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

As God carries on the work of converting the souls of fallen men through all these ages, so he goe• on to justify them, to blo• out all their sins, and to accept them as righteous in his fight, through the righteousness of Christ, and adopt and receive them from being the children of Satan, to be his own children; so also ⟨p. 13⟩he goes on to sanctify, or to carry on the work of his grace, which he has begun in them, and to comfort them with the consolations of his Spirit, and to glorify them, to bestow upon them, when their bodies die, that eternal glory which is the fruit of the purchase of Christ. What is said, Rom. viii.30. "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified:" I say this is applicable to all ages, from the fall, to the end of the world.

The way that the work of redemption, with respect to these effects of it on the souls of the redeemed, is carried on from the fall to the end of the world, is by repeating and continually working the same work over again, though in different persons, from age to age. But,

(2) The work of redemption with respect to the grand design in general, as it respects the universal subject and end, is carried on from the fall of man to the end of the world in a different manner, not merely by repeating or renewing the same effect in the different subjects of it, but by many successive works and dispensations of God, all tending to one great end and effect, all united as the several parts of a scheme, and all together making up one great work. Like an house or temple that is building; first, the workmen are sent forth, then the materials are gathered, then the ground fitted, then the foundation is laid, then the super-structure is erected, one part after another, till at length the top-stone is laid, and all is finished. Now the work of redemption in that large sense that has been explained, may be compared to such a building, that is carrying on from the fall of man to the end of the world. God went about it immediately after the fall of man. Some things were done towards it immediately, as may be shown hereafter; and so God has proceeded, as it were, getting materials and building, ever since; and so will proceed to the end of the world; and then the time will come when the top-stone shall be brought forth, and all appear complete and consummate. The glorious structure will then stand forth in its proper perfection.