is a pilgrimage vnto death Giue me a possession of buriall with you here is the home of pilgrimes and the house of death Then Sarah died Thence obserue the generall condition of mankinde euen that which the Apostle hath confirmed * Heb. 9. It is appointed vnto men that they shal once die And Abraham came to mourne and weepe for her thence obserue that naturall affection towards the dead is commendable in all Then Abraham said I am a stranger and a forrenner among you Thence obserue that all men are but strangers and pilgrims here on earth Giue me a possession of buriall with you Thence obserue that the dead are to be honoured with buriall and a graue That all men must once die that naturall affection towardes the dead is commendable in all that all are but pilgrims and strangers here on earth that all after death are to be honoured with buriall a graue are the foure sad seuerall subiects of my ensuing sad discourse which whiles I applie to this sad spectacle applie you your hearts to sorrow your eyes to teares if not for her that is dead and gone for she is blest and resteth from her labours yet for your owne sinnes which will cause you will you nill you God knowes how soone looke you how well to follow after her we will by Gods assistance and your much desired patience trauish the same ground we haue began to tread tracing the steppes and following the method in the selfe same order we haue propounded it Then Sarah died Was Sarah the first that died was not mother Eue with her daughters and her daughters daughters dead long before if dead and why not mentioned what was rare and singular in Sarahs death that shee alone aboue all other women aboue Eue her selfe should deserue to haue the first memoriall then Sarah died surelie I know no other reason but this that as Abraham was the father so Sarah was the mother of the faithfull and therefore the holie Ghost vouchsafeth vnto her that which he denied to other women before her an honourable mention both of her age how long she liued and of the tyme of her death when shee died when Sarah was an hundreth twentie and seuen yeeres olde so long liued she then Sarah died Sarah though the mother of the faithfull though a holy and religious matrone though a Saint of God yet then Sarah died Whence we obserue the generall condition of mankinde It is appointed vnto men that they shall once die all must drinke of Sarahs cup the cup is full of one and the same liquour the liquour is drawne from one and the same fountaine the fountaine it selfe is poisned and if the fountaine be vncleane the streames will be troubled too if the root be cankred the branches will wither also if the head be diseased the members will be distempered too Now the head the roote the fountaine as of Sarah so of all mankinde was father Adam as therefore Adam by rushing against the law like a pitcher that dasheth against the wall sinned not onlie in his owne person but in his humane nature not onlie in himselfe but in his descent so he purchased the punishment of sinne which is death not onlie vnto himselfe vnto his owne person but vnto others vnto his humane nature of which we all partake For as by one man saith the Apostle by one Adam and one Eue two in sex but one in nature one in mariage one in sinning the woman seduced by the Serpent the man induced by the woman sinne entered into the world and death by sinne so by the sinne of one man death went ouer all men in whom all men had sinned * Rom. 5.12 But how did sinne enter by one into the world not by propagation of kinde onlie as Socinus the hereticke auerreth but by participation of the fault also and by imputation of the guilt And how did death enter by sinne euen as an effect that followeth yts cause or as a shadowe that accompanieth a bodie in the sunne And how went death ouer all as a plague grassantis in domo depopulating the citie or a house where it entereth or like an enemie pervagantis vastantis sternentis raging ranging destroying all that he meets with or like a hidden poyson that diffuseth it's venome vnto euery member and penetrateth vnto all and euerie part not onlie vnto a few sicke weaklings and poore staruelings but generallie vnto all high and lowe rich and poore bond and free of what age sex condition degree soeuer all men and women young and old great and litle strong and weake are subiect to deaths stroke whence the poet cryeth out Heu mortem invisam quaesola vltricibus armis Elatos fraenas animos communia toti Genti sceptra tenens aeternaque faedera seruans Quae magnos parvosque teris quae fortibus aequas Imbelles populisque duces seniumque iuventae Maphaeus True it is indeed that which Saint Austen taught long agoe God at first created man as a meane betweene Angels and beasts that if he obeyed the Lord his true creatour and kept his hestes he might be