that his very bones might be told and lots should be cast for his garment Is not this Jesus whose doctrine I preach unto you This is the Master whom David invites us to hear speaking in the person of God To day if you hear his voice harden not your hearts as your Fore-fathers have done in the desart where I was made angry against those who durst distrust my power and censure all my workes for the space of forty yeares Their infidelity shall not go unpunished I will make them know that I can revenge my self in my wrath I sweare they shall not enter into the place of rest which I had prepared for them Behold dreadfull words and you will doe well to be warned by their loss lest you be excluded also from that place of repose which is offered to you As it availed them little to give ear to the relation of those who returned from the land of Promise and informed them of the true state of it because they would not believe what was said so it is not enough to heare the Gospel preached it must be received humbly to the end you may obtaine by faith the fruition of that repose which is spoken of in the passage I alledged It cannot be that repose which God assumed after he had made the world that being no other thing then a cessation from work nor is it likewise the repose of the Sabbath whose institution was before the birth of David In summe it is not that repose which our Fathers tasted in the Land whereinto they were led by Ioshua for that long since is past therefore it must needs be that the Psalmist speaks of another repose more holy a Sabbath more excellent which appertains to the people of God and in which the Just do eternally repose from all their labours as formerly our Lord did repose the seventh day from all his works Moyses could not bring us into that place where this divine Sabbath is celebrated Jesus Christ entred there the first to open it to those who should receive his doctrine This is the Priest deserving adoration who to purifie heaven and earth and to reconcile man to God has not not made use of the bloud of goats and bulls but of his owne which he has shed to the last drop upon the Altar of the Cross The high Priest of the Law was obliged to offer Sacrifices for his own sins as well as those of the People Jesus Christ is the Sovereign high Priest pure holy unpolluted uncapable of any spot consequently needs not offer any victime for himself he hath not received his Priest-hood by way of a carnall birth and succession as the Priests according to Aaron did but hee has been established eternal Priest according to the order of Melchisedec as we learn by those words of the Psalmist which you confess are to be understood of the Messias Our Lord hath sworne thou art an eternal Priest according to the order of Melchisedec If the Levitical Priest-hood which the people received together with the Law guided to perfection that is to say gave true Justice what need was there that another Priest should come according to the order of Melchisedec and if the Priest-hood be transferred it then follows that the Law is also changed because these two things are inseparably linked together Now that there has been a translation of the Priest-hood 't is not to be doubted since he of whom that passage I alledged speaks was of the Tribe of Iuda and not of Levi out of which Moyses ordained that the Priests should be chosen Observe also that the Leviticall Priest-hood was not established by oath as is that which I treat and this circumstance shewes the sanctity and immutability of that thing unto which God has pleased to unite it There were to be many Priests according to the order of Aaron because they were mortal But the Priest-hood of Jesus Christ is eternall as well as himself he has alwaies power to guide those to eternall salvation who believe in him He is alwaies in the functions of his Priesthood that is to say in continual oblation of himself to God and in prayer without intermission for hee that sayes Eternal Priest sayes also Eternal Oblation The Levitical Priests stood during the exercise of their Functions Jesus Christ having once offered the Hoast of his body is seated at the right hand of God according to the words of the Psalmist The Lord said to my Lord Take thy place till I have put thy enemies under my feet Be not you of that number my deare Brethren you that are descended from Abraham the Father of the Faithfull you whose Ancestours have been so holy you to whom those promises were made and for whom Jesus Christ principally came doe not permit strangers to carry away the benediction due to lawful children and having hitherto born the heavy yoke of Moyses doe not fear now to submit your selvs to that of Jesus Christ which is so light and pleasing And in this you will even obey Moyses by whom as you know God promised That after many ages hee would raise a Prophet of your Nation to whom hee would have you attend as to himself The Apostle spake much after this manner his discourse raised great Disputes amongst his Auditours some blaming what others approved some believing others continuing obstinate S. Paul finding hee could gaine little upon them hee told them freely I know well that ye will fulfill the prophesie of Esay to whom God spake in these tearms Goe to the Children of Israel and tell them You shall hear with your ears but shall not understand with your mindes you shall see with the eyes of the body but not with those of the soule for the heart of this people is suffocated with fat they have heard with their ears against their wills being incensed have shut their eyes for feare they should see by their eyes take in by their eares consent by their hearts and wills and so work their conversion and their cure The incredulous Jewes were extreamly offended at these words and more which he added viz. That the news of salvation should be carried to the Gentiles who would imbrace it This discourse gave occasion of much dispute to the Audience who not being able to come to an agreement every one returned home possessed with different thoughts and opinions Hitherto we have proceeded securely following the steps of Saint Luke who ends here his story and leaves the Apostle in the Confusion of Rome where he saies he remained two years and during that time preached the Doctrine of Jesus Christ without any let Receiving with freedome all those who came to see him Hence what concerns the rest of his life we know little yet I will endeavour to ground what I shall adde more of this Subject either upon certaine traditions or from his owne Epistles In the second Epistle which he writes to Tymothy his dear
might take them all and he exhorted himself to use nothing of mercy either to old or young to whom even the most barbarous are wont to shew some compassion and pitty He was entring into the thirty third year of his age and the heat of his youth joyned with the temper of his minde and zeal of Religion easily transported him to resolutions that were extream He was neer to Damasco when an extraordinary light comming from Heaven and invironing him he was thrown downe to the earth and heard a voice that said to him Saul Saul why dost thou persecute me Jesus Christ was uncapable of suffering persecution in his person but he suffered it in his members that were so strictly united to him as he reputed all injuries done unto them done unto his own person This persecutor being affrighted answered Lord who art thou I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou dost persecute continued the voice and it is in vain for thee to kick against the pricks Then Saul astonished trembling and out of himself cryed Lord what wilt thou that I doe It was answered him Rise up and goe into the City and there I will make known to thee what thou oughtest to doe Those who accompanied him were wonderfully astonished at this conference For they heard the sound of a voice but could not distinguish the words nor saw they any body Saul rising up found himself blind The brightness of Heaven had exteriourly blinded him but his soul was delivered from his former darkness and this glorious blinde man shall appear ere long one of the bright Stars of the Church He enquired not what should become of him but made an humble Sacrifice of himself to him whom but a moment before he had persecuted His Conversion was sudden and compleat and so it shall continue to his death He was led by the hand into the City of Damascus where he was three dayes and three nights without eating or drinking but not without receiving the nourishment of heavenly consolations and those great verities whereof he was to be the Apostle Here humane prudence is at a stand that God should choose him a Preacher of faith who but a little before was so furious an enemy to it But the wisedome of heaven wonderfully shewes it self in this conduct for by this appears the efficacy of the grace of Jesus Christ which can soften a heart thus hardened without infringing our liberty and of a mortal adversary make him his most faithful couragious Champion He was to be the Doctor of this new grace necessary to the state of corrupted nature He was to heal the infirmity of the will captivated