IX. miffion, that his brethren fhould fell him, LECT. and caft him out as they had done to foSeph; and that they fhould refufe him, as they had refused Mofes. With this argument St. Stephen preffed the Jews, till they were unable to bear the force of it: and, I declare, I think it so forcible at this day, that a man muft either be a Chriftian upon the strength of it, or fall into a rage, like the Jews, if he has an interest against it. Hear how the cafe is reprefented"This Mofes whom they refused, saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge, the fame did God fend to be a ruler and a deliverer, by the hands of the angel which appeared to him in the bufh"-He fupposed that his brethren would have underftood, how that God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not"This is heto whom our fathers would not obey, but thruft him from them and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt." What the high priest and the people of the Jews, before whom St. Stephen plead ed, IX. LECT. ed, must have felt in their minds from fuch a representation as this, when the fact of rejecting Jefus Chrift was fresh upon their memories and confciences, is more eafy to be conceived than expreffed. There is no occafion on which the mind of man feels more miferable, than when it is convicted without being converted. Such was the case with St. Stephen's hearers; so they acted like men that were poffeffed; they gnashed with their teeth, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him in a fury to put him to death: for fo doth bigotry difpofe of those whom it cannot answer. Let us suppose, however, that fome one amongst the reft was prevailed upon to apply the cafes of Jofeph and Mofes, as St. Stephen had ftated them, to what had lately come to pafs in Jerufalem: then would he have reafoned with himself in fome fuch words as thefe. Jefus of Nazareth offered himself to our nation as the true Meffiah and the king of the Jews: yet none of our rulers Jo IX, or priests or pharifees believed on him, LECT. but hated him and despised him, What then? Was not the holy patriarch seph, with all his innocence and virtue, hated of his brethren, and perfecuted for envy? One of the difciples of Jefus betrayed and fold him for a fum of money, and he was delivered to the Romans as a slave and a malefactor: but fo did Jofeph's brethren fell him, and fo did that innocent victim go down into Egypt among heathens as a flave, and was imprisoned as a malefactor under a falfe accufation. Yet did God bring this fame Jofeph to honour, and made his family who had despised him bow down before him; as, they fay, God has now exalted this fame Jefus, and that every knee is to bow to him. Many and mighty were the miracles of Jefus, such as we could not difprove, and such as were proper to fhew that he was the expected redeemer: but we who were witneffes of them did not accept of them as fuch. Thus did our lawgiver Mofes come forth to avenge our wrongs upon the Egyptians, fuppofing that his bre thren LECT. thren would understand, from the part he IX. took, that God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not; they accused him for what he had done, and took part with the Egyptians, as we have taken part with the Romans, our task-masters, against Jefus Christ. When Mofes undertook to compofe the differences of his brethren and restore them to peace, the aggreffor flew in his face, and questioned his authority with those faucy words, who made thee a ruler and a judge? Thus did we infolently demand of Jefus on every occafion, who gave him his authority; inftead of fubmitting to it, and taking advantage of it for our own good. We reprefented him not as a Saviour, fuch as his works proved him to be, but a destroyer (as they made Mofes a murderer) an accomplice of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils and the deftroyer of mankind. Thus have we done unto him as our fathers did unto Mofes: Yet was Mofes fent of God to bring us out of Egypt; and therefore fo was Jefus fent to fave his people from their fins. When Mofes had overthrown IX. overthrown the Egyptians and led our fa- LECT. thers into the wilderness, the people would not obey him, but turned back in their hearts into Egypt, the fcene of all their mifery and if we have thrust Jefus from us, it must have been owing to the fame caufe, a vile attachment to this finful world, which holds us in bondage, and has made us take part against him with our tyrants and oppreffors. Upon the whole then, our refufal of Jefus Chrift can be no argument against him. Mofes was undoubtedly fent to be a ruler and deliverer, and we all believe it; yet he was refused by the people whom God fent him to redeem: and though they had been witneffes of all his mighty works, their hearts were not converted. So it hath been with us now; and therefore woe be unto us! we are verily guilty concerning this our brother; and what is most to our fhame and confufion, our guilt is of fuch a form as to turn against ourselves, and prove the very thing we have been fo forward to deny; namely, that he who was |