Account of Truth and Peace, Section 3
SECT. III.
WEE, as we were ſaying, fully intended to ceaſe the ſtrife, ſith it hath proved ſuch a thing, and to leave the Debate with Him, the Judge of all the world, and "know's the hearts of all men; who will, we hope, ſhew you and us in His owne beſt time; Who hath ſpoken much, and in deſire and Endeavour as much to purpoſe; who hath ſaid little in Compariſon, and yet leſſe to the matters under hand. And yet ſhould you be able to putt off all with that old putt-off (whereto ſome thing will be replied anon after) multa dicit, nihil probat, The man ſpeaks much, and proves nothing, or nothing concludingly, and ſo folly is with us, (for your charge of Blaſphemie, yours, which you ſuffered to be charged, is too high) why yet, ſuppoſing all that, The errour is on our ſide, and Truth on yours (which were ſtrange, if not impoſſible, you ſideing with M Hs: and driving-on with him in the ſame way) Notwithſtanding, we faint not in our minds, For our matters are humbly committed to th'onely wiſe God, Who is able, and we are Confident He will, make emprovements out of folly (on whoſe ſide ſoever it be) and give advantage to His Truth, by the breaking-out of Errour, and falſity; As it is one of the higheſt acts of Grace, (ſo one of us have read) in man, to render good for evill: ſo is it one of the higheſt acts of power to draw good out of evill. Upon this God All ſufficient we waite. He alwayes hitherto hath extracted the cleane thing of His Glory (as one ſaith upon Daniel) out of the filthineſſe of Man's ſin; our Confidence is, He will doe ſo now, He brought light out of Darkneſſe at the firſt, "marveilous in our eyes, not "hard and "difficult to Him; By His Grace wee will Truſt Him, He will make a bleſſed, yea a Glorious method of theſe Curſed Confuſions, cauſed by Mr Hs: in His houſe; and, notwithſtanding all is ſaid againſt it by learned and godly men, maintained by you. 2. And Sir, That we may tell you our boaſtings in our God, our hope being ſet on Him, This good is come of it already; which wee will call a good bleſſing, wee meane of this Debate, in Reference to "free Admiſſion of all to all Church-Communions, upon account of their Infant Baptiſme onelyonly, without making ſo much as a profeſſion of their Faith and repentance, your Brothers conceit: Wee were ſaying, This good is come of it, That we are aboundantly ſatisfied as to the Negative, hearing it as clearely made out unto us from the word of God, as if it had been written with the Sun-beames: And by the helpe of His Grace, we ſhall hold unto it, while life is held within us, being the more confirmed, if more can be, and our foote more eſtabliſhed in that way, by that little or nothing you have ſaid againſt it, (for you have ſaid all for Mr Hs: and not a word for the way of Holineſſe) ſo as neither your ſelfe, nor all the men of your way and judgement, though ſo numerous that they fill the Countries (no good argument of their goodneſſe, or the ſtraightneſſe of their way) can be able to draw us aſide from this way God hath pointed us to, leadeth us in, and you called us ſorth to maintaine, notwithſtanding the ſhockes againſt it, ſcornings and blaſtings upon it, and upon us for the way's-ſake; not more able, we were ſaying, to draw us from it, than ye are able to remove a mountaine from it's roots, or ſtay the Sunne in it's Courſe, or blow it out with a paire of bellowes. So ſtrong is Truth, and ſo ſtrong are all they that by the good Hand of their God are ſtabliſhed therein.
Wee adde this more, This Truth, you accounting it an Errour, and of the lateſt Date, called us forth to maintaine, how weakly ſoever maintained by us, as you ſay, and we doe not gaine-ſay, ſhall be glorious notwithſtanding (for it needs not our patronage) in the eyes of the Lord, and of His people, when your looſe and more than airy Tenet againſt it, The ſame with Mr Hs: ſhall be for an hiſſing unto both; To uſe worthy Mr Palmers words. Though yet you are pleaſed to call it, This Truth avouched by us, we meane, The ſickneſſe of our fancy, a Novell thing, never heard off in the world till now of late yeares, and had dyed in the veſſell, had not we broached-it, or ſet it a tap, as we may ſay in the place we live-in; To that purpoſe you ſpeake, and ſo Ironically, if we can underſtand you.
3. But, Sir, to let theſe ſcornes paſſe with contempt from us enough, if not with as much ſorrow from our hearts for you; Is it poſſible, That you a Maſter in our Iſrael, and a Steward in God's Houſe, ſhould be ſuch a ſtranger to this Thing, "The way of Chriſt with His people, followiug on in His ſteps? No more. Yet, Sir, we take leave to aske you, why would you put your ſelfe to all the coſt of time and Spirits in returning your Anſwer to ſuch a light and Frothy Tenet, which might be brooded upon ſome few yeares ſince, but hatched but a few months agoe? Had any of us been as youthfull, frolicke, and venturous as your ſonne is, twenty to one wee had written Blaſphemie anent thoſe very words: but bleſſed be God we are better taught, and have not ſo learned Chriſt.
