17 / 186
.
to
the
Chief
of
Sinners:
.
i
were therein
contained ;
and
efpecial1y,
the
Prieft andClerk
m
oft
happy,&
without doubt,
greatly blefs'd,becaJ.lfe
~hey
were
theServants,
as I then
thought
ot
God;
and
were Principal
in
the holy Ten1ple,
to do
his
Work
therein.
17.This
Concei(grewro
ftrong,
in a little
time,upon
mySpirit,thathad
I
but feen
aPrieft
(though never fo fordid11nd debauched in
his~
Life)
Llhould find mySpirit fall u1ader him,re–
verence him, ·&
kneel unto him;yea,i
thougl1t '
for the Love I did
bear
unto them (fuppofing
they were
the Minifters of
God) I
could have ·
lain down at
their
feet, &
hav.e been
trampled
upon by
them ; their Name;
their
Garb
and -
Work
did fo intoxicate and hewitch me.
1
8. After I had qeen thus
for
feme
confide.;
rable
time,anotherThought
came in
my
Mind;
·
. and
that
was,whethe,r we were of
thelf~Zelites.;
\ or no?For finding in
the
Scripture~,
that they
were
once
the
peculiar People
of
God.,thought
I,ifl were
once of
thisRace,mySoultnufl: needs
be
happy.No'Wagain, I
found within
me
agreat ··
longing to
be
refolved about
this
Queftio~,but
could
not tell
how
I
1hould :
At laft, I
asked
, n1y
Father
of
it;
who
told
me,
No, we were not.
: Wherefore then 1 fell
in
rriy
Spirit,
as
to
the
.hopes
of
that,
and ~ fo
remained.
1
9·
But all this while, I was not fenfible of
1
the
danger
and evil
of
fin ; I
was':Kept
from
confidering
that fin would damn me, what -
Religion
foever
I
followed, unlefs I was
.
found
i~
Chrift
~ ~ay,
I
~~!e~ ~h~u~hh~
of
(,
.·
1m
7
}
.