A Declaration of the faith and order owned and practiced in the Congregational churches…

Thirdly, let the space of time it self, or days, wherein from first to last the whole of this Confession was framed and consented to by the whole of us, be duly considered by sober and ingenuous spirits: the whole of days in which we had meetings about it, (set aside the two Lords days, and the first days meeting, in which we considered and debated what to pitch upon) were but eleven days, part of which also was spent by some of us in prayer, others in consulting; and in the end all agreeing. We mention this small circumstance but to this end, (which still adds unto the former) That it gives demonstration, not of our freeness and willingness only, but of our readiness and preparedness unto so great a work; which otherwise, and in other Assemblies, hath ordinarily taken up long and great debates, as in such a variety of matters of such concernment, may well be supposed to fall out. And this is no other then what the Apostle Peter exhorts unto, Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason or account of the hope that is in you. ¹The Apostle Paul saith of the spiritual Truths of the Gospel,² That God hath prepared them for those that love him. The inward and innate constitution of the new creature being in it self such as is suited to all those Truths, as congenial thereunto: But although there be this mutual adaptness between these two, yet such is the mixture of ignorance, darkness and unbelief, carnal reason, preoccupation of judgement, interest of parties, wantonness in opinion, proud adhering to our own persuasions, and perverse oppositions and averseness to agree with others, and a multitude of such like distempers common to believing man: All which are not only mixed with, but at times, (especially in ⟨image 7⟩such times as have passed over our heads) are ready to overcloud our judgements, and do cause our eyes to be double, and sometimes prevail as well as lusts, and do bias our wills and affections: And such is their mixture, that although there may be existent an habitual preparedness in mens spirits, yet not always a present readiness to be found, specially not in such a various multitude of men, to make a solemn and deliberate profession of all truths, it being as great a work to find the spirits of the just (perhaps the best) of Saints, ready for every truth, as to be prepared to every good work.