to concupiscence and rectifie the ignorance of the understanding And how could he better conceive the necessary and efficacy of this celestial remedy then by his own experience Certainly he who had so long time before the heavy yoak of the Law and having his inclinations so contrary to the faith of Christ had yet received it by a meanes so extraordinary whereby the Soule was illuminated and the heart so suddenly mollified so strongly and yet nevertheless so gently could not beleeve that man had the cheifest part in his own conversion and that grace was not a slave to the will but rather a gentle and amorous Mistress which prevents fortifies moves and makes the Soule active He was far from imagining there was any merit in him in order to his election and therefore he might with more efficacy announce unto the Jewes That the works of the Law did not render them worthy to receive the Gospel and to the Gentiles likewise If they were called that it was out of the meer choice and pure goodness of God He was to labour in the conversion of sinners and God to shew him that he must deale mildly and sweetly with them made choise of him even when he was guilty of the greatest sin that man could commit Before for the same reason he had established Saint Peter Head of the Church after he had thrice denyed him Ananias a Priest of very great piety governed then the Infant Church of Damasco Jesus Christ by apparition commanded him to goe into the house of one Jude and told him the street where he should finde a man named Saul borne at Tarsis who was earnest in prayer Ananias astonished took the boldness to answer him in a manner which shewed he was accustomed to the like Visions Saying Lord I have understood from divers persons of the great harm this man hath done to your Church and now he is here in this place with commissions to apprehend all those who invocate thy name Fear nothing answered the Son of God he is no more a persecutor but a vessel of election and an instrument by whom I will work great wonders I have chosen him to announce my doctrine to Nations and to Princes without fearing the fury of one or the power of the other He shall preach to the Children of Israel those truths which he hath endeavoured to abolish and I will let him know what he is to suffer for my name Ananias replying no more went presently and obeyed He found this new Convert and approaching to him laid his hands upon his head saying Saul my dear Brother the Lord Jesus who appeared himself unto you on the way to Damascus that you may see how dear to him your salvation is has sent me to you to the end that in his name you should recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost that you may afterwards pour it forth upon others and acquit your self of the Ministery to which he hath ordained you Immediatly the Scales which covered the eyes of Saul fell from them and he saw as he did before and at the same instant of this miracle he was baptized and received it with such disposition of minde as we may imagine to be in one whose Conversion was so extraordinary and whom Jesus Christ himself took the pains to instruct For Ananias did neither Catechise him nor send him to the Apostles to be Catechised knowing well that he who had drawn him out of the darkness of the Law would have him immediately to receive from him the Heavenly Doctrine of the Gospel as being particularly his Apostle He issued from the water of Baptisme not onely pure but full of courage And unwilling to lose one hour of time without imploying it to the honour of his new Master he began his Function going into the Synagogues and there teaching that Jesus Christ was the Son of God His condition his Doctrine the fame which was spread amongst the Jewes of his zeal for the Law and the designe upon which he came to Damascus made them at the first to hear him with great attention But when he was heard to speak of Christ crucified as of the Messias it was strange to see the astonishment amongst his Audience they could hardly beleive their own eares What said they this man who does now
announce unto us the name of Jesus Christ is he not the very same who not long since in Hierusalem shewed himself to be so cruel an enemy to it and persecuted to death all those who invoked it and the same that came hither with express Commission to apprehend all those who made profession of that impiety Whence comes this so sudden a change By what sleight has he been so quickly gained How has he so soon forgotten what he own to his Religion his Country and his own honour From thence they passed to injuries and calumnies which the Apostle generously disdained and these Storms made him take deeper root in the love of Jesus Christ Every day the fire of his zeal increased his discourse was accompanied with so forcible reasons he did so admirably expound the Holy Scriptures he unvailed with so much clearness the ancient Figures which foretold our Saviour he so plainly shewed them that he whom he preached to them was the true Messias as the Jewes not being able to answer his Arguments remained shamefully confounded After he had stayed some time with those in Damascus the Holy Ghost who conducted him put him upon the Voyage of Arabia We know nothing of what he did there but we may well believe that so ardent a zeal as his and so eminent a knowledge of divine verities could not but produce effects worthy the Doctor of Nations He returned to Damascus where he remained two years and during that time he preached the Gospel with such success that the Jewes resolved to seize upon him and to make him away The Governour whom they had gained permitted them to keep the gates of the Town guarded that he might not escape But his disciples let him down from the top of the wall in a basket He was reserved for other Combats and for other Victories and that which he had hitherto done was but a little Essay of what he was to doe in establishing the Law of him who had called him to the Apostleship of the Gentiles though he might well expect to finde more cruel and powerful enemies in Hierusalem yet he forbore not to goe thither to see Saint Peter and to doe him the honour due to the first Apostle and this not out of any vain curiosity or to receive from him the Apostolick Mission having already received it from Jesus Christ himself When he appeared amongst the faithfull every one was fearful and shunned him as a common Enemy Barnabas with whom he had studied under Gamaliel and who was converted before him presented him to the Apostles that is to Peter and James which two he onely saw in that Voyage He told them of his miraculous Conversion and what he had already done at Damascus for defence of the Gospel From that time every one looked upon him as a main workman in the Vineyard of our Lord. He stayed there but fifteen dayes in which space he disputed so efficaciously against the Jews of Greece and the Gentils that they were resolved to kill him which was the cause that obliged the faithful to conduct him to Caesarea from whence he went to Tharsis the place of his Birth He fled not from thence out of fear or to avoid danger but humbly followed the conduct of providence St. Luke makes no mention of what he did at Tharsis and we chuse rather to imitate his silence then to attribute actions to him of which we have no proof during the five yeers he abode there In the mean time those were not idle who had left Hierusalem by reason of the Persecution which happened after the death of Saint Stephen obeying herein the precept of our Saviour who wills us if persecuted in one City to fly unto another For they had preached the Faith in Phoenicia and in the Isle of Cyprus and in Antioch of Syria This Divine Seed abundantly increased in this last City both amongst the Jews and Gentils We are taught by a Tradition received in the Church that Saint Peter established there his first Seat which he held almost seven yeers and then left it to lay at Rome the Foundation of that of his Successors The newes of the good Success of the Gospel in a place so famous and so important for the East was brought to the Church of Hierusalem whereupon Barnabas a man of eminent vertue was dispatched thither to cultivate so spacious a Field At his Arrival he rejoyced to see so fair a Harvest He augmented it by his Preaching by his Example and by his Miracles but judging it was needfull to have the help of an Excellent Labourer he went to find out the Apostle at Tharsis and brought him to Antioch as to a place proportioned to his strength and zeal The Success answered his hopes There they stayed a whole yeere and during that time the number of those which were converted was found very great It was there also that the name of Christian began first to be given to the Disciples of Jesus Christ At the same time certaine Prophets arrived there and amongst them one named Agabus foretold a great famine which should happen in the time of Claudius the Emperor who Succeeded Caligula The Christians being moved with charity resolved to prevent the necessity of their Brethren in Judea and having gotten what Alms they could delivered it into the hands of our Apostle and