For this custom of offering up sacrifices to the gods, to atone for their sins, was common to all nations. No nation, however barbarous, was found without it any where. This is a great evidence of the truth of the Christian religion; for no nation, but only the Jews, could tell how they came by this custom, or to what purpose it was to offer sacrifices to their deities. The light of nature did not teach them any such thing. That did not teach them that the gods were hungry, and fed upon the flesh which they burnt in sacrifice; and yet they all had this custom; of which no other account can be given, but that they derived it from Noah, who had it from his ancestors, on whom God had enjoined it as a type of the great sacrifice of Christ. However, by this means all nations of the world had their minds possessed with this notion, that an atonement or sacrifice for sin was necessary; and a way made for their more readily receiving the great doctrine of the gospel of Christ, which teaches us the atonement and sacrifice of Christ.

4. God did soon after the fall begin actually to save the souls of men through Christ's redemption. In this Christ, who had lately taken upon him the work of Mediator between God and man, did first begin that work, wherein he appeared in the exercise of his kingly office, as in the sacrifices he was represented in his priestly office, and in the first prediction of redemption by Christ he had appeared in the exercise of his prophetical office. In that prediction the light of Christ's redemption first began to dawn in the prophecies of it; in the institution of sacrifices it first began to dawn in the types of it; in this, namely his beginning actually to save men, it first began to dawn in the fruit of it.

It is probable, therefore, that Adam and Eve were the first fruits of Christ's redemption; it is probable by God's manner of treating them, by his comforting them as he did, after their awakenings and terrors. They were awakened, and ashamed with a sense of their guilt, after their fall, when their eyes were opened, and they saw that they were naked, and sewed fig-leaves to cover their nakedness; as the sinner, under the first awakenings, is wont to endeavour to hide the nakedness of his soul, by patching up a righteousness of his own. Then they were further terrified and awakened, by hearing the voice of God, as he was coming to condemn them. Their coverings of fig-leaves do not answer the purpose; but, notwithstanding these, they ran to hide themselves among the trees of the garden, because they were naked, not daring to trust to their fig leaves to hide their nakedness from God. Then they were further awakened by God's calling of them to a strict account. But while their terrors were raised to such a height, and they stood, as we may suppose, trembling and astonished before their judge, without any thing to catch hold of, whence they could gather any hope, then God took care to hold forth some encouragement to them, to keep them from the dreadful effects of despair under their awakenings, by giving a hint of a design of mercy by a Saviour, even before he pronounced sentence against them. And when after this he proceeded to pronounce sentence, whereby we may suppose their terrors were further raised, God soon after took care to encourage them, and to let them see, that he had not wholly cast them off, by taking a fatherly care of them in their fallen, naked, and miserable state, by making them coats of skins and clothing them. Which also manifested an acceptance of those sacrifices that they offered to God for sin, that those were the skins of, which were types of what God had promised, when he said, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head:" which promise, there is reason to think, they believed and embraced. Eve seems plainly to express her hope in and dependence on that promise, in what she says at the birth of Cain, Genesis 4:1. "I have gotten a man from the Lord;" that is as God has promised, that my seed should bruise the serpent's head; so now has God given me this pledge and token of it, that I have a seed born. She plainly owns, that this her child was from God, and hoped that her promised seed was to be of this her eldest son; though she was mistaken, as Abraham was with respect to Ishmael, as Jacob was with respect to Esau, as Samuel was with respect to the first born of Jesse. Especially does what she said at the birth of Seth, express her hope and dependence on the promise of God; see verse 25. "For God hath appointed me another seed, instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."

Thus it is exceeding probable, if not evident, that as Christ took on him the work of mediator as soon as man fell; so that he now immediately began his work of redemption in its effect, and that he immediately encountered his great enemy the devil, whom he had undertaken to conquer, and rescued those two first captives out of his hands; therein baffling him, soon after his triumph for the victory he had obtained over them, whereby he had made them his captives. Though he was, as it were, sure of them and all their posterity, Christ the Redeemer soon showed him, that he was mistaken, and that he was able to subdue him, and deliver fallen man. He let him see it, in delivering those first captives of his; and so soon gave him an instance of the fulfillment of that threatening, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head;" and in this instance a presage of the fulfillment of one great thing he had undertaken, namely, his subduing all his enemies under his feet.

After this we have another instance of redemption in one of their children, namely, in righteous Abel, as the scripture calls him, whose soul perhaps was the first that went to heaven through Christ's redemption. In him we have at least the first instance of the death of a redeemed person that is recorded in scripture. If he was the first, then as the redemption of Christ began to dawn before in the souls of men in their conversion and justification, in him it first began to dawn in glorification; and in him the angels began first to do the part of ministering spirits to Christ, in going forth to conduct the souls of the redeemed to glory. In him the elect angels in heaven had the first opportunity to see so wonderful a thing as the soul of one of the fallen race of mankind, that had been sunk by the fall into such an abyss of sin and misery, brought to heaven, and in the enjoyment of heavenly glory, which was a much greater thing than if they had seen him return to the earthly paradise. Thus they by this saw the glorious effect of Christ's redemption, in the great honor and happiness that was procured for sinful, miserable creatures by it.

