2 Cor. v. 2. "For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." And it is a piece of good preperation for death.

Ques. What is the regular desire of death?

Ans. I. For the matter of it, it lies in these three things.

(1.) A desire of it as the passage to uninterrupted communion with God in Christ, Phil. i. 25. Sometimes it ariseth from the saints' want of communion with God, which being uneasy does rightly make death desirable, as that which would make up that want, and secure against it any more for ever; sometimes from the sense of the sweetness of that communion, Cant. viii. 6. But the enjoyment of God being a part of man's chief end, death is desirable as a means to it.

(2.) A desire of it as the passage to perfection in holiness, Phil. iii. 14. Thus the man desireth it that he may be free of sin, and put beyond the possibility of sinning more, Rom. vii. 24, that he may be in capacity to serve the Lord without marring or wearying of the work. This is the main part of man's chief end, and therefore death must be desirable as a means thereto.

(3.) A desire of it as an entrance into rest. The rest of death is promised to the saints for their comfort in all their heavy and restless circumstances, Isa. lvii. 2. And therefore it must be desirable under that consideration. It is very natural for the tossed in a storm, to be desirous to be ashore, for the weary labourer to desire to have ease, and for the Christian to desire his eternal and perfect rest, Job vii. 2.

2. For the quality regulating it, it must be accompanied with entire resignation to the will of God, Matt. vi. 10. We must in our desire of it even on these accounts be resigned to the will of God.

(1.) As to the time, we must never be peremptory as to that, but wait the time prefixed of God, Job xiv. 14. He will keep us no longer in life, than he has use for us either in the way of doing or suffering; and we must be content to wait his time for our admittance into uninterrupted communion to perfection of holiness, and into rest; and to be peremptory for rest at our time, and resolved to suffer no more, while yet God dischargeth us not as devilish, and exposeth to eternal suffering, as the sentry deserting his post is deservedly put to death.

(2.) As to the way and manner. There are many ways of going out of the world, we must leave it to the Lord, which will be the way for us; whether the way of lingering sickness or sudden death, natural, or violent by the hand of man. I think, if God should refer it to us, we should refer it back to him.

SECONDLY, Sinners, and all whosoever would have the day of death better to you than the day of your birth, improve life for that end. To sum up your duty in a word, as you have already heard, (1.) Let it be your great care and concern to get the favour and friendship of God through Christ, by taking hold of God's covenant of free grace, uniting with Christ the head of it, through faith in his name. (2.) Lead your life a life to the honour of God, studying to please him in all things. Renounce your own will, and your own corrupt affections, and wholly give up yourselves to him, to be ruled by him, and governed by his laws. (3.) Live usefully for men. Lay out yourselves to promote the spiritual and temporal welfare of all ye have access to in your station. By these means, and no other way, ye will obtain the good name, by which your dying-day will be better to you than your birth-day.

CHRIST'S SPECIAL ORDER FOR GATHERING HIS SAINTS TO HIM AT THE LAST DAY; WITH their disTINGUISHING CHARACTER, AS ENTERING INTO HIS COVENANT NOW, CONSIDERED.

The substance of several Sermons preached at Ettrick, in May, 1730.

PSALM L. 5.

Gather my saints together unto me: those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

LOOKING forward to the other world, we will see a great gathering to come, a gathering of saints, and a gathering of sinners; what part we shall have in these, depends on the entertainment we now give to the gathering unto Christ, in the covenant; they that will not now be gathered to Christ in the bond of the covenant, will then be driven from him, and gathered with sinners into the pit; they that gather now to him in that bond, will be gathered to him in glory then. Gather my saints together unto me: those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

This psalm certainly relates to the coming of Christ for judgment, ver. 3. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." But whether to his first coming, to abolish the ceremonial law, set up the simple gospel-worship, and to judge, condemn, and take vengeance on the formal superstitious Jews, deVOL, V.

2 K

stroying their temple, and ruining their kingdom; or to his second coming to judge the world, is a question. I think it is plain it relates to both, the former as an emblem, pledge, and type of the other and thus we find them stated by our Saviour himself, Matt. xxiv. Only the coming of the Judge is expressed in terms, directly and immediately looking to his second coming, as the procedure and issue in terms directly and immediately looking to his first coming. So our text falling within the former part, we have all ground to consider it as relating to the other world. In this psalm,

1. We have the party in whose name the court is called and held. It is in the name of the Holy Trinity, Heb. "God! God! Jehovah; he hath spoken," &c. God will judge the world by the man Christ.

2. The issuing out of the summons to the whole world, called the earth from the rising of the sun, unto the going down thereof; from east to west, from the one end to the other. All nations must come to it, Asian, European, African, American, Christian nations, and Jews, Mahommedan, and Pagan nations.

