since the Fall 〈◊〉 perfectly to keep the Commandments of God and so by the Works of the Law can never be saved God has by Christ our Redeemer required Faith and Repentance as the Conditions of the Gospel by which Eternal Life is to be had Faith and Repentance is all that God requires in order to our Salvation Repent and believe the Gospel and you shall certainly be saved I will give you as plain Directions as possible I can how you shall attain these two Graces First for Repentance You must know that there are two kinds of Repentance there is a false Repentance and a true Repentance A false Repentance is that which a Man is driven to through fear of Hell and Damnation When a wicked Man lyes upon his Death-bed then he seems to be sorry for his Sins past and makes many fair Promises of a new Life if it should please God to restore him again though in the mean time he likes and loves those Sins he seems to repent of and if it please God to restore him to his former Health he follows his old course again Now this kind of Repentance can never be effectual to Salvation 2. Now you must mind what true Repentance is True Repentatce is a saving Grace whereby a Sinner out of a true sence of his Sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ doth with grief and hatred of his Sin turn from it unto God with full purpose of and endeavour after new Obedience But now seeing without this Repentance there is no getting to Heaven and that we cannot repent of ourselver it is of God's free Gift I will therefore give you some plain Directions how Repentance may be had and how to go through with it for though we cannot repent of ourselves yet if we do not repent the fault lyes upon us 1. The first step to true Repentance is the Examination of your selves try your Hearts and search into your former Life how and after what manner you have spent your time since you have been a Child and to this end I counsel you to make a Catalogue of all your Sins you can possible call to mind for which purpose you must take the Ten Commandments for your Pattern Had I time and room I would for your Memory write you a Catalogue of Sins which is against each of the Ten Commandments but they being so many that I cannot do it in so small a Book as this But I counsel you to get you a Book wherein is the Exposition on the Ten Commandments which shews what are those Sins of Omission and Commission which is against every Command and try yourself by these and labour to find out as many of those Sins as you know yourself to be guilty of for you will find many Sins there that you in your place cannot commit You may only take but one Commandment or two at a time according as your Memory will hold and if your Memory cannot contain all the Sins that you find yourself guilty of you may write them down according as you find them out which way I think to be the best and then every Evening you may make use of this Catalogue for the finding out the Sins that you committed in the Day likewise every Sabbath the Sins you committed in the Week likewise before you receive the Sacrament that thereby you may repent and be humbled for them 2. The second step to true Repentance is the Confession of those Sins you have thus found out you must spread them all before the Lord and confess them all in particular with all circumstances as the time when place where and manner how such and such things are committed Now many confess in general that they are Sinners but few confess their Sins and if your Sins are so innumerable that you cannot find out every particular Sin so as to confess them all in particular then confess the rest in the general And there is no doubt but God will take this for a true and sincere Confession in that there is no known sin that you would willingly hide from God 3. Another step to true Repentance is godly Sorrow for those Sins thus confessed And it is godly Sorrow that works Repentance to Salvation never to be repented of Now for the obtaining of this godly Sorrow you must use these means 1. Lay to heart how good and how merciful God hath been to you How many Tokens of his Love and Kindness he hath bestowed upon you and yet how ill you have required him Seriously consider how he hath delivered you from such and such a Sickness when you were near Death How he hath preserved you from such and such a Danger How he hath delivered you from such and such Enemies That not withstanding your many Provocations yet he hath born with you all this while he hath patience with you and waifs for your Repentance who might in Justice have snatch'd you away whilst you were sinning and sent you quick to Everlasting Burnings Yet still he spares you yet he gives you every day fresh Supplies of his Mercy and as before you were to make a Catalogue of your Sins so here make a Catalogue of God's Mercies those several kinds of Mercies and Favours you have received from him and then lay to heart what a base unthankful Wretch you have been thus to provoke and grieve so good and merciful a God Think thus with yourself O that I should be such a base vile wretch for to provoke and grieve so loving a Father that has been so good and gracious unto me so merciful a Saviour that died for me Such Considerations deeply laid to heart will prick your heart into godly sorrow for your Sius as Peter when he considered how he denied Christ He went out and wept bitterly Matth. 