[1808 edition at 10343]
Isaiah 51:8
[For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.]2
5.3 The next remarkable thing that God did in further carrying on this great affair of redemption begun upon the fall of man that I shall take notice of, was the first remarkable pouring out of the Spirit through Christ that ever was, which there was in the days of Enos. This seems to have been the next remarkable thing that was done towards erecting this glorious building that God had begun, and laid the foundation of, in Christ the mediator.
We read in the Genesis 4:26 ["then began men to call upon the name of the Lord"]. The meaning of these4 words have been considerably controverted among divines, for we can't suppose that the meaning is that time was the first that ever man performed the duty of prayer. Prayer is a duty of natural religion, and a duty that a spirit of piety does most naturally and manifestly lead men [into]. Prayer is as it were the very breath of a spirit of piety, and we can't suppose therefore that those holy men that had been before for about two 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 God in public assemblies. Whether it be to be [so] understood or no, yet so
much must necessarily be understood in it, viz. that there was something new in the visible church of God with respect to the duty of prayer, or calling on 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 whatever it had been before, which must be the consequence of a remarkable5 pouring out of the Spirit of God.
If it was now first that men were stirred 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.6 We see by experience that a remarkable pouring out of the Spirit of God is always attended with such an effect, viz. a great increase of the performance of the duty of prayer.
When the Spirit of God begins or works 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 prayeth.7 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";8 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."]9 And when it is said then began1 men to call upon the name of the Lord, no more can be understood by it than that this was the first2 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 which 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,"3 Hebrews 2:3 "How shall we escape [if we so neglect so great salvation;] which [at 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. Thought 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.
And this pouring out of the Spirit in the days4 of Enos was the first remarkable pouring out of the Spirit of God that ever was. There had [been] a saving work of God in 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.5 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, carried on further, and built up higher than ever it had been before.
6.6 The next thing I shall take notice of was 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.7 So that in this respect the Work of Redemption was carried on to a greater height than ever8 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. And with respect to the degree to which this work was carried on [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 of before. He was a wonderful instance of Christ's redemption and the efficacy of his grace.
7.9 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 Jude 14–15 [we read, "And Enoch … prophesied …, saying, Behold the Lord cometh … to execute judgment"].
Here Enoch prophesies of the coming of Christ. It don't 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 both1 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 of Christ under the Old Testament. And particularly it seems to be parallel with that great prophecy of Christ's coming in his kingdom that we have in the Daniel 7 whence the Jews principally took their notion of the kingdom of heaven: Daniel 7:9–10 ["I beheld … the Ancient of days … the judgment was set," and] Daniel 7:13–14 ["I saw … one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven … and there was given him dominion"].
And though it is not unlikely that Enoch might have a more immediate report 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 coming, yet it doubtless looked beyond the type to the antitype. And 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 had been before.
And here by the way I would observe2 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 'tis 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 the 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 'tis 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 gives opportunity to carry it through as I propose.
38.4 The next remarkable thing towards carrying on this work that 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 don't say, he lived so long and he died, as he does of the rest, but "he was not for God took him," i.e. he translated him in body and soul, carried him to heaven without dying, as 'tis 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 ever it had been before.
You may remember that when I was showing in my first discourse from this text what were the great things that God aimed at in the Work of Redemption, and what the main things were that he intended to bring to pass, I among other things mentioned 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 in5 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 be living, by causing them to pass under a glorious change. And before this there was a number of the bodies of saints raised and glorified at Christ's resurrection and ascension, and before that was an instance of a body glorified in Elijah,6 but the first instance of all was this of Enoch that we are now speaking of.
And the Work of Redemption by this was carried on further than ever it had been before as by this wonderful work of God. There was a great increase of gospel light to the church of7 God in this respect, that the church hereby had a clearer manifestation of a future estate and of the future 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 therefore the more of this is brought to light, the more clearly does the light of the gospel shine in that respect. What was said in the Old Testament of a future state is very obscure in comparison of the more full and plain and abundant revelation of it given 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 was knowing8 in the time of it as they were afterwards of 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.
99.1 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 destruction 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 amongst the people of God, the time that we read of [in] 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 of the rest of the world.