Barnabas to carry safe unto those for whom it was gathered This occasioned them to make a Voyage to Hierusalem where Herod endeavoured to make famous his entry by the death of St. Peter But to understand this better t is necessary we take the course of this Story a little higher The Emperor Tiberius succeeding Augustus made his Reign notorious by all the cruelties which may enter into the Soules of the greatest Tyrants No condition was secure from his jealousies a Rome lost her most noble and vertuous Citizens by the impudency of Accusers who permitted innocency to be no where safe The Noble Germanicus was his Victime in the East Agrippina his wife survived him but to end her days by as cruel a death Their Sons Drusus and Nero were treated in the same manner by that Barbarian with whom reason of State which opens a passage to all the crimes of Tyrants had more power then all the Lawes of nature In fine he was the Executioner of all his Friends The obscurest corner in the Isle of Caprea could not so conceal his bruitish impurities but that the memory of them has reached even our Age and their recital would be too horrid to find any place in this History Whilest fear silenced all the World the divine vengeance which had for the space of two and twenty years made use of him to punish the sins of Rome hurryed him out of this World to a punishment due to his crimes and by his death the Universe was delivered from a most dreadful Monster Six moneths before Agrippa Grand-child to Herod the Elder was cast into prison for
Angel descended from Heaven into the prison where he was and found him betwixt two Souldiers of his guard oppressed with sleep The Dungeon was instantly filled with a great light and awaking him by a touch on the side at his command to follow him the chains fell from his hands He obeyed and passing the first and second watch came to the iron gate that led to the street which of it self also opened After he had gone some few steps this Messenger of Heaven vanished and the prisoner who till then thought he was in a dream found indeed that he was delivered out of the hands of Herod and from the fury of the Jewes He came and knockt at the door of Mary the Mother of John sirnamed Mark where many faithfull were gathered together praying for his delivery A young Maid named Rhodes knew him by his voice and presently went up to tell the Assembly some told her she was mad but she affirming that it was certainly he they replyed t is his Angel meaning him whom we call our Angel Guardian and who is given to every one of us When the door was opened and that they saw him they could yet scarce beleive their own eyes He recounted to them what had happened in the prison And giving order to make known this good newes to James the Brother of our Lord who was Bishop of Hierusalem and to the rest of the Faithfull he departed towards the Coast of Palestine there to preach the Gospel From thence he went to Rome where he began to make war against Idolatry and to establish the Seat of his Successors which might be through all Ages of the Church the Center of Ecclesiastical Unity Herod advertised of his delivery grew inraged astainst the Souldiers to whose custody he was committed He caused diligent search to be made after him but in vain and the Divine Vengeance not long after failed not to punish Herod himself For he being at Cesarea the Inhabitants of Tyre and Sydon with whom he was angry the cause is not mentioned in the History of the Acts sent Deputies to him to make their peace He gave them publick audience and to render this action more solemn would appear adorn'd in all the Royal ornaments of Majesty At his Entry the flattering people clapt their hands and when he spake they cryed T is a God that speakes and not a man This unfortunate Prince took pleasure in this Sacrilegious Adulation and with joy received the honour which is onely due to the King of Kings But at the same time the Angel of our Lord strook him with a horrible disease that from his Throne he was carried to his Bed where the worms eating his flesh made it appear that it was the flesh of a mortall man and that God is more elevated above Sovereigns then Sovereigns are above their subjects that by the least of creatures he knowes how to abate the pride of the most formidable Tyrants and that piety and justice are the most solid Bases of an Empire The persecution of this wicked man gave occasion to the Apostles to leave Judaea and divide themselves into all parts of the world for till then they had resided in Jerusalem Before they separated themselves they composed a Summary of Christian Doctrine which is called the Apostles Creed whether it were that every one made an Article or because it was the mark or as it were the watch-word whereby Christians might know one another as being souldiers of one Band. Saint Matthew wrote also before this separation the Gospel which bears his name and of which St. Hierome sayes he saw the Original in Hebrew in the Library of Pamphilius the Martyr Saint Bartholomew going into the Indies transcribed it with his own hand and it was found in the time of Zeno the Emperor with the body of Saint Barnaby In the mean time the Apostle returned to Antioch with Barnaby and another companion called John sirnamed Mark. Their return caused great joy to that Church but she enjoyed not long their presence for the Prophets and Doctors of which that Church was composed amongst whom was Simon sirnamed the Black Lucius the Cyrenian and Manahem Foster-Brother to Herod the Greek word signifies brought up with him Whilest they fasted and were busied in the Ministery of our Lord they received command from the Holy Ghost to separate from amongst all the rest Saul and Barnabas Saint Luke places them in the rank of Doctors for the work unto which he had designed them They presently obeying imposed hands upon them after fasting and prayer There is a great diversity of opinions amongst Interpreters in Explicating what the Imposition of hands signifies in this passage of the Acts and what was the Ministery in which those here named were imployed The word of the Liturgy according to some signifies the celebrating of the Sacrifice of the Mass Saint Chrysostom Explicates it of Preaching Others of any kinde of Ecclesiastical Function By imposition of hands divers modern Interpreters understand Ordination to Episcopacy Their ground is upon this circumstance of the Liturgy because the Church of Antioch did always accompany this action with fasting and prayer But although the Church doe at this day celebrate Ordinations with these Ceremonies it is not therefore to be said they were practised from the beginning nor that every time they were practised it was for Ordination They add also that there is no other passage in the New Testament which shewes St. Paul and St. Barnabas to be consecrated either Priests or Bishops One might answer that the Apostleship containes these two Orders by that power which is called per Excellentiam for the Apostles were to found particular Churches which composed the Universal Now those could not be founded without Bishops the Church being defined to be a people joyned to their Bishop They ought therefore to have that Character which is necessary for the Ordination of Bishops Certainly it connot be shewed in the Gospel that the other Apostles sent by Jesus Christ were first made Bishops and afterwards Apostles nor is there any likelyhood that the Apostleship of Saint Paul who as St. Ambrose and St. Austin say was not called by Jesus Christ mortal but by Jesus Christ totally God that is to say living by a divine life after his Resurrection did not comprise the excellency which the others had and was less extraordinary Saint Chrysostom whose authority is of great weight in what concernes the Doctor of Nations sayes that he was ordained Apostle in the time we speak of This opinion may be grounded upon this that Saint Luke in this passage ranks him amongst the other Doctors of the Church of Antioch Whence 't is probable if he had been considered as an Apostle and an Apostle of the Gentiles by eminency or if he had exercised that Function he would not have given him a Title much inferiour to the Apostleship For Saint Paul speaking of the Orders of Ministers of the Church
