they were to get, or receive from God, they knew not as yet; but all they could fay, at prefent, was, that they had brought their fouls and bodies before God, to attend upon him in his crdinances. It feems they had fome fecret hope, that they might get fome good by Peter's preaching; and behold it was a remarkable gathering time, as you fee, verfe 44. For, "While he spake, the Holy Ghoft fell on all that heard the word." Therefore, if any poor creature be here, faying, It does not look like a gathering time, with respect to me; for it is not a believing time, but a doubting time; it is not a repenting time, but rather a rebelling time; it is not a praying time, but rather a perplexing time; not a waiting, but a wearying time; not a longing, but a languishing time; I cannot so, much as pray, nor pant, nor long, nor lock up; I can hardly give an hearty figh, or a groan upwards. Well, but poor creature, can you fay, Lord, I am here prefent before thee, thou knoweft this is all I can do; I have no more, under heaven, about me, of difpofition to any duty or ordinance, but a fecret may-be the Lord will pity, and may-be not; I am juft at the foctftool of fovereignty.--Well, fuch a time may be a gathering time; when they were all prefent before the Lord hearing, a gathering wind came, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghoft. This is one of the low eft flowers that appear in the believer's fpring-time, when no grace is appearing in his view at all, but only he is prefenting himself before the God of all grace; and does not the believer find this to be even a gathering time, now and then in fecret, as well as public, when all he can do is juft to caft himself down on his knees, before the Lord his Maker, as it is, Pfal. xcv. 6. with a who knows but the Lord may pity? This attendance on the Lord, even in this manner, hath been bleffed with a mighty gathering wind about their fouls, that hath blown them nearer to the Lord, their harbour of reft, than ever they were before. Therefore, believer, however low your circumftances may be, when you can do no more but attend, as it were, at a fe a fecret duty or public ordinance, never draw back your attendance on the Lord, and prefenting yourfelves before him; feeing your attending time may be his gathering time. Thus I have mentioned to you fome of the believer's fpring-times of duty, and fome of the fruits and flowers that appear therein, which fpeak forth a gathering time, and prefage an harvest. And this leads me to fpeak of another gathering feafon, with refpect to the believer's progreflive approach to Christ, or gathering to Shiloh. 4. There are harveft-times of folemn ordinances, or gofpel-folemnities, not only teaching but fealing ordinances, which his people fometimes have, and which are God's gathering times, and the believer's gathering times, with refpect to their progreflive gathering unto Shiloh. And though the Lord of the harveft, who fends forth labourers thereunto, and takes them away when he pleases; as he hath lately removed one *, that used to be an eminent labourer at folemnities, in Airth; on which occafion, if we cannot fay in point of paucity, that though the harveft be great, the labourers are few; yet fure I am, we may with grief of heart fay, in point of quality, that the harvest is great, and the honeft evangelical labourers are the fewer that he is gone and the only thing that makes fuch an heavy lofs to be fupportable, is, that the Lord of the harveft ftill remains, who can fend forth labourers, qualified for whatsoever work he hath ado: But what I was faying, is, that though the Lord of the harvest makes thefe gofpel-folemnities, frequently to be the thering times for finners, in respect of their initial gathering, of which I fpoke before; yet the fpecial defign of these communion-folemnities, is, for advancing the progreffive gathering of believers; and, though the moft remarkable progrefs of the believer may be upon his knees in fecret duties, and in fecret prayer, and fecret intercourfe betwixt God and him; yet public or ga * It is fuppofed, and with a great degree of probability too, that our Author, both here, and page 115. has his eye upon that fhining light, and able fervant of Chrift, the Rev. Mr. Brisban, minister of the gofpel at Stirling. dinances dinances are the means of thefe private intercourses; though the fecret may be moft comfortable and refreshful, yet the public ordinances lay the foundation of that fecret comfort and refreshment. It is in this, as it is with the public well of a city, from whence people go and fetch water to their private houses; for ordinary, there is not fo much use made of the water at the public well itself, till once they bring it home in their veffel to the private house or family, and there it is more freely made ufe of for feveral neceffary purposes; fuch as for drink, and refreshing meals, the liquid part whereof is moftly made up of the water, that was fetched home from the well. Public ordinances are the wells; but, for ordinary, the children of God are not fo much refreshed with the water thereof, till once they get home to fome fecret corner with it, and there they get a more hearty draught, and refreshing drink of the water of life, than they got at the public well; but ftill it is from thence it was fetched; and fo the foundation of these private and fecret refreshing meals, is ordinarily laid in the public ordinances. It is