5. The next remarkable thing that God did in the further carrying on of this great affair of redemption, that I shall take notice of, was the first remarkable pouring out of the Spirit through Christ that ever was, which was in the days of Enos. This seems to have been the next remarkable thing that was done toward erecting this glorious building that God had begun and laid the foundation of in Christ the Mediator. We read, Genesis 4:26, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." The meaning of these words has been considerably controverted among divines. We cannot suppose the meaning is, that that time was the first that ever man performed the duty of prayer. Prayer is a duty of natural religion, and a duty to which a spirit of piety does most naturally lead men. Prayer is as it were the very breath of a spirit of piety; and we cannot suppose therefore, that those holy men that had been before for above a hundred years, had lived all that while without any prayer. Therefore some divines think that the meaning is, that then men first began to perform public worship, or to call upon the name of the Lord in public assemblies. Whether it be so to be understood or no, yet so much must necessarily be understood by it, namely, that there was something new in the visible church of God with respect to the duty of prayer, or calling upon the name of the Lord; that there was a great addition to the performance of this duty; and that in some respect or other it was carried far beyond what it ever had been before, which must be the consequence of a remarkable pouring out of the Spirit of God.

If it was now first that men were stirred up to get together in assemblies to help and assist one another in seeking God, so as they never had done before, it argues something extraordinary as the cause; and could be from nothing but uncommon influences of God's Spirit. We see by experience, that a remarkable pouring out of God's Spirit is always attended with such an effect, namely, a great increase of the performance of the duty of prayer. When the Spirit of God begins a work on men's hearts, it immediately sets them to calling on the name of the Lord. As it was with Paul after the Spirit of God had laid hold of him, then the next news is, "Behold, he prays!" so it has been in all remarkable pourings out of the Spirit of God that we have any particular account of in scripture; and so it is foretold it will be at the great pouring out of the Spirit of God in the latter days. It is foretold, that it will be poured out as a spirit of grace and supplication, Zechariah 12:10. See also Zephaniah 3:9, "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent."

When it is said, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord," no more can be intended by it, than that this was the first remarkable season of this nature that ever was. It was the beginning, or the first, of such a kind of work of God, such a pouring out of the Spirit of God. After such a manner such an expression is commonly used in scripture: so, 1 Samuel 14:35, "And Saul built an altar unto the Lord, the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord." In the Hebrew it is, as you may see in the margin, "that altar he began to build unto the Lord." Hebrews 2:3, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which first began to be spoken by the Lord?"

It may here be observed, that from the fall of man to this day wherein we live, the work of redemption in its effect has mainly been carried on by remarkable pourings out of the Spirit of God. Though there be a more constant influence of God's Spirit always in some degree attending his ordinances; yet the way in which the greatest things have been done towards carrying on this work, always has been by remarkable pourings out of the Spirit at special seasons of mercy, as may fully appear hereafter in our further prosecution of the subject we are upon. This pouring out of the Spirit in the days of Enos, was the first remarkable pouring out of the Spirit of God that ever was. There had been a saving work of God on the hearts of some before; but now God was pleased to grant a more large effusion of his Spirit, for the bringing in an harvest of souls to Christ; so that in this we see that great building that is the subject of our present discourse, which God laid the foundation of immediately after the fall of man, carried on further, and built higher, than ever it had been before.

6. The next thing I shall take notice of, is the eminently holy life of Enoch, who we have reason to think was a saint of greater eminency than any ever had been before him; so that in this respect the work of redemption was carried on to a greater height than ever it had been before. With respect to its effect in the visible church in general, we observed just now how it was carried higher in the days of Enos than ever it had been before. Probably Enoch was one of the saints of that harvest; for he lived all the days that he did live on earth, in the days of Enos. With respect to the degree to which this work was carried in the soul of a particular person, it was raised to a greater height in Enoch than ever before. His soul, as it was built on Christ, was built up in holiness to a greater height than there had been any instance before. He was a wonderful instance of Christ's redemption, and the efficacy of his grace.

7. In Enoch's time, God did more expressly reveal the coming of Christ than he had done before, in the prophecy of Enoch that we have an account of in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the epistle of Jude: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." Here Enoch prophesies of the coming of Christ. It does not seem to be confined to any particular coming of Christ; but it has respect in general to Christ's coming in his kingdom, and is fulfilled in a degree in both the first and second coming of Christ; and indeed in every remarkable manifestation Christ has made of himself in the world, for the saving of his people, and the destroying of his enemies. It is very parallel in this respect with many other prophecies of the coming of Christ, that were given under the Old Testament; and, in particular, it seems to be parallel with that great prophecy of Christ's coming in his kingdom that we have in the seventh chapter of Daniel, whence the Jews principally took their notion of the kingdom of heaven. See verse 10, "A fiery stream issued, and came forth from before him: Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." And verses 13 and 14, "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him." "And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Though it is not unlikely that Enoch might have a more immediate respect in this prophecy to the approaching destruction of the old world by the flood, which was a remarkable resemblance of Christ's destruction of all his enemies at his second coming, yet it doubtless looked beyond the type to the antitype.

As this prophecy of Christ's coming is more express than any had been before; so it is an instance of the increase of that gospel light that began to dawn presently after the fall of man; and is an instance of that building that is the subject of our present discourse, being yet further carried on, and built up higher than it had been before.

Here, by the way, I would observe, that the increase of gospel light, and the carrying on the work of redemption, as it respects the elect church in general, from the first erecting of the church to the end of the world, is very much after the same manner as the carrying on of the same work and the same light in a particular soul, from the time of its conversion, till it is perfected and crowned in glory. The work in a particular soul has its ups and downs; sometimes the light shines brighter, and sometimes it is a dark time; sometimes grace seems to prevail, at other times it seems to languish for a great while together, and corruption prevails, and then grace revives again. But in general, grace is growing: from its first infusion, till it is perfected in glory, the kingdom of Christ is building up in the soul.