transported to the Angels societie but if he became peruerse in will and offended the Lord his God then that he might be cast vnto death like a bruit beast And to this end he placed him in the garden of Eden the paradise of God stored with matchlesse varietie of whatsoeuer delightes heart could desire especiallie garnished begnets hacaim with the tree of life and begnets haddagneth the tree of knowledge which two trees he appointed him for two Sacraments by the tree of life mystically importing that if he continued his obedience he should surely enioy life neuer feele nor feare hunger thirst sickenes age or death by the tree of knowledge that if he transgressed the commandement ipso facto In the very act * Gen. 2. moth tamuth dyinge dye he should most certainlie die or he should die a double death the death of the body the death of the soule which accordingly happened as had beene threatned for in the same houre he began to eate he began to die not onelie a spirituall death which is a seperation of man from God who is the life of man and the length of * Deut. 30. dayes vnto which and vnto which onlie the hereticke Socinus restraineth it conceating the death of the bodie to be a sequele not of sinne but of nature euen of of nature vncorrupted so that the body should haue died though man had neuer sinned but also and not onelie as Ambrose erroneouslie thinketh a corporall death which is the dissolution of nature and the soules last farewell vntill the generall resurrection vnto the bodie which actuall dissolution though instantlie it followed not yet was to be seared euerie moment for as in ciuill iudgements Iuridicall proceedings among men a man condemned to death though after his condemnation he be committed vnto the Iaylour by him cast
againe into the dungeon and there linger for a long time a dying life yet in common esteeme he is rather reckoned among the dead then the liuing and we are wount to say of him sentence is past he is a dead man In the same manner Adam from the verie day and houre he receiued his sentence of mortalitie gnaphar attah vel gnaphar thashubh earth thou art and into the earth thou shalt returne though after this the line of his life were long extended yet the nature of his life was but a death because he was dead in doome for he that makes himselfe lyable vnto punishment is vnder punishment si non re tamen sententia if not in deed yet in doome And in this respect saieth Saint Ambrose Adam from the verie act of his eating the forbidden fruite may be rightly saied to haue died instantlie because he neuer after liued one day houre or moment wherein he was not obnoxius vnto death we commonlie say of them that haue suckt in some strong and violent poyson actum est he is a dead man because though as yet he breath yet stay a little and loe he is stone dead So may we say of Adam and as of Adam so of euerie sonne of Adam who haue all sinned in the sinne of Adam hic mortuus est he is a dead man because though as yet he liue yet hauing dranke his deadlie bane he must surelie die For euer since the sinne of Adam as soone as man beginnes to liue hee begins a perpetuall iourney vnto death And there is none saieth Saint Austen but is neerer death at the yeeres ende then he was at the beginning to morrow then to day to day then yesterday by and by then iust now and now then a litle before each part of time if time haue partes that we passe cuts of so much from our life and the remainder still decreaseth Austen in Psal 127. veniente pueritia saith Saint Austen moritur infantia veniente adolescencia moritur pueritia veniente iuventute moritur adolescentia veniente senectute moritur iuventus veniente morte moritur omnis aetas when childhood commeth on infancie dieth when adolescencie commeth childhood dieth when youth commeth adolescencie dieth when olde age commeth youth dieth when death commeth all and euery age dieth so that looke how many degrees of ages we desire to liue so manie degrees of death we desire to die aske an olde man where is his infancie where is his childehood where is his adoloscencie where is his youth shal he not say true if he answere alas all these are dead and gone what speake I of ages euerie yeere moneth day houre of our life that we haue liued is dead to vs and we are dead with them what therefore else is our whole life but a long death what is euery day therof but as * Lib. 1. Epist 5. Petrarch saieth a degree vnto death what is euerie moment therof but a motion vnto death whence it is that * In registro Gregorie compares the life of man vnto a Saylour in a shippe for as he that sayleth whether he stand or sit or lie or walke is alwayes wafted onwards by the motion of the shippe so it is with vs whether we wake or whether we sleepe whether we walke or whether we talke whether we sit or whether we lie whether