Affertors ofSts Pelf.compared with their Adverfaries. C.Xllt, fatigable,pains and eminent fuccefiè watred the vineyardofthe Lord, with the go dewof this Do&rine, to decline the Confideration of thecomparifon made and drefTed up tò our hand. Now becaufe it is a peculiar tafke allotted to' us,to manifeft the imbracement ofthis Truth, by thole who in thePrimitive Church, were ofgteateft note and Eminency for Piety, Judgement, and íkill in dividing the Wordaright, with the Profefièd Oppofition made unto it, by fuch,as thofe with whom they Lived,and fucceeding Ages, have branded for men unfound in the Faith, and leaving thegood old Paths, wherein the Saints of old found peace to their Soules:Asalto tomanifeft the receiving &propa- gationof it,by all(not any oneofname excepted)thofe Great &FamousPerfòns whom the Lord was pleafed to imploy in the Reformation of his Church, walking in this,as in fundry other particulars, clofer up to the Truth ofthe Gofpelt,than fotneoftheir Brethren, that at thefame time fell offfrom that Church, which was long before fallen, off from the Truth, I (hall in my pre - fent inquiry,confine my felfe to thofe of our owne Nation, who have been ofRenowne in their Generation for their Labour in the Lord, and of name a- mong the Saintsfor their workein the fervice ofthe Gofpell. For the one halfe ofthat Cmall (pace oftime, which is pafTed fince the breakingforth ofthe light ofthe Gofpell in this Nation, we are difenábled 4. 3 from perfuing the Companion inftituted: The onepart beingnot to be con- fidered, or at leaft not being confiderable; The time when firft Head was made againft the Truthwe profeffe, and Criminations like thofe managed by Mr Goodwin hatched and contrived to"Aflault it withall, was, when it had beeneminently delivered to the Saintsof thisNation, and all the Churches ofChrift, by Reinolds, Whitakers, Greenham and others like to them, their fellow labourers in the Lords Vineyard. The poore weake Wortnes of this prefent Generation, who imbracethe fameDo&rinewith thefemenofname, are thought tobefree (Come ofthem at leaft) from beingdeftroyed by the poyfonousandpernicious embracing ofit,by their owne weakeneffe and difabi- lity, to difcerne the naturall genuine Confequences and Tendency, in the progreffe of that,which in the Roote andFoundation they imbrace. Their ig- norance of their owne Do&rine in its compas, & Extent,is theMother of that Devotion, which in them, is nourifhed thereby. Soour great "Wafters tell us a- gainft whore Kingly Authority in thefe things there is no tiring up. For the Perlons formerly named, the like reliefe cannot be fuppoled. He that Ihall provide an Apology for them, Affirming that they underftood not the ftate, nature,confequences, and tendences of the Do&rines they received, defen- ded,preached,contended for,will fcarce be able by any following defenfative, to vindicate hisowne credit, for fo doing. In the lives then and the Miniflry of thofemen, and fuch as thofe, ifany where are the fruits ofthis Do&rine to be feene. Ifit corrupted not their liver, nor weakned" their Miniffry, ifit turned not them afide from the pathes of Gofpell Obedience, nor weakened theirhands in theDifpenfationofthe Word, in thePromifes, Threatnings and Exhortations thereof, to the Converfionof foules, and building up ofthofe who by their Minis`fry werecalled,in their wog holy Faith, it cannot but be a ftrong.prefumption, that there is no fuch venomous infeEtious quality in this Do&rine, as oflatefore chimicall Divines pretend themfelves tobe able to extra&out ofit: Nowwhat I pray were thefe osen? What were their Lives? What was theirMiniftry ? All thofe who now oppofe Mr Goodwin's Do &rine,do it either out ofIgnorance, or to Comply with Greatneffe, and men in Authority, thereby tomakeup themfelves in their Ambitious and worldly .aymes, and to prevaile themfelves upon the opinion ofmen: for what caufe elfe in the worldcan beimaginedwhy they fhould fo ingage? what though R. r they
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