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

1 From what has been said, we may see great evidence of the truth of the Christian religion and that the scriptures are the word of God. There are three arguments of this, which I shall take notice of, which may be drawn from what has been said.

(1) It may be argued from that violent and inveterate opposition there has always appeared of the wickedness of the world against this religion. The religion that the church of God has professed from the first founding of the church after the fall to this time, has always been the same. Though the dispensations have been altered, yet the religion which the church has professed has always, as to its essentials, been the same. The church of God, from the beginning, has been one society. The christian church which has been since Christ's ascension, is manifestly the same society continued with the church, that was before Christ came. The Christian church is grafted on their root: they are built on the same foundation. The revelation on which both have depended, is essentially the same: for as the Christian church is built on the holy scriptures, so was the Jewish church though now the scriptures be enlarged by the addition of the New Testament; but still it is essentially the same revelation with that which was given in the Old Testament, only the subjects of divine revelation are now more clearly revealed in the New Testament than they were in the Old. But the sum and substance of both the Old Testament and New, is Christ and his redemption. The religion of the church of Israel, was essentially the same religion with that of the Christian church, as evidently appears from what has been said. The ground work of the religion of the church of God, both before and since Christ has appeared, is the same great scheme of redemption by the Son of God▪ and so the church that was before the Israelitish church, was still the same society, as it was essentially the same religion that was professed and practised in it. Thus it was from Noah to Abraham, and ⟨p. 238⟩thus it was before the flood And this society of men that is called the church, has always been built on the foundation of those revelations which we have in the scriptures, which have always been essentially the same, though gradually increasing The church before the flood, was built on the foundation of those revelations of Christ which were given to Adam, and Abel, and Enoch, of which we have an account in the former chapters of Genesis and others of the like import.