The Work of Redemption with respect to the grand design in general as it relates to the universal subject and end of it, is carried on from the fall ‹of man to the end of the world› in a different manner, not merely by the repeating and renewing the same effect on 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 altogether 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 superstructure erected one part after another, till at length the topstone 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 were7 done towards this building then, immediately as may be hereafter shown; and so God has gone as it were getting materials and building ever since, and so will go on to the end of the world.
And then the time shall come when the topstone shall be brought forth and all will appear complete and consummate.
The glorious structure will then stand forth in its proper perfection.
And now the whole Work of Redemption is finished. We have seen how it has been carrying on from the fall of man to this time. But now 'tis complete with respect to all that7 belongs to it. Now the topstone of the building is laid. In the progress of the discourse on this subject we have followed the church of God in all the great changes, all her tossings to and fro that [she] is subject to in all the storms and tempests through the many ages of the world, till at length we have seen an end to all these storms. We have seen [her] enter the harbor and landed in the highest heavens, in complete and everlasting glory, in all her members, body and soul. We have gone through time, through the several ages of it, as the providence of God and the word of God have led us, and now we have issued into eternity after time shall be no more. We have seen all the church's enemies fixed in endless misery, and have seen the church presented in her perfect redemption before the Father in heaven, there to enjoy that most unspeakable and inconceivable glory and blessedness, and there we leave her to enjoy this glory throughout the never-ending ages of eternity.
8Now all Christ's enemies will all be perfectly put under his feet, and he shall have his most perfect triumph over sin, and Satan and all his instruments, and death and hell.9 Now shall all the promises made to Christ by God the Father before the foundation of the world, the promises of the covenant of redemption, be fully accomplished. And Christ shall now perfectly have obtained the joy that was set before him, for which he undertook those great sufferings he underwent in his state of humiliation.1 Now shall all the hopes and expectations of the saints be fulfilled. The state of things that the church was in before was a progressive and preparatory state, but now she is arrived in her most perfect state of glory. All the glory of the glorious times of the church on earth is but a faint shadow of this, her consummate glory in heaven.
And now shall Christ the great Redeemer be most2 perfectly glorified, and God the Father shall be glorified in him,3 and the Holy Ghost shall [be] most fully glorified in the perfection of his work in the hearts of all the church. And now shall that new heaven and new earth, or that renewed state of things that had been building up ever since Christ's resurrection, be completely finished after the very material frame of the old heavens and old earth are destroyed, Revelation 21:1, "And I saw a new heaven and new earth: for the first heaven and first earth were passed away."
And now will the great Redeemer have perfected every thing that appertains to the Work of Redemption which he began so soon after the fall of man. And who can conceive of the triumph and glory of those praises which shall be sung in heaven on this great occasion...
1808 Kindle 15702
6.9 By what has been said we may see the usefulness and excellency of the Old Testament. Some are ready to look on the Old Testament as being, as it were, out of date and as if we in these days of the gospel had but little to do with it; which is a very great mistake, arising from want of observing the nature and design of the Old Testament, which if it was observed it would appear full of the gospel of Christ, and would in an excellent manner illustrate and confirm the glorious doctrines and promises of the New Testament. Those parts of the Old Testament which are commonly looked upon as containing the least divine instruction are, as it were, as mines and treasures of gospel knowledge, and the reason why they are thought to contain so little is because persons do but superficially read them. The treasures that are hid underneath are not observed. They only look on the top of the ground, and so suddenly pass a judgment that there is nothing there, but they never dig into the mine; if they did they would find it richly stored with silver and gold, and would be abundantly1 requited for their labors.
What has been said may show us what a precious treasure God has committed into our hands in that he has given us the Bible. How little do most persons consider how much they enjoy in that they have the possession of that holy book the Bible which they have in their hearts and may converse with as they please. What an excellent book is this, and how far exceeding all human writings: that reveals God to us and gives us a view of the grand design and glorious scheme of his providence, from the beginning to the end of the world, either in history or prophecy, that reveals the great Redeemer and his glorious
redemption, and the various steps by which God accomplishes it from the first foundation to the topstone. Shall we prize a history that gives us a clear account of some great earthly prince or mighty warrior, as of Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar, or the duke of Marlborough, and shall we not prize the history that God has given us of the glorious kingdom of his2 son, Jesus Christ, the prince and savior of the world, and the wars and other great transactions of that king of kings and lord of armies,3 the lord mighty in battle, the history of the things he has wrought for the redemption of his chosen people.
7.4 What has been said may make us sensible how much most persons are to blame for their inattentive, unobservant way of reading the Scriptures. How much does the Scripture contain if it was but observed the Bible is the most comprehensive book in the world. But what will all this signify to us if we read it without observing what is the drift of the Holy Ghost in it. The psalmist, Psalms 119:18, 5 begs of God, that he would enlighten his eyes that he might "behold wondrous things come of his law." The Scripture is full of wondrous things. Those histories that are commonly read as if they were only histories of the private concerns of such and such particular persons, such as the histories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and the history of Ruth, and the histories of particular lawgivers and6 princes, as the history of Joshua and the judges, and David and other Israelitish princes, are accounts of vastly greater things, things of greater importance and more extensive concernment than they that read them are commonly aware of. Scripture histories are very commonly read as if they were stories written only to entertain men's fancies, and to while away their leisure hours, when the infinitely great things contained or pointed at in them are passed over and never taken notice of.
Whatever treasures the Scriptures contain we shall be never the better for them if we don't observe what is there. He that has a Bible, and don't observe what is contained [in] it, is like a man that has a box full of silver and gold, and don't know it, don't observe that it is anything more than a vessel filled with common stones. As long as it is thus with him, he'll be never the better for his treasure. For he that
don't know7 he has a treasure will never make use of what he had, and so had as good be without it. He that has plenty of the choicest food stored up in his house and don't know it, will never taste what he has and will be as likely to starve as if his house were empty.