So it is with respect to the great affair in general, as it relates to the universal subject of it, as it is carried on from the first beginning of it after the fall, till it is perfected at the end of the world, as will more fully appear by a particular view of this affair from beginning to end, in the prosecution of this subject, if God give opportunity to carry it through as I propose.

8. The next remarkable thing towards carrying on this work, we have an account of in scripture, is the translation of Enoch into heaven. The account we have of it is in Genesis 5:24. "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him." Here Moses, in giving an account of the genealogy of those that were of the line of Noah, does not say concerning Enoch, he lived so long and he died, as he does of the rest; but, he was not, for God took him; that is he translated him; in body and soul carried him to heaven without dying, as it is explained in Hebrews 11:5. "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death." By this wonderful work of God, the work of redemption was carried to a greater height in several respects, than it had been before.

You may remember that when I was showing what were the great things that God aimed at in the work of redemption, or what the main things were that he intended to bring to pass; I among other things mentioned (page 12) the perfect restoring the ruins of the fall with respect to the elect, and restoring man from that destruction that he had brought on himself, both in soul and body. Now this translation of Enoch was the first instance that ever was of restoring the ruins of the fall with respect to the body. There had been many instances of restoring the soul of man by Christ's redemption, but none of redeeming and actually saving the body till now. All the bodies of the elect are to be saved as well as their souls. At the end of the world, all the bodies of the saints shall actually be redeemed; those that then shall have been dead, by a resurrection; and others, that then shall be living, by causing them to pass under a glorious change. There was a number of the bodies of saints raised and glorified at the resurrection and ascension of Christ; and before that there was an instance of a body glorified in Elijah. But the first instance of all was this of Enoch, that we are now speaking of.

The work of redemption by this was carried on further that ever it had been before; as, by this wonderful work of God, there was a great increase of gospel light to the church of God, in this respect, that hereby the church had a clearer manifestation of a future state and of the glorious reward of the saints in heaven. We are told, 2 Timothy 1:10, "That life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel." And the more of this is brought to light, the more clearly does the light shine in that respect. What was said in the Old Testament of a future state, is very obscure, in comparison with the more full, plain, and abundant revelation given of it in the New. But yet even in those early days, the church of God, in this instance, was favored with an instance of it set before their eyes, in that one of their brethren was actually taken up to heaven without dying; which we have all reason to think the church of God knew then, as they afterwards knew Elijah's translation. And as this was a clearer manifestation of a future state than the church had had before, so it was a pledge or earnest of that future glorification of all the saints which God intended through the redemption of Jesus Christ.

9. The next thing that I shall observe, was the upholding the church of God in the family of which Christ was to proceed, in the time of that great and general defection of the world of mankind that was before the flood. The church of God, in all probability, was small, in comparison with the rest of the world, from the beginning of the time that mankind first began to multiply on the face of the earth, or from the time of Cain's defection, and departing from among the people of God; the time we read of, Genesis 4:16. "When Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod;" which being interpreted, is the land of banishment: I say, from this time of Cain's departure and separation from the church of God, it is probable that the church of God was small in comparison with the rest of the world. The church seems to have been kept up chiefly in the posterity of Seth; for this was the seed that God appointed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. But we cannot reasonably suppose, that Seth's posterity were one fiftieth part of the world: "For Adam was one hundred and thirty years old when Seth was born." But Cain, who seems to have been the ringleader of those that were not of the church, was Adam's eldest child, and probably was born soon after the fall, which doubtless was soon after Adam's creation; so that there was time for Cain to have many sons before Seth was born, and besides many other children, that probably Adam and Eve had before this time, agreeably to God's blessing that he gave them, when he said, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth:" and many of these children might have children. The story of Cain before Seth was born, seems to represent as though there were great numbers of men on the earth: Genesis 4:14-15. "Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth: and from thy face shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me." And the Lord said unto him, "Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold." And the Lord set a mark upon Cain lest any finding him should kill him." And all those that were then in being when Seth was born, must be supposed then to stand in equal capacity of multiplying their posterity with him; and therefore, as I said before, Seth's posterity were but a small part of the inhabitants of the world.

But after the days of Enos and Enoch, (for Enoch was translated before Enos died); I say, after their days, the church of God greatly diminished, in proportion as multitudes that were of the line of Seth, and had been born in the church of God, fell away, and joined with the wicked world, principally by means of intermarriages with them: as Genesis 6:1-2 and 4. "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old men of renown." By the sons of God here, are doubtless meant the children of the church. It is a denomination often given them in scripture. They intermarried with the wicked world, and so had their hearts led away from God; and there was a great and continual defection from the church. The church of God, that used to be a restraint on the wicked world, diminished exceedingly, and so wickedness went on without restraint. And Satan, that old serpent the devil, that beguiled our first parents, and set up himself as God of this world, raged exceedingly; and every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually, and the earth was filled with violence. It seemed to be deluged with wickedness now, as it was with water afterwards: and mankind in general were drowned in this deluge; almost all were swallowed up in it. Now Satan made a most violent and potent attempt to swallow up the church of God; and had almost done it. But yet God preserved it in the midst of all this flood of wickedness and violence. He kept it up in that line of which Christ was to proceed. He would not suffer it to be destroyed; for a blessing was in it. The Lord the Redeemer was in this branch of mankind, and was afterwards to proceed from it. There was a particular family that was a root in which the great Redeemer of the world was, and whence the branch of righteousness afterwards was to shoot forth. Therefore, however the branches were lopped off, and the tree seemed to be destroyed: yet God in the midst of all this, kept alive this root, by his wonderful redeeming power and grace, so that the gates of hell could not prevail against it.