So that 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 can't 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 eldest2 child and probably was born soon after the fall, which was doubtless soon after Adam's creation, so that there was time for Cain to have many sons and sons' sons before Seth was born; and besides many other children that probably Adam and Eve had before this time, agreeable to God's blessing that God gave 'em when he said, "Be fruitful and multiply and [replenish the earth],"3 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 dwelling on the earth, Genesis 4:14–15 ["Every one that findeth me shall slay me.… And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him"]. And all these that were then in being when Seth was born must be supposed then to stand in equal capacity of multiplying by their posterity as he, and therefore as I said before Seth's posterity was 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 these days the church of God greatly diminished. In proportion 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 of4 intermarriages with them, as Genesis 6:1–2 ["When men began to multiply on the face of earth … the sons of God saw the daughters of men … and they took them wives of all which they chose"], Genesis 6:4 ["There were giants in the earth in those days … when the 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" are there doubtless meant the children of the church. It is a denomination often given 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. And 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 that tempted our first parents [cf. Mosiah 16:3] and set up himself as God of this world, raged exceedingly, and "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were evil, only evil,"5 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.
And now Satan made a most violent and potent attempt to swallow up the church of God, and had almost done it, but yet God restored it in the midst of all this flood of wickedness and violence. He kept it up in that line of which Christ6 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 was afterwards to shoot forth. And 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.7
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, viz. from the fall of man till God brought the flood on the earth. And second, take notice upon it even that though the history which Moses gives of the great works of God during that space be so very short, yet it is exceeding comprehensive and instructive.
And it may also be profitable for us here to observe the efficacy of that purchase of redemption8 that had such great effects even in the old world so many ages before Christ appeared to purchase redemption, that his blood should have such great efficacy so long before it was shed.
I proceed now to show how the same work was carried on through the Second9 period of the Old Testament, viz. that from the beginning of the flood till the calling of Abraham. For though that mighty overflowing
universal deluge of waters overthrew the world, yet it did not overthrow this building of God, the Work of Redemption; but this went on yet, and instead of being overthrown continued to be built up and was carried to a further preparation for the great Savior's coming into the world, and working out redemption for his people.
And here,
1.1 The flood itself was a work of God that belonged to this great affair, and tending to promote it. All the great and mighty works of God from the fall of man to the end of the world, and reducible to this work, and if seen in a right view of them, will appear as parts of it; and so many steps have been taken in order to it or as carrying of2 it on. And doubtless so great a work, so remarkable and universal a catastrophe as the deluge was, can't be excepted.
It was a work that God wrought in order to it, as thereby God removed the enemies and obstacles of it that were ready to overthrow it out of the way. Satan seems to have been in a dreadful rage just before the flood and his rage then doubtless was, as it always was, chiefly against the church of God to overthrow that; and he had filled the earth with violence and rage against it.3 He had drawn over almost all the world to be on his side, and they listed under his banner against Christ and his church.
We read that the earth was filled with violence, and doubtless that violence was chiefly against the church in fulfillment of what was foretold: "I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed."4 And their enmity and violence was so great and the enemies of the church so numerous, the whole world being against the church, that it was come to the last extremity. Noah's reproofs and his preaching of righteousness were utterly disregarded. God's Spirit had striven5 with them an one hundred twenty years, and all in vain, and the church was almost swallowed up; it seems to have reduced to so narrow limits as to be confined to one family.
And there was no prospect of anything else but of their totally swallowing up the church, and that in a very little time, and so wholly destroying that small root that had the blessing in it, or whence the Redeemer was to proceed.
And therefore God's destroying these enemies of the church by the
flood belongs to this affair of redemption, for it was one thing that was done in fulfillment of the covenant of grace as it was revealed to Adam: "I will put enmity between thee and [her seed]; it shall bruise thy head."6
This destruction was only a destruction of the seed of the serpent in the midst of their most violent rage against the seed of the woman, and so delivering the seed of the woman from them when in utmost peril by them. We read of scarce any great destruction of nations anywhere in Scripture but that one main reason given for it was their7 enmity and injuries against God's church; and doubtless this is one main reason of the destruction of all nations by the flood. Those giants that were in those days in all likelihood got themselves their renown by their great exploits against heaven and against Christ and his church, the remaining sons of God that had not corrupted themselves.
We read that, just before the world shall be destroyed by fire, the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth shall gather together against it as the sand of the sea and shall go up on the breadth of the earth and compass the enemies of the saints about, and the beloved city, and then fire shall come down from God out of heaven and devour them, Revelation 20:8–9.
And it seems as though there was that which was very parallel to it just before the world was destroyed by water. And therefore their destruction was a work of God that did as much belong to the Work of Redemption as the destruction of the Egyptians belonged to the redemption of the children of Israel out of Egypt, or as the destruction of Sennacherib's mighty army that had compassed about Jerusalem to destroy8 it belonged to God's work of redeeming of that city from them.9
By means of this flood all the enemies of God's church, against whom that little handful had no strength, were swept off at once. God took their part and appeared for them against their enemies, and drowned those of whom they had been afraid in the flood of water, as he drowned the enemies of Israel that pursued 'em in the Red Sea.