we will or whether we nill by times moments we are caried forewardes vnto our ende and as * Lib. 3. Epist 24. Seneca saieth quo tidie morimur we die euery day for euery day we loose part of our life tunc quoque cum crescimus vita decrescit and our life euen then decreaseth when it increaseth Paralel with that of * Cap. 2. lib. Solil Saint Austen vita mea quātò magis crescit tanto magis decrescit quanto magis procedit tanto magis ad mortē accedit my life the more it increaseth the more it decreaseth the more it is lengthened the more it is shortned and the longer I liue the nearer I approach vnto death For all our life indeede is but a liuing death or to make the best of it it is no better then a continuall passage vnto death wherein one can neither stay nor slake his pace but all runne in one and the same manner with one and the same speede for the short liuer runneth his race no faster then hee that liueth long both runne alike both make speede alike the difference is the first hath not so farre to runne as the later It is one thing to runne further another to runne faster he that liues long runneth further but not a moment faster euerie man hasteneth vnto death alike though one haue a lesser way to goe then the other And hence it is that though all men make equall hast yet all haue not the same arriuall vnto death but some in the morning others in the noontide others in the euening of their age yet all in some one houre or other For howsoeuer there may be some difference of tyme yet there is no vncertaintie of the ende but sooner or later it is certaine all shall come to an end Iob. 30.23 I know assuredly saith holy Iob thou wilt bring me vnto death which is the house appointed for all the liuing as a hauen for all shipping It may be when a ship is come to the mouth of the hauen a blast driueth it backe againe but thither it will arriue at the last so must wee all of vs at the gates of death Omnes saith the Poet vna manet mors calcanda semel via laethi Death is the end of al and once the way of death is to bee troad of all For as all starres moue from the East to the West and all the riuers runne into one Sea so all men trauel vnto one home the house of death which therefore the * 1. King 2 Iosh 23.14 Prophet in a prouerbiall manner calleth the way of all the earth And as all trees haue their death either they fall through the tempests of windes or rend in sunder through the violence of thunder or wither away through the length of time Isa 51.6 so all on earth are mortall All flesh saith the Prophet waxeth old as a garment a garment whether it bee worne or whether it lie folded in a chest perisheth at length if it bee not worne it will soone bee motheaten if worne it will soone into ragges And as the leaues on a thicke tree some fal and some grow so is the generation of flesh and bloud one is borne and another dieth which the Heathen Poet well saw Homer though hee himselfe were blind in that verse of his which Pyrrhus Eleensis aboue all other verses so much commended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tale genus est hominum quale est foliorū such is the generation of men as of leafes so one perisheth commeth to his end and another riseth
vp in his place And as the leafe buddeth springeth florisheth waxeth old and withereth away so man is borne groweth florisheth waxeth old and vanisheth away and as many leafes are nipped in the bud so many men are cut of in their youth tale quidem genus est hominum quale est foliorum So then such as a leafe is such is a man there is no leafe but at length withereth and there is no man but at length dyeth the wind bloweth and the leafe fadeth death with his pestiferous breath approacheth and man dieth Who can stopp the wind that it blowe not who can hinder death that it come not What one writeth wittilie of the Grammarian is true of euerie sonne of Adam that being able to decline all other nounes in euerie case could decline death in no case there was neuer Oratour so eloquent that could perswade death to spare him neuer Gibber so mightie nor monarch so potent that could withstand him Nerus the faire Therscites the foule Selym the cruell Solyman the magnificent Crassus the rich Irus the poore Damaetas the peasant Agamemnon the Prince all fall downe at deaths feet if he command we must away no teares no praiers no threatnings no intreatings will serue the turne so stiffe so dease so inexorable is death There are meanes to tame the most fierce and sauage beasts meanes to breake the hard marble and to mollifie the Adamant but not any one thing to mittigate deaths rage Resistitur saith Saint Austen ignibus vndis ferro resistitur regibus resistitur Imperijs * Aug. Psa 121. venit vna mors quis ei resistit Fire water the sword may bee resisted and Kings and Kingdomes may be resisted but when