THE Christians WAY TO HEAVEN OR What He must do to be Saved By a Divine of the Church of England LONDON Printed in the Year MDCC My dear Friends I Here offer to you a plain Sermon in Print that it may stay longer with you than it could do by the Preaching It does contain in short the main Duties of our Holy Religion which we hope to be saved by and which we ought at all Times to have present to our Minds May the good God of Heaven bless it to your Edification as I Pray he may do the rest of the Endeavours of Your Faithful Servant in Christ Jesus THE Christians Way TO HEAVEN ACTS XVI xxx xxxi xxx Sirs What must I do to be Saved xxxi And they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be Saved and thy House WHEN the Apostle St. Paul and his Companion Silas had upon account of the uproar of the Multitude against them been commanded to Prison by the Magistrates and had their Feet made fast in the Stocks God Almighty was pleased to shew a very great Miracle for their Deliverance For upon their Praying and Singing Praises unto God there was suddenly a very great Earth-quake so that the Foundations of the Prison were shaken and immediately all the Doors were opened and every ones Bands were loosed This put the Keeper of the Prison into a violent Consternation upon the supposed loss of his Prisoners so that he would had he not been prevented have laid violent Hands upon himself But his Fear abated upon St. Paul's assuring him they were all there and the Sense of the miraculous Occurrence so awakened him into Religious Thoughts that it put him upon enquiry 〈…〉 these good Men taught that their Religion was from God who had done so great a Miracle in favour of it he did heartily believe that that Salvation of Mens Souls in another World which they Preached would be the Lot of all those good Persons who followed the Doctrines they were Preachers of but still he was ignorant of those Precepts he was to Practice in Order to this Happiness and That was the Reason that with so great Earnestness he cried out Sirs What must I do to be Saved That is I have now a mind to be a Christian and to enter into that Covenant with God which he has been pleased to offer to Mankind by Jesus Christ of the Truth of whose Mission and the Sincerity of whose Promises I am verliy persuaded but I beseech you to inform me of the Conditions of this Covenant which I am a perfect Stranger to and to tell me what I am to do on my Part in order to attain that Happiness which God promises to confer on his To this the Apostles answer Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy House That is you shall obtain this your desire of Everlasting Happiness if you stedfastly believe and sincerely practice the Precepts of that Religion which was declared to the World by Jesus Christ and which you shall learn by our Instruction For it is plain that by this the Apostles did not mean a bare belief but a performance of the other Duties likewise recommended by the Gospel Dispensation For in the next Words it is said That they spake unto him the Word of the Lord and to all that were in his House ver 32. That is they instructed him in the Principles of the Christian Religion and explained to him what he was to believe and practice in this Gospel Covenant that he might be Partaker of those Promises he was desirous of Now in discoursing to you upon these Words I shall draw up in a narrow Compass all the General Rules and Obligations of the Christian Religion which will be useful for you upon these two Accounts F rst Because by this you may see your whole Duty at one View which will be serviceable to you in reducing into an easie-Method what you have Read and Heard in good Books and Sermons and will be more especially useful to them who have not Time or Money to Read or Buy large Treatises en these Subjects Secondly Because by having these Terms of Salvation 〈…〉 â—â—â—dencies or uncomfortable Reflections upon Danger of your Miscarriage in a Future State for when you fully understand upon what Conditions every Man may certainly be saved you need not trouble your selves to wait for any particular Marks of Assurance which after all a Man may be deceived in But no Man has Reason to distrust that God Almighty will not Reward him with Eternal Happiness when he is sure he has discharged those Conditions which God in his Holy Word has promised Eternal Happiness to Now these Conditions or Qualifications for Salvation I shall reduce to as few Heads as conveniently I can and speak to them in their Order I. You cannot be saved unless you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the main Articles of Faith contained in it For the Scripture says expresly I. Condition To believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Mark 18.16 Therefore you must believe that there is * Deut. 4.25 1 Cor. 8.4 Isa 45.5 John 17.3 one only a Isa 48.12 Gen. 21.33 1 Tim. 1.17 Eternal b Gen. 17.1 Mat. 3.9 Eph. 3.20 Almighty c Rom. 16.17 1 Tim. 1.17 Job 11.7 All-wise and d Exod. 34.6 Luke 1.50 2 Cor. 1.3 Merciful God who Created e Exod. 31.17 Acts 17.24 all Things by his Almighty Wisdom and Power and Governs f For the Providence of God see Psalm 37. Prov. 11.31 Job 36.6 Mat. 6.28 them by his Providence that he has sent his only Son Christ Jesus into the World to Redeem by his Blood g John 8.42 1 Tim. 1.15 Eph. 1.7 the forfeited Souls of sinful Mankind and you must believe that there is the Holy Spirit h Joh. 24.16 Rom. 8.14 1 Joh. 5.14 of God the Comforter which our Saviour promised to send which does continually put into our Mind good Desires does keep us from Temptations i 2 Pet. 2.9 Rom. 8.26 Rev. 12.10 does sanctifie k Tit. 3.5 1 Cor. 6.11 all good Mens Hearts and render them acceptable unto God You must stedfastly believe that the Holy Scriptures are the l 2 Tim. 3.16 2 Pet. 2.21 inspired Word of God and particularly that the Miracles and Doctrines of our blessed Saviour were really true and such as they are there Recorded to be Now unless you cordially believe these Things you can have no pretence to enter into Covenant â—ith God in this Christian Dispensation 〈…〉 â—â—â—posed by Jesus Christ for otherways you are Infidels and though you should outwardly joyn your selves in Communion with Christ's Flock yet you will receive no more Benefit by that than if you were Mahometans or Pagans Therefore in the first Place you must take Care to
