80 THE saint's refreshing.
tlie brethren," 1 John iii. 14. And on the contrary, those that are brethren in evil here, may read in their own wicked courses and conversation what will become of them hereafter. They are all tares, and shall be gathered together in a bundle, and cast into hell fire for ever.
* And thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace.'
Here is a reward, not only to die, bnt to die in peace. Josiah goes the way of all flesh ; he must die though he be a king. This statute binds all. All are liable to death. ' And thou shalt be gathered, or put in thy grave in peace.' This doth declare that ho should be buried ; the ground whereof is out of Gen. iii. 19, 'Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return.' From earth we came, and to c;;rth wo shall return. The earth we carry and the earth we tread on shall both meet together. In that God doth here promise it to Josiah as a blessing, we may hence learn,
Doct 5. That burial is a comely and honourable ihinrj, and that we ought to have respect unto it, partly because the body of a dead Christian is a precious thing. They are temples of the Holy Ghost, members of Christ, and therefore ought to have the honour of burial. Partly because it shews our love and afl'ection to the party buried, for it is the last kindness we can do unto them. Again, we ought to have respect to burial, to shew our hope of the resurrection, that though the body be cast into the earth, yet it shall rise ; though it be sown in dishonour, yet it shall rise in honour. So we see that for these reasons burial is honourable. Therefore it is said of the fiiithful in Scripture, that they were buried, to shew how honourable a thing it is ; and indeed it is an honour, specially for fathers, to be buried by their friends and children, and carried by them into their graves. For to be buried like a beast is a judgment to wicked men.
Quest. But what then shall we say to all those that are not thus buried, ■whose bodies are given to be torn by wild beasts, or burnt to ashes, or flung into rivers, as antichrist useth to deal with many saints ?
Ans. I answer, that in this case faith must raise itself above difiiculty ; for though it be a favour and blessing of God, to have Christian burial after we are dead, j'et Christians must be content to go without this blessing sometimes, when God calls them to the contrary, as when we cannot have it upon good terms, with peace of conscience, or with God's love. In this case a burial in regard of God's favour is not worth the naming. Therefore let all Christians be content to put their bodies, life and all, to hazard ; not only to be willing to want burial when we are dead, but to sacrifice our lives and whatsoever else for God, as many saints have been martyred, and their bodies burnt to ashes. Yet God will gather together the ashes of the dead bodies of his children ; for ' right precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints,' Ps. cxvi. 15. And is it not better to want this with God's favour, than to have the most honourable burial in the world on evil terms ? For what saith the Spirit of God ? * Happy and blessed are they which die in the Lord,' Rev. xiv. 13 ; not happy are they that die in pomp, and are buried in state, but happy are they that die in the Lord. Therefore when we may not have it, although it be a comely thing, yet if we have God and Christ, we have all that is good. Therefore it is no matter what becomes of our bodies after we are dead ; for though we bo flung into the sea, burnt to ashes, yet both sea and earth must give up all the dead, as it is Kev. xx. 18. Therefore as for our bodies, let us be willing that God may have them, who gave them; and if he will have us to sacrifice our lives for him, let us do it willingly.
THE saint's refreshing. 81
* And thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace.'
Obj. How is this ? for we read, in the succeeding chapter of Josiah, that he died a violent death ; he was slain by the hands of his enemies. Is this to die in peace ?
Sol. I answer, the next words do expound it. He died in peace, * because his eyes should not see the evil that God would bring upon the land afterwards ;' as if he had said, Thou shalt not see the ruin of the church and commonwealth. So, though Josiah were slain by idolaters, by Pharaoh and his chariots, yet ho died in peace comparatively with a worse state of life. For though he died a bloody death by the hands of his enemies, yet he died in peace, because he was prevented by death from seeing that which was worse than death. For God may reserve a man in this life to worse miseries than death itself.