The Highway to Heaven, Title page – Dedication
THE HIGH VVAY TO HEAVEN BY the cleare light of the Goſpell cleanſed of a number of moſt dangerous ſtumbling ſtones thereinto throwen by Bellarmine and others.
IN A Treatiſe made vponupon the 37.38. and 39. verſes of the 7. of Iohn: wherein is ſo handled the moſt ſweete and comfortable doctrine of the true vnion and communion of Chriſt and his Church, and the contrarie is ſo confuted, as that not onelyonly thereby alſo ſummarilie and briefly, and yet plainly all men may learne rightly to receiue the ſacrament of Chriſts bleſſed bodie and blood, but alſo how to beleeue and to liue to ſaluation. And therefore entitled The high way to Heauen.
By Thomas Sparke Doctor of Diuinitie.
Printed by R. R. for Robert Dexter. 1597.
To the Right Honourable and moſt reuerend Father, the Lord Archbiſhop of Canterburie, Primate of all England, and one of her Maieſties moſt honorable priuie Councell, his verie good Lord; Thomas Sparke wiſheth all health, happineſſe, and proſperitie to his owne heartes good contentation and comfort.
MAnie and ſundrie fauours and kindneſſes (Right Honorable and right reuerende in the Lord) for theſe twentie yeares ſpace that I hauehave knowne yow, receiued at your Graces hands, hauehave alwaies made me not onelyonly to louelove and reuerence yow; but alſoe to thinke my ſelfe vnfainedly ſoe much bounde and beholden vntounto your Grace, as that I hauehave a long time duplicate page duplicate page beene of this minde, that it is not ſufficient to diſcharge me of vnthankfulneſſe, by bare wordes (though neuer ſo ful of kindneſſe & thankefulneſſe) both in your abſence and preſence to teſtifie the ſame, (whereof yet euer ſince I firſt knew you I hauehave beene carefull and mindefull) and therefore I hauehave long agoe reſolued my ſelfe (hauing no better meanes to doe it by,) by dedicating ſome part of my poore labours vntounto you, to giuegive you and all others, to whom the ſight thereof ſhall come, ſome publike and aſſured teſtimonie of my duetifull and thankefull heart towardes you. Whereupon hauing at the earneſt and importunate ſute and requeſt of diuers of my worſhipfull and good friendes, not long ſince committed to writing the Treatiſe following (which in effect they first heard me from point to point in this manner deliuer vntounto them in certeine ſermons) I hauehave now thought it good in this ſort ſomewhat enlarged to publiſh it, the better to ſatisfie their deſires: and to the end aforeſaid, I hauehave made bolde to dedicate the ſame vntounto your Grace, beſeeching you to accept therof rather according to the minde of the offerer (which I proteſt vntounto you is full of louelove and reuerence towardes you,) than to the ſimplicitie & meaneſſe of the thing it ſelfe, which I muſt needes confeſſe in respect of the handling, is much vnworthie of ſuch an Honourable patrone as your ſelfe is. As for the matter, it is (I am perſwaded) anſwerable to the title that I hauehave giuen it, which is, The high way to Heauen. For therin firſt is ſhewed howe the lawe is our ſchoolemaiſter to Chriſt, by cauſing vsus to knowe our ſinnes, and to feele the weight and burthen thereof to make vsus wearie of the ſame, and therefore to hunger and thirſt after him: and then what Chriſt is in perſon and office, and how he is to be apprehended and fed on to ſaluation by a true and liuely ſaith in him, is largely & plainlie declared: and lastly alſo, heerein ſuch as are and hauehave beene firſt duely throwen downe by the lawe, and after truelie raiſed vp againe by the Goſpel, in Christ, are taught how they are to liue and ſpend the reſt of their daies in holineſſe and righteouſneſſe. Which I am ſure is the olde ancient beaten waie throughout all the whole courſe of the olde and new Testament, and in all ſound antiquitie, that the ſaints and ſeruantes of God hauehave taken to be the onelie ſaife and ſure wace, wherby they hauehave ſought to come to the kingdom of heauen. Your Grace therfore being one (as I fullie perſwade my ſelfe you are) that ſeeke to come thither by this onelie waie, and therefore one alſo that is verie deſirous that all others ſhould walke thitherwards in an eauen and ſtreight courſe therunto; in reſpect of the matter therein handled, my good hope is, you will not be aſhamed or thinke much at all, that it ſeeketh thus to come abroad vnderunder your countenance & protection. For though the waie be neuer ſo well knowne alreadie and be beaten and trode out by manie before this, and that perhaps more exactly and ſubſtantially than it is herein in by me: yet ſeeing manie are ſtill to go this ſame way, & all cannot hit of the ſame guids, & still Sathan wil be buſie by his complices eyther to keepe men frō finding it, or by one ſleight or other to turne them out of it. I truſt that after ſo manie that hauehave gone before me in guiding men into and keeping them in this way, this my profered ſeruice to that end, may & will bee yet profitable vntounto many. Now theſe 24. years at the leaſt it hath pleaſed the Lord to vſe my poore miniſtrie, and that, his name be bleſſed for it, in great peace & quietneſse, & yet I hauehave therin alwaies bene of this mind, and am & will be ſtil, not to eſteeme or know anie thing, but euen this way through Ieſus Christ and him crucified. 