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earth, since our first apostacy from God. They are of the same import with this gracious declaration, that "God is in "Christ reconciling the world unto him"self, not imputing unto men their trespasses." The disciples were now assured, by an audible voice from heaven, that the same Jesus, who had hitherto appeared in a low and mean condition, and whom they now beheld in the glorious majesty of his transfigured state, was God's own Son,--his Son, not by creation, as the angels are his sons ;-not by adoption, as men become his sons;—but his Son by generation,-his only begotten, his well-beloved son." He is the Word, "who was in the beginning with God and

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was God;" equal to and one with the Father; "the witness of his glory, and "the express image of his person."

In discoursing from the words of the text, it is not my intention to explain any farther the testimony that God the Father here gives concerning Jesus Christ, when he says, "This is my beloved Son, in "whom I am well pleased; hear ye him!" but understanding it to express, in general terms, the Divinity of our Saviour,

and his appointment to the office of Mediator between heaven and earth, I shall rather, in this discourse, illustrate the duty which God here requires of us with respect to Christ, contained in these words," Hear ye him!" and then draw some practical improvement from what may be said.

First, These words, " hear ye him!" evidently refer to the prediction concerning that great prophet, whom God by his servant Moses promised, many ages before our Lord's manifestation in the flesh, should arise among the Israelites. The Lord God, says he, "will raise up unto "them a prophet from the midst of their "brethren, like unto me; unto him shall "ye hearken." This, my friends, is a very important and comprehensive duty, tho' expressed in few words. To treat of it at full length, would lead us into a field too wide for us at present to enter. I shall therefore specify only a few particulars that may be supposed to comprehend the substance of what seems here to be required. I observe, then, that this precept or duty includes in it, in the first place, that

you are to hear Christ as your Prophet and Teacher sent from God.

The disciples plainly saw Moses and Elias talking with Jesus, and they were no doubt desirous to hear the interesting conversation. They would naturally expect to receive some very important information from these great prophets who were immediately come from heaven, With itching ears would they listen to the news of that glorious unknown country, which no mortal eye was able to explore. But, lo! a voice from the cloud, a word from the great God himself, checks their curiosity. It proclaims the arrival of a new prophet, infinitely superior to Moses or Elias; yea, to all the prophets that had gone before or that may come after him; and it commands obedience to him: "Hear ye him!"

Are we not then bound to receive his doctrine and laws as the truths and precepts of the living God, and to make them the rule of our faith and manners. We must with deep attention, with much solicitude and care study the knowledge of his gospel, assured that it contains the most important information which the

human mind is capable of receiving. "No man hath seen God at any time ; "the only begotten who was in the bo66 som of the Father he hath revealed "him." It is in the gospel of Jesus, and in the gospel only, that we are assured of the love of God; of the friendship of his Son; of the blessings of the Spirit; of the pardon of our sins; of the regeneration of our nature; of the immortality of the soul, and of the happiness of heaven. He came to proclaim the divine mercy, to unfold the councils of the Eternal, and clearly to point out the path that leads to perfection and happiness for ever. He hath brought the message of peace and reconciliation to a guilty world; and the doctrines which he hath delivered are heavenly and spiritual, every way calculated for enlightening the understanding, and purifying the heart, and therefore are we bound to read his word, and hear it preached with reverence and godly fear,--to receive it with faith and love, to lay it up in our minds and to practise it in our lives, that our souls may be thereby moulded into the very temper and spirit of the gospel.

For this end, my brethren, you ought to pray to the Giver of all good that he would enlighten your minds in the knowledge and love of the truth; that he would grant you the aids and illuminations of his Spirit to enable you to profit under every means of improvement in knowledge and in grace that you enjoy, and to attend upon all the ordinances of religion, whether ordinary or more solemn, with those dispositions that become the devout and acceptable worshippers of the Lord Jesus. But, in the

Second place, The duty which God here requires of us, includes in it that we hear and embrace Christ as our Great High Priest, whose sacrifice and intercession can alone reconcile us unto God, and secure our present peace and everlasting happiness.

The Apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says, that truly there were many priests under the law, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: they were frail and short-lived men, who, how well soever they discharged the duties of their sacred function, in a few years behoved to leave it to their succes

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