The necessity of providing for the salvation of the Gentils who were endangered by that action of Saint Peter to be aversed from the Gospel and the troubles again to be revived which the Councel had happily quieted obliged him who was their Apostle to tax in publique a publique conduct which he judged not to be conformable to to the verity of the Gospel But we must also admire the generous and profound humility of him upon whom our Lord had founded the building of his Church that he endured so mildely and with such patience a publique correction without either alledging his Rank or his good intentions in defence of what he had done Certainly he who was reprehended in this manner appears more admirable then he who reprehended him and much harder to imitate for it is more facile to see in another that which is ill and correct it then to see what is fit to be corrected in ones selfe and quietly to endure reproach for it in the face of al the faithful who by that action might have a less good opinion of him then they had before This Dispute which made no diminution of charity amongst those who propose nothing for the end of all their actions but the glory of God was presently followed with another Dispute which also dis-united not their hearts though it did their persons St. Paul judging it fit to visit the Churches where he and Barnabas had preached acquainted him with his designe he presently approved of it knowing well that those new Plants stood in need of being cultivated by the same hands which had planted and watred them with so much labour But he was of opinion it was fit to take to their companion John sirnamed Mark. The Apostle held this choice neither reasonable nor profitable because he had left them in Pamphilia and came not with them to those Townes which they were to visit and so consequently being a stranger to all things there and unknown he could not labour there with profit Barnaby wanted not reasons for his opinion so that not agreeing they chose rather to sever themselves and divide betwixt them the imployment of their Ministery and this no doubt by the conduct of the Holy Ghost which brought great advantages to the places where they preached by their separation The Apostle by this rigour towards St. Mark intended to make him know the fault he had committed in leaving them whether it was for the apprehension of discommodities he was to suffer or for some other reason which Saint Luke sets not down or perhaps foreseeing he was to run more dangers and greater discommodities then before and fearing he might not have sufficient courage to resist so that abandoning them the second time it would encrease the shame of what he had formerly done Barnaby on the other side who loved him as his Kinsman thought this weakness of his was to be forgotten and that he ought to be received againe into their company to give him meanes thereby to repair his errour Thus each of them had most pure intentions and far from any particular or self-interests But in the event Mark profited by Saint Pauls severity and in his Epistle to the Colossians he speaks of him as one of his deare disciples The Apostles thus separated Barnaby and Mark took the way of Cyprus Tradition sayes he came into Italy and there founded the Church of Milan Ancient Ecclesiastical Authors cite an Epistle under his name which contains most holy instructions Some have attributed to him that Epistle which is directed to the Hebrews and received by the Church into the number of Apostolical and Canonical Letters But we will speak of this difficulty in another place The Apostle having chosen Silas for his companion took leave of the faithfull of Antioch who could not part with him without much sorrow being very sensible of his charitable obligations towards them He passed through Syria and Cilicia and in all places where he came confirmed and exhorted all the Christians to continue firme in their faith and in the observation of the Apostolical Decrees newly published In Listris a Disciple of our Lord named Timothy the son of Eunice a Iew by Nation and of a Father that was a Centile lived in so great fame and sanctity that the Inhabitants and those of Iconium had him in great esteem This man he took along with him and lest the Iewes who accompanied him might murmur and also to open him a way the better to announce the Gospel unto others he circumcised him In all places where he passed the efficacy of his speech not onely confirmed the faithfull but converted unbeleevers and produced dayly to the Church a notable increase The Holy Ghost was their guide and it was by his command that passing by Phrygia and Galatia they preached not there If one should ask the reason of it humane wisdome would be at a stand but true piety will acknowledge that she knowes no other then the will of God who owing to none the light of the Gospel injures not any from whom by a hidden judgement this heavenly ray is with-held or to whom it is not discovered before the time he has ordained Being in Mysia they meant to goe to Bithinia but the Spirit of Jesus would not suffer them Having therefore traverst Mysia they descended into the Town of Troad where in the night the Apostle had this Vision A man attired after the Macedonian manner appeared and spake to him in an humble and ardent way Come into Macedonia and assist us This was an evident proofe to him that it was the will of God he should preach the Gospel in that Country He would not therefore defer it but the next morning embarked himself with his company to whom Luke the Evangelist who penned the Acts of the Apostles was joyned From Troad they cam directly to the Isle of Samothrace from thence to Neapolis and afterwards to Phillipis a famous City of Macedonia and then a Colony of the Romans It was there he began to preach the Gospel carrying himselfe with great prudence because the Inhabitants were almost all Gentiles living under the Roman Lawes and under an Emperour enemy to the Jewes who were there but in a small number so that a little Oratory without the Towne was sufficient for their Assembly Upon a Sabbath-day the Apostle went thither and speaking to some women whom he there met there was one of them called Lidia whose Trade was to dye purple the heart of this woman God opened to receive the Doctrine which Saint Paul announced He baptized her and all her Family She willing in some manner to acknowledge the great grace which she had received by his Ministery said unto him If you beleeve that I am truly faithfull to our Lord grace me so much as to retire into my house The Apostle granted her that consolation and came to lodge in her house Not long after as he went with Silas to the place of
retire so to preserve their lives very necessary for the good of the Church were of the most considerable persons in the City They had received the Doctrine of the Apostle with great fervour and would so firmly imprint it in their minde that every day they turned over the Books of the Holy Scripture which St. Paul had alledged not that they doubted of his sincerity but to confirm themselves by their owne knowledge in the beliefe of those verities which he had declared unto them The Apostles following the shoar of the Aegean Sea turning towards the South and leaving Pella a famous City in giving birth to Alexander they came to Beroe a City of Macedonia The newes flew as far as Thessalonica from whence the enemies of Saint Paul ran in great diligence and being arrived prefently stirred up the ignorant people against him who announced truth unto them This caused the faithful to conduct him to the Sea-shore some of them accompanied him as far as Athens where he was met by Silas and Timothy This City once famous for the Empire of Greece and Sciences after divers revolutions was fallen under the power of the Romans And although it was extreamly declined from its first splendor and particularly from that of Philosophy and other Disciplines for which Saint Greogory of Nazianzen calls it the seat and abode of Philosophy yet there was still conserved in it enough to make the Apostle judge that it was very important for the glory of God there to make known the verities of the Gospel Besides Learning which there flourished the Councel of the Areopagits Sovereign Judges of Important Affaires rendered it very famous but Idolatry dishonoured it For it seemed to glory in gathering together all the Idols of the World as if it feared onely not to be superstitious enough After they had erected Altars to the known Gods adored by other Nations they raised others to the unknown Gods of Europe Asia and Africa as some Authors write and according to others to the unknown God as it is set down in the Acts of the Apostles to the end they might forget no Divinity believing that a great plague had happened to them for their neglect to some unknown God Saint Paul beholding this City so miserably plunged in the impiety of false Gods found his heart warmed with a new zeale and touched with a most sensible griefe for the loss of so many soules He disputed in the Synagogues with the Iewes and the Proselytes and in publique places to those he met he spake of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ The Epicurean Philosophers and the Stoicks disputed often with him Saint Luke makes no mention of Professors of other Sects These cared not to embrace a Religion that spake of nothing but how to mortifie their senses and renounce the voluptuous pleasures of body and minde to follow Jesus crucified for they place their sovereign good in pleasure denying Divine Providence and the immortality of the soule which is the Basis of Religion They also were more alienated by the vanity of their Opinions for they acknowledging no corruption in humane nature by original sin in which they agreed with the other Philosophers went yet further making a God of their Wise man or rather a Devil of Pride He onely according to their imagination was knowing happy powerful exempt from errour unsensible of irregular passions King of all