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
tooke to burne asunder and the thred flaming to the cloth caught such a suddaine hold of the same and Aqua vitae that before any meanes could bee applied the King in this flame vvas burnt to death I speake nothing of others who haue vntimely perished some by one meanes some by another I conclude all with that saying of * Seneca Eripere vitam nemo non homini potest at nemo mortem mille ad hanc aditus patent What shall I say then doe so manie things vvithin vs so many things vvithout vs so manie things about vs threaten a continuall death vnto vs Miser homo cur te ad mortem non componis cum sis pro certo moriturus Then vvretched man thou art that doest not prepare thy selfe for death seeing thou must certainely die But alas the diuell doth so deafe vs the world doth so blind vs and the sensualitie of the flesh maketh vs so extreamely sencelesse that we neither heare nor see nor feele what is euerie minute likely to befall vs. If wee be young wee feare not death at our backes if old wee looke a squint and see not death before our eyes But hearken O young man and learne as the old man can not liue long so the young man may die quickly certaine it is thou shalt die vncertaine when beause thou shouldest alwaies liue readie to die But if it were so that in thy youth thou hadst a lease of thy life till age granted by the Father of heauen ratified by his Sonne and sealed vnto thee by the whole Trinitie then perchance there might be some pretence of thy carelessenesse But now seeing euery houre may be the last vnto thee since euerie moment may dissolue this earthly Tabernacle since a thousand chances may at all times take thee vnawares and bereaue thee of thy soule who but more then mad would not consider of his end and follow the Prophet Esaies counsell to seeke the Lord in time and Salomons precept to learne wisedome in his youth In like manner the olde man hee will not thinke of death vntill the time of his death thinking to become a sudden Saint who hath all his life time liued a wicked worldling But hearken thou old man and learne by the rich man in the Gospell so he had also cast vp his rest hee was setled rich and ioyfull and deferred to bee godly till he saw occasion but what saith the Spirit of God O foole this night shall they take thy soule from thee this night in middest of thy ioylitie in the securitie of thy sleepe suddenly vnwittingly shalt thou die O miserable case saith Saint Austen when suddenly the senses faile the bodie languisheth death readie to burst in sunder the heart strings the conscience heauie with sinne the diuell readie to entertaine thee Who in this plight would not value a minute of repentance to a Monarchy of wealth and yet we banish away daies and moneths and yeeres not regarding the casualtie in the end I vvish therefore that old men as they haue a priuiledge of yeeres so also they had the priuiledge of foresight heerein that as they see their bodies bending towardes the earth so they learne to send their soules towards heauen and if they should not vvish for their dissolution with Paul yet they should wait all the daies of their life for their changing with Iob. Finally all men almost both young and olde rich and poore of all fashions and of all degrees put off this consideraon of death and neuer thinke or prepare to die till they finde and feele they can no longer liue But O let me beseech you all that heere mee this day to exempt your selues from this supine and oxe like securitie You know for certaine you must die you are euerie moment subiect vnto death a thousand thousand chances maie euerie daie bereaue you of your life why then esteeme of euerie present daie as the daie of your death and make such conscience of all your waies words and works as if you were presently to giue an account of your life Qui considerat qualiter erit in morte pauidus prouidus erit in operatione He that thinkes alwaies of dying will bee circumspect in his doing Thinke therefore O thinke and bethinke your selues of this and in the depth of these thoughts prepare your selues for death Set your houses yea set your hearts in order call your soules to account turne your selues as * 2. Kin. 20 Ezechias did to the wall that is from the world to God weepe weepe and bewaile your sinnes past keepe a narrow watch ouer your heart for the time to come * Psa 38. praie with Dauid Lord remember not the sinnes of my youth and with Saint Ambrose Lord forgiue me my faults here where I haue sinned for else where I cannot be relieued except I haue my pardon heere It is in vaine to expect the restfull comfort of forgiuenesse heereafter * 2. cor 6.2 Now is the acceptable time as Saint Paul speaketh now is the daie of saluation This world is for thy repentance the other for thy recompence Hic locus luctae ille coronae hoc cunaeorum tempus est illud coronatorum as Saint Chrysostome speaketh This is the place and time of combating that of crowning this of working that of rewarding this for thy mourning that for thy comforting Now God is helping vnto all men seeke yee therefore the * Isa 55. Lord whiles he is neere and post not off till to morrow for you know not what a daie maie bring forth It is certaine death will come but it commeth for the most part like a theefe stealing and creeping without any warning take heede you bee not taken vnawares You see the stroke thereof is vniuersall for if the reuerence of old age could haue discountenanced it Methushaleth had not died If strength of bodie could haue resisted it Sampson had not died If maiestie could haue terrified it if counsel could haue perswaded it if riches could haue bribed it Nor Solomon nor Achitophel nor Diues had died But Methushaleth is dead and Samson is dead and Salomon and Achitophel and Diues are dead and what is it can free a man from death Nay if youth if beautie if vertue if pietie could worke any relent in death from embracing his cruell hands in mortall bloud see where youth where beautie where vertue where pietie lye enshrined whollie now defaced obscured eclipsed and ouershadowed in death O death how irrelenting is thy heart how bloudy are thy hands how vnpartiall is thy stroake how generall is thy arrest oh that the liuing would consider this And let this suffice to be spoken of the vniuersalitie of deaths stroake Then Sara died And Abraham came to mourne for Sarah and to weepe for her Whether Sara died in absence of Abrahā because Abraham is here said to come to mourn for her as the Iewes affirm she did to this end faine that whē Abraham
