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ness and judgment, whose gracious offices and glorious reign were predicted in this Psalm, hath taken possession of his throne and kingdom. As he rules in righteousness, his subjects must serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. Possessed of sovereign power and universal dominion, yet extending his compassion to the "poor and needy," the humble and contrite, to him, the source of grace and mercy, "prayer is to be made continually" for spiritual consolation and succour; and "daily is he to be praised” for the means of grace to which he gives efficacy, for the hope of glory which he has purchased.

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But let us remember that even in this Psalm, breathing the spirit of benignity and peace, vengeance is threatened against the impenitent adversaries of the Messiah: "His enemies shall lick the dust." In the day when his wrath is revealed against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, those who reject or disobey him, he will “rule with a rod of iron, he will break in pieces like a potter's vessel." "His enemies shall lick

the dust."

Finally, my brethren, what scenes of triumph and glory does this Psalm disclose to the sincere Christian, the humble and faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.

Psalm ii. 9,

It assures him that his Redeemer reigns in righteousness and mercy; that "the poor and needy," the humble and the penitent, are the objects of the peculiar compassion and care of the King of Zion; that the souls of his faithful servants he saves "from deceit and violence," refreshing them with his heavenly grace, granting to them "abundance of peace." It also unfolds the glory for which the kingdom of Christ is destined, when he shall have "dominion unto the ends of the earth;" when "all kings shall fall down before him, and all nations shall serve him;" when, according to other prophecies, "the Lord will comfort Zion, will make her wilderness as Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord;" when "the earth being filled with the knowledge of the Lord'," "there shall be none to hurt or destroy in his holy mountain ";" and when Judah, being saved with the fulness of the Gentiles, "joy and gladness shall be in the Zion of the Lord, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." And from the glory of the earthly Zion, let us, my Christian brethren, serving in holiness and righteousness our almighty King, and confiding in his power and mercy, look forward with triumphant hope to an admission into that Zion where the Saviour, the Lord of hosts, shall " reign gloriously for ever;" and

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'Hab. ii. 14.

Isaiah xi. 9.

Isaiah li. 3.

where, as "the ransomed of the Lord," we "shall obtain joy and gladness; and from which sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

"Blessed then be the Lord God, even the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be his glorious name for ever and ever." And let all the people say, Amen.

Isaiah xxxv. 10.

SERMON XIV.

THE TRANSFIGURATION.

{FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.J

MATTHEW xvii. 1-5.

And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with him.

Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles, one for three, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

THIS is a most wonderful and sublime transaction. The glory of the Godhead was visibly manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. He laid aside, for a while, that veil of mortality, which

he assumed when he entered this sinful world; and astonished the enraptured disciples with a display of a portion of that celestial “ glory, which he had with his Father, before the world was"." On the Mount of transfiguration he appeared, not in "the form of a servant," but in the majesty and glory of the Son of God. "He was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light."

The transfiguration of Christ, as one of those manifestations of divine power, by which our redemption was accomplished, demands our attentive investigation. Our blessed Saviour would not have selected his three most ardent and zealous disciples, and carried them to the retirement of a mountain; there the glory of the Godhead would not have encircled him: a divine voice would not have been called forth; nor Moses and Elias summoned from the abodes of blessedness to converse with Christ-but with the design of accomplishing some important purposes.

Let us then endeavour to discern some of the ends which were intended to be answered by the transfiguration of Christ.

I. We learn from the account which the Evangelist St. Luke gives of this transaction, that Moses and Elias, who appeared unto the Apostles, talking

John xvii. 5.

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