things and of himselfe and without need of any thing but from himself These principles were very contrary to the Doctrine preached by the Apostles which hath for foundation mans ignorance in his understanding and infirmity in his will whence it comes that of himselfe sin having put him into this condition he knowes not what is fit for him to doe and Iess able to performe when he comes to know it This double wound presupposed and experience having taught the Iewes that their Law could not cure them and likewise the Gentiles that neither the light of nature nor that of Sciences had the power to give them a real remedy it was not hard to dispose men to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ which brought with it perfect health for every one desires to be freed from errour and weakness when he comes to know that he is plunged into it And on the other side we slight Physitians when we think we have no need of them Even so did these two Sects of Philosophers of whom we speak who finding as they thought great absurdities in the Doctrine of the Apostle some of them called him a Talker that proposed things which he could not prove others said that he discoursed of new Spirits not being able to comprehend that which he preached of the resurrection of our Lord and of his Divinity This Contestation which dayly grew into more heat in the publique place of meeting was cause that they conducted Saint Paul before the Areopagites to the end he might more clearly explicate the doctrin which he taught the novelty whereof had stirred up the curiosity of the Athenians who had no other employment all the day then either to learn or debate newes The Apostle appeared in this place where all others used to tremble with a bold modesty There they asked him if they might hear this new Doctrine which he taught and when silence was made he spake in this manner Athenians I observe that in your religious worship you forget nothing nay therein you are exact even to excess For you are not content to adore those Gods you know and to whom all the Earth does render homage but passing by the publique place of meetings I saw an Altar with this Inscription To the unknown God You have not raised this Altar but with designe to honour this unknown God and this day my designe is to make him known unto you Wherefore since I am to speak to you of a thing so important and since I desire to instruct you in that which you so solemnly desire to know I cannot but in reason promise to my self a favourable aud quiet Audience And this gives me also great confidence that I speak not to ignorant vulgar people prepossessed with common errours so as to be incapable of understanding any truth contrary to what they fancy Those who hear me are equally honorable by their Learning and by their Administration of justice the one of these cannot have a more noble Object then Divinity nor the other a more considerable employment then the setling of a true worship due to that Divinity God who has not onely created the matter of the world but all things in the world and has placed them in that order which we cannot behold without admiration dwells not in Temples made by the hands of men He cannot be inclosed because there is no other place that containes him but the incomprehensible immensity of his being He has no need of Victimes nor of Sacrifices nor of the homage of men finding in himselfe his glory his
Disciple he saies that God will deliver him from the Jawes of the Lyon by which probably he meanes Nero to whom he was presented for the defence of his appeal This Prince began then the third year of his Empire and whether his wicked inclinations were yet asleep or whether the continual exhortations of Seneca his Tutor withheld him or that he dissembled till his authority was better setled he gave the people of Rome some hope that under his raigne they should see a resemblance of their ancient liberty Burrus Captain of his guard presenting a sentence of death to be figned by him he cryed out I wish it pleased the gods I could not write This speech begot a beliefe in men that he was merciful but it was not long ere he gave the lye to that opinion The Iews to embitter his spirit against Saint Paul and to make the worst impressions they could in order to his ruine under colour of Justice and Piety made use of one Alliturus of their Nation who had gained great credit with the Emperor by his Comoedian Art But the Divine Providence frustrated their wicked design and made the Apostle obtain there a glorious pardon where in humane probability he might have expected his condemnation to an opprobrious death The feare of this his danger was so great as most of those who before was his followers especially those of Asia abandoned him Amongst these cowardly and trayterous disciples he names particularly Phigellus and Hermogenes the last of these Tertullian reckons amongst the Iewish Hereticks who denyed the Resurrection But at the same time God sent him Onosiphorus an Ephesian who assisted him with so much charity as he left the memory of it to the whole Church in his fore-mentioned Epistle The Greek Menologue saies he was Bishop of Colophones and the Romans celebrates the memory of him on the sixth day of September Besides this faithful companion he had also Titus and Tichius But those he speedily dispatched to preach the Gospel in divers places so that his care as well as authority was extended to all the Provinces of the world he preferred the interest of souls before the comfort which he might receive by the company of his Disciples nor did Jesus Christ leave this uninteressed zeal without recompence For at that same time when every one had abandoned him he dained to appear unto him that he might fortifie his courage and resolution he acquired much of glory by his persecutions the fury of his enemies which appeared at all the Tribunals of Rome made way to the preaching of the Gospel in those places where perhaps no occasion of laying it open had ever been given Many even of Nero's houshold were converted and the Apostle salutes the Philippians from them Amongst whom the Martirologue mentions one Torpetes who died couragiously at Pisa in Tuscany in defence of that Faith Tacitus speakes of one Pomponia Graecina who was accused for having imbraced a forraine Superstition and being turned over to her Husband he taking cognizance of the crime according to ancient customes declared her innocent Now that which this Author calls forraine Superstition is very likely to be Christianity I finde also great probability that Seneca and the Apostle were acquainted although the letters which are set forth under their names be counterfeit and very unworthy of either of them This great Philosopher had too nere a relation to Nero to be ignorant of the Audience he had given to a criminal whose cause the Iewes by their extraordinary Solicitation had made famous And if he were present when he pleaded there is no doubt but the force of his discourse and his subline arguments might make him desirous of a particular acquaintance with one that preached so new a Doctrine Some Authors have said it was by his meanes that Nero condemned him not to death but that is not founded upon any solid proofe nor ought we to attribute this marvelous deliveance but to the secret power of God over the hearts of Princes to incline them as he please Whilest Saint Paul laboured to found the Church at Rome he understood that the Ephesian Church was pestered with many false Doctors who corrupted that pure Doctrine which he had there preached hence he wrote unto them an excellent Epistle in the which he principally instructs them in the profound mystery of predestination and vocation of men to faith and Union with Jesus Christ so to forme an admirable body of which he is the Head and then he treats of the duty of every faithful man according to his condition A little after some Authors say before or at the same time he was not satisfied with instructing the flock himselfe but would also give unto Tymothy their Pastor wholesome rules whereby to acquit himselfe worthily of his charge I know many would have this Epistle to be almost the last that was written but in my opinion their objections are not considerable that the date we assign is more certain This difficulty appertains not to the subject we have in hand besides we have already explicated it in the paraphrase wee made of it Towards the end he desires him to come unto him which he performs leaving Tichius in his place The Philppians hearing of the Apostles necessity deputed Epaphroditus with considerable alms for his assistance The change of air with the toiles of his journey made him fall sick at Rome But S. Paul by his prayers obteined his recovery sent him back to his Church with an Epistle full of wholesome instructions against the errors of Cerinthus Simon the Magician and of other Impostors whom he calls enemies of the Cross of Christ because they taught that our Lord was not really crucified but some fantome in his place S. Ignatius Martyr forty years after wrote unto them upon the same subject and so did likewise S. Polycarpus T is true there is doubt made whether the Epistle of the former be really his The Apostle had not preached in the city of Câ—lossus which is in the Province of Phrygia yet knowing the state of that Church assembled by Epaphras hee wrote unto them that they should beware of the Jewes of the Hereticks and of the Gentiles which sowed erroneous doctrine amongst them touching Legal Observations and the worship of Angels or Genienses Philemon after his conversion very much assisted the faithful making his house the place of their assemblies giving great alms to the poor One of his slaves called Onesimus ran away from his hous in quality of a thief this slave coming to Rome fell luckily into the hands of the Apostle who converted him which obliged him particularly to write in his behalf to his master for his pardon that he would receive him again not as a fugitive but as a deare childe which hee had begotten in his chains Theodoret saies that Philemon sent him back to serve and assist S. Paul and S. Hierome reports that he was first made
