calling to minde how religiouslie and iustly he had behaued himselfe in the former course of his life and hereby carried awaie a most renowned victorie The 6. reason is the discomfort of conscience in time of sicknes specially at the hour of death for neglect of leading a godly life Furthermore manie in sicknes and great extremitie speciallie at the houre of death are troubled and doe lament for that they haue suffered the former parte of their life to passe a way without doeing any good duties either toward God or their neighbour but all in vaine For oftentimes the season beeing past and death oppressing them their breath is shut vp in horrible despaire whereupon insueth eternall miserie and destruction The doctrine cōcluded vvith an earnest exhortation Fronte capillata pòst est occasio calua Let all persons therefore olde and young men and women of what estate degree qualitie whatsoeuer lay holde vpon fitte time and oecasion remembring what the verie heathē haue sayd that occasion weares a bushe before but is balde behinde so that beeing gone it cannot be layd hold one afterward Oh that christians had wisedome to consider the exceeding goodnes of God who wher as he might haue cut of their life so soon as they were borne he graunteth them longer time and fit opportunitie to prepare themselues for the obteining of euerlasting life and happines Which metcie of God if they lightlie passe ouer they shew themselues most vnthankeful to God and enemies vnto their owne soules And thus much for the reason why the argument of the death and dissolution of man followeth in the last place and now The text diuided into tvvo parts let vs come to the Text it selfe which conteineth two parts 1. A description of death The 2. is the estate of the two generall and principall parts after death The first part of the text vvhat death is Death then is nothing els but a separation of the soule and bodie a sunder or a seuering and diuorce of the soule and bodie This description is not expressed plainlie and in so manie wordes but it is necessarilie concluded from the Text. For if death do separate the soule and bodie as farre one from the other as the heauens are distant from the earth thē doth it follow necessarilie that death is a separation of the soule and bodie Which is also manifest by diuers phrases formes of speach in holie Scripture by which we may by the way clearely see that death is not a small or light punishment of sin Death a great punishment of sinne but great heauie and terrible For is not that a great and mightie Tyrant that doth rend a sunder things that are knit ioyned together with so strong and wonderfull a band as is the bodie with the soule And is not that a heauie fearefull thing that doth part two deare friends one from an other who shuld haue liued in an eternall vnion of ioy and happines had not sinne bene Death iustly terrible to all flesh In regard whereof it is no maruell if all flesh euen the best of Gods children doe tremble and are astonished at the remembrance of death 1. Cor. 15. as being a terrible enemie and a very cruell Tyrant Death commō to all men and the reason vvhy 1. For all haue sinned But whatsoeuer death be it is certainely a state and condition common to all the posteritie and generation of Adam All men must die and none can auoyd the stroke of death For if death be the fruite or effect of sinne as it is most certaine as appeareth Gen. 3. then seeing all men haue sinned partly in Adam partly in themselues it followeth of necessitie that death raigneth and hath dominion ouer all mankinde Rom. 5.12 Which thing may yet be proued and made more cleare First of all from the Scriptures Secondly by continuall experience From the Scriptures two waies 2. It is Gods decree and iust sentence First by the sentence of God pronounced vpon all mankinde 3. God is faith full in executing his sentence as experience confirmeth Againe by the execution of that dreadfull sentence For proofe of the first It appeareth that the Lord gaue charge to Adam in his innocencie that hee should not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and euil threatning that if hee did eate The proofe and amplification of the first and second reason or taste thereof he should die the death But Adam did eate of the tree forbidden and so trespassed against the Commandement and therefore God foorth with gaue sentence in these words Earth thou art and to earth thou shalt returne That is I haue decreed appointed as a punishment for thy sinne that both thy selfe and all thy posteritie conteined in thy loynes shall not only be subiect to eternall misery but also shall suffer a corporal or natural death Wherevpon it followeth that death is most certaine and ineuitable For why all men must of necessitie taste of death it cannot be shunned or auoided And as the sentence it selfe is certaine and vnrepealeable proceeding from the mouth of him that is truth it selfe and vnchangeable so the execution of that sentence is so certaine and infallible that no meanes or prerogatiue can resist or preuaile against it The proofe and amplificatiō of the third reason Neither length of dayes nor wisdome nor riches nor honour nor strength no not that excellent gift of regeneration The auncient Fathers The Patriarks though they liued long yet are long since dead Salomō thogh most wise yet is dead Samson thogh most strong yet he is dead Dauid Moses all the Prophets though most holy in their times are dead and Patriarkes before the