The Mystery of the Gospel in Salvation, Title page – Table of contents
Ianua Coelestis. OR, THE Mystery of the Gospel IN THE Salvation of a Sinner, Opened and Explained; Wherein the Nature of the Gospel-Salvation is stated, the Possibility of the Sinner's being saved is evinced, the Terms of the Gospel-Covenant are ascertained and cleared, the Importance of Salvation is illustrated, and the great Concern of every Soul is excited and enforced: In several DISCOURSES on Acts xvi.30.
By JOHN BARNARD, A. M. Pastor of the First Church in Marblehead.
— GOD our SAVIOUR, who will have all Men to be saved, and to come unto the Knowledge of the Truth.
I. Tim. ii.3, 4.
BOSTON, NEW-ENGLAND. Printed and Sold by ROGERS and FOWLE in Queen-street, and D. GOOKIN near the South-Meeting. 1750.
To the Flock of the LORD JESUS, in Marblehead, under my more special Care.
Dearly Beloved,
MY Heart's Desire, and Prayer, for you, and your Children, is, that you all may be saved. Therefore I have laboured among you, with but little Interruption, (thro' the Goodness of GOD,) for more than Thirty-four Years, warning every Man, and teaching every Man, that I might present every Man perfect in CHRIST JESUS. Though there have been many Imperfections attending my Ministry among you, and I have great Reason to c… out, my Leanness! my Leanness! and earnestly to ask it of you to join with me in fervent Supplications to the GOD of all Grace, to pardon, and accept, my Person, and poor Services; nevertheless, I can truly say, that I have longed after you all, and have not shunned to declare unto you the whole Counsel of GOD, nor counted my Life dear unto me, so that I might fulfil the Ministry, which I have received of the LORD JESUS, being willing to spend, and be spent, in your Service.
My Obligations, especially to many of you, for the unwearied Kindnesses which you have shown to me, are very great; which I thus openly acknowledge, with Thanksgiving unto GOD, on your Behalf, and my earnest Prayers that all may be rewarded into your own Bosoms, and upon your Posterity.
Writing has been no little Burden to me, in my declining Years; yet I have been willing to comply with your Desires, and the Desire of many others, in transcribing these Sermons for the Press; and I do it the rather, that I may leave with you, when I am dead and gone, the Sum of that Gospel which I have been preaching to you from the Beginning. CHRIST, and SALVATION by him, is the Marrow of the Gospel. CHRIST the LORD, as well as SAVIOUR; Salvation from Sin, as well as Wrath, I have ever inculcated upon you, as absolutely necessary, that you might not deceive yourselves with a false Faith, and a vain Hope.
And, Oh! that there were a serious, and thorow Concern of Soul, what you shall do to be saved, more generally awakened in you; that the Sincerity of your Faith, and Repentance, might be evident by the Purity of your Lives, in Conformity to the holy Example, and excellent Laws of JESUS CHRIST; that your Faith, and Love, and Obedience, may go abroad unto all Men, and we may glory in you, in the Churches of our GOD, that your Faith groweth exceedingly, and your Charity towards each other, and to all Men, aboundeth; that the Town may be as Remarkable for the Sanctity of it's Manners, and the amiable Vertues of the Christian Life, as in former Years, it has been notorious for the contrary.
I know, my Brethren, that, as for many of you who attend the Businesses of the Sea, your Temptations are very many; nevertheless, as I bless GOD for the great Reformation of Manners, evident unto all Men, and the flourishing Condition of the Town, the happy Fruits of it, so I entreat you to prosecute the more thorow perfecting of that good Work, and that you would, each of you for yourselves, be careful to be furnished with that inward Principle, which alone will truly fortify you against Temptations, and support, and strengthen your Vertue. To this End suffer me earn…stly to recommend two Things to the diligent Practice of every one of you; I mean
First, The Religion of the Closet, that you make Conscience of it, every Day, Morning, and Evening, to retire alone, and pour out your fervent Prayers to the GOD of all Grace, to convert, and save you; let no Day pass without your Visits to GOD, your best Friend, for his gracious Help.
The other Thing is the Religious Sanctification of the LORD's Day; let no Part of that holy Day be spent in unnecessary Labours, much less in Sports, and Diversions; but employ the whole of it in religious Exercises, either publick, or private; ever remember that the Religion, and Comfort, of the ensuing Week, will very much depend upo… your strict Observation of that holy Day; it shall be a Sign between me and you, that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Exod. xxx.15.
May these Sermons, for the printing of which you have so generally, and chearfully, been at a great Part of the Charge, not only abide in your Houses, but be often, and seriously, read over by you, and your's, and by the Blessing of GOD, be treasured up in your Hearts, and have a due Influence upon your Lives, that you may believe, and practice, so as to approve yourselves the true Disciples, and Followers of the blessed JESUS.
GOD grant you may be a pure, and holy Church, established, and built up in the Words of Faith, and good Doctrine, that you, and your Children after you, may continue to walk in the Truth, being knit together in one Body, in Christ, with that Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness here, and the Glory and Happiness of the upper World. And when you shall have Occasion to invite an other …o minister unto you in holy Things, in my Stead, I beseech you, let there be an hearty Unanimity, and condescending Goodness, upheld in that difficult Affair; and earnestly beg it of GOD, and use your best Endeavours, that you may be furnished with one of the best Gifts, well studied in the Doctrine of Salvation by JESUS CHRIST, and who will naturally care for your State: and may he, through the Blessing of the Most High, do more, and greater, Services for you, than I have done.
Thro' the sparing Mercy of God to me, I have lived to bury by much the greatest Part of the Church, and Congregation, I first received the Charge of, (I think there are but three Males of the Church now living,) you have risen up, and your Children are rising, in the Room of your Fathers, and their Grandfathers. Oh! may I be serviceable to your Faith, and an Helper of your Joy! Brethren; Pray for me, that your aged Pastor, whom you cannot expect to continue long with you, may not be left to a fruitless old Age, but that he may continue to bring forth Fruit, as long as it shall please GOD to spare him to you; Fruit that shall abound unto your Account, and unto his own; that when he shall rest from his Labours, he may be found faithful, and his Works may follow him, in the gracious Rewards of them: and may you, who are his Hope now, be his Joy, and Crown of Rejoicing hereafter; that both he that soweth, and you who reap, may rejoice together, in the Presence of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, at his appearing. To whose Blessed Spirit, and Grace, I commend you all.
…our unworthy Pastor, Iohn Barnard. Marblehead, Jan. 1 1749, 50.
CONTENTS.
SERMON I, II, III, IV. The Nature of the Gospel Salvation.
p. 9, 25, 46, 64.
SERMON V, VI. The Possibility of the Sinner's Salvation.
p. 84, 104.
SERMON VII. Salvation not solely in the Sinner's Power.
p. 125.
SERMON VIII. Knowledge necessary to Salvation.
p. 143.
SERMON IX, X, XI, XII. Faith absolutely necessary to Salvation.
p. 161, 179, 197, 214.
SERMON XIII, XIV, XV, XVI. Repentance absolutely necessary to Salvation.
p. 234, 253, 271, 290.
SERMON XVII, XVIII. To be saved a Matter of the highest Importance.
p. 310, 331.
SERMON XIX, XX. Sinners ought to be very solicitous to be saved.
p. 352, 372.
SERMON XXI. The Saint Instructed, comforted, and …ounselled.
p. 394.
SERMON XXII. An Earnest Address to Sinners.
p. 416.