' Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace.'
Doct. 2. Mark hei'e the language of Canaan, how the Spirit of God in common matters doth raise up the soul to think hitihhj of them.
Therefore it is that the Holy Ghost sweetens death with a phrase of * gathering.' Instead of saying. Thou shalt die, he saith, ' Thou shalt be gathered.' How many phrases have we in Scripture that have comfort Avrapped in them, as there is in this phrase, ' Thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace.' I will not speak how many ways peace is taken in Scripture. 'Thou shalt die in peace;' that is, thou shalt die quietly, honourably, and peaceably. And thou shalt not see the misery that I will bring upon the state and kingdom. Thou shalt be gathered to thy fathers, which is meant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all the faithful patriarchs.
Doct. 3. Only observe, it is a very sweet word, and imports unto us, that death is nothincf but a (fathering, and presupposeth that God's children are all scattered in this world amongst wicked men, in a forlorn place, where they are used untowardly, as pilgrims use to be in a strange land. There- fore we had need be gathered, and it is a comfort to be gathered. But from whence shall he be gathered ? He shall be gathered from a wicked, confused world ; and to whom shall he go ? To his Father. His soul shall go to their souls, his body shall be laid in the grave with theirs. As if he had said, Thou shalt leave some company, but go to better ; thou shalt leave a kingly estate, but thou shalt go to a better kingdom.
Doct. 4. The changes of God's children are for the better. Death to them is but a gathering. This gathering doth shew^ the preciousness of the thing gathered ; for God doth not use to gather things of no value. Josiah was a pearl worth the gathering. He was one of high esteem, very precious. So every Christian is dearly bought, w'ith the blood of Christ. Therefore God will not suffer him to perish, but will gather him before the evil days come. As men use to gather jewels before fire comes into their houses ; or as husbandmen will be sure to gather their corn, before they will let the beasts come into the field ; so saith God to him, I will be sure to gather thee before I bring destruction upon the land. We are all by nature lost in Adam, and scattered from God, therefore we must be gathered again in Christ. For all gathering that is good is in him ; for he is the head of
THE saint's kefreshing. 79
all union that is good. And this is to be wrought by the ordinances of God, by the means of the ministry, which is appointed unto that end, to gather us, as Mat. xxiii. 37, Christ speaks to Jerusalem, ' How often would I have gathered you together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but you would not.' Christ would have gathered them unto him- self, by his word, but they refused.
All the gathering of a Christian in this life is a gathering to Christ by faith, and to the communion of saints by love, 1 Thes. iv. 17 ; and the more he doth grow in grace, the more near communion he hath with Christ. Then after this gathering by grace, there comes by death a gathering to Christ in glory. For the soul goes for ever and ever to be with the Lord. After this comes a higher degree of gathering at the day of judgment, when there shall be a great meeting of all saints, and the soul and body shall be reunited together, to remain for ever with the Lord. Let us then think of this, that whatsoever befalls us in the world, we shall be sure to be gathered, for death is but a gathering. For from whence goes Josiah ? From a sinful world, a sinful estate, a wretched people, unto his fathers, who are all good, nay, to God his Father. We are all here as Daniel in the lion's den, as sheep among wolves ; but at death we shall be gathered to our fathers. It is a gathering to a better place, to heaven ; and to better persons, to fathers, where we shall be for ever praising the Lord, never offending him, loving and pleasing one another. Here Christians displease one another, and cannot be gathered together in love and aliection, but there they shall be gathered in unity of love for ever.
Use. This serves, first of all, to comfort us in departure of friends, to render their souls up with comfort into the hands of God. ' -We know they are not lost, but sent before us. We shall be gathered to them, they can- not come to us. Therefore why should we grieve ? They are gathered in quietness and rest to their fathers. This should also make us render our souls to God, as into the hands of a faithful Creator and Redeemer. From whence go we ? From a sinful world and place of tears, to a place of happiness above expression. Why should we be afraid of death ? It is but a gathering to our fathers. What a comfort is it to us in this world, that we shall go to a place where all is good, where we shall be perfectly renewed, made in the image of God, and shall have nothing defaced ? Let this raise up our dead and drowsy souls. Thus we shall be one day gathered. The wicked shall be gathered together, but a woeful gathering is it. They shall be gathered like a bundle of tares, to be thrown into hell, there for ever to burn. They are dross and chaff, never gathered to Christ by faith, nor to the body of the church by love ; and therefore they are as dross and chaff, which the wind scatters here, and shall for ever be scattered here- after, Ps. i. 4, They are, as Cain, vagabonds in regard of the life of grace here ; and therefore shall be for ever scattered from the life of glory here- after. They shall be gathered to those whom they delighted in, and kept company with, whilst they were in this world. They loved to keep com- pany with the wicked here, therefore they shall be gathered to them in hell hereafter. This is sure, thou shalt live in heaven or hell afterwards, with those whom thou livedst with here. Dost thou live only delighted in evil company now ? It is pity thou shouldst be severed from them hereafter. If thou be gathered to them in love and affection here, thou shalt be gathered to them in hell and destruction hereafter. It is a comfortable evidence to those that delight in good company, that they shall be with them in heaven for ever. • Hereby wo know that we are translated from death to life, because we love