Thus I have shown how God carried on the great affair of redemption; how the building went on that God began after the fall, during this first period of the times of the Old Testament, namely from the fall of man, till God brought the flood on the earth. And I would take notice upon it, that though the history which Moses gives of the great works of God during that space be very short, yet it is exceeding comprehensive and instructive. It may also be profitable for us here to observe, the efficacy of that purchase of redemption that had such great effects even in the old world so many ages before Christ appeared himself to purchase redemption, that his blood should have such great efficacy so long before it was shed.

This was the period furthest of all from Christ's incarnation, yet this great work was begun during this time. This glorious building, which will not be finished until the end of the world, had its start here — and I will now show how.

1. The moment man fell, Christ entered upon His mediatorial work. This was when Christ first took on the work and office of mediator. He had committed to it before the world was made. He had bound Himself to the Father from all eternity to appear as man's mediator and to take on that office when the time came. Now that time had arrived. When man fell, the occasion came — and Christ immediately, without further delay, entered upon His work and took on the office He had pledged to take from eternity. The moment man fell, Christ the eternal Son of God clothed Himself with the mediatorial role and in that capacity presented Himself before the Father. He stepped immediately between a holy, infinitely offended Majesty and offending mankind, and His intervention was accepted. So wrath was prevented from going forth in the full execution of that terrible curse man had brought upon himself.

It is clear that Christ began to exercise the office of mediator between God and man the moment man fell, because mercy was extended toward man immediately. There was mercy in God's restraint — He did not destroy man as He did the angels when they fell. But no mercy is shown toward fallen man except through a mediator. If God had not in mercy restrained Satan, Satan would have immediately seized his prey. Christ began to act as intercessor for man the moment he fell. No mercy is shown toward man except what is obtained through Christ's intercession. So from that point forward, Christ had entered upon the work He would continue throughout all the ages of the world. From that day forward, Christ took on the care of the church of the elect — the care of fallen mankind in the exercise of all His offices. He undertook to teach mankind through His prophetic office, to intercede for fallen man through His priestly office, and to take on the burden and care of governing the church and the world of mankind from that day forward. He took upon Himself from that time the defense of His elect church against all their enemies. When Satan, the great enemy, had conquered and overthrown man, the task of defeating and overcoming Satan was committed to Christ. From then on He undertook to manage that subtle, powerful adversary. He was appointed the Captain of the Lord's hosts and the Captain of their salvation, and He has always acted as such from that time forward — appearing from time to time and continuing to act as such until the end of the world. From that point, this lower world with all its concerns was, so to speak, entrusted to the Son of God. For when man sinned, God the Father would have no more direct dealings with man — no more immediate involvement with this world of mankind that had turned against and rebelled against Him. From then on He would have no dealings with man except through a mediator — whether in teaching men, governing them, or bestowing any benefits upon them.

Therefore, when we read in sacred history what God did from time to time toward His church and people — what He said to them, and how He revealed Himself to them — we should understand this as referring especially to the second person of the Trinity. When we read of God appearing after the fall, from time to time, in some visible form or outward symbol of His presence, we should ordinarily — if not always — understand this as referring especially to the second person of the Trinity. This is supported by John 1:18: "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." Christ is therefore called "the image of the invisible God" in Colossians 1:15 — indicating that though God the Father is invisible, Christ is His image and representation through whom He is seen, and through whom the church of God has often received a visible representation of Him. In particular, this points to the fact that Christ afterward appeared in human form.

Not only was this lower world entrusted to Christ for Him to govern and order in keeping with His design of redemption — but in some respect the entire universe was placed under Him. From that time, the angels were committed to Him, to be subject to Him in His mediatorial office and to serve as ministering spirits to Him in this work. And so they did from that point forward, as Scripture history clearly shows — recording again and again their activity as ministering spirits in the affairs of the church of Christ.

We may therefore suppose that immediately upon the fall of man, it was made known in heaven among the angels that God had a design of redemption for fallen man, and that Christ had now taken upon Himself the office and work of mediator between God and man — so that they might know their role going forward, which was to serve Christ in this office. Since that time, Christ in this office — as God-man and Mediator — has been solemnly exalted and established as King of heaven, and as God-man and Mediator He is the light, the Sun of heaven, in keeping with Revelation 21:23: "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." The revelation made in heaven among the angels — that Christ had now taken on the office of mediator between God and man — was, as it were, the first dawning of this light in heaven. When Christ ascended into heaven after His suffering and was solemnly enthroned as King of heaven, then this sun rose in heaven — the Lamb who is the light of the new Jerusalem. But the light began to dawn immediately after the fall.

2. Shortly after this, the Gospel was first revealed on earth in these words from Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel." We should expect that God's intention to redeem fallen man was first communicated in heaven before it was communicated on earth, because the role of the angels as ministering spirits of the Mediator required it. As soon as Christ had taken on the work of mediator, the angels needed to be ready immediately to serve Him in that office. So the light first dawned in heaven — but very soon after, the same was made known on earth. In those words of God there was a hint of another guarantor to be appointed for man, now that the first had failed. This was the first revelation of the covenant of grace — the first dawning of the light of the Gospel on earth.