have a firm Belief of these Things and to be always ready to give an Answer to every Man that asketh you a Reason of the Hope that is in you that is to believe the Doctrines of Christianity upon rational Grounds not to stick to them only upon the Prejudice of your Education but because upon full search and enquiry you find all the Reason in the World to believe them Whenever you find any unbelieving Thought to rise up in your Minds which the Devil will never be wanting upon occasion to suggest use your utmost endeavour to shake off that ungodly Doubt by confronting it with some indubitable Truth or by getting further Information of abler Christians John 5.39 Acts 17.4 Rom. 15.4 but above all by constant reading and studying God's Word and by fervent Prayer to him to help your unbelief for you may be assured that ten to one more Infidels are made by a neglect of Reading the Scriptures and of daily Prayers to God than by all the poisoned Books and Discourses which are levelled against our Religion And I would have you observe further which is a great Argument for you to settle in your Hearts a firm Belief of all the Gospel Truths that there is hardly any wickedness which Men commit or any Sin they fall into but it proceeds chiefly from some kind of Infidelity or other because they do not rightly believe of the Providence of God or his Justice or Mercy or Veracity but have got into their Heads some fond Notion of their own concerning these Attributes which may better agree with their vitious Lives than that Idea which God has given of himself in his Holy Word Therefore be sure to be well Principled and to have true Notions of these Matters use your utmost endeavours firmly to Believe and fully to understand all that the Holy Scriptures say concerning them for this is the Foundation of all true Religion and unless this be rightly laid all the other Building which may be raised afterwards falls to the Ground and comes to nothing II. After the believing of the Gospel Truths II. Condition To aâ—◠〈…〉 in the next Place in order to your 〈…〉 Covenant with Christ you must leave off gross and apparent Sins For a Man whilst he lives a leud and vicious Life can have no hopes of Salvation such by the whole Tenour of the Gospel being excluded from it The Apostle St. Paul gives you a long Catalogue of such Sins as are inconsistent with Salvation Now the Works of the Flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like of which I tell you before as I have told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.19.20.21 Therefore if you would have any hope of going to Heaven you must leave off a wicked Course of Life you must take Care to repent of and to forsake such Sins as will shut you out from thence You cannot expect to go thither whilst you live in a State of Adultery or Uncleanness if you are not just in your dealings and do not make Satisfaction and Reparation for all the Wrongs and Injuries you have done if you live in a course of Drunkenness if you are guilty of prophane Swearing and Cursing if you live Quarelsomely and Contentiously with your Neighbours if you be proud and haughty malicious and revengeful Therefore it behoves you not only to be careful to avoid Drunkenness Incontinency and other fleshly Sins but to divest your selves of Pride and Malice and other Sins of the Mind for these spiritual Vices are as much inconsistent with a State of Christianity as the fleshly they do as much mischief in this World and make a Man as unqualified for the other and you may further take Notice that the most wicked Beings of all God's Creation I mean the Devils in Hell have no Sins of the Flesh to answer for and yet they shall undergo the most terrible Damnation for their Pride and Malice and other Sins of the Mind which too many Men do look upon in themselves at least as hardly any Sins at all III. In order to your Salvation you must take Care not only to avoid a settled Course of Wickedness or a Life of Viciousness III. Condition To avoid every single Sin we know to be such but to root out of your Hearts every single Sin ye find there There are a great many Men that for the generality live good and vertuous 〈…〉 â—ut yet there is some bosom Sin they indulge themâ—â—â—â—â—◠〈…〉 to part with all the rest to retain that Thus there are several who can without any great difficulty refrain from Intemperance or Covetousness or Pride or Contention so they may but enjoy their Lust To another Covetousness is the only Darling and he can be content to be chast and sober in hopes that God will excuse him from being hard and griping Mistake not God Almighty does expect to be loved with all the Mind and all the Soul and all the Strength Mat 12.30 We must perfect Holiness in the fear of the Lord. 2 Cor. 7.1 And we are taught that he who shall keep the whole Law and offend in one Point he is guilty of all James 2.10 That is he shall as effectually be damned for that