The high esteem which God hath of the death of his saints as it…

2. When their fit time is come, and they are prepared for it: God mercifully taketh order about their dying and makes their Death to be such, as it shall be a full witness of his dearest respect unto them; and hence we may observe a threefold circumstance of the time of the Saints dying; one of which is always accommodable thereunto: God therefore takes them away, either,

2. When their fit time is come, and they are prepared for it: God mercifully taketh order about their dying and makes their Death to be such, as it shall be a full witness of his dearest respect unto them; and hence we may observe a threefold circumstance of the time of the Saints dying; one of which is alwayes accommodable thereunto: God therefore takes them away, either,

1. When they are despised or undervalued in the World: when Men grow weary of them, and their company is a trouble to them; now God will not suffer them to be troubled with them any longer, but sends to fetch them away to a place where they are better thought of, and shall meet with more worthy entertainment. It is Recorded of those Worthies, Heb. 11. 38. That the World was not worthy of them; they were too good for them, and they did not know their Excellency, and therefore thought meanly of them; and now God will not let them enjoy them any longer, he calls them home.

2. When there are evil and calamitous times: hastening upon the place where they live: they are taken away from the wrath to come, Isai. 57. 1. God now takes them off, and this he doth not only to make a way for his wrath, by taking them out of the Gap, where they stood to prevent ruin; but also to free them from those Sorrows and distressing Calamities which else they must needs undergo: this was a mercy promised to tender-hearted Josiah,