Indeed, God could have taken other methods to deliver his church. He could have converted all the world instead of drowning it, and so he could have taken another method than drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea. But that is no argument that the method he did take
was not a method to show his redeeming mercy to them.
By the wicked world's being drowned, the wicked, the enemies of God's people, were dispossessed of the earth and the whole earth was given to Noah and his family to possess in quiet, as God made room for the Israelites in Canaan by casting out their enemies from before 'em, and God's thus taking the earth1 from the possession of the enemies of the church and giving it all to the church, was agreeable to that promise of the covenant of grace, Psalms 37:9–11 ["those that wait upon the Lord shall … inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be.… But the meek shall inherit the earth"]. The just shall inherit the earth.
2.2 Another thing here belonging to the same work was God's so wonderfully preserving that family of which the Redeemer was to proceed when all the rest of the world was drowned.3 God's drowning the world and saving Noah and his family both were works reducible to this great work. The saving Noah and his family belonged to it two ways: 1. as that family was the family of which the Redeemer was to proceed, and 2. as that family was the church that he had redeemed. It was the mystical body of Christ that was there saved.
The manner of God's saving those persons when all the world besides was so overthrown was very wonderful and remarkable; it was a wonderful work of God and a remarkable type of the redemption of Christ, of that redemption that is sealed by the baptism of water and is so spoken of in the New Testament, as 1 Peter 3:20–214 1 Peter 3:20–21 ["In the days of Noah … eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us"].5
That water that washed away the filth of the world, that cleared the world of wicked men, was a type of the blood of Christ that takes away the sin of the world. That water that delivered Noah and his sons from their enemies is a type of that blood that delivers God's church from their sins, their worst enemies. That water that was so plentiful and abundant that it filled the world and reached above the tops of the highest mountains was a type of that blood the sufficiency of which is so abundant baptismal for the whole world's baptism, to
bury the biggest mountains of sin.
The ark that was the refuge and hiding place of the church in this time of storm and floods was a type of Christ, the true hiding place of the church from the storms and floods of God's wrath.
3.6 The next thing I would observe was the new grant of the earth God made to Noah and his family immediately after the flood, as founded on the covenant of grace, when Noah moved out of the ark. The sacrifice of Christ was represented by7 Noah's building an altar to the Lord and offering a sacrifice of every clean beast and every clean fowl. And here we have an account, that of his accepting this sacrificing.
And thereupon [God] blessed Noah and established his covenant with him and with his seed, promising no more in like manner to destroy the earth, signifying how, here too by the sacrifice of Christ, that God's favor is obtained and his people are in safety from God's destroying judgment and do obtain the blessing of the Lord.8 And God now on occasion of the sacrifice that Noah offered to God gives him and his posterity a new grant of the earth, a new power of dominion over the creatures as founded on that sacrifice, and so founded on the covenant of grace;9 and so is to be looked upon [as] a diverse grant from that which [was] made to Adam that we have, Genesis 1:28 ["Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion … over every living thing"]. Which grant was not founded on the covenant of grace, for it was1 given to Adam while he was under a covenant of works and therefore was antiquated when that covenant ceased.
The first grant of the earth to Adam was founded on the first covenant, and therefore when the first covenant was broken the right conveyed to him by that first covenant was forfeited and lost. And hence it came to pass that the earth was taken away from mankind by the flood, for the first grant was forfeited and God never had made another after that till after the flood.
If the first covenant had not been broken, God never would [have] drowned the world and so have taken it away from mankind; for then the first grant made to Adam would have stood good. But that was broken, and so God after a while destroyed the earth when the wickedness of men was great.
But after the flood, on Noah's offering a sacrifice that represented the sacrifice of Christ, God in smelling a sweet savor or accepting that sacrifice, as it was a representation of the true sacrifice of Christ which is a sweet savor2 indeed to God, he gives Noah a new grant of the earth founded on that sacrifice of Christ or that covenant of grace which is by that sacrifice of Christ, and with a promise annexed that now the earth should no more be destroyed till the consummation of all things, as you may see, Genesis 8:20–22 and Genesis 9:1–3 and verse 7.3
The reason why such a promise that God would no more destroy the earth was made to this grant made to Noah and not to that made to Adam was because these words [were] founded on the covenant of grace, that Christ was the surety, and therefore [it] could not be broken. And therefore it comes to pass now that though the wickedness of man has dreadfully raged, and the earth has been filled with violence and wickedness thousands of times and4 one age after another, and much more dreadful and aggravated wickedness than the world was full of before the flood, being against so much greater light and mercy especially in these days of the gospel, yet God's patience holds.
God don't destroy the earth; his mercy and forbearance abides according to his promise, and his grant established with Noah and his sons abides firm and good, being founded on that covenant.
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