And every creature which is in
heaven"--where they are--"and on the earth"--where thou art--"and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are
therein, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power,
be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for
ever and ever."
And this is written for our learning, that we through patience and
comfort of the Scriptures might have hope; and that the drooping
ones might come boldly to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need.
In general, God was pleased to take this course with me: First, to
suffer me to be afflicted with temptations concerning the truths of
the gospel, and then reveal them to me; as sometimes I should lie
under great guilt for sin, even crushed to the ground therewith; and
then the Lord would show me the death of Christ, yea, and so
sprinkle my conscience with his blood, that I should find, and that
before I was aware, that in that conscience where but just now did
reign and rage the law, even there would rest and abide the peace
and love of God through Christ.
Thus by the strange and unusual assaults of the tempter, my soul was
like a broken vessel driven as with the winds, and tossed, sometimes
headlong into despair, sometimes upon the covenant of works, and
sometimes to wish that the new covenant and the conditions thereof
might, so far forth as I thought myself concerned, be turned another
way and changed.
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