4. But indeed, Sir, however you may be informed, or wholy miſtaken in your information, your Anſwer was not deſired, therefore not expected. It was enquired onelyonly whether Mr Owen (of whom we had heard, "hee is asking the way to Zion with his face thitherward; therefore wee enquired whether he) had any ſight or knowledge of our papers, or intimation about them. OnelyOnly ſo, which might argue us more carefull than wee now are or ſee cauſe to be about that matter. Yet be it knowne unto you, we would rather heare three words in Reference to our matters from him, or any other of thoſe fix we addreſſed our ſelves unto in our Epiſtle, (ſo be they be not of your perſwaſion) than three thouſand words from you. And we more than hinted our Reaſon wherefore in the ſame place; Therefore Sir, you might have ſaved your ſelfe that labour, had it pleaſed you, for we know full well, what manner of anſwer we ſhould have from you of the ſame perſwaſion with Mr H: and paceing or driveing together as friends in the ſame way. And Truely Sir, we thinke it a little ſtrange, that you could imagine, that we could put any account at all upon any anſwer from you, in the ſame way with him, ſo often mentioned, unleſſe you had ſome hope to bring us over to that way, which ſo many finde without ſeeking.
5. Wee applied our ſelves to thoſe worthy men, your good neighbours and friends, as we are informed, the manner of peaceable men is to doe. But ſeeing it pleaſed them not, as you ſay, neither th… one nor th' other to meddle in theſe matters controverted betwixt us, leaſt, as the Proverb is, "They ſhould take a dog by the eares, being of the ſame minde, as may be conceived, as one was, who ſaid, "he alwayes hated two kinde of ſtudies, "Studium partium et "ſtudium novarum rerum; Now our matters are novell ſay you, for it was never heard of in the world ſince the world was till now adayes, (1) That all groſſely ignorant and ſtudiouſly wicked (the chiefe head of our controverſie) are not to be admitted to the Lord's Supper. That is a novell Tenet, an yeſter dayes fiction; ſo alſo is this, (2) "They that have received Chriſt muſt walke in Him, even as He walked, That a Goſpell light ſhould be adorned and beautified with a Goſpell life, a walke or converſation as becommeth the Goſpell of Chriſt. (3) That the ſtewards in Gods Houſe, ſhould looke well to this, before they admit to Goſpell Communions. (4) For that every man is guilty of all the evill, which he hath power, and a call to hinder; A beame from our new light all this, which made not the leaſt glimmering in our world, till of late, ſome months or few yeares agoe: You may pardon this digreſſion. We returne to that wee were ſaying, which was this, That ſith it pleaſed not thoſe much honoured men to meddle in theſe matters, we are well pleaſed, though, we made tender thereof unto them; and not diſpleaſed, much leſſe diſcouraged at all, That it is refuſed, for poſſibly the controverſie muſt not be taken-up in ſo ſilent a way.
6. Beſides, which is our Confidence, and makes us humbly bold, we have a God in Chriſt to goe unto, who is our Prophet to ſpeake to us as well as our Prieſt to ſpeake for us; our Oracle as well as our Advocate, He will take us by the hand, and teach us how to goe, ſo long as by His grace with us, we beg nothing more earneſtly of Him, and finde it in our hearts to be as unwilling to tread one ſtep (wandring ſheep though we are) out of His way, as is a wearied traveller to goe out of his; And poſſible alſo we had not ſtood ſo faſt in Him, with our eye ſo fixed upon Him, and our-foote in His way, as now we doe, and through His grace ſhall doe (which loves to ſtrengthen His weakeſt ones, To magnifie His owne power in them, and with them, when their's is *God loves to ſhew the world what His ſtrength can doe in a weak creature, as well as what His Grace and Me…cy can doe for a ſinful creature. … Caryl on Job 6. 11. 475.gone) had we not from our firſt footing, "the way of Holineſſe, and all along to this Day felt many ſhockes, and as many contempts, contumelies and reproaches caſt upon us, and the way, no man ſt…nding by us the while, no not a man of Name for learning and pietie. And which is almoſt as bad, but God will make all good, and even this beſt of all, You that are a ſteward in God's houſe, and ſhould, like a good ſteward, take them into your boſome, whom your Lord and Maſter is pleaſed to take by the hand, that is, "To give ſpeciall helpe unto, you are ſo farre from doeing this, That you doe little leſſe than maintaine a war againſt them, (we meane all them all over the Land that deſine to walke with a right foote, according to Goſpel-order in Church-Society: For what are we, that we ſhould complaine in our own behalfe) which exceedingly gladdeth the hearts of the wicked, who 'love to have it ſo, and ſo their hand is ſtrengthened mightily, and their foote ſtabliſhed in their owne way of ſin and Death.
But what though, and things ſtand thus? God is in the midſt of His people, He ſtands by them, and will ſtrengthen them, and in His owne time, beſt for His people, He will raiſe them, they ſhall not ſtill lie in the Duſt of Debaſement: His Jewells ſhall be made-up, which now lie as in the mire trod under-foote, which is permitted, and not barely ſo, and no more, for Gods permiſſion is a "providence, and that is "active, to drive His people out of themſelves, from putting any *Self Dependance looſeneth from God. D. Preſton.confidence in the fleſh, That their hope may be ſet on Him (which is ſetleing) Who raiſeth the dead; For commonly ſo it is, The more we have of the creature, the leſſe we have of God; becauſe the fuller ſight we have of the creature, the leſſe we looke after Him, not apprehending out needs of Him, who fills all, meaſuring-forth to all as pleaſeth Him, and is All in All. O that we did not caſt ſo much about us for a looke of favour from a man of high degree, and could more looke unto God for His favour, who lookes after His people, following them with His eye upon them, Pſal. 34. 15. that is "will deale well with them, Jer: 40. 4. and beſt of all at the laſt: Wee Truſt the Lord is every Day inſtructing us to this Diſcretion, ſo as we ſhall be daily leſſe in our ſelves, and more in God. And then "let the weake ſay, we are ſtrong. And they that are ſtrong out of Him, O that they did know how weake they are; or if ſtrong their ſtrength will be their Confuſion.