to bring his Father Jacob to him The good old man surprised with these glad tydings was overjoyed to think he should satisfie his eyes before he left this world with the sight of him whom he had often bewayled as dead he went then into Egypt and after he had lived there some years in great quiet and peace died in the arms of his Son Joseph Our Ancestors also died there and those that descended of them multiplied extreamly in a few years At last the time of the Divine promise made to Abraham drawing nigh there sate in the Throne of Egypt a Prince who had never heard the name of Joseph time having made him forgotten and seeing the daily increase of our Nation after an extraordinary manner he began to apprehend least those strangers should render themselves Masters of his country whereupon he imployed both craft and violence to work their extirpation To this end there is nothing horrid in Tyranny which he did not impose upon them But notwithstanding their labour and bad dyet they thrived so wel that it seemed rather to contribute to their increase then ruine Hence by an impious edict be commanded their Midwives to stifle all the Male Children of the Israelites and save onely the Female But this inhumane command was not obeyed and God abundantly recompenced the mercy shewed to those innocent creatures whom a barbarous Tyrant would have sacrificed to his jealousie Moses was born in this wonderful persecution His parents after they had concealed him three moneths in their house fearing least he might be discovered exposed him upon the River Pharao's Daughter coming thither to bath her self perceived the Cradle of Bull-rushes in which he floted upon the water she sent to take it up and by that means was the instrument of his preservation She was not satisfied in exhibiting an ordinary compassion towards him but tendered him with a Motherly care and of an Infant exposed she adopted him Son and Heir to a great Kingdom His Education was answerable to so high a fortune and by the progress he made in all the Sciences of the Egyptians by the excellency of his wit his solid judgement his generous courage his modest behavior and the greatness of his actions he shewed himself worthy of the Scepter ordained for him But God had other designs and would make use of him to destroy that Empire which he seemed to be chosen out to govern At the age of forty yeers God inspired him to visit those of his Nation in the places where they dwelt and there he found an Egyptian roughly treating an Israelite whence a just resentment transported him to revenge the Injury done unto his Brother by the death of him that abused him The next day seeing two Israelites quarrelling together he said to them you are Brethren why injure you one another But he that abused his Companion without cause askt him who hath made you our Prince and the Judge of our differences perhaps you will kill me as you did yesterday the Egyptian That discourse troubled Moses and by divine providence made him to fly into the Land of Madian where taking a Wife he begot two Sons He was fourscore years of age when in the Desarts of Mount Sina an Angel appeared to him in the middest of a flaming bush unconsumed This Prodigy astonished him and drawing neer to behold it at a less distance The Lord spake unto him in these words I am the God of thy Fore-fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob put of thy shooes for the earth thou treadest upon is holy I have beheld the affliction of my captive people their complaints have reached my ears I am descended to deliver them from this cruel bondage and upon this occasion I will send you into Egypt Fathers and Brethren observe here that this Moses whom the two Israelites rejected with disdain saying who has established thee Judge and Prince over us was the Prince and Redeemer of the Jewish people with the assistance of that Angel which appeared to him in the burning bush Egypt wondered at the miraculous things of his Rod the Sea divided it self to make passage for the multitude he led in the Desart The rock yeilded him water for the space of forty years a celestial Manâ—◠〈◊〉 every morning from Heaven to 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 And a thousand other wonders â—â—â—…ered his govâ—rnment faâ—â—us May not we here behold an admirable figure of the Saviour which you have rejected notwithstanding that he came to deliver you from a more cruel captivity and more miserable then that of our Fore-fathers But this same Moses whose Doctrine you accuse me to condemn did not he promise to you him whose Gospel I now preach and whose name is so odious to you when he said God will raise from the middest of you a Prophet whom you shall hear as you hear me certainly you heard him as our Ancestors heard Moses and whilest Moses was conversing with our Lord upon the Mountain those ungratefull people inforced Aaron to make molten gods which should conduct them not knowing as they saiea what was become of Moses They adored the Golden Calf and gave that honour to the work of their hands which was due onely to their Creator This horrible Idolatry so incensed God that be exterminated this great multitude by divers punishments Two only of them that remained besides those who were born in the Desarts entered into the Land of Promise under the conduct of Joshua The assistance of our Lord ceased not with the death of this great Captain Our Ancestours alwayes found him favourable so long as they continued faithfull to his service The divers servitudes they were under so long as the government remained in the hands of Judges were onely caused by their Idolatry and prostitution to all sorts of wickedness Ease and plenty corrupted those whom the perils of Warre and feare of Enemies had kept within the bounds of fidelity They contracted unfortunate marriages with the daughters of their neighbours and that conjugall union occasioned their separation from God for by little and little they followed the manners of their Wives and to make themselves good husbands they were not afraid to become wicked men They left the God of Heaven for the stars which he had fixed there and the purity of his sacrifices for the abominations of Moloch Their ingratitude was not left unpunished for our Lord at severall times raysed Infidel Kings against them who made them know their sin by the rigour they used towards them The yoke of the Philistins was the longest and David delivered them entirely from it He was the man according to Gods heart It was he whom God placed in the Throne with a solemn promise that his Posterity should reign for ever This Prince who was as godly as valiant desired to build a house to our Lord that might be stable and firm for since they left Egypt they had adored him in a