flood liued verie long some 700. some 800. some 900. yeares yet it is said of euery one hee died and was gathered to his Fathers Salomon was wise and excelled all Kings before him and since his time in riches glory Sampson was endued with extraordinary strēgth Dauid was a man after Gods owne heart Moses sawe God face to face The Prophets were endued with a great measure of sanctification yet the Prophet Zachary ioynes them all together in one state of mortalitie in the first Chap. verse 5. Your fathers where are they and doe the Prophets liue for euer Zach. ◠5 Vpon this ground the Holy Ghost in diuers places of the Scripture affirmeth that man borne of a woman is of short continuance and full of trouble that he shooteth forth as a flower and vanisheth also as a shadow and continueth not That a man can by no meanes redeeme his brother that he may liue still and not see the graue Yea as a thing commonly knowne death in a prouerbiall manner is called the way of all flesh So loude cryeth the holy Scripture that all men are subiect to death But if this voyce were silent yet experience doth speake out the matter so plainly that
the greatest dullard and rude person may vnderstand For to what ende serue so many Funeralls of all sorts All sorts of mē die euery day olde young rich poore noble and base To what ende so many Graues and Sepulchers in the places of buriall so many drie bones cast out of the Graues but to set forth visiblie before our eyes the mortall estate of mankinde Whereby is discouered and laide open the extreame blindnes and dulnesse of the most part For although they be conuinced both by the testimony of God and nature that all men must die yet reape they little or no benefite by it The greater more grosse is the sinne of all that profit not by the cōsideration of death in the care of a godly life For some lye rocked so fast a sleepe in securitie and in the pleasures of this worlde that they thinke no more of death then the bruite beast that is without vnderstanding Other can discourse finely of death to make shew of their eloquence and learning and yet will not by serious meditation applie the remembrance of death to their hearts Finally verie many doe quake and tremble at death who yet for all that vse no meanes that they may die well I will not at this time recite the causes and reasons hereof which are diuers and manifold only I may conclude that all these sorts are in a miserable case The duties of all Christians in respect of their mortalitie For auoyding whereof we must take a cleane contrary course which standeth herein that we do seriously meditate of death and as it were continually set it before our eyes and that not for discourse or speculation but for more weigntie profitable endes 1. We are to vvithdravv our hearts from all inordinat loue of this vvorld and the transitory thinges thereof And first of all to the end we may withdraw and weane our hearts from too much delight in this naturall life and in the things that belong therevnto And there is great reason thereof For seeing that both life and the things of this world are fraile transitorie and vncertaine true felicitie cannot consist in them How much better then were it for men by the consideration hereof to set their affections not on things belowe but vpon things that are aboue and to laie vp their treasure in heauen where neither rust nor moath can consume nor theeues breake through and steale 2. We are to humble our selues vnder the mightie hand of God and his fearefull sentence of death against sinne The second ende is to beate downe the pride and insolencie of men whereby they are puffed vp as though they were Gods immortall heere vpon earth From which conceipt as from a cursed sinke doe flowe blasphemies against God outrages doe flowe blasphemies against God outrages iniuries and violences against men yea a thousand mischiefes and abhominations whereat the Sunne in heauen doth as it were stand amazed For which cause the hand of the Lord doth strike the world with infinite calamities and iudgements 3. We are to lead our liues in godlines vse all good meanes there of that we may die with comfort The last and speciall ende is that men may be induced to apply their hearts vnto wisedome that is that by diligent and carefull vsing the holie and good meanes which God hath set vp in the church as the ministery of the word and Sacraments c. they may thereby attaine such a measure of faith repentance and holines that they may not tremble at the terrible face of death but knowing and beeing perswaded that his sting is pulled out and his weapons broken by the vertue of the death of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ they may entertaine him as a friende and yeeld to him as to a Porter or Harbinger appointed by GOD to make a waye for all the faithfull vnto the place of euerlasting happinesse Againe that they may not die in trouble or vexation of conscience but in such a sweete tranquillitie of minde that they may with Simeon say Lorde now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace Luc. 2.29 Finallie that they may not see the mouth of hell gaping to deuoure and swallow them vp but by the eies of faith behold with Stephen the heauens open and the Lord Iesus Christ standing at the right hand of God his Father readie to receiue their soules It is a speciall grace of God which teacheth men to make the former good vses frō the consideration of our mortalitie We see here the singular fruits that growe