3. From whence the Judge sets forth, making his glorious appearance. At the giving of the law he came from Sinai with terrible majesty, Deut. xxxiii. 2. At this his appearance he will come from Zion, the city of the living God, namely, from heaven, the church being so called as a heaven on earth. Thence he will come shining in power and great glory. He comes out of Zion, because he comes as a Saviour to his own, and that now men having heard the gospel, are judged according to it.

4. His awful coming to the judgment. He is God, as well as man. Devouring fire shall be his harbinger, 2 Thess. i. 8. But will any then bid him welcome? Yes, his people will, Heb. "Let our God come; and let him not be silent," q. d. Come, Lord Jesus! Be not as one deaf, to the cries and sighs of thy friends, and the tumult of thine enemies. Sometime his people, doubting and fearing, trembled at the thoughts of his coming; but then they will be beyond all these, seeing the day their own.

5. Whither the summons shall be directed. To the heavens, where the souls of the blessed are that are dead; to the earth, where the living are, good and bad, and where the bodies of the dead are, under which is comprehended hell, where the souls of the wicked are, Rev. xx. 13.

6. A special gracious order in favour of his people, in the words of the text. Now comes the time of setting all to rights with them, completing their desires, and full answering of all their expectations from him.

1st, We have the order in itself, "Gather my saints together unto me;" wherein consider,

(1.) The parties in favour of whom it is issued out. It is the saints, holy ones, Heaven's favourites, beneficent ones that were useful in their generation. These were sometimes little regarded in this world; but then they will be the only persons that will be regarded. Christ the Judge will acknowledge them as his own, Mal. iii. 17." They are my saints; the world disowned them, and contemned them; and I was silent, and many time seemed not to own them neither. But now I will speak out in their favour, I own them to be mine whoever are saints." Then farewell all other marks of distinction among men, rich and poor, healthy and sickly, learned or unlearned; saints and sinners is the only remaining distinction then.

(2.) What is ordered about them, "Gather them together unto ME." Gather them to me; not before me only, among themselves; such a gathering there will be of sinners there, as well as saints, Matth. xxv. 32. But gather them close to me, says Christ the Judge, that they may be where I am, sit with me on my throne, be ever with me. They have been scattered here and there in the cloudy and dark day; now gather them together, and that to me, as my members, Gen. xlix. ult.

(3.) To whom the order is directed. It is plain from the original, that it is to others than them, and to a plurality; and that as plainly shews it is to the Judge's attendants, the holy angels, Mark xiii. 27. These are they that gather the tares in bundles for the fire, and the wheat to the Master into his barn.

2dly, The parties to be gathered to him characterised, "Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." Their names not being expressed in the order, how shall they be known from others? Why, here is their distinguishing character. Christ the Judge sometime set up his standard in the world, as being an appointed head for sinners to gather to, Gen. xlix. 10. He published in the gospel sinners' welcome, and invited them to come to him in the bond of his covenant. While some slighted him and the covenant, they came into it and so were gathered to him by faith, while others staid away. Now, says Christ, all those that gathered to me, embracing the covenant offered to them in the gospel, gather them now to me, that they may receive their crown, and the benefits of that covenant in full tale. But the further explication of this part of the text shall be deferred till afterwards.

From the first clause I observe the following doctrine, viz.

DocT. When Christ comes again to put an end to this world, and complete the state of the other world, he will publicly own the saints as his own, and they shall be honourably gathered to him by his order.

In treating of this doctrine, I shall,

I. Consider the time of these great events, when this order for gathering the saints to Christ shall be given.

II. Christ's public owning the saints as his own.

III. The gathering of them to him.

IV. The order for this gathering.

V. Lastly, Conclude with an use of exhortation.

I. I shall consider the time of these great events, when this order for gathering the saints to Christ shall be given. It will be at his second coming, his coming to the general judgment. What number of years must run out before that, we know not; only we know that it will be, and it is drawing on. And to set the purpose of the text in due light, it is fit here to consider.

1. That Christ will certainly come again, in the character of the Judge of the world. As sure as he came the first time, and was judged, condemned, and crucified by sinners; so sure will he come the second time in power and great glory, and judge the world, Acts i. 11. “This same Jesus which is taken up from you unto heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." It is a piece of his exaltation, and reward of his sufferings, for which he has yet trusted his Father, and has not yet got: but it is impossible, by reason of the divine faithfulness, that it should fail, Phil. ii. 9, 10. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." It is the joint desire of the saints' wrought in them by the Spirit, that he should come, Rev. xxii. 17. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come;" to which he echoes back, ver. 20. "Surely I come quickly." And he has appointed the sacrament of the supper, not only as a memorial of his first coming, but as a pledge of his second coming, 1 Cor. xi. 26.

2. When Christ comes again, this earth will be very throng, and a wonderful mixture will be in it more than ever at any time before; he having called to heaven, and the other receptacle of departed souls, and brought them all back to their bodies which are in the earth. Then surely,

(1.) The earth will be thronger than ever, though there will be no striving then for more room in it, as now; the now strivers would then be content to be lost in the crowd. But, I say, it will then be