26.75 2. Keep in mind the most of those Sins whereby you have most dishonour'd God and grieved his Spirit this also will be a means to work in you godly Sorrow 3. Ply the Throne of Grace by earnest and constant Prayer that God might take away that stony heart of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh as he hath promised Ezeck 36.26 But it may be God will seem not to hear your Prayers presently if therefore you cannot find your heart to relent the first time go and pray again and again and give God no rest until he hear you and then of a certain one time or other God will mele your hearts into godly Sorrow and Remorse for your former Sins and then this excellent Grace of Repentance is begun and wrought in you 4. The next thing to be done is this Beg heartily to God for the Pardon of your former Sins that they may be cast all behind his back that they may be wash'd away in the Blood of Christ And then lastly make a firm strong and settled Resolution hence forth to lead a new Life this must not be a weak Resolution but it
HEAVEN's GLORY AND Hell's Terror Containing the Glory of the Saints in HEAVEN with Jesus Christ and the Eternal Torments of the Damned in HELL London Printed by W. O. for the Author and Sold by J. Blare at the Looking-glass on London-bridge The Preface to the Reader Christian Reader SInce the time my little Book for Children firstcome abroad I was perswaded by some of my Friends to set out another Book for those of riper Years which I was not very free to do at first but now at last I have yielded to it hoping it will be for the good of their Souls And I could think no Subject more suitable for Young Old than to make a Book of Directions by what means they may escape Everlasting Torments and get safe to Heaven I had thought at first to have made this a double Book but I have yielded to make it only a small Penny-Book because all Poor as well as Rich might be able to purchase One for I earnestly wish'd that this little Book may come into the hands of them all that all into whose hands this little Book should come would follow these Directions and lead such Lives as that they may be Saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus Which is the earnest Prayer of your dear Friend Robert Russel THE Plain Way TO HEAVEN THE Reasons why I write these Directions is Because so many thousands flock to Hell when they verily think they are in the Way to Heaven And others go on securely in their Sins running on in all kind of Wickedness not considering what will become of them until they drop into Hell I shall therefore proceed after that Order as I did in my Little Book for Children First I will give you a short Hint of the dreadful Estate of the Wicked and then of the joyful Estate of the Godly with some Directions in order to your Salvation Consider first all you that continue in your sins and will not be perswaded to repent and lead a new life how dreadful your Estate will be at last for as long as you remain in your unconverted Estate God and you are Enemies you are under his Wrath and Curses You are Slaves to the Devil And besides all this you are in danger every hour of dropping into Hell you know not how suddenly Death may seize upon you And if then you are unprepated you shall be haled by the Devils down to Hell where you shall be kept under Chains of Darkness unto the dreadful judgment of the Great Day and then your Bodies shall be raised to Life again and be summoned before the Judgment-geat of Christ where you shall give a strict Account for all things that you have thought done or spoken in your life-time there you shall stand trembling before your offended Judge expecting that doleful Sentance to be pronounced upon you Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels No sooner is this dreadful Sentance past but away you must be gone away you shall be haled by the Devils with the rest of your damned Crew down into that Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone where you shall be continually tormented with thegnawings of your guilty Conscience where you shall be continually scorched with the burning Wrath of Almighty God there your Bloud shall boyl your flesh shall fry there you shall lye howling and screeching continually in that Lake of Fire and never have ease nor end But on the other fide consider how happy your Conditions will be if you in time repent and forsake your Sins and become new Creatures that then God will be your Father Christ will be your Brother and the Spirit will be your Comforter you shall be filled with Peace of Conscience which is better then the carnal Peace of the Wicked You shall be filled with the Joys of the Holy Ghost which a thousands times surpasseth all Worldly Joys You shall have the free and full Pardon of all your Sins so that they shall be remembred no more And besides all this whensoever Death comes whether sooner or later you shall be sure of Heaven and at your last gasp the Angels shall carry your Soul as they did the Soul of Lazarus into the Kingdom of Heaven And as for your Body that shall be laid in the Grave as in the Bed of Christ there to rest until the glorious Morning of the Resurrection and then your Bodies shall be raised again and fashioned â—ike unto the glorious Body of Christ and Soul and Body being then reunited you shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted and be placed at the