from the seriours meditation of death and the due preparation for it Which yet is not a worke of nature but proceedeth from God and his holie spirit without whose vertue and operation nothing be it neuer so cleare neuer so great and forcible can work effectuallie in the hearts so great and forcible can work effectuallie in the hearts of men Which thing was so well knowne to Moses that in the 90. Psal he crieth out And therefore wee ought to praye earnestly to God for so speciall a grace Psal 90.12 Teach vs O Lorde so to nomber our dayes that we may applie our hearts vnto wisedome Which example euery one of vs are to follow not onely because it is recorded in Scripture but because that sodaine and vnprouided for death doth bring so manie euills with it to wit such feare and trembling such horror anguish despaire that manie wish at the first assault thereof that they had neuer beene borne nor seene the light of the sunne as we haue had too manie examples in these our dayes Well therefore did these two worshipfull persons who long before their death and dissolution The godlie couple late departed were notable examples right worthie our imitation herein had not onely the name of death and of the ende of this life often in their mouthes but by all good meanes fitted themselues for the comming of the Lord. Which manie neglecting death commeth sodenlie vppon them before they can prepare oyle for their lamps and so are they shut out of the Tabernacles of eternall life happines and cast down into an estate most miserable and to be trembed at of all Christians And thus much of death with the certaintie and vniuersalitie thereof The second part of the Text. Now let vs come to the second pointe of the Text namely of the estate of the generall and principall parts of man after death The parts are two The estate of man after death both in bodie and soule The Soule and The Bodie Of which the holie Ghost speaketh seuerallie and distinctlie But because the bodie is more visible and best knowne The estate of the bodie The originall of the bodie is from the earth And this consideration tēdeth very aptlie to the illustration folowing after both in and by death Gen. 2.7 hee beginneth first with that which he describeth two wayes First in
stinking sauour and in the ende is wholie turned into dust Which is the estate of all men yea euen of Dauid himselfe the bodie of our Lord Iesus Christ onely excepted which by a speciall prerogatiue sawe no corruption at all The vses to be made of the former consideratiōs of the bodies estate in by death Which beeing so what doe young gallantes meane both men women so to paint their faces and frownce their haire as they vse to doe seeing that baldnes shall couer their heads and their visages shall become so pale and fearefull that the strongest hearted yea they themselues if they could possiblie discerne it should not be able to beare the view thereof but they must needes quake tremble and abhorre themselues And what reason haue the Epicures delicates and belly-gods of the world excessiuelie to pamper and stuffe their bodies with the most daintie meates and drinks seeing they must of necessitie rot putrifie and consume to dust ashes And to what purpose doe a great manie carrie about them continuallie such excesse of sweete sauours and perfumes for as much as their carkasses are within a while after to cast forth such an horrible and contagious smell as the least part whereof were able to infect a whole citie or countrie All which expences therefore are but superfluous vanitie and lost labour Neuerthelesse the bodies of those that haue led a godlie life shall not continue alwayes in this senselesse deformed and abased estate But heere some man may demaund whether the bodies of the dead shall alwayes remaine in this estate without change and restitution which if it be so it seemeth that the soule is euill matched with such a bodie that there is no difference betweene the state of the bodies of bruite beasts and the estate of men who are by the dignitie of creation their Lords and Superiours The answere heerevnto is that the dead bodies of men shall be restored by the last and finall resurrection For by the vertue power spirit of our Lord Iesus Christ whereby his owne bodie was quickened and raised vp from the dead shall the bodyes of all the faithfull first of all bee quickened and raised vp their soules restored to them againe therewithall the qualities of their bodies shal bee changed from their former worse The bodies of the faithfull shall bee raised from death be made thenc forth glorious immortall to a better renewed estate to wit from mortall to immortall frō corruption to incorruption from earthly to heauenly frō weake to strong from base to glorious For why their bodies shal be conformed like to the glorious bodie of of our Lord Iesus Christ so that the iust shall shine as the sunne in the kingdome of their Father All which is very largely handled 1. Thes 4. 1. Cor. 15. Phil. 3.21 Mat. 13.43 and set forth 1. Thess 4. 