true, fome that go to fetch home water from the well, may, according to their need, get an hearty drink of water, even at the fide of the well, before they bring any water home; and fo the Lord's people may, and fometimes do, get a very heartfome and refreshing draught of living water, even at the well-fide of public ordinances, while they are hearing the word, or receiving the facrament of the fupper. Now, the harvest-time of gofpel-folemnities, for the believer's progreffive gathering unto Shiloh, is twofold, teaching and fealing. (1.) The harvest-time of teaching folemnities is his hearing feafon, which frequently is God's gathering feafon; the gathering of the people to Shiloh is ordinarily made up in the time of hearing the word; for, Faith comes by bearing; and the progreffive gathering of believers is ordinarily made up alfo in the time of hearing the word: for, the increafe of faith comes by hearing; As new-born babes defire the fincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, 1 Pet. ii. 2. And hence, the doctrine of the gofpel is the ordinary means of of working and increafing faith; becaufe it is the minif tration of the Spirit; Gal. iii. 2. "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” This gofpel is the power of God to falvation, both for working faith, and for advancing it; "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith," Rom. i. 17. By this means we advance, if fo be we have heard of him, and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jefus, Eph. iv. 21. The gofpel is like a ladder, by which we climb up to a God in Chrift, when he is gathering us to him and every truth of the gofpel is like fo many steps or rounds of the ladder, and every one of them fhould be maintained and contended for: if any of the rounds of the ladder be broken off, you are in danger of falling down, and your climbing up is rendered more difficult or impoffible. Every truth denied, or error maintained, is like a cutting out, or breaking off a round of the ladder; and whenever a breach is made in it, the climbing up by it is rendered impracticable, if it be a fundamental error; or greatly obftructed, if it nearly concern the fundamentals of religion: we need therefore to be concerned, that every truth be maintained by us, and tranfmitted to our poflerity pure and entire. It is our mercy, that we have pure Standards: and if any latter acts of this church feem to clafh therewith, we hope they have not the deliberate approbation, even of thofe that framed them; however all gofpel-truths ought to be facred to us, as well as the purchased liberties and privileges in God's houfe; the lofs of the leaft whereof, is the lofs of a jewel out of the Mediator's crown. Chrift is the Head, and centre of all gofpel-truth, and we ought to hold by the Head; and fo we fhall hold by the truth, as it is in Jefus the Head. The apoftle complains of fome, their not holding the Head, Col. ii. 19. Some, inftead of holding the Head, they hold by the feet: it is enough to them, that fuch a good man, or fuch a learned man, fays fo and fo, concerning this or that truth; and fo let the Head go, and hold by the feet, not regarding * What these Acts are, may be feen, Vol. I. page 232. Vol. II. the truth, as it is in Jefus; but the truth, as it is delivered by fuch a man, whom they esteem, or fuch another man that hath this or that good character: but we ought to hang and hold by the Head, and not to hang our faith at the belt of any man or angel: "For, if we, or an angel from heaven, preach another doctrine, let him be accurfed," Gal. i. 8. Now, I fay, that the gofpel-fea fon is the gathering feafon; while gofpel-truths are published, they are the Standard of the Captain of falvation, to which the gathering of his foldiers fhould be, and will be, when the gospel comes not in word only, but in power. But again, (2.) The harveft-time of fealing folemnities, that is, the believer's receiving feafon, which frequently is God's gathering feafon, when he forwards their progreffive gathering to Shiloh. This ordinance of the fupper, being, in a special manner, appointed, not for begetting fpiritual life, where there is none, but for increafing it where begun it is in this ordinance, that the Lord is pleafed fometimes to feal up the promise, to feal up the covenant, to feal up his love, and feal up their pardon fenfibly to their fouls; and to make himself known to them in the breaking of bread, Luke xxiv. 35. He brings them under the fhadow of a facrament, and his fruit is fweet unto their tafte, and his glory bright in their eye; whereas they came ftark blind, they have got their eyes opened: yea, fometimes they get here a breathing of glory, an holy perfume of the fweet embalming love of Chrift; fometimes a young heaven, a green glory, a tafte of the grapes of the good land beyond Jordan, to keep the taite in their mouth, till they come to drink of the new wine in their Father's kingdom. Many a fainting foul hath been refrefhed, and revived with the wine upon the lees in this ordinance; while he hath come, and pardoned all their fins, healed all their fores, fupplied all their wants, cleared all their cloudy fkies, and driven the bottom out of all their doubts and fears; and thus gathered them, and brought them to more nearnefs and conformity to him: for, as when a man makes a timber veffel for holding food, or the like, the firft caft may be very rough, and there fore, |