right hand of Christ and hear that comfortable Sentance pronounced unto you Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the worla Then you shall be received with rejoycing and triumphing into the Heaven of Heavens the place of Joy and Bliss Therefore you shall be stript of all your Robes of Mortality and be cloath'd with immortality then you shall sit down to rest with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven There you shall possess such Divine Freasures such rare Joys yea variety of Joys and such sweet Delights as no Mortal Eyes hath ever seen no Mortal Ear hath ever heard nor can it ever enter into the Heart of Man to conceive what Joys and Delights God hath prepared for you in Heaven then you shall be for ever free from all kind of Sin and Sorrow There shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away and God shall wipe away all tear's from your eyes Revel 21.4 There shall be Life without Death Health without Sickness and Pleasure without Pain as you shall be freed from all Evil so you shall enjoy all the Good that can be enjoyed You shall there meet all your dear Friends and Relations that departed in the Fear of God there you shall rejoyce one with another and with one heart and voice sing Praises and Hallelujahs to God to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne for ever and ever And now I hope you are ready to ask What shall we do that we may escape everlasting Torments and get safe to Heaven And begin to be priest at the Heart and are ready to say What shall we do to be saved Ans If it be so that you earnestly desire to know the Way to Heaven and are willing to walk in that Way then as I in my little Book for young Ones Nine Directions what they should do to escape Hell and attain Heaven So here I will give you some Directions What you should do â—o be Savedâ—â— And instead of many I will only give you these two That is Repent and Bâ—â—â—ue the Gospel follow but there two Dâ—â—â—ctions and you are in the right way to Heaven The Law indeed requires Perfect â—â—â—â—ence but no meer Man
must be a settled and deliberate Resolution Now when a Man seriously considers that except he becomes a new Creature he cannot be saved and thereupon takes up a strong and sixt Resolution hence forth to lead a new Life the Work is more than half done that Man is not far from the Kingdom of Heaven Thus for the Act of Repentance Now I will give you some Helps for the daily renewing of your Repentance 1. Every Morning as soon as you rise prostrate yourselves before the Throne of Grace and earnestly beg for God's assisting Grace to keep you from falling into any kind of Sin that day for after a Man is regenerated he is yet daily liable to fall foul into Sin without the assistance of God's special Grace Therefore earnestly desire of God in Prayer that he might strengthen you against all Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil and keep you that day from falling into any kind of Sin 2. When you have thus done then go about the works of your Calling But set a strict and continual Watch over your Heart and all your Senses watch your Eyes that they do not wander after Vanity watch your Tongue that no Lies nor vain Jesting nor unprositable filty and corrupt Speeches don't come from that But above all watch your Heart that no evil Thoughts do enter in there for the Heart is the Spring and Fountain of all sin and wickedness and be very jealous over yourselves in every thing you do lest at any time you should sin in it and keep yourselves from all the occasions of Sin meddle with none of the Devil's Baits least you tempt God to leave you to be overcome And as often as the Devil doth tempt you to any kind of sin or do offer you any Bait then immediately lift up your Hearts to God by Ejaculatory Prayers as thus Lord vanquish Satan at this time that he don't overcome me Lord preserve me this once from falling into sin Lord have mercy on my soul and keep and streng then me against this temptation of the Devil that I be not overcome And if wicked Men should at any time seek to draw you into Sin with them then make a firm Resolution with yourself never to consent and as much as possible you can keep yourself from the Company of wicked Men But when at any time you through Iufirmity fall into Sin then lye not in it but immediately go by yourself into some corner and there present yourself and humbly confess it to God and earnestly beg that God would cast it behind his back and wash it away in his Son's blood that it may never rise up against you to shame or condemn you and give yourself no rest until God hath given you some assurance of Pardon and withal renew your Resolution to be more watchful for the time to come Thus renew your Repentance as oft as you fall into Sin or if you cannot do it presently as soon as you sin to be sure to do it before you lye down to sleep at night every night before you lye down in your Bed look back into the day past what Sins you have fallen into and repent and beg pardon for them and look also and see what Temptations you have overcome and what Graces God hath strengthened in you and rejoyce and praise God for it Thus by continual watching and praying and striving you will find Sin to die in you more and more and Grace more and more to grow and increase in you And whilst others grow near Hell you will grow nearer and nearer to Heaven This