1. Cor. 15. Phil. 3.21 Mat. 13.43 Wherein it appeareth that whatsoeuer wound or losse the bodie receiueth by death the same is healed and restored againe by the resurrection of the dead And therefore as the Scripture doth often make mention of the resurrection of the deade and all the faithfull doe earnestlie wish and longe after it Three vses to be made from the doctrine of the resurrectiō our beliefe in that respect so I beseech you let our meditations and thoughts be continually occupied about it For why the true knowledge and remembrance of it doth serue for many good and comfortable vses 1. we are more willing to die our selues whē the time appointed is cō◠First of all it causeth a man willingly to put off his earthly Tabernacle seeing hee shall resume and be clad with another from heauen farre more excellent and glorious 2. we haue cōfort in the death burial of our godly friends who dy before vs. Again it ministreth comfort to them that bestow and lay vp the dead bodies of their friends in the graues for why they know they doe not yeeld or deliuer them vp to destruction but lay them vp as it were in soft beds to the end that they may sleepe quietly till they be awaked by the sound of the last Trumpet 3 It stirreth vs vp to the care of a godly life that so we may haue comfort in death Finally if men thinke earnestly of the last resurrection it cannot but stir them vp so to liue and behaue thē selues in this life that they may haue a ioyfull and blessed resurrection For whie all shall not be raised vp to glorie and happines but many to shame and eternal confusion as appeareth Ioh. 5.29 Dan. 12.2 5. Ioh. 29 12. Dan. 2. All which being true and vndoubted let vs hold and maintaine the true doctrine of the resurrection The former doctrine concluded with a louing mild exhortation and continuallie set it before our eies to the end that wee may thereby stirre vp our selues to walke on and continue in such a holy conuersation that at the second cōming of Iesus Christ the Lord of the resurrection wee may not desire the mountains hills to fall vpon vs The estate of the soule after the death of the bodie but rather lift vp our heads and looke for the full accomplishment of our redemption Thus much of the state of the bodie after death It returneth to God Now followeth likewise the estate of the soule after death in these wordes The soule of man is immortall as it is proued by many reasons And all these make way verie profitably to the description of the estate of the soule folowing after The spirit returneth to him that gaue it From whence wee first obserue that the soule of man is not the naturall spirits of the bodie nor fire and heate nor breath vapor nor any accidētal qualitie which perisheth with death as wee see in bruite beastes but a spirituall immortal substance which remaineth after death 1 Because it vanisheth not but goeth to God For how can a vapor or rather that which is nothing remoue from earth to heauen Yea for further confirmation when our Sauiour saith to the repentant Thiefe Luc. 23.43 This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise that is in euerlasting ioy happines he could not possiblie meane the bodie for that was taken downe from the gibbet and laid in the earth but he must needes meane the soule diuorced and seuered from the bodie 2. Because the seruāts of God desier to haue their Soules loosened from the bodie In like manner the Apostle Paule desired to bee dissolued and to be with Christ he knew very well that his body should returne anone after to the dust and therefore desireth to be present with Christ not in bodie but in soule 3 Because they doe with comfort commend them to God when they dy Psal 31.5 Luke 23.46 Act. 7.59 Furthermore with what conscience and truth could the
holy seruants of God say Father into thine hand I commend my spirit if the soule did immediatly after death perish and vanish into the aire Lastly how is it possible that empty aire and a thing without essence should be endued with such affections 4 Because they are indued with pure and earnest affections after that they are sundred from the bodie as that in heauen and eternall glory they should wish desire the accomplishment perfect felicity of all the elect as the Euangelist doth attribute to the soules of the seruants of God which are departed in the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ 5 The immortalitie of the soule hath many famous testimonies from many of the heathen Wherevpon it followeth that the soule of man is an immortall substance Which was a thing well known also to the heathen by the light of nature whose iudgment and sentences it weare an easie matter here to recite but that the holy Scriptures are so cleare and sufficient in the point as in all other that he which will not credit them will not beleeue nor be perswaded though one should rise again from the dead And yet some of the sayings of heathen men are here set down to the view of those that haue a mind to see them First of Plato of whose disputation of the immortalitie of the soule this is the summe Psuche ara athanatos c. The soule thē is immortal cānot perish c Phocylides Psuchaigar mimnousi acerioi c. The soules remaine in corruptible or immortall c. Cyrus apud Xenophōt in his Oration to his children a little before his death Plutarch citeth an Oracle for this purpose vttered to one Corax Naxus in these words Ouc hosionesti tes psuches catagnonai thanaton It is a wicked thing to acknowledge any death of the soule See also the disputation of Tullie in the first booke of his Tuscul questions Hetherto doe pertaine the fancies of Hell of the Elysian fields c. described in Homer Virgill Hether the honourable and carefull burials of the deade the imagined walking of Ghostes or spirits after death such like to make some vse of them against all prophane and hellish Atheists that liuing vnder the Gospell go not yet so far in this point as they did nay come verie