Before the fall, this lower world enjoyed the full light of noon — the light of the knowledge of God, the light of His glory, and the light of His favor. But when man fell, all this light was instantly extinguished and the world plunged back into total darkness — a worse darkness than the one at the beginning of the world described in Genesis 1:2: "The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep." This darkness was a thousand times more hopeless than that. Neither man nor angels could find any way to scatter it. This darkness showed its full depth when Adam and his wife saw that they were naked and sewed fig leaves together, when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden and hid themselves among the trees, and when God called them to account and said to Adam, "Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" At that moment we may suppose their hearts were filled with shame and terror. But the words of God in Genesis 3:15 were the first dawning of the light of the Gospel after this darkness. Here for the first time appeared some faint glimmer of light after this terrible darkness — a darkness that before this moment had no glimpse of light, no ray of comfort, and not the slightest trace of hope. It was an obscure revelation of the Gospel, given not directly to Adam or Eve but spoken in what God said to the serpent. Yet it was remarkably comprehensive, as could easily be shown, were there more time for it.

Here was a certain promise of a merciful plan through "the seed of the woman" — like the first faint light of the sun on the eastern horizon when day begins to break. This hint of mercy was given to Adam and Eve even before sentence was pronounced on either of them, out of God's tenderness toward those to whom He purposed to show mercy. He did not want them crushed by a sentence of condemnation with nothing before them from which they could draw any hope.

One of the great purposes designed to be accomplished by the work of redemption is more plainly indicated here than the rest — namely, God's subduing His enemies under the feet of His Son. This was announced here, and God's intention to do it was first declared at this point. This was the very work Christ had now undertaken — which He began shortly afterward, has carried on ever since, and will perfectly accomplish at the end of the world. Satan had likely rejoiced greatly over the fall of man, as if he had defeated God's design in creating man and the world. But in these words, God gave him a clear warning that he would not finally triumph — that a complete victory would be won over him by the seed of the woman.

This revelation of the Gospel in this verse was the first act of Christ in His prophetic office. Recall the first of the three propositions — that from the fall of man to the incarnation of Christ, God was doing things preparatory to Christ's coming and the working out of redemption, things that were forerunners and pledges of it. One of those things God did in this time before Christ's coming into the world was to foretell and promise it, repeatedly, from age to age, until Christ came. This was the first promise ever given of it — the first prediction ever made of it on earth.

3. Soon after this, the practice of sacrifice was appointed to serve as a lasting picture of Christ's sacrifice until He would come and offer Himself up to God. Sacrifice was not a custom first established by Moses's Levitical law — it had been part of God's appointed worship long before, from the very beginning of God's visible church on earth. We read of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob offering sacrifice, and before them Noah, and before him Abel. This was by divine appointment, for it was part of God's worship in His church, offered in faith and accepted by Him — which proves it was by His institution, since sacrifice is not part of natural worship. Natural reason does not teach men to offer animals as sacrifices to God, and since it was not commanded by the law of nature, if God accepted it, there must have been some positive command or institution behind it. God has declared His abhorrence of worship invented by human tradition without His institution, as Isaiah 29:13 says: "Then the Lord said, 'Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote; therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people,' " etc. Such worship as has no foundation in divine institution cannot be offered in faith, because faith has no basis where there is no divine appointment. It cannot be offered in faith of God's acceptance, since people have no grounds to hope for God's acceptance of what He has not appointed and to which He has not promised His acceptance. It follows, therefore, that the practice of offering sacrifices to God was instituted soon after the fall — for Scripture tells us that Abel offered "the firstlings of his flock and of their fat" (Genesis 4:4), and that God accepted his offering (Hebrews 11:4). Nothing in the account suggests that the institution was first given when Abel offered that sacrifice — on the contrary, it appears that Abel was simply following a practice already established.

It is very likely that sacrifice was instituted immediately after God revealed the covenant of grace in Genesis 3:15 — for that covenant and promise was the foundation on which the practice of sacrifice was built. That promise was the first stone laid in this glorious building — the work of redemption — which will be completed at the end of the world. The next stone laid upon it was the institution of sacrifices, to serve as a type of the great sacrifice.

The next thing recorded after God pronounced sentence on the serpent, the woman, and the man was that God made garments of skins and clothed them. Most theologians believe these were the skins of animals slain in sacrifice, since there is no other recorded reason for man to have slaughtered animals at this point — nothing indicates men ate the flesh of animals as food until after the flood. Before the fall, man's food in paradise was the fruit of the trees. After being expelled from paradise, his food was the plants of the field. Genesis 3:18 records God telling Adam, "You will eat the plants of the field." The first permission to eat animal flesh as common food came after the flood. Genesis 9:3 says, "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant." So it is likely that the skins Adam and Eve were clothed with were the skins of their sacrificed animals. God clothing them with these skins was a vivid picture of their being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. This clothing was nothing they obtained for themselves — it was God who gave it to them. Scripture says, "God made garments of skin for them, and clothed them" — just as the righteousness our naked souls are clothed with is not our own righteousness but the righteousness that comes from God. He alone clothes the naked soul.

Our first parents were naked, and they were clothed at the cost of life — animals were killed and gave up their lives as a sacrifice to God in order to provide covering for them. So Christ does the same to provide covering for our naked souls. A skin represents life, as Job 2:4 shows: "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life" — that is, life for life. So our first parents were covered with the skins of sacrifices, just as the tabernacle in the wilderness — which signified the church — was covered with rams' skins dyed red, as though dipped in blood, to signify that Christ's righteousness was worked out through the agony of death, in which He shed His precious blood.