death commeth who can resist it non miseretur inopum saith * Ber. de conu cler Saint Bernard non reueretur diuitas Death pitieth not the poore regardeth not the rich feareth not the mightie spareth not any It is in mans power indeed to say vnto death Polydor. as sometime King Canutus said vnto the Sea when it beganne to flow Sea I command thee that thou touch not my feet but his command was bootlesse for he had no sooner spake the word but the surging waue dashed him So may man say vnto death when it approcheth Death I command thee not to come neere me but no force death will strike him and no more power hath man to keepe backe death that it strike not then the mightiest King on earth to keepe backe the Sea that it dash not The Sea will haue his fluxe and death will haue his course antiquum obtinent they both keepe their old wont since the first diuision of waters the Sea hath beene accustomed to ebbe and flow who hath euer hindred it and since the first corruption of nature death hath been accustomed to slay and destroy who hath resisted it Other customes haue and may be abolished a King may command and it is done but what Monarch so absolute what Emperour so potent that could abrogate in his dominions this custome of dying It was a custome among the Carthaginians to sacrifice humane flesh but this custome is abolished It was a custome also among the Indians to eat mans flesh but this custome is abolished too many other inhumane and vnnaturall customes in the world haue beene but they are or may be abolished But this custome of dying there was neuer yet any Prince seene read or heard of that could abolish For this condition which the Wise-man saith * Eccl. 14. is the condition of all times remaineth still Thou shalt die the death no man no meanes can abolish it No not length of dayes nor wisedome nor riches nor honour nor beautie nor strength no not that excellent grace and gift of holinesse and pietie The Antient Fathers and Patriarches before the floud liued very long some 700. some 800. some 900. yeeres and more and yet at length of all and euery one the conclusion is he died Salomon was a wise King the wisest that euer was hee knew the nature of all simples from the very Hysope to the Cedar and therefore if any surely hee aboue others could haue preserued himselfe from death and yet of him it is said in the end he died Sampson was indued with extraordinary strength at one time hee slew a thousand with the iaw bone of an Asse and yet hee dyed Dauid was a man after Gods owne heart and yet he died Moses saw God face to face and yet hee died The Prophets were indued with a great measure of sanctification yet the Prophet * Zach. 1.5 Zachary ioines them all together in one state of mortality your Fathers where are they and do the Prophets liue for euer What say I the Prophets Christ Iesus himselfe the Sonne of God the onely sonne the Sonne in whom hee was well pleased more wise then Salomon more mightie then Samson more holy then Dauid and all the Prophets though hee knew no sinne in himselfe yet for taking on him the burthen of our sinnes became subiect to the same condition of mortalitie with vs and hee dyed also And that I goe no further but come home vnto my Text Sara who liued a hundred twenty and seuen yeares and was as the Hebrewes mystically expound the numbers so chast and innocent at twenty yeares old as she was at seuen and so faire at a hundred yeares old as she was at twenty yet neither her wisedome not her beauty nor her chastity could ought auaile her but heere you see the conclusion is Then Sarah died If any shall obiect but Enoch and Elias died not I answere we know not I rather thinke they did and that Elias in his fiery Chariot had his bodie burnt and Enoch who in his yeeres matched the dayes of the sunne 365. was without paine dissolued when God tooke his soule to heauen or if they died not yet as Origen saith the generall is not therefore false because GOD hath dispensed in some particulars though one or two died not yet this is an vniuersall truth of all men to bee receiued and duely pondered It is appointed vnto men that they shall once die And is it indeed * Heb. 9. appointed vnto men that they shall once die Is there but one way for all the earth to goe one doore deaths * 1. Kin. 22 doore for all the liuing to turne into how neerely then doth it concerne vs to bethinke our selues of this way to fit our selues for this iourney and euen in this life to take care for another life a better life eternall life A man that knowes for certaine hee must resigne his dwelling house within a moneth or a weeke or a day is very silly and simple if he take no order for procuring some other habitation * Iob 30.23 that when he is put out of his owne house he may haue another to couer his head in so will it bee with vs who inhabite these