In a word, this boldness is remarkable for the folemnity that is in it, it is a folemn gathering; the people, that gather to Shiloh, come to him with a bebold, Jer. iii. 22.

Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God." The heart goes out with fome kind of eminency and folemnity: "Behold, we come;" let heaven and earth be witneffes: we take inftruments, as it were, in every angel's hand, in every creatures hand, in every fpire of grafs's hand, that we come back to a God in Chrift; we are fatisfied the whole univerfe atteft, and behold what we are going to do. Not that the believer loves to blaze abroad his religion indecently; no, no: it. is especially a filent, fecret, heart-gathering, and foul-. approach to Shiloh: but they are fo far from being afhamed of the match, and fo well-pleafed are they with it, that they are content it be registrate in heaven, and that the whole creation atteft it; "Behold we come !!! The man acts with a folemn boldness.

8. In this gathering of the people to Shiloh, they. that are under the conduct of gathering grace and power, are made to act regularly no wonder, for in. gathering to Shiloh, their footsteps are ordered by the Lord, and according to his word, the unerring rule of faith and manners. It is in many respects a regular addrefs and approach: and here I fhall name fome other particulars, which I fuppofe may be included in the regularity of this approach.

(1.) When there is a gathering to Shiloh, the regular approach and addrefs to him is made penitentially and faith in its addreffes to him acts penitentially, mournfully, and tenderly; Going and weeping they fhail go, and feek the Lord their God: they shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward, faying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord, Jer. 1. 4, 5. Going and weeping, this manner of gathering is not inconfiftent with the cordial and chearful acting, that I spoke of already; for the tears of gofpel-repentance are tears of joy: it is faid of the New-teftament believers, Ifa. xxxv. 10. "The ranfomed of the Lord fhall return, and come to Zion with fongs, and everlafting joy upon their heads: they fhall obtain joy and gladnefs, and forrow and

fighing fhall flee away." Tho' this will not take place in its perfection but in heaven, yet it hath its begun accomplishment in all believers that are gathered in to Shiloh; they obtain joy and gladness, and LEGAL for.. row and fighing do flee away: for, according to the measure of their faith in Chrift, they have joy and peace in believing; yea, in him believing, they rejoice, with joy unfpeakable, and full of glory. But gofpel-forrow, and godly forrow does not marr the mufic in this joyful fong; for, while they look on him, whom they have pierced and mourn, Zech. xii. 10. and fee him wounded for their fins, Ifaiah lv. 5. they fee, at the fame time, the blood iffuing out at thefe wounds, to be jufticefatisfying blood, wrath-appeafing blood, hell-quenching blood, and heaven-purchafing blood; hence a sweet mixture of joy and forrow both. Thefe feem to be joined together; "They fhall come with weeping, and with fupplications will I lead them," Jer. xxxi. 9. It may be rendered, as you may fee, in the margin of fome of your Bibles, with FAVOURS will I lead them. As the fenfe of their own fins and ingratitude makes them tome with weeping; fo, at the fame time, the fenfe of God's favours, and kindness in Chrift, makes them come with rejoicing; for, with loving-kindness does he draw them, and with favours does he lead them. O! when he favours fuch a guilty finner with a pardon, fuch a filthy finner with a layer of blood, such a naked finner with a robe of righteoufnefs, fuch a black finner, with a beautiful ornament, fuch a hell-deferving finner with a promife of glory, fuch a backfliding profligate with a merciful vifit or return, and fuch a prodigal wretch with a compaffionate embracement thus with favours does lead them: O then it is hard to tell, whether the voice of joy, or the voice of weeping in the foul be loudeft. But as we render it alfo, it is most expreffive of this penitential addrefs, in gathering to Shiloh; "With weeping, and with fupplication doth he lead them." Indeed faith's approach is begun, maintained, and nourished, by prayer and fupplication, faying, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief: Lord, increase our faith." There are fome who have a pre

and

a prefumptuous faith, that can believe when they will, without praying down the Spirit of faith from God; as they can eat and drink, and fleep, and walk, and talk, tho' they pray not for ftrength to do these things; fo they can exercife their natural prefumptuous faith, faying, I truft in God's mercy; and their falfe repentance, faying, God forgive me, I am a great finner : they can believe and repent, without prayer and fupplication for grace and ftrength to do fo. But true grace, true faith and repentance is attained and maintained, in a way of fupplication: and hence true faith does encrease and decreafe, according to the increafe and decrease of the Spirit of prayer and fupplication. If it be not fo with you, man, know it, that though your false faith may give you fome falfe peace for a while, yet when death and eternity ftare you in the face, then the rottennefs of your faith will be difcovered; "The hope of the hypocrite will perifh." They that gather to Shiloh, they come with weeping, and with fupplication doth he lead them.