Tabernacle which was portable God accepted his good will but reserved to his Son Solomon the glory of building a Temple that testified no less his piety than his magnificence This place could not contain him who not onely fills all things but is immense who has the Heaven for his Throne and the Earth for his Footstool Princes who are men may busie and delight themselves in Palaces built by the hands of men Our God is a Spirit which resides not in the inclosure of walls and the most magnificent works of Architecture are not worthy of his greatness It is in the hearts of men be delights to dwell but those hearts must then be innocent They must be circumcised with a spiritual circumcision of which that of the body is but the mark You have not these innocent hearts but contrarywise I may without injury call them uncircumcised because they are tyed to earthly things wherewith they are replenish'd and possess'd with a horrid envy and execrable rage against our true Redeemer You are stiff-necked and continually resist the Holy Ghost In this you shew your selves true children of your Fathers for which of the Prophets have not they persecuted Those heavenly men have all of them announced unto you the coming of him whom by a black and ungrateful Treason you have murthered you who received the Law by the ministery of Angels observe it not but most impudently break it every day Jesus of Nazareth hath been required with so much the more ingratitude as his graces were extraordinary It is in him that God hath fulfilld the promise whereof a little before I spake to you that the Scepter should alwayes remaine in the house of David For he is descended from him according to flesh although you esteemed him the Son of a poor Carpenter It is he alone that sets at liberty not onely Israel but all men that are captive under the yoke of hell and sin It is he that is descended from Heaven to establish a Coelestiall Kingdome who apprehends not the vicissitude of humane things nor is subject to the violence of Tyrants and the inconstancy of the people It is he that has proved his Doctrine by miracles and such as Israel had never found in the Scriptures nor seen in the extent of their Provinces and yet his voyce could not soften the hardness of your hearts his Miracles seemed to you to be illusions You have injuriously sullyed the innocency of his life His humility made you become insolent His sufferings made you more bitter against him his patience made you furious and you have as little respect to those who speak to you in his name since his Resurrection But you deceave your selves in your designes That party which you think to root up shall be victorious Innocency shall triumph over Calumny The Church of him that is crucified which we announce unto you shall not destroy the Law but the Law shall serve for a foundation to the Church The true disciples of Moses will acknowledge him in their legal observations and they will hear him as their Master according to that Oracle of Moses which I alledged to you Certainly no man can reprove me to have spoken a word that savours of contempt against him and the testimony of my accusers destroys it self neither their condition nor their vertue render them so credible that I need take much pains to clear my self of their calumny They say I have spoken against the Law I deny it and by my precedent discourse you may understand my opinion of it but it is rather you that one may more justly accuse for the non-observance of it The Judges and others there present hearing so bold and free a discourse and such sharp reproaches from Saint Stephen were filled with despite and fury and began to grinde their teeth against this generous Deacon unto whom God designed a more particular favour in this encounter For as he lifted up his eyes to Heaven and that his heart filled with the Holy Ghost elevated it self by sublime acts of a most pure love he saw the glory of God which so transported him as he he cryed out I see the Heavens open and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God All those who heard these last words made a great out-cry and seized upon him The Judges stopt their eares as if they had heard blasphemy and the multitude presently hurried him away out of the City to stone him There was no alteration in his countenance and if any did appear it was rather that of joy He considered the stones in the hands of those Executioners as precious stones prepared for the making up of his Crown And those that were most cruel seemed to him most merciful He sustained this impetuosity standing like a Rock that mocks at tempests or rather as a Priest who sacrificeth himself In all the time of his suffering he did not once complain and when he felt death approaching he said Lord Jesu receive my soule But when he prayed for those that stoned him he kneeled downe knowing their offence was so great as to obtain their pardon it was necessary to joyn the humility of his countenance to the humility of his heart and to use violence if it may be so said to the goodness of God He cryed out O Lord let not this sin be imputed to them It was to this so ardent and admirable prayer that God according to the opinion of divers Fathers granted the conversion of him whose life we write and whom we will call Soul for a time as Saint Luke does in the Acts. He was not of the number of those who stoned Saint Stephen yet in looking to their garments he stoned him by their hands and made himself partaker of their impiety He was Cousin to the Martyr and they were both brought up by Gamaliel in the study of the Law notwithstanding the false zeal of Religion carried him beyond the Sentiment of nature and their fellowship in studies And having once with pleasure seen the bloud of this holy Deacon spilt he became thirsty after the bloud of those who professed the same Doctrine and made himself remarkable in that bloudy persecution which was enkindled against them He brake into houses and those he took prisoners were by himself conducted into Dungeons after which he sollicited their condemnation In a word he was a wild Boar in the Vineyard of the Son of God After he had filled Hierusalem with executions he would extend his cruelty farther and to that effect demanded of the Princes Priests Commissions and Letters in his favour that he might take all those persons in the City of Damascus who beleeved in him that was crucified His rage afforded him not one moment of rest He breathed nothing but the slaughter and bloud of the poor disciples of Jesus Christ and pleased himself onely with the thought of their punishment which was at hand He contrived in his imagination how he
do them justice They obeyed this his order coming to the appointed place repeated with much heat those accusations which before they had deposed without any more proofe this second time then they had done at the first The Apostle answered likewise in his defence the same as before and Festus being desirous to gratifie the Jews though at the cost of the Apostles innocency and life asked him if he were not willing to go to Hierusalem to be judged there by him He answered No and that he appealed to the Tribunal of Caesar for if I have offended him as I am accused or done harm to any 't is there I will suffer death But if I be innocent of these crimes wherewith I am charged as I maintain I am and as you your selves well know no man can oblige me to suffer my self to be judged by my Adversaries And I appeal to the supream Authority of Caesar Festus surprised with this discourse and having maturely considered what he were best to do in this occasion was enforced to tell him Thou hast appealed to Caesar before him thou shalt go At that time young Agrippa came to Cesarea to salute Portius Festus together with his Sister Berenice who had espoused in her first nuptials Herod her Unckle King of Chalcides and in her second marriage Polemon little King of Cilicia This young Prince was not above seventeen yeares of age when his Father of whose death we have spoken in the first Book left him the Scepter The Emperour Claudius at whose Court he then was conserved to him all the estates of his Father except Iudea which he durst not trust in his hands by reason of his youth and the turbulent humor of the Iewes But Nero added to them many little Provinces Some dayes after his arrival Festus spake to him of the Apostle told him all that had passed concerning that business and that it was now suspended because of his appeal to Cesar Agrippa was very glad of the newes for the reputation of S. Paul had made him a long time desirous to see him At the day appointed he came to the place ordained for publick audience in the company of his Sister Berenice with whom the common rumor famed him to have greater familiarity then honesty permitted The Apostle was brought thither and Festus shewing him to Agrippa said This is the man of whom I spake to you and against whom the Iewes were so fiercely bent as they sought his ruine by all maner of means although for my part I finde him not guilty of any crime In fine I intended to send him to Caesar to whom he hath appealed but being ignorant what to write in this affaire it concerning some point of Religion about a certain man named Jesus of Nazareth whom the accused affirmes to be risen againe after his death and whom the Iewes on the other side condemned as an Impostor I am very willing to have him speak before so noble an Assembly and before a Prince well versed in all those questions Hereupon Agrippa made sign to the Apostle that he should defend himself which he did in this manner It is no small consolation to me King Agrippa that I am to speak this day before you in answer to the accusations of my enemies because you are perfectly instructed in all the questions of the Law whereof I am accused to be a publick enemy Hence also I assure my self that you by your piety being interessed in this cause will afford me a favorable hearing Me thinks I ought to be the least suspected of any person to be guilty of this crime wherewith I am charged For if my accusers would but acknowledge the truth they will know in what manner I have lived in Hierusalem all the time of my youth amongst those of my Nation I was brought up under the discipline of the Pharisees which is the sect the most pure of greatest authority in our Religion I do not believe to have done any thing contrary to the rules of my Profession which might give the least occasion to feare the judgement of men if there were question of my