1. Cor. 2.2. And ſure I am I find and I perſwade my ſelfe I ſhall still, though I cōtinued therin twiſe as long more, this to be a matter ſo neceſſarie and of that importance beyond all other, to be inſiſted in and dwelt vponupon, that I ſhould neuer hauehave either leaſure or pleaſure to trouble eyther preſſe or pulpit with any thing without the verie bondes and ſtrict limites hereof. For (alas) eueryevery where, yea euen where moſt paines hath bene taken and yet is by catechiſing of & conference with the people, yea by view of their liues, there is eyther ſuch groſſe ignorance heereof, or erring or halting heerein to be found & ſeene amongſt thē, that if all the ministers of England had the tongues both of men and Angels, they ſhould find work inough throughlie to employ themſelues in, onelie about the reformation heereof. I would to God therfore, that all controuerſies, wherof men may be ignorant without danger either of not finding, or of not leaſing this heauenly way, might either be kept and reſerued onelyonly to brotherly and friendlie conferences among the godlie learned, or elſe that for euer they might be faire dead and buried amongſt vsus; and that ſo, that all of vsus as one man with one heart and with one mind, might & would ioyne all our forces together to leade men aright into this waie, and to keepe them on streight in the ſame, what ſubtiltie and cunning ſoeuer Sathan and his inſtrumentes ſhould at anie time vſe to the contrarie. For we may be ſure, ſo that he any way can get men to miſse or to leaſe this waie whiles we are buſying our owne heades and the peoples with other matters of farre leſſe importance, though therein we ſhew neuer ſo much zeale and learning, he hath the verie thing he deſireth. For that doubtleſſe hath beene and is ſtill a dangerous ſtratageme or pollicie of his, when he findeth he cannot as he would preuaile by keeping men in ignorance and careleſſe ſecurity, then to doe what he can, that they may ſpend their learning and zeale about matters of the leaſt moment; that in the meane time he may the more quietlie by their ſilence in matters of greateſt weight, by the other contrary way, as it were paue the waie to Atheiſme: yea I feare much (to ſpeake plainely what I thinke) that lacke of due conſideration hereof in time, in ſome hath not onelie beene one of the next cauſes of the phantaſticall ſectes of the Browniſtes, and Familiſtes, but alſo of too ſhamefull encreaſe, in ſo great light of the Goſpell, both of Papistes and Atheistes amongeſt vsus. Wherefore my heartes deſire and prayer to God for England is and euer ſhall be, and for all the Churches of Chriſt whereſoeuer in the wide world, that this ſubtiltie of Sathan may both heere and euerie where be throughlie well lookt vntounto, and the miſchiefe thence enſuing be as carefully preuented as poſſiblie may be: for otherwiſe it may growe intollerable and vncurable. And J beſeech the Lord heartilie to giuegive your Grace and all the reſt of the reuerend Fathers the Biſhops of this land, and all others that be in authoritie with you in the ſame, both skill and will, power and might by the aſſiſtance of his holie ſpirite ſpeedilie and effectuallie to cleanſe and purge theſe Churches of England and Ireland ſo, of all theſe foure kindes of dangerous aduerſaries, that without their ſtopping of vsus at the first, or ſeducing of vsus afterward eyther of the right hand or of the left, all the reſt of vsus as brethren and heires of the kingdom of heauen may both happilie get into this way thither, and alſo moſt ſtedfaſtlie and constantlie perſeuere therein euen vntounto the verie end.
Thus preſuming (as you ſee) of your Graces curteous and friendlie acceptance both of this my trauell in pointing out this waie, and alſo of this my bold dedicating the ſame vntounto you: J will not ceaſe to praie vntounto God to requite and recompence ſeauen-folde into your boſome both this & all your great and vndeſerued former fauours towardes mee. And thus beſeeching him alſo long to preſerue you in health and honour to his glorie, the Churches good, & to your owne euerlaſting comfort now & euer; crauing alſo pardon for this my boldnes, and hoping therof, I moſt humblie take my leaue. From Blechlie in Buckingham ſhire. 1596.
Your Graces alwaies moſt readie and willing to be at your commandement. Thomas Sparks.