We noted earlier that the light the church enjoyed from the fall of man until Christ's coming was like the light we have at night — not the direct light of the sun, but light reflected from the moon and stars, which foretold the Sun of Righteousness who would later rise. This coming light of the Sun of Righteousness was given to them chiefly in two ways: through prophecies foretelling and promising Christ's coming, and through types and shadows prefiguring His coming and redemption. The first thing done to prepare the way for Christ through prophecy was the promise just discussed; and the first thing done through types to foreshadow Christ's coming was the institution of sacrifices we are now examining. Just as the promise in Genesis 3:15 was the first dawn of Gospel light after the fall in the form of prophecy, so the institution of sacrifices was the first hint of it through types. The giving of that promise was the first act after the fall in this work through Christ's prophetic office; the institution of sacrifices was the first act after the fall through which Christ chiefly displayed Himself in His priestly office.

The institution of sacrifice was a major step in preparing the way for Christ's coming and for the working out of redemption. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were the most central of all the Old Testament types of Christ and His redemption. They established in the minds of God's visible church the necessity of a propitiatory sacrifice for God to be satisfied for sin, and so prepared the way for the reception of the glorious Gospel, which reveals the great sacrifice — not only in the visible church, but throughout the whole world. From this institution of sacrifice after the fall, all nations derived the practice of offering sacrifices. The custom of offering sacrifices to the gods to make atonement for sin was common to all peoples. No nation, however uncivilized, was found to be without it. This is strong evidence for the truth of the Christian religion — for no nation except the Jews could explain where this custom came from or what purpose it served to offer sacrifices to their gods. Natural reason did not teach them to do this. It did not teach them that the gods were hungry and fed on the flesh burned in sacrifice — yet they all had this practice. The only explanation is that they inherited it from Noah, who received it from his ancestors, upon whom God had commanded it as a picture of the great sacrifice of Christ. Through this means, all the nations of the world had their minds shaped by the idea that an atonement or sacrifice for sin was necessary — and a way was prepared for them to more readily receive the great Gospel doctrine that teaches the atonement and sacrifice of Christ.

4. Soon after the fall, God actually began saving the souls of men through Christ's redemption. In this, Christ — who had recently taken on the work of Mediator between God and man — first began that work in which He acted in His kingly office. Just as He was represented in His priestly office through the sacrifices, and had appeared in His prophetic office in the first prediction of redemption, so now He appeared in His kingly office. In that prediction, the light of Christ's redemption first began to dawn in prophecy. In the institution of sacrifices, it first began to dawn in types. And now, in actually beginning to save men, it first began to dawn in its fruit.

It is probable, therefore, that Adam and Eve were the first fruits of Christ's redemption — probable from the way God dealt with them, comforting them after their distress and terror. They were awakened and ashamed by their guilt after the fall, when their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked and sewed fig leaves to cover themselves — just as a sinner under first convictions typically tries to cover the nakedness of his soul by patching together a righteousness of his own. Then they were further terrified and awakened by hearing the voice of God as He came to pronounce judgment on them. Their fig-leaf coverings were not enough; despite them, they ran and hid among the trees of the garden, because they were naked and did not dare trust their fig leaves to hide their nakedness from God. Then they were further awakened as God called them to strict account. But while their terror was at its height — while they stood, as we may suppose, trembling and horrified before their judge, with nothing to hold on to and no grounds for hope — God took care to hold out some encouragement to them, to prevent the crushing effects of despair, by giving a hint of a merciful plan through a Savior, even before He pronounced sentence against them. When He then proceeded to pronounce sentence — which likely raised their terror still higher — God soon afterward showed His care for them, and let them see He had not completely abandoned them. He provided for them in their fallen, naked, and miserable condition by making garments of skins and clothing them. This also showed His acceptance of the sacrifices they had offered to Him for sin — the skins being types of what God had promised when He said, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head" — a promise they gave good reason to believe they trusted and embraced. Eve seems to plainly express her hope in and dependence on that promise in what she says at the birth of Cain in Genesis 4:1: "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord" — meaning, as God promised that my seed would bruise the serpent's head, so now God has given me this pledge and sign of it, a seed born to me. She plainly acknowledged that this child was from God, and hoped that the promised seed would come through her firstborn son — though she was mistaken, as Abraham was regarding Ishmael, as Jacob was regarding Esau, and as Samuel was regarding the firstborn of Jesse. Her words at the birth of Seth especially express her hope and dependence on God's promise. Genesis 4:25 records, "For God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him."

So it is very probable — if not clear — that just as Christ took on the work of mediator the moment man fell, He also immediately began the work of redemption in its effect, immediately confronting His great enemy the devil, whom He had undertaken to conquer, and rescuing those two first captives from his hands. This foiled Satan shortly after his triumph over them, in which he had made them his captives. Though Satan seemed, as it were, certain of them and all their descendants, Christ the Redeemer quickly showed him he was wrong — that He was able to overcome Satan and deliver fallen man. He demonstrated this by delivering those first captives, and in doing so gave an early fulfillment of the warning, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head" — a foretaste of one of the great things He had undertaken: the subduing of all His enemies under His feet.

After this we have another instance of redemption in one of their children — righteous Abel, as Scripture calls him — whose soul was perhaps the first ever to enter heaven through Christ's redemption. In him we have at least the first recorded instance in Scripture of the death of a redeemed person. If he was indeed the first, then just as Christ's redemption had begun to dawn earlier in the souls of men through their conversion and justification, in Abel it first began to dawn through glorification. Through him the angels first performed their role as ministering spirits to Christ, going forth to escort the souls of the redeemed to glory. In Abel, the elect angels in heaven had their first opportunity to see something so remarkable as the soul of one from the fallen race of mankind — a race plunged by the fall into an abyss of sin and misery — brought to heaven and enjoying heavenly glory. This was a far greater thing than if they had seen him restored to the earthly paradise. Through this they witnessed the glorious effect of Christ's redemption — the great honor and happiness secured for sinful, miserable creatures by it.