behaviour But all my pretended crime hath relatition to my beliefe and I finde my self reduced to a necessity of defending my self in publique because I place my hope in him who was promised to our foreFathers and from whom I expect my salvation as they have done serving God day and night and carefully observing all the precepts which he gave unto them for that end Now this hope does not terminate in this life it is accomplished in the other by the resurrection of the body which places man in a glorious State where he is to receive the recompence of his good deeds and the accomplishment of that salvation which has been here the subject of hope Behold a second crime raised against me by some who following the principles of their Sect deny what I believe and what I teach concerning this point of the resurrection What is there in it that seems to you incredible who dares say God cannot restore life to the dead who had the power to give life when he placed them in the world For the first point of my accusation I confess I have had opinions far different from that of which they would now make me guilty For sometime I believed as others did that I ought to do all things to the dishonour of Jesus of Nazareth and the more I shewed my rage against his name the more notice was taken of my piety The city of Hierusalem is witness of the violences I used I made search in all places after those who professed that doctrin I have cast many of them into prison by authority from the Princes of the Priests to that effect and when they have been condemned to death I have not only by my vote approved the sentence to be just but have been the bearer of it I went to all the Synagogues endeavouring sometimes by force and sometimes by Stratagems to make those who had imbraced the belief of the Gospel to renounce it and I esteemed it a great victory when I could corrupt any disciple of J. Christ I deserved to have continued in my blindeness and to have found in the end the just punishment of my cruelty which extended it self even to forrain and remote Cities But he whom I persecuted had compassion of my ignorance would in shewing mercy to me shew to all sinners the excess of his goodness and long patience I went to Damasco to imprison all those who believed in him and in the way about noon a great light environed me and those who were in my company we all fell to the ground and I heard a voice that spake to mee in the Hebrew tongue Saul Saul Why doest thou persecute me It is in vaine to kicke against the prickes I answered Who are you Lord The Lord replied I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou doest persecute but arise and
stand upon thy feet I have appeared to thee to the end I may ordain thee a preacher of those things thou hast seen make thee boldly to render publike testimony in all places of the world both of these and other verities which I will in due time reveale unto thee Be not affraid I will deliver thee from the ambushes and violence of the people unto whom I send thee that thou mayest open their eyes and reduce them from that deplorable siate of darkness in which they are unto the light of my Gospel that thou mayest free them from the power of the devil and place them under the protection of God to the end they may from his goodness receive remission of their sinnes and share in the inheritance of Saints by a firm faith in my name I rejected not by a misbelief O King Agrippa this heavenly vision for presently I began to preach to the Jewes of Damasco and afterwards at Hierusalem and in Judea and then to the Gentiles exhorting them to return to God by a true conversion of heart and to do workes worthy of pennance not to obtain the possession of a land flowing with milk and honey such other recompences as are promised by a carnall Law but to obtain the fruition of heaven which is infallible to those who live according to the Maxims of Jesus Christ This Doctrine is not new I have deduced it from the writings of Moyses and those of the Prophets who all speak clearly of the sufferings of the Messias of his ignominious death and of the glory of his resurrection in which order he with great reason holds the first place since hee is the first-born of God before all creatures He is begotten in light and he is come into the world to enlighten the Jewes and Gentiles to make of them but one people or rather one body of which he is the head diffusing admirable influences of a new life amongst his members for he is the new man who destroyes the old in us and who brings us all sorts of benedictions as the other had brought us all manner of miseries it is he after whom all our Fore-fathers have fighted it is he who has taken upon him that curse to which the Jews and Gentiles were subject it is he who upon the tree of the Cross has abolished the fatal sentence of death in which all men were engaged The Law of Mâ—yses had truly Sacrifices to expiate sin but that expiation was but exteriour the bloud of Goats and Bulls could not purifie the hearts of those that offered it only the bloud of Jesus Christ has this divine vertue and indeed it is onely hee that has taken away all the sins of the world It was needfull to re-iterate the Sacrifices of the Temple but this divine Priest of whom I speak being once offered hath drawn dry the very source of sinne has for ever taken away that which hindered sanctification has appeased the divine Justice opened to himself to his members a heavenly Sanctuary which till then was shut up This was figured by the high Priests entering once a year into the material Sanctuary with the bloud of a Goat offered for his own and the peoples sins for all that which our Fore-fathers beheld was in figure God would dispose them by carnall things unto spiritual by shaddowes conduct them to the light which his Son was to bring to the world in the fulness of time where he has contracted an alliance incomparably more holy and more glorious then was the first Hear what a Prophet speaks a long time before his coming Behold sayes hee the dayes approach in which I will make a new alliance with the house of Israel and Juda far different from that which I contracted with their fathers when I withdrew them from the bondage of Egypt They were not faithfull in the observation of my Law they mocked at it and I treating them as they treated me have scorned them The testament which I promise to the Children of Israel is that I will grave my ordinances in their hearts I wil be their God they shal be my people they shall not need any laborious study or serious consultations with learned Masters to be instructed in my Truthes because I will be their Tutour and by an interiour unction will teach them all I would have them to know so that one neighbour shall not teach another with trouble and one shall not say to another Doest thou know the Lord because from the least to the greatest all shall perfectly know me I will remit their offences with so full a pardon that I will not so much as remember them Behold in this passage hee speakes of a new testament the old then is to be abolished and consequently another is to succeed and to the end there should be some resemblance betwixt them it was necessary this should be confirmed by the bloud of the Testatour as that was given with a ceremony of bloud when Moyses sprinkled the people saying This is the bloud with the which the Lord confirms his alliance which he hath this day contracted with you Behold great Prince that which I preach Behold how I destroy the Law Behold how I am an enemy to God Festus unable to comprehend the sublime discourse of the Apostle interrupted him and called out O Paul thy great learning doth make thee mad thou doest utter extravagant things The Apostle humbly answered I speak nothing that is extravagant what I propose is truth and the King who has daigned me his attention perfectly knowes those things which I have said For what concerns Jesus Christ his life was so publick and so famous and the wonders he hath wrought so lately done that there is not any amongst the Jewes who can be ignorant of them Having spoken thus to Festus he addressed himself to the King and said Agrippa Doe you believe the Prophets I know you believe them Agrippa touched in his conscience and with the force of his reasons could not but answer Paul thou hast almost convinced me to be a Christian S. Paul replied I would to God great Prince that you and all here present had embraced the Doctrine which I preach and that you were like me in all but my Captivâ—ty I do not wish you the chaines I bear but on the contrary I would willingly give not onely my liberty but even my life for you At this word the King the Governour Berenice and all the rest rose up and Agrippa said to Festus That if he had not made his appeale he might be returned back absolved But the providence of God had ordained this meanes to bring him to the Capital City of the world where the Gospel which Judea would not receive should gain noble victories over Idolatry Festus willing to be rid of his prisoner imbarked him in an Affrican vessel of the city of Adrumetum and gave the charge of conducting him and others