A history of the work of redemption. Containing the outlines of a body of…

This was a new thing: God had never taken such a method before. His church had not in this manner been separated from the rest of the world till now, but were wont to dwell with them, without any bar or fence to keep them separate; the mischievous consequences of which had been found once and again. The effect before the flood of G•d's people living intermingled with the wicked world, without any remarkable wall of separation, was, that the s•ns of the church joined in marriage with others, and thereby almost all soon became in•ected, and the church was almost brought to nothing. The method that God took then to fence the church was, to drown the wicked world, and save the church in the ark. And now the world, before Abraham was called, was become corrupt again. But now God took another method. He did not •est by the wicked world, and save Abraham, and his wife, and Lot, in an ark; but he calls these persons to go and live separate from the rest of the world.

This was a new thing: God had never taken such a method before. His church had not in this manner been separated from the rest of the world till now, but were wont to dwell with them, without any bar or fence to keep them separate; the mischievous consequences of which had been found once and again. The effect before the flood of G•d's people living intermingled with the wicked world, without any remark•ble wall of separation, was, that the s•ns of the church joined in marriage with others, and thereby almost all soon became in•ected, and the church was almost bro't to nothing. The method that God took then to fence the church was, to drown the wicked world, and save the church in the ark. And now the world, before Abraham was called, was become corrupt again. But now God took another method. He did not •est by the wicked world, and save Abraham, and his wife, and Lot, in an ark; but he calls these persons to go and live separate from the rest of the world.