to grieue what teares should wee powre forth for those that die a spirituall death so * Luke 15. as did the prodigall sonne so as did many of the Corinthians whom * 2. Cor. 12 21. Paul bewailed so as did those pleasure-mungers who though they liued yet as the * Tim. 5.6 Apostle saith were dead So as do too many among vs who neither regard the word of God which is the life of our soules nor our own soules vvhich are the life of our selues Oh that my head vvere full of water and mine eies a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night for this supine foolish and retchlesse securitie * Ecc. 22.12 Seuen dayes saith the Wise-man doe men mourne for him that is dead but the lamentation for the foole and the vngodly should indure all the dayes of their life and why for the dead he is at rest but the life of the foole and the vngodly is vvorse then death Let vs therefore doe that saith Saint Chrysostome for our soules which wee doe for mens bodies let vs bewaile the losse of our saluation and let vs lament the death of our soules for greater is the losse saith Saint Austen of one soule then of a thousand bodies In so much that the vvhole world saith Saint Bernard is not of value enough for the price of one soule But who is more dead saith he then him that carrieth fire in his bosome sin in his soule and neither feeles it nor feares it nor flies from it And such is euery vngodly man for him therefore whether it bee our selues or others vvee are specially to mourne and vveepe And yet in both these there is a golden meane vvhich vvee must warily obserue and keepe to vvit a meane in vveeping for our sinnes and a meane in vveeping for our friends in weeping for our sinnes that wee weepe in faith and not despaire in vveeping for our frends that vvee vveepe in loue and not as without hope Elegant to which purpose are those verses of his vvhosoeuer vvere the author Deflendi sunt mortui sed temperant ius Nam mortui non sunt eandem sed viam Quam cogit omnes ingredi necessitas Praemuniere nobis nos in posterum Idem sequemur ipsos in confortium Communis vita fruemur patriae Which will vs to weepe for the dead but yet to obserue a measure in weeping because dead they are not whom wee call dead but onely gone before vs the way vnto eternall life which wee must follow after The Prophet Abraham kept this measure in weeping for Sarah here for when he had wept and mourned for her i. when hee thought he had wept enough then he arose from the sight of his corps i. hee left weeping for her bodie and tooke care for her buriall hee was not senselesse at her death for hee did that for her which he did not when he was to sacrifice his owne and onely sonne Isaac he wept for her he vvept not for him but he kept a meane in his weeping and therefore he rose vp and vvent away from her wherein hee shewed himselfe not void of affection but obseruant of a moderation and this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is it which the Lord commendeth and it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle condemneth * 1. Thes 4. I would not brethren saith he haue you ignorant concerning them which are asleepe that yee sorrow not euen as other which haue no hope How did other sorrow euen excessiuely vnmeasurably immoderately without meane measure or moderation Some cutting and slashing their faces some renting and tearing their lockes their beards their haire their attire some shauing their heads in token of sorrow so did the * Alex. ab Alex. lib. 3. cap. 7. Egyptians Amorites Milesians and Persians and do not our owne eies witnes the same in the Greekes at euerie solemne funerall how do the silly women dishiuer their golden traces how doe they disfigure their amiable faces vvhat buffets do they giue their gentle breasts what pitifull shriekings what hideous howlings what heart bleeding sobs vvhat bloud-drawing sighs doe they vtter and all for outward manifestation of their inward contristation and this excessiue vnmeafurable immoderate lamentation the Apostle condemneth and good reasons there are why wee should not sorrow beyond a measure whereof the first may bee First Diuina voluntas the diuine vvill vnto vvhich humane vvill must submit and conforme it selfe Now nothing is done vvithout the diuine vvill vvithout it a * Mat. 10. Sparrow falleth not to the ground much lesse a man vvhy then O base man doest thou striue against the pleasure of the most high God * Eccl. 41. vvhy rather saiest thou not vvith Christ Not as I vvill but as thou vvilt my Father Hath a master power of his seruant saith Saint * De fide resur Ambrose to lead him vvhether hee vvill and hath not God ouer man Placeat ergo homini saith the Heathen * In Epist ad Lucullū Seneca quicquid Deo placet therefore let man be pleased with the diuine wil and pleasure and thus resolue vvith himselfe that God alwaies calleth him out of this life when he is at his best if he be good that he turne not euill if euill that he wax not worse Secondly Diuina aequitas diuine right and equity it is reason and equity that what is receiued vpon bare lending should be restored at demanding * Iob. 1. as the holy man Iob confessed It is lawfull for euery one to require his owne now all that we haue our very life and being is not our owne * Psal 100 but Gods he made vs and not we our selues hee may with good equity recall vs when hee pleaseth Wee see how patiently the greatest Basha either in Port or abroad yeeldeth his necke to the Bow-string at the hatmaum and command of his King whether it be right or wrong for why sayth he I am his slaue my life was long agoe at his dispose it is through his clemencie that I liued vntill now And shall wee be lesse obedient vnto our good God whose slaues we are whose call is euer iust Nay rather let vs be thankefull vnto him that he hath lent vs our life so long So was Saint Bernard who after his mourning for his brother Satirus comforts himselfe and breaketh forth into this acknowledgement Ingratus diuinitati esse non possum I may not be vnthankefull to the diuine Maiesty I am rather to reioyce that I had such a brother then to sorrow that I lost him for that was but a gift this was a debt Thirdly Fraterna vtilitas the benefit of the departed for from how many euils is he freed that dyeth in the * Rom. 7. Phil. 1. Apoc. 14. Lord How great the benefit is Christ sheweth where he saith if you * Iohn 14 loued me you would reioyce because I