is the first step in the Way to Heaven Repentance The Second is Faith As first I directed you to Repent so secondly Believe the Gospel Now Faith is a saving Grace whereby receive and rest upon Christ alone for Salvation as he is freely offered to us in the Gospel Now seeing a true saving Faith is not your Power but it is the Gift of God and God always bestows it upon those that use the Means which he hath prescribed in his Word for the obtaining it I shall therefore give you some Directions what you shall do to have this Grace of Faith wrought in you 1. Be deligent in reading the Scriptures First you must every Morning and Evening read a Chapter in your Bible or else some part of a godly Sermon and when you read you must not run it over and then leave it you were as good do nothing as do so But when you read you must take especial heed what you be a reading of and when you have done look back a little upon what you have read and see what Sins are condemned there that you know your self guilty of and be humbled for them what Duties are required there and resolve to practise them what Judgments God hath threatned against such and such Sins and stand in awe of them what Promises God hath there made and what are the Conditions of those Promises and resolve through the Grace of God inabling you to perform those Conditions that those Promises may belong to you and iâ— so doing then you read with Profit indeed 2. Be fervent and diligent in hearing the Word preached For faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God Rom. 10.17 But then you must not do as most do who either sleep all the Sermon-time or else lend their Ears for a while and then when Sermon is ended they let the Devil steal it out of their Hearts and so never mind it afterwards but you were better never go to Church at all than to go and hear after that rate But when you be at Church you must hearken with all the Attention you can hearken earnestly as if you were to die presently and go to Judgment And for your help herein you must mark what is the Doctrine what are the Reasons and Uses and how many they are 2. Hear with Affection and for your help you must hear as if God himself were a speaking to you and as if he spoke directly to you you must hear as if it were indeed the Word of God and not of Man 3. Whilst you are a hearing set a Resolution to practise what you hear and when you come home call over the Heads of the Sermon in your Mind and turn every Use and Direction that has been delivered into Prayer pray for God's Blessing on it and maâ—e it matter of your Meditation all the Week and then lastly set to the practice of it 3. Another means for the getting of a saving Faith is earnest Prayer unto God for it Matth. 7.7 Ask and you shall have seek and you shall find kneck and it shall be opened unto you But you will say it may be God will not accept my Prayers for God heareth not Sinners and the Prayers of the Wicked are Abomination unto him I answer it is wilful Sinners that God will not hear they that pray for Mercy and other good things and yet hate to be reformed the Prayers of such God will not regard But they that come to God in a returning way with a full purpose to leave their Sins and pray and earnestly desire Grace especially this Grace of Faith they shall certainly be accepted and have their Prayers granted But if you desire indeed to have this Grace of Faith bestowed on you then you must look to the manner of your Prayers you must not pray as most do but you must pour out your very Souls in Prayer to God your Hear and Tongue must go together earnestly desâ—ing that which you pray for you must pray with zeal and fervency you must strive and wrestle with God in Prayer and never give him rest until he hath granted your desire these are the Prayers that God takes delight in and if God answer not your Prayers the first nor second time then try again and again as the Woman of Canaan did and then you need not doubt but God will hear you at last Now concerning the Act of Faith take but this Direction Make a Catologue of all the Promises as you did before of your Sins and God's Mercies and then heartily believe and assure yourselves that every one of those Promises belong to all those that perform the Conditions of those Promises and if you perform the Conpition then those Promises belong to you As for instance I will name this one particular Promise Matt. 19.29 Every one that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life Now to make use of this Promise when you thus embrace Christ as is he offer'd when you make your greatest care to obey the Commands of Christ all his commands out of love to him as our Saviour When you are heartily willing to forsake all your beloved pleasures your darling Lust your secret Sin for Christ's sake and if at last you should be called to it can willingly forsake Houses and Lands yea and your own Life too for him resting fully and wholly upon him for Salvation then you are true Believers and such a Faith as this will certainly bring you to Heaven Thus if you walk according to this Rule that I have here set you if you do thus Repent and believe the Gospel then at last when Unbelievers and all impenitent Sinnersshall be turned into Hell you shall be received into the Joys of our Lord and Master there to reign with him for ever and ever Which God of his Mercy grant unto us all Amen FINIS