5. The next remarkable thing God did to further this great work of redemption — worth noting here — was the first remarkable outpouring of the Spirit through Christ that ever occurred, which happened in the days of Enos. This seems to have been the next significant step in constructing this glorious building that God had begun and laid the foundation of in Christ the Mediator. Genesis 4:26 records, "Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord." The meaning of these words has been considerably debated among theologians. We cannot suppose the meaning is that this was the first time man ever prayed. Prayer is a duty of natural religion and the most natural expression of a spirit of piety. Prayer is, as it were, the very breath of a devout spirit — and we cannot suppose that the godly men who had lived for more than a hundred years before this had gone all that time without any prayer. Some theologians therefore think the meaning is that this was when men first began to perform public worship, or to call upon the name of the Lord in public gatherings. Whether or not that is the right interpretation, at minimum this must be understood: something new had appeared in the visible church of God with respect to prayer — a great increase in the practice of calling on the name of the Lord, carried far beyond what it had ever been before. This must have been the result of a remarkable outpouring of the Spirit of God.

If this was when men were first stirred to come together in gatherings to seek God and help one another in ways they never had before, it points to something extraordinary as the cause — nothing less than unusual influences of God's Spirit. We see from experience that a remarkable outpouring of God's Spirit is always accompanied by a great increase in prayer. When the Spirit of God begins a work in people's hearts, it immediately moves them to call on the name of the Lord. It was so with Paul after the Spirit of God laid hold of him — the next report was, "Behold, he is praying!" And so it has been in every remarkable outpouring of the Spirit recorded in Scripture, and so it is foretold it will be in the great outpouring of the Spirit in the latter days. Zechariah 12:10 foretells that it will be poured out as a spirit of grace and prayer. Zephaniah 3:9 says, "For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him shoulder to shoulder."

When it says, "Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord," the most that can be meant is that this was the first remarkable season of this kind that ever occurred. It was the beginning — the first — of such a work of God, such an outpouring of His Spirit. Scripture often uses similar expressions in this way. 1 Samuel 14:35 says, "Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord" — in the Hebrew, as the margin shows, "that altar he began to build to the Lord." Hebrews 2:3 says, "How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us."

It is worth noting here that from the fall of man to this present day, the work of redemption in its effect has been carried on chiefly through remarkable outpourings of the Spirit of God. Though there is a more constant, ongoing influence of God's Spirit always accompanying His ordinances to some degree, the greatest advances in this work have always come through remarkable outpourings of the Spirit at special seasons of mercy — as will become fully apparent as we continue through this subject. The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of Enos was the first remarkable outpouring of God's Spirit that ever occurred. There had been a saving work of God in the hearts of some individuals before this time, but now God was pleased to grant a larger outpouring of His Spirit, bringing in a harvest of souls to Christ. In this we see that great building — the subject of our present discussion, which God began to lay the foundation of immediately after the fall of man — carried further and built higher than it had ever been before.

6. The next thing worth noting is the extraordinarily holy life of Enoch, who we have good reason to believe was a saint of greater eminence than any who had come before him. In this respect, the work of redemption was carried to a higher point than it had ever reached. We just observed how the work was advanced in the visible church generally during the days of Enos. Enoch was probably one of the saints gathered in that harvest, since all his days on earth fell within the days of Enos. But in terms of how far this work was carried in the soul of a particular individual, it reached a greater height in Enoch than in anyone before. His soul, built upon Christ, was built up in holiness to a greater degree than any previous example. He was a remarkable demonstration of Christ's redemption and the power of His grace.

7. In Enoch's time, God revealed the coming of Christ more explicitly than He had done before, through the prophecy of Enoch recorded in Jude 14-15: "It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'" Here Enoch prophesies of the coming of Christ. The prophecy does not appear to be limited to any single coming of Christ, but speaks generally of Christ's coming in His kingdom. It finds partial fulfillment in both the first and second coming of Christ, and indeed in every remarkable display Christ has made of Himself in the world — for the saving of His people and the destruction of His enemies. This prophecy is very similar in this respect to many other Old Testament prophecies of Christ's coming in His kingdom, and in particular it closely parallels the great prophecy of Christ's coming in His kingdom in Daniel 7, from which the Jews primarily drew their concept of the kingdom of heaven. Daniel 7:10 says, "A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened." Daniel 7:13-14 says, "I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed." Though Enoch may well have had in view more immediately the approaching destruction of the world by the flood — which was a striking picture of Christ's destruction of all His enemies at His second coming — this prophecy undoubtedly looked beyond the type to the fulfillment.

This prophecy of Christ's coming is more explicit than anything that had come before it. It represents an increase in that Gospel light that began to dawn shortly after the fall of man, and is another instance of that building — the subject of our present discussion — being carried further and built higher than before.

By the way, I would note that the increase of Gospel light and the carrying on of the work of redemption — as it concerns the elect church in general, from the founding of the church to the end of the world — follows much the same pattern as the carrying on of the same work and the same light in an individual soul, from conversion until it is perfected and crowned in glory. The work in a particular soul has its ups and downs: sometimes the light shines brighter, sometimes it is a dark time; sometimes grace seems to prevail, at other times it seems to languish for a long while and corruption gains ground, and then grace revives again. But in general, grace is growing. From its first implanting until it is perfected in glory, the kingdom of Christ is being built up in the soul.