far short of them to their great shame From all which reasons it may be concluded that in vaine doe the Atheists whereof we haue too manie examples puffe out a little warme breath in scorne and derision saying there goeth my soule he being therein fowlie deceiued and sheweth himselfe vtterlie impudēt and shamelesse It were a blessed thing for thee oh thou Atheist if thou wert in the estate of a bruit beast But alas thou art indued with an immortall soule which can neuer die wherof thou art euen convinced in thy selfe but that the diuell hath blinded thine eyes and strongly possessed thy heart For what is the reason that thou doest so tremble at death and art so loth to die Is it because this life is a paradise full of all pleasure and happines to thee that cannot be for rather it is a Sea fraught and tossed vp and down with such extreame miseries woes and calamities which doe oftentimes cause thee to grone and complaine And therefore the cause is the guilt and accusation of an euill conscience from which thou doest conclude that immediatly after death thou shalt suffer euerlasting torments and confusiō in hel fire which doth plainely proue to thy shamelesse face that a principall part of thee doth still remaine after death and that is thy soule The estate of the soule of man after the departure frō the bodie But to omit these graceles Caitifs let vs in thesecond place consider what becomes of the soule after death For answer herevnto it doth not wander vp and downe from place to place nor yet remaineth in a third place as Papists Pagans haue dreamed without warrant of gods word but presently as our text saith it returneth vnto God that gaue it Gen. 2. or created it as appeareth Genes 2. which speach if it be not warily vnderstoode doth first of all seeme to fauour the opinion of them that affirme that not one of them which God hath created shal be condemned And secōdly profane Epicures and vngodlie persons will thereof conclude that they may liue as they list For howsoeuer they tumble and wallow in all manner of sinne and abhominations yet all is verie well For whie as they imagine after death their soules and spirits shall enioye the presence and glorie of God for euer and euer insomuch as they returne to God The estate of the soules of the godlie and wicked are exceeding differing yea cleane cōtrary thogh the soules of all doe goe vnto God For preuenting and answering of both which sorts wee are to vnderstand that in this place the holie Ghost meaneth not that the soules of all men without exception shal be saued or enioy the mercifull presence of God for euer but that the soules of euerie one shall immediately after death appeare before God their creator Iudge who will reward thē according to that they haue done in the bodie whether it be good or euill 2. Cor. 5. For confirmation wherof it is said Heb. 9.27 that after death cōmeth iudgement And the truth thereof we see Luc 16. in poore Lazarus and the rich glotton Luc. 16.22.23 The soules of the godlie are blessed happie for euer after this life ended So that the soules of them that that haue beleeued in the Lord Iesus Christ and obeyed the will of his heauenlie Father doe presentlie meete with the Lord Iesus in Paradise are gathered into the bosom of Abraham doe enioy vnspeakeable happines and glorie But contrariwise the soules of such infidells as haue contemned Christ and his Gospel The soules of the wicked are for euer most accursed and miserable and haue shewed themselues disobedient they doe forth with without stay passe into a place of torments where the worme neuer dieth their fire neuer goeth out yea where they liue in anguish paine and affliction till the bodie for the further increase of their miserie be restored to the soule againe The doctrine is doubled to shevve the certaintie and to cause the more deep impression in the hearers From whence it followeth that as the estate of infidels is most cursed and fearefull so is the estate of those that die in the Lord most blessed happie For why saith the Spirit they rest from their labours their works follow them all teares shal be wiped from their eyes being not onely deliuered from all matter of griefe sorrowe heauinesse and calamitie but also doe enioy at the right hand of God pleasures for euermore to wit they are partakers of such comfort peace and felicitie as the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard neither hath
frō the same last reason namelie that wee be carefull to spēd our life in well dooing are fraile and transitorie but for another more weightie and principall ende namelie to premonish all men to giue themselues in their life time to well dooing seeing that after this life is finished a man can performe nothing either for his owne comforte or for the benefite of other Which is a most infallible truth The reason why such vse is to be made as is cleare and manifest both by naturall reason experience as also by the light of the word of God which is the principall iudge and determiner of all things The first reason is from experience and the light of nature And for the first in death we all know that the instruments and faculties of the bodie cunning and skill matter and opportunitie doe all perish together Wherevppon it followeth that all actions and duties either acceptable to God or profitable to man doe vtterly cease and haue an ende The second reason is taken from the word of God But for a second more cleare certaine proofe the Prophet Dauid Psalm 