Vindication of the Interest of Children of Believers, Title page – Dedication
Vindiciae Foederis: OR A Vindication of the INTEREST that the Children of Believers, as ſuch, have in the Covenant of Grace, with their Parents; under the GOSPEL-DISPENSATION BEING The Subſtance of Two Sermons, with Addition, Preached to a Congregation in Wapping.
ALSO Some ſeaſonable Reflections upon various unſound, and Cruel Paſſages
Taken forth of two Furious Books of Mr. H. Collins, Printed againſt
Infants-Baptiſm,
By FRAN. MENCE, ſome time of Pembroke Colledge in Oxford, now an unworthy Paſtor of a Church of Chriſt in Wapping near London.
Magna eſt veritas, & praevalebit.
LONDON, Printed for the Author, and are to be Sold by John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey, by Mrs. Mary Gurnel in Wapping-ſtreet near Bell Alley, and Mr. William Wingod in King-ſtreet in Wapping, 1694.
The Epiſtle Dedicatory.
To a Church of Chriſt in Wapping near London; Grace, Mercy and Peace be Multiplied.
I Could not (dearly beloved) but judge it my Duty, to Dedicate theſe Sermons unto you: partly, becauſe you are my peculiar Care and Charge in the Lord, unto whom I do ow my Labour and Pains; and alſo by reaſon of that joint Requeſt you were pleaſed to Attack me withall, viz. that they might be made Publick; giving me good aſſurance that they might be of great uſe for the good of Chriſtians in this place. I have here (though it be againſt my own inclination) anſwered your deſire; Let this undertaking be attended with your ſerious and ſolemn Prayer, that your hopes of good may be accompliſhed. What I have wrote in my Epiſtle to the Readers, many of you can teſtifie, you well know what a long time of Silence I have had; how deſirous I was to live in peace; that alwaies being eſteemed a Jewel of great price with me, hoping that the duſt that hath been raiſed to the darkening of the Air among us, might have fallen without any attempt of mine to ſuppreſs it; but the violent effort of the Pulpit, and the furious Reports of the Preſs, have ſomething awakened me from that eaſe and quiet, I ſhould have been glad longer to have ſolaced my ſelf withall: But alas it was time to be ſomething alarmed, when the flames were inkindled about us, and our little Field in danger of being conſumed, here is one that hath put this place even into a Conflagration. I ſhall (I doubt not) fall under the laſh of many cenſuring Tongues, for this ſmall endeavour, to vindicate this one exploded (though precious) Truth of Chriſt. You have had experience of my ſpirit and deportment, and cannot from the ſtricteſt obſervations you have made of me, but ſay, that ſo far as may be, I have been willing to live in peace with all men, and what care I have taken to preſerve peace in the midſt of and round about you. It would be matter of much comfort to me, may this little Eſſay be inſtrumental to reduce this place into ſomewhat a more ſedate and calm temper: My Practice (ever ſince the Lord was plaſed to call me amongſt you) hath been to give perpetual demonſtrations that I live, and can walk with all that are ſound in the Faith, and of an unblameable Converſation. I found you fixed upon that Noble, Evangelical Foundation, which I have endeavoured to build upon. Your laudable Principle is, that Union with Chriſt, is the great ground of our Communion one with another; let us magnifie God, for what we have found of his Gracious Preſence and Bleſſing, ſince we came together, and ſtand in that relation as we do one to the other. I do with much importunity requeſt your Prayers, that I may daily have a remembrance from you at the Throne of rich Grace: Watch againſt all deſigns of men that lye in wait to deceive, and to diſturb our peace: Study much the Covenant of Grace, bleſſed be the Lord that he hath not only ingrafted you, but alſo your Seed into it. You that have Children, plead the Promiſes of the Covenant with God for them: Take heed of ſuch Principles, that do inevitably exclude your dear Babes out of the Kingdom of God, and render their Salvation (provided they expire in their infancy) not only improbable, but in any ordinary way impoſſible. Beg the Lord to put a ſtop, and to give a Check to that lying malicious ſpirit, that like a ſpiteful Ghoſt walks in this poor diſturbed ſpot. I doubt not, but what I have here tranſmitted from the Preſs, will be attended with the ſame opprobrious Cenſure it met withal from the Pulpit; many ignorant and raſh hot-headed Profeſſors did ſeverely judge me, and my Sermons, that never heard them; and ſo I do expect many will that ſhall never read them, pour out their profound invectives againſt them. I muſt expect no better quarter, than honeſt Mr. Giles Shute, who by many was caſt and condemned, that never read his Books, neither were able to paſs a right Judgment upon them. I do heartily wiſh, that a greater number of my Anabaptiſt Neighbours, would labour more after the life and power of Religion; and Study to know their own hearts better: then I promiſe my ſelf they would not be ſo prompt, and ready to undervalue and condemn others, as they be. I cannot but admire to ſee what a change is upon their ſpirits, words, and actions: in our late times of reſtraint they could be glad (many of them) to partake of my poor pains, and ſometime ſince; but I do not ſo much wonder at them, as at their Teacher, who ever ſince the laſt breaking forth of our Liberty, hath ſo much inveighed againſt all that are not of his opinion, and hath laid ſo much ſtreſs and weight upon his Notion, about Baptiſm, that hath diſtilled ſuch bitterneſs into the ſpirit of many, that they be turned very ſowre and moroſe, to thoſe that cannot imbibe their Sentiments. I bleſs the Lord, that I can ſay, I have not been the Incendiary among us; I lay ſtill Six or Seven years till all was (from Pulpit and Preſs by Mr. Collins) put into Flames about us: It is next to a wonder to me that any ſhould be ſo impudent, as to accuſe me to be the Author of all the trouble that doth annoy us, notwithſtanding my long ſilence, and that little oppoſition that yet I have made againſt a turbulent ſpirit: that he might diſcover the uttermoſt of his bitterneſs, I muſt have him ſeveral times, to pronounce in his Pulpit before all his Congregation, an open Challenge againſt me. I do expect that ſo ſoon as theſe Sermons, ſhall have an acceſs to his hands, that we ſhall hear ſufficiently of his tumultuous ſpirit: I have made a few remarks (as you may ſee) upon his bold and undigeſted Doctrine, raſhly and ignorantly thruſt forth into the World; giving you but a few Gleanings, to that Harveſt, I may (if occaſion be offered) preſent you withall. I make no queſtion, but my challenger will quickly fill our Ears with his Anſwers, be it ſo, the Lord (I hope) will enable us to make our reply: I deſire that he would remember, the nature of his Challenge, that it was a ſingle Duel, without propounding any Seconds, that he hath engaged me in. Stand faſt in the Lord (my dearly beloved) as ye have received the Lord Jeſus, ſo walk ye in him, as ye have received how ye ought to walk, ſo walk at all times, and abound yet more and more; while ſome, and that not a few, are crying up an Opinion not neceſſary to Salvation; let your Zeal run out after thoſe Truths of the Goſpel in the believing, and practiſing whereof, you may obtain Salvation, and greatly rejoyce in the day of our Lord Jeſus. Love one another; pity and pray one for the other; live in peace and love; and the God of Love and Peace ſhall dwell with you. Finally, my Brethren, be ſtrong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; I commend you to God, and the Word of his Grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them that are ſanctified; that he in order thereunto, would be pleaſed to fulfil all the good pleaſure of his Goodneſs within you, and the work of Faith with power, is the hearty deſire of him, that is
Your Servant for Chriſt's ſake, Fran. Mence.