I am not here to enter upon the difpute concerning the priority of faith to repentance, in their natural order, and in their acting and exercife; it is well if you know both, whether you know the order or not: only, if whatsoever is not of faith is fin, you may guess what fort of repentance it is that is not of faith: and when the word of God fpeaks any where of the proper order, let your experience, confonant to the word, witnefs, and you will find, that fuch as the faith is, fuch will the repentance be. Legal faith works legal repentance; gospel faith, gospel repentance; true faith, true repentance. Thus, when the people of Nineveh believ. ed God, then they proclaimed a faft, and put on fackcloth, Jonah iii. 5.: when they believed his threatening, and yet that he was not irreconcileable, nor implacable, then they repented. Thus, when a man believes, and apprehends that God is pacified towards him, then he is confounded and afhamed, Ezek. xvi. 63.When you have harfh thoughts of God, and no hope of favour at his hand, I fuppofe then you will find your heart hard like a ftone, and inflexible; but when

you

you get kindly thoughts of God, and apprehenfion of his mercy and good-will, and love to you in Chrift, then I imagine you will find joyful meltings, and gospel forrow. O the fire of God's love melts the foul! And the hardness and impenitency is healed, when the Sun of righteoufnefs arifeth with healing under his wings, Mal. iv. 2. The qualities of this penitential approach you may fee, 2 Cor. vii. 11. "For behold this felf-fame thing, that ye forrowed after a godly fort, what carefulness is wrought in you; yea, what clearing of yourselves; yea, what indignation; yea, what fear: yea, what vehement defire; yea, what zeal; yea, what revenge."And this penitential acting of faith runs thro' the whole of the believer's life, in an univerfal tenderness of difpofition and deportment, according to the measure of faith. And there are fix tender things in it, which the believer hath.

1. He hath a tender heart, called a broken and contrite heart; broken for fin, and from fin; Jofiah his heart was tender. 2. A tender confcience; fome have a confcience feared as with a hot iron, and that is a filent conscience: but the penitent hath a fmitten confcience; as David's heart fmote him, when he cut off the lap of Saul's garment. 3. A tender eye; They fhall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn: Rivers of tears run down their eyes," because of their own fins, and the fins of others who break God's law. 4. A tender ear, which being circumcifed, does hear and fear; "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite heart, and trembles at my word." 5. A tender lip or tongue, that dare not lie, nor fpeak prophanely; "I faid, I will take heed to my ways, that I fin not with my tongue." And, 6. A tender hand, that dares not touch the garments fpotted with the flesh, but ftudies to fhun all appearances of evil; or, if you will, you may add, 7. That he hath a tender foot, faying, with Hezekiah, "I will go foftly all my years in the bitterness of my foul." And this leads to another quality of this regular approach.

(2.) When there is a gathering to Shiloh, the regular approach and addrefs to him is made obedientially,

as

as well as penitentially: it is an obediential gathering. And as faith acts penitentially, fo it acts obedientially; for it works by love, Gal. v. 6.; it purifies the heart, Acts xv. 9.; and the man that hath it purifies himself, even as God is pure, 1 John iii. 3. It ftirs up to new obedience; for, Faith without works is dead," James ii. 20. 26.-Wherever it is, it is ftill working, and it can no more be idle, than the fire can be. It is true, "We are justified by faith, without works," as the apoftle fays; that is, without the cafuality of works, without conditionality of works, without the inftrumentality of works, and without the influence of works upon our juftification; but not without the prefence of works: for juftifying faith is a fanctifying thing, and natively works, as the fire natively burns. Common faith is a dead, useless faith, making no change or alteration on the foul where it is; but faving faith acts always obedientially : hence you read of the obedience of faith, Rom. xvi. 26.; importing, both that faith acts in obedience to the divine call at firft, and that it influences the foul to all the acts of gofpel-obedience afterwards. O, fays the returning finner, that is making this obediential addrefs to a God in Christ, I have been a fugitive fervant to the most glorious Lord and Mafter; I have deferted his fervice, and denied my obedience; but now, Lord, nail my ear to the door-poft, that I may serve thee for ever; nail my heart to thy fervice, that no trouble, temptation, devil, or desertion may drive me away from thee; nail my eyes to thy fervice, that I may never look upon vanity; nail my hands to thy fervice, that I may never do an ill turn; nail my feet to thy way, that I may never turn afide from thee; let all the faculties of my foul be nailed to thy fervice and obedience.

(3.) When there is a gathering to Shiloh, the regular addrefs to him is made fpeedily; O \the poor foul, that fees itself ready to drop into hell, how fpeedily, in the day of power, does it flee unto Chrift! I fee to thee to bide me, fays the Pfalmift: the flight of. faith is very quick, and swift as lightening, that goes from the one end of heaven to the other in an inftant; fo when the foul is on wing, under the influence of the Spirit of