6. vers 5. saith In death and the graue is no remembrance of God That worthie King Ezechias pleading with God Psal 6. vers 5. for longer continuance of life vttereth these words Esa 38.18 The graue cannot confesse thee death cannot praise thee they that goe down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth but the liuing the liuing hee shall confesse thee as I doe this day To this purpose Iob affirmeth Iob. 3.17.18 that In the grane all sortes doe rest and cease from their labour and duties wherein the liuing are exercised and toyled We will therefore conclude with the 9. Chapter and 10. vers of this booke Eccles 9.10 where the Prophet exhorteth all mē in these words All that thine band shall finde to doe doe it with all thy power for there is neither worke nor inuention nor knowledge nor wisedome in the graue whether thou goest Exhortatiōs are often set down in the word of God to stirre vs vp to make the vse aboue mentioned frō the consideration of our mortalitie Ioh. 12.35 In regard hereof the holie Ghost in sundry places doeth exhort vs that wee should in our life time when fit occasion is offered performe all good duties which are commanded in the word of God As for example our Sauiour Iesus Christ to this purpose saith vnto the people Iohn 12.35 ver Whilest it is light take the opportunitie offered because when the night commeth no man can worke The Apostle Paul in the 6. 2. Cor. 6.2 Chap. of the 2. to the Corinthians 2. ver saith Behold now the accepted time beholde now the day of saluation But yet more plainlie the same Apostle exhorteth while wee haue time let vs doe good to all Galat. 6.10 that is while we haue time opportunitie which onely consisteth and remaineth in this life let vs performe duties for when opportunitie is once gone past it can no more be called againe then the winde or lightening when they are passed from one parte of the heauen to the other So that it appeareth by all these testimonies that it is the will of God that whilest men liue and before their life is expired by death they should bend thēselues with āll their strength while time is graunted to them to omit no Christian dutie which they owe vnto Almightie God and vnto their brethren Wherevnto because wee are negligent vntoward as vnto all other duties and courses which the Lord in his singular wisedome hath appointed therefore it is good to consider certaine reasons Other reasons to the same ende whereby wee may be perswaded and forced therevnto 1. From the example of the bruite creatures which ale diligent in their kinde And first of all wee will beginne with brutish vnreasonable creatures as the Pismire the Storke the Crane and the Swallowe whose nature and propertie is as the Scripture reporteth to discerne the fit seasons to prouide for their owne commoditie and benefite from those times wherein they cannot prouide and therefore take the opportunitie of the first before the latter commeth And for proofe hereof Pro. 6. Chapt. 8. vers Pro. 6.8 the holie Ghost speaking of the Pismire saith that shee hauing no guide gouernour nor ruler prepareth her meate in sommer and gathereth her foode in haruest And the Prophet Ieremy 8. Chap. 7. vers saith Ier. 8 7. Euen the Storke in the aire knoweth her ap pointed times the Turtle the Crane the Swallow obserue the time of their comming And to those are all men sent to learne this lesson that fit opportunitie is to be taken when it is offered least it be afterward denyed The 2. reason from the diligence of men in their worldly affaites But if they be ashamed to learne of such vile and base Schoole masters as indeed they haue cause to be ashamed then let them learne of Mariners husband-men and men of all trades who lest they should be preuented doe take fit occasion and opportunitie to performe all actions both by sea and by land which may make for their worsdly gaine and benefite Much more then should christians do the same for the obteining of heauenly and diuine things The 3. reason is the singular fruit of a good life which followeth after death Besides this it is most certaine that as men haue liued so shall they die If they haue done no good nor brought forth christian fruites in their life time death shall come vpon them sodenlie in that estate The 4. is the most wofull euent that follovveth vpon a vvicked life and as a mightie and fearefull axe or instrument of the wrath of God shall cut them downe as fruitlesse trees And all to the end that they may be cast into vnquenchable fire where is no place of doing but of suffering importable torments except to weepe howle and gnash the teeth be dooing A matter plaine and cleare in the rich glotton Luk. 16. Where it is euident that after hee had spent his time not in wel-doing but in pride excesse and pampering his bellie sodenlie he died and was cast into the place of tormēts wher he could neither prouide for himselfe and his owne deliuerance nor for the benefite of his friends here vpon earth but desireth water to coole his tongue and relateth in what extreame miserie he was continuallie vexed and tormented The 5. reason is the comfort of a godly life euen here in this life There is no greater comfort vnder heauen nor securitie in al desperate temptations of Sathan then the conscience of a life well led as may appeare in the example of Iob in the whole 31. Chap. Wherein it is euident that he armeth himselfe against Sathan and all instruments which laboured to bring him to despaire with no argument so much as by