The same is true of the great work in general, as it relates to the whole scope of it — carried on from its beginning after the fall until it is perfected at the end of the world. This will become more fully apparent through a particular examination of this work from beginning to end, as we continue through this subject, if God provides the opportunity to carry it through as I intend.

8. The next remarkable event in the carrying on of this work, as recorded in Scripture, is the translation of Enoch into heaven. The account is in Genesis 5:24: "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Here Moses, in giving the genealogy of those in Noah's line, does not say of Enoch, as he says of the others, that he lived so long and then died. Instead he writes, "he was not, for God took him" — that is, God translated him, carrying him in body and soul to heaven without dying, as Hebrews 11:5 explains: "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death." Through this remarkable work of God, the work of redemption was advanced to a greater height in several respects than it had ever been before.

Recall that when I was showing what great things God aimed at in the work of redemption — the main things He intended to accomplish — I mentioned the perfect restoring of the ruins of the fall for the elect, including restoring man from the destruction he had brought on himself, in both soul and body. Now this translation of Enoch was the first instance ever of restoring the ruins of the fall with respect to the body. There had been many instances of the soul being restored through Christ's redemption, but none of the body actually being redeemed and saved until this point. All the bodies of the elect are to be saved along with their souls. At the end of the world, all the bodies of the saints will actually be redeemed — those who had died, by resurrection; and those still living at that time, by a glorious transformation. A number of the bodies of saints were raised and glorified at the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and before that there was the instance of Elijah's body being glorified. But the first instance of all was this one — Enoch.

The work of redemption was advanced further by this than it had ever been before. Through this remarkable work of God, there was a great increase of Gospel light to the church of God — the church now had a clearer revelation of a future state and of the glorious reward awaiting the saints in heaven. 2 Timothy 1:10 says that "life and immortality" are "brought to light through the gospel." The more of this is brought to light, the more clearly the light shines in this respect. What was said in the Old Testament about a future state is very obscure compared to the fuller, plainer, and more abundant revelation given in the New. Yet even in those early days, the church of God was favored with a visible demonstration of it — one of their own brothers was actually taken up to heaven without dying. We have every reason to believe the church knew of this at the time, just as they later knew of Elijah's translation. And as this was a clearer demonstration of a future state than the church had previously received, so it was a pledge and foretaste of the future glorification of all the saints that God intended through the redemption of Jesus Christ.

9. The next thing to observe is how God sustained the church in the family from which Christ was to come, during the great and widespread apostasy that preceded the flood. The church of God was in all probability small compared to the rest of the world from the time mankind first began to multiply on the earth — that is, from the time of Cain's rebellion and his departure from among God's people, as recorded in Genesis 4:16: "Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden" — Nod meaning the land of wandering. From the time of Cain's departure and separation from the church of God, it is likely the church was small compared to the rest of the world. The church appears to have been maintained chiefly through the descendants of Seth, for he was the seed God appointed to replace Abel, whom Cain had killed. But we cannot reasonably suppose that Seth's descendants made up even a fiftieth of the world's population. Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born. Cain, who appears to have led those outside the church, was Adam's eldest child, likely born soon after the fall — which itself was probably shortly after Adam's creation. This means Cain had time to have many sons before Seth was born. Beyond that, Adam and Eve almost certainly had many other children before Seth, in keeping with God's blessing to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And many of those children could themselves have had children. The account of Cain before Seth's birth suggests large numbers of people already existed on the earth. Genesis 4:14-15 records Cain saying, "Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." And the Lord responded, "Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him. All those already living when Seth was born would have had equal capacity to multiply their own descendants. So, as I said, Seth's posterity was only a small fraction of the world's inhabitants.

But after the days of Enos and Enoch — for Enoch was translated before Enos died — the church of God greatly declined. Multitudes who were descended from Seth and had been born within the church fell away and joined the wicked world, chiefly through intermarriage with them. Genesis 6:1-2 and 4 records: "Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose." "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." By "sons of God" here is certainly meant the children of the church — a title frequently given to them in Scripture. They intermarried with the wicked world, and their hearts were led away from God. There was a great and growing departure from the church. The church of God, which had served as a restraint on the wicked world, shrank dramatically, and wickedness surged forward without restraint. Satan — that old serpent the devil who had deceived our first parents and set himself up as god of this world — raged with great force. Every thought of man's heart was only evil continually, and the earth was filled with violence. The world seemed flooded with wickedness now, as it would later be flooded with water. Mankind in general was drowning in this flood — nearly all were swept away by it. Satan now made his most violent and powerful attempt to swallow up the church of God, and came very close to succeeding. But God preserved it through all this flood of wickedness and violence. He kept it alive in the line from which Christ was to come. He would not allow it to be destroyed, for a blessing was within it. The Lord the Redeemer was rooted in this branch of mankind and was afterward to come from it. There was a particular family that was the root from which the great Redeemer of the world would spring and from which the branch of righteousness would one day shoot forth. Therefore, however many branches were cut off and however much the tree appeared to be destroyed, God in the midst of all this kept the root alive by His wonderful redeeming power and grace — so that the gates of hell could not prevail against it.

So I have shown how God carried on the great work of redemption — how the building progressed that God began after the fall, during this first period of Old Testament history: from the fall of man to the flood. It is worth noting that although Moses's account of God's great works during this period is very brief, it is remarkably comprehensive and instructive. It is also profitable to observe here the power of that purchase of redemption that had such great effects even in the ancient world — so many ages before Christ Himself appeared to accomplish redemption — showing that His blood had such great power long before it was shed.