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
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