one Sin unrepented of as if he had been guilty of many more Sins Therefore do not Cheat your selves and Fool your selves out of your precious Souls by thinking you shall ever go to Heaven by serving of God by halves God Almighty will either have your whole Souls or none he will never suffer you to make him a sharer with the Devil Don't think it will avail you to say it is but one Sin for that one is fatal For Sin to the Soul is like a strong Poison to the Body a drop of it is as killing as if you drank a Gallon So that upon the whole you have no way to secure your Salvation but by forsaking every known Sin though never so small in your Opinion if you know it to be Sin you must know it to be damnable and that there is no Salvation to be expected whilst you continue in it Therefore you must frequently examine your Consciences and strictly survey and look into every Corner of your Soul and whatever Sin you find there dispatch it without any Quarter and do not put it off from Time to Time as being unwilling to part with it but take the first opportunity to Repent of and amend it beg God Almighties Pardon for the former Commission of it and his Grace for the Future to avoid it IV. Condition To Practice all the Gospel Virtues IV. The next step you must make in order to be saved is to Practice the Gospel Virtues which you find laid down in Gods Word for your Christian Performance For
my self to the more mature and elderly Sort among you You have long since been instructed in the Principles of the â—hristian Religion you have had the Catechetical Instructiâ—â— of the Church in 〈…〉 Years and therefore you ought not only to know your Duty but to be considerable Proficients in it It is a shame for you to be ignorant of those Christian Doctrines which the Children are taught to understand and then to Learn the Way to Heaven when you have hardly Time perhaps before Death to do it in Oh! What a killing Speech is it to hear a Man say he did understand his Religion when he was Young Wretched Sinner What hast thou been doing all this Time You that ought to have been the Teacher of Religion to others dost thou want the very first Instructions of this Duty thy self How canst thou answer it to God to retain thy Trade thy Debts and every thing else in Mind and only to have forgot thy Religion If there be any such among you get out of this wicked carelesness as soon as you can apply your selves to the reading the Holy Scriptures and other good Books come constantly to Church and Mind what is there said and be ashamed to continue in such Ignorance any longer As for you who have not been so very negligent as to forget your Duty but yet nevertheless in despight of your Knowledge and under Conviction of your own Consciences do live in constant breach of it free your selves with all speed from this hazardous State and venture not your Souls in a State of Sin which you know to be damnable one moment longer How can you Answer it to the Mercy of God to continue in a Course of Wickedness when he has given you so much Time to Repent in How can you answer it to your own Consciences which are continually upbraiding you with a neglect of your Duty How can you Answer it to your Children and Families to whom you should give an Example of Piety and Religion but you set them a Copy only of Prophaness and Wickedness As for those good Persons among you who have been mindful of the one thing necessary and taken Care for their Souls who have acquainted themselves what they are to do to be saved and have made their Practice conformable to their Knowledge let me beseech you my dear Brethren to pay God your continual Thanks for this great measure of Grace bestowed upon you to be modeft and humble in your vertuous Accomplishments and to ascribe all your spiritual Strength to the goodness of God to endeavour more and more to improve in Grace and like St. Paul to forget thâ—s◠〈…〉 are before and pressing towards the Mark for the prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.13.14 2. And for the close of all Let me apply my self to the Younger sort among you Let me beseech you to bear in mind the good Instructions and Christian Information which you receive from your Pastors and Friends in your Youth and let what you Learn in those tender Years remain fresh in your Memories under the Hoary Head Let me beseech you to enter upon a Religious Course of Life betimes because now you have all the Advantages in the World to go forwards in it You have no inveterate Habits and old Customs of Sinning to conflict with which oftentimes render all the endeavours of a riper Age ineffectual Your Nature now is tender and pliable and as it takes its bent in this Age it does for the most part stand for ever Therefore this is the Time to give it a vertuous Impression and a true Byass to Holiness before the Devil takes Possession of it and warps it the contrary way Think how pleasing and acceptable to God an early Piety is and what an affront it is to Dedicate only the Dregs of your Life to his Service and the Flower of it to the Devil Endeavour to settle in your Minds now you are Young a true Tast of Godliness and of the Excellency of the Christian Religion which above all other Religions which ever were in the World does more especially recommend it Weigh in your Hearts seriously the admirable Rewards which it promises to those who perform the Conditions of the Gospel and be not led aside by the Vanities of this World to forfeit those exceeding Glories of the other And when you are fully informed What you must do to be Saved take Care that you do not miss of that Salvation whereof you know the Methods of obtaining FINIS